Why would the water be filled with blood and Charrack could only smell water? John looked up and down stream but no animals were in sight. Perhaps a large creature had been killed further up.
Charrack rushed forward towards the water, cupping some in his hands he slurped up the red fluid. A second later he spit it out.
"Iron dust in the water." He explained.
"So, could we scoop some out and let it settle at the bottom before drinking it?" John inquired.
Charrack glanced at the empty canteen on John's utility belt, "That depends. How comfortable are you with sharing?"
John didn't answer but looked into the river. He couldn't make anything out through the swirling red dust. If they could find a part that wasn't filled with heavy oxidized metals their chances of survival would be looking up.
John silently started moving upstream and Charrack followed behind at a respectful distance. After an hour or so they came to a cliff face with a roaring waterfall. Charrack nudged John to get his attention and yelled into his ear.
"Do you hear something other than the waterfall?"
John shook his head and started looking for a place to climb the steep cliff. According to his trigonometry estimates, the wall climb would be about two hundred feet vertical. Better to start as soon as possible.
John focused on putting one hand over the next, taking each movement as slowly as he could. Before long John's muscles ached and his fingers were bleeding, on top of that his broken finger was pulsing with pain, distracting him and weakening his grip.
Finding a ledge to take a break, he sat down and caught his breath. The ground seemed way closer than it should have, as if he'd only gone twenty feet up. Charrack stood on the ground staring up at him.
"Can't you climb?" John shouted down at him.
In response, Charrack bounded up the wall, hardly slowing down to check his grip, traversing in seconds what took John several minutes.
"At this rate, I might as well carry you up." He said to John.
"I don't want to be a hindrance."
"Trust me, it's better than watching you struggle all day to get halfway up."
Before John could protest, Charrack had him slung over his back and they were rapidly ascendimg the mountain. As uncomfortable as it was, John was grateful to get a break. Even when Charrack couldn't find a handhold, he bounded up another five feet or so to grab one. Whenever he did this, John clung on for dear life and wouldn't dare look down.
After an agonizing minute, they arrived at the top and Charrack set a shaky John down to catch his breath. At the peak they could see the cause for the troubled water.
Two great beasts were locked in an epic fight to the death, the sounds of their battle drowned out only by the roar of the waterfall. The beasts were great in side and terrible in appearance. The one appeared to be a mighty dragon from ancient tales and mythos, the other a shelled monster with claws and a scorpion's tail.
Blood poured from both of their bodies and expanded the pool under their feet, their fight over this water source had clearly been going on for some time. The earth had been scorched and the rocks turned to dust, an iron vein had been surfaced and ground into powder, it's contents mixing with the rivers water to create a toxic bane to the surrounding wildlife.
The dragon had a scale hide of a bright red color and the strange amphibian with the scorpion tail was black and round. The two paid no heed to the tiny sentients who could only watch in awe as they struggled for supremacy.
The shelled monster had a claw wrapped around the dragon's body, which in turn had it's maw clamped over the opposite pincer. The dragon gave a mighty heave, tearing the claw off of the monster and a terrible scream could barely be heard through the thunderous water.
The dragon broke free from the great beast's clutches, though not unscathed. A new wound could be seen pouring blood into the tainted solution of metal and water. It rose up into the sky and dove back down with it's talons outstretched like an eagle, catching the eyes of the shelled creature and tearing them out. It followed up with a massive bite to the exposed tissue beneath, ending the struggle.
The triumphant dragon bellowed a mighty roar that echoed off the cliffs and tree covered hills. It sniffed the air and turned it's head catching a glimpse of the pathetic beings who witnessed his battle. It slowly approached the two companions.
"Hey Charrack," John nudged his companion, "you wouldn't happen to have any arrows for that bow if yours, would you?"
Charrack looked helplessly at the imposing figure before then, "Even if I did did, you think they would work?
John shook his head. There wasn't any chance they would survive this encounter. Even though the dragon was injured, they were significantly smaller and weaker thanit could ever be. John looked around in desperation, hoping to find some means if escape. As soon as he took his eyes off of the dragon, it pounced.
Charrack immediately reacted. Throwing John and himself to the side and the dragon over stepped and stumbled off the cliff. If only that were enough to stop it. The dragon rose into the sky a moment later and began inhaling sharply.
John stood up, guessing the dragon's next move he shouted, "Into the water!"
He pulled Charrack into the bloodied pool behind him and a column of heat and smoke erupted from the dragons mouth. For nearly a minute they held their breath under the murky water. John felt like his lungs were going to burst, any second he would have to go up for air. The moment John thought he couldn't hold on any longer the dragon flapped it's wings and took off.
John grabbed Charrack and leapt out of the water, gasping for air. He gulped down as much oxygen as his tired lungs would allow. They had survived, though just by the skin of their teeth.
The water in the pool was still undrinkable, however they needed to only go upstream a little way to find clean water that was undisturbed. As an added boon, they could probably consume the meat from the giant monster. Upon closer inspection, John found it to be much like a crab, only with the tail of a scorpion and a mere four legs.
It seemed that things were starting to look up a bit. But John didn't realize Charrack had never moved since he had been pulled out of the water....