by Inmon, Shawn
With surprising speed, Grunta-ak recovered, planted his left leg, and kicked again, a powerful kick aimed at Alex’s midsection.
Alex did not hesitate. While Grunta-ak was slightly off balance, he jumped forward, planted his right leg on the big man’s left thigh and jumped. In the air, he twisted around so that he landed on Grunta-ak’s shoulders.
TO AN OBSERVER, HE might have looked like an overgrown child riding on his father’s shoulders.
In a fight to the death, he had achieved an unbeatable advantage.
Grunta-ak pitched the top half of his body forward to dislodge him, but Alex crossed his legs at the ankles and flexed, holding on. At the same moment, he reached around the giant’s massive head and plunged his fingers into his eyes.
Grunta-ak closed his eyes fiercely and bellowed, but it was not enough. Alex drove his iron-hard fingers into his eye sockets, turning both eyes into a mess of jelly that he hooked and pulled out.
Alex stumbled and fell on his dismount, but it did not matter.
Grunta-ak fell to his knees, his enormous hands scrabbling helplessly at his ruined eyes. Many of the citizens of Rinta-ak turned away, not at the sight of his ruined eyes, but at the terrible sound of his piercing cry.
Alex stood behind Grunta-ak, put his foot into his posterior, and pushed. He pitched face first onto the grass. Before he could roll over, Alex unleashed a primal scream of his own as he leaped into the air and came down with all his force at the area he judged had the C-1 vertebrae.
There was a loud crack and silence once again returned to the circle. There was no more buzz from the onlookers, no cawing birds. The silence was complete and eerie.
Grunta-ak was paralyzed and likely dying.
In this battle, there was no room for likely.
With as much mercy as possible, Alex rolled the giant onto his back, raised his right foot, and stomped down on his exposed throat.
Monda-ak, having escaped from Senta-eh’s grasp, ran toward the center of the circle, but Alex gave him a hand signal that sent him back to the edge of the crowd.
Until Grunta-ak’s death had been confirmed, Alex did not want any accusations of unfair assistance.
Rinka-ak motioned for a gray-haired man to approach Grunta-ak.
Slowly, painfully, he walked to the center of the circle. For long moments, the old man felt at Grunta-ak’s temple, throat, chest, and wrist.
Finally, he declared what was obvious to everyone.
“Grunta-ak is dead.”
No cheer went up from the crowd. There was neither booing nor celebration. Instead the bystanders closed the circle, milling about and talking. Like Camelot, Rinta-ah would have a boy king.
Rinka-ak approached Alex and put his hand on his shoulder. “I picked you because I had no one else to choose. I didn’t believe you could actually kill him.”
“So what now? Do I have to fight again to protect you? What will happen when I leave? Won’t whoever the next big bad in the army is just step up and challenge you?”
“No. We have had rules set out for this since the beginning of time.”
Interesting phrase that—the beginning of time. So few of us can see beyond what existed before our civilization started.
“There can only be one challenge during each changeover. If there are multiple challengers, then they must fight each other for the honor to fight me or my champion. When Grunta-ak declared his challenge, though, no one dared challenge him.” The boy looked down at the blood-spattered, eyeless heap of flesh on the ground. “How did you beat him so easily?”
“You thought that was easy, huh?” Alex allowed himself a small smile.
“I suppose not. What looks easy to an observer, took many years of practice to make it so.”
“I know you look like a kid, but you talk like you’re older than me.”
Now it was Rinka-ak’s turn to smile. “I have been raised to lead our people since I was born. While I still wet myself, my parents were already training me.”
“It would have been a shame to waste all that training. Grunta-ak should have recognized that and worked with you. You could have been a great team. He did well in training your forces. They will obey you now?”
“Yes. He was our greatest fighter. Everyone under him knew he would kill them if they didn’t do as he said.”
“Fear is one kind of motivator, it is not the best.” Alex glanced around at the crowd, moving on, already seeming to have forgotten about Grunta-ak. “Fear might bring obedience, but it does not bring true loyalty.”
“You have earned my loyalty, Manta-ak. We have a much nicer cottage for you to stay in.” Rinka-ak noticed that Senta-eh and Werda-ak were still hanging back, uncertain of their place in the order of things. “Please, bring your friends and I will show you where you can stay.”
“That’s kind of you, but we’ve already spent more days here than we intended. We need to leave at once.”
“Of course. I should have realized. First, I want to give you your reward for your victory.”
Rinta-ak led Alex and friends to a large, spacious building. There were people coming and going, still abuzz about the results of the afternoon’s events. Everyone who crossed their path smiled at Alex and his friends.
Apparently, killing their bully balances out tearing down their bridge.
“Earlier, you said there were things you could get on the other side of the river, and that’s why a bridge was built,” Alex said. “I’ve been thinking about that ever since and I can’t think of what it is.”
Rinta-ak smiled and loudly said, “Tekon-ak! Bring us a bag of danta!” He turned back to Alex, and more quietly said, “I will give you a small bag to take with you on your journey. It has made a huge difference for our village, though it will take time before we can once again build the bridge and get more. No matter. We have all we need for this winter, and there is a plentiful supply on the other side of the river.”
