Malo enjoyed riding Chloe as much as running himself. The feelings were similar but different in wonderful ways. When running himself he felt the exertion, the power of his muscles, the will to keep moving. While he never tires when running, it’s not that he doesn’t feel anything, he gets tired, but he never reaches that wall that makes others quit. He can run forever. When riding, the feel of the inu muscles below him, he moves in unison, matching every leap forward, shifting his eight until he feels like it’s his muscles, his power, propelling them forward.
Terius can’t believe this oversized giddy kid has been the source of a decade long mystery. A mystery that everyone was certain to be the biggest evil they’ve faced in their lifetime. He’s had a smile on his face for hours. When he runs, he’s smiling when he rides, he’s smiling, and at any moment there’s a danger of him breaking into a fit of giggles. Terius isn’t surprised by his obvious resilience, the last decade of activity pointed to an unknown depth of power. The display the other day in Lord Brust’s court proved how powerful he can be. Also, how important it is to keep him feeling safe.
That day remains a mystery. Why was he suddenly so scared and did he nearly stop time? For all of Terius’s training and experience what happened that day should not have been possible. Even if it were, there’s no mechanism of physics that would allow it. That ability borders on… no! That ability is super-natural.
Malo continued to marvel at the wonder of riding and the joy of running, until Terius called for a rest stop to give Chloe a chance to recuperate. Malo laid down in the grass next to the panting inu and stared up at the blue, cloudless sky. Terius takes the time to check his gear and retie his boots.
Malo lazily says, “They’re so pretty, even during the day.”
Terius looks where Malo was looking and sees nothing but empty sky, “and what might that be?”
“The stars! What else is there to see?”
“Not everyone can see the stars during the day. The light from the sun washes them out. Are you saying you can see them through all that light noise?”
“Not with my eyes, no. The sun overpowers them that way. I mean the tinkles.”
Terius knows this is important no matter what words the boy uses, “tinkles?”
“Yeah, the chiming sound stars make in your head. There are so many more stars out here away from the mountains. In the valley I had mountains on three sides, blocking so many. Out here it’s so open, the sound is constant.”
Terius thinks he understands what the boy is getting at. Everyone has different ranges of sensitivity to electro-magnetic energy. Malo must be sensitive to a range far exceeding his own. He briefly wonders if there is any use for these ‘tinkles’ only Malo can hear.
“mmm, these are good,” says Malo.
Terius is pulled from his thoughts by the boy’s comment. He looks towards the boy and inu and they are both eating strips of dried cavi. “It’s early for dinner.”
“Ugh, you’re one of those people,” he says normally. Then in a deeper, serious voice, “You only need to eat twice a day. Stop wasting food.”
Terius knows there’s a subtext he’s missing, “Two meals are enough.”
“Maybe for normal people. I’m a runt. Believe me when I tell you this, I am always hungry. Chloe here agrees. Four meals should be normal. Five meals when you get to run all day.”
“If you continue eating a full portion five times a day and sharing them with your inu, we’ll run out of food in the morning.”
“I guess I could get by on four meals, and can’t an inu hunt their own food?”
“They are excellent hunters, in packs. They also need time. We can’t afford to wait for it to feed itself.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. I guess I can share my food then.”
“There’s no need to share, I have the inu’s food in my pack.”
“What is it? Is it any good?”
“It’s inu food. I’ve never tried it.”
“When you feed Chloe, let me see it. If it’s better than the dried cavi, maybe she’ll trade.”
Terius is confused by the boy’s words. Is he serious about negotiating a food trade with an inu?
Malo knows he’s being silly; he doesn’t know that Terius is taking him seriously.
The inu stands up and goes off to relieve himself. Malo follows.
Terius notices Malo wandering away, “Where are you off to?”
“Twice the food, twice the poop. I’ll be done in a minute.”
Terius shakes his head as what may be the most dangerous power to walk the earth in hundreds of years, squats to relieve himself.
Chloe waits for Malo to finish, then with her tongue lolling, trots over and waits for him to hop on. They alternate running and riding for four more hours. Making a large loop through the plains to the west of the Rocky Waste. The path is meant to bring them to a trade crossroad. There will be a hostel there with plenty of people to observe them. They will be a little over a hundred miles in the opposite direction from Mammatus, the proof he’s trying to hide something will be established. Making the obvious moves will allow the unknown players the confidence they need to do nothing in a hurry.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The sun was beginning to set when they reached the hostel. It was nearly identical to every other crossroads hostel. Three stories, the bottom containing the common areas such as a Kitchen and dining area. The two upper floors have rooms that can be rented for hours, days, or weeks. Adjacent is an outbuilding containing a washroom and water closets. Past the washrooms are the kennel where you can get every level of care your inu may need. Behind the hostel is a large fenced off area with active security, a place where wagons and carts can be left unattended and safe.
Terius leaves Malo outside with the inu while he enters the hostel to make arrangements. Malo, still in awe of all the open space, is glad of the building’s height and bulk, reducing the feeling of being exposed. Finished with the arrangements, Terius returns.
“You can leave the inu here, a kennel hand will be around in few minutes to take it to its stall.”
“Won’t she run off?”
Instead of directly answering Terius opts to give a demonstration, “Chloe, sit.”
Obediently the inu sits.
“Chloe, stay.”
The inu slouches a little, its body language conveying it isn’t going anywhere.
