Dawn arrived like a shy maiden, peaking through the flap of Oak's tent and blinding him with her good looks. Thoroughly dazzled, Oak rubbed the vestiges of sleep from his eyes. The half remembered shadows of his dreams clung to him bitterly, refusing to let go, but Oak got up anyway.

The caravan waited for no one.

Dismantling his tent, cooking some breakfast porridge, and hitching the oxen had become routine. Eating the porridge had not. It was early days on their journey, but Oak could tell he and the porridge had a pitched battle ahead of them. Someday in the not so distant future, he would have to force the featureless and bland sludge down his gullet.

Ur-Namma had the audacity to smile as he ate his breakfast. Such a flagrant act of barbarism should have warranted a caning, but Oak let the matter go. He was happy the elf looked well. Every mile they traveled away from the gloom of Ma'aseh Merkavah revitalized Ur-Namma, lengthening his stride and straightening his back.

Last night before they had gone to bed, he had seen the ancient elf practicing cuts and thrusts with his longsword. Ur-Namma's recovery from centuries of starvation was nothing short of astounding. Old elves are a scary bunch. The elf had a long way to go before he was back to his full strength, but it was still hard to believe what a difference a month could make.

Before they knew it, Tochukwu's deep voice called for the caravan to form up.

Ur-Namma wanted to stretch his legs that day, and Sadia was happy to oblige. The girl got on the driver's bench and the three of them maneuvered the wagon past harried looking families, still in the midst of their morning chores, into their assigned spot in the wagon-train.

Oak grinned. Watching people flail about as Tochukwu yelled at them to get their shit together might never get old.

***

It was another hot day, without a cloud in sight. An occasional gust of wind raced across the plain, clearing out some of the dust the wagons ahead of theirs threw up into the air. When the wind settled, the dust returned like an old friend and got into the swing of things as if it had never left.

A strong gust sent the waterproof canvas of their wagon rattling. Oak clutched his wide-brimmed hat like it was a talisman warding him against all evil and leaned into the wind.

Nothing will part me from this blessed piece of headwear. Nothing!

It was bad. Oak was already talking to himself in his head and they had been traveling for a scant three days. If this pace continued, he would arrive to Chadash Merkavah, crawling on all fours and honking like a goose.

That was not a mental image he wanted to cultivate.

After a brief lunch, the caravan rolled up to a river crossing and Oak knew with a single look that people would die today. By the fierce cursing coming from Tochukwu, the caravan leader had come to the same depressing conclusion.

The remains of a wooden bridge stuck out from the riverbank like splinters of broken bone jutting out of a fractured shin. The rest of the bridge was either at the bottom of the river, or the current had taken the entire thing with it. They would have to float the wagons across.

Boy, was Oak glad Halit had gotten them a properly caulked wagon. Not everyone had that luxury and he could see stone-faced men and women, most of them belonging to the independent faction, doing what little they could to pluck cracks that would allow water to seep through the beds of their wagons.

It was useless, but what else could the poor bastards do? Had to do something. Had to do it and live with the consequences.

Tochukwu's teamsters set up two ropes across the narrow river for people to hang onto as they would make their crossing and checked the depth with long poles. For most of the width of the river, an adult could walk on the riverbed, but there was a forty-feet stretch in the middle where people and oxen would have to swim. At least the flow was calm, and the river wasn't flooding.

The teamsters and merchants of the Kporaro caravan company went over the river first, to show everyone how it's done. Men attached long and thick ropes to the wagons and swam across the river, taking the other end with them. The oxen went next. Then the wagons were carefully, but swiftly, pulled across with the oxen's help while men in the water pushed the wagons upstream with their long poles.

It was not pretty, and it was slow, but every wagon made it across and no one died. Graciously, Tochukwu gave the rest of the caravan permission to use the Kporaro company's ropes. That was mighty nice of him, since no one else had hundreds of feet of thick rope stashed in their wagons.

Geezer stood on the riverbank some ways away from the rest of the caravan, staring into the water. Oak went to see what bothered the hellhound, and Ur-Namma came with him, watching the river with suspicious eyes and fingering the hilt of his longsword.

