Seth did not look back as he ran. He did not check to see if anyone had noticed him. He did not check to see if any had followed. He simply soared through the distance, passing foliage in the dark and bumping into plants and trees he did not see well enough.
"You, count," he commanded no one in particular as he ran.
Noted, one mind answered.
"You."
Yes. This from another.
"Keep me away from the trees. I don't want to be useless when we find him. He might need assistance."
Noted.
What of us? Another mind asked.
Dread filled Seth as he gave this one its instruction. "Make sure we're ready to die when we find him."
Who knew what monstrosities lurked in the parts of the forest Clint did not allow them venture into.
Like in the Lucid Dreaming?
Seth nodded, the wind rushing past his ear so that he didn't hear himself when he answered. "Like in the Lucid Dream." He ducked under a tree branch a mind pointed out, though he did not see it.
"Only this time," he continued. "We won't be properly armed."
He did not know how long he ran, and while he knew how many trees he passed before taking a turn, he did not count. Only after a significantly long while did another piece of his mind stop him.
We're here, it thought, and Seth came to a stop.
"Here?"
Yes. In its thoughts Seth thought he heard an anger centered at itself. This is where we lost him.
Seth ignored the anger as he took a knee surrounded by trees, mist, and darkness. He studied the ground before him and frowned. "I can't see a damned thing."
High above him the moon was more than a crescent tonight, but it wasn't full. It gave him enough light to see his hand in front of him. But tracking with it was almost impossible.
Put your hand over the ground right there, a mind told him, a bit more to the right.
He obeyed without question, moved his hand under its guidance until it was satisfied.
Now bring it down very slowly.
Again, he obeyed. He lowered his hand, slow, like a man walking in water yet afraid he would drown. When it barely grazed the surface of the dirt beneath him, his mind bade him stop.
Now just move it.
Seth frowned. "What we need is light, not this nonsense. We need fire."
We do that and we won't be the only one's looking for a human.
"We can't find him like this," he protested. "We can't find him by touch alone, or whatever this is. We can't track like this."
We can, it chastised. And we will.
Seth had a few choice words to say, but considering he was useless and devoid of ideas right now, he held his tongue. This was all he had to work with and he would use whatever he could
.........
It was an hour before Seth made any breakthrough in his search, and even that was not by his power.
Through the hour he searched quietly and slowly. His hands wandered the surface of the earth, all three minds tracking and searching, devoting their attention to the task at hand. There was a broken unity amongst the three of them so that when one grew distracted by the initial task given it, the next took its place. In this manner he kept awareness over his surrounding, keeping himself safe from predators that may be.
Each patch of land he moved on from was a patch he did not return to. It was strange having his minds lead him, surrendering that level of control over to them. But somethings seemed more important than his sanity. Timi was his friend, an important one in the seminary where he did not truly have any other, brothers though they had been forced to be.
But his refusal to believe he would consider the possibility of sacrificing his sanity for the boy led him to lie to himself, to tell himself he did this to curb the growing guilt that suffocated his chest. He willed himself to believe he did all this because he did not like the guilt. Should anyone ask him, it was the guilt that spurred him. But the truth did not elude him. Timi was more important than he'd ever thought the boy would be.
It was somewhere in the second hour when a howl caught his attention. He was deep in the forest now, a part uncharted by the children under the guidance of Reverend Clint. In these parts his caution was heightened, his fear a walking companion that left him jumpy at the slightest sound, like a skittish horse.
The sound echoed all over the forest. It was like the sound of something dying in an empty room. He hated the echo. It made him unable to place from whence it came. Worse, farther down the mist was thicker, which meant he would be able to see less, and that was if the sound was even coming from its direction.
Bracing himself for whatever may be, he crossed the distance and plunged into the lands of the mist.
He would find Timi there or get lost with him.
Not a proper determination, but we guess we'll take what we can, a mind thought almost absently.
Seth ignored it as he walked forward, the growing mist rising with every step until his feet were swallowed in a mist of white. This, too, he ignored.
He kept his ears primed as he moved, listening for the next sound. The next disturbance. The next guide on his path to Timi.
The mist was halfway to his knees when the it came. It pierced the air like an arrow, a shriek most inhumane. His minds picked it like a homing beacon.
There!