“I feel terrible about tearing your bridge down.”
“Do you? I am glad you did it! If you hadn’t, Grunta-ak wouldn’t have captured you, and I would be dead right now. My father taught me something important. Doing something can seem impossible until you’ve done it. But, when you’ve done it once, it is only work to do it again. So, it will just be some work for us to replace the bridge. We will bring the rope that you cut back to the village and repair it and make it stronger over the winter. We will rebuild it when the weather is warmer.”
An older woman came into the room and handed Rinka-ak a bag. He thanked her, then opened it and offered it to Alex. Senta-eh and Werda-ak were overcome with curiosity and peered over his shoulder to see what it was.
Inside the bag was a fine, white substance.
Cocaine? Is there a poppy field somewhere on the other side of the river? Is he gifting us with a pound of cocaine?
“Taste it. It is delicious,” Rinka-ak said. First Alex, then Senta-eh and Werda-ak all dipped their fingers into the bag.
Salt!
Alex laughed. Danta is salt.
Of course. A saltwater lake must have developed over the millennia, and now it has dried up, leaving an immense salt deposit behind. With salt, meat can be preserved. The Winten-ah pemmican could be turned into jerky. Salted meat will keep through the winter when hunting is difficult.
Senta-eh touched her finger to her tongue and made a face.
Rinka-ak laughed. “It is surprising when you first taste it, yes, but it grows on you. We use it in all our food, now.”
Hopefully not enough that you will all start experiencing hypertension.
“When we have fulfilled our mission, with your permission, we will return to visit you. Will you show us where you find the danta?”
“Of course! There is so much there that all the villages in the region could use it for many lifetimes and it will not be depleted.”
Alex accepted the bag from the boy, lifted it slightly and said, “Thank you. This is very kind. Now we are anxious to start
again.”
“Oh, no!” Rinka-ak said. “This is not the reward I promised you. This is just a small gift. Come.”
He lead them down to a table, where several candles sputtered and burned.
“First, the soldiers brought your bags back from the forest. But, after being dragged through the river, neither the bags nor the contents were in good shape.”
Alex thought back to the soggy mess he had seen inside his bag after being dunked.
“We are fortunate to have a talented leather craftsman. He makes bags that will serve you better on your journey.” The boy handed a soft leather bag to each of them. They were spacious and would offer excellent storage on their journey. Each bag had two adjustable leather straps that would make carrying them comfortable.”
The bags were heavy. When Alex hefted his, he looked questioningly at Rinka-ak. “We filled them with our cured meat and some of our dried vegetables. There is also a smaller bag inside each that has bandages and medicines. It seems this journey may be dangerous for you.”
“Thank you,” Alex said and bowed his head slightly. He wanted to hug the boy, but if there were tribes that hugged in Kragdon-ah, he had not met them yet.
Again, Rinka-ak smiled. “No, this is still not the true gift I intended for you. Here, this is your reward.”
He picked up a piece of rolled cloth and spread it out on the table. “This is a copy of what we received from the people who kidnapped the chosen one. It is the lie they told us so we would share our bridge to cross the river twice.”
Alex peered at the cloth in disbelief. It was a map. A map of Kragdon-ah.
Chapter Ten
East
Alex pored over the map, trying to take it all in at once.
“How? How could anyone make a map with this degree of detail, when it is so difficult to travel from one region to another?”
“They said that this has been the work of their tribe for generations,” Rinka-ak said. “No single person could accomplish it, but the focus of an entire village for generations could. They said they sent small bands out to map one area. If they didn’t come back after five years, the tribe assumed they were dead and sent another group out.” The boy pointed to an area in the lower right corner that was not filled in. “They said they have sent more than a dozen groups out to map that area. None of them have ever come back.”
“After ten or so groups didn’t return, you’ve got to wonder if there were volunteers to be next to go.”
“Of course,” Rinta-ak said. “Just because many have died before you doesn’t mean that you won’t succeed.”
Alex had forgotten this interesting twist on the Kragdon-ah psyche. If a hundred people tried to do something and died, there would still be people lined up to be number one-hundred-and-one. They always believed they could find the solution that had eluded those who went before them.
The map was not perfect. If there was a written language in Kragdon-ah, Alex had yet to see it. So, there were no names, just symbols that were difficult to decipher. Also, there were a number of areas that were simply blank, as if it was still a work in progress. Other areas were dramatically changed from what he remembered. The western coastline of the United States was completely different. The familiar shape of the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California was simply missing.
Even more odd, what had once been the USA was no longer one contiguous land mass. Several of the Great Lakes were no longer shown, but where the Mississippi River had once been, a sea stretched north to south. Much of the Midwest was now under a sea the map labeled Mantak-ah. Most of the unmapped areas lay to the east of that sea, but from what was there, it appeared that the eastern seaboard had also eroded. There was now just a narrow strip of land on the other side of the Okrent-ah.
Senta-eh and Werda-ak, who had never seen a map before and were essentially unclear on what it represented, lost interest, and began inventorying their new bags. Monda-ak simply laid on the floor with a loud, bored groan.
