She hoped no one noticed the mask soaking up her tears.
Sam’s heart was breaking. He had been careful all day not to appear too blatant in looking at Nalia, but she had caught him a few times. She was obviously in turmoil. He wasn’t sure exactly how he knew, but he did. Maybe it was slight body position changes or the tilting of her head or even her breathing patterns, but he knew something was bothering her. He just didn’t know what to do about it.
She kept looking toward the east. He wished he could see her face so he could read her emotions more clearly. Was this the area where the Sapsyr compound was? If so, then it was obvious what was going through her head. She had spent her life there, growing up, becoming part of the sisterhood of the Sapsyra. Then, with one fell swoop, the Gray Man had taken all that she held dear in her life. All except her father, that is.
Looking over at Rindu, Sam smiled. The Zouy was a rock. His wife killed, his people scattered or killed, his mission in life put on hold for many years until some upstart from another world shows up, and he simply soldiered on, showing no affects that anyone could see. Was he really so at peace that he was as calm inside as he appeared outside? Sam thought that he probably was.
His daughter, though made of the same tough material, was not as practiced, not as ruthless in tamping down her emotions. She had a fire, a passion, in her that Sam recognized immediately. He imagined that she probably had a lot of pain as well, as her reactions now were indicating.
There she went again, looking longingly toward the east. What could he do to help? What could he do that wouldn’t make him seem presumptuous, that wouldn’t make things worse? He wanted to go over to her and hug her and ask her to tell him about what was troubling her. He wanted to save her from whatever demons she was fighting. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t bear it if he embarrassed her or somehow caused her to feel disrespected. She was prickly about honor and he was unsure how to act without making things worse.
He watched her warring with herself for over an hour, succumbing to her melancholy feelings, rallying, and then succumbing again. Finally, unable to tolerate it any longer, he surreptitiously got Rindu’s attention. He locked eyes with him, moved his eyes toward Nalia, careful not to move his head at all, and raised his eyebrows.
Rindu got the hint and watched Nalia carefully out of the corner of his eye for several minutes. Then, he slowly rode toward her. Sam watched Rindu say something to her he could not hear, watched her head snap up, and then watched as they spent the next few minutes in whispered conversation. After putting his arm over her shoulders and kissing the top of her head, he moved off, eyes focused on the road ahead.
Sam watched as Nalia’s shoulders silently shook for just a moment, as her chin dipped to her chest, and then as she took a deep breath, lifted her head, straightened her back, and rode on. Though the material of her mask was such that it didn’t change color much when wet, Sam was sure he could see it becoming saturated. He averted his gaze and wiped a tear from his own eye, pretending the wind had blown something into it. They continued on.
Chapter 38
From the litter that Sam had made for him, Skitter watched the landscape roll by. It had been an eventful trip so far, and he was sure it would continue to be so. He had settled into a comfortable alliance with the rakkeben, something that the other members of his community would be shocked to hear. Really, he was shocked at the development, being that hapaki were the favorite food of rakkeben, a rare delicacy.
Still, it felt good to have more friends. He was unsure, but he thought that he probably had seen more things and interacted with more different types of creatures than any hapaki before. If he could just manage to stay alive to return home, he would be famous. Who knew, maybe he would be the one to bring the disparate and dispersed hapaki communities together into a hapaki nation. Wouldn’t that be something?
He had a fondness for Shonyb, Sam’s rakkeban, felt a connection to the wolf that defied reason. There was a feeling in his belly when he thought of her, as there was with Sam and, to a lesser extent, the others. His people did not really contemplate affection, but maybe that was what made him feel this way.
He guessed it just showed that life could be surprising in many ways. It was good he and Shonyb were friendly because the litter on which he rested while traveling was strapped to the big rakkeban. She had taken to treating him like a child, or a younger sibling. A weak, tiny sibling. She even occasionally cleaned the top of his head with that massive tongue of hers. It was wet and messy, but what could one expect from savages?
Ok, maybe that was uncalled for. In his travels so far, he had realized that perhaps he had been a bit too arrogant when thinking of other species. It was true that hapaki were superior, of course, but there were things about these others that recommended them as well. In dealing with them in these last weeks, he had found that they may not be as backward and primitive as he had once thought.
By using Sam’s mind as a conduit, he could understand the humans and had learned much about how they thought and why they did what they did. With the rakkeben, he still had to observe and assume. He wasn’t sure how they communicated, but he didn’t think it was anything he could learn. At least, it wasn’t anything he had learned yet.
Still, overall, it was a good group that he traveled with. He was sure they appreciated him. They would be lost without him. Sam, especially, relied upon Skitter’s advice and opinion, as he should. He respected Sam more than the others for the fact that he relied so heavily the superior mind of his friend Skitter. Yes, there had been bumps in the road, but they had survived them and were making progress.
But what would happen when they finally got to the Gray Fortress? That was the one thing that weighed on Skitter’s mind. How would they succeed? If they did succeed, what would that mean for Skitter? For the hapaki communities? What would it mean for the world itself? He was unsure about these things, but he knew he would figure them out. He was exceedingly clever, after all.
