The Regenerates (8 page)

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a small smile form on Kayn’s face.

Furious and starving, Ven rounded on him. “What have you done with my food? There’s nothing left!”

Kayn continued chewing his hot meal. Ven’s blood began to boil.

“I asked you a question.”

Silence.

Forgetting who he was talking to, Ven stood up and lifted his foot, ready to kick the plate of food out of Kayn’s hands. Before he could react, Kayn leaped to his feet, seized his head and slammed it hard to the ground. Ven gasped in pain, seeing stars.

“You worthless piece of trash,” Kayn said, looking down at Ven as he clutched his head, blinking. “If you try something like that again, I
will
kill you.”

In a final blow, Kayn picked up the single loaf of bread that had fallen onto Ven’s satchel, took a massive bite out of it and flung it into the dirt by his face.

A mad fury erupted inside Ven. He took a deep breath, then sat upright, pain thudding in his skull. What was a few meals, anyway?

As night fell, hunger made it impossible to sleep. Ven got up and quietly walked over to Kayn, who was fast asleep. He glanced around for his satchel, but Kayn was using it as a pillow. Ven glared at him.

I could throttle you right now if I wanted, or pick up a boulder and drop it on your head.

He racked his memory, trying to think what he had read about edible plants and fungi in the forest. Ven left the campsite and pulled a small gas lamp out of his bag. He clicked it and pointed it at the forest floor, trying to find edible mushrooms by the pathway and against the trees. The woods were less beautiful after dark. The sounds of strange bird cries filled the air and he tripped several times over the thick roots. Moisture left over from the rain dripped onto his head from the hanging leaves. He made sure not to stray too far, because getting lost would mean trouble.

As he scanned the ground, a rustling noise halted him in his tracks. In a moment of exasperation, he realized how stupid it was to shine his lamp around a dense forest in the night. He would have to rely on the moonlight.

Ven clicked the light off and crouched low. Moments later, a rabbit hopped out from behind a bush and he let out a sigh of relief. The rabbit tilted its head at the strange arrival in front of it, and jumped away.

Ven turned around and continued scanning the earth for edibles. He thought he had spotted a troop of mushrooms when a horrible crunching noise made his heart stop. He turned back and almost dropped his lamp, all hunger forgotten.

A large, feline creature was licking its lips, clearly enjoying the supper of rabbit it had just consumed. Its fur was a dirty orange and it looked thick and straw-like. It turned its large head in Ven’s direction and growled, baring its teeth. Ven held his breath. He hadn’t brought any of their weapons with him. Would the creature fall for it if he played dead? Ven didn’t much like the idea of lying down in front of it, so he stood as still as possible. The animal looked at him, licking the blood that had soiled its jaw. He could feel himself shaking. Should he scream for Kayn? It pinched him to yell for help, especially to Kayn. What if Kayn didn’t help him at all, but let the beast rip him in half?

The beast growled. It sensed prey in front of it, and it was still hungry. Just as it crouched, ready to pounce, Ven did the only thing he could do. He ran.

He zigzagged in between trees and roots, trying to confuse it. He could hear the soft thudding of its paws as it bounded after him but he didn’t dare stop to see how close it was. As he neared the campsite, Ven reached down, snatched up their blasters and yanked the sleeping Kayn to his feet with all the strength he could muster.

“What the hell do you think you’re–”

Kayn took one look at the beast running at them at full speed, and leaped into the pod, jamming the buttons. Ven scrambled to get in after him, but just as the engine began to hum, there was a crackling sound. Ven looked down. The thick, steel-plated engine wires, along with much of the pod’s front, had been reduced to a sparking mess. The humming engine fizzled out pathetically as the creature ripped out the wires and the pod tipped on its side.

Ven yelped as he felt his ankle twist beneath him. Heart racing, he and Kayn clambered out from under the pod and leaped to their feet, gripping the satchels.

“SPLIT UP!” Ven yelled. To his surprise, Kayn obeyed and ran in the opposite direction.

That seemed to work. The beast spit out the engine wires and glanced side to side, trying to decide which target to attack first. As Ven ran in between the trees, he turned to see the beast closing in on him. It seemed to prefer the weaker target. Not willing to wait for backup from Kayn, Ven grabbed a branch from the first tree he could find and began to climb as fast as he could.