Seth did not question it. His steady feet and cautious steps were abandoned to the mist beneath him as he fell into a sprint, his mad dash guiding him forward. He weaved and ducked, jumped and scaled. The path his minds led him on was a challenge on parkour. There were no flat grounds, only bumps and rocks, trees and vines, each so haphazardly placed that it seemed a forbidden forest designed to keep people out. It was a cacophony as compared to the nigh woods-like nature of what he was accustomed to of the place.
But why do you think he's out there? A mind asked as he ran. We mean, it could be something else.
His thoughts had his steps slowing. He did not stop running, but he did stop sprinting. The possibility had not escaped him; he'd merely depended so much on hope that he had ignored it. To have his minds point it out for him was troubling.
He continued forward a while longer in what was a crouched jog before he was forced to hunker down behind a tree.
Something's wrong, a fragment of his mind thought as he crouched behind the tree.
He frowned at the thought. "You don't say. We're in a forest filled with mist, looking for a boy we aren't sure is even here."
There was something dismissive about his minds as a fragment responded, not that.
"Then what?"
That sound.
"What sound?"
It's your ear for reia sake. Listen.
Seth didn't like the tone of his thoughts, didn't like the chastisement in it. But it was right, it was his ear. So he calmed his breathing, chaotic from his run, and listened. The sound of leaves rustling in the night air teased at his sense of sound. He felt the night's chill on his skin as it seeped through his cotton shirt. This he ignored, placed his focus on the sounds around him. In time, he heard what his mind intended him to.
It was a feint echo of thudding and groaning so feint he knew he would lose it to the slightest distraction.
He followed gently after it, struggling to keep hold of the sound as it repeated in a broken rhythm, one coming after the other. A steady repeating cycle of two sounds.
The closer he drew to it, the more he noticed there was a third. It was the tired breathing of an overworked person. The steady panting of one who had overexerted himself.
He still didn't see clearly in the misty night, so when he was close enough to see the silhouette of action, he eased himself behind another tree, squatted, and watched.
The silhouette was no doubt that of a human. But while his heart leapt at the thought of finding Timi, he needed to ensure his brother owned the silhouette. It was not impossible to believe Timi was the heap lying in the mist, the victim of the ever rising and falling hand.
He peeked out from behind the tree and watched. Whoever was striking so vehemently was tired now, fatigued. From the way he raised his hands and brought them down, it was clear there was something wrong with at least one of his arms.
Seth doubted the person had much of a fight left in him. Whatever he had been through had left him drained.
The next time his hands descended, there was no thud, in its place was a wet crunching sound of something breaking. The next strike bore the same sound, a symphony of grunts and panting like backup singers to its encore.
He must've really hated that thing, one of his minds mused.
"Wait," Seth whispered. "You can tell the difference between the two of them?"
Of course, another mind answered, perplexed. That's obviously Timi bashing in the head of some reia beast we definitely don't know.
"You should've said something sooner!" Seth hissed, leaving the cover of the tree to go after his brother.
Really, it's your eyes, a mind pouted, then added to the others: We wonder why these things amaze him.
Timi froze as Seth approached him, hand paused mid strike. He watched Seth from the corner of his eyes, keeping his prey within sight. In it there was the hold of fatigue, a child tired of a horror forced upon him. There was also a mild touch of anger, frustration, hate, fear… and despair.
Seth knew the look, at least he thought he did. He'd had it once before during the consequence of his failed daily quest. So rather than approach his brother with the joy that was slowly filling his heart, he brought himself to a halt. He stood carefully, hands held out before him in a placating gesture, revealing himself unarmed. He did not think his brother would attack him but needed the boy calm.
You sure? A mind asked. We mean, back then we would have attacked anybody, even Natalia.
Seth gritted his teeth, held back his response. If his mind was right, then it meant any unnecessary sound would trigger Timi. All the while, the boy continued to watch him from the edge of his vision, never taking his attention off his quarry. It was almost as if he didn't trust the creature beneath him was dead.
"Hey," Seth cooed, resuming his approach with slow steps. "It's me. Seth. I'm a friend."
And here we thought you were dinner.
Seth fought back the urge to scold the mind.
Whatever was beneath Timi let out a low growl and Seth jumped at the sound. Timi, for his own part, merely returned his action to the creature and bashed its head in again.
