Thinking about taking my shirt off for maybe the twentieth time since leaving the bunnies, I set my pack down again for another break. Despite being a third of the weight of the backpack that had been destroyed this one was continuing to rub my shoulders raw. I kept thinking that if I bunched up my shirt to use as padding then maybe we could make it farther with fewer breaks. But whenever I had that thought my back would scream out in protest that it would just find itself scrapped up by the dried grass and branches that were used to help it hold its shape.

As I started stretching, pulling my arms this way and that in an effort to loosen up my tense muscles. Gaian took the time to crawl out from under his own burden and roll around on the grass, I’m assuming in an effort to relieve his chafing. As he growled his unhappiness to me, I said. “I know, I know. We should have done more testing, but the only other thing I could think of was trying to make some kind of cart or wagon and that would have been so much harder. Between trying to design a harness for you and figuring out how to make wheels. It just wasn’t worth the effort.”

As he came up and nosed my pocket, demanding some more of the dried fruit, I told him. “It’s only the first day brother, we can’t keep snacking all day otherwise we are going to be out before we know it with only the travel food to eat.” As he continued to insist, I eventually gave in and pulled out several pieces for both of us. Handing him his pieces, I put my own into my mouth and walked over to one of his baskets to pull out the pig’s stomach I had turned into an erstwhile water container.

Untieing the neck of it, I held it up to my mouth and tilted it back to get a drink of the warm tepid water. I had never managed to catch the rabbits refilling the logs despite several nights where I had pretended to sleep to try and learn their secrets, but every time I saw and heard nothing. Nevertheless, every morning when I went to check it, all three were filled with cool refreshingly clear water that had never given me any problems after drinking. Taking another drink to help moisten the fruit and make chewing it a little easier, I retied the neck and set it back down for later. With not even having hit two weeks on this world, I couldn’t swear to the fact that a storm would be coming in sometime in the next two days, but so far they were staying fairly regular. The third one had hit two days ago which put the next one coming in somewhere in the next day or two.

Laughing to myself, I tried to tell myself that three times doesn’t make a pattern and despite how green the shoulder high grass was, it could just be the season. Looking up to the sky I saw that it was just getting to midday and we had plenty of time left to continue hiking. The plan was to head to the river as the closest major landmark. In every part of the world I had come from water meant civilization and with a river that huge I was hoping that would be the case here as well. While the easiest way to get there would have been to cut straight through the goblin woods, for obvious reasons the bear and I had decided to take a detour. We had walked due east towards Mt. Tai for at least an hour before turning south to continue our march to the water.

So far the initial walk had brought us down two elevations of hills. We still had three more to go before the valley leveled out. I thought about continuing down to the bottom but in the end, I decided against it. My thinking was that even if we had a slight climb every once in a while, gaining a vantage point to look down and see what was coming would be worth the extra effort. Also, water runs downhill, so the more dips and valleys we come across, the better chance of finding both game to supplement the pemmican and also additional water so we didn’t have to rely on dew in the mornings. Sure more than five gallons would last me a week if I was sparing in what I drank and didn’t exert myself too hard, but the bear was going to have to drink a lot more than me.

I had brought along a small package of sand and ash wrapped tightly in one of the baskets, but I knew without the ability to activate the charcoal it wasn’t a hundred percent guarantee that it would keep me safe. I had spent a decent amount of time staring up at the night sky and I had yet to see any movements of satellites or planes that might indicate the natives had a technological presence on this world. That didn’t mean they had found their own way to contaminate the water, not to mention all the way it was easily fouled by wildlife, which isn’t even taking into account any tricks monster kind might have tried to pull.

Before I heaved my pack on I carefully moved aside my assorted clubs and bolos to pull out one of the pig skins. Unfurling it and laying it across the bear’s back I told him to try using that to see if it would help with the chaffing. Pulling out the other I hung it over my neck like a rolled up towel. Squatting to put my arms through the grass ropes I had used for straps I gently lifted up to test out how well it worked for me. Nope, I thought to myself. That is definitely worse. While it did offer limited padding, the way the leather was pulling at my neck hairs, I could tell it was only going to get first as we continued walking.