Just when he thought he had made it to a safe distance, he felt a sharp, excruciating pain in his leg. He yelled and looked down. The beast had slashed his calf, leaving a deep gash. His eyes watering, Ven fumbled at his waist for his knife with his free hand and flung it down at the beast’s head. It howled and let go of his leg. He fought with all his might to climb higher up the tree, dizzy from the pain and from losing blood.

The beast was on its feet again. It jumped up, trying to snap at Ven once more, but it couldn’t reach him.

Kayn appeared and shot the creature several times with his pistol. It staggered for a moment, but remained on its feet. Letting out a furious roar, it pounced on Kayn and pinned him to the ground. Ven watched helplessly from the tree as Kayn struggled to fight it off. It reared back its head, jaws opened wide. Ven turned his head in horror.

A whoosh and a yelp caused Ven to look back. The beast had fallen on its side, dead. Several javelins stuck out from its back. Kayn was still on the ground, frozen but unharmed. They both looked around for their saviors.

A group of people emerged from the trees, carrying lamps and spears in their hands. They eyed Kayn on the ground. A few of them pointed to Ven up in the tree.

“What are you idiots doing here in the middle of the night?”

A tall, muscular man holding a lamp looked at them. He wore clothes of fur and wool and had short, pale hair.

“This hideous pig-like creature stole all of my food,” Ven said after a moment. “So I went into the woods looking for something to eat. That’s when that animal appeared and began to chase us.”

He could feel Kayn giving him the death stare. Kayn readjusted the scarf on his head so it covered him properly. Ven beamed triumphantly, though he knew no one would notice in the dark.

Through the dim light from the lamp, he could make out a look of amusement on the man’s face.

“Someone get him down from there and bandage his leg.”

Ven felt the pain return. He had been enjoying his petty moment of vengeance so much he had almost forgotten about it. Two men helped carry Ven down from the tree. Another man bandaged his leg and lent him his shoulder for support. Together with Kayn and the others, they left the beast’s corpse behind and headed deeper into the woods.

“So.” The man slung his javelin over his shoulder. “Should I ask you a bunch of questions or will you just humor me as to what you were doing?”

“We were trying to get home and we…got a little lost.” Ven felt it best to see how trustworthy this person was before being honest. “Thanks for your help back there.”

“It’s lucky we usually hunt around this time. Not the smartest idea, picking this forest to camp in. You’ll stay the night in our town so my wife can take a look at that injury.” The man turned back to look at Ven. “That reminds me, there was an ugly-looking transport pod back there with its engines gutted. Is it yours?”

“Yeah.” Ven winced as he limped along. “Is there any way to repair it? We’re going to need it later.”

“I hate to say it, but it’s as good as gone. Our town doesn’t have the skills or supplies to repair a pod that’s that broken. Even if we did manage to salvage some of it, it would run pretty slow. Where did you folks even get that piece of junk? It’s definitely from another century. I’ve never seen something so archaic.”

Ven didn’t know why he felt a bit insulted. He personally thought Cor produced some of the best transport pods in the world. What did this guy know about transport vehicles, anyway? He used javelins to hunt game. Nothing could be more archaic than that. Ven glanced at Kayn. Through his scarf, Ven could see a frown form.

They walked for about half an hour more, until they reached the end of the woods. A vast, dark field lay ahead of them. Ven could see a glitter of lights a short distance away and breathed a sigh of relief. When they had reached the settlement, a group of people greeted them at the gate. A thin, pretty woman ran to the man who had asked them their names.

“What’s this?” she asked, looking at Ven and Kayn. Her eyes lingered on Ven’s leg and she gasped. “Albar, how many times have I told you to watch where you and your friends aim your javelins? Now you’ve gone and injured a child!” Before Albar could defend himself, the woman took Ven from the man supporting him, then turned to Kayn. “You, too, son, you look terrible. Let’s get you both something to eat.”

Kayn hesitated, but followed. The woman led them in between rows of neat stone huts and perplexed townspeople. They stopped at a large cottage. The woman, still steadying Ven, knocked on the front door. Moments later, a small girl answered. She narrowed her eyes when she saw Kayn and Ven.

