Roeg shrugged his shoulders. His mind raced with thoughts about Unn’s story, and he had forgotten about the Great Hunt.
Ookum walked out of the water and toyed with his sling’r. “We better be going to the Great Hunt. I need to earn my second name.” He looked at the Firestone around Roeg’s neck then clicked, “I don’t have a Firestone to help me earn my name.” He turned and shot his sling’r at some water weeds by the shore. The stone skipped several times before it finally sunk. Roeg tucked the Firestone under his hide covering.
Unn walked from the shallows then clicked, “Before we go,” he turned to Ookum, “go pick some mushrooms in the thicket. I think I saw a sting’r over there.”
A wide grin formed on Ookum’s face as he stashed his sling’r and tore off toward the thicket. He loved mushrooms and knew all about the different kinds; a sting’r was a type of mushroom you didn’t eat and had the power to put a great mammoth to sleep. Unn had taught him where to find the best ones and when to pick them.
Tsisa took this as a challenge and chased after Ookum. Roeg chuckled at the pair as they raced to the thicket.
Absently, Unn rummaged in his hide bag. He sighed then grabbed his walking stick and hobbled west. Roeg looked to the Whitewoods in the south, then to the old man. “Unn, the Great Hunt is that way.” He pointed to the Whitewoods.
Unn didn’t look back. “We are not going to the Great Hunt.”
Roeg stood silent as the old man’s words sunk in. His hopes of going on the Great Hunt were crushed. What was going on? Had Unn gone moonstruck?
Roeg chased after his father.
“Unn!” Roeg called out. “Unn, wait.” Unn’s wobbled gait didn’t slow.
Roeg caught up to the old man and side-stepped him, blocking his path. “Wait!” He caught his breath. “Where are we going? Why did we leave in secret? Are you okay?” Roeg eyed the old man. Maybe he had bumped his head on his Spirit Walk, although there were no head bruises that Roeg could see.
As Ookum and Tsisa raced toward Unn, they called out for his attention. “Me first! No, me first!” Each fire-haired twin held something in their hands as they pounded the ground. They streaked past Roeg and stopped in front of Unn.
“I win!” Tsisa shouted. She held an earflopp’r in her hand. “I caught an earflopp’r. This is going to be the best Great Hunt ever!” She held the small, dead, long-eared beast in her hand—wriggling it for effect.
“Unn, I found the sting’r!” Ookum puffed. He stepped between Roeg and Unn and waved the purple mushroom so Unn could see. “It was there like you said.”
Unn smiled. “Keep the mushroom in your satchel. You never know when you might need it.”
Tsisa looked to the Whitewoods then gave Roeg a questioning glance. “Why are we over here? We should be heading to the Whitewoods.” She looked to Unn.
Unn let out a long sigh. “We are not going to the Great Hunt.”
“What?” Tsisa growled. “I have to go! I’ve waited my whole life for the Great Hunt, and Krukk said I could go! I’m leaving.” She turned and stalked towards the Whitewoods.
“Tsisa, stop.” Unn grunted. She kept walking. “Stop, Tsisa!” he growled. Tsisa kept walking, and Unn let out a loud huff. “There is a Great Sadness coming, and Roeg needs you. We all need you.”
Tsisa stopped. She spun and put her hands on her hips then growled, “What do you mean ‘Great Sadness’? I’m sad that I’m not at the Great Hunt right now.”
Unn started again. “A great fire in the sky is coming—I saw it in my dreams. That is why I went on my Spirit Walk. I needed to speak to the Great Mother. She confirmed my fears. You three all have your part to play. My dreams are not clear, but I know where we need to go and some of what needs to be done.”
Ookum stood by Roeg, listening. He stashed the sting’r mushroom in his satchel.
Unn put his hand on Roeg’s shoulder. “I know it is a great burden to ask… more than you know. The Great Hunt is central to our people. I know this, but some things are more important than the Great Hunt, and this is one of them. You must go, Roeg. You must. The world, as we know it, depends on the choices you will make on this journey.”
Tsisa scoffed and looked once more to the Whitewoods. She crossed her arms then said, “What role do I have to play?” She stalked over to Unn.
