10 Chapter 10 : The Mark of the Enchantress

Maalick had the information but didn't understand the meaning "Wait, I don't understand everything that's going on here. Can you explain it more slowly?" he asked, chopping up the leaves.

"There are not only Lizardians and Humans in Uispeigna, if you've noticed. I'm a Troll and she's probably a Witch"

"I-I'm not!" she retorted.

Charlotte had a big drop of sweat running down her forehead. She tried to contain her anxiety, but Raz and Maalick could tell she was lying.

"Anyway, there's an effective way to find out if she is one of them"

"Which one?"

Raz distinctly spelt out each of his next words "The Mark of the Enchantress"

"The what?"

"It's a kind of birthmark in the shape of a heart broken into three parts. Usually it appears around their 10th birthday. That's how you can physically recognize a Witch"

The mark's name had brought Charlotte back to her life prior going to this island. A life in which she was being beaten by her parents and verbally abused. All because she was "different".

Maalick crouched down and put his hand on her shoulder. The orphan in him called upon all his compassion "Charlotte, I promise you that we won't do anything to you if you are a Witch. But you must tell us. We'll protect you better if we know what you are"

In the shadows of her life, Maalick was her light. She trusted him and in that sense, she turned shyly and lifted her red hair.

Maalick and Raz saw that she had the Mark of the Enchantress.

'A broken heart in 3 parts as Raz said'

Her Mark of the Enchantress was on her neck. The top one was greenish, the one on her left was yellowish and the last one was blackish. Which actually gave her that birthmark look.

Raz spat into one of the 2 makeshift bandages Maalick had prepared as if nothing had happened.

"Here, take it" he said to Charlotte.

The little girl hid behind Maalick, disgusted by what she had just seen.

The Lizardian took it instead and carefully applied it to her knee "With this, you should feel a little better. Then you'd better rest"

The bandage stung a little for Charlotte. Then she lay down next to the trunk and said in a sleepy voice "T-Thank you for saving me, sir"

The Lizardian answered her with a "Maalick. My name is Maalick"

She fell asleep, sinking into a peaceful dream. A type of dream she hadn't had in a long time.

Maalick went to Raz who handed him his bandage which was a bit bigger "You need to be treated too"

Maalick took the bandage and stuck it on his arm "Thank you"

Raz still had a large number of chopped leaves near him. He took a long look at the pile and decided to speak "I know this is not the best time. But maybe the Sadum's leaves could help make this ... go away" he said as he moved his gaze to his numbers.

The soldier touched his neck and just by brushing against it, he felt a sharp pain.

"Are you okay ?" asked Raz.

The pain gradually faded "I'm fine. For the numbers, we should wait a little longer. I don't want to wake up Charlotte"

Raz understood "All right. You should rest now. You must be tired from all this too. I'll take the first shift"

"Do you think we'll have time to find the camp ?"

Raz looked at the sun that was right above him, to determine what time it was "I think it must be 12 o'clock at most. Knowing that it's summer, the sun will be setting at around 8pm. So to answer your question, we do have time"

With this answer, Maalick climbed like a reptile on the branch just above Charlotte, to keep an eye on her.

Then he lay down and slept soundly.

***

"Hey, it's your turn" Raz whispered.

The young soldier rubbed his eyes "How long did I sleep ?"

"1 hour" replied the man with the tuks.

Within an hour Maalick was refreshed "I'm going to climb higher to get a better view. Is that okay ?"

Raz nodded "Just be careful to not tire yourself out for nothing. You never know what can happen here"

"Don't worry, I know my limits"

Maalick climbed the nearby branches to the highest level of the tree.

From up there, he could see most of his surroundings with his Lizardian eyes.

'If I want to survive in this world, I need to understand my sense of smell much better. It could help me detect dangers in my environment and even do other things'

Maalick was still clinging to the smell of jasmine from Charlotte 'I'll have to let go of it to train'

When he did so, a number of impressive smells ran through his nostrils 'Stay focus Maalick ! Focus yourself on one smell !'

He chose the first smell that he felt that could do the job. A disgusting but bearable smell, not like those of the Beradors.

Maalick recognized it right away "The smell of blood"

[ Quest : Handling the sense of smell ]

[ Your diligence in understanding your sense of smell, allows you to understand it better ]

[ Successfully concentrate on the smell of blood for 2 hours and you will be rewarded for your efforts ]

[ Reward: 1pt of [ Perception ]

[ Failure: None ]

'What is this now? A quest?'

