Six hours until sunrise I wake up freezing. I have to start the fire. The small flint and steel on my key-chain is an actual lifesaver. About an hour later I threw an overnight log on the fire and lay back down. Just as I get comfortable I see across the fire and to the right two eyes reflecting the fires light. About twenty feet from me and on the other side of the fire the being takes a step closer and with the fire light and my enhanced vision I can tell its bipedal and is around my height but much leaner. It takes another step. I can now see it is covered in fur and very feline looking. The fur must be extremely dark, maybe even black. I sit up to defend myself. Bowie on my hip spear in hand and another at my feet I wait and watch.
This lean dark furred bipedal feline humanoid is fast. They step around the fire to close the distance and even with my new enhanced senses I only have enough time to step out of the crevice and hold my spear up to block the clawed attack. Not ever having fought an intelligent creature with claws, I was expecting a fight over control of my spear. Instead in one swipe my spear was cut in half and I gained a decent gash in my right forearm. It’s clearly toying with me, waiting for me to make a move. I drop the two cut spear pieces and slowly lean down and grab my second spear in my right hand. I lunge with the spear as quickly as possible. The feline swipes with their clawed hand and strikes my right hand that’s holding the spear forcing me to drop it as my left hand holding the bowie slashes into the feline humanoid’s arm. I clearly hit bone and maybe served the arm.
In an instant I had a dozen weapons of various types pointed at me. The creature I had just fought disappeared behind the twelve lean black furred bipedal feline humanoids holding those weapons. They were all bigger than the one I just fought. The largest one by quite a few inches stepped toward me and tapped my left hand with the spear giving me the signal to drop my Bowie. I had no choice so I did. They started speaking. It sounded like they had a wide vocal range but I couldn’t tell by looking or hearing if they were male or female. After a minute or so of them talking to each other in a very unique feline sounding language I could never speak, the large one walks up to me and shoves their clawed hands out together while grunting and nodding their head. With no choice I copy them knowing I am about to be bound. While being bound one starts to look over my wounds and after a few seconds they jump back and start speaking what seems frantically in their feline language. With my bindings completed and the frantic feline calmed, the big one wraps a rope around my bindings and while they all quietly converse they tug me along headed to the walls I assume.
We have been walking in mostly silence for the last five hours around this lake. My guess that they are taking me to the walls seems correct. Five hours of walking and I don’t think we are quite halfway yet. Oddly enough being captured and potentially walking to my death I feel the safest since I arrived. My quick healing seems to be the big topic and I noticed the one I injured has their arm bandaged and in a splint and sling. Seeing the stars was nice but it felt different. I wondered if one of them was the Earth’s star. The three small moons scattered across the sky makes everything feel surreal. Am I even in the milky way? Am I alive or in the same universe? Could this be the most insane dream? Is this air I’m breathing now? I chuckle quietly to myself as a rough tug on my bindings knocks me out of my thoughts.
Looking around I notice everyone is very silent and alert staring at a lone massive tree. This tree is in front of the forest of trees that make up the canopy. Not a word was muttered as we passed the lone tree. We didn’t even get within a thousand feet of it and stayed near the lakes shoreline. As we put distance between us and the tree and the daylight started brightening the sky, the mood seemed to pick up and my captors started talking again in their unique language. It seemed they were telling stories about me or people like me judging by how they pointed at me but they could also be discussing my fate. The one I injured said very little and seemed either sad or embarrassed
At around midday we arrived at the walls I had spotted the night before. They were at least fifty feet tall and seemed to be made from the massive fallen branches that scattered the forest floor. We headed toward the largest upright branch pillar. The center has been hollowed out enough to walk through. My construction mind guesses roughly four feet by 8 feet. As we pass through and I see the first buildings another instance of realization hits me. The walls are two logs thick and standing tightly together in a zigzag formation surrounding a space maybe a thousand feet across wall to wall. Attached to the walls almost completely covering them are multi-story buildings with climbing nets everywhere. Most of the buildings have a balcony which seems personalized with different colors and decorations. Hundreds of bipedal felines are wondering about, standing on their balcony, or working on something. The center of the walled village is raised and has the only building I see not attached to the wall. It’s a large wooden building with lots of carved pictures and statues of birds. Down to the left of the building there are a bunch of pens, one clearly has chickens or close cousins to chickens in it. It’s nice hearing a sound I recognize as they cluck away. On the right side of the large central building seems to be a trading hub of some sort. There’s lots of feline humanoids talking and holding items of all different sorts. The entrance where I’m standing is very empty besides a large block of wood that would fit into the entrance perfectly and some short palisade type walls.
The largest feline still holding the rope connected to my bindings tugs me out of my observations and makes me follow them to the central building. As we walk to the building most of the feline humanoids stop what they are doing and stare at me and talk quietly among themselves. They seem more curious than anything else.
