Chapter 17 - Col

"Valor?" Diargo said.

He didn't dare take his eyes off the mark in the sand. "We found a Grevet."

The alarm in the ape's voice was evident, "I'll get him."

"No! He'll feel you coming, we might be able to slip by." Out of his peripheral vision Valor could see the Trykoori's massive shape start to move and then stop.

"Domhain gets her way" Col continued to stare at the center of the circle, his eyes glinting in the darkness. "Domhain has sent an assassin, I will be with Sikill soon.

"Col?" Valor had drawn the two swords that were strapped his back. He fixed his body into a defensive crouch. "You may be prepared to die, but I'm sure as hell not- "

The Grevet struck, its massive tail shot out of the sand like a whip, the bright emerald scales glimmered in the evening glow. Valor ducked with lightning speed; a reaction fueled by the lifeblood that pumped powerfully in his veins. The barbed tail cracked loudly in the air as it missed its target. In an instant he rolled to the side and turned to face the Beast that exploded out of the sand. Long emerald jaws snapped violently for his head, but he leapt backwards narrowly avoiding the jagged teeth. The lizard hissed in frustration, its powerful legs scrambling in the sand as it awkwardly pulled itself from it's hiding place. Valor took advantage of the opportunity and the charged the beast, his right sword raised above his hand while the other was in held in backwards grip at his side. The lizard hissed again, and dodged the downward slash of Valor's sword, but failed to dodge the second. The blade bit into scaly claws as the lizard lifted a leg to protect itself, screaming in pain and rage. In the same breath he saw the beast raise its tail. Idiot! So much for careful planning and proper execution, he couldn't even keep track of his enemy's limbs. Valor tried to back out, but the Grevet stomped on his foot with a massive scaly hand. Strategically pinning him in one spot. He kicked himself for his poor battle placement, a woefully ignorant action. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the loud crack of the tail, the song of death. He mourned how painful the venom would be, he didn't want Diargo to experience the agony as well.

CRACK!

Valor opened his eyes to the sound of the beast howling in the anger. No searing pain or agonizing muscle spasms, it missed.

"Fool." Col hissed, "Get out of the way."

He looked up in amazement. Col stood above him; his hand grasped firmly around the barbed end of the Grevet's tail. Sweat dripped off his nose as he struggled to hold the tail still. His dark eyes were unrecognizable as he glared at the Grevet from underneath his hood. Valor heard a wolf like snarl escape from the mask.

His eyes flicked down to Valor, who was still frozen in his crouch. "I said, Get out. Of. The way."

Valor didn't need a third warning, he dove out of harms way and whirled around to face the Grevet once more. Col released the tail and cleared the distance between him and the lizard in the blink of an eye. The Grevet hissed again, radiating a new sense of uncertainty. Col pounced on its back before it could strike again. He raised his hand to attack, and the brief glint of cold steel could be visible. When sliced his hand across the nape of the Lizards neck it dropped instantly. Col walked calmy out of a cloud of dust and sand towards him, the corpse of the Beast behind him.

"She's testing me…" Col muttered and placed a hand on Valor's shoulder. "It was not your time."

The man's hood remained on his head, his face was nearly invisible underneath the setting sun. His eyes had lost the predatory fire, and he looked at Valor with same lost sadness he had before.

"I'm cold, let's go".

***

Late into the next morning, the group felt fresh enough to continue traveling.

"How far do you think it's going to be?"

Col casted a dark look out to the horizon, "It's hard to say after the sandstorm, I can't find any landmarks. But Diargo has great stamina, we should be able to get there before nightfall."

"Yeah, I hear that a lot."

Valor scrunched his forehead, "From who?"

Over time the sand slowly turned into grass, a sign that the tyranny of the Kypeeran desert was coming to end. The occasional sprout of grass was exciting, it was a sight that neither of them had ever seen. Eventually the sprouts turned into patches and patches turned to stretches. Sooner than later, it was the sand that was a rare sight. Through the many hours of travel, Col did his best to answer all of Valor's questions. Realizing quick into the journey that sulking and irritation would do little to deter the constant inquiries. Though the conversation did help in lessening the boredom, sand dunes and sparse bushes could only be interesting so many times. Before long the trio arrived at their destination. The valley of short grass they had been travelling through was suddenly dwarfed by massive stalks of black grass. The grass looked like a black wall, tall enough to brush the tips of Diargo's shoulders.

Valor breathed in awe as the gorilla swiped in annoyance at the green tips of grass that gently brushed across his skin.

"The great plains of Machar…"

"It's Beautiful," Col said. His hood moved silently as he swept his head across the horizon.

Each blade of grass was as black as night and tipped a bright green. An ocean of darkness, constantly moving as the grass swayed in the wind. Strange to think how one part of this continent could be so different from another, yet so similar. As if the Sun showed Machar mercy, saving it from its scorching heat.

"The machari call this Domhain's Gate" Col said as he motioned towards the significantly taller grass. "Beyond the walls of Fe'ar, lies the villages and clearings of the Machari people."

"The walls of Fay-are-what?"

Col sighed, bent down to grab the grass close to Diargo's shoulder. He quickly ripped off part of the stalk and presented it to Valor.

"This is Fe'ar"

Diargo sniffed and tasted the air, his amber eyes scanning the black stalks of grass. "Fe'ar is… interesting."

Valor echoed Diargo's statement out loud to Col, who nodded his head slowly. "Domhain has blessed the wolves with Fe'ar, it is the ultimate camouflage for their bodies." He reached out and brushed his fingertips against the green tips. "Down to bright green eyes."

Diargo curled back his upper lip, "It makes them invisible"

The Fe'ar seemed to press in on them from all sides. He felt a chill run down his back at the thought of the massive Machari wolves moving completely unseen in the ocean of darkness.

Col stiffened suddenly. His head tilted to one side, and he closed his eyes.

"Hey, are you good?"

"Quiet," Col hissed at Valor from behind his mask, his eyes flashed toward the grass to their right. "A patrol is here".

"Diargo can you sense anything?"

The ape rumbled in his chest, "Not a thing." His muscles clenched as he stared at the spot Col was looking at. Ready to react to whatever threat came out of the grass.

"Great one, please calm yourself. They can smell it."

Diargo snorted, and for a moment Valor could feel a flare of again in the Ape's chest. Though it dissipated from the reassuring pat on his shoulder from Col

"The wolves can smell all things." Col's voice was growing louder, clearly not worried about being overheard. "Even the prowess of a warrior."

Diargo's body weight shifted, and Valor knew with a roll of his eyes that the ape was subconsciously flexing his great muscles. "I like this human more and more."

"Yeah, he's great" Valor said as he tried to probe the Fe'arˆ with his galden, hoping to identify any sign of the powerful beings that were stalking towards them.

On cue a patch of grass beside them rustled. Diargo readied muscles for whatever was waiting to pounce on them from the shadows. From out of the grass stalked three wolves, all as big as the Trykoori. Thick muscles rippled in their black pelts as they walked. Their bright green eyes flashed menacingly, though they all stepped into the short grass cautiously. They sat on the far edge, just beyond the wall of Fe'ar. The wolf on the far right sniffed the air and then narrowed its eyes at Col. The middle wolf lifted his great head and howled into the air. A song that chilled Valor to his bones, it echoed hauntingly across the plains and died in the hills surrounding them.