Poisoned Rationality

-Nyx-

At some time around midnight, Ria mentally nudged me awake for the second watch. After switching places, Ria then said a quick goodnight before falling asleep herself.

I then woke up Ariana and Sarya for the watch.

The night was boring. Nothing happened, but we kept an eye out for anything just in case.

It was very eerie, the soft sound of the grass swaying in the wind and the occasional sound of crickets.

The morning was the same, quiet and gentle. Once everyone was awake, the caravan slowed down again for breakfast.

Then our pace really picked up. We were heading toward a group of mountains, called the Moor Mountains, which we would have to cross as our last obstacle.

They were incredibly tall, and there were only two paths through them. This caravan was one of the only ones that took them, and it was only because they had strong fighters protecting them.

Of the two paths, we were taking the slightly safer one. It went through a large canyon that cut through the Moor mountain range, with a wide river in the center.

Thankfully, there were roads carved through the side of the canyon that were large enough to fit the caravan.

As we got closer to the mountains, the plains around us transitioned into rocky, hilly terrain with occasional spires of stone.

“I can see the canyon!” Ariana said, interrupting my thoughts.

She was hanging onto the back of the wagon, looking up and over the covering to see ahead. I stood up and joined her.

Far ahead, I could see an imposing cliff face rising above the horizon. Behind it were the many sharp peaks of the mountains, and toward the left was a dark vertical line breaking the monotony of the grey stone.

“Wow, it looks so tiny from here,” Ria said.

After another couple of hours, we finally made it to the entrance of the canyon.

We were entering on the left side, where the ground rose up from the base to the path cut through the rock. Off to the right, several hundred meters below, a huge river ran through the canyon.

The caravan slowed down significantly once we reached the canyon path, to make sure nothing fell off into the river below, or the rocks on either side.

“Fighters, get ready for anything,” Calliope instructed. “Geric, you too.” The ent perked up and began scanning our surroundings.

The five of us in the back also started carefully watching.

I knew ahead of time that this segment of our trip would be slow, but I didn’t realize quite how slow it would be, and how boring that would make it.

We sat there, looking around at the stone around as and occasionally to the other side of the canyon.

There was nothing.

Not a single thing.

And it was so boring.

Even Stella agreed. The monotony of the grey rocks combined with the constant sound of the wheels rolling and the river far below flowing lulled you to sleep.

But we needed to stay vigilant.

These mountains were dangerous, far more than the forests around our town. There was a reason there were no settlements in or around them.

Then I heard a soft flapping sound.

“I hear something,” Ariana whispered.

“Me too,” I said. “Go tell Calliope.” My girlfriend nodded and quickly moved through the wagon to the front.

After a moment, Calliope called out, “Something’s here!” All the wagons stopped, and everyone began listening.

Flap. Flap.

There it was again.

“Fighters, ready yourselves!” Seth shouted from the front wagon. “We have flying enemies from the canyon!”

After several more moments of quiet interrupted by brief flapping sounds, someone from behind us yelled, “They’re moorbugs!”

“Shit,” Calliope whispered.

“What are moorbugs?” I asked.

“They’re mighty horrible beasts, is what they are,” One of the passengers replied, grimacing. “They fly quick and agile, and they bite ya with their fangs.”

“They have a reputation for swarming you as well,” Calliope added. “Their bites take a very long time to stop bleeding, too.”

“Is it safe to use fire?” Nat asked.

“If you keep it away from the wagons, yes,” Our driver replied. “But the wind in the canyon can get crazy, so I would say no.”

Nat grimaced. “I’ll stay back, then.”

We waited.

Then a single loud, piercing screech filled the air and echoed on the rock. I winced at the grating sound before watching as a huge swarm of tiny batlike creatures flew at the caravan.

They were around a foot long, with a dark navy-blue body and greyish brown leathery wings flapping all around them. Their tiny mouths let out small screeches, revealing two small fangs.

“Attack!” Calliope yelled, and everyone burst into action.

Ariana drew two of her daggers and began slashing at any of the moorbugs that got close to the wagon. Tyler used his shield to bash into them as they flew by, occasionally attacking at one of the larger ones with his sword.

Nat grabbed a loose wooden bar that was lying on the floor of the wagon and began swinging wildly at the bugs. Sarya was using her ability to call back her curveclaws to attack the bugs that were still flying out in the canyon.

