13 Cratagus

The G'eth that stepped in front of us had an enormous frame and was at least half a meter taller than Valerian and me. The way the vines corded together to form his frame made him look like a bull that was standing on two legs. He even had large thorns protruding from his shoulders making him appear especially vicious. He was sneering at Valerian and appeared to ignore my existence completely.

"Oh, if it isn't my old buddy Cratagus. If you would kindly step out of our way we would like to collect the reward for our hunt today." Valerian said, as steppe forward dragging the sled full of fangs behind him.

"Sure, no problem, but I think we need to inspect those fangs first," he chuckled.

"You don't mind do you?" Cratagus sneered as he reached towards the sled.

Suddenly, a dark purple vine, similar to the one that appeared when he was talking about his friend, shot out from the ground and swatted Cratagus's hand.

"AHHH!"

Cratagus yelped, as he quickly withdrew his hand and stepped backward. He fiercely glared at Valerian. I looked at where Valerian's vine hit his hand, a purple blotch was slowly spreading. Poison? G'eth are known for their manipulation of plants but they generally avoid using poisonous ones. It's very rare for a G'eth to have any poison related abilities, especially one so potent that it would show that fast.

I looked at Valerian intriguingly. Why would he have an ability like that?

Cratagus must have noticed my confused look because he turned to me shouting, "What? Didn't little Valerian tell you? He is the shame of our people!"

Valerian seemed to tense up when he heard that. His energetic features draining as a somber atmosphere fell around him.

"He can't be worse than a degenerate like you," I replied to Cratagus.

"Hmph!" Cratagus snorted.

Then he looked at my face again. I was just defending Valerian and was still curious about what he meant by 'shame of our people'. It must have shown on my face.

"Wait, he didn't tell you did he? Well I certainly wouldn't want to hide anything from the Grootslang slayer." Cratagus responded sarcastically.

He straightened up like a proud peacock and severed the part of his hand that was covered in purple. The Vines on his body extended and grew to reform it. Before he began speaking again the severed part dissolved into a purple liquid.

"You see, about 700 years ago the Fey got wind of the Geodenisis Arboreth location and launched an attack on it. Although we repelled them a despicable Fey was able to shoot a final arrow before his death. This arrow was coated in an extremely toxic poison. If it wasn't because of how much vitality it possessed and the combined efforts of the Grand Elders, the Geodenisis Arboreth would have perished. For centuries it was weakened producing less buds than normal, which greatly reduced the G'eth population. If it wasn't for this our greatest enemy, the Fey, would not have grown to be as dominant as they are today." Cratagus said in anger.

At first I was confused why he would reveal such a huge secret, but I noticed that twice he looked at my shoulder while talking. The Mark of the Arboreth on my shoulder was visible through the tears in my clothes. I couldn't help feeling like this tattoo holds some kind of secret. Cratagus didn't hesitate to reveal such a huge secret in front of me because of it.

I focused back on the conversation, "What does that have to do with Valerian?"

I remember Valerian mentioning that his was bud was related to the attack, but at the time he didn't explain further. I also knew about the animosity between the Fey and G'eth. The Fey preferred either a rapier or a bow as their weapon and their favorite material to use for their bows was the dead body of a G'eth. It was natural that the G'eth hated them.

"The Geodenisis Arboreth had just finished expelling the last of the poison 27 years ago. It just so happened that a bud absorbed a portion of it gaining the ability to turn any plant into a toxic, poisonous, abomination." Cratagus stared at Valerian as he pronounced the last three words slowly. Valerian was clearly upset as the mood around him seemed to sink into the abyss.

Suddenly, a lot of things began to make a lot more sense for me. Why Corytheius seemed to treat Valerian so special. The look of worry and relief on Corytheius's face when Valerian decided to travel with me. The subtle looks we would get walking through the street, which I had assumed were because I was human. It also explains why Valerian hadn't stopped me with his vines before, he must have been afraid he would might poison me.

It also explains all the strange aspects in the story about his friend. Why he was being trained in a courtyard alone. Why Corytheius got mad when he found someone else there. It was to protect Valerian, and the villagers, until Valerian could control his powers.

Cratagus continued his raving, "Worst yet if the Fey ever killed him and got a hold of his body he could be turned into..."

"SILENCE!!!!"

A voice from the elder compound boomed, it's echo drowned out all other noise.

The earth trembled as massive vines shot out from the ground wrapping around Cratagus. Before he could react they completely encased him, wrapped so tight Cratagus couldn't get a leaf out. His contorted face clearly displayed the pain he was feeling.

From the courtyard Corytheius's deep gravelly voice emerged, "Cratagus, you are aware, that I, forbid anyone, from speaking, of this, correct?"

Cratagus timidly responded, "Yes Grand Elder, I just thought the human should know, what he is associating with."

"You think, I am blind, Cratagus? You think, I haven't, long known, your nature? You think, I can't, see how, you abuse, your power? You think, I don't notice, your greed? I have, allowed you, to exist, because of, the threat, the Grootslang, posed, and the, need for, strong warriors, to defend, the village. Now, I think, you are, no longer, necessary."

Anger and frustration emanated form Corytheius's every word. The vines around Cratagus began to squirm and pulsate. Quickly, the color drained from Cratagus's face as he seemed to wither in an instant.

When the vines released him he fell to his knees barely stopping himself from hitting the ground. He was half the size he was before, almost as if Corytheius had sucked the vitality right out of him. A red branding ran from his chest to his shoulders and extended down both arms.

"I have, left you, your life, however, you are, no longer, welcome, among the G'eth. Leave, Immediately."

Cratagus looked in the direction the voice was coming from with a face full of shock. Then he turned towards Valerian and me with a hateful glare as if we were the ones at fault. Without saying a word he made his way out of the village.

After a long silence Corytheius said, "Abelia, count, their fangs, and give, them their, reward."

The G'eth named Abelia quickly came over and started counting the fangs in pairs. You could tell she was a female G'eth due to the numerous flowers blooming across her body and in her hair. G'eth still separated into males and females even though they themselves don't reproduce. Valerian explained it as a balance of nature.

The crowd that had gathered began to disperse as everyone continued about their day.Valerian turned towards me, a look of shame and fear on his face.

"I am sorry I did not explain before."

"Explain what? I see no problem."

"But.."

"Regardless you are my brother now and you saved my life. Not to mention having the ability to form poisonous vines may be useful for us. It is not an abomination or a curse as Cratagus suggested, in fact it may save our lives in a dangerous moment."

Valerian noticeably perked up and said, "Haha, you couldn't be more right. I'm awesome!"

"Ok, Ok, don't overdo it"

By now Abelia had finished counting our fangs, "104 adult offspring and 101 young offspring fang pairs. Allow me to go retrieve your coins."

She returned after a short while, "Here are 15 gold coins and 45 silver coins. Thank you for killing so many for us."

Abelia held out a small sack. 100 silver coins equaled 1 gold coin, so the total was 1545 silver coins before she converted what she could to gold coins.

"Our pleasure." Valerian said as he quickly grabbed the coins.

"Let's go get something to eat, it's been a long day," I said.

"Sure," responded Valerian as he pulled out ten gold coins. "Here is your portion."

"What? We can just split it in half."

"No," Valerian insisted, "Your ability is the only reason we killed so many. If I am your brother then just take it."

"Ugh, fine."

He didn't really leave me a choice. We ate dinner then headed back to our rooms. We agreed to meet at the village entrance the next day to continue hunting.