Primal Saga Volume 1: The Queen of Silence

Chapter 21: Sunrise Over Termina

My whole body ached as I slowly sat up. Despite the intense soreness in my shoulder, I somehow managed to fall asleep, even though I was on the floor. 

The sun had just begun to shine through the dirty windows of the guardhouse. Carefully, painfully, I rose to my feet. I looked around the room with sleepy eyes before looking over at Miyabi who was still out cold on the bed with a streak of drool running down the side of her face. She looked so peaceful I decided it was best not to disturb her.

I frowned.

There were cuts across her belly, side, and arms. Already, the wounds were starting to heal at an alarmingly fast rate but her uniform was so torn up it didn't leave much to the imagination. My face turned red when saw how toned her abs were. I slipped on my own tattered button-down shirt and placed my tank top next to her with a note scrawled on a dirty piece of paper I found in one of the drawers.

Quietly, I slipped outside onto the metal balcony. The morning light revealed the aftermath of last night's carnage, five black and white bodies were scattered across the yard lying in pools of blood. My head spun slowly when I realized how high up I was. Once I regained my composure I climbed down the ladder to investigate.

Flies buzzed around the corpses of the ghostly-looking dinosaurs. I could make out the details of the animals much easier in the low morning light. Charcoal-colored bodies, white fur on down the back, pink-colored ring-like markings down their sides. Their three-fingered hands curled menacingly even in death. I walked over and examined the severed head of one of the animals. I took a metal pipe and poked it causing it to turn over onto its side. Its jaws remained slack and its pointy tongue unraveled out on the ground. The eye twitched. Causing me to jump back.

Inside the milky white eye. A worm moved under the surface of the thin membrane. I gagged and decided to leave the dinosaurs be. If they are still here when I get back to Laurensia, Aila and Victor would definitely want to take a look at these, but I absolutely refuse to carry back a sample for them.

I walked over to where the blood-covered tachi stuck in the ground pulled out of the dirt. I rubbed my neck which was still slightly bruised from when Mibaybi choked me. Putting the memory out of my mind, I pulled the blade from the dirt and inspected it. Though this strange metal called talynite doesn't degrade easily, it would be best to clean the blade before resheathing it. The sheath.

 I didn't see the sheath anywhere in the guardhouse so I figured Miyabi must have dropped somewhere. My gaze scanned all the outpost's vine-covered buildings before my eyes settled on the trading post. I crept over to the sign next to the building's smashed front door and brushed the dirt off of it. The sign had a symbol of a heart made to look like a lock and said 'Lovelock Trading Co.' 

With the tachi clutch in my hands, I pushed the busted door aside and slipping into the trading post. The air inside the trading post was dank and smelled like mold. Water had seeped into the roof causing it to sag in a few places. All the shelves had been knocked over, picked clean of anything useful. I searched the building but ultimately came up with nothing except for another corpse of one of those laughing monstrosities. I was about ready to give up when I noticed my tie underneath one of the overturned shelves where the dinosaur's mangled body was. When I moved the shelf I found the tachi's sheath was jammed into the dinosaur's mouth. Looks like she used the same trick she used on me when we fought. I pulled the chewed-up sheath out of the animal's jaws, it was damaged but could still hold a sword. With my tie and the sheath in one hand and the tachi in the other, I stepped back into the courtyard.

I intended to search all the buildings, but at the moment the metal garage piqued my interest. On my way over to the garage, I passed a few more dead dinosaurs and found Miyabi's handkerchief in the dirt. I plucked the piece of cloth off the ground, shook the dirt off of it, and looked silently at the bloodstains on it. This piece of cloth has caused me more trouble than it's worth. I put the handkerchief in my pocket continued to the garage door.