by Aaron Hubble
For the most part, they had traveled close to the Tefillia River, following its course as it led them toward Sho’el. The river was tree-lined along most of its path, offering a level of concealment they would not have enjoyed walking across the open prairie. It also kept them close to a convenient water source. While they did have means of carrying water with them, the containers were small. Even full, they would not have held enough water to allow the travelers to get very far across the grasslands, where water could be scarce.
Besides, if they were going to be hungry, at least they wouldn’t be thirsty at the same time.
What surprised him was the hunger pangs were not as severe as he’d thought they would be. He was hungry, but it wasn’t overwhelming. What he did notice was his lack of energy. Rationing the food had left him with a caloric intake far less than what he was used to. Normally, with the amount of physical exercise he was performing, he would’ve eaten more, but there just wasn’t enough food. The fit of his clothes was decidedly looser than when he first put them on back at the farm. All of the travelers were losing weight and some were beginning to take on a gaunt look with hollowed-out cheeks. He worried for them, especially little Emura and the older couple who had taken her under their wing, Amer and Onan. The effects of a lack of food would be more pronounced in them.
Slowly, he lowered himself down onto a rock and poured water from one of the bigger containers into his own personal water bottle. With Rohab’s admonishment echoing in his mind, Calier rinsed the dirt and grime out of the handkerchief he carried and began to gently bathe his feet. The cool water felt good as it coursed over his skin. He grudgingly admitted Rohab was right; he did need to take better care of himself if he expected to make it through this journey.
Maltoki approached and whistled.
“Those are some pretty feet. You should take better care of them. They’re the only ones you have.”
Calier scowled. “I don’t need to hear it from you as well. Rohab’s already berated me about my personal foot care regimen.” He rinsed off more grime, revealing several new blisters he’d been unaware of.
“I’ve been looking for you,” Maltoki said. “Denar has spotted a small herd of antelope not too far from here. He said the wind is right to keep them from catching our scent, and he wants to take a couple down for food. Ibris was going to discuss it with you. He thinks a day of rest and hunting may be a good idea. We could really use the fresh meat and whatever else edible we can find around here.”
“Sounds reasonable. Who’s going hunting?”
“Right now it’s Ibris, Denar, Bormar, Kan, Nasia and myself.”
“Bormar? He has the wife and teenage boy, right?” Calier asked.
“Yes. Sulhan is the wife and Anoki is the boy. The boy might be going with us as well.”
“Okay. Sounds good. I’ll meet up with you after Rohab is done with me,” Calier said.
On cue, Rohab appeared behind Maltoki. “No, you will not be going with them.” She wore an incredulous expression as she dropped her medical bag to the ground beside Calier.
“Lord of my fathers,” she continued. “You two are as bad as Ibris. Have you seen the man’s feet?” Rohab fixed an annoyed stare on Maltoki. “If he goes out hunting, one of you will be carrying him back for sure. And what if his feet end up infected? I don’t do surgery.”
Calier shrugged and sighed. “The doctor has spoken. No use complaining.”
Rohab threw a new pair of socks at Calier and laughed as they bounced off his chest. “Keep talking, Professor, and I’ll give you something to complain about.”
Smirking, Maltoki backed away from Calier. “I’m going to make myself scarce and join the rest of the men for a little hunting. Enjoy your pedicure, Professor.”
Picking up the socks, he threw them at the retreating Maltoki. “Yeah, run away, you coward.”
As Maltoki left them, Rohab took his battered feet in her hands. She began the process of properly caring for them. “He was your student, right?”
“Yes, he was.”
“Were you two close?”
“No, not really. We had worked together once and he’d been in my classes a couple of times, but it was strictly a teacher-student relationship.”
The cool salve she spread upon the blisters elicited a sigh from Calier. Rohab looked up at him. “Well, it’s clear you two are much more now. He looks to you as a mentor and leader.”
He nodded. “Sure, I can see that. The truth is, I think I need him more than he needs me. Left on my own, I would probably let myself slide into melancholy and despair. Maltoki keeps it light, reminds me there’s hope.”
Rohab wound clean white bandages around his foot and secured the loose end with a strip of tape. She started on the other foot. “You never had children of your own, did you?”
“No. I was never blessed in that way.”
A sad smile tugged up the corners of her mouth up. “Funny it took something like this to give you a son and a daughter.”
Calier’s eyes found Berit. He smiled. It was funny, in a way. The smart thing to do would probably be to isolate himself from people. Not get involved in their lives, because there was still a high likelihood one or both of them wouldn’t make it. That was the perilous nature of life now on Aereas.
But Calier had loved and lost before.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The breeze was in Maltoki’s face as he peered over the rock formation they’d chosen to hide behind. In front of him, a herd of fifteen tan-striped antelope grazed on the tender new shoots of grass growing near a small pond. In actuality, the pond was a large depression in the savanna that filled with rain water during the rainy season. The little oases popped up throughout the savanna during this time. They allowed for the breeding of all manner of insects and amphibians. During the dry season they’d burrow in the mud, reappearing when the rain came again next year.
