TWENTY-THREE - Xanthus VIII

Xanthus learns a horrifying truth about the food supply for Xantom.

Emeric hadn’t spoken to Xanthus since they stopped beside the lake.  It was clear they weren’t going to get along.  Clearly he doesn’t’ like that I questioned him about his size, or that I’m changing the usual plan.  I’m right not to trust him.  It doesn’t matter, as long as he respects my authority and takes orders.  I don’t need him to like me, I need him to follow me.

It wasn’t just Emeric, though.  Just the few hunters nearby seemed completely opposed to the idea of trying Xanthus’s new plan.  One at a time, they had approached him about changing tactics.

“Sir, we won’t survive if we have to follow the Beast to its home.”  “Sir, we have to stay here and take what we can get.”  What is it that makes them resist this plan?  Their way isn’t working, so we have to try something new.  I’m the only person here trying to save them, and they’re getting upset about it.

Emeric was gathered in a circle with a few other hunters that Xanthus hadn’t learned the names of yet.  He couldn’t hear what they were saying and he didn’t want to.  Go ahead and talk about me.  Keep whispering that I’m going to get you all killed.  Most of you don’t deserve the life that I let you have.  You’ll all love me when I’ve saved the city.

Their whispers carried across the water and into the darkness.  Xanthus turned to stare at the water.  He had never seen so much of it gathered in one place.  The only water he saw was the water that the hunters brought back with them in buckets and bladders, and that was distributed amongst a large number of people.  This lake was the source of all that.

And then Xanthus realized he had never questioned how the water got here.  How does it replenish?  Or are we running out of water as well as food?  If the lake goes dry, it doesn’t matter how many Bareland Beasts we find… we’ll all still die.

Xanthus approached a woman sitting near him.

“Excuse me.  I’m Xanthus, your King.”

“I know who you are,” the woman said.  “I’m not an idiot.”

“Well, I don’t know who you are, and it is polite to introduce yourself to a person you don’t know, whether they may know you or not,” Xanthus continued.

“Why would you know me?  I don’t mean anything to you.”

Xanthus stared at her, waiting for her to introduce herself, but she just stared straight back.  Maybe you are an idiot.  “What is your name?  I’d like to know.”

“Zerena, Sir.”

“Well, Zerena, I have a question and hopefully you’ll answer this one without me having to pry.”  She looked up at him expectantly.  “Where does the water come from?”

“Sir?”

“The water.  You and the others bring back tons and tons after every hunt.  Yet the lake appears to be full.  How is that possible?”

She seemed confused.  “I thought everyone knew,” she said.  “It comes from The Source.”  And she looked away, as if that were enough.

In the distance, one of the other hunters began to cough.  Zerena turned to look in the direction of the coughing man.  Her expression changed from one of annoyance to something else… excitement?  Expectancy?  Xanthus couldn’t quite place it.  Eventually, the coughing fit passed, and Zerena turned back to look at the lake, seemingly defeated.

“I’m afraid I’m going to need you to explain further,” Xanthus said.  “I don’t know what ‘The Source’ is.”

She snorted with laughter but quickly stifled it.  Judge me all you want, I’m not ashamed.  “It comes from above.  The Source is above the lake, and it makes sure that we always have water.  One drop at a time, The Source fills the lake so that we have enough to drink.  If you listen carefully you can hear it.”

She stopped to give him a chance to listen.  He waited, but no sound came.  “I don’t hear anything.  You�"”

She held up a finger.  “Have patience.”

And after another minute, he heard it.  The sound was almost inaudible, but the faint sound carried across the surface of the lake and was just loud enough for him to make out.  He leaned over the water and he could see the growing ripple caused by the drop breaking the surface.

“I heard it,” he said.

“It comes through the Dome.  We all try so hard to make things go our way, but that isn’t what’s supposed to happen.  The Dome gives us what we need… it provides us with everything.  But we complain, we say it isn’t enough, we want more.  If would could just have patience and relax, our problems would all be solved.”

“Interesting theory,” Xanthus said, “but ultimately incorrect.”

“You only say that because you’re the problem.  If it weren’t for you hogging everything that The Dome provides, we could all live as equals.”

“Watch your tongue,” Xanthus said.  “I’m out here trying to save you.  It will be me who provides you with your salvation, not The Dome.”  The Dome doesn’t give us what we need.  I give us what we need.  If we trusted the Dome to feed us, we’d all have been dead a long time ago.  Is this what they all believe?  That the Dome gives us what we need and I’m the one who takes everything away?  One of these days they’ll realize that I’m the true hero.

“The Dome will punish you for speaking against it.  And once you’re gone, everything will be as it was before.”

