Book 2 Chapter 18

The remainder of the journey was uneventful until the trio reached a dense stretch of mangrove forest. Most of the local fauna had stayed outside of Gwyneth’s light until then. She had napped while Diya and Oss rowed. The moon crossed its apex and was low in the sky when she awoke, poked Diya, and took his place. Oss turned down the offer of rest. While his body rowed, his mind and Core had been busy deconstructing and studying the tortoise’s essence.

Diya hadn’t been asleep for long when the group encountered a beast that didn’t fear the ancient bones. A python twice as wide as Gwyneth’s hips fell on the boat from the branches above. It clamped its jaws around Oss’s right shoulder, then coiled around his torso before pulling him up into the branches. Gwyneth’s surprised scream awoke Diya, and he jumped into action straight away.

Dispelling the boat wasn’t an option. However, the black-ink coat felt unnecessary at the moment, so Diya dispelled it and called forth the gauntlet in his right hand. Lashing the branches overhead helped him, letting him close in on the monstrous serpent before it could crush Oss.

I need a blade.

Diya kicked off the branch and grabbing at the monstrous beast with his left hand. His fingers failed to find traction on the slippery scales. Much to his surprise, Diya’s soul responded to his thoughts. A blade akin to the frost spider’s legs grew out of the gauntlet’s launcher. He plunged it into the thickest stretch of the monster’s flesh without a second thought. The blade pierced the hide and flesh with little resistance. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long enough to reach the creature’s internal organs. The flesh around the wound started to harden almost straight away.

The python thrashed as the frost started to spread, throwing Diya off. Fortunately, it uncoiled, too, dropping Oss in the water. Diya looked between the boat and Oss, contemplating his next move. He needed all his available Slimeskin to beat the monster. Oss disappeared into the marsh water with a loud splash, and Gwyneth’s eyes were wide with fear. Just as Diya prepared to assault the beast on his own, the python hissed while slithering into the neighboring trees and disappeared.

Oss emerged from the water, coughing violently. The man’s face was white, and hair stuck to his skin. By the time Diya had lowered himself from the mangroves’ branches, Oss had reached the boat. Gwyneth helped him back on board, and he collapsed on his back. The following coughing fit had him spraying pink spittle. When Gwyneth crawled towards him, Oss shook his head and waved her away.

“I’ll be fine,” he said.

“You probably have internal injuries, mate,” Diya told him. “Don’t be a hero. Gwyn’s got good eyes. She’ll find the problem in no time.”

“I’ve got two broken ribs,” Oss said. He unbuttoned his coat, revealing the shattered bone plating underneath. In comparison, the flesh beneath appeared reasonably unharmed. There were a couple of large welts on him, but nothing more serious. “It’ll take a couple of days, but I’ll be fine.”

“Is it a part of your power?” Gwyneth asked.

Oss nodded. He rested his against the boat’s side, breathing heavily. “I don’t have it in me to continue rowing.”

“It’s fine.” Diya dispelled the Frost Blade and gauntlet. The resulting wave of exhaustion left him with a headache, but he didn’t let the tiredness show. Instead, Diya summoned two lengths of Slimeskin and shaped them into paddles. They were much lighter than the bone, but he was left with no ink for additional constructs. “I’ll row the rest of the way—”

“Let me help.” Gwyneth took one of the oars from him, and the pair got rowing. Oss closed his eyes, and his breathing got quieter and regular before long. The man’s resilience surprised Diya. It wasn’t just Oss’s powers that impressed but his tenacity too. Once he had a moment alone with Gwyneth, he intended to invite Oss into their party formally.

It was mid-morning on the eighth floor by the time the trio reached their destination, and Diya was on the verge of passing out. He hadn’t rested since they left the hub. Eirkh’s card had improved his endurance but not to such ridiculous extents. Diya accepted Gwyneth’s help towards the end of the journey since he was on the verge of collapsing.

“Hold it there!” A woman shouted from atop the FTF settlement’s walls. The pair on either side of her lowered their rifles, aiming them at the boat. “What’s your business?”

“We’re here to use your gate!” Diya called back at them. “My friend is here hurt too.”

“Too bad. We don’t let just anyone in—”

The woman stopped mid-sentence when Diya held up the FTF’s compass. “I’m Diya Sen. Lydia said I could use your gates.”

“Well, Lydia also said there are two of you,” she replied. “Who in the world is that man?”

“Our newest member and vanguard. We got ambushed by a python with a head as big as his torso. I stabbed it in the side, and it fled.”

The woman exchanged wide-eyed looks with the guards on either side of her. She exchanged words with her colleagues before returning her attention to the boat. “Where did you come from?”

“We were initially heading to the Silthead settlement but changed course halfway there,” Diya answered.

“That means you passed through Zahhak’s domain, met her, and lived to tell the tale.” The woman laughed. “Lydia was right. You don’t know how to play safe.” She nodded to the guards, and moments later, the settlement's thick wooden doors swung open, letting the trio in.

The encampment housed more residents than Diya expected. Most of the people weren’t armed and didn’t look like combatants either. Unlike the DeLawney settlements they had sighted on the previous floor, it looked like a fortified village. The Montagus settlements on the sixth floor had much better infrastructure, but Diya believed that the FTF would catch up with them with time and investment.

When the boat docked, Diya recruited a couple of guards to carry Oss to a bed. The man’s eyes opened the second he was touched, and he slashed at everyone within reach using a bone dagger. Then he grimaced, met Diya’s eyes, and relaxed. Oss climbed onto his feet without assistance and staggered onto solid ground, clutching his side. Diya reclaimed the boat, and the trio followed the guards into the stone structures.

“I didn’t think you’d come all the way out here,” the woman said after introducing herself as Heidi. “When we received Lydia’s message, I doubted she was serious about you taking the rarely used routes. Only the stupid dare to brave the uncharted parts of the mangrove forest.”

“We didn’t plan to,” Diya told her. “Gwyneth needed a new card for her soul, and Oss helped us track an appropriate beast.” He nodded at the hide and bones they’d collected. “The mangrove forest insisted we continued towards your neck of the woods or lugged all of this back through a mess of crumbling ruins?”

“Ruins?” Heidi raised an eyebrow. “Anything worth salvaging?”

“I reckon we got everything worth taking,” Gwyneth replied. “I’m pretty sure I heard it collapse while we were rowing away. I’d say, don’t bother unless you have time and manpower to spare.”

“We’ll take your word for it,” Heidi replied. “I won’t send my warriors into Zahhak’s territory unless I have to.” She looked at Diya and Oss. “Doubly so if you lot injured her. She’ll be mad and scouring the swamp for humans.”

The settlement’s gate led straight to the next floor. According to Heidi, the FTF controlled most of the hub on the other side, but that didn’t mean the noble houses wouldn’t be present. Unwilling to risk it in their current state, the trio agreed to rest before heading across. Since Oss couldn’t tackle stairs or ladders in his current state, they left him and their luggage in a hut near the water. One of the guards owned the place and was more than happy to let him use the extra cot. Meanwhile, Heidi took Diya and Gwyneth to a cabin built into the trees above. The pair thanked her for her hospitality, washed themselves in a wooden tub of cold water, and went to bed.