The Surveyor

A torrent of white smoke emitted from his mouth, leaving behind small ice crystals on his overgrown red beard. He took another long breath as he made his way through the foot deep snow. Snow fell among the expanse of trees that surrounded him. “Quiet.” He thought. “Too quiet.” He paused to internally evaluate if it was worth continuing. He slowly moved his eyes from left to right, scanning the white field, before zoning in on a small indention about thirty feet before him. As quickly as he could he marched to that spot. The depth of snow, coupled with his aching, aging knees made progress slower than he would like. “This is the last time.” He muttered softly, spewing ever more white smoke.

When he reached the spot, he just stared. There was nothing special about it. No indication that it was nothing more than a low spot. However, he knew better. In fact, he knew this was the sign he was seeking. A rare misstep by a desperate target. He thought back to when he saw the announcement hanging in the inn. He thought nothing of it, that is until he was approached by three desperate locals.

***

“Mi Lord.” A small balding man approached him cautiously. “I have heard tales of your profession. Could you please help. We have lost so much already.” The man was afraid and sorrow in his eyes. He just looked at him with no emotion and was about to turn and leave before two more equally pathetic looking men approached and join in the chorus of pleading. He sighed and accepted. All he asked for was any details. They happily gave them to him. Per usual, they were fantastical and wild. “Mi Lord, I swear by the Mother herself that this beast ate one of my herd whole and ran off with two others.” “He’s a shadow, Mi Lord. And will tear you apart without blinking.” said another. One even assumed that it was the Trickster, himself coming to bring the end times. He sighed again after hearing the tales, and asked only for solid details, the kind that would lead him to the beast. At this the three men paused with confused looks on their face. This was common. The peasants will believe anything but never understand that there was more to it than stories.

He was about to give up before a regal voice spoke up. He looked in the direction it came from, and saw a man dressed in furs and blue satin. He was wealthy, or at least portrayed one. “Sir, they speak the truth. You’ll find the beast in the Old Bartville Township. It is up the road a few miles.” He nodded at the man and turned his mount to head in the direction of Old Bartville. “Sir, even if you do not return, I will send a letter to the magistrate. A Surveyor should always be paid.” This was music to his ears, as so many just expect him and his colleagues to do tasks for free. He did not reveal any emotion when he nodded in the direction of the wealthy man.

The road to Old Bartville was long and rough, filled with potholes and rivets from the various merchant carts that’s made their way to the small town. At first, the road was full of peasants and merchants making their way to wherever they were destined. As he grew closer, however, it grew empty and quiet. Too quiet. He even felt the chill of cold, that bit him harshly. He paused on the road, contemplating on whether he should continue. He closed his eyes and breathed out, then continued.

***

He snapped out of his thoughts and marched forward to the top of a small ridge. Nothing but white. Without thinking he stepped forward. That is when his knee gave out. He slide down the hill, flailing as he bounced. Desperately he dug into the snow, hoping to grasp onto anything, without avail. He landed hard at the bottom, feeling a sharp jab into his ribs. He laid there with labored breathing. His hand instinctively went to his side and pulled up to his face covered in blood. “Great.” He muttered. “At least now I have bait.” He attempted to get up. Pain shot through his entire body. White smoked shot out, and he pushed himself up. He struggled to get to feet and when he was erect, he noticed the blue hue of ice. He was standing before an ice lake. “This has to be it.” He looked back up the hill. “If it’s what I saw back at the village…”

***

When he came to the end of the road, there was no village. It was only a smoldering wreckage, long burned out. At the entrance, there stood a sign that was hastily written. “The Ice Lake Bring Death”. “Superstition.” He thought, shaking his head. “Always, with the superstition.”. He moved further into the village, hoping to see and signs to being his tracking. Snow began to fall and cover the ground. Towards the center of the village, small indention caught his eye. “Impossible!” he said audibly. He knelt, feeling the strain on his knee, and ran his hand through the indention. It looked like a hoof mark, but he knew better. There was no mistaking it, there is a beast and one not to be trifled with hazardously.

A panic sensation filled his head. He needed to get his equipment. He needed it now. As he turned to return to his mount, a black flash blazed by in the corner of his eye. It was too late. The next moment his mount screamed and was gone. He pulled his blade, standing in his defensive position. White smoke billowed as he calmed his breathing, listening for the soft steps of the beast. Suddenly he felt the swift presence and swiped to his left. A deafening roar shook him, and he was knocked back. Sending his sword flying.

