Caught between two nightmares, Zara stood.
On one side, a particularly large crocodilian snout and the ridges of a back and tail glided through the sparkling blue pool where Karh Blade (rogue, mercenary, scoundrel) and Hunter Haux (Naval officer, one-eyed, slightly off-kilter) had enjoyed one another's company only minutes before. Teeth jutted up from its lips like a mocking smile. With three delicious morsels sitting at the edge of the pool, it had plenty to smile about.
On the other side, Vanitoth- lizard god. It lumbered on twin legs like oaks, the claws of its feet digging three-toed trenches into the earth. Blood from its morning feast still dripped from its jaws, but a creature like Vanitoth could never really be satisfied. It lived only to eat. That was its sole purpose, all it knew. It regarded the the same three morsels with a mixture of threat and an obligation to destroy.
"Back away slowly," Hunter's voice whispered through the haze of inevitable destruction. The very molecules of the air around them were heavy and electric with the building pressure of what was about to happen. "Maybe once they notice each other, they'll forget all about..."
The roar of Vanitoth cut her off, and it thundered towards them, the ground trembling under its feet. Zara fired a shot from her weapon, a fiery red blast of laser cutting past Vanitoth's eyes to little effect, and rolled off the boulder in the next instant. She landed on her feet, cat-like, just as Vanitoth's jaws snapped at the spot behind her.
Zara ducked, somersaulted to her left, and then felt the weight of Vanitoth's tail slam into her torso as it swung around, trying vainly to keep up with her fleeing form. Zara tried to cry out, but the air blasted out of her lungs with a brutal gasp and she was in the air, arms and legs whistling through the limbs of trees and ferns, and then a crashing, savage pain ripped through her as she met an unforgiving branch with her right shoulder. She felt herself flip, end over end, and hit the ground with a bone-crunching thud.
"Move!" Karh yelled, grabbing Hunter and yanking her towards a patch of jungle. Her wet hair flung about her face like the blue swirl of a whirlpool. Her clothes were a hastily wrapped bundle of cloth in one hand, sleeves flailing.
"We won't make it!" she cried in response. Vanitoth's attention diverted away from Zara's awkward flight into the trees and towards the running figures of Karh and Hunter. It twisted to meet them with its gaping, drooling maw.
Then the crocodile's head thrashed out of the water, thrusting from the edge of the pool, and its massive jaws wrapped around the meat of Vanitoth's leg.
"Yes, we will!" Karh said, and he pulled Hunter into the thick wilds of jungle. As much as he wanted to, he didn't bother looking back. Survival came first.
***
Zara's body was a thousand throbbing pulsations, connected only by the sharp jolts of pain shrieking around them. Her head felt like another pulse, the rhythmic beat of a drum from some lost, wild universe. As the world came into focus, she was horrified to discover her eyes had not been closed; they were wide open and staring into a black nothingness; then a moment later- the colors of the world saturated scenery with bright, florid hues.
She was not dead. Hell, she wasn't even unconscious. Clear thoughts began to struggle through the tar-like sludge of her mind and formed. Sight had returned, and now sound.
Proof of this: a guttural bellow echoed in her ears.
Zara managed to sit up and looked towards it, past the broken foliage through which she had just crashed. The crocodile had its jaws around Vanitoth's leg and was making a futile attempt to pull it into the water of the pool, perhaps in an attempt to drown Vanitoth for later feeding. Vanitoth's leg wriggled in its mouth as Vanitoth tried to get it free. Vanitoth bellowed again, snapped its teeth in anger.
A hand came down on Zara's shoulder, startling her, and she choked off a scream before it could manage to escape her throat. She turned into the handsome but concerned features of Karh Blade.
"You didn't think we'd leave you?" he said and helped her to her feet. "Come on. I'm not interested in seeing which monster wins the wrasslin' match."
A roar caught their attention as Vanitoth brought its own teeth over the top of the crocodile's head and bit. Vanitoth savagely ground its teeth and tore into the flesh of the crocodile, whipping its head back and forth, flinging bits of gore into the air. Turning from the carnage, Zara allowed Karh to lead her away, roars of destruction still ringing in her ears.
She had a funny feeling it would not be the last they'd see of Vanitoth.
***
For the first time in some years, Lorna, the new Captain of the Guard, thought about Stark. He had been young, wide-eyed, and precocious. Smooth features and a slim build. Straw-colored hair. Light brown eyes. A bright smile that lit up his entire face. Honest. Sweet. Insecure. Lorna smiled as the mental image filled her mind.
Stark Ford had been everything that Karh Blade was not.
Was this why Lorna wanted Blade to die? Because he represented a polar opposite of Stark? Lorna thought it might have more to do with the simple fact that Karh Blade had brought it all back, memories that Lorna has wished to bury forever. But then came Blade, who drudged them all up against Lorna's will. Blade- showing up out of nowhere and invading her life. And yes, she had enjoyed using Blade's body, but it only reminded her of everything that she had lost and could never have again.
In any case, she wanted to taste Karh Blade's blood.
Lorna remembered how Dayna, her own sister, had led the guards to her room. She had been on top of Stark at one moment and suddenly not- arms around her arms, pulling her away. More arms pulled Stark out of the bed, his erection withering, and he called for her, begged her to help him. She remembered how Stark had shrieked when the guards had fed him to the vipers, his execution carried out as well as (in a way) her own.
She looked down at her hands and saw that her knuckles were clenched white. The reins were a painful crease in her palms where she squeezed them. Lorna had a fleeting moment, wondering if she had finally lost all semblance of sanity, but the strained voice of a guard cut if off before it could become a full-fledged realization.
"Captain, we've found Vanitoth's tracks leading in the same direction as those of the escaped prisoners," the guard said, her face red and out of breath.
Lorna looked down from her position on the back of her huge, three-horned beast and wondered why the guard looked so concerned. It took a moment for the thought to cross Lorna's mind that she should be afraid- Vanitoth, eater of souls, lizard god of the afterlife. She almost felt sorry for the guard, to live an existence so full of self-deceit, ignorance, and superstition. Almost. The guard was too pathetic to earn any real sympathy.
"Excellent, Vanitoth will lead us to our prey. It's a sign. The gods are with us," the Queen said, pulling her beast parallel to Lorna's own. The Queen's armor gleamed in the filtering yellow of afternoon sun. The man/slave Henrik held on to her, hands wrapped tight around the Queen's torso as if afraid that he would plummet to the ground if he let go. What a waste of flesh. Lorna nodded.
"Of course," she said. "Pick up the pace, riders!"