“Tsisa, you are brave. Roeg needs your friendship and your spear.” Unn explained softly to her.
Unn turned to Ookum. “Ookum, you also have a part to play. Roeg needs you too.” He looked at Ookum’s sling’r. “Don’t lose that thing, and remember, when you think all is lost, believe in yourself.”
Ookum stopped toying with his sling’r and stuffed it in his satchel.
Roeg felt the knot in his belly tighten. “What is my part? When will the fire come?”
Unn turned to him and sighed. “I saw many things in my dream. There will be great trials and battles ahead. It will be a long journey.” Unn pointed to the Firestone. “There are more like that stone, some more powerful. You must find them and take them to the Great Spirit Sea before the fire comes. Only then will our world be saved.” Another tear streamed down his face. He squinted in an attempt to hold his tears back, but it didn’t work.
The three friends stood in stunned silence.
Unn let out another slow sigh. “There are many mystical beasts ahead and darkness. Much darkness.” He shook his head and closed his eyes. “Too much darkness…” He turned and hobbled west.
The three friends followed the old man. They all stole a glance back at the Whitewoods.
Unn called out from ahead, “We head through the Great Plains to the Bentwoods. We will meet my old friend Jexif, the King of the Gnomes.”
Roeg looked at his best friends, his eyes wide. “The gnomes?”
Unn called out again, “He can tell you about the fire demon, the owner of the Firestone. You are going to meet him.”
SEPHONEI
Dragaodon
S
ephonei smiled, enjoying her ride on the hybrid, or half-sebra—she wasn’t sure what to call the creatures. Sephonei held on tight to the upper torso of the creature’s body. The creature’s muscles twitched and coiled with each step. The black-striped pattern that extended to her upper human half felt like soft hair. It rubbed against Sephonei’s skin, tickling her.
“My name is Sephonei,” her voice fought against the wind.
The sebra-woman turned her head slightly and said, “The name’s Shantae.”
“Nice to meet you, Shantae.” Sephonei’s words vibrated as they galloped toward the edge of the forest. Night broke through the trees, the closer they came to the open savannah.
Sephonei leaned in to Shantae. “I’ve never seen a… well, I’m not sure what kind of hybrid—”
Shantae laughed. “We’re called sebtaurs. Don’t worry, you are not the first offlander to ask. We three are the last of our kind. Ahh kuk, not good at all, not good.” She paused. “You’re not like the other Crystal Hunters.”
It was Sephonei’s turn to laugh. “Ai. I’m kinda new.”
“Eish, that’s not all I sense. You seem different. I have a knack for reading people.” Sephonei wondered if this meant Shantae could also see auras, but she didn’t feel comfortable enough to ask.
Up close, the sebtaurs were even more striking than from far away. Shantae, like Semessa and Sandara, was beautiful. Light-colored tribal markings were etched all over her arms, face, and body; they contrasted with her dark skin. Sephonei studied the markings but couldn’t tell if they were paint or something more permanent. Each sebtaur had similar dark, braided hair, the braids so tight they seemed to be knotted, some with few bands and others with many. They all used a similar tawny twine to wrap their hair. Sephonei wondered why.
Shantae said something, but Sephonei had a hard time hearing over the wind. “What?” The closer they got to the open savannah, the stronger the wind blew.
“Where are
you headed?” Shantae turned and yelled.
Sephonei heard her this time. “To the Land of Darkness.”
Shantae turned. “You said you were new? Do you know anything about the Land of Darkness?”
“I’ve heard some stories,” Sephonei said.
Shantae glanced over her shoulder. “Kuk, not good, not good at all. They didn’t do right by you, if you are willingly going there. It’s a cursed place... and people don’t come back from there.”
Sephonei wasn’t sure how to answer. Was it really cursed? Was Ku-aya keeping secrets? Should she tell Shantae she was a prisoner and that her own people were her captors? No, she couldn’t. She pretended she didn’t hear and instead asked, “Is the peryton badly hurt?”
Shantae paused then looked back. “Not too bad. It will heal, if we can save it from the dragaodon in time.”