"Rumor has it that they can still kill after they're dead." He bashed it a second time, and Seth noticed the blood spatters on his brother's face. "So it's best to keep at it."
Yup, it's official, a mind thought. Fatso's lost his marbles.
We'll miss him, another added. We'll head back and let them know we didn't see him. There's no way we're taking back some raging lunatic with a rock.
"Quiet!" Seth hissed under his breath.
Timi's attention swiveled to him, chastised. "Sorry."
Seth shook his head quickly, his approach still cautious. "Not you, brother."
"Oh," Timi said, uncertain. It didn't last. His attention perked up at something Seth did not pick up on and he struck the creature again.
Seth cocked a brow at him, certain the creature hadn't even moved.
Timi shrugged. "Can't be too sure with these things."
Seth nodded slowly as he approached, hands still held out in a placating gesture. When he was close enough to smell the corpse, he almost gagged at the stench.
Holy fuck! A mind exclaimed. Didn't that thing just die?!
It smells so terrible, another cried.
We can almost taste it. Why would you do this to us, Seth? We know we've been bad, but we've done nothing to deserve this. By god, it smells horrible. Nothing should smell this bad.
Seth lowered his hands and ignored them. If they could be this dramatic then it meant they were fine. This meant his pressing priority was Timi. But they were right. Whatever the creature was, it smelled horrible, like month old detritus left in a septic tank older than a grandfather after a cat died in it.
Or spoiled eggs fried over steaming dung, a mind offered.
Or that, another agreed, and Seth fought its urge to nod with his head.
Suffice to say, it smelled horrid.
He stood beside Timi's kneeling form now and peered down at the creature his brother was straddling. He did not recognize the face. Not that it surprised him. Its face was so battered he couldn't make anything out of it, save perhaps what he assumed was a brain leaking out of the side of it where a massive gash was.
"Any idea what that is?" he asked.
Timi didn't say anything. But just before Seth decided there would be no answer, he spoke. "Rumor has it that it's called a shrike."
Seth studied the creature again—the parts of it he could see. Besides the head, it had something of a feline body, like a big cat. It could easily be mistaken for something from the family of lions and tigers. However, its body was too long, and where the feline family had four limbs it sported six. He turned his head to look at the rest of it lying behind Timi and noted its tail. It was like a metal ball with multiple spikes, like a Morningstar.
"A shrike," he muttered, more to himself than anything.
Timi nodded.
Clint had said nothing of such a creature in his lessons. Was it new? He wondered. Then he discarded the thought. Timi had heard rumors of it, which meant it was a known creature. Then why had Clint said nothing of its kind? Was it that unimportant?
Instead of the questions plaguing his mind, he went for a simpler question.
"Is it dead?"
Timi raised his hands above his head and Seth noted for the first time that they trembled. His brother brought them down, the massive rock still in his grip, and another wet crunch filled the air, behind it a stench gravely repulsive followed.
Timi looked up at him with something he couldn't quite place in his eyes. "It's dead now," he told Seth, then dropped the stone and fell on his side.
Seth walked around the creature to the side Timi had fallen and picked the boy from beneath both arms. He dragged the boy from the creature, struggling under the weight of him, and Timi let out a suppressed groan with each step he took. Seth wondered just how hurt the boy was as he pulled him.
He dragged him for a while, laboring under the task until they were far enough from the smell and the corpse, then he rested him against a tree and sat beside him.
Timi's eyes were closed but Seth knew his brother was awake. Now that they were in no pressing trouble he really paid attention to the boy. Timi's left arm was off somehow, broken at the forearm. His medical knowledge told him it was a compound fracture. Luckily, it wasn't a nasty one. With the potions and medications in the healer's care, he would be up and functional in no time; two months or less.
Timi's clothes were tattered as well, and further inspection proved it stained red in blood that belonged to him. He bore too many injuries, and from his right leg protruded a spike three inches in length. Seth grimaced at the injuries.
How was he still fighting? A mind thought.
Seth had an answer but said nothing. He'd been in this situation before, fighting for his life. The fear of death did a lot for some people. If a person had no intentions of dying, they would do mad things and survive even worse. He spared his friend a glance and wondered just what had happened.
So he asked.
