Plop!

  Each eyelid took effort to open, the brows going high along with them. The raindrop began to trail down my nose, feeling like a warm, soothing touch. The coarse, woolen fabric of my arm wiped it off.

  Then plip…! Plop… Plip. Plop. Plip-Plop-Plit-tat-tat-tat-tat.

  Weariness sloughed off in moments at the increasing rainfall. The winds howled high above the canopy, breaking on the many strong trunks of the fiterets. Water rushed down in a deluge, enough to shroud the whole coastline in waves back home. Not even the grand quays of Ergelna could survive this.

  The world broke into a fsh of bright light, fading instantly before the boom hit. It shook the ground, the leaves whipping from the wind. The rain forced my head downwards, looking up bringing water straight into each eye. My clothes soaked up rain until they felt like armor, pulling down every frantic stride as I attempted to the save my only food.

  Then with growing consciousness from the panic of sleep, my head turned skywards and opened up. The rain filled my mouth in seconds. Sometimes the gulps went down unevenly, the throat muscles near my head working. Yet, the rain had no mud or risk. Each drop more meant a drop less spent on dirty water from the farms.

  With enough to satisfy morning thirst, I started the trek down south with little ceremony. It had been a split-second decision to leave, seemingly no point in standing still since the rain would fall no matter what. There wasn’t any cover besides the endless forest for leagues around.

  The fog and rain combined to limit vision to only ten tabrins in every direction. That didn’t mention the dense trees and brush all about only condensing it further. Each hand was filled to the brim with snake flesh, my back hunched over to try and protect as much of it as possible with my own body. I ate it while moving.

  The ground began to slip with the continuous downpour, the lower nd starting to flood. The great roots of the fiterets kept much of the ground in pce, but any loose dirt, branches, or foliage found itself tumbling straight towards the ocean. The world went up, each step moving at an incline. Each footfall felt like trying to walk on a soaked sponge.

  Worry set back in as the hours passed. The snake meat had been totally soaked through at that point. Would it have been a good idea to use the skin as coverage? No, skin rots just like meat if unprepared. Wrapping it around the meat after its been lounging around in the mud all day would only ruin the meat faster. Despite the mountain of flesh in my hand, the realization all of it might have to be thrown away sunk in. Surely it could survive a bit of rain, right?

  The pitter-patter of the storm became just as constant as slow rush of waves beating against the shore. Everything soon began to darken, the nd around already rather gloomy from the bck clouds high above. Those bugs refused to chirp anymore, vanishing into their hidey holes for safety. The lightning became the only source of illumination in the nd, a northern comet or two helping paint the leaves in a blue or red as they soared low. Their whistling, the crash of thunder, and the squish of my feet were almost drowned out by the rain.

  Then, just before calling it quits for the day, a flicker of golden light danced across a tree. A strangely clean scent followed it, something akin to… Was that vanil? My nose sniffed twice, the smell of the life-giving flesh in my hands becoming bnder by the second. My feet almost moved before they stilled. This could be from murk beasts.

  Crouching lower than before, I began to move through the brush. The long leaves of ferns tickled my exposed skin, leaving behind streaks of water, each one swiftly drowned out by the rain above. With each step, the light grew denser, the roaring fire casting the world into light.

  My eyes caught a glimpse of it. It was no murk beast construct. It was a forest fire made entirely of golden fmes. At first, they captured my mind, completely mesmerized by the way they waved in the air. Then my eyebrows furrowed. This fire looked completely unnatural. Each fme spread incredibly slowly, as though they had to convince the leaves and trees or give and introduction and ask for permission before it could spread. In fact, the nearest branches, trunks, and foliage appeared almost completely intact despite the fire engulfing them.

  A single flicker of fme began to trail away from the bze, heading roughly in my direction. The rain hammered away at it, but the little ember did not perish. It caught on a bark’s grooves, remaining there until fme began to spread out from its ravine. Droplet of water rushed down the bark, yet just like earlier the fire refused to die at the inconvenience. There hadn’t even been a sputter.

  Only then did the full implications of the slow moving fire dawn on me, eyes going wide. If this fire managed to even get a single spark on my clothes, and forbid my skin, nothing could remove it. Each step back was a step closer to safety. Let its vanil scent and dazzling golden hue burn safely far away from me. A creeping suspicion, one that said this fire would turn the oceans into steam before it went out, grew.

  I bumped into a tree backing up, but it could not deter the retreat. This fire had more in common with the magical fmes of the Verenolians rather than normal bzes. My back bumped into another tree, a stern twig digging right into my spine. Wincing, this pce became the new camp for the night. The golden light stayed just in sight, nothing more than flickers of yellow against the trees.

  In the morning, the fire reached where the farthest extent of the light had been before, those trees that had been basking in the light the night before bathing in fire. The rain did not let up from the night before either, my only food supply thoroughly soaked. It didn’t get any better, but it gained the added property of feeling like eating liver, the meat mushy. However, if it was still edible, then it was still edible. Morning hunger couldn’t compin about a full belly. My tongue had a few thoughts though.

