The Rainlands: Grand Delusion

Chapter 20: Training

At the trail, they got back on the road, confident that no one would see them through the fog even if there was someone coming. The going was muddy, incredibly muddy. Wet patches of dirt could easily cause them to slip and Levi did several times. The first time it happened he panicked, throwing out his hands to break his fall only to realize that he was touching the rainwater. However, when it splashed onto his face and lips and nothing happened, he breathed a sigh of relief. Jasmine just laughed and kept walking, calling him a weakling. The second time it happened, Levi laughed too. It felt good touching the water. It reassured him that it was still safe, that the world hadn't changed too irrevocably. He picked up his sword from the dirt and when he did, Jasmine reached down and took it from him.

"I should teach you how to use this." She declared and from then on, she began to explain the basics of cutting and how a sword worked. Levi was shocked by how much she knew, though to be honest she could be teaching him all wrong and he would never know. But he trusted her. While they walked, she would mime lunges or strokes, and hand the sword back, telling him to try. They trusted the mist to hide them, two travelers taking turns to dance. Jasmine rarely praised him, as a matter of fact, she really just didn't. But Levi kept trying, no matter how many times he slipped and fell in the mud he knew his life depended on knowing how to defend himself. If we're going to make it all the way to the North, I'll need to be stronger.

Then one time he fell. At first Jasmine didn't even turn around, she had gotten so used to the noise. But when she didn't hear him get up, she looked back.

"Levi?" She asked. Levi didn't reply. He just laid there, on his hands and knees, staring at the pair of dull yellow eyes which were fixed on him. Then the wind blew away more of the fog and revealed the rest of the carnage by the side of the trail. Dead. It's dead. They're all dead. My gods. This is where it happened!

"Look...look at them!" Levi pointed out and Jasmine followed his gaze. She gasped slightly, before her knife appeared in her hand, quick as lightning.

"Get up! Get up! We need to go!" She said, trying to avoid yelling. Levi clambered to his feet, the mud clinging to him like blood. He picked up the sword but he couldn't take his eyes off the corpses. Direwolves, everywhere, torn apart, it was a bloodbath. Fur, hair, chunks of flesh, they had been...dismantled and strewn about the trees.

"What could have done this?" He said dazedly. Jasmine just shook her head, urging him on.

"Don't think about it, we don't want to find out! Just come on already!" She started to jog, looking back at the bodies from time to time. Levi fingered his scar, remembering how savage, how powerful the Direwolves had seemed. However, now, they were just so much pieces of dismembered meat, little more than food. He shuddered at the thought of how terrifying something would have to be to do this. It's almost dark. Oh no...I don't want to be out here in the dark!

"Keep going!" Jasmine called back encouragement, her head on a swivel for anything out of the ordinary. "We can stop when we get far enough!"

Levi breathed hard, his hands cold and wet. Even still, he started to sweat, the perspiration causing parts of him to grow colder while others overheated. He felt all wrong, disconnected. Everything was so...surreal. But he kept running. Ignored the fact that whatever was out there in the trees and fog could come barreling through at any moment. Eventually he could run no longer. He had to stop.

"I gotta rest!" He huffed and put his head between his legs, hoping the world would stop spinning. While he caught his breath, Jasmine looked all around them, trying to spot any danger. When she was satisfied, she breathed a sigh of relief.