As we get to the building I notice that every inch of the building is carved even the statues have pictures drawn into them. There’s lots of carvings showing the lone tree we walked by I assume and giant birds. More of the same as we walk inside. We pass many rooms down the hall to get to what I assume is the center of the building. There’s a round carved table and dozens of carved chairs surrounding it. Some chairs are bigger and nicer looking than others. Most are vacant but sitting in the biggest nicest chair is a smaller seemingly very old feline humanoid. My large captor starts speaking to what I assume is to be an elder judging by his slow respectful manners and tone.
Two smaller felines take my bound rope from the large one and start prodding me to another room off to the side. The two are much smaller and seem like they are giggling. A bathing room with a barrel full of steaming water and a simple bench. They motion for me to get in. thoughts about why they want me to get cleaned pop into my head with ritual sacrifice to the giant bird winning out over the others. The two try figuring out how to remove my belt while purr giggling? “Wait” I say as I reach down and unclasp my belt. They jump back as I slowly set the belt with my Bowie sheathe and key chain of stuff down. After a few seconds of silent awkwardness they walk over and pull my briefs down without warning, gasp then run out the door. Laughing truly for the first time in days I decide I might as well get clean and I hop into the tub of warm water. The last real shower I took was the night before I left for work so I was pretty rank and the quick wipe down at the river didn’t remove all of the dirtiness of my first fight here. Deciding to be quick and thorough, not wanting to stay that vulnerable for long, I think about my captors. Their fur was almost all very dark but age seemed to lighten it. I only saw a few lighter furred ones and they seemed aged. Almost all of them were between six and six and a half feet tall. A few were shorter and only my main captor was much taller than that. They all were very lean and wore no clothes or had any real defining characteristics I could spot to even tell the gender. Their voices or even scent could probably tell me if I knew more was my guess but it didn’t really care to know. Finished washing I hop out of the barrel tub and see a towel like cloth and dry off before putting my briefs and belt and shoes back on.
I take a seat on the small bench…now what? I wonder to myself. Looking around this bathing room all I spot is many types of brushes I assume for fur and a shelf of fragrances. Nothing to help fight or cut my binds. I could maybe do something with one of these brushes. As soon as I have that thought the two smaller feline humanoids appear and grab my roped binding and usher me back to the table.
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They set me in one of the plain chairs directly across from the elder. The very large feline humanoid who bound me was now sitting beside the elder. The elder looks directly at me and starts speaking in their I assume native tongue that I clearly don’t understand. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” The elder bared their teeth and kind of chuckled. “Of course you don’t.” The voice was deep yet mildly feminine. It wasn’t English I heard but I clearly understood it. “Hey, I understood that” I said, probably a bit happier than I should be. “Of course you can. Most humans know the universal language or language of the gods.” “Gods like Magar?” “Yes and the thirty two below Almighty Magar.” “And which god is a giant bird?” They kind of chuckled again “We don’t worship any one god more than another. Our people, the Murichi, revere the Supreme Eagle that has protected this village for generations and she is very real and physical.” The elder said with what seemed like a little venom.
“In my culture it’s polite to start with introductions which I would like to do, assuming you aren’t going to sacrifice me to the Supreme Eagle or something.” Another chuckle and the elder then spoke their native language to the others who all chuckled and I just smiled assuming I’m not being sacrificed. “There are fish in the lake many times larger than you so no sacrifice. We want to help you. My name is Krissa and I am the eldest and leader of translated it would be Eagles Watch. Next to me is my son and head warrior.” Krissa whispered to him in the Murichi language. Then he spoke up. “Kritin” his voice was much deeper than Krissa’s. “Nice to meet you. I’m Thomas Redman but you may call me Tom. Thank you elder Krissa for showing respect to my wishes for an introduction.” Trying to sound respectful and diplomatic when I know nothing of the sort.
“So Tom, why are you in the Great Forest alone?” “Well I awoke in the forest a few days ago to the south east of here” Krissa raises a hand and the two that ushered me to the bathing room walk up beside Krissa. The two seemingly younger Murichi can’t keep their eyes off me but receive directions from Krissa then leave. “They are young and have never seen a human before. Now why is a human waking up alone in the Great Forest?” thinking of how to answer this without mentioning things like, “Oh you know Magar just dropped me off there.” Wouldn't go over well so I assume a vague truth would be best. “I was exploring some rocky mountains quite far from here and one night as I was sleeping I was taken. The next thing I knew I woke up in the Great Forest. I walked north until I got to the river then followed it down stream to where you guys attacked me.” “We tested you and tested one of our untested.” “Did I pass?” Krissa found that amusing “We would not be speaking if you didn’t.”
