Valor and Violence

Something that often astounded foreigners was the complexity of the engineering feat that was the Mardukian causeway system. Raised walkways of timber and packed earth, up to ten metres wide in some places, crisscrossed the swampy lowlands, sophisticated and resilient, seemingly at odds with the ramshackle appearance of most standing structures. The simple explanation for this titan of modern construction was that these causeways were the lifeblood of the country. Without them, trade of goods and information between the inland villages and the coast would be impossible, and as such, the tribes considered it in their vested interests to build them with due diligence.

To Calris’ knowledge, it was the only example of national unity in the entire country.

Not that they were perfect, of course. In his mind, a perfect Mardukian causeway system would be bounded by ten foot tall walls of steel and spikes to keep the swamp beasts out, and as he walked along the side of one such causeway, his spear held low and to the side, he once again wished that Marduk was richer in metals and poorer in vicious wildlife.

Local escorts from Levi’s tribe occupied their positions in the formation in front of and behind him, with Ban and the other escorts mirroring them on the other side. Ferez, Asim and Jasmine walked along the centre of the causeway, the safest place for newcomers. It was a standard client escort set up, a wall of spears along the outer edge of the causeway where the brackish water lapped greedily at the earth and wood, intended to dissuade any swamp drakes looking for a meal.

Not that it would actually do much if one of the older drakes attacked. Some of the swamp drakes were giants, a half dozen metres of angry muscle, teeth, and armoured scales. There weren’t much a few blokes with wooden sticks could do to them. Calris had seen one from a distance once, as it took an unfortunate orniraptor.

The raptors were formidable predators in their own right, flightless birds that stood taller than a man, with razor sharp talons that could slice through boiled leather and disembowel a warrior with ease. The drake’s attack had lasted a fraction of a second before the giant bird had disappeared beneath the water, dragged down by the titanic lizard. And here he was, with a pointy stick.

Fuck my life.

To his side, Ban started waving his hands to get his attention. “Hey, Cal, wanna take bets on if we get jumped by a swamp drake?”

“Piss off Ban, if we get jumped by a drake, no one’s gonna be left to pay out, anyway.”

“Fair point.”

“Just… keep your eyes on the water, alright?”

“Aye, aye. I’ll keep you safe,” Ban muttered, upset at Calris’ brusque manner. Calris shook his head and turned his attention back to the water. He felt bad for snapping. Ban could tell when it was banter and when Calris was actually upset, but after the warehouse, Calris’ mood had worsened. Ban had succeeded, ever so briefly, in picking up his mood during their chat, only for it to come crashing back down when Barbarus had whipped them like puppies. It had been the latest in what was becoming a long line of failures.

Since they first landed at Salazaar, Calris had consistently had his arse kicked by everyone and everything. First Ferez had saved him from the bastard assassin, then Jasmine had knocked him out cold with a flick of her wrist, and then she saved his life when the death mage was flaying the flesh from his body. After all that, his body started doing some weird shit, then it stopped doing said weird shit at a very inopportune moment and he nearly died again, and to top it all off, they still didn’t really understand this Key.

Beyond the fact it opened a gateway to a realm of giant, bloodthirsty monsters, at least. This whole thing felt like a story out of legend, like the War in Heaven taught by the Cult of the Pantheon.

And here he was, with a pointy stick.

Fuck. My. Life!

He had been the badass marine prodigy, slaughtering notorious raiders and pirates straight out of recruit training like he was born with a sword in one hand and a spear in the other, but since the bloody Key had shown up, he felt as helpless as a newborn babe. As helpless as the day his mother died. Between the losses and the strange things happening to his body, he was scared, for the first time in a long time.

“I’m sorry Ban, just… remembering that swamp drake we saw last time we were here. Don’t want to get caught with my pants down.”

Ban nodded, his eyes still set over the water, and silence descended over the group. Talking was discouraged, as the noise might attract predators. Instead, the locals used clicks and whistles to communicate on the move. One of the guides up front made the clicking noise that signalled an ant’s nest, and the party came to a stop. Levi went and stood next to him, and they conversed in soft tones. Calris strained his ears to hear, but was distracted when Jasmine appeared at his side.

“Why have we stopped?”

“Ant nest,” he replied, eyes flicking between the two locals and the nest he could now see in the trees, just a dozen feet from the head of their party. The Green Tree Ants of Marduk made their nests in the canopy, on the branches of any tree with vines. It was a pleasantly symbiotic arrangement; the thorny vines would catch prey animals that blundered into them, and their struggle would shake the branch, waking the nest. The ants would then swarm the unfortunate creature and tear it to shreds to feed the nest, while the remains nourished the tree’s soil. Win-win. Except for the animal.

“Our guides are this worried about an ant nest?” she asked with a scoff.

“The ants here grow up to an inch in size. They can swim, climb and jump several feet. They also have a venomous stinger that causes a localised burning pain that can last up to an hour, and their nests hold several thousand of the little shits. If you get stung by too many and are lucky, your body is wracked with unbelievable burning pain until your heart gives out from the toxin and you die.”

