I wheeze, stopping to catch my breath.
If there's something that I hate ,more than this city ...it would be Rowan and his ragtag bunch assholes.
Yet, I really couldn't blame them- not being their kindred made me a 'justified' target.
It was their 'mandate' to wipe off plight from the face of the earth.
The 'plight' being me... humph
Neither that nor could I put mind on the contemptous looks the 'good ratkin folk' gave me.
Though some were polite enough to hide the displeasure my presence gave them.
I had learned to ignore them, long ago.
Either way, I had no say in such matters, I have no leverage, nor strength or power to speak of.
Being a 'greyskin' only made it worse.
Stretching, my weary back finds purchase onto a rocky outcrop.
My wheezes finally calm down as I take a seat.
I regard the view before me;the valley down below,
A dark river- Ekat' marra coiled as it snaked its way through the rocks, roaring.
unbothered and unrelenting as its dark waters violently crashed aganist granite.
Tearing off shards in its wake.
A show of sheer unrelenting will.
This said river was the subject of uncountable tales.
I've heard many of them, praising or warnings of its cursed might.
"Yea right! As if..." I snicker, arguing their logic.
But eyeing the roaring waves below-warnings or not, I wouldn't dare get five feet near it.
Not to mention its rumours-
Once Ekat marra has sunk its claws on you;
You. Are . a . Goner.
The rumours?
Let them be ...I'm not foolish enough to try debunking them anyway- a fools errand I say.
"Haah...back to work"
My feet burst in action, lifting my weight one,two, three...
My steps get in tempo, leveraging my balance with every step- carrying me forward.
My destination awaits.
I give the churning waters one last glance as I retreat.
Not a long while later, my silhouette scales down a cliff.
Brows sweating from the intense exertion.
A plunge from this height and it would be my last.
"FUCK!"
My hold slips, sending pebbles flying down below, and dust into my eyes!
The pebbles clatter bouncing down the cliffside, echoing faintly in the valley below.
My burning eyes would have to wait!- lest I get plunged down below.
My face is soaked,sweat trickling down my visage, into my lips and down my chin.
I can taste the salt.
My hands shake as I struggle to maintain my hold onto the chiseled rocky cliff.
My fingers!
They have turned into a mess of scarlet-brown and black mess.
I've seen worse- this was not my first rodeo- it hurt nonetheless.
Each time, I vow never to set foot into these horrid depths.
"Huuh!"
Relief washes over my body as I feel my legs kiss the solid ground.
I have made it!
Bloody fingers wrap around soft leather handles,
I yank them out, unsheathing my daggers.
Or rather kitchen knives re-purposed.
Why the caution you ask?
My past self would beg to differ.
The first time I set foot here?
I was immediately sent packing.
Lest I become food for the critters of this horrid depths.
Back then, I came face to face with vermin the size of mutts!
Now you understand my caution.
You would think they would make great soup, but no!
Good for nothing vermin- riddled with plague and disease.
What a waste!
A waste, yes ...but the rulers of this abbyss nonetheless.
Also, they offered good practise, in purging them off this world.
Thumbs up for the decent 'dagger' practise they've given me over the years.
Oh, I digress.
My reason for setting foot in this vile place over and again, you ask?
It would be the mushroom grotto- an undiscovered 'golden garden'
And it would remain so.
I wouldn't want it to be shared!
There was barely enough to go around already.
That aside, they have fed me and Lum for quite a while now.
Ahh,finally!
Before me lay the magnificence I'd come for- an expanse glowing mushrooms.
This place is heavenly- if you overlooked the chewed out mushroom stems.
The work of vermin of course (smirks)
I couldn't fault them, really- one has to do what he's got to do to survive.
So long as they keep their filthy claws to themselves.
I take it all in, the ethereal glow cast by the mycelium,
The occassional chittering of bugs,
The sweet and pleasant fragrance emanating from them....so quiet ...so peaceful.
A snicker escapes my lips.
"It always catches me off guard huh?"
That 'peaceful' feeling, a lure, bait cast by the reaper himself- I would say.
To be entranced by the sight is to give in to the cold embrace of death
.
The illusion of tranquility was just but an effect of spores inhaled.... to enthrall those foolish and weak willed.
They weren't that strong though, one could shrug its allure, so long as you remain aware.
A closer look and you'll witness clusters of mushroom growing out of rotted out vermin, breathing and lulled to a deep slumber they wouldn't awake from.
To be frank, I am awed by the irony of it all- vermin and mycellium in a system of survival.
Vermin chewing out mushrooms, whilst the weak willed of them entralled and turned into nourishment for the same mycellium they depended for sustenance.
Grim as it is, this is the reality of the world we lived in...I won't complain.
Or rather, I can't.
Who am I to morally judge the course of nature?
I am nothing but a speck of dust in this vile and accursed world
"There."
I murmurs to no one in particular- to atleast break the deafening silence
At the periphery of my vision, a toppled mushroom lay- my work in 'farming'
Upon its rotting trunk is a patch of bone white mushrooms growing and thriving.
Their round bulbs with thin stems, barely supporting their own weight.
These were the prize I'd come for.
They were the milder distant cousins of the towering mushrooms.
Their suppressed effects are still welcomed, they will do great in easing Lum's pain.
Mild hallucinogens and whatnot.
Atleast make Lum's last days tolerable.
Despite my musings, my fingers work their way, grabbing a bunch of mushrooms and running my dagger aganist the bulbs.
The handful gets deposited into the satchel.
It takes me a couple of minutes to be done with the cluster.
The satchel bulging behind my back.
These would last us quite a while- just to be dried and packed for storage.
They make quite a mean broth (smirks)