While most of the animals in the Blasted Lands seemed to be reptilian in nature, there were others that were unrelated. Large clawed feet dug into the hard soil. The creature was as large as a fully grown man. It appeared to be some type of flightless bird that was covered in feathers that blended in with the desert background. It featured a long brush-like tail that served to balance the creature. The bird was completely covered in feathers above its legs. It had a crest of feathers on top of its head that lowered and rose depending on the situation.
A gust of wind blowing and letting out a low whistle in the air startled the animal. It stopped its digging and its crest rose up in the alert position. It looked towards its side for a moment. It swiveled its head from side to side to look out for predators, but all that it saw was a few dry bushes and some rocks at the edge of the perimeter. The crest lowered and the animal once again started to dig. After a few moments, water began to spring up from the dried lake bed. In the more inhospitable areas in the Blasted Lands, it paid to be intelligent enough to find water. However, even the brightest minds can be easily snuffed out. The animal let out a loud screech as it suddenly fell to the ground. It kicked its powerful legs and tried to get up.
Poking out of its side was a spear that forced its way deep into its vital organs. Blood poured from the bird like a spring as it desperately tried to pull the spear out, unable to realize that its death was all but assured. Its attackers came out of their hiding places near the dense bush. Myself and Octavian. I tilted my head towards Octavian and smiled at him.
“Impressive aim.” I said, having been privileged to see his skills in combat matching mine in many ways. I had just witnessed him hurl that spear in perfect form.
Octavian simply smiled at me before he took another spear from a hand made holster on his back and aimed it at the gigantic bird. One swift thrust from the spear and he put the animal out of its misery. He pulled both of the spears out, swinging them downward to shake the blood off of them before placing them back into their holsters. Wanting to feel useful I knelt down to pick the bird up, though it was clear that the both of us were going to have to carry this massive creature back to our camp. As I picked it up I let out a surprised groan and had to adjust myself so that we could both carry the creature easier.
“Heavy bastard, isn't he? Ohh, he weighs a ton.”
Octavian nodded in response as he carried the bird with me. We marched forward and he replied.
“That he does. Funny, he’s heavier than he looks. Where does he keep all that?”
“I don’t know.” I strained and almost dropped the bird, but I found my footing and proceeded to do my part in transporting our meal. “Maybe his meat? I look forward to having this thing for my meal. Roasted over a fire with all the Herbs and Spices Cao Tzu managed to find.”
“Ahh yes.” Octavian smiled happily as the idea of the meal whetted his appetite. “Forgive me my lord, but you should probably stop talking. All this fantasizing about food is making me hungry.”
“Say no more, my friend. Say no more.” We continued on with our journey to our camp.
***
The great flats was an area in the Blasted Lands which was one of the most desolate places in the entire area. The few places that were worse had only the smallest forms —if not completely devoid of— life. It was a challenge to survive here, and yet there were plenty of creatures that had to migrate past this area in order to survive and reach their nesting grounds. I sat by on a rock, eating my food as I watched life roam throughout the harsh area. Afterall, what else did I have to do besides practicing and traveling to our destination?
The first great creatures that I had seen were large animals with lots of body weight. They could alternate between walking on four limbs to their hind legs, preferring to use their hind legs only when running. There were a plethora of different breeds and sub species in the area that mingled with each other. Many of them had large crests on their heads where the different groups each had their own unique calls. It was like their head ornaments were each a special trumpet that played a different song for each group. Each animal had large flat beaks where they could gather as many plants as possible.
Not only were there creatures of great size, but also ones that were smaller. More of the birds like the ones Octavian killed. There was one that was smaller than the great beaked giants by comparison. They were tall as men, but were the furthest thing. They had very tiny arms that seemed useless to me. Their hind legs were large and they were great sprinters, but their front limbs were puny. They looked more like a toe with a single claw than an actual limb. The real star of their features was their horns. They were like a ram’s horns; thick and broad, and made out of dense bone. The females had no such weaponry on their heads. It was distinctively a male feature. Of course, like many men they settled their disputes with only one course of action: violence. They headbutted each other to compete for females, bashing their skulls against one another with loud, sickening slams.
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They ran at each other with the full force of a chariot pulled by six horses and collided, yet neither died. It was quite fascinating to watch their little duels. I imagined placing them in an arena for the whole world to see, having scores of crowds cheering them on as both males battled fiercely to see who would get the females. Every crash felt like it would be the last, yet they continued despite the injuries they developed. Eventually one would bow his head like a gentleman and leave in defeat while the other one crowed in victory.
Then there were the animals that were slow, but also very heavily armored. They resembled large turtles with spikes adorning their cheeks that pointed backwards. Their back had a large, protective shell that kept them from danger at the hands of larger predators. And if that didn’t work, their tail ended in a large thick club adorned with spikes. It was as if a morning star were attached to these creatures. Even from afar on the rock I sat on, I knew that one swing from that club and any man would be dead.
