Chapter 309

When Layali woke up, her first emotion was shock. 'I… I woke up? Was that a dream?' She reached down to her inner thigh where the memory of the pain began. She felt the ridge of a burn mark and sat up with agonizing slowness. The soreness of the rest of her body was there, and when she looked down, there it was. It was dark around her, but the glow of the fire made it obvious. 'I… I was branded… he… he branded me?' She thought with horror, and the rest of her memories began to return as the fog of sleep began to lift.

'No… no something else… why there… and…' She fell back into the cloak that separated her from the ground. The memory of the swordsman jumping over her, his sword piercing the water while Zesshi ripped the creature apart with her bare hands, returned in earnest. 'Rescued… they rescued me. Right, I got too close… the mark then…?' The burn mark where the tooth tore her open was different. She looked down the length of her right leg, she recognized sutures easily enough, and some places were wrapped in stinking bandages that smelled like the herbs she knew Brain carried.

"You're awake." Zesshi said from behind her, and Layali rose up to look, Zesshi sat munching on some pink, chewy looking meat. A few feet away, Brain was sprawled out and snoring.

"I… yes, yes I am… what, my thigh? My injuries… was it all real?" Layali asked with wondering eyes while Zesshi's fingers picked at the food in her little wooden bowl.

The heterochromatic half elf nodded while she chewed on another bite. "Yes, you've been asleep for the last two days. You weren't that badly hurt, but it did put a toxin in you that kept you unconscious for some time. Fortunately the monster was large enough that… well," she held up a morsel between two fingers, "would you like a bite of him?" She smirked, and Layali's stomach growled with violent agitation.

The younger half elf put her hand on her belly and sprang to her feet, then winced… "Ow!" She yelped, and her leg almost gave out.

"Be careful, you'll pop your stitches. Brain seemed to be pretty good at those, but I have no idea how to fix them if they pop." Zesshi explained, and Layali gave a tiny nod that ended up more as a wince.

"I… yeah, I will…" Layali said, and Zesshi stood up, approached her, and handed the girl the bowl herself.

"Eat up. There's plenty, Brain is a pretty decent field cook. I tried, but…" Zesshi shrugged, "He swore I was going to burn the water."

Layali gave a weak smile at the weak joke, and plucked a fragment of the pink meat into her mouth, it was as chewy as it looked, but as she ground her teeth over it, the flesh began to dissolve and the flavor, savory and sweet, began to spread out over her tongue. She shoved several more pieces into her mouth, stuffing her cheeks like a chipmunk and saying, "Ish good."

Zesshi went to the spit and cut a few more pieces of the tentacle free, dropping them into another bowl and reseating herself cross legged on the grass.

"So… it wasn't that bad… I got… I got real lucky then. That thing was going to kill me." Layali said, looking down at the remnants of the creature that now served as her food.

"Luck was with you, that's for sure. Maybe making up for the bad luck of meeting Cerebrate, so don't worry, you've got a lot more good luck due to you after that." Zesshi said. It was meant to be encouraging, but Layali began to tremble at the name and tears began to quietly run down her face.

"Please don't say his name… I don't want to think of him, of it, of those days…" Layali said in a tiny, broken voice.

Zesshi looked down into her bowl, "Sorry." She said abruptly. "I'm not that used to talking to people, till this trip I don't think I've spoken to anyone other than Raymond, the Black Scripture members or other Cardinals for the last… thirty or forty years, maybe since I was younger than you. I don't really know much about being… gentle, with words. I'll try to be more careful."

Layali sniffled a little and took another bite, she chewed on the stuff for several seconds before asking, "Was it hard to work with monsters?"

"They're not monsters." Zesshi said, and Layali only looked back at her in turn.

"They're my comrades… my… I don't know, Cenna is my friend, some of the others, I think. Raymond, the old man has been with me for a long time…" Zesshi's mind whirled with possibilities. Old rumors came back to mind.

'The other runaways' or 'The deserters' or 'The Washouts' as they'd been derisively termed, warriors, casters, rangers and spies with scripture level potential who ran away and quit. Zesshi recalled an old conversation with Cenna, the Black Scripture captain after one went all the way through training and then just 'vanished' on his first mission.

"Traitors and abandoners… leaving you all with all the work, they really should be hunted down with more vigor and punished." Zesshi had said.

Cenna, with his loose dark hair cascading down his shoulders and his long spear on his shoulder, only shrugged. "Some do that, but they're the crazy ones."

Zesshi recalled her frown, "Which? The deserters or the ones who chase them?"

Cenna gave a slightly bitter laugh, "Both, in a way. You wouldn't know because you only go out after monsters, but things get… complicated, out there in the field on the regular missions. It's not always that simple, yeah we should follow orders and all, but the ones who can't? Nah, they got their reasons, and the only ones who really want to hunt those hard, are the craziest of the crazies. You ask me, a lot more naps, screwing, feasting, and a lot less bloody and complicated missions'd make everything a whole lot better for everyone."

"But, aren't you supposed to chase down a pair… like a week ago?" Zesshi asked, aghast.

"Yeah… Kirak and Shanda ran off on a mission and got sighted somewhere near the border. Gosh… I hope they haven't moved on, it would be a shame if they did and I couldn't pick up their trail again… I'll get right on it… after my vacation." Cenna answered, and meandered off, leaving Zesshi scratching her head.

When she set the memory aside, and found herself looking down at the patched up little half elf, Cenna began to make a lot more sense. "They're not… monsters, they're just… they do what they know… same as me… only… only I guess I didn't, and don't, know much." Zesshi bit her lower lip as she acknowledged, with great reluctance, her own ignorance.

"But they do… don't they?" Layali pressed. "They've gotta, to tell you what to do…"

"I… it wasn't ever bad, working for most of them, some yes, and they kept those away from me. Raymond was my handler, and has been for more than twenty years, closer to thirty, probably… I watched Cenna go from a godkin scrub to the rank of Captain. I came up with Time Turner's code name… they wouldn't…" Zesshi felt the words start to die on her tongue, 'act like Cerebrate' was what she'd intended to say.

But what could she say when confronted with the proof of what they all defended. 'My brother's screams as they cut his ears… that's going to stay with me for a long time… and how many other siblings do I have out there?' Zesshi wondered, and her mind staggered at the possibilities.

"Thank you for saving me." Layali said as the awkward silence stretched out.

"It's no trouble. Monsters like that are nothing but ants to me." Zesshi replied, then reaching into her bowl and finding that her fingers touched only emptiness and wet juices, she brought it up to her mouth and began to lick it clean. "By the gods that's good stuff." She licked her lips and went to slice off more pieces for herself, and when Layali moved closer to the roasting spit, Zesshi cut off a few pieces for her as well.

"So you're stronger than Brain by a whole lot, I guess." Layali asked when they sat back down again.

"Yes. If he's a hill, I'm a mountain." Zesshi answered it honestly, and glanced over at the swordless swordsman who snored obliviously a few feet away.

"Could I get that strong?" Layali asked with a tentative and hopeful look when she raised her eyes like a pleading puppy dog.

"As him? Maybe. As me? No, I was born this way." Zesshi replied, and then said, "But if you get as strong as him, there's not many you'd have to be afraid of. Who knows, maybe you even have a talent for some weapon or another and just don't know it yet."

"So… when I heal, can you… maybe teach me a little?" Layali asked, her eyes fluttered hopefully, and Zesshi answered immediately.

"I'll show you what I know, but be careful."

"More so than around water, I promise." Layali said with her hand over her heart, and resumed chewing with a smile on her face.