Alex’s eyes were alight, his imagination once again fired at the possibility of exploring this strange land while carrying out his mission. He finally tore his eyes away from the map.
“How long ago did the kidnappers pass through your village the second time?”
“Eighteen sunrises have passed.”
That was a little worse than what Alex had hoped, but even though he was physically exhausted, he felt rejuvenated, ready to attack the trail again. At the same time, seeing the immense possibilities of where the kidnappers might be heading was horrible to contemplate.
“Did they give you any clue where on this map they might have come from?”
“No,” Rinka-ak replied. “And anything they told me would have been a lie. These people you are chasing are exceedingly clever.”
“It does feel like they’ve been three steps ahead of us in every way.”
Rinka-ak rolled the map up, put it in a separate bag, and handed it to Alex. He put a hand on Alex’s shoulder and said, “I owe you my life. I will never forget.”
Alex returned the gesture and said, “When we’ve completed this, I will return to see you. I will wait for your boat this time.”
“Please,” Rinka-ak said, smiling. “Just light a signal fire on the bank of the river and we will send the boat across for you.”
Alex glanced at his companions. Monda-ak jumped up, excitedly wagging his tail, ready to be out of the confines of the village.
When they walked past the flat area where he had fought Grunta-ak, it already looked as though nothing had occurred. The body had been carried away and fresh dirt had been spread where the gore had once been.
As they reached the bottom of the hill, a man approached them, holding a hand up in the Kragdon-ah version of a friendly wave. He wasn’t as tall as most people Alex met in this world. In fact, he was only a few inches taller than Alex himself, which made him height-challenged amongst the native people.
His hair, instead of falling loosely down his back like most wore it, was turned into long braids, with small beads intertwined. He smiled, flashing white teeth.
“Gunta,” the stranger said. “I am Untrin-ak. I am a fellow traveler. Are you heading east?”
“Yes,” Alex said. “But we are in search of warriors who invaded our village of Winten-ah. We are trailing them.”
“Would you object to me accompanying you? It is safer to travel in groups than alone, and with winter approaching, you are likely the last people who will head east until spring.”
“As I said, we are trailing someone. We will be marching all day and sometimes into the night.”
Untrin-ak placed two fingers against his forehead in acknowledgement.
“I have traveled for many years. I can provide my own food. Whatever pace you set, I will stay with you. If I do not, you can simply leave me behind and I will have no objection.”
Alex scratched behind one ear. He didn’t like the idea of having someone new accompany them, but if he truly did provide his own food and kept up, he couldn’t think of a reason to say no. It was possible he would bring value in some way he could not anticipate.
Unless, of course, he has bad intentions. He is small, but I won’t assume that means he is harmless. If we give him a watch in the night and he slits our throats, we’ll be defenseless. Still, you can’t always make decisions based on a possible worst-case scenario. There are times that small chances are worth taking.
“I’ve never met someone who travels the world. What led you to such a path?”
“I was born with the wanderlust. And, the ability to tell a story. Since I was a young man, I have traveled from village to village, both learning and telling my stories.”
Alex took a deep breath and glanced at Senta-eh. He knew that if she had any serious objection, she would voice them. She was silent.
“Looks like we are four, then,” Alex decided.
Monda-ak barked.
“Sorry. Five.”
Alex introduced Senta-eh
, Werda-ak, and of course Monda-ak.
Rinka-ak had told them that those they pursued had turned left out of the village, but of course that didn’t mean they had continued on east. As they had discovered, the pursued were a clever group and seemed to manage to control the situation from ahead of them.
The area surrounding Rinta-ah was heavily treed, with low-lying, rolling hills. After they had walked a few miles, though, the land flattened out, the lush green surroundings became more sparse, and by evening, the surrounding countryside was brownish-yellow in all directions. There were still occasional patches of trees, but the forests that were hundreds of thousands of acres across were behind them.
Alex’s plan was to set a good fast pace out of Rinta-ah and hike until dark. If Untrin-ak was going to have a problem keeping up, he thought it best to find out sooner rather than later.
Untrin-ak had no problem keeping up. In fact, as the day progressed, he seemed to move faster, sometimes leading them, as if he was just getting warmed up.
They did not stop for dinner, but instead ate out of the plenty that had been provided in each of their backpacks.
Monda-ak kept his nose to the ground, still apparently able to pick up on the same scent he had been following since they had left Winten-ah.
Finally, as the sun set and dusk approached, Alex spotted a stand of trees ahead.
That will be it for us tonight, then. I was afraid we were going to have to sleep in the open. A night in the open plain, with no wood to build a fire, would mean no rest for me, or probably any of us.
The tiny forest wasn’t much, but it did offer some form of shelter, and there were adequate trees for them to sleep in.
Alex said, “This is it. We’ll stop here and start early in the morning.”
Those who had been traveling together for some time immediately went about their chosen chores. Werda-ak judged that the area was too small for him to be able to trap something in the short time they would be there, so he gathered firewood. Senta-eh set out with her bow to see if there was meat that could be found. Alex gathered everyone’s new water bags and trekked to the stream a few hundred yards away.
