Corruption: Chapter 1

How they'd all managed to get into this mess Bren would have to sort out later, assuming that they all survived the night. Cersul's stag wisp was doing its level best to keep this strange stryx of unknown breed at bay, but the problem wasn't so much the danger posed by this grey-blue tabby runner that was battering the guthane with wave upon wave of spiritual contamination and the threat of spreading its taint too much as it was keeping Reothan and Leathe from getting close enough to it for it to take a chunk out of them and thus further spread its corruption.

 

Well. Reothan was able to mostly stay put, which was more than Bren could say about Leathe, who, in her panic, was running about as fast as her stubby legs could carry her. If he could get her under control, and if Cersul's wisp could drive off the stryx abomination, they just might be able to get out of here in one piece....

 

*******

 

Bren, said the voice as it filtered past the sleep barrier and into the guthane's mind as one of Cersul's feathers dropped to the ground in front of his dream feet. Guthane. Come.

 

The guthane was up instantly, and began pushing the sleeping furs that kept him warm during these cold nights before grabbing his winter coats as his tokotas Reothan and Leathe got up from where they'd been sleeping. He didn't need to be told why Cersul was even now waiting for him just beyond the boundaries of his village; this was something he'd been expecting to happen for days now, as Bren's two seal tokotas followed behind him out the door and out towards the place where Cersul was waiting for him. He'd been expecting this. And dreading it, too.

 

Hurry, guthane, Cersul pleaded, and Bren redoubled his pace, until at last the antlered figure of Cersul was in sight, the little glowing spheres dancing above her head.

 

Memories of his meetings with the other guthanan filled his mind as Bren immediately began to climb up onto Cersul's back, not wanting to waste more time, as he heard the familiar sound of tokota feet on snow, and he frowned deeply at the seal-marked pair as they trotted—and ran—towards him, looking expectantly at the guthane as Bren shook his head no.

 

"You cannot come," he informed them both. Word had spread through the spirit channels of beasts bearing signs of corruption much like the wisps Bren and Cersul had spent nearly a year in pursuit of, and that this corruption was speading slowly but increasingly throughout the north. Villages, after learning of this from the guthanan, had set up severe restrictions regarding the comings and goings of their people, as well as issuing "kill on sight" orders when it came to any corrupted beast encountered. The thought of Reothan and Leathe—who had been dancing around Cersul's feet while she watched her bounce about—becoming corrupted and therefore requiring their neccessary demise to contain the spread filled him with sadness.

 

Why not? Cersul asked as the seal-marked pair gave Bren baleful looks full of sadness. Are you expecting calamity to befall them?

 

"No. Nor do I want to risk them being put in harm's way." Bren's mind was remembering what had to be done to an entire team of sledge dogs when they had been struck by the contagion.

 

Are you certain that will happen?

 

"It is not a matter of certainty, Cersul. It is a matter of necessity. I cannot allow the chance of them becoming corrupted and bringing that corruption back to the village."

 

Which would necessitate their demise...

 

I believe that there are ways to ensure their safety, Cersul pointed out. And you may need their companionship while you are far from home.

 

"But how are we to bring them along? Never mind ensure their safety?" Bren blurted out. "Sol is hundreds of miles away! And we need to get there now!"

 

Leave that to me...

 

*******

 

Bren trusted Cersul—he always had. But right now, as the strange blue-grey tabby stryx, who was eyeing them all while red ichor dripped from its beak, the guthane's trust towards the spirit-shepherd was being put to the test. The only thing keeping the corrupted creature at bay was the stag wisp, and sooner or later the abomination would find a way to bypass it and make an attempt at attacking Leathe, who was too terrified to respond to his commands to return to his side. And she was closer to the tabby than the wisp was.

 

It wouldn't take long...

 

"Leathe! Settle!"

 

I have a better idea, Cersul proffered, just as the tabby lunged for the toki, who was too surprised to react.

 

"LEATHE!"

 

Reothan gave a loud bark, which penetrated Leathe's frenzied state, and with guidance from the wisp, she began to run in the direction of the camp they'd joined up with a few days ago.

 

Together, with Cersul flying overhead and the wisp running beside her, Leathe was leading the tabby stryx back to the encampment.

 

"NO! THE OTHERS!"

 

Bren needn't have worried, though, as it seemed as though Cersul had noticed something he hadn't from his vantage point. Up ahead, a trap had been set up for just such a purpose, and as Leathe was suddenly levitated from the snow-covered ground, the blue-grey tabby gave an enraged scream as it suddenly disappeared from sight.

 

A shout had gone up when the beast fell into the pit trap that had been dug for it. Several people were running towards where the trap had been placed, just as Bren—astride Reothan now—caught up with them. He could barely make out what they were saying, not being familiar with this particular tongue, but he could gather the general idea. Two members of the party were prodding the creature with branches that forked at the end so that they could restrain it—first with a muzzle to keep it from biting, and then with ropes and a collar affixed to its neck to keep it from running away once they'd pulled it out of the hole.

 

"Good work," someone said in a language Bren did recognise. "We have it now."

 

Bren nodded, and as the enfuriated stryx was hauled back to camp, the guthane, his tokotas and the spirit-shepherd Cersul, fell behind them a little ways to discuss the events that had just transpired...

 

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Word count: 1,075

 

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AP count:

 

1075 Words +21
Wisp Companion +1
Rider +5
Other ARPG +3
Event +4
Personal Art +3
Total = 37 AP

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Tickets:

 

Base ticket [800 words] +1

Extra words [200 extra words] +2

Rider +1
ARPG +1

 

Total: 5 tickets