Oak knelt next to Geezer and looked around. He saw no sign of danger, just calmly flowing brown water, a flush riverbank crawling with weeds, and some copses of tall trees on the other side. And yet the hellhound was stiff as a board.

"What is it, Geezer?" he asked and gave the hellhound a scratch. "What troubles you?"

"DANGER," Geezer whispered, as much as he could whisper, when a chorus of the damned delivered his words. "SMELL DANGER."

"What kind of danger?" Ur-Namma frowned, tapping the pommel of his sword with his long fingers.

"EARTHY. MUSKY. STALE BLOOD. STAGNANT AND STRONG."

"Hells. What do you think, Ur-Namma?" Oak asked, chewing on his lip.

"The caravan can't stop. We can't afford the delay either, not when we don't even know how long we might have to wait for the danger to pass." Ur-Namma shrugged. "All lives end, sooner or later. If we die, so be it."

"How comforting." Oak spat and stood up. "Nothing for it, then. We cross and pray."

***

Flies buzzed in great swarms, oxen bellowed, and the wagon-train moved across the river at a snail's pace. Old man Chinweike and his niece Ekua, right ahead of Oak and his companions, were next in line to cross the river. They drove their wagon to the water's edge and unhitched the oxen.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Oak stood next to Ur-Namma and Sadia up on the riverbank, watching and waiting for their turn. Geezer had hidden under their wagon and refused to come out. Blasted river. Oak had to admit the hellhound's skittish behaviour made him anxious.

Geezer was a coward, but he was rarely scared for no good reason.

"Constant vigilance?" Oak murmured. He checked his falchion would come out of its sheath without trouble and slammed the blade back inside with a satisfying 'shlick'.

"Constant vigilance," Ur-Namma replied and showed his needle-like teeth.

Sadia just fidgeted, hands gripping at the hem of her robes in a white-knuckled grip.

It happened when Ekua set out to take the oxen across the river. She made it deep enough her legs no longer reached the bottom, oxen walking on the riverbed in her wake. The water surged and a huge mass of scales so dark-green they might as well have been black snatched her in its long jaws.

A disgusting crunching sound followed and the beast bit Ekua in half.

Old man Chinweike screamed and fell to his knees, ripping off chunks of his beard. His wrinkled face twisted with horror as the beast swallowed the chunk of Ekua's corpse left in its mouth. Even though Oak's heart bled for the poor man, his shameful first thought didn't drip with sympathy.

At least it wasn't any of us.

"Crocodile!" someone roared. "Monster!"

Great splashes of water went flying as the so-called 'crocodile' rushed at the oxen. The beasts of burden understandably panicked and swam towards the only safety they knew; the shore and their master.

Chinweike didn't stay idle in the face of danger. He ran up the riverbank as fast as his old legs could carry him, mad with grief and fear, and the oxen ran after him. The crocodile followed its prey out of the water, humongous jaws snapping at their heels.

When the beast cleared the waterline, Chinweike wasn't the only person running. It sounded like half the caravan was in flight. The Ears of Amdusias turned screams and curses into a moving tapestry of people running for their lives, but Oak paid it no mind. The only thing he had eyes for was the crocodile.

It was easily the length of two wagons and wide enough to eat two oxen for breakfast. Hells, it might have room for a third. Even from afar, it stank of rotten blood and old corpse-flesh.

Dust to dust. Nothing for it.

"Right. Come here, you overgrown lizard!" Oak pulled out his falchion and stood fast, ready to face the beast's charge. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ur-Namma and Sadia spreading out behind him. Once more, Geezer showed he was the smartest person in their small company.

The hellhound was nowhere in sight.

"Ice in your veins, girl. A glacier's worth." Ur-Namma licked his chapped lips and grinned. "We must pick our moment."

Sadia looked enraged enough to murder a small village and salt the ashes. Oak couldn't blame her. Ekua had been a friend.

Oak smacked the charging crocodile in the face with a concentrated blast of pyrokinetic flame, causing the beast to flinch away in confusion. Scales melted and flesh sizzled, but the monster gave no cry of pain. This was no time for caution. He would have time to worry about the caravan's reaction to his abilities later.

If they all lived through this.

