Chapter 1: Stinky Dead Crocodiles

Intro

 Chapter One - Stinky Dead Crocodiles

The surface of the lake rippled in quiet anticipation of the dangers lying in wait through the brine and the reeds. Sifting through the cordgrass, Elaine's every muscle was coiled tightly in suspense. She knew the creature was watching her through the salty lakewater, waiting for her to make a single mistake. She could almost smell it, a lingering hint of old salt and dead flesh. A slight distraction would send her into a reedy tomb in an instant. If she was lucky enough to have sufficient parts of herself to rest in one, that is. Creatures like these were not known for keeping graves.

There.

An errant ripple, weeds bending unnaturally. Spines breaching the surface of the lake. It was there. Elaine hefted her claymore, white-knuckling the handle. If she got the thing just right, she could collect her bounty without a new scar adorning her skin already ridden with them. She could just barely make out the figure through the murk. With the swift precision of a practiced hunter, Elaine thrusted her blade towards the dark shape taking form below.

Shunk. The creature reared back with a shriek as the blade connected with and tore apart its scaly flesh, no longer in hiding. Damn, not a clean hit. 

Now Elaine could see the full girth of the thing she was facing, a scaly, spiny, toothy mass. The fish-crocodile-humanoid-thing towered over her as it stood up, hunched and predatory. It reeked of decaying flesh and decades of rotted vegetation, brine crusting every inch of it. Elaine's claymore was lodged into one of the spines on its back, a steady trail of black and brackish blood oozing from the wound. From the outside looking in, Elaine seemed thoroughly screwed, especially as the wound began to heal already.

The thing let out a hissing sort of shriek, opening its massive maw to snap down on Elaine. She spun out of the way before it could dismember her completely, twisting quickly onto the back of the creature.

 It dove under the water, thrashing to get her off and trying to leave the shallows. Gripping the spines best she could, she reached for her claymore.  With as much force as she could muster, Elaine kicked the hilt sideways once, twice, again until it shot out of the croc's back. She just barely caught it with her fingertips before it spiraled out of reach, and in one fluid motion she used her legs to keep herself on the creature before stabbing it with both hands through the top of its head. 

She twisted it once the blade broke through its scaly armor, intending to do as much damage as possible. Blood gushed out of the hole, turning the already-murky water around her completely black and likely staining her hair. The monster gave great shuddering groans before finally croaking its death, slowly rising to the surface. Elaine pushed off its currently lifeless body upwards, gasping for breath at the feeling of cool air on her face and tasting the coppery salt on her lips. Swimming was quite difficult in her armor, but she could manage to stay afloat until she was capable of standing. 

Behind her, the creature's carcass had risen out of the water and was now floating there, looking miserable. For such an imposing creature, it had gone down without much of a fight. Dragging the stinking thing out of the water was a chore, but it had to be done. But gods, was it heavy! The slippery mud was being less than helpful. And ugh, her socks were wet. Gross.

It took an unreasonably long time to get it out of the water. Which, she noticed, seemed to be completely void of life. No fish, no birds, nothing. It seemed the monster had eaten way more than just a dozen or so people. This was also evident in its weight. Elaine huffed, exhausted from lugging it ashore. Now that she got a better look at it, she was even more disgusted. It was grotesque and stinky and the hybrid mass was one of the worst looking she'd seen, even more so than that insect one from a while ago. Ugh, that one was a nightmare. So many eyes and hairs and she didn't even know what else. Elaine was glad to have burned it, regardless of the gods-damned smell. She shook her head, nose wrinkled. No more thinking about that horrid experience. 

The croc was anything but dry, but that was fine. The oil provided by the Sect would ensure that anything burned, so long as it wasn't totally submerged in water or anything. Elaine made sure to douse the thing before flicking a lit match at the corpse, flinching from the smell. While she was grateful for her blessed sense of smell most of the time, she despised the drawbacks almost more. Trying not to gag, she collected her things she left by a tree and retreated several yards to ensure the thing burned completely. Not a single trace of flesh could be left behind, else it would heal itself. Don't ask how, it was just the way monsters worked. The only surefire way to make them stay dead was to make sure their souls didn't have anything to come back to. The remaining charred bones and ashes after the burning would hardly be fit to hold a soul, after all.

Leaning on her back, Elaine coughed out a laugh. Aside from a couple of random scratches from the thing's scales, she remained unscarred. The sucker did not live up to its reputation. She was expecting it to be worse from the giant "fearsome" croc, but she wasn't complaining. It must have been too busy trying to drown her. 

Once the monster was nothing but ash and bone, Elaine scooped as much as she could into a little pouch and strapped the larger bones to her back. The stuff would be her proof of death for the bounty and would also fetch her a night or two at the town inn. Healer saints went crazy for the remains on account of their being a wonderful ingredient in powerful healing tonics, which would be used to help people in need. Ironic, that once those remains had been monsters of destruction. Gathering her bags and Heartrender, her aptly named claymore, Elaine started off eastward. Hopefully she would find a freshwater river to wash off the muck before she reached town, she could almost feel the dirt seeping into her skin. And who knows what was in that dirt. Or if it was even dirt. Best not to ponder, she decided. Ew.

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About a mile before she would reach the village, a clean stream had bubbled into view. At that point, Elaine was getting kind of worried that she would have to stumble around town in filth like a swamp monster. But she was here now, fresh and clean. 