As quick as he had fallen, he was on his feet again, scrambling for his blade. His hand deftly swooped it up and he was in his defensive posture once again. He waited. One. Two. Three. Nothing. He softened his posture, bring his sword down. He scanned the horizon. A puddle of black blood was present in the free snow. “I must have nicked him. Not enough though, blood is too black.” He moved in the direction of the disappearing blood trail. Before too long, the blood vanished and all that was remaining was snow.

***

Slowly he made his way towards the Ice Lake. He held his side as he limped, dragging himself closer. He was fixated on the blue ice. Blue was the color of death. It was where he needed to be. It is what he had been prepared for years now. In his years at the academy, they would spend hours listening to lectures on the signs of death. All of them included blue. During those lectures, he would always disregard them as hokum, with no grounds or basis. Even after his first task, when he mistakenly killed a man and saw the blue over come them as they drew their last breath, he did not believe the connection. He paused at the thought of the wealthy man and his blue robe. He closed his eyes. “Damn. Not today.” He thought. “Not on this day.” He opened them and saw he was standing at the edge of the ice. The blue hue hypnotized him, calling him towards it. He grew colder and could feel his strength lessening. The pounding of his wound and heart were in sync. “I was so close to the end of the road. Why did I have to stop?” he mused. The cold blue ice demanded his attention. Demanded the warmth inside of him. It was unrelenting. Every passing moment, his resolve lessens. “Would it be so bad?” he asks. The blue ice says nothing. “Would be so bad to just let go?”

A roar pulled him back to the world. His eyes shifted upwards towards the ice lake, and he stepped onto the ice. With renewed energy, he quickened his pace, ignoring the frictionless ice under foot. He was focused, he was controlled, he was at ease. All around him, he could hear the roaring. He felt the presence drawing closer, demanding his blood. A final feast. The snow crunched and his foot slid, but he was not deterred. Suddenly, he stopped and pulled his blade. With a forceful thrust the sword flew into the blue ice beside him. At the same moment he balled his fist and slammed it into his side. The pain awakened him even more, enraging him. That’s when he heard the heavy breathing.

He slowly turned around and faced the beast, locking eyes. The monster towered above him. It stood in attack position, beathing heavily. Saliva fell from it salivating jaw. The slightly open mouth revealed the razor-sharp teeth. The deer skull shaped face and massive antlers left no doubt about what he was facing, an Illadian. “You’re an ugly one.” He said spitting toward the beast. “Thought we put you to death three hundred years ago. No matter, I will finish what we started.” He slammed his side again. “And just like then, I will make you extinct.” At this the beast roared, send his own retort toward him, along with flem and spittle. The roar echoed across the ice lake. They both paused. In a flash, the beast covered the distance between the two and leaped at him. In the same instant, he was pulled his blade and skewered the beast.

As the blade left the blue ice, a small crack formed, and grew rapidly across the entire lake. When the weight of the beast and the man landed on the blue ice, it gave way, sending them into the icy water. The shock stabbed him, just as he was stabbing the beast. The two tossed and turned in the water, forever in a duel for survival. His lungs burned from the lack of air. His side ached from throbbed from the water filling the open wound. His skin tingled as he froze. He kept fighting and struggling, thrusting his blade as much as he could. Just when he thought the beast would out last him, the monster suddenly went limp and released him. The beast fell to the bottom slowly disappearing in the blackness of the water. He watched it with steely blue eyes.

Instinct then kicked in and he began kicking upwards toward the surface. His body ached with every movement, as he struggled to make it to the surface. It felt as if the blue ice was pressing against him, sending him to the depths. “Not today” he repeated. “Not on this day!”. He pushed up, dropping his blade, kicking off his boots, sending them to the blackness. It was just enough to get him past the threshold, bursting him out of the water and onto the white ice.

As he hung there, he could feel the warmth of the sun breaking through the clouds. Slowly he pulled himself on to the ice. His breathing was fast and furious, sending white smoke everywhere. Soon it slowed, as he pulled himself up. “Done.” He exhaled, flashing a slight smile. “Now to get some much-needed rest.” He slowly moved across the ice. As he did so, his head filled with an uneasiness. He stopped in his tracks and turned toward the hole in the white ice. Standing before him on the blue ice was the beast with a second identical one. Both were snarling, eyes locked on their prey. The man took a deep breath and pulled a dagger from his belt. He did not hesitate, after all this is what Surveyors do. The fight the impossible. They ward off the blue of death.