Tread Lightly

I try to push the Bawkas off of me, but there are too many of them to noticeably move them all. My daggers, while helpful in striking a few of them, are even beginning to move slower and hitting less of them. I can feel myself rapidly grow stiff and slower. Finally, in between the gray Bakwas, I see a hit of red. The Nain Rouge.

I need to get these things off of me, but how? Nothing physical works, not guns, not swords, not daggers. Fire might, but I have none that I can easily access. My firestarter is in my backpack. However, I have nothing to burn but myself. So what else can I do?

I hear the loud boom of another shotgun shell. Leonard's last one as my heart begins to beat fast in worry. Then an image of the shotgun blast sending the Bakwas flying across the room inside the inn comes to mind. And then another of the last moment of Struggler's Gasp. Out comes Defiance, right? I just need to do that with my Ether without killing myself; even a miniature version should work. These things are light, after all. But this is gonna hurt for sure.

As my body rapidly stiffens and slows, the Ether within the reaches of my mind speeds up. The Ether will need to be both fast and abundant to create a blast of wind, so I gather up as much Ether that can fit within my head comfortably and launch it toward my still-not-wholly recovered right hand.

When the stream of fast-moving Ether reaches my wrist, boiling lava emerges in my veins. Again, the heat is overwhelming but expected. I grit my teeth and push the Ether further. Ice then appears in my arteries. And again, the chill was overwhelming but still expected. I continue to drive the Ether forwards and out of my outstretched palm with all my might, closing my eyes in concentration.

Abruptly, I feel a blowback of air as most of the tendril fingers vanish from my senses. Then, as I reflexively open my eyes, the pain erupts and crescendos in intensity. I squint my eyes and try to prevent the oncoming seizure and lockup of my body due to using Ether when I'm not quite ready for it yet. With my squinted eyes, I see that I blew away the majority of the Bakwas near me, and the Nain Rouge looks at me with wide eyes, clearly not expecting my solution to be overwhelming.

Hurriedly, I look at the wagon and see that it has made it out of the town, with several Bakwas attempting to catch up to it and one climbing on its side up from the bottom. Leonard is currently smashing that one with the butt of his empty shotgun to no avail.

Dammit, they need me. None of them have any way to even stun the Bakwas without ammo. If only we had found more during the day in the town… Disregarding my bright ideas, I endeavor to stand once more. This time nothing external stops me, but instead, it's internal. I feel my legs, lower torso, and arms, where I have not yet acclimated to my Ether saturation, lock up and begin to shake desperately.

I fight against the feeling, undertaking the mountainous effort of stabilizing my limbs. This is the first one I am actively trying to fight against and prevent from happening. The muscles in my legs stiffen as my joints lock up. I feel pins and needles against my torso and arms. My whole body is stiff beside my head, neck, and right arm. The rest of my body is dead weight as I withstand probably my most forceful seizure yet besides the first ever. More Bakwas approach and return to me, who just blew them away.

I urge my legs to move as they approach, but they won't. I'm stuck. Frozen. Not in whatever that Alexos called it where people's minds are frozen, but because my own damn body will not react. A Bakwa reaches me during my stagnation. With my still mobile right arm, I swing my dagger at it in a jerky, unstable motion. The strike lands but sets me off balance as the pain in my injured ankle spikes, and I fall again.

But the weightlessness of falling only lasts briefly as I feel arms wrap around mine, and a feminine oomph comes from behind me. I turn and look. It's Elizabeth, red-faced, sweating, and straining to hold me up but still trying her best to help. She starts taking steps backward while holding on to me and struggling to breathe.

“Noticed… that… you… needed…. Help."

Thankful, but still worried for her as I'm sure the effects of these Bakwas are more prominent on Unsigiled than Sigiled, I tell her to go.

"Just go; if they touch you, you're done for! You don't want to become a fucking shell, do you?"

Elizabeth ignores my plea for her to leave and continues pulling me away as fast as she can. Which is, unfortunately, slower than the oncoming Bakwas and Nain Rouge. I hear the stomping of the Nain Rouge's cane against the dusty sand beneath us as Elizabeth scrambles to pull me backward, my deadweight making it much more difficult.

She takes a deep breath while hauling me back. "Can't let another friend die tonight. Lonnie was enough. But, c'mon, do something to help Mr. Hunter!"

Friend? Is that what she sees me as? I don't think I've ever had one of those besides Ma. I didn't know you could become friends with someone this quickly. It's only been a week since we met, and I spent most of my time away from them, practicing Ether and treating my oversaturation. Do I see them as friends? What would that even mean…

My inner dilemma is cut short as a Bakwa reaches right before us. Only able to move one unstiffened limb, I swing my right arm out again, wildly trying to protect Elizabeth and me. It goes about as well as one would expect. The dagger only slightly slashes the Bakwa as it flinches for a moment before returning to its unsettling crawl with its fingers toward us.

