Banished Pt. 07

"They just look for the ones who probably won't fight back. Passive people; those who are kind enough to swallow the insult, and 'go quietly into the night' as the saying goes."

"Well, thankfully there are people like you to stand up for me, right?" she added, and I chuckled a little at the comment.

"I'm not sure I am what you seem to think I am. I mean, I spent my entire life being my adoptive sister's punching bag for everything that her family ever did to her."

She frowned.

"You said your adoptive siblings never really liked you, right? Was it just her?"

I shook my head in response.

"I had a brother, too. We never really got along, but he never really lashed out at me the way she did."

She pondered my words for a bit.

"So, they had two kids? Your adoptive parents, I mean."

I nodded.

"Biologically theirs?"

I nodded again, and she rubbed her chin.

"I don't mean anything by this, but in that case, why did they still adopt you?"

"I've wondered that myself. I was no relation to them at all. Hell, I even tried to track down my real family and found absolutely nothing."

"I never found mine either," Evie said, as I studied her. "Does it bother you? Not knowing who they were?"

I shrugged.

"I guess I looked only because there were questions that I wanted answers to; but no, I don't think it really bothered me all that much. What about you?"

Evie shook her head.

"The only thing I knew about my mother was that she left me on the doorstep of a convent. Sometimes I imagine what she must have been going through then, to do that... I actually thought that maybe if I found her, I could help her, and we could even be a family again, you know? But I guess that's because I've never had anything that felt like a family."

"Well, you could always start a family of your own," I pointed out, and Evie chuckled a little.

"I dunno about that... most of my love interests aren't exactly the kind that can give me babies," she joked.

"Molly certainly looks like she'd try anyway," I teased, and she blushed.

Her eyes flicked to me for a second, as she suddenly seemed a little anxious.

"Maybe, when we settle down... we could find someone to help us with that," she suggested, but before I could even respond-

*Grrrrrawwhh!

A low, deep growl sent us quickly on alert.

I scanned the woods up ahead, across the stream, until a little bit of movement drew my eyes to the thing...

A thick mat of dark fur.

Wicked, sharp claws on its hands and feet; and eyes that seemed to penetrate into my very soul.

"Get Francesca," I said to Evie, "and one of the hunters."

She nodded, turning slowly to leave, before taking off at a sprint.

The creature walked on all fours, slowly; snaking its way through the shadows of the grove as if stalking me, watching me intently.

It was almost as if sizing me up.

I reached for the halberd slung around my shoulder, and it stopped.

So, you know what this is then? I thought, as I crouched, preparing to lunge at any time.

As I studied the creature, I suddenly noted its eyes flick towards something behind me, and as I heard the thudding footsteps, I figured Francesca was running to my side.

The creature turned, and darted, and I dashed forward after it.

"With me!" I yelled, as I kept my eyes on the beast.

It was quick, but definitely not quicker than the top speed I'd achieved earlier; but moving that fast through unknown territory while chasing after a monster wasn't exactly a wise thing to do.

I tapped my wrist as I ran, summoning up a little holographic display of my compass module, and took a quick note of the direction of the camp, as I returned my attention to the beast.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Francesca's form keeping pace with me, and I hoped that at least one of the hunters was following along as well, since they would be our only hope if we got lost in this grove, but in the second that I took my eye off of my target, he came to a sudden halt, and I skidded as I pulled to a stop just as a pair of claws flashed at me from somewhere to my right.

I got my arm up just in time to deflect the blow, but before I could register the creature's position much less respond, a spear came bursting through the thick mat of fur, and a stream of blood erupted, as Francesca pulled the weapon from her kill.

Two of them! I thought, as my eyes flicked back to the creature up ahead.

The beast let out a loud, thunderous growl, but as it charged at us, I steadied myself, then stabbed it through the chest, before swinging my weapon, and throwing the creature out of our path, as it made one final, desperate swipe at me with its final bit of strength.

"Holy shit," Francesca breathed, as she moved to my side. "Was that all of them?"

"I didn't even see the second one until it struck," I replied, as Francesca turned to face away from me.