Sephonei remembered the peryton from The Bestiary; it was a chimeric hybrid that spliced a giant elk with an eagle. The Bestiary said they came in two types: the head of an elk with the body of an eagle or the reverse. Sephonei couldn’t wait to see it. The image in the Bestiary showcased the size of the creature, which was dependent on which type it was. If the elk was the front end, then the creature was much larger. Sephonei hoped it was that type. She wanted to see one fly; The Bestiary said their wingspan was over twenty cubits wide. Sephonei thought of the creature chasing the peryton. She couldn’t remember seeing a giant dragaodon in The Bestiary.
“What’s a dragaodon?” she asked.
Shantae turned her head slightly. “Eish, kuk, nasty creatures. It is a giant lizard, with a red, hairy mane and a putrid bite. Rot sets in immediately if you are bitten. Its powerful claws, long body, and speed make it the ultimate killer.”
Sephonei thought of a giant reptile on land, and she shuddered. She knew of the gators who kept to the waters, but a reptile on land, especially a large, fast one, seemed more dangerous.
Shantae kept saying words Sephonei didn’t understand, so she asked, “Shantae, what do ‘eish’ and ‘kuk’ mean?”
Shantae laughed. “They are how we sebtaurs express ourselves. ‘Eish’ is a common phrase for our tribe; it means surprise. It frames most of our sentences, and we use it pretty loosely. Bad habit, I guess. ‘Kuk’ means ‘not good.’”
Sephonei nodded. She had never heard an accent like the sebtaurs’ before.
Sephonei thought of the dragaodon. “How big did you say the dragaodon was?”
“They range in size, but this one is huge! I would say it’s easily thirty cubits long and stands above my height. Big ol’ head on that thing.”
Sephonei gasped. That was way bigger than she had imagined.
Ku-aya and Semessa were leading the troop, with Abil and Sandara on their heels; Sephonei and Shantae trailed behind.
As they continued on, Sephonei’s thoughts drifted to the fresco she had seen in the Temple of the Order with the image of the trident-toting god casting out the mystical creatures. She looked to Shantae and her stomach knotted. She was beautiful; why would Sin cast her out? Wasn’t she working for Atlantea? Sephonei was confused.
“Do you work for Atlantea?” Sephonei asked.
Shantae laughed dryly. “Not exactly. I work for no one. The Quartermaster and Semessa have an agreement of sorts.” She looked back at Sephonei, and a slight grimace crossed her lips.
Sephonei read her aura. It was saturated and filled with the same unrecognizable colors most mystical creatures seemed to have, but Sephonei felt something new from her aura. It was like the colors sung to her and told her things her eyes couldn’t understand. Shantae was curious and cautious. Below the unrecognizable colors, her aura was awash with blues and yellows. Oddly, when they combined, they did not form green—it seemed as though they repelled one another. Sadness. Somewhere under her guard, Shantae was sad.
Sephonei shook her head and tried to focus. “Ai. What kind of agreement? If you don’t mind me askin’?”
“Eish. We do some errands for the Quartermaster, like collecting the perytons for special missions and other odd jobs. In return, when the Crusaders come to the mainland, Balin makes sure they leave us alone.”
On the surface, it seemed like a good deal to Sephonei, but something about the whole situation made her stomach turn. What if they didn’t do the errands? Would the Crusaders harm them? This sounded a lot like the ‘agreement’ Sephonei was bound to. Did Sin threaten them as well? Should she pursue this further with Shantae? What good would it do? It wasn’t like she could help the sebtaurs; she wasn’t even sure she could protect herself or her parents.
“I saw a group of fauns when we arrived at the outpost. Who are they?” Sephonei said.
“They have a similar arrangement. They are mostly messengers, though.”
“So—” Sephonei stopped herself.
Shantae turned slightly. “What?”
“Never mind, it’s nothing.”
“Come on, ask. I know what you are going to say anyway,” Shantae teased.
Sephonei raised an eyebrow. “Ai then, what was I gonna say?”
“You were going to say—no, you were going to ask why we are still here, and why we don’t resent you Atlanteans.”
A jolt of truth shot through Sephonei then smoldered to shame. “Ai. You’re a prisoner, aren’t you?”
Hesitating, Shantae finally nodded her head. “Ahh, kuk. A prisoner of sorts.”
