The next day into their journey, Azela emerged from the thick bushes and stumbled into a clearing. "Land!" Azela exclaimed as she fell to the ground and embraced the grassy surface. "Flat, thornless land!"
Catherine followed her, stretching exhaustedly in the open space. Her spine cracked as she rolled her shoulders and scratched the rash on her neck. "Tell me again; whose idea was it to go that way?"
"All yours. Don't blame me," Azela answered, crawling forward to smell a flower. She pressed her nose into the petals.
The day was still young, but both travelers had obviously had their fill of adventuring. They were scratched, tired, dirty, hungry, itching, and thirsty. The ground looked more comfortable with every step.
So far the two had relied mainly on Catherine's memory of the area. Since childhood, she had studied this land for years, dreaming of running away. From here, it would only take one or two days to reach Starhold on foot. Catherine regretted not stealing a horse along with the artifact that was her namesake. She looked at the sword, Katherine. Green and brown stains on the black blade indicated that it wasn't made for chopping trails through the woods. Blood didn't leave stains, but sap did.
She wiped the sword clean with a leaf and sheathed it, then hungrily searched through the supply pack that Azela had discarded. Catherine had made it out of deerskin. Azela was still angry at her for killing such peaceful creatures, yet insisted on being the one to carry the pack as she had far more strength and endurance than her sapien friend.
"I found it first!" came a shout in the distance.
Catherine looked around to see that Azela had wandered off again. It was the fifth time today, despite warnings that she might become lost. To satisfy her curiosity, she followed the glitch's voice.
At the bottom of a slope, she pulled aside and stepped beyond a curtain of branches to find Azela standing in front of a magnificent sight.
To her right, a wide waterfall fell from a cliff into a clear natural pool. The spraying water emitted rainbow images as it hit the serene, shimmering surface, and the depth looked as though it would be perfect for swimming. The pleasant and constant sound of it filled the whole clearing.
Mist drifted from the cascade in slow curls, carrying the faint, mineral scent of wet stone. Atop the cliff was the watchful statue of a winged creature, posed mid-crouch. Its eyes seemed to follow her.
Azela yelled something to Catherine, but it was lost in the water's roar.
"What?" Catherine yelled back.
"I said I'm going first!"
Catherine crossed her arms resolutely. "Nuh-uh. I need a bath much more than you do. And you went first last time."
"But I found it!" Azela protested, also crossing her arms. "How come we always have to take turns, anyway? Why don't we just bathe at the same time?"
Catherine's face was becoming flushed. "Well... you know."
"No, I don't. I wanna go now. You wanna go now. We're both girls. And you've already seen me mostly naked when we first met."
Catherine took a deep breath. "When we first met, you were being assaulted and I almost... I mean, isn't it obvious? 'Tis not right. I'm a deviant, Zel."
Azela disliked the hurt in Catherine's eyes, and she didn't understand the pain in her voice. "What do you mean by deviant? I always thought you were a sapien."
Catherine groaned uncomfortably, then said, "'Tis forbidden by Rea to be like me. She is the God-Dragon of Creation, and two of the same sex cannot mate to create life. That's why I'm considered a deviant. They call me things like pervert and abomination because the only gender I've ever felt attracted to is my own."
Azela was aghast. "What in all the nine hells is wrong with that?"
Catherine's voice almost trailed off as she said, "I didn't understand when I was younger. Speaking of it has only led to embarrassment, heartache and punishment."
"You find women attractive?" Azela asked.
"Not all women, of course," Catherine said, "Most of the girls where I'm from were pretty repulsive, if I'm honest. And I don't mean physically."
Azela cocked an eyebrow. "Do you think I'm attractive?"
"You are... beautiful," Catherine replied cautiously.
Azela had already known what Catherine's answer would be, and what her answer would be to other questions she didn't dare to ask. It was surprising to her how much she enjoyed hearing her say it, though. Turning toward the water, she said, "Then if you find me beautiful, you wouldn't mind… seeing more of me, would you?" Her words were coming out far more awkwardly than she intended. It confused her. She was almost never embarrassed, why would she be so flustered now? "I mean, I don't mind. It'll save us time and… and there'll be no more arguing. I trust you, Kitty. And it'll be nice to have someone to wash my back."
"Kitty?"
Azela looked back and grinned. "That one is also no good?"
Catherine rolled her eyes. "I thought Cathy was the worst it could get. No. No no. I'm not letting that name stick."
A loud thud stole Catherine's attention. In the direction of the noise, the monstrous statue that sat atop the waterfall was now on the shore. "Did that thing just fall?"
Stone ground against stone as it moved. Slowly, it reared back on its hind legs. Cracks spidered along its joints as it stretched, only to disappear in seconds.
Catherine snapped to action. "A gargoyle!" she warned and pushed Azela out of its way as it pounced at them. Despite the creature's size and stone exterior, it moved with the speed of a lion, tearing marks into the ground with its weight.
The gargoyle let out a thunderous roar. First it came after Catherine, but she slid under its legs and scrambled a short distance before spinning around and detaching the sword from her belt. It had already moved on to Azela, slashing at the glitch as she ducked and dodged the continuous blows.
