Patchwork Earth Book 1: Chapters 7 & 8 (Patreon)

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Chapter 7

Goto couldn’t help but stare at the delphen. He had not been able to stop since her successful hunt, even as they worked to start a campfire and butcher the reptile. Bamboo that had drifted down from the jungle made for fine skewers. At least, they did once he used his sword to surreptitiously carve them into pokers. If he’d been cagey about letting Klai know his weapon was special before, now he was doubly paranoid about the powerful woman. He needed every advantage if and when she turned on them. 

It was past sunset before Klai had declared the gharial safe to eat, which was still a bit more raw than Goto preferred. But, he wasn’t about to complain about his first meal in two days. 

Klai had chosen a spot around the fire right next to Bose, much to the cowboy’s discomfort. She gave Goto an annoyed look. “Is something the matter?”

“I…” His mouth had been full of a fifth round of gharial. He finished and swallowed. “One does not often meet a young lady who can kill a monster with her teeth.”

She frowned. “I can’t tell if you mean that as a compliment or not.” Her tone was icy.

“I am not sure I mean it as anything but a fact,” replied Goto. “It simply drives home how strange this place is.”

She cocked her head. “You’ve really never seen a delphen?”

“No, ma’am,” said Bose. “They don’t make ‘em like you back home.”

“That’s very sweet of you,” she replied. 

Goto hopped to his feet. “We just said the same thing!”

“It’s how you said it,” she said in a petulant tone. 

“Simmer down, Goto,” said Bose. “Klai, seems to me that we’re going to be together a spell. I’d consider it a personal favor if you two tried to get along. At least, argue a little quieter.”

“Of course, Bose,” she said, her voice all sweetness and light. 

Goto grunted his affirmation before flopping back down.

They sat in silence a while longer, enjoying the warmth of the crackling flames as the air turned frigid. Insects in the trees ringing the pool sang to each other, a regular tone that reminded him of the summer cicadas back home. He took an odd comfort in that. Even with shoveltuskers, gharials, and delphens overrunning the strange land, there were little things that made it seem more like home than San Fransisco ever did. If he hadn’t been so drowsy, he might have shared his observations with the others, but he couldn’t put the thoughts into words.

Goto hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but between the trying day and his full stomach, he never stood a chance. 

Clammy hands shook him awake. “W-wake up, Goto,” chattered Klai. 

Goto cracked his eyes open. The moon was full in the sky, though it looked a hair larger than normal. It must have been a trick of the light. The delphen woman was crouched down next to him, shivering and rubbing her arms. There were a few fresh driftwood branches on the fire, but it had lost most of its strength. “Is something the matter?”

“It’s j-just your turn to keep watch,” she said. “Bose went first, and th-then it was me. You were sl-sleeping like the dead.”

He levered himself up. “You seem cold.”

She barked a humorless laugh, releasing a puff of steam from her mouth and blowhole. “How are you not? That’s the curse of the Outlands! They burn you during the day and freeze you at night!”

Goto blinked in surprise. “That’s strange, I feel fine. Comfortable, in fact.”

“G-good for you,” said Klai, her breath still visible. “Bose seems fine too.” The cowboy was laying on the sand, his Stetson kept over his heart and his baritone snores mingling with the cries of the cicadas. “You Romish… I mean, sa-moo-ray must be able to stay warmer than us.” 

He couldn’t help but smirk at her mispronunciation. “We have hair you do not.” He hadn’t meant to peep on her before, but he could hardly help but notice she was smooth from head to toe. 

She scoffed at that. “That little tuft on top of your head? You’re being ridiculous. Now, go keep an eye out. I had to chase one of the gharials away from my catch.”

“No loyalty among beasts, I see.” He studied the shivering woman. “You are putting up a brave front, but you were not quite so pale before.”

She glowered at him. “Wh-what do you care? My head is still killing me, thanks to your sword. Besides, a little cold never hurt anyone.”

“That is blatantly false,” he said. He removed his blue jacket, exposing his muscled chest to the chill desert air. The contrast took his breath away, but he managed to keep a straight face as he proffered it to Klai. “You need it more than me.”

She was about to object, but she was interrupted by a sound like a sneeze from behind her. Her face flushed and she accepted the robe without discussion. Her eyes widened and she let out a series of clicks. “Is this magic? I feel fine now.”

“For all I know, it is.” He tried to put on a brave face, but he edged closer to the fire all the same. “There is almost nothing in this land that I can pretend to understand, Ms. Meina.”