They broke through the edge of the forest onto the savannah. A cool wind blasted them as they breached the cover of the trees, and a blue light highlighted all it touched, as the full moon was at its peak in the black sky. The size of the open space stole Sephonei’s breath; the grassy plains, even in the dark of night, were vast. Lone, silhouetted plains’ trees stood erect across the wide horizon, their forms only visible by moonlight.
The sebtaurs stopped to regroup and catch their breath. They stood in a close-knit circle; the legs of the riders almost touching one another as Semessa called out orders. “The dragaodon was last seen on the northwestern front of the forest. It was chasing the peryton through the forest toward the outpost.”
Ku-aya broke in. “Ai. So why are we out here? We should have cut off the peryton through the forest, yaa?”
Semessa looked back at Ku-aya. “No, no, that wouldn’t have worked. We would have scared the peryton, and it would have turned right into the path of the dragaodon. Its wing is damaged, and it can’t fly.”
Ku-aya looked pensive for a moment then nodded in agreement.
Semessa continued. “I will flank the dragaodon and draw its attention away from the peryton.” She looked to Shantae. “You lure the peryton to safety, and try to wrangle it. If we don’t catch this thing, our friends here, are on foot the whole way across the mountains.”
Shantae nodded.
Semessa looked to Abil and Sandara. “If the dragaodon breaks our flank, you are the last line of defense. The peryton needs to be captured. The Quartermaster will not be happy if we fail.” Semessa gestured to the two other sebtaurs. “Remember the last time…” With that, she tore off, belting out a “Whoop, whoop!” and raising her knotted, wooden bow to the sky.
Shantae and Sephonei made their way into the forest to wait for the peryton. Their instructions were to intercept it and take it to safety, while the others dealt with the dragaodon. Sephonei’s hands were damp, and sweat poured under her heavy coat. How did the other Crystal Hunters wear so much gear? Her heart raced with anticipation.
Shantae broke the silence. “When we see the peryton, we don’t move or say anything, okay?”
Sephonei nodded.
“When it gets close, I will start to run beside it. When we are close enough, use this to lasso the peryton—try to get it around its neck or at least one of its horns.” Shantae handed Sephonei a corded rope.
Sephonei gulped. She had never thrown a lasso before. The rope had a loop and a knot at the end that slid open and closed. Sephonei was
surprised at the ease with which it slid. “How do I throw this?”
Shantae turned to her with a confused look on her face. “Eish? You’ve never lassoed before? I thought that was part of the standard Crystal Hunter training.”
Sephonei felt a pang of anxious energy. “I didn’t get much trainin’.”
Shantae started to explain, “You hold the rope abov—”
A blast from the forest drowned out her instructions. Sephonei saw wide, golden horns break through the trees; the peryton was barreling through the forest. It extended its wings as it leaped over a large fallen tree. The grace of the creature at such a frantic state was regal. The front quarters were those of a large elk, much larger than any Sephonei had seen before. The rear was that of an eagle; again, this was no regular-sized eagle. Each talon, itself, was the size of a normal eagle, which meant the peryton’s legs were easily ten times the size of a normal eagle’s legs. It was hard to distinguish where eagle met elk as the tawny browns of the fur and the chocolate feathers of the eagle blended together.
Branches and smaller trees crashed in its wake. The sound was deafening. Shantae reared, and Sephonei slid back; she lunged forward and gripped Shantae’s waist as tightly as she could.
The peryton blew past, and Shantae burst into action once again. Sephonei held the rope in one hand and held tight to Shantae with the other. How was she supposed to use the lasso? She remembered her horse training lessons, but they never involved using a lasso. Her father had always done that part.
Remembering how her father had used the lasso, Sephonei held it above her head and started to spin it. They were moving quickly, and it was hard to keep her balance. The peryton was fast and huge. Its massive, golden antlers gleamed in the moonlight. Its wings tucked neatly as it ran, only spreading occasionally when it leapt over forest debris. It could stay in the air for great distances, soaring high above the ground. The hind quarters of the peryton intrigued Sephonei the most; she watched its large eagle talons tear at the ground as it bounded ahead of them.
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