His eyes roamed over the land they traveled through. He sighed longingly as a particular tree or a hollow in a fallen log reminded him of his home in the forest. The Rangi Forest. It was a name taken from Sam’s mind. His community had no need for names. It was simply where they lived, that was enough. The trees were thick and the undergrowth was lush and full, perfect for traveling low to the ground to avoid detection. There were exposed roots everywhere and he could almost taste the tubers that hid in the moist, dark soil. Sure, some of the trees were slightly different, maybe appearing more so because he was viewing them from up high rather than ground level, but the forested area they were traveling through felt comfortable to him.
As the small group passed through each area, he was interested to see the response of the lesser creatures living there. While they still quieted and grew motionless as the rakkeben passed, the small animals seemed to understand that the massive wolves were not there to hunt or to harm, but merely on their way through the demesne of the rodents, birds, and other small creatures. He had senses such as these as well, but they were normally muted behind his intellect. That was one reason why he was better, he knew, because he had instinct and intelligence, the best of both worlds. And if sometimes they seemed to war with each other, well, that was to be expected. It had worked for him so far.
While he was in thought, everything suddenly went still. Not still like the animals were waiting for them to pass. No, it was a stillness as if life itself hung in the balance, a stillness of death. His instincts began thrumming and his internal alarms began to blare. Looking around, he noticed nothing out of the ordinary. The massive trees spread out from the sides of the little path and crowded the sky, their deep green boughs creating a canopy that made it difficult to see from which direction the sun was shining. The slight breeze made the grasses and ferns just off to the right sway gently, as if they were waving to the party as it passed. Things seemed to be normal, but it didn’t feel that way.
Sam, Skitter sent to his friend, so
mething doesn’t feel right.
What is it? Sam responded. I don’t see or sense anything out of the ordinary. The forest is always quiet when we pass through on the rakkeben.
At almost the same moment, Shonyb stopped abruptly, almost causing Skitter to be thrown from his perch. A deep, booming growl was winding up in the wolf’s throat, building as the seconds passed. It was, Skitter decided, a good time to climb off the rakkeban. Though they had forged a friendship, he thought, he was not about to test the strength of their bond when the larger beast was growling like that. Sam, too, seemed to think it was a good time to stand on his own feet.
Skitter noted absently that the other humans were dismounting as well. Their rakkeben began growling along with their leader, the fur on the backs and necks of all the wolves standing up. Still he couldn’t see what was causing them to growl and their hackles to rise. Scanning the surroundings—though he did it much more surreptitiously than the cumbersome humans did, he thought—his attention was drawn to their northwest, where just out of sight some of the tall grass was moving. A soft rustling sound was now detectable from the area.
Skitter called Sam’s attention to the area and Sam passed the message along to the other humans. The hapaki waited to see what would emerge, heart racing and eyes darting to find a suitable hiding place. When something finally did, he wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved, be embarrassed, or to remain scared.
Out of the forest, from at least four directions at once, a pack of rakkeben was stalking slowly toward them to surround the party. From the largest, with chocolate colored fur speckled with white in random patches to the smallest, a light gray-colored adolescent, they were all intent on the party, all softly growling, and all with their hackles stiff. Surely all rakkeben were friends, right? If he were to chance upon another hapaki community, he would be friendly and polite toward them. Wasn’t it the same for rakkeben?
Immediately he saw the flaw in his logic. First, rakkeben were not nearly as smart or sophisticated as the hapaki, and second, rakkeben were predators. Being predators often meant being territorial and being territorial often meant killing trespassers. Even trespassers of the same species. After all, men were the same species as each other, weren’t they, and how many times had he seen them kill each other in the last few weeks? He didn’t relish the thought and he went toward a nice safe log off to the side of the trail to hide.
“Be calm,” Dr. Walt said to the others. “Except for rare territorial disputes, rakkeben have ‘agreements’ that allow them to pass peacefully through each others’ land. Perhaps the locals are just trying to show our friends here who is boss. Be calm and perhaps they will let us go on our way.”
Skitter could sense Sam relax a little. He also noticed that Nalia loosened her grip on her weapons but remained at a heightened sense of alert, waiting on what would happen next.
The large chocolate colored rakkeban slowly sauntered up to Shonyb, instantly picking her out as the leader. Both were still softly growling, but it seemed to be lessening. By the time the two big wolves were face-to-face, they had stopped growling, but their fur still stood up stiffly on their backs and necks.
Skitter watched as best he could from the safety of his hiding place as the two sniffed each other. He was still unsure how they communicated. The wolves continued for a few moments, and then the chocolate looked toward his pack meaningfully.
Letting the fur on his neck lower, he turned and began walking away. Before he had finished turning completely, however, the big wolf stopped and stiffened suddenly. He rapidly turned his head this way and that, casting about in the air for a scent he had apparently detected. The sniffing became more pronounced, faster, and finally he turned and looked right at the hapaki’s hiding place, with an intensity that caused Skitter to shiver uncontrollably
Immediately, his growl returned as he began stalking toward Skitter. The hapaki had no doubt what that meant. The rakkeban had caught his scent and was about to eat him. He ran through his options. He couldn’t fight something like this massive hunter. He couldn’t break and run because he would be caught easily, if not by the leader than by one of his pack. The only choice available to him was to stay where he was and hope that the wolf could not get to him in his tight space. He hunkered down deep within the log and waited for his death.