Each of these great beasts made loud melodic noises as they cried out in a language that only the animals could understand. As I watched the scene unfold, Cao Tzu sat beside me. She had been continuously practicing her magic through deep meditation and careful focus. As my vantage point was a fair distance away from the camp and the most peaceful at the time, she sat beside me in order to take full advantage of the tranquility. She cleared her mind and tried to sharpen it to a razor.
As she focused on her meditations, she furrowed her brow. She tried to concentrate, but her mind was still racing with thoughts here and there. I watched as she grew increasingly more and more frustrated by the second. Eventually she threw her hands up in the air and leaned back, looking dejected. I looked at and finally interrupted the silence by eating some purple fruit we had found earlier in our travels. It had the same crunch and thickness as an apple. I smiled as I chewed and spoke.
“Can’t concentrate?” I offered her a bite of the fruit. She shook her head, refusing. She signed to me that she was rather frustrated. She was told to meditate and the wisdom of the universe would be laid bare before her. I chuckled at her and took another bite of my snack.
“Perhaps you’re overthinking it.”
She didn’t like that too much. She made some angry sign gestures to me and grumbled. She asked “What do you know about the nature of the universe?” I thought for a moment. I leaned back and asked her the same question so that I may better understand what she wanted me to say.
She claimed that the arcane forces were vast and incomprehensible. To use the arcane was to pluck at the very fabrics of reality, and she needed to think and learn how to use them. Yet her mind was filled with so many questions; theories, and other nonsense that her mind was too muddied. She wondered if she could ever even hope to master such a force.
I simply looked at her and thought. I leaned back and gazed at the animals walking along the road. Their footsteps kicked up a large cloud of dust that masked many of them as the massive herd made their way into a large area that had nothing but dried sand. I watched them and noticed something peculiar. They started to dig in the ground. It was sandy and cracked, yet they continued to dig for some unknown purpose. Then I saw that they pressed their full bodyweight in and started to drink water. At this observation, I began to formulate my thoughts.
I said: “I think overthinking the universe is the first mistake. Our minds aren’t made to grasp the infinite. We live our lives as well as we can, but we dream of complexities to the point where we overlook the simple. Take those animals over there. When we were traveling in the desert together, I doubt we would have survived without the blood river. Yet there they are finding water underground. And they are simple beasts with no concept of infinity. No capability of understanding how water can seep into the earth in a desert and where to look, but there they are, drinking water effortlessly.”
She tilted her head at me and made some more signs. “Maybe that used to be a watering hole that dried up and they are so used to drinking over there that it's just built into their minds.”
“Maybe.” I continued. “But that doesn’t doesn’t explain how they managed to figure out that they needed to dig. If you or I came to that watering hole, we would be so distraught of having no water that we would haven’t even thought about digging. Yet there they are with such simplistic lives and they understand. Perhaps the question is not ‘how can I understand the universe’ but ‘how can I make things simpler?’ Maybe we should be asking ourselves: ‘What is the simplest, most straight-forward answer that I’m overlooking?’ We obsess over the grand complexities of life, but we should also take the time to focus on the small things. Perhaps the key to life’s mysteries is easier to solve than we make it seem to be.”
Cao Tzu slowly nodded at my words and contemplated them. Sometimes I think I ramble a bit too much. I am no philosopher. The Rharim training days of my youth were my house of learning; my trainers were the stoic philosophers, my sparring matches with the other children were the debates I had, the dusty tomes of ancient battles were my historical texts and references, the sowing of my wild oats, my academic pastimes.
I am no poet and I have no intention of attempting to be one. I am simple minded in that aspect. I know how to shed blood just as well as any man in a debate would use his sharp tongue. I know the library of battles and strategies that rest in my head as well as any master of the written word. I know every volume of war and their particular genres; the glory of battle was my romance, defeat was my horror, enemy defeats were comedy, I understood this very well.
I am far more skilled with my blade and my shield than I shall ever be with a pen, and that led me to ponder. What exactly can I create? What is it that I can introduce to the world that could make it better? Even my task to build my own kingdom led me to question.
Am I truly creating something, or am I simply taking what I want?
Ah, dear… A thousand pardons, I seem to have rambled and gotten off track. Allow me to continue.
Cao Tzu stood up and signed at me and moved her lips. She told me she had a lot to think about and left me alone with my thoughts. I looked back at the scene in front of me. The herd of animals walking to and fro. There was just something nice about watching the animals move about their lives with hardly a care. I think that in many ways, animals are blessed not to have destinies as great as men. Packs of wolves hold little sway over the fate of the world, but there have been stranger things.
I watched the animals for a bit longer until finally I stood up and went back to camp. There was still a long journey ahead of us, and we needed to be ready to travel.