With our backs together, we kept an eye out for more signs of danger; but the forest around us seemed still, until a pair of Kobalt came charging through the woods, and they stared at us with outright shock as they took in our respective kills.

"Lob sei den Göttern," one of the Kobalt muttered, as they knelt before us.

"Is anyone else coming?" I asked in German, and the hunter who spoke shook his head.

"What do we do with them?" Francesca asked, as I took a tentative look back at the corpses.

"Was wondering that myself. Casey mentioned that monsters might be humanoid in some way, so I don't suppose eating them is an option?"

Francesca headed off to the camp with the hunters, and to my surprise, when she returned with a group of eight hunters, she informed me that not only were the monsters edible, but their meat was quite nutritious, and delicious to boot.

Together, we hauled the beasts back to the stream where Gisela and a few others awaited.

"Magnificent kills," Gisela noted, as many of the other Kobalt gathered on the opposite side of the stream to look on.

I noted, with some relief, that the fearful looks we'd seen earlier seemed to have been more or less assuaged for the time being, as the hunters got to work on preparing our kills.

"This is good, Nate," Gisela added. "Two geisterung will provide us the food we require to depart. Only problem is, dressing; preparation... it requires time. Our departure will be delayed."

I frowned, as the Kobalt began to skin the creatures with great difficulty using their inefficient bone tools, and I turned to Francesca.

"Nolan has a knife, right?"

She nodded, adding:

"And Jeannie has the other one."

"Could my dagger work?" Evie asked, as she moved forward, and I quickly shook my head.

"Swap Jeannie's knife for your dagger. The knives are more suited to this kind of work; and get Nolan's knife," I added, turning to Francesca.

Evie nodded as she and Francesca headed off, and as they returned with the weapons, I noted Gunter was following along with them.

He excitedly crossed the stream, then began to inspect the nearest carcass, then pointed to a spot on the shoulder.

"Cut here, if it pleases the Auslander," the hunter requested, and as I ran the blade along the spot, the little energy core came into view, and I extracted it without much difficulty.

"Whoa," Francesca breathed. "Look at that thing!"

"That's weird," I noted. "I thought they manifested in the wrist, where our implants were."

"Why'd you think that?" Francesca asked, and I quickly recounted my first run in with the beasts.

"Aww, so you already have two kills?" she asked, pouting a little, and I chuckled at her.

"Its fine. There may be enough of these things in here to make a contest of this yet."

Gunter pointed out the other energy core, which was somewhere in the knee of the second creature, but as the hunters continued to direct me on where to cut, I offered the blade to one of the Kobalt, only for him to bow deeply, desperate almost in his reluctance to touch, much less take the blade.

"A Kobalt will only draw a god weapon in the most dire of circumstance," Gisela explained. "The risk otherwise, is too great."

"Risk?"

"The Kobalt's core is not like the God's. Sustaining the energy required to use your instruments is beyond our capability."

I made a note of Gisela's words, as I would definitely need to ask Casey about that later on.

Francesca offered to help, and together, at the direction of the hunters, we assisted in preparing the monster's meat.

The hardest part was the removal of the internal organs, which needed to be removed without being cut or punctured, as their contents could damage the creature's meat.

It was slow, tedious work, but we still managed it in much less time than the hunters would have with their bone tools alone.

With the meat stowed, we were ready to set out, so we loaded up the supply carts and got ready to cross the stream.

The carts had to be carried over the waterway, and as soon as we were safely over the crossing, I helped Casey back into her perch on the cart, though I noted that she seemed to be in some serious discomfort.

"Are you okay?" I asked, and she waved a hand dismissively.

As the group got ready to restart their journey, I caught sight of Ryker, and I moved towards him.

"Hey," I began, and he shot me a panicked look, before pointing to his ear.

Right. He probably had a message for me from Eradne, didn't he? I guess they really didn't want this listener to hear what it was, I thought, as I quickly shook my head and gestured towards Casey.

"Have you examined her recently?" I asked, and the boy nodded. "She seems to be in some discomfort. Is everything okay?"

He rubbed his hands together nervously.

"Her distress is worrying. Her wound heals, and her condition without visible sign of affliction; yet she displays the symptom. Forgive my incompetence, Auslander. I know not the cause."