She eyed him with curiosity, instead of her normal hostility. “This jacket is not much thicker than my robes. There’s no way I should feel so warm, so fast. It’s better than the fire.”

“No need to boast to the less fortunate,” he said. He meant to sound playful, but the chattering of his teeth ruined the effect. 

“I can give it back,” she said, though she hugged the borrowed clothing closer. 

“No, no. I can take it. I’ve had training. Though, why didn’t you tell Bose? I’m sure he would have done the same for you.”

“He already saved my life today. I did not want to be a bother.”

“More you wanted to put on a show for him,” he replied, pacing to try and warm himself up. “Do not think I haven’t noticed you attempting to charm him.”

“He’s a gentleman, and I owe him an honor debt. You wouldn’t understand, Romish or no. Humans don’t respect such things.”

He stiffened at that and shot her a glare that made her flinch. “All a man has is his reputation and honor. I would ask you not to insult mine again.”

“I… Sorry.” Her expression turned thoughtful again. “Neither of you are like the humans I’ve been told of. Between this magic jacket and your strange weapons…” She trailed off. “You must be worldwalkers.” 

“Come again? Where else does one walk besides the world? You delphens and your strange terms! Speak plainly.”

She stood and began following him as he paced about the fire. “It means… something’s wrong.”

Goto cocked his head. “That hardly seems…”

A webbed hand went over his mouth. “The insects stopped chirping.”

So they had. Goto would have said something, but his mouth was still blocked. The world went dim for a moment as something passed between them and the full moon. Was a storm rolling in? That might have silenced the insects. But no, it had been too brief for that. What could have…

“Deathwing! Deathwing, deathwing, deathwing!” The words from Klai’s mouth were accompanied by a series of panicked clicks and squeals. 

Goto pulled back, but he got his answer before he could ask the question. The enormous creature, taller than even the shoveltusker, landed on all fours a dozen yards away. 

Goto’s mouth went slack. That thing had been flying. It violated even his now-tenuous sense of reality. Its neck was longer than Bose was tall, and its beak was longer still. It shuffled forward on spindly legs that made Goto think of a spider crab, and its leathery wings reminded him of a bat. He could see where it had earned its name. Its body was mostly covered in short, black fuzz, but its bald head and neck were a pale pink, interrupted by white marking across its face that made a shape like a human skull. The eerie visage glowed white in the mingled light of the moon and the weakening campfire. 

“What is that thing?”

“Deathwing! We need to get out of here! They carry off children!”

Goto didn’t hesitate. He bolted over to Bose. “Bose! Bose, wake up!”

The cowboy didn’t respond to the command, or to Goto’s shoving. 

Unfortunately, the deathwing did notice. Its enormous head craned over to face them, its tiny eyes like black coals in the firelight. It let out a bass chirp of challenge, and Goto drew his sword, ready for its attack. 

Instead, it kicked at the sand, sending a spray at the two men. It repeated the maneuver twice more, and each time, the dying light dimmed a bit more. “We aren’t the target, it’s putting out the fire!” 

“Stop it! You’ll be helpless in the dark!” Klai had joined them, letting out a constant stream of clicks and squeals. It unsettled Goto how she could keep it up while talking. 

“What do you mean, only I’ll be helpless? And will you stop making that noise? I can’t think!”

“It’s my echo sight,” she retorted. “If you can’t save the fire, we’ll need it!”

Something else Goto didn’t understand, but he decided to accept Klai’s word. Without a word, he darted forward, ready to lash out at this mysterious intruder with his katana. 

Before he could slash at the deathwing, it let out a startled cry and launched itself forward. It galloped away like a horse, easily outpacing Goto’s charge. Both came to a halt and eyed each other warily. 

Klai’s irritating squeals had never stopped. How had Bose managed to sleep through it all? “What are you doing? You need to kill it! They’re bad luck!”

“It seems content to stay away,” replied Goto. Watching it run, he realized that it was large, but lightly built. 

As if to spite him, the deathwing began to cautiously inch forward. It gulped down air, and even in the dim light, he could see its skin turn blood red, making the skull markings around its eyes stand out all the more. It let out a threatening croak that echoed across the dunes before coming to a stop at a respectful distance.

Goto followed its gaze and burst out laughing. He turned his back on the creature and strode over to the remains of the gharial. They had already taken the choice bits and what they hadn’t grilled, they had set aside for later. 

Klai ceased her squeals. “What are you doing, you idiot?”

“Have you ever met a wild dog, Klai?”

“A wild what?”

