The divine river basin will run with locusts part 2

Satifa gasped as she hit the water with a cold splash, but managed to keep herself afloat. Gadaric emerged from the water, gasping for breath, as they both swam downstream to evade their pursuers.

They kept swimming until they reached a small cove, where they climbed up onto the rocky shore to catch their breath. The sound of the ursang's roars and the kevah riders' horns could still be heard in the distance.

They hid in the reed of the river, as the riders rode by and the ursang saint, jumping with big leaps, faster than any kevah could gallop. As the sounds of their pursuers faded into the distance, Gadaric and Satifa finally relaxed a little. Two slower riders rode by.

"Damn, what idiot were those humans." one of the sassan riders said.

"Yeah, they didn't seem to know that the river is crawling with giant leeches," the other laughed as they rode away.

They held still, and when they were far enough, they rushed out. But then, leeches the size of dogs swarmed Gadaric and pulled him underwater.

The leeches quickly swarmed Satifa as well, but she was able to keep them at bay, thanks to her locusts, but as soon as they touched the water, they were useless. Satifa scrammed out of the river and onto dry land.

"Gadaric?"Satifa called out, looking around frantically for any sign of him. She scanned the water's surface, but there was no sign of him. The leeches were still swarming and she knew she couldn't fight them off forever.

"Come on, mask guy, where are you?" she muttered to herself, summoning another swarm of locusts to try and distract the leeches.

Suddenly, like an explosion, the water pushed up. Dead leeches floated on the surface, but more kept swarming. Satifa saw a hand emerge from the water, and Gadaric pulled himself up onto the rocky shore, coughing and gasping for air.

"Are you okay mask guy?" Satifa asked, rushing over to him.

"I think so," Gadaric replied, his voice hoarse from his near-drowning experience. "Those leeches are no joke. My sound blasts also weren't much help underwater. Had to really put all my power into one blast. We need to keep moving, though. We can't stay in one place for too long."

"You are not hurt?" Satifa wondered, "You were under the water for quite some time."

"I am fine...."

Satifa noticed that the leeches had bitten and taken a lot of his blood, as blood was dripping all over Gadaric's chest and back.

"Don't be a stubborn man."

"I will be fi...." Gadaric was able to say before he collapsed.

Satifa summoned locusts to soften his fall.

"Damn men and their ego. What would have happened to the Saracens if I was a man," she said and carried Gadaric away.

~~

After a while, Satifa was able to find a small fishing hut by the river. It was rundown and abandoned, but it made for a shelter for the time being.

Satifa took a deep breath, trying to stay calm despite the situation. She knew that they couldn't stay in one place for too long, but Gadaric was in no condition to travel. She looked around, trying to find a safe place to rest, but there was nothing nearby except for some rocky outcroppings.

She summoned another swarm of locusts to scout the area, hoping to find a suitable place to rest.

Gadaric woke up and tried to get up.

"I would stay still if I was you," she said.

"I need to disinfect my wounds."

"What?"

"Please, use your locusts to eat around my wounds. Eat the infected flesh and clean the wounds."

"You crazy?! Locusts are too big for that, and the pain is excruciating!"

Gadaric winced as he spoke, the pain clearly evident on his face.

"I know it will hurt, but it's the only way to prevent infection," he said, his voice strained.

Satifa hesitated for a moment, unsure if she could handle the task. But seeing the seriousness of Gadaric's wounds and his determination to prevent infection, she summoned a swarm of locusts and instructed them to clean the wounds.

Gadaric gritted his teeth as the locusts ate away at the infected flesh, cleaning the wounds as much as possible. The pain was excruciating, but he knew it was necessary.

Once the locusts had finished their work, the wounds started to heal faster, as would any divine person.

"So....you were an assassin for the emperor," Satifa asked.

Gadaric nodded, still catching his breath after the ordeal with the leeches and his wounds. "Yes, I was tasked with eliminating anyone who posed a threat to the emperor and his plans."

"The emperor who caused Bouzid to be possessed by a demon...."

"He....was a man who saw the world as black and white. It was either him and was ready to burn the entire Aesis world down to make it so. I was not-"

"And now," Satifa continued questioning.

"I have only one life. And I want it to be enough and not just full of mistakes i'I'veade. And now I....."

"Yeah, yeah. No worries. I trust Rufus's eyes on people. Nowadays at least." Satifa said that as one of her locusts returned, she had sent her to scout the area.

"What is it?"

"Not good. The entire area is still scrawling with soldiers," she said.

The water was moving, as the giant leeches still swam close by. But they then saw a boat, floating by, with a local sassan family on it. The leeches moved away as the boat came by, not attacking the helpless family.

They saw a lantern, hanging from a pole, that was set close to the water. It scared away all of the giant leeches, letting the small boat go in peace.

"I guess we found a way to move forward," Satifa said and before long they were also floating downstream on a small improvised boat, warding off all the leeches with a small fire set on it.