THE JEALOUSY OF JALICE

“Get your stupid ass up now!”

Annilasia jolted awake at the calloused voice. She stumbled to her feet as her vision focused. The fire’s flames endured, which meant she hadn’t slept long. Her eyes fell on a lone figure standing at the edge of the fire.

“Stay back and name yourself!” she shouted.

The stranger snorted and took a couple strides forward. The dim light revealed a man with ebony skin, dressed in brown garments and furs. Dark facial hair—graced with grey roots—formed a rounded beard that faded up to a bald head past the mutton chops. Commanding eyes glared back at Annilasia.

“We don’t have time,” he said. His voice was like boots on gravel, pressed with a tone of permanent impatience and disapproval. “We need to—”

“Name yourself,” Annilasia repeated. She waved her knife, hoping it would discourage him from coming closer.

He groaned. “Look, we’ve got maybe a minute before our guts are spilled.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m your reluctant savior. Now listen—”

His words were lost beneath a piercing shriek that shattered the night. Terror crippled Annilasia, and she briefly forgot about the man. The cry sounded close. Too close. A sequence of two more identical shrieks answered the first, followed by a frenzy of hoots and bellowing roars.

The man edged closer while regarding the forest. As he spoke, his hands moved to unfasten a long flask from his side.

“Listen carefully,” he whispered. “Your pathetic knife won’t do anything. Even a sword couldn’t fell one of these things. They’re strong. Thick skin, hard to puncture. Now, I’ve got some oil here—”

“We need to run,” said Annilasia.

“No,” he shouted as he unscrewed the lid of the flask. “You can’t outrun a flayer this close. We need to stay by the fire, which of course is what caught their attention to begin with. Ironically, it’s the only salvation we have now.”

Before she could ask what a flayer was, a violent rustling sounded deeper in the forest.

Annilasia’s breath caught in her chest, which only infuriated her. Images of splattered innards scraped her mind as she clutched at her knife, wishing it were a sword. The rustling grew louder and more distinct. Her ears picked up low grunts and rhythmic thumps that sounded like leaden feet striking the ground.

“Keep them near the fire!” the man shouted. “Pay attention to what I say!”

Annilasia’s eyes locked onto a massive silhouette bounding through the trees. Even hunched over, it was bigger than a bearolf. The beast galloped on all fours, similar to a grimalkin but not nearly as graceful. A guttural moan heightened to an ear-piercing shriek as the beast broke into the light.

All instincts evaporated. Annilasia’s eyes stretched wide as paralysis seized her.

Harsh details sprang out in the time it took for the creature to close the distance. An osseous snout formed its face, much longer than that of a wolf. The jawline twisted up into an eerie grin lined with jagged, carious teeth.

The beast lunged at her with a powerful leap. Front limbs shot out in an open embrace tipped with sword-like claws.

Without thinking, Annilasia fell flat on her stomach. She craned her neck to look over her shoulder. The flayer landed a few yards behind her and shuffled onto its feet. The dim light of the fire offered more details as Annilasia stared at the creature. A hairless mat of blemished skin composed its back and wrapped strangely around the front of its torso. Large tufts of dark fur sprang up like a forest at the borders of the hairless hide, swarming over its limbs and neck and interrupted only by domes of blister boils.

The creature jerked to observe her and unhinged its jaw in another shriek.

Annilasia’s ears rang. The man shouted something, but his words were muffled. As she scrambled to her feet, the creature lunged again.

She had time enough only to bring the knife up before the creature collided with her. Both sailed through the air before landing harshly on the ground. Annilasia tumbled in a crude somersault. Urged by adrenaline, she rolled towards the disorientated creature and plunged her knife into its hairless hide, a victorious cry on her lips.

The beast’s skin tore easily enough, but the blow didn’t kill it. Blood didn’t even spill. Instead, thick fur sprouted from the hole created by her knife. While Annilasia was momentarily stunned, the creature snapped back. Snarling, it reached a limb to grab her legs. A powerful tug dragged her closer to open jaws dripping with saliva.

Anticipation of death seized Annilasia, yet death didn’t come. The creature yelped and forcibly cast her aside to evade some unseen assault. Annilasia wasted no time and sprang up. She dashed towards the fire, catching sight of the man as he flailed his arms to taunt the creature. Clearly agitated, the monster curled its torso inward to prepare for another lunge.

“He’s going to jump!” she warned.

A howl from the opposite side of the fire stole her attention. Paralyzing fear returned under the new threat. Three more beasts lingered in the shadows there. Clicks and hoots and gnashing teeth mingled as the creatures edged into the light with calculating steps.