“I shall take that as a no,” he replied. A stroke of the sword severed the tail and haunches of the dead crocodilian. Goto grabbed the section with his free hand and dragged it over. “A wild dog does not want your entire kill. It only wants to fill its belly, and this deathwing doesn’t have much belly to fill.” He tossed it towards the beast and went back to the fireside. “Rather rude of it to try and put our fire out, though.”

The creature stopped its threat display, its skin fading back to its normal color. It let out a pleased chirp and began probing at the offering. Goto watched with some interest, hunched down next to the still snoozing Bose. 

“How can Bose sleep through all of that,” asked Goto. 

“I see why he took first watch.” Klai was still breathing raggedly through her neck hole, but her raw panic was gone. “How did you tame it? Deathwings are monsters. They… they carry away children.”

“I am sure they do,” replied Goto. “The dragons back home demand respect, too.”

Chapter 8

Bose stretched out with a ragged yawn. It wasn’t the first time he’d slept on bare earth, but he usually at least had a pack to use as a pillow. His back wasn’t feeling as bad as he’d expected, though. To his surprise, Goto and Klai here sitting back to back, looking up in to the empty sky. Why was she wearing Goto’s jacket? Very peculiar. 

“Mornin’, y’all,” he said.

Goto gave him a steely look. “Yes, good morning, Bose. Did you sleep well?”

He smiled back. “Sure did. I always sleep like a baby.”

“We noticed,” said Klai. 

He glanced around the campsite. “Why’d you dump sand in the fire? We still need to cook some… what in tarnation happened to our breakfast? It’s half gone!”

Goto cocked his head. “You really have no idea, do you? You did not hear any of it?”

“Any of what? Come on out and say it.”

Klai hopped to her feet. “Deathwings! We were attacked by deathwings! How did you sleep through that?” 

“Deathwing?”

“To be fair,” said Goto, “there was only one. And it wasn’t dangerous. Just hungry.”

Klai let out a series of frustrated clicks and held her head in her hands. Bose felt like he could hear an angry rant mixed in with the high-pitched noises, though faint and distant. “You two are insane! One of you can sleep through a deathwing attack, and the other treats it like a pet! How are you going to get me home if you don’t have the sense that the Creator gave rocks?”

Bose strode over and put a hand on her shoulder. “Woah, there, darlin’. You ain’t making sense. Let’s go over this again. What’s a deathwing?”

Goto and Klai relayed what had happened the night before. Bose felt like he should have been more nervous, but then again, he couldn’t quite envision what the samurai was describing. “So, an honest to God dragon.”

“Yes.”

“Did it breathe fire?”

Goto cocked his head. “Dragons breathe fire?”

“That’s what they say in the stories,” said Bose.

“Not in our stories,” said Klai. “They swoop down and grab children. I thought it was going to…” She shuddered at the memory. 

Bose felt the stirrings of fear in his own gut. The girl had gone into battle against them without flinching, and had wrestled a gator to death with her bare hands. If she was so worried about this deathwing, well, his bad habit of sleeping like a rock was a liability. It was time to turn on a little charm to get both their minds off it. “Goto, thanks for keepin’ an eye on Klai for me. I hear dragons like stealin’ pretty young things, too.” He gave the delphen a wink. 

She smiled weakly at him. “How do we wake you? For next time?”

“Folks pinch my nose, usually,” he replied. “Goto, you don’t seem too nervous.”

He shrugged. “She has some superstitious fear of the deathwings. It’s just an animal. I understand how they think. They’re usually as afraid of you as you are of them.”

Bose nodded. “Yeah, you’re pretty good at that. I know horses, cattle and dogs. Wouldn’t think to apply it the same way to these monsters.” 

“Superstitious?”

“Movin’ on to more useful topics,” he said, noting that delphens turned redder when they were angry, too. She was looking more and more human all the time, which was, frankly, disturbing. “I guess it’s time to grab some breakfast and a drink before we mosey on out of here.”

“It’s going to be more dangerous this early,” said Klai. “The gharials need to sun themselves so they can wake up, and they won’t want to move aside for us.”

“Ah, so they’re grumpy in the morning. I can relate.” He let out a loud yawn. “I don’t suppose y’all got coffee ‘round these parts?”

Klai’s eyes narrowed. “What’s a coffee?”

Bose’s face fell. “Aw, shoot. That’s another habit I’ll have to give up, I suppose. I guess that gharial will make a good breakfast, at least.”

Goto sighed. “We lost the fire. It will delay us too much to get it going again. We will have to scrounge for something else.”

“Double shoot.”