Skitter’s eyes widened as Shonyb stepped in front of the other wolf. Taken aback, the local leader stumbled to a stop. But the shock only lasted for a few seconds, and then the rakkeban planted his paws, lowered his head, lifted his tail, and growled a deep, booming growl. It was unlike the earlier growls, which Skitter thought may have just been indicating general caution. This one was definitely a challenge.
Shonyb moved closer to Skitter’s hiding place. She looked down through the small opening and sniffed at him, looking him right in the eyes, and then she calmly turned back to the other wolf. When the male stomped his foot and growled even more loudly, Shonyb scratched at the ground, bared her teeth, and let forth such a loud growl that Skitter was surprised it didn’t blow back the fur on the male’s face.
The two wolves stood, almost nose-to-nose, fur standing straight up and mouths drawn back to show their large, sharp fangs. They growled at each other and the male feinted a time or two, but Shonyb didn’t react. Her feet, planted so that she straddled the hole to Skitter’s hiding place, never wavered.
Finally, with a parting low growl, the male turned his head, then his body, and began to walk back into the trees. Shonyb maintained her low growl until all the other rakkeben were out of sight, and then she finally relaxed. Slowly turning and putting her snout into the hole that contained him, she flicked her tongue out and licked the tip of his nose, startling him. As he climbed out to get onto his litter, he was greeted by the laughter of his traveling companions at Shonyb’s impromptu kiss.
Chapter 39
Just as the party was leaving the Wolf’s Run area, anticipating going through the town of Medit in four days of travel, it started to rain. It began as a light mist that floated on the air and slowly seeped in through every crack and opening in the party’s clothing, chilling them. Their oiled cloaks, though being pulled tight around them, did almost nothing to impede the mist from getting to their skin.
While that was uncomfortable enough, the mist soon, over the course of a few hours, became a light sprinkling rain. Relieved at first because the more substantial precipitation was more easily deflected by their cloaks, their relief didn’t last long. It began to build in intensity. From a light sprinkle to a gentle shower, to a hard pelting rain, and finally to a drenching downpour, the storm buffeted and soaked the hapless travelers. Ultimately, even the staunchest amongst them, Rindu, relented and agreed that they had to stop and seek shelter. They had a half a day of sunlight remaining, but they would not be traveling further that day.
The land was very flat but heavily forested. The chance of them finding a cave or rock outcropping was not good. They hadn’t seen significant rock formations for days in their travels and so settled for creating a shelter against a very large oak tree, making a lean-to type of shelter with poles they quickly cut from nearby saplings and oiled cloth they brought for just such an occasion.
Sitting beneath the canopy they had erected, the small group sat dejectedly and stared out at the downpour. Their fire, while warming, and a big help in drying their soaked clothes, did not brighten their mood or outlook.
“How long do you think the storm will last?” Sam asked.
Dr. Walt waved his hand absently while staring into the flames of the fire. “It’s hard to tell. I am not as familiar with this area as others we have passed through. Looking around, however, I would say that these trees get precipitation often and in great quantities. Look at all the lush undergrowth. The soil, even before it started raining, seemed well-saturated. I hope the weather pattern is deluges that come and go quickly.”
Rindu, rubbing his hands together toward the fire, added significantly, “If it does not abat
e in a few hours, we will have to decide if we will travel in it. That is something I do not desire, but we also cannot afford to delay here for too long. The Gray Man no doubt knows to where we are bound by now and we must finish this matter quickly before he prepares further.”
If anything, each of them drew themselves in even tighter, hugging themselves for warmth and wrestling with their own thoughts individually. No one spoke much for the rest of the day, communicating with one or two words when necessary, with grunts or complete silence when not. By the evening meal, the rain had still not relented and the group decided there was nothing for it but to get to sleep early in hopes of an early, and dry, start in the morning.
Soon after he went to sleep, Sam awoke with a start. Looking around, he wondered what it was that had caused him to come awake. Nalia was curled up a few feet away, wrapped in her cloak, shrapezi on either side of her within easy reach. Rindu and Dr. Walt were further off, on the other side of him, the first breathing the regular deep breaths of sleep and the second snoring softly. The rakkeben were curled up near each other, dreaming whatever wolfy dreams they dreamed. Even Skitter was immobile and, when Sam probed his mind to see if he was awake, showed no signs of consciousness.
He got up then, uneasy about why he awoke. Did he remember anything from just before he woke? No, nothing. Maybe he just had to relieve himself. The rain had slackened, though it was still coming down. Wrapping his now-dry cloak around him, he went around to the other side of the huge tree to relieve himself out of sight of the others. When done, he sat near the dying coals of the fire for a moment. Taking a few of the dry pieces of wood they had, he fed it until it was burning well and then added a few more of the wetter logs. They would smoke a little until they were hotter, but the fire should last for hours, allowing everyone to sleep comfortably.
Harmonic Magic Series Boxed Set Page 26
