Dreigiau Book 1: The Gift of Flame

Chapter 19

Nothing felt right in Nefol anymore, not since the day TsuYa took leadership of the city. KoGuRai wasn't much of a feely-feely guy, but even he could see the shadows that ghosted through the streets. Once he washed the sour taste of defeat from his mouth, it wasn't hard to tell that something was happening there, something that TsuYa, in all his short-sighted glory, didn't seem to perceive.

Or isn't allowed to know about.

People were coming up missing. A few at first, but now more and more often. Others were starting to talk about it. Fear crept over the hushed words of the common people. Nefol was no longer the safe haven it had once been.

For KoGuRai, happiness fled from the city years ago, when his father set out on a mission and never returned. With a heart full of spite and vengeance, he took his father's place on the Council, enacting plans that would bring Nefol to its knees.

But this wasn't how it was supposed to happen.

Now he was set on leaving the city. It was forsaken by their so-called Patron anyhow.

Once I get things organized, Mother and I will head out for the Gatherings. I'm sure some of the Rai clan will take us in.

KoGuRai kept his head down, hooded and obscured as he crept through the streets. He was surprised that TsuYa didn't order action against him when his rival took control of the Council. Maybe he had other things on his mind. Or maybe something else, something bigger, was keeping TsuYa from his revenge.

It's not like him to put off things. I thought he'd have shoved that scythe down my throat by now.

Either way, KoGuRai wasn't going to risk the chance of being spotted, not when he was so close to leaving. The time would be right soon enough, but knew he had to do it properly to avoid being followed or hunted down.

I don't know what Tsu will do if he finds me. But I'm not going to stick around and find out.

His boot squelched as he slid around a dark corner into an even darker alley.

That didn't sound pleasant.

KoGuRai paused, hesitant to look down. When he did, he wished he hadn't.

Several tiny skitter corpses lay in different states of mutilation, strewn across the grimy stone. Skitters were a normal enough rodent to find in Nefol — small, furry and quite the pain in a city. They were prey for larger creatures, and KoGuRai had seen his share of dead skitters in the past. But this was something different.

Under the looming shadow, only a few feet away, a rather large skitter hunched over the torn form of another, feasting in grotesque relish. KoGuRai felt his stomach churn at the sight of it. While skitters did eat whatever they could scavenge, meat and all, eating each other wasn't normal.

Not knowing why, the man reached over, grabbed a nearby bottle and lobbed it at the creature's turned back. Two unfortunate things happened; his aim was off by more than he would have liked, and he earned the skitter's very annoyed attention.

"Ugh!" KoGuRai pulled back as the skitter faced him. Nauseous revulsion consumed his senses.

Two dripping black eyes peered out of a half-rotted head, where strips of black flesh and matted fur hung in various stages of decomposing melt. Clumps of body were simply missing, exposing dark rot and bone, a nightmarish and twisted impossibility moving before his eyes. Its mouth opened, emitting a terrible scream before rushing KoGuRai with bristled aggression.

Ancient Rai instincts moved his body. Before he could think straight, KoGuRai swept out his spear and plunged the point into the creature. That's when he realized his third mistake.