As we eat our meals, he also tells me of the time when he was a much younger fellow, that he had spent time among the Kikkierii to learn many of their cooking arts, and how to cook for soldiers while out in the wild, away from any kitchen.
I look to the other men, who are all smiling to themselves as they listen to Anjax telling his tales; he is quite the warrior cook! Of course, I have seen him with his sword drawn and using it, and his fighting skills are no exaggeration.
But my imagination runs away from me again, and I picture him hacking his enemies up with his sword, then using the pieces as ingredients in his stew, humming pleasantly to himself as he puts the flesh of corpses into the pot—
OK! That's enough! I love his stew, and those thoughts are not going to ruin it for me!
Anjax sees me grimace over my bowl and asks, “What's wrong, lad? Did you find something that wasn't supposed to be in the pot?” that's his private joke, by the way.
I squeeze my eyes shut to choke out the images in my mind, sigh, and shake my head to clear my thoughts. Then I start to laugh at his joke, “Uh.... the only thing... I find in the pot... is what I was thinking... should not be in the pot—”
Anjax guffaws at that.
I have trouble with their language still, and I'm not sure I was able to convey it properly.
Anjax has the most wonderful sense of humor, and makes lots of jokes about his own cooking. About whether he picked up something wild and wanted to try it, which could be anything he could have picked up along the road; plant, root, bark of a tree, a critter of some kind, insects, maybe even the dirt itself if it had the right kind of color, texture, and what flavor it may have. None of that was true, of course, it was just the kind of jokes he would say to get a reaction out of us. Well, the men, anyway.
Chapter Twenty Two
The following day we continue on heading east, looking for a path to go down into the canyon.
After what seems like hours, we are just about ready to give up hope in this direction and back track to look west, when finally, we find a trail that leads down into the canyon. Dakanii wants us to wait at the top while he scouts down, to make sure it is a real trail and not a blind path. We would hate to have to turn around on a narrow trail, only to go back up because it didn't lead all the way to the bottom, and risk losing our mounts and supplies and our lives in the process.
As we sit around and wait for him to return, Seberkyne continues with my language lessons, and we are discussing the cloud formations, the types of clouds, and how high up they are. Sitting around, talking about the weather.... well, why not? And it is quite the sunny day today. Just warm enough not to be too chill, the animals chasing each other in the sky and making their noises.
Anjax, Bogamin, and Jenna are discussing the canyon below, as to what kind of creatures we may encounter down there. There isn't too much of a forest down in there, we observe, but there are many trees standing around, providing whatever shade they can. Although they are too far below us to see what kind of trees they are, we are hoping at there might be some fruit trees to take some fruit from.
We see a couple of sky-wolves high in the sky, far off in the distance, calling out their calls. Hunting signals, to let other sky-wolves around to know that they are in the area, and to scare possible prey out into the open. I still don't know how that works, but I have seen it many times.
We hear Dakanii come back up the trail on the back of his horse, and reports that it is a good trail for us to go down on.
We all get mounted up on our horses and slowly and carefully, cautiously make it down the slightly steep and narrow trail down the canyon face. There are many switch backs, where we have to make a tight turn and go down the opposite way, steadily down to the bottom of the canyon floor.
I begin to wonder if we have all lost our minds, again, as this is just nuts! My heart soared at first glance when we saw the canyon for the first time, it is a breath taking sight, but then my heart sank at seeing how deep the bottom is, and that we are now going down into it this way.
Some areas of the trail down are not as steep as some of the other areas, and we are able (me in particular) to breath a sigh of relief before moving on to the more steeper parts of the trail. And on those parts, I kept holding my breath, worried that my horse would lose his footing and we all go tumbling down to the bottom. It would be faster that way, but.... I had already promised Sharae that I would be more careful.
At last! We make it to the bottom of this great canyon, and find a trail going south towards the river in the center of the canyon. We all pause first, to catch our breaths and let the horses rest, then proceed to the river, noticing that none of the trees living in this canyon are fruit trees of any kind.
At the shore line of the river, and we see that the sun is heading towards the horizon, and the current of the river looks very strong, too, we decide to make camp here for the night before even trying to cross this thing. Our horses are exhausted, and so are we, with all the time it took to find that trail to come down here, then all the time it took to actually make it down the cliff face, and make it to the river.
We set up camp, everyone pitches in, and no one needs to tell me what to do for our camp, and I'm getting the hang of taking the saddle off my horse now, though it is quite heavy for me to pick up. Jenna takes my saddle and puts it with the others, then we go about our various duties.
As the night closes in, my language lessons now consist of celestial objects, including the rings, the moon, the stars, even the curious glowing objects in the night sky that can be seen moving during certain times of the year; their names of the planets of their star system. Also, we notice that the sun is getting further south in the daytime, getting closer to the rings. And the midnight shadow on the rings is steadily getting larger and larger. And when the sun passes the rings during the day time, will also start the winter days, which have been brutally cold. During the day time is when the sun will be hidden behind the rings, and the light that makes it to the surface is very low, about like at twilight.
