Chapter Thirty (Patreon)

Ali’ya headed west from Caross. East would have been an easier journey, the other, smaller, settlements stretching out for miles beyond Caross, gradually shifting to the untamed grasslands and savannas of Togoria, where the largest bist herds roamed. But the Force called her west, and against her wisdom Ali’ya went. The first day’s walk was simple. Stretching out her senses, Ali’ya treated the walk not unlike a lesser moving meditation, allowing the Force to guide her but not control her, seeking its knowledge yet not losing herself to it. She made great speed that day, even by Togorian standards. The second day went much as the first, at least before noon. Ali’ya reached the edge of the Swamp of Vapours by midday at ate her midmeal--a woolly pig, caught exiting the forests and roasted whole--before entering.

One she entered, everything turned to shit. The Swamp of Vapors was no mere swamp. Its waterways were deep and treacherous, the muddy banks unstable and prone to forming sinkholes or falling into the water. The safest route was to climb the trees, where dozens of snake species made their homes. More than a few of them were venomous, yet that was still not the worst part. No, that honor belonged to the Vapors.

The Swamp of Vapors was not named only for its stench, but also for the unique predator that made its home there. Bound in gaseous form, the Vapors hunted in an most unusual fashion. They floated along the swamp, allowing themselves to be breathed in by one of the larger lifeforms. When Ali’ya first saw one, it was taken in by a foora, a medium-sized tapir-like animal. Abruptly, the foora stopped breathing. It struggled, throwing back its head and stomping on the ground. The muddy water splashed. It dove into the water, desperate to get rid of the strange whatever-it-was. It never emerged.

Ali’ya did not sleep in the Swamp of Vapors. She did not rest there. From the moment she saw the Tapir drown she kept a Force shield around her mouth and nose, unwilling to risk the Vapors. It was exhausting to keep running, and dangerously distracting, as Ali’ya found out when she tripped over the nest of a Togorian Giant Snake. She reared back, instinctively afraid of one of her people’s ancestral predators. The giant snake hissed as it unfurled its length, chasing Ali’ya up and across the tree and onto the next one. It was a giant, terrifying thing more than twelve meters in length. The temptation to use the Force, either to convince it to leave or to kill it, was strong but Ali’ya resisted. This was a test. Preventing the Vapors from seizing her body was already on the edge of violating the rules, if not their principal.

Chased into the waiting arms of a sturdy willow, Ali’ya found herself trapped. The only trees connecting to the willow were back, for she now stood on the edge of a tiny peninsula. She heard laughter in the snake’s voice. She felt the scales creeping up on her.

I am a Jedi, Ali’ya reminded herself. I am a Togorian. She turned sharply, a snarl on her lips. Her claws extended. The snake leapt at her once more, and for the first time Ali’ya leapt back. They collided in the air, their combined weight swiftly dropping them to the muddy swamp floor. Ali’ya scrambled to get up as the snake fought to encircle her. She roared, aiming her claws for the head of the snake. She missed, nearly impaling her own leg. The snake climbed to her thigh and Ali’ya kicked out reflexively, the strength of the move hurling the snake towards a tree. This time Ali’ya did not wait. This was not lightsaber combat, where she could rest and defend. This was a hunt, and she was the hunter, not this unthinking serpentine mass. The snake twisted as she landed, scoring only a glancing bow and getting her claws stuck in the tree. Ali’ya yanked her hands free, turning in time to dance around the snake’s snapping mouth. Ali’ya jumped upon it, aiming not for the head but the middle. She landed with a wet thud, toe-claws fully extended. The wicked keratin rent scale and flesh. Ali’ya kicked with one foot, remaining stead with the other. The snake tore at the middle, blood and flesh and bone exposed to the uncaring swamp.

Ali’ya stood, panting, in the Swamp of Vapors. Her Force shield was still up, but flickering. She quickly made to reinforce it.

Was this it, she wondered, but no letters came up. No alert that her quest was completed, only a pulling, an urge from the Force to continue west.

