Shrill's embankment was hard to miss as Rain approached the edge of the tree line. It was as if the ground had swelled and created the perfect place to survey the entire field—which was most likely what prompted the hunter to stake his claim on it.
She didn't initially see Shrill on his perch, but when she threw a rock into the clearing, the hunter stirred and lifted his gray head. Tan and gray scales formed a camouflaged pattern across his body and caused him to blend against the drying grass in the field. She was honestly surprised at how well the hunter was able to hide in full sight.
She eyed the space around him and made note of a single boulder just behind his nest. It created the only blind spot on his hill, and it was her one shot at getting close to him.
She threw another rock that landed with a light tap, and Shrill stood up to face the sound. Even his whip-like tail seemed to stand alert.
With Shrill's eyes turned away, Rain carefully crept out of the trees with her spear tight in her hands. She kept her footsteps light and quick to scoot herself into the blind spot. She then continued up the hill, up to the boulder, and into its shadow. She was barely breathing to conserve every ounce of sound as she stood mere feet from the stalker's presence.
Beside the boulder, small rocks had been purposely placed and stacked into piles. Her lips pulled to a relieved smile when the clear blue stone was balanced upon the top of the closest pile, mere inches from her feet.
On bated breath, she gently lowered her stance into a crouch and delicately separated her fingers. Her expression twisted as she slowly lifted the stone from the ground, and her eyes watched gleefully as she moved the stone into her pouch.
Yellow eyes beat into her as she took a single glance upward.
Rain didn’t have time to gasp.
She launched herself from the hill and strained every muscle to run as fast as she could, but even her fastest speed was no match for an angry stalker.
Shrill overtook her in moments, leaping onto her back as his curved claws poked through her scales. He roared incoherently into her ears and bent down to bite the back of her neck, but she twisted her upper body just in time for his teeth to scrape against the boney armor on her shoulder.
She purposely dove to the ground and rolled to shake him, grunting against the claw-marked wounds that tore into her back. He flopped heavily a few feet away as Rain scrambled back to her feet, but he was just as quick to right himself.
Rain thrust the blunt end of her staff and knocked Shrill in the teeth. He growled and snapped at the staff as she continued to ward him off, but the wrathful creature would not yield. He continued to push Rain further and further backward, leading her closer and closer back to his embankment.
Gritting her teeth, Rain swung her staff with all her force and clocked Shrill against his temple. He barely staggered a moment before leaping onto her with his clawed feet bared.
She was knocked to her back before she could recover her stance, but she was able to catch him with her staff. She held her staff in both hands in an attempt to force the snarling beast's mouth away from her face. He continued to try to get around it, gnashing his teeth and snapping at her while she attempted push his clawed toes away with her feet.
Her arms began to tremble and her strength was wearing thin. She grit her teeth, pulled the blunt side of her staff back, and scooped the tip against Shrill's body in an effort to shove him off of her.
The creature released a deathly retch.
His yellow eyes were bugging from his head.
Rain tried to breathe as blood dipped onto her chest.
The staff had sliced his throat.
Rain winced and withdrew her staff, and Shrill fell into a collapsed heap beside her. She pushed herself away and dropped her staff, her eyes glued to the stalker on the ground. Her own wounds reminded her of their presence, but her mind was too stunned to realize.
She could only squint her eyes shut and run away, unable to look back.
She had been forced to wound creatures before. She didn’t like it, but sometimes staying alive meant using her staff for its intended purpose. But she had never injured anyone this severely; she had never desired or attempted to kill.
In her utter lack of focus, she slammed head-first into a passing scavenger.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” The creature staggered back to avoid falling, clutching Rain with her thin hands. “Slow yourself, Blue. Nothing can be worth running that fast!”
“There’s—I—he’s—Shrill—”
“I’m aware of Shrill, yes.” The creature tilted her head, retaining a firm grasp on Rain’s arms. Her body was a pale salmon-pink with a light tan belly, and her nose sported a stripe of turquoise blue. She glanced up and down Rain’s blood-spattered blue scales and gave a slight wince. “It looks like you’re aware of Shrill too.”
“He—he attacked me,” Rain’s voice wavered as her body shuddered.
The scavenger huffed. “Blasted creature is supposed leave us alone if we stay out of his field, but try to figure out if that actually happens.” She tilted her head and showed the scarred gashes that marked the back of her neck. “I was standing right here when that happened.”
“I was in his field…”
The scavenger raised her brows. “Wow. Gutsy.”
Rain’s eyes were still darting back and forth. “But I—when I was there—”
“Okay, we need take a deep breath.” Her long neck arched back as she breathed in and out slowly. “Let’s ground ourselves: My name is Mirri, your name is…”
Rain blinked. “...Rain,”
“Really?” Mirri glanced to the sky.
“No—my name!” The blue grazer huffed. “Mirri—I hurt him! Really badly!” The words finally stumbled from Rain’s mouth. “I might have... killed him...”
“Wait, you actually stood up against him?”
Mirri released Rain, and the grazer promptly sunk onto all fours. She was unable to answer as the smell of drying blood and the weight of horrified fear again paralyzed her.