Violence was the best defense. Oak moved in, giving the crocodile no space and no time to get over its confusion. The fucker might wrack its tiny brain and realize it could swallow them all whole. He put his back into it, power flowing up from his legs and his hips, and chopped at the beast's jaw.

Blood and enormous teeth went flying, but the monster made no sound. It just surged forward, seeking Oak with its bloody maw and he had to hop back to avoid Ekua's fate, slipping and sliding on the muddy grass.

An arrow streaked from behind Oak and took out one of the beast's eyes. Again, the crocodile showed no reaction at all. They would have to cut this monster into tiny little pieces to keep it down. A horse whinnied and Oak glanced at the sound. Yakubu had gotten on his war horse and rode towards the danger, bow in hand. The bronze slab of a man sent another arrow streaking through the air. This one sank into the monster's shoulder and a third was in the air before Oak could blink.

Ur-Namma dashed towards the beast from Oak's right, blade flickering in the sunlight and harassed the beast with precise thrusts.

Sadia followed suit. Dark-red lightning crawled out of her heart and jumped from her hands, electrocuting the monster. The little spellsinger screamed in rage and doubled the intensity of her thaumaturgy, brilliant arcs of scarlet death scorching the monster's scales and sending it convulsing.

Not to be outdone by his companions, Oak closed in and hacked at the beast with his falchion, striking whatever was in easy reach. Seeking a swift end to the battle, he bathed the crocodile's neck in radiant flame, melting flesh by the bucket load.

The crocodile couldn't respond to all threats at once, so it had to choose. Its impossibly long and muscled tail swung around and swatted Sadia aside like an annoying bug. The girl's shield-bracelet sparked, the enchantment overloaded by the enormous strength of the beast, and she rolled into a stop by their wagon.

Geezer poked his head out, grabbed the girl by robes and pulled her under the wagon, away from harm's way.

Sheesh. Good dog.

With a roar, Oak took advantage of the opportunity afforded to him by Sadia and took a mighty swing at the monster's exposed neck. His falchion sank deep through boiling flesh and severed the spine. The crocodile twitched and lay still.

It took another three swings to cut off the beast's head.

+ 1 Souls

+ 6 Fuel

Oak stumbled back from the giant corpse, breathing hard. The stank of rotten blood swirled around him like a cloud, muddling his thoughts and sending his mind down onto dark paths.

Cloying and sweet. Rancid and pure. God. He felt simultaneously hot and cold, and it was so hard to think. Sweat dripped into his eyes. All these heartbeats, calling to me. Yearning for silence.

"A worthy opponent." Yakubu stopped his horse a few paces away and got down from the saddle. "Did we lose anyone?"

"Chinweike's niece. The croc caught her in the water." Ur-Namma clapped Oak on the shoulder. The friendly touch steadied him, pulling him back from the darkness. "Nice work, Northerner."

Yakubu stared at the mess of melted flesh and scales that was the crocodile's neck. Oak could imagine the gears turning in the Koromite warrior's head, but the man's expression betrayed nothing of his inner thoughts. To his credit the man didn't pry.

"Ekua. We lost Ekua." Sadia growled, angry tears flowing down her cheeks. The girl had dragged herself out from under the wagon, and she hobbled to join their loose semi-circle, holding onto her side. Geezer followed at her heels, a concerned look in his eyes.

At the sound of Sadia's voice, Yakubu glanced at the girl, visibly surprised to see her in walking condition. "God in Heaven, girl! Are you sure you should be up and about?"

Sadia waved him off, eyes fixed on the crocodile's corpse.

"That we did, girl. That we did." Oak shook his head, trying to wrangle his thoughts together. "A river cow must be a mighty beast indeed, if it kills these monsters for sport."

"Oh, shut it, you fool." Ur-Namma groaned. "That is no normal crocodile."

Oak burst out laughing and found himself unable to stop. Sadia rounded on him, murder in her eyes, and slapped his arm.

"Stop it!"

"I'm sorry. Sorry." Oak laughed, holding onto his knees to stay upright. "It's just, I just realized–"

"What?" Sadia demanded.

"Time is wasting, and we are on the wrong side of the river." Oak wiped tears of mirth from his eyes, panting for breath. "We still have to cross."

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