Maalick thought to himself, 'So if I can focus on that smell, I'll gain a point of Perception. But why now? Why wasn't a quest created when I was fighting those monsters? It would have made more sense, if I'm supposed to be the entertainment of Mars'

Mars. It seemed so distant his meeting with the God of War, his test, the creation of his Armada and his warning.

The candidate began to regret not having him by his side 'I wish you were here to guide me. I'm not a general, a savior, and certainly not a hero. I'm just a vengeful soldier, a man who follows the orders'

This brief flashback was cut short by the stench of blood "I should get back to focuse myself. My mission is to protect Charlotte and Raz"

He looked at his rescuer and his ally.

The Witch was deeply asleep, dreaming of fictional and joyful moments of daily life with her parents.

While the Troll, was having a nightmare. Maalick didn't know what he was dreaming about, but he heard him mumble a name over and over again through his fidgeting, the Engineer.

After that Maalick inspected every tree, the ground and the air for potential danger during the time left. Fortunately, there was nothing that had or could threaten their safety.

He came down from the top of the tree and brought them back to reality an hour later.

Raz spoke to them about what to do next, "Good. Now that everyone is awake, I'll tell you what we need to do. To begin with, we need to find the Rosibbo camp"

Charlotte raised her hand like a studious student "M-Mister, how are we going to find the camp ?"

Maalick noticed the change in Charlotte's attitude 'It's good to see she's getting some colors back. Telling us that she was a Witch made her feel better'

"That's just what I was going to get to. At first I thought we could have used Maalick's sense of smell. But he hasn't gotten used to using it yet. So, we'll have to track any unnatural changes in the environment"

"Like what?" asked Charlotte.

"Anything that might be the result of Humans like explosions, construction marks, distinctive signs etc..."

"Sounds like a good plan in our current situation. But how are we going to know if we're going in the right direction ?"

"We don't really have a choice, Maalick. We'll just have to keep going straight and hope"

Maalick clicked his lizard tongue 'Hope. What a shitty feeling'

Charlotte moved closer to him and held his arm "M-Mister, can I... get on your back? My knee still hurts" she said, blushing with embarrassment.

Maalick was trying to find the right words to not hurt her "Listen Charlotte, it's better if you go with Raz. I'm a target, you understand? I don't want you to take a lost bullet for me"

The Witch clutched the Lizardian even tighter. With tears in her eyes she said to her savior "Promise me. Promise me that you will always be there, no matter what happens"

Maalick was surprised by the amount of emotion coming from her, as if she was able to make him transmit her own.

He replied "I promise you I will always be there"

Raz interrupted their little moment by coughing "We'd better get going"

Charlotte let go of the Lizardian's arm and climbed onto Raz's back. Maalick led the way, staying in front of them and serving as their shield as well as their spear.

They walked through the branches at a run. From time to time, they took a few short breaks, so that Raz could rest.

While they were walking, Maalick had completed his quest.

[ You have successfully completed the quest : Handling the sense of smell ]

[ You have gained 1 pt [ Perception ] ]

After seeing the notification, he immediately changed of smell to take Charlotte's odor in his nostrils 'Her smell is so refreshing'

Then after 5 long hours of walking, they finally saw a sign of civilization.

"Look at the smoke !" said Charlotte.

The sun was beginning to set at a dangerous rhythm. Raz and Maalick increased their tempo and descended from the tree through the jungle foliage, until they arrived in front of a hundred people.

They were all humans. They looked confused, their eyes were lifeless or they were laughing, as if what they had experienced was only a big deadly joke.

In front of them stood a cubic camp made of stone, measuring 5 km in length and easily 10m high, with barbed wire bordering the walls.

On the sides, he could see two watchtowers in which there were a pair of snipers, equipped with searchlights, watching their every move.

What was strange to the former human was that several soldiers were patrolling the walls with ancient weapons, 'What the hell are they doing with swords, axes or daggers?'

But the worst part was the front door.

It looked like some kind of fence from a cemetery, mixed with an armored safe door with black vertical bars.

Above it, was the name of the camp, Rosibbo, written in a dehumanizing way.

While Raz looked at the human constructions with great interest.

Charlotte said hesitantly "Daddy... Mommy ?"