“No—do you know what this means, Blue? You’ve practically saved us all!”
Rain stood in shock, finally turning her head towards her. “What?” she barely spoke above a whisper.
“If he’s gone, we’ll finally have peace in this area!” The scavenger was dancing on her toes. “I can’t even believe this—we can finally return to our grounds! I’ve got to tell my herd!”
The blue grazer watched as the Mirri dashed into the overgrowth. While she was still tremendously stunned, the smallest hint of solace was returning to her mind. If she had inadvertently rescued a herd of scavengers, would her actions be justified? Or, would Shrill’s death be blamed on the stone she had to break the rules to take? Although, according to Mirri, he often broke the rules himself.
She crossed her arms across her chest, let out a long breath, and remained in the forest until she had the strength, and courage, to move on.
--
Rain tossed the blue-hued crystal onto the sand with a heavy plop.
The shadowed form of Kotah lunged forward, but stopped before he could touch the item. “Careful! Don’t break it!”
Rain stood a moment longer with a disgusted look on her face. Brown swatches of dried blood still covered her arms and chest and scabbed wounds streaked across her back. Without a single word, she turned and started for the exit.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m done. Find the last stone yourself.”
“No!” Kotah bellowed, “Get back here!!”
Rain refused to turn, but when pain began to shoot through her forehead, it became exponentially more difficult to move. She grit her teeth and began to cry out, fighting against the searing pain that threatened to take her vision.
“You are not finished yet!”
“I am finished!” She cried, clenching every muscle in her body to keep herself upright. “I can’t do this anymore!! It is making me doing things that I—I should never do!”
At once, the jolting ceased, and Rain collapsed onto the sand. She winced and drew a painful breath through parted lips. Her mouth tasted like blood, and her eyesight was blurred. She moaned and shut her eyes against the black figure looming over her.
“We have one last stone to go—why is your conscience suddenly kicking in?”
“Because,” Rain coughed. “I killed Shrill for that stone.” She winced again, clenching her teeth. “I don’t do that... I don’t kill... but I did...”
The anger in Kotah’s voice was quickly fading. “Surely you acted in defense,” he stated.
“But he attacked me only because I was somewhere I shouldn’t have been.” Rain’s eyes opened. “I can’t do this anymore. I won’t risk anyone else’s life. I am finished.”
Kotah’s form stood over her and crouched down. “You did as I told you. You acted bravely. Don’t blame yourself.”
“That’s incredibly difficult since I’m the one covered in his blood.”
“I understand that. But I need you to trust me a little longer. We are so close, Rain! And you will not need to worry of anyone’s wrath with this final stone.”
Rain shut her eyes again and huffed a sigh. “Why, what’s this one’s story?” She mumbled.
“The Stone of Love is worn by Farro—”
“The tyrant??” Rain’s upper body shot up as shock plastered her face. “You can’t be serious!!”
“It is kept by Farro,” Kotah attempted to continue despite Rain’s interruption, “and it is a deep green crystal.”
Rain, however, was shaking her head erratically. “I’m sure in all your travels you’ve realized Farro is the ruling tyrant of this area—he’s heavily guarded by stalkers and rarely accepts visits from grazers—and if you make one wrong move, the stalkers kill you on the spot and destroy every piece of evidence!”
“He currently wears the crystal as a sign of his status…”
“You can stop right there,” Rain pushed herself onto her knees, raising her arm at Kotah. “I am absolutely not going anywhere near him!”
“He is driven by desire—”
“Which is why I am refusing!” Rain spat with her brows lowered in exasperation. “Are you not listening to what I’m saying? Or are you choosing to be deaf because I’m not going along with your plan?” She sneered through bristling words.
“You’ve outwitted every one of the others—”
“Except that I’ve now killed a stalker, and I’m being expected to go anywhere near that... lustful tyrant! I am drawing the line, Kotah.”
Kotah’s form was unmoving. “You can do this, Rain.”
“‘I will not do this’ is the correct wording.”
“We are so close—”
“And yet so far!” Rain shoved her face into Kotah’s, nostrils flaring. “I am sorry, but my decision stands!”
Kotah waited for Rain to turn away before his shadowed form lowered onto all fours. “I suppose your mother will not be hearing from you, then.”
Her eyes narrowed as she shot a glance over her shoulder. “That’s not going to work this time. My mother taught me better than this.”
She shoved out of the cave and stepped into the clouded daylight.
A raindrop struck her crest and ran down the bridge of her nose.
Rain froze as more droplets followed, pattering onto the sand around her. Her brows arched as her lips parted, gaping longingly into the rain.
The shadowed form of Kotah stood in the mouth of the cave behind her. He watched as Rain overturned her palms to catch the droplets on her fingers.
“It would appear your mother has other ideas,” he offered gently.
Tears welled in Rain’s eyes, though it was hard to tell from the raindrops running down her face. Was this truly her mother’s reassurance? Was her mother longing to speak with her? Or perhaps her mother was forgiving her for what she had done, washing the blood from her skin...
She squeezed her eyes shut and freed her tears to mingle with the raindrops.
“All right.” She submitted. “I’ll do it.”