I was no longer enjoying the heat. As we got closer and closer to the looming form of Mt. Umetsuji, I discovered a flaw in the enchantment I’d weaved onto my cloak. During the Meld, I’d misjudged one of the patterns to the extent that the temperature control was no longer working. The result was that it died completely, and I had to remove the cloak altogether or risk drowning in my own sweat.
Thank God it hadn’t died out in the jungle. As it was, I was now suffering with the rest of my companions through the rising dry heat of the stony plains we were tromping across.
The ambient temperature grew more and more as we approached Kazuma and Venix’s little diversion, and that wasn’t the only thing.
So had sightings of the Children of Shurenga.
I’d thought we left the cats behind when we exited the jungle, and for a time I’d been right about that. The watching eyes had abruptly disappeared after we had initially ventured out into these Oni-infested wastes. But the closer we came to the volcano, they crept back into our lives, in far greater frequency than they’d appeared in the jungle itself. I was starting to think it hadn’t been the jungle that was their territory.
Their appearance increased to the extent that we caught our first full glimpse of one of the enormous cats. It wasn’t for lack of hiding spots that they showed themselves to us. There were plenty of them dotted all across this stretch of the island, between the ravines and enormous boulders strewn about.
They just didn’t care anymore.
The first time our group saw one of their adults sunning themselves, casually stretched out on a large elevated boulder, we stopped to stare at it. The feline itself stared back with too-intelligent amber eyes, and flicked its tail at us in dismissive contempt.
Both of them, in fact.
The Shurengan was huge, easily the size of even the biggest draught horse I’d seen on the mainland. At first glance, I wanted to equate the creature to the tigers that existed back on Earth, but that comparison wasn’t quite right. Its coat was a bright, bloody, crimson red for one, even if it had the same black stripes that ran up and down its bulky form, from the tip of its snout to the end of both of its two tails. The overall shape of its head didn’t resemble that of a tiger, either. It was too…primeval, I suppose, long, wide, and monstrously powerful. From the top of that feral jaw jutted two fangs, greater in length than my own arms from the elbow down. Casually, with a nearly smug air, the great cat opened its mouth in a yawn to display the full width of its jaw.
I could feel that rumble that escaped the chest of the Shurengan even at this distance. Something primal in me from the days of humanity's infancy quailed at the sound, but both my rings kept their composure.
I had no doubt the beast could fit my entire head in that cavernous orifice, and pop it as easily as I could a grape.
I stared up at it warily with the rest of my companions at my side. Even though the creature had yet to make a single hostile move toward us, I was still careful to keep an eye on it as I turned my head slightly in Venix’s direction. He was the only one of us who had previous experience with Goryuen, after all.
“Is that…?” I asked him, wary about using Observe on the great beast.
I mean, what if it felt the Skill and took offense? Stranger things had happened.
Venix nodded a faint frown on his lips. “It is. And yet, I have never seen one of the Children of Shurenga display itself so prominently.”
“Did ye…ever come this way, back durin’ the old fight with the dragon?” Bella asked slowly, as the Shurengan closed its mouth and laid its gigantic head on equally large paws.
Venix shook his head. “We…did not,” He said. “It occurs to me that our forces deliberately did not venture near this caldera.”
“Coulda been fer a good reason,” Azarus said, casting a wary eye out at the wastes around us. Despite the rising heat, I noticed goosebumps rise on his bare arms, visible even through the red hair that covered them. He shivered faintly and rubbed vigorously at them with leather-clad hands.
I didn’t blame him for the caution. My neck itched suddenly, and it felt like a thousand eyes were suddenly studying me.
It occurred to me then, that if this Shurengan was deliberately showing itself to us…
Just how many weren’t?
Paranoid glances were exchanged, as a new mood overtook the group.
Thankfully, at least one of us kept our head.
Liora had remained cool in the face of the enormous cat and didn’t bother to join us as we cast furtive eyes at the plain. Instead, she just kept examining the sunning beast. “Fret not,” She said, catching our attention. “This is a message, yes. But not one of unwelcome. The Children of Shurenga…they are merely letting us know who this land belongs to.”
One crimson-furred ear up on the rock twitched at those words, and a single eye opened to stare down at the Gnoll woman. I don’t think I was alone in being able to read the faint amusement visible in that amber orb.
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“Yes,” Liora nodded decisively, before deliberately bowing at the waist to the cat. “We have leave to approach the mount. As long as we are respectful.”
I couldn’t help but notice that Liora was careful not to bow either too deep or too shallow to the Shurengan. In much the same way you would among Kawamaran society.
Liora had picked up on those same social cues I had, after all, during our stay in Hinaga.
As if it had gotten exactly the reaction it was after, the crimson and black-furred beast rose up to all fours to cast a shadow down over our group. With one last calculating glance at us, it turned its back and hopped down from the boulder, disappearing from sight.
Even when we resumed our trek and passed the stone, I caught no trace of the smug creature.
It was like it had vanished into thin air.
………………………………..
As Mt. Umetsuji loomed larger overhead, that was far from the last of the Children of Shurenga we encountered. Now that we had been sufficiently warned by one of their elders, it seems the cats no longer cared about hiding from us. More than once, we saw Shurengans prowling or playing in the plains about us. We caught some remarkably human startled looks from the cats at the sight of us, but none of them reacted with aggression.