I have yet to see what that is like here, but I nod my head in understanding, as if I have already experienced the phenomenon. We are just going over all the labels for my increasing vocabulary, and what everything means.
Chapter Twenty Three
The next day we awaken just as the sun comes up in the east and the light shines down into the canyon, get the camp stowed away and all the horses saddled up and ready. Bogamin helps me to put my saddle on my horse, but I buckle all the straps and fasteners on it, nice and snug so it won't slip.
Bogamin gives me a hearty pat on the back as a brother in arms, and a warrior's grunt for doing a good job, then he waltzes over to Jenna and says something to him, tossing his thumb over his shoulder at me... I am learning the language, but what he just said flowed right past me. I guess he's bragging to Jenna that I know more than the average child my age...? Perhaps? And that he's very proud of me...?
Before we mount up, Dakanii and Seberkyne consults his map again and take their bearings. I come up to them and look at the map with them.
“Where this trail is here, is where one of the fording places to cross this river is.” Dakanii explains to me as he shows me the map and points out certain areas of the map, “The hard part was just finding one of the trails. Then once we cross, this trail leads up the other side of the canyon, then we cross into the plains area.”
I look to the south of our position on the map, and point to a couple of fly specks with labels next to them, “Are these... cities?” I ask.
“Yes.” he nods and smiles at me, “That's Yassan to the east, and K'mere to the west, well, south west from Yassan.”
“They look.... very close to each other.” I say.
“Yes, and they have been neighbors for hundreds of years, with lots of fertile farm land between them.” Dakanii replies.
“What race.. are they?” I ask, almost afraid to find out they could be Boreth.
“Both
cities are populated with Men.” Dakanii replies.
“Which has also sparked many rivalries between them over the years.” Seberkyne points out. “One generation they are the best of friends sharing the land, and the next generation they are fighting over the same lands.” he looks to me and winks, “Their relationship have been the stuff of legend for generations; the wars and battles they have fought against each other, and then the revelries during their times of peace.”
I giggle at the old fellow's playfulness. Revelries turning into rivalries...
“Well, let us hope that they are having a time of peace right now.” Dakanii says as he rolls up the map and puts it away in the leather sleeve. “We could use one of the cities to rest and resupply before moving on.”
“K'mere, you think?” Seberkyne asks as we all mount up on our horses.
“Yes, it is closer to the path we need to take to get to the mountains.”
We look to the river, and hesitate. Do we really want to cross this? It looks very swift, and we don't know if the fording place here is shallow enough. Has the level of the water risen?
“I'll check it out.” Jenna volunteers, then guides his horse into the water, gently coaxing it as they carefully wade into the rushing water.
I can see the effect the water is having on the horse, nearly taking him off his feet, the horse stumbles a little, then catches himself and makes it across.
“It's not too deep!” Jenna calls to us from the other side of the river.
Dakanii turns to me, “Sean, just watch what I do, and cross where I cross, and you should be fine. Or, would you rather ride with me on my horse and I can lead yours across?”
Ugh... I don't really know what I should do. I know how to swim if I fall off, but the current of the river looks awfully strong, and might sweep me away.
But, I'm brave...
“No, I'll do it.” I hear myself saying.
“Alright.” Dakanii grins at me; my bravery, and directs his horse into the water.
I follow close behind, with Dakanii and Seberkyne watching me closely should I lose control and end up in the water. Even Bogamin watches out for me from beside Seberkyne as they cross together.
It takes a few minutes, but we all make it out on the other side of the river, legs and boots drenched from the water, but we have no time to let anything dry off, we have got to get going! Time is of the essence!
We follow the trail to the southern side of the canyon, and like before, start the process of navigating up the cliff face on very narrow passages, paths, and trails winding their way up.
Now south of the canyon, we are entering the grand plains area marked out on the map. Just a vast golden sea of grain lay before us, gently swaying in the breeze, with nary a mountain in sight for miles. I can't even see the cities that are marked on the map, by the grain, and gently rolling hills. And the quiet. The wind here is not subdued, but wonderful. The air even smells golden, if that can be described, but with a honey-like scent. I take in a lung full of the air here, and breath it out in a sigh. The only thing a little disconcerting for me is the fact that I see no trees here at all. I'm so used to seeing trees everywhere I look, but here there are none.
“Where are... the cities?” I ask.
“Not for a couple of days ride.” Dakanii says and points out the southern horizon, “K'mere lays in that way, just along our path.”
“Where are the trees?” I ask, a little worried. “Did they use it all... to make their cities with?”
Dakanii and the men chuckle a little, “No. The cities are made of stone quarried from the mountains to the south.”
“Where the nayfursheth... is supposed to be?”
