by J. D. Wilde
Now that I know what I have and am sure they still work, I become aware of a new problem. My throat is scratchy and athirst. It is also becoming harder for my legs to carry me. I need to find water, so I kneel down again and take my meditated stance. With my eyes closed, I search the area by listening for different sounds. There is a small bird nest in the third tree from my right, and a small cat like mammal has just caught a lizard for its dinner about twenty feet to the west of me. After a few more seconds, I hear the beautiful sound I have been searching, running water. There is a small stream to the north of me about thirty yards away.
This is the perfect opportunity to test the black claw in a relatively controlled environment. There is nothing else happening, no one is around, and the distance is short. I reveal the four blades and slash through the air. The portal appears just like the memory. I can see the stream only a few feet in in front of me now, so I take a large step through.
I do not know why I expected it to feel different, but the fact all I have to do is walk normally throws me off. My feet for whatever reason are no longer capable of balancing my body, and I have to lean on a nearby tree for support. This particular tree’s trunk is covered in fuchsia flowers. The blossoms are pretty, and I would have admired them had I not been instantly repulsed.
My hand is completely coated in disgusting green mucus. As if my entire hand being drenched in slime is not enough, the smell is positively horrid. It is attacking all of my senses, and my eyes are watering uncontrollably. I cannot fight the violent gag reflex and throw up. The acidic waste burns my throat, and I realize I have also not eaten in quite a while. Thankfully, I am where I am supposed to be which is right next to the stream. However, my thirst will have to wait because my only desire at this moment is to get this vile substance off of me.
The water is clear until I stick my hand in, then it momentarily turns green before the current carries the grotesque plant boogers away. Even after I soak my hand for several minutes, the smell persists though admittedly not nearly as bad as before. I can at least stand to breathe again, so there is that. I do not want to risk poisoning myself by drinking water from my hand, so in order to calm my throat and get some water in me, I drink directly from the stream.
The cool water hits the spot. I immediately feel refreshed, but I am not ready to continue. Instead I stare down at my reflection in the water and am greeted by a pale face with yellow eyes. My cheeks are red and warm to the touch due largely to the excessively hot and sticky jungle climate. I sit down and try to fix my light brown hair with soft golden highlights. It has fallen out of the ponytail it was in and uncomfortably sticks to my neck thanks to the outrageous amount of sweat my body is producing. After I put my hair up again and splash some water in my face, I finally focus on the reason I am here.
I stand up and prepare to move on when it dawns on me. I have absolutely no idea where either Adira or Grace are. I have no idea how I’m going to explain the world’s dilemma to them, and I have not a clue how I am going to get the daughters of life and death to play nice with each other and get along. I sit back down dejectedly. Where am I supposed to go anyway? Oran could have at least given me a map.
I am too focused on questioning what my next move should be. I don’t hear the slight shuffle of the leaves from across the stream. I do not realize anyone else is here until the arrow pierces straight through my right shoulder.
“Oh shit,” I say as pull the arrow out. I quickly stand up, and that is quite possibly the worst decision I have made today. The arrow lying next to me is covered in poison. I fall back down to the ground in the least graceful fashion possible and see a few figures approach me, but I cannot identify any of them. I more than likely would not have recognized them anyway, but my vision is already blurred. Only a few more seconds pass, and my eyes are incapable of staying open at all. I pass out just as I feel someone or something pick me up.
Chapter 4
I do not know how long I have lying down on this thin, flimsy mat, but it has been long enough to make my back sore. I twist and turn my body to crack a few bones, and it feels much better. I did not notice there is someone else in the room with me until I hear a slight chuckle. I immediately sit upright and reach behind my back for my bow. It is not there, and even if it was, it would have been useless. My quiver and arrows are also missing as well as the wrist guard. My magnifying glass is still here though, and the orb is pressing against me in my pocket.
Having my bow would make me more comfortable, but it does not look like I will be getting it back anytime soon. The woman sitting in the chair across from me is casually leaning against it as she watches me. She has black tattoos all over her exposed tan skinned body and face. They are complicated tribal patterns yet still oddly elegant. Her long, dark brown hair with slight red hints cover half of her thin yet muscular body. The scars on her face and chest prove this woman is a fighter, and her feet are calloused from roaming around the jungle for years barefoot. Nothing about her brown cloth top and pants stand out, but she does have one item I am curious about. She has a black leather wrist guard on her left hand, but only that one. There is not a match for the other side.
“Give me my bow,” I order her when our eyes meet. I really do not like my armalo being handled by someone else. I doubt she can use it properly, but it is a powerful, magical weapon. An ordinary person should never have it in his or her possession.
The woman laughs at me showcasing she clearly understands she has the upper hand here. I’m about to order her again, but a tribal man with tattoos not nearly as intricate or many enters the room and starts talking to the woman. She turns her attention to him and replies in a language I do not understand. That is quite enough.