“Mom, not again,” she groaned.

“Quiet. Can’t you see he’s hurt, Eve?”

Eve rolled her eyes and opened the door.

The inside of the cottage was warm and cozy. Hundreds of strange tapestries covered the walls and the floor was made of light-colored wood. The woman led them to the living room, where she sat them on a large couch.

“Just give me five minutes,” she said warmly. “I’ll have hot soup ready in no time.” With that, she turned and left, whistling to herself.

Ven exhaled. He was finally going to get something to eat. He was still shocked at their luck. Something felt off, though. He reached into his bag and pulled out the map, which confirmed what he’d been thinking: there wasn’t another village for miles. Where was this one, then? He scanned the terrain until he found the forest they had just passed. Surrounding the forest was nothing but empty field. The nearest village was supposed to be days away, and yet they had made it here from the forest in less than an hour.

He decided not to let it concern him, at least not for the moment.

Kayn was looking around at the house, gazing at the tapestries and the portraits that decorated the cottage. It was nothing you would find back home. Everything in Cor was neat and orderly. Every shop had a similar interior scheme, no matter what Quadrant you were in. The only difference was the wealth and the poverty. This place looked as though the people living here decided to mix every color in the spectrum. The tapestries that lined the walls didn’t even match. Their patterns were tacky and old and so was the furniture. Despite all of that, something about it gave Ven a feeling of warmth.

The woman returned, carrying a tray laden with two bowls of hot potato soup, a block of cheese and a cup of tea. Ven didn’t think he had felt more grateful for anything in his entire life. The soup was delicious. Though he was ravenous, he tried to eat in as civilized a manner as possible. He was in a much better mood, and the pain in his leg was completely forgotten.

The woman beamed as Kayn and Ven ate. “I’ll be right back,” she said. As she left the room, her young daughter entered and sat across from them.

“So,” the girl said in a matter-of-fact voice. “Where are you from? Your clothes sure are weird.”

Kayn glared at her. The girl didn’t take kindly to that action. She walked up to Kayn and stared at him as he ate his soup.

“Is there a problem?” she snapped. “I just asked you where you were from. If you don’t want to tell me, then say so. Don’t glower at me like that for no reason.”

Ven snorted into his soup. Kayn seemed to be having difficulty processing being spoken to like that. Ven was starting to like this girl more and more. Thinking it wise not to prolong the awkwardness, he put down his bowl. “We’re just trying to get home –”

The girl’s mother returned before he could continue. “I’m sorry, I hope Eve wasn’t bothering you. She’s a bit boisterous.” Eve scowled as her mother motioned for her to go upstairs. “Follow me. I’ll show you where you both will be sleeping.”

Ven’s eyes lit up when he saw the large bed. He shut the door of the guestroom he was in and plopped himself down on the soft surface, then closed his eyes, exhausted. His leg had begun to sting and throb, but the pain had reduced significantly, which made him wonder if there had been some kind of medicine in the soup.

Curious, he got up from the bed, hopped over the window and looked outside. A cool breeze blew into his face as he breathed in the outside air. It was like no smell Ven had ever experienced back home. It was a fresh smell of dewy grass and rain. How much had he missed out on, cooped up in a marble palace? Though it was too dark to make much out, from the light of a street lantern, he spotted a small feline creature licking its paws.

You’re cuter than that last animal.

Suddenly overcome with exhaustion, Ven got back into bed, nestled under the covers and closed his eyes.

Contentment washed over him and sleep came almost immediately.

Ven awoke with a jolt, sweating. He shivered. The pain in his leg had returned, although it wasn’t as bad as before. But it wasn’t just his leg causing him pain. The stab wound in his abdomen was throbbing and sending bursts of cold throughout his body. He breathed. In all the excitement, he had forgotten about that injury.

He took a couple of deep breaths.
I need water…

He sat up slowly and looked out the window. It was still dark, but in between the clouds he could make out a hint of light blue. It had to be early in the morning. Ven gently pushed away his covers and winced as he tried to stand. He gritted his teeth as he walked towards the door, internally cursing Markis. He slowly opened the door and stepped onto the landing, stopping when he heard soft voices below. They were coming from the seating area where Claira had served them soup.