Well, mostly.
I caught a dirty look from one huge matriarch in particular as it watched over a group of frolicking, incredibly adorable cubs. I think this must have been the watcher who had nearly eaten my face, back in the jungle. I shrugged apologetically at the mother.
She just rolled her eyes at me in disgust and got back to her brooding.
But, in the end, Azarus had been correct about how long it would take to reach the volcano. It took us a day and a half to reach the foot of his ‘squat beast’, and I think we were all a bit unsurprised at what we found.
There, in the shadow cast by both the ash and the bulk of the mountain itself…
Stood a massive, cavernous entrance that led further in. It was easily the second largest cave I had ever seen, tall and wide enough that I think Rhazal himself could have walked through it.
Well, if the bastard had ducked, at least.
Only the seaside cavern that Marrowmist had resided in was comparable.
Flanking either side of the stony doorway were two adult Shurengans. Both of them were sitting on their haunches, straight-backed and proud atop what appeared to be a dais carved straight from the basalt of the volcano. I couldn’t help but notice that reliefs of blazing suns were prominent on the plinths. One of the cats, I think, was the one who had exposed itself to us out on the plains. The other looked to be even older than he was, with a bit of aged white fur visible around its muzzle. This one had even broader shoulders than the other obvious guardian, and fixed us with wise golden eyes as we came to a halt before the volcano.
I should have expected what happened next—I really, really should have. It was in line with my experiences with old Mystic Beats.
The elder of the two Shurengans opened its jaw, and from in between its razor-sharp fangs echoed out a feminine voice.
“Be welcome, travelers,” The Shurengan called out to us in a proud, stately tone. “You are expected.”
Out of our entire group, I think only Venix and I weren’t visibly startled by the cat who had suddenly spoken to us. Myself, I had experience with massive animals suddenly talking like men and women. For Venix, though, I had no idea. Not much fazed him, really.
At our reaction, the other saber-tooth laughed at us, a much younger male voice coming from him. “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”
I restrained the urge to groan, but his little pun did the job he was after. The tension deflated, and his fellow guardian shot the jokester a dirty look. Still, the both of them hopped down and padded their way over to us. Even on all fours, these massive creatures stood taller than I was. Hell, the tallest person among us was Venix, and he was just barely at eye level with the smaller male.
As they came to a halt in front of us, I spoke first. “We’re expected, are we?”
The female’s eyes flicked my way, as she gave me an appraising look. Still, she nodded. “You are,” She acknowledged. “I am Sena, and this is Gin. We are the guardians of this sacred place, the meeting point between sun and earth.”
I blinked at that, briefly cutting a look over at Kazuma. The samurai was no help, though. He still seemed stunned to be meeting a pair of talking tigers. “I…had no idea Mt. Umetsuji was important,” I started before I stopped in my tracks. A thought had occurred. “Wait. Sun and earth? Are you talking about…the Spirits of sun and earth?”
The male, apparently named Gin, thumped onto his haunches. “Sure are,” He said easily. “All of the Great Spirits have naturally occurring meeting points, out in the real world. It’s easier for them that way to get together for a good old-fashioned, private chat. Nobody is going to eavesdrop on them here in the physical like they would in the Concord. This just happens to be where Greatfather Tarus and Greatuncle Orus hung out, in ages past.”
Renauld’s brows furrowed as he watched the two Mystic Beasts warily. “You’re being mighty free with information there, friend. Actual, concrete lore about Great Spirits doesn’t exactly grow on trees, and I should know. I’ve been in the deep archives of the Academy of Mystic Arts. I’ve never heard anything about ‘meeting points’.”
That…was a good point. Most of what I knew about the Great Spirits came either from first-hand experience or had been filtered through the lens of religion in Hinaga. I would think that if these places existed, they would have been pilgrimage points for the people of Kawamara.
But what caught my attention the most, was how Gin had referred to Tarus.
Greatfather.
I knew of another type of Mystic Beast that referred to one of the Great Spirits as if they were direct family members…
I glanced quickly over at the sun carving on the abandoned dais’s, before meeting Sena’s eyes. There was a knowing, prompting look in those golden orbs.
“Who…,” I started slowly. “is Shurenga?”
“You already know, Nathaniel Hart,” A new voice echoed out of the cave that we stood before. This one was also female, but very obviously different.
Stronger, for one. Older, for another.
But there was a sense of power in the tone that sent a shiver down my spine. A quality echoed within it that reminded me of the soul-speak that both the Great Spirits and Razhal had spoken with, back in the Concord. I knew, without even seeing the owner, that they were strong. Stronger than Grey. Stronger than Honoka or even Tlazo.
This was a true titan of the old world.
Massive, thumping paw steps echoed out of the cave after the voice, as its owner slowly padded out of the darkness. Sena and Gin half-bowed in the odd way of a quadruped and parted to allow the speaker into the light.
Almost as one, I and my companions drew in a breath at the sight of them. Half in apprehension, and half, I believe, in fear.
As they came to a halt, they gazed down at us in amusement with slitted golden eyes. “After all, I’m told you are no fool.”