I was using both my swords, cutting through the small beasts as they flew by. I was also using my tails to stab them if they got too close, and Ria was using magic to kill some of the far away ones.

“[Freeze]!” Someone down the caravan shouted. I glanced over to see a huge blast of frost shoot out of the passageway, clouding around many of the moorbugs.

All of the flying creatures that passed through the glittering blue cloud became covered in ice, dropping out of the sky into the river below.

Another loud screech echoed through the canyon and I saw a massive object shoot past the cliff passage.

“Moorwing!” Someone shouted. “There’s a moorwing!”

“A what?” Nat asked.

“A moorwing,” Sarya repeated. “A very big moorbug. Incredibly dangerous and equally rare.”

“Fighters, start defending!” Seth yelled from the front. “Drivers! Start moving! Hurry to the inner tunnels! Someone fast, run to the doors! Tell them to prepare to open!”

I saw someone from one of the caravans dash ahead of the caravans before turning back to the fighting.

Seth hopped off and began fighting in earnest, heading toward the back of the caravan.

“Fighters who can work by themselves, I need you with me!” He shouted. “Everyone else, defend! Drivers, we need speed!”

“I’m going,” I said to our party. Ariana made a sad noise and I patted her head. “I’ll stay safe, I promise.” She nodded and I hopped off of the wagon. Sarya joined me.

<Stay safe, please,> Stella murmured. <Don’t do anything dangerous.> I nodded, a grim expression on my face.

The two of us made our way to the back with several other fighters as the caravan began moving, speeding up as it went.

The moorbugs were getting more agitated as they seemed to notice we were escaping, swarming in greater numbers and with more ferocity.

Soon I caught a glimpse of the moorwing.

It was a huge beast, reaching almost three meters long with huge, cloak-like wings billowing behind it as it flew. Its eyes were large, a silvery color that seemed to stare in all directions.

Hanging from its underbelly were four thin legs, tipped with sharp claws. Its fangs were so large they poked out of its mouth.

I focused back on the fight, slashing and hacking through the swarm.

Suddenly, a lithe androgynous person skidded to a stop next to Seth.

“Willow told me to tell you!” They exclaimed. “The doors are ready to open!”

“Great, thank you,” The warrior replied. “Now, unless you’re a fighter, head back to the caravan.”

“I can hold my own,” The runner told him. They rolled up their sleeves to reveal sharp, serrated blades on the underside of their lower arms, before launching themself into combat.

For the next few action-packed minutes, the caravan moved toward the aforementioned doors. Soon enough, I could see them, huge metal plates blocking off entrance to the portion of the path that went inside the mountain.

Only a couple more minutes and we were safe.

“We’re almost there!” I heard Willow shout from the front. “Get faster!”

The caravans sped up, heading toward the doors even faster than before. The fighters at the back started moving backward faster as well, to keep up.

“What do we do if we’re not there when the caravan makes it inside?” Sarya asked Seth.

“There’s a side door that’s much easier to defend for people,” He replied. “We’ll go through that one.”

“Got it,” My party member said.

After the caravan was close enough to the door, it began to open. As it did so, I noticed how it was split vertically into multiple sections that each could open by themselves. Only the bottom one was opening now, leaving a much smaller area to defend from the moorbugs.

After another two minutes, as the last of the caravan was passing through the doors, some of the fighters were beginning to tire. I expected they hadn’t fought in a battle quite as long as this before.

“If you’re tiring, start running to the side door!” Seth shouted. “It’s on the right!”

The large doors shut with a loud boom, and the side door only big enough to fit a person opened. Several fighters turned and started dashing toward it.

“We’re almost there!” Sarya yelled.

The fighters who were left began funnelling toward the door, slowly backing up while defending from the swarming monsters.

Soon enough, it was only me, Sarya, and Seth.

“Sarya, head back,” I shouted, casting a blast of magic at a group of moorbugs. “Ariana’s probably really worried by now.”

She nodded and was about to turn to go through the door when her eyes widened. I turned to see what she was looking at, only for the rocks underneath me to shatter.

I fell backward, watching Sarya and Seth’s shocked expressions as I tipped over the edge and fell into the canyon.