This part of the savanna was on the border of the temperate zone and closer to the boreal forest. Sho’el Forest was at a higher elevation and was so expansive that while the southern end was in this dryer climate, the majority of the forest received copious amounts of moisture from the weather patterns that developed as a result of the mountains to the north. Vast underground aquifers also coursed below the forest floor feeding the roots of the massive trees and ensuring there was never a lack of water.
The grasslands themselves were full of various antelope, most of them small and swift. Fortuitously, a band of bovear antelope had chosen to call this water hole home for the rainy season. The bovear were the cattle of the grasslands. Larger and slower than their relatives, they had been easily domesticated early in Aereas’s history. There were, however, still large herds of wild bovear roaming these vast lands between the sea and the forest.
The water hole was situated in a depression ringed by the same type of striated rock formations Maltoki and his companions currently hid behind. They were in an opportune situation: downwind of the animals, with sufficient cover for a successful ambush.
The tricky part would be getting the animals going in the right direction.
Denar motioned for the men to hunker down behind the rock. Using his knife, he drew a picture of the surrounding area in the red dirt.
“I can see only one way to do this,” Denar said, looking at each of the men. “Ibris and I will take up positions on either side where the rocks narrow and form a natural funnel before opening back up into the prairie.”
He scratched a few more lines onto the ground. Gesturing with his free hand at the other four men and the teen Anoki, he continued. “You lot, your job is easy, but very important. You’re going to push the herd toward the funnel where Ibris and I will be standing above them. I need you to make a wide circle from where we are right now and get behind the bovear. Two of you stay below the beasts while the rest go above. Spread out a bit and drive them toward us by making a fuss.”
Denar drew lines representing the rest of the men. “This spot’s abs
olutely critical.” He indicated it on the ground and then motioned for them to poke their heads over the top of the rock again. He pointed to a natural gap in the rock sufficiently wide to allow the antelope a place to escape before they reached the point where Denar and Ibris would be positioned with their weapons.
He pointed. “Someone must be there. Pick some of the tall grass and wave it around to make yourself look bigger. Do not let them get past you. If they do, all we’ll see is Bovear rear ends hightailing it somewhere safe.”
Maltoki pointed to the spot below the pond. “I’ll man this spot. Who wants to join my party?”
Nasia raised his hand. “I will.”
Maltoki nodded.
Bormar pointed to the map. “My son and I will stand in the gap if Kan will station himself opposite Nasia and Maltoki.”
“I can do that.” Kan looked at Nasia and Maltoki. “You two will need to wave at me and let me know when the other two are in place.
“You won’t need your crossbows,” Denar said to Maltoki and Bormar. “Let Ibris and me have them. We can get off two shots before needing to reload when the animals run through the funnel.” Maltoki and Bormar handed over their hunting weapons. The group remained where they were.
Denar looked at them, frowning. “What are you waiting for? Our light’s fading. Get to your positions and don’t start pushing the herd until you see Bormar and the boy in the gap.”
Maltoki, Nasia and Kan all nodded and hurried off to take their places.
Nasia set the pace for the group. It was a comfortable jog taking them on a wide arc so as to not spook the animals. They reached Maltoki and Nasia’s place first and wished luck to the other three members of the party. There was a risk the animals could catch the scent of Bormar and Anoki, but they hoped if they took a wide enough arc around the watering hole, their scent would not be strong enough to panic the antelope.
Kan dropped into place opposite Maltoki and Nasia. Across the grassland he could just make out Bormar and Anoki. It would be several more minutes before they were in place.
This close to the watering hole, the insects were thick and their incessant buzzing drove Maltoki nuts. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nasia swatting at his neck, trying desperately to ward off the pests. Abruptly, Nasia stood and yelped in pain.
Helplessly, Maltoki watched Kan dart out of his hiding spot and begin whooping down toward the water hole. The man had mistaken Nasia’s pained cry for the signal to begin. Startled lowing rose from the herd, and the bovear began to splash out of the pond and trample the grass underfoot. He watched as their thundering hooves took them straight for the gap between the rocks. Bormar and Anoki had not made it before the animals had begun to stampede.
To their credit, Bormar and Anoki sprinted toward the gap. It was a footrace between them and the herd. Hollering and running, the two strained toward their goal. It looked as if they just might make it. Anoki edged in front of his father.
At the very last second, Bormar reached out and collared his son, pulling him back and then diving with the boy in his arms behind a rock just as the herd spilled out of the gap and pounded across the open grassland. Bormar had rightly determined there was no stopping the herd and had saved his son. To Maltoki’s eyes it had looked like Anoki was not going to stop and would have foolishly thrown himself in front of the stampeding animals.
Maltoki stood and dejectedly walked toward the watering hole. Standing on the rocks some distance away, he saw Denar and Ibris. Denar threw his crossbow down, stomped off the rocks, and headed back toward the camp alone.
Watching Denar stalk off, Maltoki looked at Nasia grimly.
“Camp is going to be a pleasant place tonight.”
****
“I was employed by the Aerean Trade Cooperative. My job was to travel between the great cities and broker deals and agreements that kept goods flowing between the cities,” Onan said.
