Chương 5: Frog Slayer

The Divine Voice faded, and Anadis's vision was already clear. Zoe lay crumpled at the base of a tree, her ponytail undone, blonde hair spread across the mud. The Grull's tongue was wrapped around her neck, and purple veins spread up her face; the venom had taken hold.

"Zoe?" his voice came out quiet, and her eyes were wide open, staring at him—no, they were staring at nothing, lifeless.

"Zoe…" He stumbled as he tried to stand up, trying to run in her direction.

"No, no, no—" He grabbed her sword from the ground where she had tossed it earlier, and the Divine Voice spoke. [Curved Sword] ⚔ Boon: A modest curved blade built for endurance rather than beauty. Type: Offense Rarity: Common Effect: Its edge never dulls This Boon is currently unbound. Do you accept this bond? His grip tightened on the Boon. Yes! Letting out a guttural shout, he lunged toward the cursed frog, every last trace of reason burned away as his boots bit into the dirt.

The Grull's full attention was still on Zoe, so he drove the blade deep into its back and blackish blood gushed. The Grull let go of her body with a shriek that almost deafened Anadis. It lurched away with its four sticky legs latching onto the bark of a nearby tree to lick its wound. Zoe's body dropped limp into the soil. Her skin had turned gray, so very gray, and dark purple veins had traveled from the wound in her neck to cover all her face. Anadis's hands shook as he held her.

He hadn't known her for long, just mere hours, but he'd promised her. He'd promised they'd get out alive, told her to lean on him, and at the first sign of danger, he let her die.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"I'm so sorry." Looking at his Weak Shield, he realized how useless it truly was—a mocking thing, gifted by a god who should have given him a real Boon, a real weapon. Why hadn't they? Then maybe she wouldn't be dead. Save a life… He almost laughed at the irony. How was he supposed to do that with a damn brittle shield? Anadis looked down at Zoe's body. Had her blinding Boon not worked on the Grull? No…

If his memory served, she had explained that her Boon blinded everyone but her for two to five seconds, depending on the gap in strength. So he had taken the full five seconds… while the Grull had only taken two. It had killed her in the remaining three. The Grull croaked angrily. That's right… It still has one more prey to hunt. Gripping the sword tightly, Anadis scowled at the amphibian and steeled himself, launching toward it, sword at the ready. He felt a determination he had never felt before.

He wanted to make it hurt. The creature's tongue lashed out at his chest. Anadis moved on instinct, his body reacting before his mind could catch up. The Grull missed, but he didn't. His blade cleaved the tongue clean in half. Vicious purple and sticky black fluid sprayed wildly. Anadis took three quick steps back, avoiding the mess. The devilish frog screeched uncontrollably and charged straight at him, its webbed hind feet kicking up dirt. Its smoky, hollow eyes burned with murderous intent. That was fine.

Anadis met the stare with equal fury.

"I'll kill you!" he spat the words, charging to meet the Grull's attack with his blade gripped in both hands and pointed straight ahead. Now that its tongue was indisposed, the creature chose to swing a front limb. Anadis tried to guard with his forearm and sword, unwilling to waste his shield's single use. However, he'd badly underestimated the Grull's strength. The blow slammed into him like a hammer, knocking the air from his lungs.

His vision wavered, and a dizzying rush filled his ears, sending him stumbling to his knees. Through his blurry eyes, he saw the Grull's silhouette charging straight at him. The damn thing wasn't cruel enough to drag it out, or to make the kill dramatic. It was pure animal instinct. It struck him square in the chest with a ferocious headbutt. Anadis rolled across the ground, his face scraping against dirt and roots until he slammed into the bark of a gigantic tree.

As the frog neared, he began to reminisce about his life, about all the years of training he'd endured, all the books he'd read, every sweaty, restless day and night, all of it leading to this: dying in the Trial. How could the gods expect kids like him to defeat such monstrosities? For the gods' own sake, one of their own had died fighting Grulls long ago. What chance did he have? Is this how I go out? Killed by some tongueless, sticky frog? What a joke…

He glanced to his right, where Zoe's body lay sprawled several feet away. Then he looked at his right hand, where he gripped her sword—his sword now—and at his left, where he clutched the stupid shield. She's dead. What are you going to do, Anadis? Die here too? As he desperately searched for any sliver of resolve, his father's words echoed in his mind. Get up! The words, though uncomplicated, held undeniable power.

