Chapter 48: Second day as a porter II

A shimmering triagram appeared above Randal’s body, and a rough layer of earth gathered over his forearms.

Another flashed a moment later as the muscles beneath his fur swelled, and he planted his feet, putting himself between the creature and the rest of the party.

Frost watched from behind the tree, trying to keep his attention on the triagrams rather than what they produced.

Unfortunately, looking at one didn’t make the other disappear, and by the time he realised he had been watching Randal’s arms grow larger, both shapes had already faded.

The creature lowered its body, its claws scraping against the dirt.

A triagram shimmered above its head, and a jagged lump of stone shot towards Randal, striking his raised forearms with a heavy crack. Pieces scattered across the ground as he slid back a step, though he remained standing.

Krazz moved before the creature could attack again, a trigram flashing above his body as he rushed towards its left side.

Another appeared over his sword, spreading a thin layer of flame along the blade, and he swung at the base of its neck.

The creature twisted away, leaving him to cut across its shoulder instead, while Erzaci moved around the opposite side.

Two triagrams flashed in quick succession, one above her body and the other over her polearm.

Her movements became quicker as sparks flickered along the weapon, and she thrust beneath one of the creature’s raised forelimbs before pulling away from its snapping jaws.

Nick raised a hand, a shimmering triagram appearing before his palm as water streamed across the ground.

It curled around the creature’s rear legs, pulling against them just as Rosalie released an arrow. A triagram flashed before her bow, and wind followed the shaft into the creature’s side.

Frost tried to watch all of them and quickly discovered that it was a terrible idea.

Every time he turned towards one person, someone else used a rune, and he found himself catching the fading remains of triagrams more often than the actual shapes.

It didn’t help that he still had to pay attention to the large, angry creature trying to kill the people standing a few steps away from him.

He eventually settled on watching Nick.

The man remained close enough that Frost could see his triagrams clearly, and unlike Krazz and Erzaci, he wasn’t constantly darting around something with teeth.

The creature dragged one leg free of the water and swung its tail towards Erzaci, forcing her to retreat.

Randal stepped closer to keep it occupied while Krazz moved in again, but as the creature turned its head, Frost noticed another triagram shimmering above it.

"It’s doing that stone thing again!" he called, the words leaving his mouth before he had time to consider whether anyone needed the warning.

Krazz pulled back just as another jagged stone shot past him, striking a tree with enough force to scatter splinters across the ground.

His gaze flicked towards the damaged trunk before he turned back to the creature.

Nick raised his hand again, a fresh triagram appearing before his palm as another stream of water caught the creature’s legs.

Erzaci jabbed at its face to keep it from turning towards him, while a triagram flashed before Rosalie’s bow as she sent a second wind-wrapped arrow into its flank.

This time, when Krazz stepped forward, the creature had nowhere to move, and his still-burning blade found the softer flesh beneath its jaw.

The fight ended shortly afterwards, leaving the creature sprawled beside the rocks. Frost remained behind the tree for a moment, looking at the broken wood where the stone had struck before glancing towards Krazz.

"Good catch," Nick said, drawing his attention. Frost looked up, a little surprised by the acknowledgement.

"I saw the triagram," he replied. "It looked like the one from before."

"Don’t start shouting every time something lights up," Krazz said, wiping his sword against the grass. "We still need to hear what’s going on."

Frost decided to take that as the closest thing to gratitude he was likely to receive. At least the man hadn’t told him to shut up entirely, which he supposed counted as progress.

They began sorting through the carcass, and Frost crouched beside Nick with the knife he was given, following instructions as carefully as he could.

The work was no more pleasant than it had been yesterday, but he now had some idea of where to cut.

His thoughts kept drifting towards the triagrams, though, especially the brief glimpse he had caught before Nick sent out the second stream of water.

"Does yours always look the same?" he asked eventually, pausing with the knife held above the carcass. Nick glanced at him before looking towards the spot where Frost had been standing.

"The triagram?"

Frost nodded, shifting his weight to ease the pressure on his aching knee. "The one you use for water. Does it always look like that?"

"Depends on what I’m doing," Nick replied, reaching over to point out where Frost should make the next cut. "Careful there. You’re going to ruin it."

Frost adjusted the blade and continued, though his mind remained on the answer.

So, trying to memorise every shape he saw wasn’t going to help much when he didn’t even know what most of them were supposed to do.

Nick watched him work for a moment before letting out a small sigh. "You’re still thinking about it, aren’t you?"

"A little," Frost admitted, which was a rather generous description of how much attention he had left for the bloody creature in front of him.

"Well, finish this first," Nick said. "When we stop to rest, I’ll show you the one I used this morning. No point trying to watch five people at once when you can barely keep track of one."

Frost looked up at him, suddenly much more interested in getting the work done. "Really?"

"Really," Nick said, then pointed at the carcass again. "But if you keep cutting like that, Krazz is going to take the cost out of your pay."

Frost immediately lowered his eyes and adjusted his grip. His first lesson was still going to be how to avoid making himself poorer.