She clearly understood what I had said, and she is currently choosing to ignore me. I reach for the magnifying glass still around my neck and my captors either do not notice or do not care. I press the blue jewel and it glows faintly. The handle extends a little, and a small jeweled dragon pops out from the hidden compartment.
As I have come to expect, the jewel is beginning to feel a little warm against my skin. I press it again, and it retracts back and stops glowing. The two strangers turn to look at me. Their positions are so casual; I can tell they clearly do not think I’m currently a threat. They return to their conversation, and I take the curved dragon piece and casually fix it to my ear. The dragon itself is actually hallow, and it allows me to understand what they are saying.
After I finish equipping it, I’m realize I did so at the right time as their subject is me. The man refers to this woman as priestess, but the priestess is not as nearly as formal. She simply calls him Uzo, so I’m guessing she really is the person in charge here. Uzo tries to argue I might be with the other one, whatever that means, but the priestess is not buying it. She is firm with him as he continues to try and question her to the point where I think he might give up.
I am wrong, and this Uzo persists by pointing out I am a stranger to the island. The priestess laughs at this and states it is obvious. The smell of the Iri tree took hours of soaking my hand in lotus water to get out. He does not like how the priestess is taking this so apathetically and continues to ask questions like what I am doing here and what I want.
He is beginning to annoy me. I would have gladly answered these questions myself had I been given the chance in the first place! But no, I get shot with a poisoned arrow!
I can tell the mystery woman is getting irritated as well. Good, I should not be the only one feeling antagonized today. She tells him off because these people have always engaged in trade with visitors. He should not be judging and attacking on sight. She ends their conversation by telling him she was about to find out the answers to all of the questions he brought up before he rudely interrupted and started berating her.
Sensing he had crossed the line and not wanting to further provoke his leader, Uzo wises up a bit and starts to back off. He apologizes, and at long last he leaves through the thick red cloth dr
ape acting as a door.
“Now where were we?” the priestess mutters to herself after Uzo has disappeared.
“Can you understand me?” I ask. If need be, I can activate the magnifying glass again, but I would much rather avoid showing I have magical items until I can figure out what is going on.
“Yes, I can,” this woman finally speaks directly to me.
“Good, so give me my bow,” I order again.
She laughs again and stands up taking care to set my bow softly against the chair. “Yes, your bow,” she says as she kneels down next to me, “I’m actually impressed you carry that. It is very heavy. I will return your things to you. I am no thief, but first you must answer some questions. I would like to know who you are and what you are doing here. You have chosen a chaotic time to arrive on my island.”
When she reaches out to me, I shift away from her, but this woman is only trying to check on my bandages. I’m wary because her people are the ones who had no problem putting an arrow in me in the first place, but she did just tell Uzo off for doing so. I will give her the benefit of the doubt so long as she acts decently.
I give her my name, but nothing more. I cannot speak any further until I have some information of my own. I ask her who she is and where I am. With any luck this priestess will know where to find Adira or Grace. At first she only says she is the priestess of the Brizana people, but I already figured out she is some kind of priestess on my own. When she realizes I am not going to give her anything else without a longer answer, she adds her birth name is Adira, but no one calls her that.
I do not know how I feel about this. On one hand, finding Adira was much easier than anticipated. On the other hand, her people shot me. With a sharp arrow. A sharp, poisoned arrow. Furthermore, I had hoped and actually anticipated having a little more time to figure out what to say. There is not an easy way to explain the major problem Nilohm is experiencing with Sethos, and the wrong words will cause a disaster to occur before we can get started.
I am silent and have been for too long. Adira is clearly confused as she checks my temperature by placing her hand against my forehead. Usually this is where someone says nice to meet you or anything really, but I just stare dumbly with wide eyes at her instead. She murmurs to herself to grab Uzo, who had ensured her only vivio nectar coated his arrow, and gets up to leave.
“I am fine,” I reassure her. The sentence does its job. Adira has stopped trying to leave, but I don’t know how to continue on. I seriously have no idea where to start this conversation. I never expected to be facing my sister so soon, so I ask probably the dumbest question I possibly can at this point in time. I ask her if she has seen Grace.
Any benefits or leniency Adira was going to give me vanishes. Her stance becomes tense, and her entire demeanor changes. I am no longer looking at the caring priestess who was tending my wounds. She’s a tall, strong warrior ready for a fight.
“How do you know her?” Adira asks as her eyes narrow to thin slits at me. I gulp slightly and refuse to answer right away. I know I have to tread carefully here, but the problem is no matter what I answer it is going to sound like a lie. Being completely honest sounds like the tallest of tall tales. Well you see, Adira, you’re actually kind of Grace’s and my sister. We were created by three dragon lords to take on the fourth dragon lord because a balance must be maintained in the world at all cost. If we don’t, all of the world is going to be overrun with darkness and cease to exist as we know it.