"A… Kalonis does not stay down," he rasped.

"No matter what!" He spat the last words through gritted teeth. The Grull loomed over him, its jaw unhinging, thick saliva dripping from it, and it let out rattling clicks. But Anadis moved not with skill, and not with much technique either, only with pure, stupid stubbornness. He rolled to the left as the frog snapped down with a bite, its jaw cracking the bark of a tree where Anadis's head had been. Splinters exploded as he drove the curved blade upward into the soft flesh beneath its jaw.

It was neither deep nor lethal, but it was enough to make the Grull hurt and slow it down. The frog flinched back with a shriek that rang inside Anadis's ears, then it croaked, and its throat began inflating like a balloon, darkish veins pulsing as blood trickled from its wound. The inflating throat made Anadis stagger back, but he managed to stay upright, with his chest heaving. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. No more standing still.

Keep your body moving. Keep that thing off-balance. The Grull gargled wetly and spat a thick, purple, phlegm-like glob at him. Huffing, he barely dodged. The substance hissed as it ate into the dirt where he had stood.

"Shoot," he muttered, wiping sweat from his brow.

"If that hits me, I'm done for." In his momentary lapse, the Grull swung a forelimb. He ducked beneath and drove his shoulder into the creature's side—a wrestler's tackle, desperate and graceless. It felt like throwing himself at a slimy boulder. But the boulder actually moved, if just slightly. They crashed through a thicket together, branches whipping at his face, and suddenly there was no ground beneath his feet.

"Damnation!" he gasped as the ravine opened up without warning. They rolled over the edge in a tangle of limbs, the Grull's wet, mottled skin slick against his arms as he tried not to let go, tumbling down the steep embankment. Anadis lost the sword and the shield somewhere on the way down. His hands scraped and bled as he grabbed at roots, at rocks, at anything, but the Grull's weight carried them both. The world blurred into soil, sky, and the creature's thrashing white body. Splash!

Anadis hit the river after the Grull. The cold was a sharp fist to the chest. He surfaced gasping, his whole body shrieking from the cold and the fall. The current yanked at his legs immediately like unseen hands dragging him down, eager and indifferent. He couldn't feel his fingers, his back ached, and one of his ribs was probably broken, maybe even two. Even in his condition, he saw the Grull surface a few feet away. It was disoriented. Good.

The river had done what he hadn't been able to—it stripped away its predatory patience. Now it was desperate, thrashing against the current, hollow eyes blinking rapidly as it searched for a way to save itself, and for a single, perfect moment, Anadis realized it had forgotten about him. Ignoring the jolts of pain coursing through his body, he lunged onto its back at once, wrapping both arms around its thick neck and locking his hands together, just like Father had taught him. If you can't overpower it, outlast it.

That was one of his lessons, and so Anadis squeezed. The Grull bucked against his grasp and then plunged underwater. Cold water poured into his mouth and lungs; it was dark, with only the pearlescent glow of the Grull's body providing contrast. He held on despite the lack of oxygen, fighting to stay on the creature amid the thrashing current. After what felt like the longest seconds of his life, they surfaced again, the current pushing them both downstream.

The Grull lashed out harder now, its forelimbs slapping at the water, at him. Anadis's vision was narrowing at the edges, stars forming in the dark behind his eyes. He was about to black out—he couldn't take it anymore. His arms burned. His grip was slipping. Anadis knew it would overpower him soon. Seconds later, the river swept them into the shallows, the bank rising up to meet them. They were on solid ground now—where the creature could get a much better grip. Where it could damn well kill him. Don't let go.

Don't let go. Don't—"Let go!" A voice echoed. His grip broke unconsciously at the sound of the familiar, reassuring voice. Then, something brilliant shattered as it slammed into the frog's skull with a resounding crack, like wood splitting under immense weight. The creature writhed, sparks of blue and white coursing through its body before it went rigid. … But the Grull jerked once, letting out a guttural cough. Anadis panicked, and then the Curved Sword suddenly materialized in his hand.