*

It took another day--and three close calls with lethally venomous snakes--for Ali’ya to cross the Swamp of Vapors. At last on the other side she let go of the Force shield and breathed the fresh air. So close the the swamp it was still contaminated with the scent muck and rot but there was grass as well, wind and trees. Ali’ya sighed in relief. She would certainly be taking the long way back.

Ali’ya knew what the system wanted of her. Entertainment. It would settle for nothing less than grand drama and melodrama. Ali’ya did not bother seeking out other prey. The moment she saw the deep, four-footed tracks she followed them. She did her best to keep downwind, hiding herself and her scent by rolling in mud (and narrowly avoiding an unfortunate encounter with a mud-worg.

When Ali’ya first saw her prey she would admit to being afraid. It was alone--Tyrannosaurs always were, outside mating season--but that did not detract from its terror. She knew it would be large. Intellectually, she knew that it was four meters tall at the shoulder.

She had deeply underestimated what that meant. Somewhere between crocodilian and equine in appearance, the Tyrannosaur rested on long legs as it stared out over the riverbank. Its head, nearly two meters long, possessed razor sharp teeth and jaws that looked capable of crushing beskar. The tail seemed no less deadly, stretching out for four meters and covered in plate-like scales. The body was just as well protected, and far larger. The beast--for there was no other way of describing such a creature--measured nearly fourteen meters from the tip of its snout to the end of its tail.

Ali’ya moved before she lost her nerve. As the creature lunged for an unsuspected mud worg she leapt from her hiding place at the top of a Eucalyptus tree. She landed on all fours, using the position to start sprinting. She picked up speed, breath coming easily. As the Tyrannosaur’s jaws descended, crushing meat and bone of the mud worg into a fine paste, Ali’ya leapt once more. She landed on its back, her claws digging deep into the scale-plates. She twisted, moving forward even as the Tyrannosaur roared in anger (though not yet in pain), dropping its prey. Ali’ya scrambled past the tail, latching her toe-claws deep into the scales of its back. With that purchase she dug in, her beskar-hard claws tearing through protective scale with blow after blow. She dug deep and swift, hoping to end the fight before it began.

But such luck was out of her reach. No sooner had Ali’ya found purchase in the Tyrannosaur’s flesh that a warning struck through the Force. Letting go of her purchase, Ali’ya jumped, narrowly avoiding being crushed as the Tyrannosaur suddenly flopped onto its back. With surprising agility it stood again. It roared a challenge, eyes seeking Ali’ya. Despite her fear, Ali’ya roared back.

The Tyrannosaur charged. Ali’ya moved, dodging the bite that threatened to crush her whole and leaping narrowly over the swinging tail that followed. She stumbled slightly as she landed, and the Tyrannosaur slammed its body against her. Ali’ya was knocked back from the power of the blow, rolling to a stop. She jumped as she landed, avoiding another bite, then the tail. She leapt forward rather than aside, landing foot-first on the snout of the Tyrannosaur. As it bellowed a complaint she rushed forward, hands seeking the lighter neck-plates, less armored by necessity of movement. The Tyrannosaur reared up and slammed back onto the ground, but Ali’ya held firm, her claws sharp and unyielding. As it landed she tore further, cutting past scale and into flesh. Muscles were torn as the Tyrannosaur screamed. It rolled, and Ali’ya had no time to let go. She rolled with it, wind leaving her as the weight of the monstrous creature fell upon her. She felt her ribs crack yet she did not let go. The Tyrannosaur tore itself from her grasp and Ali’ya did not let go, her claws taking flesh and bone with her.

Ali’ya stumbled to her feet. Not but a few meters away, the Tyrannosaur did the same. Ali’ya breathed, wheezing. She checked herself over with the Force. Six broken ribs, but none had punctured her lungs. Good, Ali’ya thought. She took a step forward, he ribs protesting the move. She stepped again.

The Tyrannosaur tried to match her. It stepped, and stumbled. It tried to stand and stumbled again. Ali’ya granted the creature the only mercy she could. Stepping from the side, she slit its throat in a flash of claws and stood by its side as the great predator breathed its last.