And harvest we did; jumping from one leg to another in an almost choreographed dance. Back and forth all together, we bounded. Peeling armor from at, and hoarding as much as we could carry—our scavenging rush was insatiable. Ravenous. We rent them apart like the world was falling apart; pillae and mandibles piling one on top of the other until there was little left to feed the rest of the forest.
Rare was such a bounty. Rarer still was a carcass so fresh; so pure; such high quality. The exoskeleton was lightweight, but harder than stone. There was more than we could even carry, ourselves.
I stopped for breath.
Wiping my forehead, I looked to the collection I had amassed; divvied up by breadth and shape. Several dozen breastplates, here—A shield, there—A pedipalp hollowed for a helt.
Fimbs and Janny were gagging over themselves with the at, scooping out teal handfuls of acrid viscera, and piling it on a platform of leaves over to the left. Rilah, though, was thoroughly enjoying herself.
She was gleefully carving apart the limbs with the sickle, in a way that she was particularly suited to. Her nimble fingers parted the minuscule seams between plates like they were a foot wide. Incredible. She made it look easy! Too easy. I found myself staring for long enough that I had to rember why I stopped. We didn't have much ti.
How much of this were we all thinking of hauling ourselves? I'dn't put it past them. Before long, it would be nightfall, and I would have hated to be caught out here after dark. I spoke. "Hey. Guys? Do you think we've got enough for today?"
"Hm," Janny said.
"Um." Fimbs echoed.
"Are you diving kidding, Zo-el?!" Rilah rejoindered, sporting a grin as bright as the midday sun. "Look at this haul! How often do we find gear this choice?" She held up a panel of siding from the pile she'd just cut loose from the body, and turned it so I could see the edge of its curving span. Gore still hung from it in oozing sheets. It was so lightweight, she only needed two fingers. "Seriously. Look! See how thin the carapace is? We could stack like fifty of them and not feel a difference."
She turned it back towards . "Now, try to strike it."
"Seriously?" I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Rilah, I don't need you to prove to how hard the shell is, I'm the one who—"
"Strike it, crybaby!" She shouted.
"No. Let's go." I turned to the other two. "Weren't you all just complaining about being stuck out here a second ago? What happened to that? I'm tired, and sore all over. I'm ready to go ho,"
"Maybe," she said behind my back, too quietly. I looked at her, and quirked an eyebrow. Then, suddenly, her zeal returned—I could hear it in her voice—how ecstatic and impassioned she had beco with the dreams that our treasures could unveil in an encroaching future that was soon to co to pass. "Even if I did, that was before I realized the quality of this material! Zozi, I could make this last a lifeti!"
"You're out of your mind." I scoffed, signaling to the others with a flair of my hand. "Co on. The sooner we go, the sooner we can be back with a real hauling party."
Janny shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I dunno. This stuff won't be here in the morning. We should at least finish cleaning it, then we could stow it in the canopy, or sothing."
I balled my hands into my hair. "I can't believe what I'm hearing! Fimbs? Please. Please tell you wanna go ho."
She just looked around, tremulously, between and Janny. "Uh."
"Yes?" I invited, fanning my hands toward her in an expression of encouragent.
"I dunno—" she began, but her eyes went wide as she looked into the middle distance; sowhere behind . "Wha—What is that?!"
I turned to follow the line of her gaze... "No..!" My whole body shivered at what I found. Between the fractal-like branching pathways of skylight, a black and yellow wave of darkness washed overhead. It stretched as far as the eye could see, like a veil draped across the sky. All signs of the great blue were snuffed out; from horizon to horizon.
I only had ti enough for a single wary glance back at Rilah, who seed as terrified as I was, before we both leapt into action.
Hurry. Gotta hurry. Selecting a rather generous pane as my sled, I piled on a sizeable volu, and grabbed it by the leeward edge with both of my hands before pushing with all my weight. It was harder to move than it should be, but it shuffled all the sa. "C'mon," I groaned. Then, I put my back into it, and whimpered when it budged again.
I didn't an to do that. So loud, My ears burned with an all too familiar blush of embarrassnt as I took the opportunity to practice my Fimbs impression. I was clearly worse off than I thought! All the more reason. I had to hurry.
"I thought you said they were bluffing!" Rilah shouted, in a panic, as she scrambled into as many sections of carapace as she could find to nest over one another on her diminutive body. "It's nothing to be worried about, right?!"
I pushed again, inviting another bloom of bright coals to sprout across my spine. My hands throbbed on the thin, cool sheet. My breath hitched. I couldn't tell them.
"Zo-el, You said they're going to be fine," she crowed again, redundantly. I ignored her.
It wasn't enough that we got back with the goods, not anymore. I had to make sure. I told them it was a lie, but I couldn't be sure, not until I saw it for myself! Atha. Abba. Kilphy. Vassur. I had to see them again, one more ti, before I could relax.
Sothing was off. It was an itch in the back of my brain, that wouldn't go away. I could feel it.
We were growing too accustod to the stalks. We were becoming too familiar with its branching reeds and winding passageways; its fathoms upon fathoms of endless green tubers and shadowed stretches of blacked out earth. I could not forget.
Children do not belong in the Sunset Domain.
"What's going on?!" Fimbs cried, unmoored as everyone suddenly started milling about with purpose, without telling her anything.
Janny was halfway buried under his own mountain of gear by the ti he replied. "I don't really understand it myself, but it looks like we're out of ti. For whatever reason, we've got to get back ho and fast!"
Rilah was beyond herself. The scale of ignorance displayed was baffling. "You kidding?! What? Do I have to spell it out for you? The diving sky is turning black! It sure is a wonder why in the five zones we should be worried! Huh?! Are you a dumbass, or just pretending to be one to piss off?"
He paid her little mind, turning to instruct Fimbs. "Leave the innards. Most of it is offal, anyways." No argunts there. She was more than eager to expedite her escape.
"Zo-el, wait up!" he called, foolishly inviting more attention than had already sensed us in the minutes afore; to my complete unawareness, as I had stopped listening a long ti ago. I could only hear the urgent rush of blood flowing.
My pulse pounded. Loud. Too loud. My ears were full with the rhythmic sounds of my own heartbeat. Sweat misted my forehead, and I pushed onward.
"Hell. Co on, let's hurry. That ans you, Rilah! We have no idea what is already coming," he cursed; shoveling an amorphous mass of flesh into his satchel, and hefting a small pile of panes onto his free shoulder. "You, go help Zo-el push."
Fimbs started off without delay, with an armful of smaller breastplates against her chest, and a helm balanced on her head. It was almost a shock when she appeared behind looking like that. She gave an apologetic grin. Then, her quarry was added to my load, and she joined at the rear, so we could push together; her hands on the right side, mine on the left.
From there, it was a simple trip—as easy as they get, mind you—We kept a pretty good pace, at least. Soon, The Sunset disappeared, then Daylight. We were almost ho, but what we saw next chilled us to our core.
It started with a smudge, here—a splash, there—but soon, we locked eyes on it. The browns and muted grays of our drab little town had been splattered in heavy, dreadful slabs of congealed maroon and burgundy. Even the air, itself, seed thick with the sll of salt and iron.
Our hos were caked in a heavy, pungent layer of fresh human blood.
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