There was something about the way she said it.  It wasn’t a threat, it was something she actually believed.  I’ve never dealt with these strange beliefs before.  I have no idea how to respond.  Instead of pressing any further, Xanthus retreated from the conversation and sat beside the lake, which had calmed and was perfectly still.

The coughing continued in the distance.  Whether it was the same man as before, Xanthus had no way of knowing, but it was obvious that someone wasn’t doing well.  The coughing sound grew worse, and turned into a wheeze.  It sounded like the man was having trouble breathing.  He hacked and spat, and suddenly the group of Hunters was standing, heading towards the sound.  Xanthus watched them curiously.

Are they heading to help him?  Do they have a way of dealing with this?

The coughing grew louder and more frequent.  Xanthus felt the mood of the group change.  Suddenly they were moving as one, heading towards the sound.  Something isn’t right.  He turned when he heard the sound of heavy footsteps approaching.  It wasn’t a Bareland Beast like he thought, it was Emeric.  Although that man is practically a Bareland Beast himself.

“What are you going to do about our friend?” Emeric asked.

“What are you talking about?” Xanthus asked.

“You said you’re our savior.  We’re following you.  You’re the one with all the plans, here.  He’s coughing.  It doesn’t sound like he’s going to live much longer.  What exactly do you plan to do about it?”

“There is nothing I can do for him.”

“Nothing?  Don’t you have any of your healers’ medicines with you?  I thought you had all the answers.”

“I’m out here trying to find them, the same as the rest of you.”

“The reason he’s coughing is because he’s sick.  And he’s sick because you don’t give any of us enough food.”

“The reason you don’t get enough food is because you don’t bring enough back with you.  Are you really going to challenge me about this now?  I’m trying to solve the problem!”

“When the Beast arrives, we kill it.  And we feed ourselves.”

“We follow it.  If we have to lose one man, I’ll accept it.  I won’t hear any more arguments.”  He turned to go, but Emeric drew his sword.

“You never cared about any of us.  And it’s time we did something about it.”

“You will regret this,” Xanthus said.  “Put your sword away, or I’ll kill you where you stand.”

Emeric charged him.  He moved quickly for a large man, more quickly than Xanthus was expecting, but still not quick enough.

Xanthus dodged to the side and Emeric’s weight carried him a few steps too far.  With his momentum, he couldn’t stop quickly enough to turn and follow Xanthus.  By the time he managed to stop and turn his body, Xanthus had plunged his sword deep into Emeric’s side.  He let out a loud bellow that echoed across the water.

Emeric collapsed to his knees and Xanthus pulled the sword out.  Blood spurted out onto the dirt.  Emeric’s sword clattered to the ground.

“You’ve killed me,” he said.  “Hunters!  Look at what our King has done for us!  He’s killed us all.”

“You’ve killed yourself.”  Xanthus sheathed his blade and knelt down to inspect Emeric’s wound.  “You actually could survive this.  If we were still in the city, I know that the Healers would be able to�"”

“We’re not in the city,” Emeric said.  “I’ll never make it back.  I’m finished.”

“You should not have attacked me,” Xanthus said plainly.

Emeric started laughing.

“What’s funny?” Xanthus asked.

“You don’t even know it, but you’re dead too.”

Xanthus turned to look at the others.  They were no longer approaching the dying man, but instead had gathered in a circle around Xanthus and Emeric.  He turned back to Emeric.  “Explain yourself.”

Emeric’s laughter grew louder until he was practically shouting it at the top of his lungs.  There was no other sound, the cold swallowed everything else.

“Explain!”

“You can wait here as long as you want, no Bareland Beasts will come.”

“What are you talking about?”

“There are no more Bareland Beasts.  They’re gone.  Extinct.  We’ve killed them all.  We haven’t brought back Beast meat in months.”

“That’s impossible.”

“It’s not impossible.  We eat what we can, and what we can, well…”

“What have we been eating?” Xanthus asked, horrified.  He turned to look at the others.  Nobody would meet his eyes.  “Someone tell me what I’ve been eating.”

Emeric’s laughter was loud.  Between each breath, you could hear his pain.  And from the back of the crowd came more coughing.  “He’s going to die unless he gets something to eat.  It seems our battle has given him an option.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was hoping we might be able to have some of the best possible meat… Royal meat.  I hear it’s a delicacy.”

Me.  He was going to kill me and feed me to the starving men.

“But you’ve killed me,” Emeric said.

“And the Dome has once again provided us with what we need,” Zerena said.

“An offering,” Emeric said.

“It was meant to be this way.”

Emeric’s laughter only grew stronger.