  Circling around, the fire proved to not have spread in too big of a radius. Then, just as it came time to leave, my long, flickering shadow seemed to beckon back to it. It was free, unquenchable fire. They warmed my back, its potential utility too great to ignore entirely. With furrowed eyebrows, the shadow moved. In desperation, one more fire could always be made. The rain soaked into my hair, pstering strands to my forehead. Although, a fire could only be made if the weather allowed for it. I took another step forward, then another, and again until it was left far behind.

  Despite the starting of the day by the fire, the rest of it passed on without much issue. The rain, thunder, and howling winds proved to be constant companions. Sometimes there were trips and stumbles, but never enough to warrant further detail. The muddy ground tended to slip beneath my feet, or on other occasions, sink in until it sthered new mud up to each knee. The pouring storm swiftly washed off all dirt, repcing it with its own annoyances of weight and water.

  Nearing the night, the nd fttened out enough to be considered straight. It still appeared uneven and wavy, but the ‘top’ of these hills had been reached. More importantly, the water drained out from the tops, leaving it not only the driest piece of nd, but also the safest from potential ndslides. At the top, another few slices of meat disappeared into my stomach before the true dark settled in.

  Before first light of the next day, eyelids opening in concern, something stalked around the treetops. Murk beast or wild animal? Murk beast or wild animal? Murk beast or wild animal? The thought ricocheted in my mind, my sword entering my hand in moments. Every heartbeat pounded against my chest and head. The treetops went silent, completely drowned out by the winds whipping the leaves and the roaring pattering of the storm. It knew I noticed it.

  A strange smell started to permeate the meat. I left some of the snake flesh down on the ground, taking only a few st slices as a final breakfast. Making a wide arc around the trees, my sword pointed high, my eyes caught a glimpse at what hunted. It had orange fur, bck stripes, and a white underbelly. A tiger, but nothing like those ensved Stelcs. The creature remained far, its amber eyes watching mine. It froze there, nothing but its head moving as its gaze followed my footsteps. Although, my sword arm shook with the violence of the wind, the beast holding onto its branch like its life depended on it. Bested at its game of stealth, it chose to remain in the trees. It watched from its perch, waiting for a crack in my defenses or for my absence.

  Only when the beast was no more than a dim eye crossed between two trees, did it move. Orange and bck followed from that slit until nothing more than the pouring rain and wet foliage remained. Turning back meant death. If there had been one thing to gather from all the Stelcians, it was there love for sneaking up on people. Whether that was due to them telling their master what had been done, or more likely to crush their necks, the ability of tigers was unparalleled. That had been in farmnds with little cover too… Ignorance was bliss, but I would wager knowledge kept a man alive for longer.

  My heart continued to thrum at the thought, a dazzling bck stripe there and an orange coat of fur there. Or had it all just been a dark tree or colorful fruit? Lightning fshed, its light piercing even through the thick fog. Its amber eyes fshed in the distance, keeping a distant watch.

  Another crash illuminated the gloomy nd, the tiger’s eyes farther this time. Though it prowled from branch to branch, its form zily pursued. Slowly, but surely, it faded across a slope of the hills. My terms had been acceptable for the moment. Leaving without either of us getting harmed was preferable to getting maimed by a sword.

  Finally safe, I tore through the st scraps of breakfast. Officially, there was no more food by the st bits of bnd flesh clinging to my hands. That too, with no more meat, began to wash away with the rain.

  My brow furrowed at the overabundance of rain. Four days marked the longest storm without a break back home. Even so, that one had only a day of harsh weather while the rest came as a slow drizzle. This one came as an unabashed constant, the rain only worsening by the day. Sometimes the murk beasts spoke tales of woods of endless storms. Having experienced one, they finally earned the title of rainforest.

  With the endless deluge not letting up, and my sword slopping back inside its sheath, another realization came. If nothing was done soon, the steel of my bde was bound by nature to turn to rust. Since not much more could be done to alleviate the problem with such limited resources, turning the sheath upside down to empty it became the best solution.

  The rest of the day went off without much trouble. However, it also marked the day when I committed to tracking just how long it had been since washing ashore. The first day marked waking up, the second the start of the rain and golden fire, the third not much of note, and the fourth finding a prowling tiger. The fifth approached by the dawning of the sun, nothing but a formless haze of burning yellow piercing through the gray clouds.

  The nd stayed on a steady incline, slim, but true. Even more, the fifth became the next day in which there was no more food to wake up to. Rainwater helped assuage the stomach’s grumbles, but nothing but good old food could satisfy it. If flesh, cooked flesh to be exact, was not secured soon, then it all came back to square one.

  A deep breath in and then a deep breath out. My hands, rough yet recently too bony, cupped my face before sliding down and off. The sleeves, once well-fitting and taut near the wrists, slouched down. The knowledge of what happened had been known to me since the nding, but reality caused teeth to grate against each other and eyes to clench shut.

  Pulling back my sleeve, I flexed to test my arm’s width. Almost half its original size, not a lick of fat remaining and the muscle quickly being cannibalized. All those years of hard work and bor just to ripped away with atrophy… Despite the pouring rain being enough to drown the spirit itself, another thought arose. Those years got put to good use, another chance of survival in my hands. Best not to waste it.