Cruel Jaws

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[Previous Chapter]
The terrain was rough, and the going slow, but it was not unpleasant. Atoi was constantly amazed by the breadth of Azapoit’s knowledge. He seemed to know every corner of the world, and could describe every event of the past century like he had lived through it. His enthusiasm and general good spirits more than made up for his eccentricity. Overall, they were making good time.
Atoi had been studying her traveling partner for some time now. She was certain now that her observation was correct, and not a trick of the light. 
“Azapoit?” she called. He turned around, a questioning glance visible under his fur-lined hood. 
“What is it, sister?”
“You look pale, elder- paler than usual. Maybe we should take a break?”
“Nonsense! We’re making good time, we might as well keep going as long as we’re able, before the weather turns.” Despite his words, he looked unsettled. He pulled back a sleeve of his heavy traveling coat and inspected his skin. Though it had always been somewhat pale, it had now acquired an ashen tone. He pushed his arm back under his clothes and kept walking. Atoi hoped he would be alright.
The storm was sudden, brutal and utterly without pity. The early-winter snow had a tendency to melt easily, soaking into their clothes and adding weight to their load. Lacy swirls of white obscured both sight and hearing. Though she had lost much of her sense of time, Atoi reckoned the last town they had passed was several days behind them. The next one was probably just as far away. She could barely make out the dim shape of her companion, a mere sextant ahead of her. The wind whistled coldly, piercing at her skin. She saw Azapoit straighten out of his gale-induced hunch, then gesture towards the mountainside. She staggered through the drifts and followed him. They found themselves in a narrow, long cave. Atoi ran her hand across the wall, fascinated by how smooth it was. Azapoit dropped his pack to the ground, then sat down heavily, exhausted. 
“We’ll try and wait out the rest of the storm here,” he said, still getting his breath back. “If we’re lucky, our provisions will hold out until then. If not, well…” 
“Then we’ll have to push through the storm,” said Atoi, utterly determined. She did not intend to die in the craggy, cruel jaws of the Parimx Ro. Azapoit smiled at her bravado. He pulled open his pack, and produced some seed cakes. Before they could begin to eat them, an authoritative voice boomed out, echoing across the cave walls. 
“We’ll be taking those, lovelies. And everything else in that pack, if you please.” Evidently, the cave had two entrances, for the bandit and his two accomplices stood opposite the gap they had come in through. Their iron cutlasses gleamed in the dim evening light. 
“You’d be condemning us to death, stranger,” said Azapoit. “Without our possessions, we have no way of leaving these mountains.” The bandit laughed. 
“We don’t intend to let you walk out and tell everyone what happened to you, old-timer.” He slunk closer, the point of his blade swinging back and forth. “Maybe we’ll take the girl with us, though. As long as she stays nice and quiet.” He chuckled nastily, and the other thugs snickered. Atoi was filled with a fury she had never known before. She roared, and before anyone had a moment to react, she had closed the distance between her and the bandit. She plunged her knife up to the hilt in his side. The laugh died in his throat. 
She whirled around, on edge, ready to confront the other two marauders, expecting them to descend on her at any moment. Instead, she saw both of them sprawling lifeless on the ground. Azapoit crouched strangely over the bodies. Her flint knife fell from her nerveless fingers, clattering loudly on the cave floor. Instinctively, he turned his head towards the noise. His gaunt, ashen face was speckled with blood. Atoi screamed. 
She couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t possible. The boogeymen and ghosts of her childhood could not emerge into the waking world. But as she stared at Azapoit, and fixated on the points of his unnatural canines, she could not deny it any longer. She backed away from him, stumbling into the cave wall. She felt cornered, trapped, helpless. He slowly began to get up, his hands raised. 
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” he began, “but-”
“You’re a pasrinnoazdi,” she blurted, “a blood-sucker!” He winced at the harsh word, and went back to crouching on the floor. Some of the color had returned to his face.
“I can’t deny it, little one, only… I had hoped you would not discover it so soon, nor in such an unfortunate set of circumstances.” Atoi cast her eyes around the cave floor, searching for the dagger she had dropped. He followed her gaze, and sighed deeply. “Despite what you might have been told, sister, we are not all savage beasts.” 
“Is that so? Did my eyes deceive me when I saw you drain the life, the soul from that man’s neck?” 
“He would have done the same to us- and my strength was dwindling. I needed sustenance.” He knelt, and pressed his wooden flask to the second man’s neck. “You might want to avert your eyes.” Atoi stared pointedly at the ground, her thoughts whirling. She had to leave, to escape somehow, and return to her home, where she belonged. She should never have followed this stranger. He had come in the fall, when worlds blurred together; she should have suspected his unnatural origin. She heard a thump as the would-be thief’s body hit the floor, and Azapoit stood, unfolding to his full height. She suddenly noticed how tall he was when he wasn’t hunched under his hooded coat. 
“What now?” she asked. There was a slight tremor to her voice. 
“Now, we leave this place. The weather and the beasts will soon carry away the bodies, and there is nothing else for us here. You can settle any qualms you have over a warm drink when we reach the next town.” Atoi nodded. The shock was beginning to wear off, but she still felt numb as she retrieved her knife. As they stepped cautiously through the other entrance to the cave, Atoi was glad to see the storm had abated somewhat. Once again they made good time, especially since they were now traveling downhill. However, Atoi’s mind was too troubled, and her limbs too tired  to enjoy it.
The sun was setting  when they arrived in the valley town of Hoion. Exhausted, they walked into an inn and rented a room. Atoi quickly slipped into a dreamless sleep- she would settle her quarrels tomorrow.
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