"What happened?"
"You found me being cornered by a reia beast and helped me," Timi answered, eyes still closed. "Together, we killed it."
Seth's brows furrowed. "But I didn't."
Timi turned his head to look at Seth. His eyes were a lightless black, which was wrong.
Aren't they supposed to be brown? a mind asked. Something's very wrong.
"You did," Timi said with an odd certainty, at the same time Seth told his mind: "And mine are grey. It doesn't mean something's wrong."
It was Timi's brow's turn to furrow. "You noticed the color."
Seth refocused his attention on him and smiled. "It's kinda hard not to."
Timi returned the smile with a sheepish one. "I was hoping you wouldn't."
"Then you shouldn't have looked me in the eye. So… how did we kill it?"
Timi shrugged and groaned audibly at the action. "I'll leave that to you. You're better at coming up with these things."
Seth cocked a quizzical brow. "These things?"
"Lies," Timi answered without missing a bit.
Fatso's talking a lot, a mind pointed out. Are we sure he's good?
Seth didn't reply it. But it spoke true. Timi spoke very rarely ever since the first test, opting to use the seminary's hand signs rather than words. And even then he communicated in short and quick signs. It had forced Seth to take Reverend Clint's sign lessons very seriously as he was most often the boy's point of communication.
"Then," he began slowly, "you served as bait and I jumped from…" he looked around at the trees and pointed at one close enough, "from that tree and bashed its head in with your rock. Good enough?"
"It wouldn't have died from one hit," Timi said with closed eyes.
Seth nodded. "That's why I didn't hit it once."
"How many times?"
He shrugged. "No idea. I just kept hitting."
"What of me?"
"You were bait. Remember? That's why you're a mess. I was the coward who hid and attacked."
Timi's frown told him the boy didn't like the idea of people seeing him as a coward, but the boy said nothing.
"Where's your hunting knife?" Seth asked.
Timi shrugged and this time he moaned his pain. After a moment of calm, he answered. "I have no idea. I lost it somewhere."
Seth nodded in understanding. He got to his feet and extracted his knife from its sheathe strapped to his waist behind him. "Gareth's going to be very displeased."
Timi made a sound that could've been a chuckle. "You can give me yours and tell him you lost it."
Seth smiled down at his brother. "I don't think so."
"C'mon, help a brother."
"Look at it this way. When they see the state you're in, they could forgive you seeing as you survived a reia beast. As for me, they'll be more than eager to punish me."
Timi's lips pulled into a small smile and he said nothing else. His breathing eased and he took his time to rest.
When Seth started to walk away, he spoke again. "Where are you going?"
"Well, we held our last stand here. But this wasn't the only place you fought it. It needs to bleed in more places. I have to get its blood spread around." He waved the hand that held the hunting knife around. "I'll have to make sure it's believable."
Timi cracked one eye open to look at him, then closed it back without a word.
Seth walked away after that, approached the body of the reia beast. It continued to stink something putrid but he needed to do what had to be done. Whatever Timi had done, he didn't want the seminary knowing. It had been enough to make the boy make conversation. That much was enough to make Seth comply.
If the boy said they killed it together, then they killed it together.
He crouched in front of the creature and found himself studying it again. The head had been significantly bashed in. To accomplish this level of destruction required a level of power children their age weren't supposed to possess.
He looked behind him at a resting Timi and wondered.
What is he hiding? One of his minds thought.
Seth sighed. He would like to know, too. But he couldn't ask. There were questions meant to go unasked amongst friends. Questions he wouldn't want asked of him.
"Let him keep his secrets," he told himself.
Why? Another mind asked.
Seth didn't have to answer, one of his other minds answered for him.
Because we have ours too.
None of his brothers asked about the past of each other. They hadn't done it when he'd joined them and they hadn't done it now. He wasn't sure how they felt about their origins but he remembered enough of Jabari's words to him to know he would lie if asked. He wasn't certain what he would say, but he was certain the name Darnesh would never leave his lips. And neither would West Blue.
So he turned the knife in his hand, surveyed his environment, then went to work. He would have to move the creature around a few times to accomplish his goal. But first…
He stabbed the knife into the creature's stomach and grimaced.
His minds balked at the stench.
Fucking hell! One repeated. Nothing should smell so bad.