 They found some berries from some bushes near the mouth of the river, far from where the gharials patrolled. “They sure do like bunchin’ up there, don’t they?”

“Everything they eat comes down from the Blessed Oasis,” said Klai. “The Outlands are lifeless.”

“Except deathwings,” said Goto, a sly smile on his face. 

Klai shivered. “Don’t remind me.”

Klai surprised Bose by refusing the fruit, instead swallowing a gharial hatchling the size of a baby chick in one swallow. “So much for seeming human,” he whispered with a shudder. 

“At least cook it first,” said Goto, looking squeamish. 

“No time,” she said, brushing her mouth with the back of her hand. “Your pet put out the fire, remember? Besides, the sun’s coming up, and we want to get as far as we can before high noon.” 

They had a quick confab about their next steps, resting in the shade of the palm trees that hugged the only source of water. The way Bose saw it, they were spectacularly unprepared for a trip through the desert. “We don’t have canteens or water skins. We got lucky we ended up so close to the oasis.”

“By certain definitions of lucky, yes,” replied Goto.

“I have my water skin, but that will not be enough.” Klai was pacing again, deep in thought. “I haven’t been into the Outlands before. Are they really as empty as they say? Maybe there are tubers or plants that store water in their roots?”

Goto waved his hands at the endless stretches of desert. “It looked like this, only more so. This time, we will have the cliff side to guide us, which is some comfort. We could barely tell we were making progress before.”

“There’s gotta be a better way.” Bose strode over and ran a hand across the cliff face. “Completely smooth. I tell you, this place ain’t normal. You’d think this’d have weathered some. It’s like someone just dropped it in the middle of this wasteland.”

“It’s just as well,” replied Goto. “I don’t know about you, Bose, but I wouldn’t want to take my chances climbing straight up, even with handholds.”

“Then I guess we gotta hoof it,” said Goto. 

“Klai, give me back my jacket. I’ll need it to prevent a burn.”

“Oh!” Klai blushed as she doffed it. “I had forgotten it was there. It was quite comfortable.”

Goto nodded and dressed himself in silence. 

Goto seemed his normal self, but Klai had grown more tense as the morning had gone along. “What’s botherin’ you, ma’am?” 

“I… I am going to be a burden to you. My people do not do well without water. I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it a mile, much less all the way around.”

“Something else our peoples have in common,” said Bose, trying to keep things light.

“More than you,” she said. “It’s why the Romish drove us here. We thrive in the Blessed Oasis, but it was a one-way trip. I’ll need a skin with this much water every hour, and I only have one.”

Bose nodded grimly. “We’ll do better, but we’re going to need a refill at some point. We’re gonna sweat somethin’ fierce out there.”

“You’re the one who’s seen a desert before,” said Goto. “How do you usually manage?”

“Water and plenty of it, which ain’t an option. Ms. Meina, we may have to leave you behind and haul you up.”

“With what? We don’t have ropes that long,” said Klai. 

Goto coughed into his hand. “More to the point, if we show up in her village without her, they’ll gut us like pigs. We go together, or not at all.”

“Pigs?”

“It ain’t anything good.” Bose sighed. “Klai, go drink up at the pool. We might as well all do that, now that I think about it. You go first. We’ll stand watch and make sure them critters don’t get any ideas.”

Klai gave Bose a brave smile. She bent down at the water’s edge and began drinking like it was the last water she’d ever see, which…

No, that wasn’t a helpful line of thought. His stomach grumbled, and he decided to grab some more of the berries. They were round and juicy. They reminded him of blackberries he’d picked in Colorado, though sweeter. A particularly ripe one went squished between his fingers, squirting red juice across his white bandana. “Son of a biscuit, this was new!”

“The mud from yesterday came out,” said Goto. “It should be fine.”

“Berries’re different. This stuff stains like the dickens.” 

Klai walked over, wiping the water dribbling from her chin. “I heard you shout, Bose. What’s wrong?”

“It’s these daggum berries. They’re just about bursting with…” He trailed off. “Klai, I noticed you didn’t partake of these before. Care to explain why?”

She stuck her tongue out. “My people only eat meat. I can’t stand sweet things.”

Bose weighed her words and took off his hat, turning it this way and that in his hands. The tall crown of the hat wasn’t exactly ten gallons (he’d never understood the term), but it could fit a lot of water, if only it was fully sealed. It’d make a decent bucket for the fruit, though the poor hat would be utterly ruined. He was already leaving red streaks of berry juice on the brim.

Oh, well. He’d decided he was the delphen’s keeper long before. “If it were life and death, could you stomach it?”

*********

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