As we rode through the wilds on Hati’s back, I couldn’t help but be enamored by the speed by which we moved. But as the hours wore on, discomfort set in. Riding without a saddle was no easy feat, and having a male anatomy didn't help matters. Eventually, I had to call for a break before we reached Cerus, half-way on the route to our destination.
We stopped at a familiar clearing around lunch-time. The sun hung high in the sky and shone down upon remnants of previous campfires dotting the area and the water source in the center of it all. I gazed back at Berla with a sense of nostalgia as my eyes fell on a certain felled tree at the edge of the forest.
“Here we are again,” I said wistfully. “How long did it take us to get here last time? Wasn’t it an entire day?”
Berla shared my excitement, grinning broadly. “Yes, it was. This is truly impressive. From a full day to just an hour. And riding isn’t so bad if you’re not rushing through the forest. It’s definitely worth it. Great job, Hati!”
Hati let out a happy bellow in response.
“But riding through the forest is so much more fun!” Riala interjected.
Berla’s mood soured as she scolded the girl. “You can’t just keep calling it fun and end the conversation, Riala! Just because you like it doesn’t mean everyone else will!”
“But riding on the road is way more boring!” Riala pouted.
Berla threw her hands up in frustration. “That’s just saying the same thing, but with different words!”
I stayed out of their ongoing argument, silently weighing the pros and cons. Riding through the forest was exhilarating, but some people might be wary of the lack of control, especially if they weren’t used to such high speeds while in the passenger seat. Riala, however, was undeterred, demonstrating her forest-riding skills to Berla by ducking and weaving through imaginary obstacles.
“You go like this!” she said, taking on a low posture. “And when he goes right, you do this!” She shifted back and forth rapidly as she tried to convince Berla of her position by giving her tips.
But Berla shook her head adamantly, her hair whipping in the wind. “No more riding through the woods unless we absolutely have to,” she declared, leaping off of Hati’s back as we came to a stop at the campfire we had used before.
With a resigned sigh, I watched Riala shoot Berla a scowl before elegantly dismounting Hati. She slid down his side with practiced movements and landed with the litheness of a cat before stalking off after Berla, her jaw set with unyielding determination. You would not get this girl to listen by telling her “No.”
The sound of their bickering filled my ears as I dismounted from Hati. I stretched my legs and rubbed my sore thighs, feeling like an old man in Tomar’s body for the first time. Unlike Riala and Berla, who seemed to have no issues with the arduous ride, I was feeling the aches and pains of our journey.
Hati looked at me quizzically. “Is everything alright?” he asked.
I smiled wryly. “Yea. I’ll get used to it.”
As I surveyed our surroundings, my eyes roamed over the other campfires and the tracks on the ground. I could see signs of last month’s caravan passing through here, but nothing beyond that. There were no fresh beast tracks, and it didn’t seem like any larger groups of people had recently traveled this road either. It was becoming increasingly apparent that no Alarnans had survived the massacre in Cerus, as they would have tried to make their way back home.
“But—” Riala began to protest once more.
“Last warning, Riala!” Berla interrupted.
“Ugh. I think that’s enough,” I commanded, clapping my hands to cut in. I continued as I approached them. “Berla, you should know that arguing with her without good arguments is pointless. And Ria, you need to take Berla’s feelings into consideration. It’s not about whether it’s fun, she’s scared when we’re riding past trees at such speeds.”
Riala looked puzzled. “Huh? She’s scared? Really?”
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Berla jerked up, flustered. “I never said I was scared!”
“No, you didn’t. That’s the problem,” I chuckled. “She can’t sympathize if she doesn’t understand the issue.”
Berla’s face flushed with embarrassment as she avoided my gaze, careful not to show weakness in front of Riala. Being scared of something the young girl enjoyed so much was a light blow to her confidence.
Riala’s eyes widened as realization hit her. “Ohhh. That’s why. You should’ve said so! You can’t have fun if you’re scared.”
Berla rolled her eyes. “Right...”
Without missing a beat, Riala offered a solution. “But we can practice! It will get better if you do it a few times.” Shock spread across Berla’s face as Riala reached for her hand. “Come, I'll—"
“Wait, Ria,” I said, holding her back. “For now, we rest. And Berla can practice on her own when she feels up to it, okay?”