Details revealed by the light only added to her fear. None of them were the same. Each held different characteristics—limbs, movements, and sounds varying. One boasted scales rather than fur, with a long crocodile snout. Another was a mockery of a bat, wingless but with humanoid limbs fused in their place. The last, a buck deer with a man’s face, possessed a bony torso strung together with decaying cartilage. The only shared trait between these three monstrosities was the grotesque disfigurement that mutilated their bodies—the exposed patches of bone and hairless hides stretching across their backs.

A flash of movement was her only warning. Annilasia managed to throw her knife, but it bounced harmlessly off the charging creature—the reptilian of the trio. Unfazed by the knife, it swung a forelimb at her. Instincts resurged, and she leapt back in a narrow escape of the blow. Invigorated by the attack, the other two creatures encroached on her.

“You have to keep them near the fire!” the man’s deep voice shouted from nearby. “I’m coming to help.”

The words took time to register between dodging attacks from the three new creatures. With her own knife’s ineffectiveness, she doubted the man’s ability to truly assist. Yet he soon appeared at her side, now wielding a short-bladed sword. The two stood back-to-back as the creatures circled them.

“I’ve dosed one in the oil already,” the man stated between heavy breaths. “Now we just have to light it aflame.”

He wanted to burn them alive. Stars bless this kook.

Annilasia darted to the fire and grabbed a branch, tipping it into the flames. Her gaze found the creature whose fur glistened with oil. With a grunt, she threw the burning piece of wood, watching it sail through the air towards her target.

A panicked shriek split the air as the creature erupted in flames. Annilasia had no time to watch the creature’s demise. Instead, she turned around to face the others. She expected retaliation, but rather, they hesitated. The beasts shifted uneasily while casting agitated looks at their dying kin as it writhed on the ground.

“Leave us!” shouted the man. He shook the flask of oil in his hands to deter the beasts, like they might understand the doom its contents forbode. One by one, they slipped back into the shadows.

The retreat brought little relief for Annilasia. She still couldn’t shake the sensation of their eyes fixed on her.

“Where are they going?” Annilasia asked. She glanced at the dying deformity and wrinkled her nose at the stench of burnt skin. Moans gurgled past the creature’s open jaw as it convulsed under the talons of imminent death.

“Fire is the enemy to all things that burn,” said the man. “Flayers are no exception to that.”

“Won’t they just wait for us to leave the fire, or come back once the flames go out?”

“The fire is going to travel with us,” he replied. “They’ll follow, yes. But they won’t attack for a while. They know I have a way to kill them, and a very painful way at that. Their desire to survive will outweigh their instinct to kill.”

Annilasia shook her head. “I didn’t even know these things existed, but you speak like they’re any other animal that roams these woods. How do you know of such a creature?”

“The same way as you do now.” He retrieved two sturdy pieces of wood from the ground. “They shriek, they kill, and they don’t resemble any animal I’ve ever seen.”

Annilasia studied him as he produced some cloth, presumably to create makeshift torches. Standing half a head taller than her, his appearance suggested he was accustomed to rough living. A plain sheet of animal hide coiled around his chest and interrupted the underlaid mossy-green tunic that served as a wrap around his neck. The lower half of the tunic sprang out from the bottom of the hide and was layered with a russet-hued skirt held in place by a leather belt. She noted his boots, something only a ranger might wear in the wilderness. He seemed unaffected by the cold, further accentuating how exposure to the elements didn’t bother him.

No tattoos, which meant he probably wasn’t Ikaul, but she wasn’t going to stake her life on it. Arm wrappings prevented her from glimpsing a possible Vekuuv slave marking. A slight accent in his voice offered a clue that he might be a foreigner; even so, his loyalties couldn’t be assumed.

“I was tracking someone,” said Annilasia. “She’s still out in the forest somewhere. One of those flayers was following her, and I need to find her before it does.”

The man didn’t look up from his task. “I didn’t come and save you so you could keep gallivanting about with flayers.”

“I’m not giving up on finding her.”

The man cocked his eyebrow. “Are you asking for my help?”

“No.” She paused. “I suppose this is where our paths separate.”

The man remained quiet. A moment later he stood and extended the newly fashioned torches into the fire. He faced Annilasia and handed her one. “You’ve got a lot to learn. First, acting like an arrogant ass is about the dumbest thing you can do in the wild. You need all the help you can get out here.” The man continued despite Annilasia’s attempt to respond. “I’ll help you find your friend. After that, you’re on your own.”

“What’s your name?” she asked. Without looking away, she felt around inside her cloak for a salutation feather. If his loyalties were with the Ikaul, a feather exchange might ensure any suspicions of his were put to rest.

When she held it out towards the man, he took it and tucked it away in a pouch that hung from his belt. He didn’t offer her one in return.

“The name’s Mygo,” he replied. “Now, gather up your garbage, and let’s get going. Your friend won’t last long with flayers on the hunt.”