Malo is amazed, the few inu he’s encountered will pull a cart on command and maybe come when called. He’d never seen one that understands commands like this. “That is Bang-Up! This has to be the smartest inu ever.”
“All of Lord Brust’s animals are best of breed, but even the dumbest inu can learn dozens of commands.”
“Like what? Can you show me more?”
Terius avoids the classic children’s trap of endless questions by changing topics, “Food will be served inside in a bit, we should find our seats.”
All questions about inu obedience forgotten by the mere hint of eating, Malo starts moving towards the entrance. Terius steps ahead of Malo so as to lead the boy to the seats he’d already chosen.
Inside are a dozen tables with the customary three chairs each. More than half are already occupied by members of the sole caravan staying there overnight. They’ll have a meal in the hostel and make use of the washing facilities, but sleep with their wagons, as they do when on the road.
Malo has never eaten in a place like this, he’s read stories that included eating in fancy restaurants. He is intimidated by the prospect of waiters, menus, salad forks, and food with foreign names. He should be worried about more important and pressing concerns, but the threat you face always seems more important than the one chasing you. He starts tapping his foot and doesn’t realize it.
After several minutes Terius starts to notice the incessant tapping and realizes it’s coming from Malo. In a flash he remembers the whole reason they needed him out of Brust Keep with as few witnesses as possible.
“Malo, I’m sorry. The day of running allowed my mind to drift to other issues and I was not thinking about your situation. All these people must be making you nervous. Come with me to your room, I’ll bring you food.”
Malo, only half listening, nods in agreement and follows Terius out of the restaurant, with a wave of relief.
When Malo left the room, conversations got a little louder, as the mood of the room noticeably improved. Terius returned downstairs and took his previous seat. After a few more minutes two men started bringing large bowels of stew to each patron. When they reached Terius, he explained his travel companion was tired and would eat his portion later. They leave two bowels and move on.
Taking up their fare, Terius heads up to the rooms. “Sorry about that boy, the next couple nights we’ll be camping. Our next stop will be someplace smaller with far less people.”
Malo looks over the stew suspiciously, wondering what’s in it. It looks like plain stew, but this is restaurant stew. There could be anything in it, but he won’t know unless he tries it. His hunger wins out over his restaurant angst. Timidly he dunks his spoon and takes up some of the gravy and licks it. It tastes just like stew but with something new and exciting. He scoops up what looks like potato, but who knows, and eats it, incredible. Next comes something that looks just like carrot, it’s fantastic. He tries whatever exotic meat they use and can’t believe it isn’t cavi.
Voraciously shoveling the stew in his mouth, “This is so good, I can’t believe I was scared of trying it.”
Terius marvels once again at how strange this boy is. He’s eating a common stew and acting like he’s never had it before. Maybe this Feltworks has some strange dietary customs. He’ll make sure the kitchen staff are aware of all the idiosyncrasies in the boy’s diet.
The next morning, they pack their meager supplies. Malo asks for more stew for breakfast. Terius notices they’re nearly out of dried cavi and replenishes their supply. He also added a dozen biscuits and a bottle of honey. The amount of energy Malo is burning would require more calories than is typical. He isn’t fast traveling or using any ability when he runs, he simply can do it without end, powered by his metabolism. Terius must account for that and will have to supply four meals to do so.
They were back out and running before sunup. Terius wanted gone before anyone with negative reactions to Malo the night before could find an excuse to start trouble. Malo was running next to Terius; Chloe was running ahead and then circling back. Malo wants to ask something but doesn’t know how to word the question.
He reminds himself that being direct is best, “What are you doing to run without trying? It looks like something is pushing you. Why do you go so far with every step? It looks like you’re skipping. Are you skipping?” Malo takes a breath and is about to ask another question when Terius stops suddenly. Malo does too.
Before he can ask why they stopped, Terius speaks, “Those are excellent questions, maybe I can teach you.”
Malo wasn’t looking to learn anything, he only wanted answers to his questions, “Couldn’t you just tell me?”
“Yes, and in the process, you will learn to do it yourself.” Terius whistles and Chloe comes to his side. “Chloe, prepare.”
The inu drops with his fore paws flat on the ground, butt in the air, tail wagging. Terius opens a few clasps and the inu wiggles out of his harness.
“Chloe, forage!”
The inu bounces up, spins in the air spraying a shower of slobber, before sprinting back the way they came.
Terius mutters, “That is one smart inu.” Before turning back to Malo who is drinking honey straight from the jar.
Terius doesn’t believe he can teach Malo how to fast travel in one morning, but he would like to get him started with some exercises.
“You are heading to my Study, where you will be enrolled to learn the vocation of Defender.”
“That’s right, I kind of forgot where we were going. I think my memory is still a little stupid.”
“Memory loss is not unheard of when one experiences trauma. Do you remember what happened in the keep and before?”
“No. I mean I don’t think I do. I have memories but they’re less real. I feel like I only remember them because I heard other people tell me what happened.”
“A person’s memory is fragile, it’s possible to erase a memory, at least temporarily, and even plant another. But those are not things we teach in Mammatus. What I can teach you is meditation. Through meditation you might regain your lost memories.”
“Even old, old, old, memories,” queries Malo?
“Yes, even old memories.”
“Let’s get started then, there’s one day I want to remember more than any other.”
“And what day would that be,” asks Terius?
“The day my mother died, the day I was born.”