This is not what I say because I’m sure if I did, Adira would kill me on the spot. Instead I reply I am looking for Grace because we need to talk. It’s vague but true. It’s also about as honest as I can be at this point. This answer naturally does not satisfy Adira, which isn’t all that surprising. It is not really satisfying to anyone. She presses on further asking me questions; she wants to know why. I answer I need Grace’s help and tag on I will need Adira’s help as well. The three of us need to sit down and talk.
Adira loathes this answer, and her frustration with me appears rather quickly. She is pacing back and forth in front of me occasionally pounding her fist against her open hand. I suppose it’s good to know earlier rather than later how quickly Grace’s name can anger the daughter of life. I guess I am just surprised that one of Jenesis’s creations can be so aggressive. Jo was much more lax. Either Adira is the opposite, or she just hates Grace that much. Both of those situations are less than ideal. “Do you think I am stupid?” Her half-yelled question pulls me out of my thoughts.
“It is the truth, Adira. It is incredibly important. The world is in danger,” I try to explain.
Adira is shaking her head at me; she does not believe a word I said. I open my mouth to try and expand on it some more and give better information, but we are interrupted yet again. Uzo comes in and starts urgently talking about how Grace and her men are defacing a sacred temple. Adira looks from him to me and orders him to grab my things while she walks behind me to tie my hands back. Uzo grabs a bag that I hope has my quiver and the dark claw armalo inside. He also picks up my bow, but I hear him struggle a bit with his breaths as he does it.
I attempt to ask them what exactly is going on but am ignored by both. Adira pushes me out of the room, and as the little sun escaping through the thick branches above shines in my eyes, I see the room I had been in was actually an entire shack. There are several more identical to it forming a circle around one big fire that appears to be the center of the community and is currently roasting several wild boars. The shacks are tiny and built close together out of necessity. Every inch of the circle that is not a person’s home is covered by either dense jungle plants or trees. It is a tight area, so I assume the people who live here have no other choice but to be close to each other both physically and emotionally.
Adira is guiding me to the only area along the perimeter of the circle where there are no shacks against the tall jungle trees. Instead the dark green plants and vines form a solid wall as they wrap around the trunks. As we get closer, I see the plants intertwine and form some kind of curved tree symbol in the middle. It looks familiar, but I do not recognize it. There is no telling where I might have seen it before, but it more than likely comes from one of my sister’s memories.
Adira holds up her right handed wrist to the symbol, and the plants forming the tree begin to unlatch from each other. They separate completely to form an entrance just wide enough for two people to fit through at a time. They push me to move forward, and we set out. Adira won’t tell me what exactly is going on, but I have a pretty decent guess. It looks like I will be meeting the daughter of death very shortly. I only hope she isn’t as intent on hating Adira, as Adira is her.
Chapter 5
We head southwest along the thin, dirt path. Uzo is carrying all of my things, so it does not take long for him to become winded. I smirk because I know it is my gigantic bow that’s doing it. It really must be much heavier than an ordinary bow since Uzo is not exactly a weakling.
Adira is pulling me along, and it’s hard to keep up with her since I cannot run normally with my hands bound behind me. She stops abruptly when she notices Uzo is not going to be able to keep up at this pace, and I almost go crashing to the ground.
They end up exchanging tasks. She grabs my bow and other supplies, and he guides me as we travel along the path. This jungle is a never ending crowd of trees. It does not look like we are ever going to get out of it, so I’m shocked when I’m greeted with the hot sensation of direct sunlight.
We are standing at the edge of a cliff looking at a cove with a beach that has white sands, and the water is clear blue. Crustaceans at least two feet wide roam the edge of the water, and an absolutely enormous sea turtle relaxes in the shallow water. In the distance towards the entrance of the cove is a large ship made of black wood.
Steel covers the front of the ship, and its figurehead is large metal wolf. Two large wheels are on the side, and the same metal at the front of the ship covers the top half of each one. Th
e ships masts are made of the black wood and massive, but there are also metal towers with steam rising into the air above them. The metal towers are not nearly as big or wide as the masts though.
I would love to study the ship closer, but it will have to wait. We are following an even tighter trail down towards the beach, and the sounds of gunfire and people yelling can be heard as we begin to get closer to our destination.
There are men and woman dressed similarly to Adira and Uzo fighting soldiers wearing black uniforms with grey undershirts, buttons, and laces, but they aren’t the only ones. Large, bulky wolves wearing black vests similar to their humans are fighting muscular cats with similar markings to the tribal tattoos the people of Adira’s village sport.
As I watch the fighting, it becomes apparent a magical item would not have fazed Adira or the others. Some of the fighters are using magic to shield themselves and the other warriors from the bullets of the people invading their territory. The natives fire arrows and knives coated in poison in retaliation, but the armor the invaders are using appears to not only be light but incredibly durable. This is actually a very even fight, and neither side appears to be letting up.
Adira grabs me and orders Uzo to help the others. He charges in fearlessly and stabs an enemy soldier that had gotten to close to one of his friends in the chest with his sword, while Adira drags me towards a waterfall. We enter a large cave hidden behind the waterfall’s rushing water.