The village was small, an outpost for postriders to rest and exchange correspondence. There wasn’t much to look at other than a few farmer stalls and an inn, but that was all Elaine needed anyway. The cool autumn air chilled her still-wet scalp, so she hurried inside the inn for warmth it would offer. Walking up to the innkeeper, she set the sack of ash on the counter. "The lake bugger?" he asked with a throaty voice. She nodded. Grunting, the keeper turned around and plucked the bounty notice for the croc off the wall behind him, decorated with years worth of similar scraps of parchment. The bounty wall also boasted a large sum of flyers for the Trials, Elaine surmised that the event was going on right now in the capitol.

 He then pushed a small sack of coin towards her. It would be enough to make a decent offering to the Sect, even though the bounty was less than she normally accepted. But nobody was going after the croc and it was about time it was taken care of, on account of all the bodies it was racking up. 

"Oh, Elaine. Special order for you." The innkeeper handed her a bounty slip embellished with golden designs. The Sect had sent her a personal bounty. Reading the paper, her eyes widened. A monster was seen hunting near West Deercarn, and she was meant to kill it. She didn't know how to feel about the closeness to Deercarn, exactly. It wasn't as if she cared a lot for the place. But she felt as if she should, because it was where the Sect had liberated her from nearly two decades ago. Whatever. It didn't matter anymore.

 Detailing her mark, the slip held a short description of the murderous beast. The monster had a thick dark mane and teeth that ripped into any exposed skin and even skin that was armored. Dodging attacks would be important, she noted. It was last seen heading north from Deercarn. The beast would be lithe and fast but was somewhat humanoid. Elaine should also beware of talons. 

She shook her head in disbelief. This was basic. A simple extermination that could be executed by any other saint with a bit of training. She closed her eyes for a moment in resigned contemplation. The Sect had told her to kill, so she will kill. The Sect must be obeyed in entirety, and she would not fail to do so now. She thanked the innkeeper before heading to her room to rest, planning to leave tomorrow and hitch a ride on a wagon or something. She was sure someone would be heading to Deercarn, it was very busy this time of year. Lots of raspberries, she thinks.

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With the new day, a thick blanket of fog came as its companion. Elaine managed to snag a ride with one of the farmers from yesterday after parting with a coin or two and promising her protective services, but the fog mixed with the cool autumn morning air chilled her bones. Shivering slightly, she remembered her hunger. She did have an apple she found in her room last night, but that wasn't even close to enough. Once she reached West Deercarn she'd have to pick something up before going after the monster. Ugh, she was planning to skip right past the town altogether. Even the Reverend couldn't ease her crawly feeling about the place. Oh well, passing through it was unavoidable now. Unless she wanted to get her nourishment from random berry bushes in the woods. Never a good idea, any formerly-curious child can tell you. 

Her thoughts strayed back to the crocodile-fish monster from yesterday. It was the first of that type she'd seen, usually they're more like strange combinations of humanoid deer, fish, or rabbits. Sometimes pheasant birds. There are of course strange cases, like wolves or insects. One time she even had to kill a snake. That was scary. The thing nearly got her like, three times. It took off the top section of her right ear, and she still has a nasty scar spanning across her back. Besides that, the venom was not fun to deal with. This, if you couldn't tell, was a massive understatement. Elaine hoped to never see one of those again. But luckily, sightings were getting less and less common as the years went by as more Saints like her hunted them down. And once the Chosen One was discovered, they wouldn't be a problem at all.

The Chosen One. Elaine can't wait for the Sect to find them. She would love to meet them, exchange tips and skills. Maybe they would even let her come along on the Cleanse and she could go down in history along with them. To think, she could be a line in the hymns sung centuries from now! 

The wagon suddenly jolted to a stop, surprising Elaine. "We're here, Saintess," offered the farmer kindly. She hadn't noticed, being so deep in embarrassing fantasy. Thanking the farmer with similar kindness, she reached the busy front gate of West Deercarn. Lucky her, it was market day. She had plenty of options to choose from. She could smell them from where she stood, various scents accosting her with their promised tastes. Sweet pastries sure to melt in the mouth, fresh fruits to feel healthy afterwards. Savory kebabs melding meat, fruit, and vegetables in a delicious concoction of flavor. Gods she was hungry.

The food cart that smelled most filling to her was one manned by a very abrasive seller. His height resembled that of a cloud kidnapper and you could just barely see his reddened face behind a wildly untamed beard. But the food--wow. No words. Just hunger.

Elaine bought four. Four massive kebabs stuffed with sizzling meat, citrus, and sweet peppers. She didn't realize the extent of her hunger until she took the first bite, at which point she very likely looked like the monsters she hunted.

She bought three more.

As she ate her kebabs, she studied the town with contempt. The village around her was simultaneously nostalgic and diminished in her memory. West Deercarn had always been somewhat of a vague and uninteresting mystery, having no explanation for the "West" in its name as there was no East or even North or South Deercarn to speak of. No one really cared enough to figure it out though, so a mystery it shall remain.

The cobblestones under Elaine’s feet were the very same as they once were, she somehow knew. Homes stuttered and chimneys sputtered weakly, like some dying machine. The only thing she really missed from this town was the striking clock tower in the center of it, rhythmic metronome fading into the bustle of townspeople. The clock had always been a curious and imposing figure in her mind but now seemed gaunt with age. This is certainly reflected in its caretaker, Reverend Elijah. 

One of the closest people to the High Priest, he controls most of the West part of the continent. While the continent was rather small, it only served to heighten the Reverend's scope of command. He was once a striking leader, commanding respect with his passion and strength. Now he was just as strong but seemed somehow vacant as he operated through his daily motions, the poor man growing ever older. However, he still held dominion over the Sect in this area and therefore over Elaine herself. A place of power rightly earned, she thought. He is a kind man. Perhaps the croc bones would go to him as a gift.

Maybe one more kebab wouldn't hurt.

Author's Note

What do you think of Elaine so far?