Jellyfish - Chapter 7 Nomad

The nine riders split away from each other.

Clouds would gather from a distance. Shards of glass rained from the heavens, and powerful explosions flung more into the sky.

A hunter reached behind her shoulder for an arrow; her fingers brushed against the fletching. A pull, the stretch of string, and wood running against wood. The arrow whistled through the night as its tip pulsed with light. It struck a skull; it exploded, light danced around the Viper’s body. The monster’s screeches ended once its friend sunk its jaw into it.

As soon as the other one saw what it had done, the Riders moved as far away as they could.

“Arrows!”

“Ten!” “Eleven!” “Nine!” “Five!” “Twelve!” “Eight!” “Thirteen!” “Ten!”

The monster in front of them coiled like a spring. Less than a second passed before the beast was falling right on top of them.

Then came the sound of a whistle.

Then there was rain.

Shards fell; like falling rain. It bounced off scales and armor.

The victim of the arrow rose again, scales burnt and all of its glass now missing. The Viper writhed in pain while blood poured from its wounds.

“I’ve got one more left!”

The last Rider held onto his reins; a single arrow stuck out from the quiver on his tail.

“Took three, but that one should be close.”

…

Moss watched but did nothing else.

There was a belief that what those Hunters did was something she could never do. It burned inside her, the jealousy and desire to do what they did.

But she was a Nomad, and they were Hunters.

Her fists clenched and she gritted her teeth.

The girl tried to imagine what was happening in the skirmish. How much fire was pouring from the ground? What did a Glass Viper look like up close? She watched clouds roll over the horizon, and flashes of lightning within it. Moss heard the low rumble of thunder echoed through the Valley.

“The riders seem to be scaring off the Dires well enough,” noted Moss, “There’s no need to leave the Valley today.”

“But Nomad,” the messenger replied, “You do not have to stay with the tribe any longer. The others have already left, but you are the only one to stay.”

“I do not have an interest in leaving this Valley. I will not be starting the new tribe,” said Moss.

“But-”

“I’ve made my decision. I will not be leaving the nest just yet.”

The messenger stayed for a moment longer. His head lowered every few seconds until he looked back up to the Nomad.

“As you wish.”

He turned and left.

Moss watched his back disappear beneath the stairs. The gentle light of the man’s lantern followed with him.

“So. Why didn’t you go?” asked the Outsider.

Rei walked up behind Moss and placed a hand on the lizard’s shoulder. The girl’s thoughts were interrupted since Rei was now using Moss as an object to lean on.

“When did you learn to speak our language, Outsider?”

Moss didn’t dare look Rei in the eye. She felt that a curse would fall upon her if she did so. The frills behind the lizard’s ear began to fan out and unfold.

“I admit, I don’t know,” answered the Outsider. “A God probably thought it was taking too long to develop our relationship without any sort of common language. You can only get so far without speaking the same words you know.”

“I hope your god revokes your ability to speak.”

“He did. Once. Didn’t work.”

Rei looked down and poked Moss’s cheek to try and get her to talk more. This method seemed to work considering the annoyed slurs and profanities that soon came.

“I didn’t go because I hate everyone!” shouted Moss.

“The murder kind?” asked Rei.

“No,” Moss yelled again.”I don’t want to kill anyone you fool!”

“Eh… Boring.”

The Immortal chuckled and stopped poking Moss. The cloud of ominous gas in the distance had, by now, swallowed up the scene of the battle. Rei sighed and pushed herself away from the lizard. She dangled precariously off the side of the cliff, but this time she would not fall. Moss was still holding on with an iron grip to the Outsider.

“Well. Why do you hate everyone?” asked Rei.

Moss looked up, her face holding an almost too human expression, and for a second Rei could sense the girl rolling her eyes.

“When I was young, I was taken from my family and raised as a Nomad.”

“I see…”

It was hard to tell whether Rei was seeing or not.

“As you can imagine, my life was put on a path I did not choose.” continued Moss.

“And?” prompted Rei.

“This is me choosing my path.”

“Isn’t the whole point of a Nomad to find a path of their own? Outside of a dustbowl?” the Immortal would point out.

“A Nomad always looks for the same things,” Moss responded.

“Yeah, but they don’t stick around either.”

“Listen… We can talk about this later. I have to go prepare the ritual grounds for the wounded and such.”

The clouds in the distance roared, lightning in the background roared louder than it had ever done in all of eternity.

“Oh. About that.”