[Varali POV]
A week had passed since Varali and Fen had left Stonestep, and the journey continued to be a strange conglomeration of tranquil and infuriating. The jungles remained beautiful and safe, so long as you knew how to treat it, and though Varali had been a fool in a dozen ways a day since her parents’ death, she did know the jungles. The journey south, though easy and fast, remained agonizing as Varali couldn’t know how far she was from reaching the Thnufir fort, since she’d never been there. She knew it was south, and would take most people about three weeks of travel to reach there, but she didn’t know if she was moving quickly or slowly, or even if she was going in the right direction.
At night, when Fen collapsed and could walk no longer, Varali would spend a short time with the fawn slung over her shoulders to carry her even an extra step, but often Varali found herself trudging well after nightfall before she gave up on progressing any further without resting. She had brought camping supplies, but most nights Varali was too exhausted to take the time to set up her tent and instead simply wrapped herself in her sleeping roll and succumbed to the fatigue that ached in her every bone. Despite her body’s cries for rest, though, her mind couldn’t calm itself sufficiently to protect Varali from the nightmares of her parents’ bodies, their suffering.
That was where Fen’s so-called [Skills] came into use–she had learned how to influence others’ minds, and if Fen was awake, she could mould and adjust and edit Varali’s dreams to a more comprehensive and less painful nothing. If Fen remained sleeping, though… Varali wouldn’t get much rest. Even so, she doggedly pressed on, focused on the next step, the next day, the next destination.
When they’d left Stonestep, a True Windspeaker had talked about how he could send word all the way to the fort, but even so, Varali wanted to continue on her journey and ensure that the High Speaker soldiers were ready to come and avenge her family and friends. After all, she couldn’t guarantee that the Windspeaker wasn’t just blowing smoke to get the grieving child to calm down. Varali could still feel the pity in his eyes, in the eyes of every man and woman she’d seen since the massacre, thinking of her as an unreasonable child.
Before Varali could fully shake the frustration and anger from her mind, though, she felt a rumble in the ground up ahead, and immediately struggled with an Earthcalling. Though she had long chosen to focus on Flame and Soulspeaking, with her mother’s expertise, Varali could Earthspeak well enough to feel something with four legs and rumbling steps, so she quickly bunkered down beneath a nearby bush. Fen immediately joined her and asked,
What’s up?
“I can feel something shifting the ground.” Varali whispered so quietly she couldn’t hear herself, but she kept every one of her senses peeled to try to keep herself and her companion safe. Whatever could so markedly and consistently affect the whole ground was a threat that Varali couldn’t do anything about, and she hoped to escape its attention, though she’d never heard of anything able to move the earth like this around here. She hoped it was just an overzealous Earthspeaker, but in her heart, Varali could feel that this was something different, the magic itself foreign to her.
The steps approached, and Varali held her breath, hoping beyond hope to completely escape notice, but a voice echoed through the jungle, the tone refined and almost bored.
“There’s a child over there, under the bush. Child, come out and speak to your betters.”
Varali bristled at the superiority in the man’s tone and words, but before she could even make a decision about how to react to the command, the voice rang out again, a single word, a command she’d never heard before.
“Doluk.”
Before the sound of the command had fully faded, the earth gently folded around her feet up to her ankles, and then the ground under Varali’s feet shifted and pulled her towards the voice. Before anything else, Varali noticed the massive hill that she could have sworn hadn’t been there before, and on top of it were six people, all but one fully covered in beralts to protect them from detection and the elements, the sixth wearing fine clothing and a silken cloak. She wanted to move, to shift uncomfortably, to do anything, but the firm stone wrapped around her ankles prevented her from doing anything of the sort, and the imperious voice sounded out again as she was made to approach.
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“Girl. What are you doing here? Do you not know that you have come exceptionally close to the frontlines of the war against the half people?” His tone shifted, “Are you a spy?”
The jarring change from all the questions shook Varali and she struggled to know how to answer until the last. “No! I’m from here! I love my home, I would never!” She gathered herself and, since she couldn’t move her feet, simply pulled her beralt back from her face and looked up at the six figures before bowing her head. “My name is Varali, I’m from a small, nameless village to the north. I passed through Stonestep on my way here and had a windword be sent ahead about a keelish menace that needs to be exterminated.” She paused, worried about what the consequences might be if they didn’t believe her, and she felt her throat go dry.
It’s ok! You’re awesome!
Fen’s voice echoed through Varali’s mind, and she straightened her back. “Have you heard? I assume you’re soldiers from the Fort?”
The proud man’s laughter was surprisingly pleasant as he listened to her words, then he tapped his foot against the hill they all stood on. Immediately, the stone released her feet, and the man turned to another, one who hadn’t adjusted or removed their beralt at all. “You take care of the child, Lierthan. We’ll leave as soon as you send her on her way.” Then, the man turned and sat on a small chair on the hill.
Now that she was recovering from her panic, Varali noticed that the hill was not, in fact, a hill. She had never seen one before, but Varali had heard of the ufudoluk of the Indlovu plains. Massive creatures with four massive legs, each one as thick as a small house leading up to a huge, armored body. They were like something called a tortoise, a small reptile that Varali had only ever seen a drawing of, but the ufudoluk was at least 40 feet tall at the crest of its shell and twice as long and the enormous creature stood impassively looking at her. Its mouth could eat her in one bite, though Varali couldn’t say if it was a carnivore. As she stared, the ufudoluk ponderously turned its head to a nearby tree and, with a single bite, snapped through its trunk before crunching away at the top of the tree, branches and leaves flying freely around the scene.
Still distracted by the ufudoluk, Varali was surprised when Lierthan stepped near and patted her shoulder. She turned, and the moment he had her attention, Lierthan spoke in a quiet measured tone, “We have been sent by the High Colonel and will exterminate the keelish. You can rest easy and return to your home.” Then, he turned to step back onto the humongous tortoise.
“Wait!” Varali cried, “I can lead you there! I can do whatever you want! Please, just let me come along!”
Lierthan wordlessly shook his head in denial of her request, and Varali felt her heart sink. They just didn’t care? Or–
“Eh. Let her come. I don’t have any of my pages here to take care of my Bound.” The proud man’s voice echoed from over the ufudoluk’s back, and Varali’s heart soared once more. Lierthan didn’t seem to feel anything about the other man directly countermanding him, and just reached over and grabbed her under her arms and, before she could react, leapt directly up onto the ufudoluk’s back. Varali bowed to her benefactor who still sat on the opulent chair somehow secured to the shell.
“Thank you High Colonel, for giving the command allowing me to come along, I promise–”
“I am no mere armyman.” The proud man’s voice cut in. “Show me the respect I deserve, and care for my Bound. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Varali stood, confused, and Lierthan leaned close to her. “This is High Lord Leialt Alniyh, and the Gran Verat has required him to assist us in our mission.”
“Yes, thank you for the introduction.” The man–High Lord Alniyh, spoke breezily. “You will care for my Bound. There are only three here, and my young Doluk here gets tired. He’s only a couple years old, after all.”
Completely confused, Varali looked around, and before she could begin to settle her mind, the huge tortoise began to flow forward, moving without stepping and the ground below them carrying them all forward, faster than Varali had ever traveled. She… simply sank to the ground, trying to figure out how she had gotten here, but grateful that these High Speakers and High Lord would surely give her revenge.