Squatting back down and shrugging my way out of the burden, I again carefully moved the leather back down towards the bottom to maintain an easy access to my supply of throwing weapons. Looking over to the bear to see how the change was for him, he raised up his right paw before I even had a chance to ask the question. So I put my pack back on before gathering back up my spear and the bucket of water. Shrugging my shoulders, I got everything adjusted as well as possible, looking over to the bear to make sure that was ready, we continued our way south.

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Between frequent breaks as one of us grew uncomfortable, and trying to keep to an easy pace so as not to exert ourselves, we didn’t make it as far as I had hoped when we left the rabbits. But I didn’t want to leave ourselves tired and vulnerable in case of another goblin patrol found us. So as we stopped to make camp for the night in the growing twilight, we decided on pitching our tent at the ridgeline so that hopefully we could hear anything coming from either side. Looking up the elevations it looked like we had just made it past the southernmost tip of the goblin’s forest, which meant they were only a short mile or two away right now. Part of me wanted to go on, but despite the clear night we were looking to have I didn’t want to take the risk. The chances of injury were much higher walking around in the dark and while I might have a walking health potion as a partner, if we stumbled and broke open one of the bags, it would take a day or two to dry the grass to make another one.

Quickly pulling the sticks away from the panniers, I used the cordage I had wrapped from the pig sinew to tie them together, using a hitch instead of a knot to join them so it would be easier to take apart in the morning. Taking out grass mats from both of our packs, I laid them across the frame letting the weight hold them down rather than try to attach them more permanently. If we had a storm tonight I would probably regret it, but so far every storm had been preceded by rolling thunder and it had taken a while for a breeze to build up. With several of the thicker grass ropes lying curled up on the top of one of Gaian’s panniers, I was pretty sure I would be able to tie them down before they were blown away.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Pulling out one of the pouches of the travel food I had made from my pack, I pulled out one of the rolled up baskets and flipped it over the opening to keep out any dew that would form overnight. Picking up my spear and leaning it against my pack so that it would be easy to grab if I needed to dart outside, I bent down and shouldered my way in next to the bear that was already lying down under cover. Sitting down I pulled out my knife and cut off a third of the package. Unwrapping the larger half I set it down in front of the bear before wiping the blade off on the floor and restoring it to its home.

Using the grass to keep the fat from my fingers, I slowly started gnawing on my piece. Each of the packages was pretty small, weighing in somewhere between a pound or two, with accurate weights and measurements a thing of the past along with everything else I was having to use a lot more guesswork. With as much fat as there was in these, I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be able to finish mine. With only a knife for equipment, the meat and dried fruit were in much bigger chunks than a modern recipe would have called for. Scrapping off another piece with my teeth I continued to chew on it before I was interrupted by several grunts by the bear.

Sighing when I saw him licking his lips, I replied. “Yeah it would have been smarter to get out some water before I sat down, but I wanted to take a load off too.” Setting my package down I got up and pulled out another basket. This one was one of the tightest weaves I had managed on the last day. Unscrewing the lid from the top of the bucket, I carefully poured out a couple of quarts for the bear, before replacing the lid and getting out my own drink. Sitting back down, I took off my socks and boots, laying the socks out straight to dry. Checking my feet for blisters, it looked like we hadn’t exerted ourselves enough today for enough sweat to soak through the socks which would have caused my feet to wrinkle up.

Picking up the rest of my meal, I continued to chew through it while taking small sips of water to help it go down easier. When I started to feel full, I still had a small bit of it left, so I tossed it over to the bear before taking one last sip and standing up to return the water to my pack. Digging through the pack for my shovel I also pulled out one of the strips of woven grass that I had made and wondering about twenty yards away from camp along our back trail I dug a small hole before doing my business and refilling to keep the smell down. Heading back to the tent to put my shovel away, I pulled out the roll of pigskin to use as a pillow. Pulling out my wallet, I opened it up so that I could settle down and look up at the night sky with my kids, as I leaned into the bear’s bulk to use him as a heating blanket. Before slowly drifting off to sleep, staring up at the strange constellation and distant moons that looked to be about half the size of our own.