“By the gods… if you aren’t lucky?”

“Your heart doesn’t give out, and you’re still alive when the little bastards eat you.”

“You really don’t like them, do you?”

Ban sidled over and clapped a hand on Calris’ back. “He got bit by one last time we were here. He cried.”

“Shut up, Ban!” Calris hissed, swinging the blunt end of his spear at his friend. “I didn’t cry. Gods, you’re annoying.”

“He cried a little,” Ban replied as he ducked under the swing.

Jasmine laughed and patted Calris on the back as well. “It’s alright Ape, women like a man who can have a cry. Be a little vulnerable.”

“Really?”

“No. Cry baby.”

She laughed again, going quiet when a guide shot her a withering look. Ban pulled a face when the man turned back to the water, but nonetheless went back to scanning for threats.

After a quick discussion, two of the guides moved forward and tenderly parted the curtain of vines, careful not to jostle the branch lest they disturb the nest. Calris waited, watching the rear while the rest of the party filed through. As the tallest member of the group, aside from Asim, who got preferred treatment as a client, he was the most likely to snag a vine and so would go last. He knew the logic was sound, but he still resented the rest of the party a bit for being so damn short. Finally, his turn came to creep through the narrow gap.

He kept the spear held tight against his chest, careful to keep it clear of the curtain as he slid between the vines, painfully aware of the fact the slightest jolt would bring death raining down on them all. As he passed through, he felt a vine ever so gently snag on his jerkin, and he froze, heartbeat thundering in his ears. The man holding the vines apart slowly reached out and started untangling the hooks, while Calris’ eyes remained firmly fixed on the nest above.

By the Pantheon, just stay in there, you little arseholes.

As he watched, however, he saw a lone ant leave the nest and begin exploring down the vine. He grimaced and gave a series of low clicks to alert the others about the scout. While it didn’t elicit a verbal response from the guides, the man working on the vine increased the pace of his work, while the others ushered the clients a safe distance from the nest.

Sweat beaded on Calris’ forehead as the scout ant came closer and closer, exploring the vine for the source of the disturbance. If it got close enough to detect him, it would scurry straight back to the nest and alert the rest. Crushing it wasn’t even an option, as they released a pungent odour on death that brought the rest of the nest running.

He watched it inch closer and closer until he could make out its beady little eyes. Any moment now, it would spot him, rescale the vine, alert the nest, and he would suffer a horrible death as the voracious insects rained down on him from above. He felt even more hopeless than before, but mixed in now was anger. Anger and frustration. After everything, after the battles and foes, both human and otherwise, he was going to finish as food for a nest of insects because he accidentally brushed a plant? It felt wrong.

As he watched, the sweat trickling down his face and his spine, the ant stopped and swung its whole body towards him. It stared for a few seconds, then clicked its mandibles, and Calris swore it smiled.

Which was ridiculous, because that was physically impossible, but regardless, the insect spun around and started climbing. Its cautious, methodical movement was gone. It had found its prey, so now it didn’t need to be deliberate. It leapt from vine to vine, closing the distance to the nest in a matter of seconds.

So, this is it.

Just before it reached the nest, Calris suddenly felt the snag come loose, and he dived out of the way, the guide dragging him clear as the nest erupted and disgorged thousands of ants like murderous rain. Cheated of their catch, the ants chittered angrily and a few of the closer ones bared their jaws at Calris in a threat display, but none bothered to pursue him. Letting out a breath he didn’t realise he had been holding in, Calris turned to find Jasmine arguing with Levi in hushed voices, Ferez trying unsuccessfully to pull her away.

“Why didn’t you just let me burn it?”

“The tree the nest is attached to is toxic. If you burn it, anyone exposed to the smoke or ash goes into convulsions and dies.”

“Oh,” she replied, visibly deflating slightly. “Is there anything in this jungle that isn’t potentially lethal?”

“Uh…” he said, scratching his head thoughtfully. “No. No, I don’t think so. We have these burrowing mammals about the size of a dog that aren’t inherently aggressive or carnivorous, but I did see one disembowel a man once when he stepped on it. That’s about as close as you get here.”

“… And your people live here?”

“You get used to it,” Levi replied with a shrug as he turned to Calris. “You alright, Cal? It’s not like you to get caught.”

“I’m fine, Levi, just… a little distracted at the moment. It won’t happen again,” he said, panting.

“See to it, Cal. I’ll fight a swamp drake for you if I have to, but there is much in the jungle that we can’t defeat with spears,” he said, turning away. “We’re nearly at the Naryang village. We will rest there for the night.”

Calris glared at his feet and cursed himself for his foolishness. He could have gotten everybody killed by his negligence. If he had been anyone else, Levi may well have left him there to his fate. You could not afford to be a liability in the jungle.

Taking a breath, he slowly raised his eyes to find Ban staring at him again, concern clear on his face. Calris ignored it and brushed past him, taking up his position in the patrol while inside his doubts and fears continued to seethe.