When Azela had maneuvered back far enough, she suddenly leapt forward, bouncing herself from its arm to its shoulder. Then she yelled from the pain of trying to punch the creature's face. Agilely, she jumped off and sped to Catherine's side.
"It's rock-hard..." Azela whined, massaging her knuckles. She flexed her fingers one by one, checking that nothing had broken.
Catherine nodded as she slid her sword's blade from its sheath. "In theory, I know how to summon a much smaller breed of these. They can make their skin like stone, but are not supposed to be able to move in that state."
Charging after them, the gargoyle opened its mouth to expose its teeth as gray drool fell from its hanging tongue. The girls split in opposite directions. It began to follow Azela, but Catherine threw a rock to divert its attention. It cracked against the monster’s natural armor. It chased Catherine instead.
Catherine miscalculated its speed, finding herself suddenly bashed onto the ground. She rolled to face the creature just before it pinned her. All she could do was repeatedly, uselessly, slam the sword against its neck.
Her bones crunched like dried leaves as the gargoyle bit through the flesh of her left shoulder. Pain flashed through her in a wave. Her eyes closed and she bit down on the sound that wanted to come out of her. She could feel her heartbeat in the wound.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw Azela descending from a tree above. She landed on the monster's back and wrapped her arms around its face. With superhuman strength, the glitch pulled back the thing’s head and forced it to let go of Catherine.
"Please… stop!" Azela pleaded to it.
Annoyed, the gargoyle stood up and easily pulled the glitch off, tossing her onto the ground. Azela hit the earth with a grunt, rolled, and was back on her feet before the dust had settled. Catherine hit its neck with the sword again, but it uselessly bounced off the creature's stone skin. It turned and grabbed Catherine's arm, lifting her into the air.
With no other options, Catherine uselessly kicked at it, causing the knife to fall from her boot.
"I'm sorry!" Azela shouted as she dove to pick up the weapon and sprang up with the speed of a striking viper. She shoved the whole length of the blade into the monster's left eye. It reeled back, allowing Catherine to slip free and immediately jab the sword into its other eye.
Now blinded, the gargoyle swung its claws randomly in the air, furiously growling at its prey. One wild swing came close enough that Catherine felt it move her hair; any closer and it would have splattered her. Slipping behind the frenzied creature, Azela grabbed its face, digging her fingers into the bleeding eye sockets, and pulled open its mouth.
It cried out once more as it reached back and grasped her head in one massive hand. But just as it was about to squeeze, Catherine thrust forward and forced her sword down the monster's throat.
She mercilessly stabbed away at its soft insides. There was nothing skillful or dignified about it, just a desperate need to make the thing stop before it crushed Azela's skull.
The gargoyle lurched, sending Azela tumbling over it, and seemed to regurgitate absolutely everything inside of it except for the sword. With one final grumble, the beast rolled backward and died.
Azela sat up and half expected to see the gargoyle move again, but its body had begun to fall apart slowly, crumbling until it was ash. The final roar continued to ring in her ears. She turned to check on her companion.
Catherine was shaking in disgust, covered by the monster's bloody vomit. A sulfurous smell emanated from her. Bits of grey viscera clung to her hair and the front of her jacket, steaming faintly in the cool air.
As Azela held back vomit of her own, she said, "Okay, you go first. I'll take my bath a little later, after the water clears up."
* * *
While Catherine was bathing, Azela was clearing a nearby area of rocks and twigs, making a bed of moss and leaves for them to sleep on. She pressed it flat with her palms, testing for hidden stones, then layered the softest leaves as if she were a bird arranging a nest.
A thought occurred to her, then: did glitchen make nests? They came from eggs, after all. Then she realized that she had no idea how glitchen reproduction worked at all beyond what she assumed would be the fun part. She set these thoughts aside for later.
That night, Azela made certain that Catherine’s bite wound was clean and elevated, but after a debate, decided not to bandage it. Thankfully, the bleeding was minimal and had already stopped before she could convince Catherine to cut apart one of their few sets of clothes.
“We’ll need to make more when we get to the village,” Catherine said. “I think yours is starting to mold.”
Azela examined the outfit Catherine had made for her. There were small flecks of blue on the surface. She ran her fingers over some that were on the chest, then pulled the hide close to her nose and sniffed. “I don’t think it’s mold. This has happened to all of my outfits. The one I was wearing when we met was red before patches of blue spread over it.”
“Colors alone don’t grow,” said Catherine. “It has to be mold.”
Azela knew that she was wrong, but didn’t say anything else. Whatever it was that turned her clothes blue over time also had an effect on her hair. It was slight, gradual, almost imperceptible, but her dark hair had become a little more blue than it was before. Only in direct, bright sunlight could someone even see the bluish in the black, but it was there.
They were ready to camp there for several nights while Catherine's shoulder healed. They only needed one. Despite Azela's insistence that Catherine should rest while they watched for signs of infection, the sapien took it upon herself to tend the campfire while Azela gathered berries and nuts to keep them fed. She also caught a fish for them.
Azela said something quietly before eating her share of it, which Catherine assumed was a glitchen custom and didn’t question: "You will live on, in me."
By morning, it was clear that Catherine was healing faster than a normal living thing should have, obviously due to the Katherine Odachi. It had fed well on the gargoyle. The wound would be fully healed by the end of the day.