Elizabeth frantically tries to yell at me while at the same time barely having the time to breathe.

“Do… whatever… you… did… earlier again!"

She wants me to use that wind blast thing again? Then, of course, it caused a seizure where I couldn't move. Another one will likely knock me unconscious.

"I can't. It'll only make it worse. My hand isn't treated yet!"

Elizabeth again tries to speak through her towing me along with her.

"Then… use.. another part. Doesn't have… to.. be.. an arm, right?"

Realization hits me. I'm so stupid. I always try to use Ether through my hands because Edmund said that that's the best way. But that doesn't mean it's the only way.

I take a deep breath as the first Bakwa in front grabs onto me. First, I funnel Ether towards the top of my chest and diaphragm where Ether can flow, careful not to take it any deeper. Then, I begin swirling the Ether faster and faster, trying to compress the air. Once the Bakwa starts to pull on us, I promptly release the hold on my breath and push the Ether out along my throat and out my mouth with the air.

Out comes a much, much weaker blast than the one from Strugglers Gasp, this one unable to tear grass and roots from the ground. But, it successfully pushes the Bakwa away from us without deteriorating my condition. It goes sprawling backward like a gust of wind just pushed it in reverse. The sound of the air is also near-deafening as it makes my ears ring.

With my newfound success, I continue releasing the air bursts out of my mouth. The horde of Bakwas continues toward us with their unpleasant tapping of fingers. As fast as I can, I charge and release compressed air from my throat, similar to a bear's roar. Each windy roar that leaves my mouth pushes several Bakwa back and helps Elizabeth drag my stiff body to the wagon behind us.

By the fifth roar, however, the high-powered wind produces and drags blood from my throat. I briefly choke on the blood and swallow it back down before I go to condense another. Then out of nowhere, I feel another pair of hands touch me. I impulsively turn and almost immediately release the compressed wind within me until I see who it is.

Earl and Elizabeth are holding onto me and lifting me into the back of the wagon, yelling for my attention. Still, I only hear the painful ringing left behind by the gale-infused roar. I look at them confused and stiffly point to my ears with my half-usable arm. Earl immediately puts the loud noises earlier and my charades together because he's the brilliant man that he is.

So, instead of fruitlessly screaming at me, he points to the front of the wagon. Where Leonard is being held down by Bakwa. Fuck. I can't reach from here, and the wagon has stopped moving because of the lack of someone holding the reins to the horse. I nod at Earl in understanding and make a motion with my arm, trying to convey that I need to get closer.

He blinks twice, then nods before quickly saying something to Elizabeth and prying the dagger from my unmoving hand to give to her. Good move; I can't even lift that arm, let alone wield that knife. Once he gives Elizabeth a weapon that can at least partially affect the Bakwas, Earl begins dragging me as fast as he possibly can across the small wagon. As the splintery floor of the wagon scratches and sinks its teeth into me, eliciting an inaudible groan, I see Esther hiding underneath a blanket in the corner. I smile at her, trying to show that everything will be alright, but I quickly stop as I feel the blood drip out of my open mouth.

Esther only looks more traumatized. That went great. But before I can attempt to sway her woes, Earl turns my head to point at the Bakwa on top of Leonard like some kind of Gatling gun. And I oblige, instantly releasing the long compressed pocket of air within my chest through a torrent of Ether.

The Bakwa is sent flying off Leonard and into the dusty ground to the side of the wagon, sending a tremendous amount of dust into the air. I see Earl mouth something to Leonard before grabbing the reins and ushering the horse to move. I quickly realize what that something was, though, as Leonard, the physically strongest of our group, quickly lifts me over his shoulder and carries me towards the back of the wagon where Elizabeth is. I notice that he is moving very slowly despite the look on his face like he's running as fast as he can. It must be the Bakwa's curse or whatever they give us when they touch our skins.

I am forced to watch for several seconds as Elizabeth tries and fails to fight off a group of Bakwas that board the wagon while it's still. Eager to help, I once again compact the air in my chest using Ether in preparation for when I get close enough. Elizabeth gets knocked over by two Bakwas while wildly swinging my dagger, and her skin rapidly turns brownish and blackish where the fingers are. It was my first time seeing the stiffening in action, making me even more impatient to help her.

Eventually, Leonard delivers me to the wagon's edge with his slow movement, and I release my zephyr. This time, however, it comes out as a choked cough filled with Ether-filled blood that pellets all the Bakwas at high speed along with the concussive gust. This actually deals a noticeable bit of damage as the skin of the Bakwa sizzles, and not only are they flung back from the roar onto the ground, but they stop chasing.