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Waking up to the chill of the predawn I got up to check my socks, fortunately, the low tent and heat from the bear had kept the moisture away. Pulling them on I quickly laced up my boots after them, before getting up to start my short stretching and meditation session. I had started doing this more seriously every morning after I was forced to ride away from trouble on my friend’s back. I was slowly trying to work my way into maintaining my breathing pattern while I moved seeing if I could force my way back into my core on my own.

While I hadn’t been successful in diving back into my core, I was feeling like I was getting the very beginnings of controlling the rotation of my mana. I had decided on the term with some trepidation. I didn’t want to get stuck on it, but it kept popping up in my mind. From my one sided conversations with the bear, I thought this was the source that he used for his healing powers, but he didn’t have to do anything for it to regenerate. For that matter, he didn’t have to do anything to start his power up. From numerous questions, I was able to finally figure out that all he did was touch the wound and will it to get better.

That would explain how the troll had managed to regrow his head without having a brain to focus the power, it was an incredibly unsatisfactory answer for me and seemed to leave a lot of other questions on the table. The biggest one was why didn’t I have magic and where was my easy button! Halfway through my session, I could feel the mana start to speed up its rotation, and I found myself transferring from a yoga pose to more of a tia chi kata, that was totally being made up on the spot and only loosely resembling anything that might have been real back on earth. I thought to myself as I started to rotate and throw an open handed palm strike, doing my best to channel the force out into the world.

I may have managed a puff of wind but nothing that would do anything more than make a goblin howl with laughter before burying his fangs into me in reply.

Sighing, I refused to let it get to me. After my outburst the night I had killed the pigs, I was starting to realize that I might have been more damaged by my trip here than I had thought. I have been trying to remember my time in there, but more and more it is becoming a blur. I remember forming my core and learning how to combine Order and Chaos, but much of the remainder is a blur. I don’t know if it is because I was being held in stasis and my brain just didn’t actually form the memories, or that my time there was so long that human brains just don’t have enough space and can’t deal with that amount of time.

I’ve searched my thoughts and I remember my time on earth much more vividly than everything that happened on the trip over. More and more I am trying to convince myself that the eternity I had spent there was real, but now I am starting to wonder if it was all in my imagination. Is my mind broken and am I imagining the exp streaming through the air? I just don’t know, I seem to be the only one seeing and feeling it. Was it really affecting the bear when we first arrived? It doesn’t anymore and every time I ask him about it or the funnel from the sky gods he keeps answering in the negative and looking at me like I’m crazy. It’s getting to the point that I don’t dare talk about it anymore for fear he will abandon me.

Speak of the devil, he came pondering up to me. Nodding at the unasked question, I went back to our packs to grab another pouch of food. Breaking it open, I cut off a slightly larger piece. Rewrapping and sticking mine in my pocket, I grabbed several of the smaller grass mats I had and another tight weave basket. Walking through the long grass I would drag the mats to collect water before bringing it to the basket and wringing the water out.

After about an hour when daylight was starting to get into full swing, I had nearly filled the basket. Walking it over to the bucket, I first dumped half out for the bear before filling the bucket back up. Tightening the lid down, I began packing up the camp and rebuilding the harness for the bear. Putting the pig skin back on his back, I watched as he crawled into the system and standing back up he gave it a little shake to settle it in place.

Tying my spear to one of the baskets, I pulled out the water skin that was still half full and hung it from my belt. Crouching down to put my own pack on, I pulled out the food I had saved and had my breakfast on the move.

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Halfway through the day, we were climbing another small hill, I planned on taking another break for a snack when we made it to the top. As we crested the hill, I realized two things. First, there was a road along the low points of this small valley. Not much more than a wagon trail, there were just two lines running from east to west. One pointed to Mt Tai, while the other aimed for a break in the ridge to the west. It seemed we had a better path to follow than just wandering along in the direction of the river.

At least we would if the universe had decided that we weren’t done with the goblins just yet. Looking down at the burned out wagons, I saw there were a number of bodies of both the smaller greenskins and humans of all sizes lying scattered around the ground. That while horrible enough, wouldn’t have me ready to go back to face them. No, at my feet, in a direct line between the wagons and the goblin’s woods was a small homemade doll.

The goblins had captives and one of them was a little girl.