I nodded.

"Well, keep an eye on her for a bit, and let me know if you notice anything."

A group of hunters gathered up near the stream, where the remains of the geisterung lay, and as I spotted Francesca amongst them, I headed over.

"What's up?" I asked.

"They want to leave the remains somewhere off in that direction, away from where we're headed. I offered to go with them, in case something is drawn to the remains and attacks, but they're set on going alone."

"Go with them," I ordered, loud enough for them to hear, and Francesca shot me a thankful look as the Kobalt bowed, and they headed off.

The trip didn't take long, and as soon as they returned, we resumed our slow journey forward.

"Hey, I hope you don't mind, but we'll be the forward guard for a bit," I said, as Evie moved to my side, and she quickly shook her head.

"I've seen you in action; I'm safer by your side than I am anywhere else in this group," she remarked, and I chuckled a little at the compliment.

"It really is darker in here though, isn't it?" Evie noted, and I nodded, as I cast a quick look upwards.

It looked like vines of some kind were growing quite densely throughout the canopy far above us, which was filtering out even more light than the normal canopy already did, but there seemed to be a shadowy aura all around us that felt much more sinister than a simple absence of illumination.

"Do you think this grove really is 'cursed'? Or are our tribal friends being just a tad bit superstitious?"

"I'm not sure," I replied thoughtfully, "but... I think it might be unfair to dismiss the Kobalt's concerns as superstitious given that most of their myths and legends have been references to the technology that our kind have introduced into their world; these monsters included."

"So, you think this curse may be some kind of technology?" she asked, and I shrugged.

"I don't know enough to make that claim just yet, but hopefully we can pass through this place without having to find out."

We walked for what felt like several hours, when the group finally ground to a halt, and Gisela moved to join me.

"Is light fading already?" I asked, and she shook her head.

"Not just yet; but the harvested meat must be roasted and smoked before dark, and we have already moved sufficiently clear of Palancar."

I nodded, and she bowed before heading off to make the required preparations.

As everyone began to unload their burdens and settle down, I noticed a trickling sound, like water, not too far off to my left.

"Hey, Evie. Watch my back a sec? I wanna check something out," I called, and she nodded, walking with me as I followed the sound.

We walked a couple hundred feet from the camp when I spotted the little stream; it wasn't wide enough to be a bother to cross like the one we'd traversed when entering the grove, but it seemed a pretty convenient spot to get water from while we made camp at that location.

When we returned to the group, I noticed that Gunter was leading Jeannie and Cameron around the periphery of the camp, and I studied them with interest.

They seemed to be collecting some gourd-shaped fruits from the floor, and taking them to the hunters who now had a fire going, and were roasting the meat over racks made by the creature's bones.

While everyone went about their work, I decided to head over to Casey and the supply cart.

"If we're stopping for the night, you should probably break up the guard pairs into a night watch," Casey called as I approached, and I nodded, as I retrieved the time telling device from the cart, and went to work on setting it up.

I quickly identified the positions of the various zeniths, then adjusted the device accordingly, and sorted out the time.

"Well, it looks like we're at seven in the afternoon, or twenty-two hundred hours," I noted, and Evie shot me a bewildered look.

"Seven p.m. is nineteen hundred hours, no?" she replied, and I snickered a little.

"On earth, yes; but on this planet, a day is thirty hours long," I replied, and Evie's eyes went wide.

"Fuck me," she muttered under her breath. "No wonder the days feel so long."

"According to Gisela, we have about two hours before sundown, and the night will last just under five segments, so let's say, fourteen hours? So, sixteen hours of watch," I explained, and Casey frowned.

"That's a long time. If we do eight hours each, then the last watch will wake for twenty-two hours straight the next day," she noted, and I nodded in response.

"We should talk to Gisela, and find out how they usually handle this."

I hailed Gisela, and she quickly came over to join us, and as I explained our concern, she nodded.

"The runners usually arise in the final segment before first light. Eating is done while darkness lingers, so that journey can begin with light; but for long journey, a daylight repose is customary. When the ascendant zenith shifts to descendant phase, those who kept last watch can sleep; just a bit longer than a segment, before afternoon journey commences."