Huh, I made my own kind of shotgun out of the blood. Edmund would surely be proud, But seriously, why does my blood hurt them? Is it the Ether that exits with the blood? Surely the spirits can't be that weak to Ether? There has to be something more.

Elizabeth looks up at us now, holding her hands to her ears and sporting a pained face. Yeah. Didn't think about that one. Only makes sense that the target's ears are hurt too.

The wagon continues to move away from the ghostly town as Earl commands it. To keep them away, I release several more wind currents at the oncoming Bakwas. Finally, and only once we make it about a thousand feet from the town, do they turn back, unwilling to chase us further. And as we escape, the Nain Rouge just stands in front of the horde of spirits, watching us as we leave.

He stands next to a small and familiar Bakwa. Lonnie. Then, as he raises his cane at our wagon, my hearing returns. Just soon enough to hear a deep and ghoulish voice reach us over and through the nightly wind.

"ᎤᏓᎴᎯ!"

This undecipherable word rings out through the darkness of the night and echoes into the distance. I turn to look at the others behind me. Elizabeth and Leonard are both sprawled on the wagon floor, panting and covered in sweat. Earl is in the front driving the wagon. Now that I can hear again, I ask Earl if he knows what that word is or means, but I feel intense pain at trying to speak as I taste blood in my mouth.

I wait a bit as everyone is trying to recover from the harrowing event, still with stiff and paralyzed muscles from my seizure. That, and I'm sure the times the Bakwas touched me, didn't help either, but gradually as the wagon leaves the area surrounding the town, my movement returns.

With my return bit of movement, I gingerly wipe my mouth, and a large amount of blood comes off. Well…. I guess I'm gonna be eating a lot tonight.

Taking my time due to the soreness left behind by my Ether-induced seizure, I open my backpack and grab the Bloody Palm. Then, I just watch the town slowly disappear in the distance quietly, letting my body recover while devouring itself rapidly.

*********************

About an hour after we leave the town, it starts raining. An absolute downpour. One that immediately slows our journey and makes us hesitate to move forwards. But, in the end, we vote and continue through the rain. Elizabeth and I vote on continuing through the rain in case the Nain Rouge or the Bakwas follow us. Earl is adamant about stopping during the rain because we all need rest, especially the horse which pulled the wagon. Leonard didn't vote as he was too busy looking off into the thunderous clouds.

I didn't ask him what he was thinking about. I already knew. Lonnie. Instead, I pat him on the back as Elizabeth takes the wagon's reins and Earl comes back underneath the canopy.

"It's not your fault Leonard. None of you are prepared for anything like this. You're just simple people. It's my job to keep y'all safe. And I failed."

Leonard looks at me and nods. I can practically feel the weight that leaves his shoulders and falls upon mine. The more, the merrier, right? Even The Cabin itself mentioned that pressure makes diamonds. Anyway, it doesn't matter if it does or not. It's up to me to protect them. I just wasn't alert enough this time. I should've listened to my gut and not let us enter that damned town.

Abruptly, I feel the wagon lurch and fall forwards. Instantly, I stand up and hobble towards the front with my still bum but rapidly recovering ankle. I yell out to overpower the sound of the rain, my voice scratchy and incredibly painful due to my recent use of that application of Ether that creates a blast of wind.

"What happened, Elizabeth!"

She responds near instantly with high-pitched confusion that pierces the sound of pelting rain.

"I don't know! I think a back wheel got snagged!"

Earl and Leonard look over at me, who is up and walking, apparently unable to hear Elizabeth from the other side of the wagon. I give them a thumbs up and yell.

"I'll check it out!"

I follow her directions, coughing from using my voice too much, aka, more than zero times. Then, I turn to hop off the motionless wagon. But, just as I am about to drop down, a thought comes to mind.

That's awfully misfortunate to get a wheel snagged or possibly broken right now.

Misfortune… yeah… that's not a good sign. I stick out my head from under the canopy first to check and see if I see any red little dwarvish demons. I don't. Neither do I see any big-headed freaks, either. Can the Nain Rouge's misfortune reach this far? We've had to have traveled at least fifteen miles by now.

Because I don't see any sign of danger, I proceed and slowly let myself down from the wagon into the ankle-deep mud that has appeared from the rain astonishingly quickly for how long it's been raining. Almost as if all the rain has gathered in this area. More misfortune, huh? That's a pain in the ass.

I turn and hobble through the squelching mud and downpour to find the back wheel that has issues. And quickly, I found out what that issue is. I sigh deeply and see a lumberjack's ax lodged into the wagon wheel. It splits the back right wheel in half and lowers the entire wagon by the break in the wheel. We're in the middle of a chilly thunderstorm, with a broken wheel on a wagon without any extra and with a demon that may or may not be hot on our tail.

Fuck.