“Yes, but there are a lot of mountains over there. I.... don't think they used up all the mountains to build their cities with. And besides, there are also the swamps just to the north of those mountains.”
Dakanii sees my puzzled expression, “There is a path that we can use through the swamps, the same path they used when they quarried the stone, hundreds of years before.”
Chapter Twenty Four
A couple of days later, we come into view of K'mere, way off to the west. We're a little further east than we thought, but it isn't a problem.
The two lines of fully battle dressed armies before us, however, do present a problem. And they are not looking towards us, but at each other, each side on a low hill, overlooking the slight valley between them.
Dakanii swears as he realizes what is about to happen. “This is exactly what we don't need, right now! And we can forget about trying to get to either city, because they are locked down tight for the battle.”
I survey the battle lines drawn up, and look to Seberkyne questioningly.
Seberkyne sees me look at him, and he nods sadly, “It appears that they have gone to war, alright, and the battlefield in front of us is certainly not the way for us to go, or else both sides may think we are part of the enemy side.”
“What... do we do?” I ask.
Dakanii sighs heavily, with the last part as a hiss through his teeth as he mulls it over. “We can't get caught between the cities right now, nor can we go to either of the cities for supplies. There are no other cities close by, or other towns. K'mere is closer to us, and it would be best to go around all this. And we can't go too far west or we stray into Nong territory.”
Who?
“What are... Nong?” I ask.
“Well, they are not like us, nor are they like the Kikkierii, or even the Boreth. The Nong is a race of very large people, with very small eyes and ears and noses,” Dakanii says with exaggeration, eliciting a giggle from me, “and they have gray to dark gray skin.” he explains, then adds, “I'm not surprised that you have not heard of them before, Sean. They are a vile race, and want to destroy everything that isn't theirs.”
“Boreth and Nong... not allies, are they?”
“Not as far as I know. They probably hate each other more than we do.”
I wonder now much longer the lines are going to stand there looking at each other, when all of a sudden, from some hidden signal, both sides charge down into the small valley and engage each other. And even though we are a pretty fair distance from them, the ringing of steel, the grunting of combat, the crash of horses, and the cries of the dying can be heard over the plains.
“That reminds me.” Dakanii mutters, gets off his horse, and goes over to the pack horse carrying all our supplies. He unpacks something from the horse, something wrapped up in a cloth, and brings it over to me. “I've been meaning to give this to you sooner, and kept forgetting...”
He unwraps the cloth, to reveal a sword, a longer sword than mine.
“This sword belonged to Essrie, one of our warriors you didn't get to meet.” he says, and mounts it on my saddle so I could draw it easily.
I start to protest, as I have a sword already, and I love mine... a lot!
He puts his hand on my arm, and says, “From the back of a horse, this sword will be better for you to use, as it has a longer reach. And you don't have to worry; I know you know how to handle a blade!” he winks at me.
I sigh, resigned to it, then I draw the blade out of its sheath, admiring the craftsmanship of it. I hold it out to the side, careful not to get close to Seberkyne on my right, and test the weight of it, and how wieldy it is in my hand. Beautifully well balanced. Then I put it back in its sheath and look out to the battle being played out on the field before us.
I find myself getting choked up, and look down, away from the carnage being displayed in front of me. I am no stranger to death, I have killed many times. Each time I have gone hunting; to defend myself; and against the Boreth. But I have never seen a battle being played out like this, and it is a sad sight.
Men are losing their lives down there. Fathers, brothers, uncles, sons, never to return home...
For what?
Land?
Crops?
Territory?
Pride?
I
don't understand.
I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I look up to Dakanii (who has gotten back on his horse) while a couple of tears roll down my cheeks.
“I'm sorry you're having to see this, Sean.” he says, “This is what happens when kings cannot agree, even if it is to disagree, and good men lose their lives because of it.” he pats me on the back, “Let's go around this, to the west.”
So we back-track our way a little to get away from the battle, so we won't be mistaken for enemies by either side, then we head west to go around the K'mereian territory, and try to avoid going too far west and end up in Nong territory. It will probably take us a few days to get around this area, but we're on the lookout for men or another race resembling the Nong.
Later that evening we're making camp, careful not to have a large fire burning tonight as we don't want any attention drawn to ourselves from any side. We keep the fire small enough to see with.
We have ourselves in a circle to sleep, and I have my new, longer sword out, having a closer look at it.
Seberkyne watches me looking at it, “Let me see your sword, Sean.” he asks.
I hold it out to him, and he takes it.
“Now, let me see your other sword.”
Frowning, I unsheathe my smaller sword and hold it out to him as well, feeling a little trepidation with what he's going to do with them.
In the firelight, he holds them up next to each other to compare them.
“You see the patterns in the blade of your small sword?” Seberkyne asks.
“Yes.” I nod. I see them, and in the blade of my knife, too.
Avarii- the Golden Child Page 12