Disappointment etched across Riala’s face as she acquiesced. “Okaaay,” she murmured, deflated. Berla let out a relieved breath as Riala settled down on the grass and raised her hand above her head, conjuring a playful trickle of water which she caught with her mouth.
“Good girl,” I praised, turning my attention to Hati. He had settled into his usual, relaxed position on his back. “And how are you feeling? Are you okay carrying the three of us for so long?”
Hati’s tail wagged happily. “Of course! This is nothing!”
I grinned at him, ruffling his fur. “Good boy.” Finally, I joined Berla at the campfire, settling onto one of the make-shift stools fashioned out of tree logs. I took a deep breath, relishing the sensation of simply sitting. “Hah,” I exhaled, “this is nice.”
Meanwhile, Berla set down her satchel and began unpacking cups and slices of cooked meat. A pleasant aroma wafted through the air and Riala crawled over to join us in a nice brunch. Only Hati remained in his position, waiting for me to toss his share over to him. Of course, I obliged. Looking back, I was too lenient with our young wolf. He could have used more discipline.
Regardless, it was a nice moment out there in the Wildlands. Berla and I talked about this and that over our meal, discussed the immediate plans for after we checked on the situation in Cerus, and also some long-term goals. One particular topic that also pulled Riala back into the conversation was the topic of awakened humans. Since we now had an agreement with Asena for them not to kill mana users anymore, we might’ve had to eventually deal with others like us.
“You’ll not get around becoming the authority figure of that particular group of people either,” Berla pointed out empathetically. “There’s nobody else who could do it.”
“I know,” I replied, somewhat reluctantly. “I just hope there won’t be too many of them or that they’ll act responsibly with their powers.” The words had barely left my mouth when I hung my head. “Because humans are known to be reasonable and responsible...” I murmured sarcastically.
Berla nodded thoughtfully. “Mhm, I have my doubts about that as well... I mean, I agree that nobody should be executed without proper cause, but if I think about what Orthur would’ve done with so much power... or even my uncle...”
Among everything that was going on, this was actually one of my biggest worries—that someone with these powers could decide to burn the world to the ground before we even had a chance to make it a better place. Gallas mentioned some humans having transitioned from an awakened state to one of ascendance to become gods, so while we were special now, we weren’t the first of our kind by a long shot. It seemed inevitable that others would emerge in time.
“We also don’t know what the whole ‘becoming gods’ thing is about yet,” I said. “It doesn’t seem like they have a lot of time to deal with the issues down here.”
Riala furrowed her brow. “Do we have to become gods? Shae and Gallas are weird, I don’t want to be like them.”
Her comment and reluctance to become a god made me chuckle. “I really don’t know. Gallas said we were close to it already, but I’m not sure what that means. Even though I’m supposedly responsible for all these systems.”
She thought for another moment before proudly declaring, “I’m not going to become one!”
“We’ll see if we have a choice in the matter,” I laughed.
As we continued our picnic, Riala shared her own plans for the future, ranging from surpassing me in her understanding of Omega to tearing down the walls around Alarna to allow the people—and her sister in particular—to come and go as they pleased and experience the Wildlands. Some of her ideas were a little naive, and I was somewhat disappointed at times when she seemed to forget my teachings and didn’t think about potential consequences. But it was enjoyable to hear what was going on in her young mind.
What stuck with me after this conversation, though, was the question of how awakened and ascended humans related. I hadn’t given this any serious thought yet. Were we just going to wake up as gods one day? That one seemed unlikely, but I had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be entirely up to us either, and Gallas made it sound very much like it was just going to happen. I yearned for another, hopefully longer, discussion with the enigmatic god.
In the spirit of our shortened journey, we soon cut off our conversation after we finished our food. We packed up our belongings and Berla ensured not a single scrap was left behind. With everything in order, we sat out on the road again.
If all went according to plan, we would reach Cerus in record time after another sprint of one or two hours. Although my body ached with each leap Hati took, my excitement overshadowed any discomfort. One final sprint was all that lay between us and our destination. With a determined spirit, I rubbed my thighs once more, ready to tackle whatever lay ahead.