Calier dropped an armload of firewood on the ground and wiped the sweat from his brow. He hobbled to a nearby stump and sat down. Onan, an older man with a ridge of gray hair circling his head, moved well for a man comfortably into the second half of his life.
“Did you enjoy the job?”
“I did,” Onan replied, taking a seat on a downed log across from Calier. “There was a lot of travel involved, but I was able to take my family along with me. We saw all of Aereas several times over. I became well acquainted with the cities as well. My children knew the location of every sweet shop.”
The two men laughed easily. Calier looked at the pile of wood.
“I think that will suffice for the little fire we’ll have in the morning. Plus, my feet are killing me.”
Loud shouting drew their attention back toward the edge of their camp. Denar stomped into camp shouting obscenities. Ibris followed closely behind him.
An empty pot became the target of Denar’s ire as he kicked it across the ground. It clanged until it came to a stop against a tree. Stopping in the middle of the camp, his face barely visible in the dim light of several hand lamps, Denar looked at the assembled villagers.
“I hope you like the whole lot of nothing you’ll be eating soon, because if you’re counting on this group of incompetent dung shovelers to bring back food for you, nothing is what you’ll be eating.”
He stormed off, disappearing into the darkness toward the river. Maltoki arrived and sat down on the same log Onan was using as a seat.
He smiled wanly. “Hi.”
“So…how was the hunting trip?” Calier ventured.
“Not quite a success.”
“I gathered that from Denar’s less than jovial demeanor.”
“Yeah, doesn’t he just light up the room? I can’t wait to hang out with him again.”
Calier chuckled. “What happened?”
Shrugging, Maltoki said, “It was a good plan, but there was a miscommunication between Nasia and Kan. Kan thought we were ready to begin when we weren’t. The long and the short of it is the herd of bovear got away and we still don’t have food.”
“That’s unfortunate,” said Onan. “Denar will calm down. Don’t worry.”
“It’s not Denar I’m worried about. It’s the lack of food that concerns me,” said Maltoki.
Onan nodded. “No doubt it’s troubling. I’ve gone through some hard times in my life. Nothing quite like this, I’ll grant you. What I’ve learned is if you keep moving forward, what you need will be provided for you. Often in ways you never expected.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
They stayed in the trees by the river for another day, resting and trying to find something edible. Denar shot several minar trying to get into their packs and steal what food they did have. The large rodents were skinned, cleaned and tossed in a pot of water with canned vegetables to make a stew. Other than the minar, their success was very limited.
Calier lamented the glaring loss of their heritage. His ancestors would have been able to find a feast among the trees and in the river, but he saw only untamed wilderness. As a student of history, he knew it was possible to live off the land and thrive; unfortunately, his only knowledge of the subject remained in the theoretical and historical, not in the practical. The ability to survive without modern conveniences was telling and troubling now in their current situation.
The following night, under the cover of darkness and with Calier’s compass and map to guide them, the group struck out. Traveling across the grasslands had been slow, but they had made steady progress every night. They were only able to go as fast as their slowest traveler. The weakest were put on the backs of the umbaku.
As much as he wanted to reach the cave, Calier dreaded the prospect of traversing Sho’el Forest. Every child on Aereas had been told the stories of what lay in the shadows of those ancient trees.
Calier pushed aside some underbrush and held it for Maltoki. The young man stepped through and held it for the next person in line.
“Thanks,” he told Calier.
A dist
ant rumble caused them all to stop and take cover in whatever was close. Eyes on the sky, they waited, but the sound faded.
“I love playing duck and cover all through the day, don’t you, Professor?”
“It is a fun game, but I’m getting a bit tired. Maybe we should come up with something new,” Calier said.
Maltoki looked to the sky, thoughtful. “I wonder where they go and what they do.”
“Questions with no answers,” Calier replied. He could tell Maltoki was thinking of something else. “What’s on your mind?”
“Sometimes I wish I’d been captured so I’d know what was going on, why they’ve come,” Maltoki said as he stood and began moving again.
High-stepping over a snag, Calier helped Emura up and over the log as Chan’ti hopped the obstacle effortlessly. “Do you really believe they would offer up the details of their operation just because you were their prisoner?”
“No, not really,” Maltoki said.
“We need you here with us,” Calier said.
“I know. I know with this group, we have a chance, but the not knowing is driving me insane. I don’t know why they’ve come, and I don’t know what’s happened to my family and my home city. My whole life, I’ve had all the information I could hope for at my fingertips on the network. Now we’ve been plunged into relative darkness, shut off from the wider world and any helpful information.”
Calier nodded. “We’ll just have to improvise and learn as we go. Just like they did before the network.”
Night after night the travel continued to be difficult. There was thick brush to contend with alongside the river, and when they did move out to more open areas, the grass was waist high. Walking through it was like pushing through water. Calier now understood when they described the grasslands as a “sea of grass”, it wasn’t just a clever nickname.
Each morning after securing the umbaku and making sure everything and everybody was under as much cover as possible, he would collapse to the ground exhausted. His sleep was fitful, however. He never seemed to be able to string together more than two hours at a time. Calier would wake, sweating and in a panic, sure the soldiers in the black helmets were surrounding their camp, ready to abduct some and execute the rest.