He swung it down like his life depended on it—because it did. Sharp metal met the amphibian's neck. Anadis pressed hard and repeatedly until he saw dirt appear between the Grull's decapitated head and its body. What a triumph! You have defeated Abominant-Rank Grull: Hollow-Eyed Crawler. Your bravery has drawn the gaze of the gods. Well done. The Divine voice's words echoed in his skull, a melodic, jubilant sound like cathedral bells rang behind it. Progress updated.

Ledger of objectives: 0 of 2 completed • Cohort objective: eliminate all Grulls – Progress: 1 of 2 • Personal objective: save a life – Progress: 0 of 1 The voice rang again like an annoying mosquito at night. With a thud and a ragged gasp, Anadis flopped to the side and lay there with his face in the dirt, coughing water from his mouth. His chest rose and fell as he heaved; his heart felt like it was about to explode. A pair of boots stopped in front of his face.

"Next time you plan on throwing yourself and a Grull into a ravine," Albus said, still catching his breath, "please mention it beforehand. I do better when I know what's happening."

"I… didn't know you were close," Anadis rasped, coughing the words out, barely managing to catch a breath. Water still dripped from his hair, his ears, and from other orifices.

"Else I would've…" He coughed, a wet, rattling sound.

"Would've told you."

"Drink this," Albus said as he walked over and knelt beside him. A small blue bottle appeared in his palm, an elixir. He then pressed it to Anadis's lips, and he gulped it down in one shot. Almost immediately, vitality flooded his body, all the pain dissipating as if it had never been there at all.

"Whoa," he gasped.

"What was—" Before Anadis could finish, his brother threw his arms around him and held him tight.

"I thought you were dead when I saw you falling down the ravine with that thing." This caught him off guard. Albus wasn't one to show affection so openly, even if Anadis suspected he often wanted to, so he returned the gesture, also wrapping his arms around his brother and said, "Thanks for coming after me."

"I had to," Albus said quietly.

"You were falling." Feeling a profound joy at seeing his twin, at hearing his literal-minded way of speech, Anadis relaxed, so much so that for almost a moment, he forgot about Zoe's— Right. She died… There was no coming back for her. Her path had ended, and there wasn't a thing he could do about it.

"That girl… her name was Zoe. She died." The words felt strange on his tongue, as if speaking them aloud made the truth more real. He knew it was true, yet he didn't want to believe it. This was the first person he had ever seen die, and it was a reality he didn't want to get used to—even though he knew he must, if he truly wanted to walk the path of a Blessen.

"The blonde girl you didn't like in the cathedral?" Albus asked. When Anadis nodded, he frowned faintly.

"I thought you disliked her. Why do you look so hurt?" Anadis shot him a glare that made his twin tilt his head.

"It's sad. Even if I disliked her—which I didn't, after I actually talked to her." Honestly, sometimes his twin's bluntness and social cluelessness were exhausting.

"I think I understand," Albus said solemnly.

"I'm sorry."

"She turned out to be a good person, who had the misfortune of awakening a Divine core…" He couldn't believe his own words. This was the first time he thought of having a Divine core as a curse instead of a blessing. The irony was not lost on him.

"We won't end up like that," Albus said and offered him a hand. He took it, staggering up, water dripping from his tunic, and grunted his agreement.

"By the way, what was that you used to shock the Grull?" A jar materialized in Albus's hand. Inside it, literal lightning writhed and zapped, as if ready to burst free and shock whatever dared block its path.

"This is a Boon. Its name is 'Lightning in a Bottle,'" he said casually, as if that weren't a physical impossibility.

"It's two bottles, and this is the last one." He tossed it lightly into the air and caught it with ease. With something like this, I could have saved her… Anadis thought as he stared at the bottle, a bit flabbergasted. But it wasn't over. Another small bottle, similar to the one he'd just made Anadis drink, appeared in Albus's hand.

"And this is my second Boon," he said.

"It can heal someone fully, provided they are still alive." He said the last part with unsettling bluntness, as if he wanted to make sure Anadis understood there was no loophole. Anadis stared at his twin, and then at the small elixir bottle between his fingers, and the weight of what he was hearing finally sank in.

"Those Boons… they actually feel like gifts from the gods. A regular elixir would never heal someone that completely or even that fast. It must be because it came directly from the gods."

"They did come from the gods," his twin responded evenly. A quiet sigh slipped from Anadis.

"I'm glad to see you, brother." Time remaining: 31 hours, 9 minutes.