"You said a segment is three hours, right?" Casey asked, and I nodded. "So, a four-hour nap, I guess, in sixteen hours of daylight? If we make camp just as darkness falls, and prepare to leave before the sun comes up, then we get, what, twelve hours of walking? We can easily make our thirty kilometer per day target in that time," Casey said, and I quickly nodded in agreement.

"If we sleep two hours after darkness falls, and wake up two hours before sunrise, then we get a ten-hour sleep-period," I began.

"So, two watches, five hours each?" Evie asked.

Casey nodded, but I rubbed my chin as I thought about it.

"Actually, I think it might be better to split the watch into four and six-hour shifts. If the four-hour group sleeps as soon as the sun sets, then they can get eight hours of sleep before waking up at the end of the six-hour watch. Then, the six-hour watch can sleep during the four-hour day-period, to make up their eight hours."

"That makes sense," Casey answered, but I frowned, as I suddenly remembered something.

"Is eight hours going to be enough to deal with a thirty-hour day?" I asked, and Casey quickly nodded.

"For normal humans, it wouldn't be. But for us, it won't be a problem."

"Because of our implants?" I asked, and she nodded. "Then what about the Kobalt?"

She turned to Gisela.

"How long do your people usually sleep?"

"A little over three segments," the girl answered, and Casey nodded.

"So, ten hours."

I turned to Gisela.

"If your people need to rest or anything at all, please advise us on what their needs are," I said to her, holding her gaze as she nodded slowly. "I know that most are willing to push themselves for our sake, but we need as many of them to survive as possible if our settlement is to prosper."

"I will take heed of your suggestion, and act accordingly," Gisela answered, as she bowed, and took her leave.

"Nate; one more thing. You shouldn't put yourself on any of the watch groups," Casey added, and I turned to study her.

"That won't set a good example," I countered, and she shook her head emphatically.

"You being tired when you need to make decisions and plan ahead isn't beneficial to the group."

"I agree with Casey," Evie added, and I bit my lip nervously, as she continued, "I highly doubt anyone would object either. We've all seen by now how important your leadership is; not only to our group, but these Kobalt people as well."

I thought about it for a bit, before nodding reluctantly.

"Hm... alright. So, we'll split the armored fighters between the two watches then?"

Casey nodded.

"Put Francesca on the later watch, since you'll probably be up in the earlier part of the night anyway, and during the day while she's asleep you'll also be around."

We ended up splitting the watch up into two groups; Jordan, Cameron and Jeannie, for the first watch; and Molly, Evie, and Francesca for the other, partially at Evie's suggestion, though she didn't seem to realize at the time that the trio would be split up for most of their time on watch anyway.

After organizing that, I decided to ask Casey about what Gisela had said, about the risks associated with the Kobalt using our weapons, and she rubbed her chin thoughtfully, as she listened.

"Well, it can be risky, but it doesn't necessarily have to be... though, I guess this sort of thing is difficult for them to understand. Our cores are basically what gives power to the weapons, which allow them to cut as effectively as they do. The same goes for our armor and the protection that they offer, as well as the abilities that they allow us to use."

"But... they have cores as well, don't they?"

Casey nodded, as she continued:

"Exactly. The difference, however, is our implants; which is an interface tool that directs the energy from our cores to where it is needed. Without an implant, they basically deplete their energy cores quickly, and the naturally occurring cores that they are born with possess a lot less energy than the ones we enter this world with in any case."

"So, they really can never possess the kind of capabilities that we arrived here with," I noted, and Casey shook her head.

"That's not right. It's entirely possible for them to do the things we do; it just requires an extensive amount of effort, and the right kind of instruction."

"Even without an implant?" I asked, and she nodded.

"Think of our implant as a cheat tool, which naturally does a bunch of things that can be learned anyway with enough time and effort; or a strong enough desire. That's why there's a Kobalt out there who can basically listen in on conversations from many miles away."

Or how the princess can use hypnosis, Casey finished the sentence in my head, shooting a quick glance at Evie, and I nodded.

"Wait, there's a Kobalt who can listen to conversations from many miles away?" Evie asked, and Casey nodded.