As Krissa was speaking, the two younger Murichi came in and one set a crude map on the round table and the other handed me some clothes and a thick wide fur cloak. Removing my shoes and belt, the shirt would have to wait since I was still bound but the pants fit nicely. I put my shoes and belt back on. It felt good to be clothed again. “Thank you Krissa.” Krissa simply nods then points at the map.
The large map is a single continent with a giant lake in the center west and from that lake three rivers pour out from it. One is short and goes west and dumps into the ocean. Another goes East then South a bit until it makes another lake in an area called The Great Desert. Which seems to be about twenty five percent of the continent. The third river is by far the longest and it snakes around North all the way to the ocean. It must be thousands of miles long. The Great Forest is a large area almost at the most North Western part of the continent and the river winds through it. The river I followed forked off the main river to create this large lake. I walked Krissa through the path I took answering simple questions along the way.
Finally Krissa asked “Why did you go north when almost all humans live to the south?” “I have never seen a map of…” looking to the top it says Magarnia “Magarnia before. The mountains I was in were south of my home as well.” Krissa either bought it or didn’t care enough to press for more information.
“Sorry for the rude and invasive questions. You simply don’t seem to understand how uncommon humans are around here. Sure some human travelers float down the great river to the dwarven kingdoms.” Krissa points to some names at the north of the map. “ They are guarded by mages to deter and defend and don’t leave the boat. Krissa points to a settlement near the center of The Great Forest where the river runs through it. “There might be one or two humans here.” Krissa points at more settlements south and east of the great forest. “There might be some here but to really meet humans you need to go way South.” Krissa’s clawed finger taps a few locations near the massive lake and along the river before it enters The Great Forest.
Well my goal is to get home and Magar basically said magic was the key to a chance at that. So I need a direction. “What’s the best place to learn magic?” Krissa points to the giant human city next to the lake named Eldrin. “Any mages nearby?” “Two here and many in larger settlements.
Looking at the map, I try to burn it into my brain for future reference. “My old bones are tied. My son will remove your bindings and show you to your bed for the night. You are not a prisoner but beyond our walls it is very dangerous at night. Tomorrow I will help you more. Rest well.” “Thank you Krissa, you too.”
Kritin walks over and uses my Bowie knife to cut my bindings then sets it on the table then points to the hallway we entered from. Was this a test? I leave my knife alone just in case and head back outside.
We walked back toward the entrance to the village and I saw the wooden cube now snugly fitted into the entrance with a brace going across it to keep it from getting kicked or pushed in from the outside.on the left side between the entrance and pens seemed to be an inn type building where Kritin seems to be leading me.
As we entered, aromas of cooked fish and spices hit my nose. I’ve never been so hungry in my life. I knew food was the least important thing in survival for the first few days and you can get your brain to ignore hunger but not when food is right there in front of you. Kritin pointed to a chair and while I went to sit in it he headed to the counter to talk to who I assume was the owner of this inn or at least the person who ran it.
The few dozen patrons were loud when I entered but since all I heard was murmuring. Feeling more alone now than when I was by myself in the giant forest I thought of Maria and what she would be thinking about all this. I should have been home by… Kritin interrupts my thoughts with a drink that he hands me as he sits down at the other side of the small table.The massive Murichi seemed to be deep in thought.
I took a small drink of my drink to taste test and was surprised. If there was alcohol in it it was not strong and it tasted like milk and honey with just a dash of fruity taste i couldn’t place. As I was critiquing my drink, our food arrived. A large slab of cooked fish, some cheese, and a boiled egg. Everything tasted how you would expect. I was never a fan of fish but being so hungry I didn’t complain.
I felt almost civilized. Clean and clothed with food and drink. After our quiet meal the rest of the patrons eventually got over me and started getting loud again. Kritin walked me upstairs to my room. The beds were basically padded hammocks attached to the walls. The room was small, maybe ten feet by six feet and it had four hammock beds. Two on each side and at the far end was a small dresser and above that was a small window. One thing my construction brain noticed is everything is made of wood and it’s all very square and fitted nicely.
I lay down in the lower left hammock and Surprisingly Kritin lays down in the lower right hammock. I figured he had his own place or maybe he was stuck babysitting me. Am I keeping him from his family? Does he have one? Thinking about family makes me think of Maria of course. My beautiful pregnant wife. “Scry Maria.”
She’s at the campsite and there’s blood everywhere. She’s clutching my phone and I can see the jeep but no crater. Blood sprayed where I was standing when I noticed, I guess Zeke in the crater. It’s a lot of blood, like you can’t survive amount of blood. My revolver and rifle are sitting on the ground and caution tape is being put up and people are taking photos. The cabin is destroyed and food wrappers are all over the place. Focusing back to Maria even if it’s just an image, it’s photo real and I can see the pain she is in. Tears come to my eyes as I ask all the whys and what ifs. Sleep takes a while but I eventually do fall asleep.