Chapter 22
More Misfortune
Walking up to the peak wasn’t much different. At first I though my peripheral vision was compensated for by the onboard displays, but after taking them on and off, I found I could nearly see behind myself with them on, just in a narrower view.
I did try to change the settings and various other things, but found it way too difficult and a distraction while trying to walk a narrow path up to the top of the hill, where I could fall down the steep sides.
At the top of the hill I sat down and changed the outward appearance of the goggles to camouflage, dark, matte colors which would change in various lightings. I really hated standing out so much, even during the daylight.
Then I flicked through the different setting I could use, trying to see how fast I could do it, then while walking around without tripping.
I noticed someone coming up the hill to me. I still had my goggles on and zoomed in to see who it was. A bubble opened up, indication it was a Feline. I knew that. She was talking to herself, seeming sad and introverted. But as the Feline walked closer I could see who it was.
“Maiden of Truth.” I said out loud, just so that I could hear. The bubble in my vision changed to that title. I wonder what she is doing up here.
She came up and sat on the bench. She hadn’t seen me, yet I found myself now crouching in the bushes a few feet away from the trail.
She was muttering to herself still, looking at her hands. “I told him it’s not a good idea.” She was starting to sob. “Do they listen to me? No. I’m only the Maiden of Truth, she don’t know what she’s talking about.”
I took my goggles off and approached her. She didn’t even see me until I spoke. “Maiden of Truth, what’s happening?” I said, trying to keep my respect for her, being my elder.
She looked up, seemed to be quite startled, then tried to hide the fact that she was crying, which was quite hard to do with all the wet, matted fur around her eyes. “Oh. Hello Dawn. I just happened to come for a walk up here. It’s about the furthest I can go without leaving the village.”
“You can’t leave the village?” I asked.
“I can, but I just didn’t want to see anybody. Just trying to be alone. I don’t want to see anybody.”
“I hope I don’t count.” I said.
“No, it’s fine. I mean. I can’t leave everyone entirely, not you at least. Not that I would want to.” She jolted up, looking at me, into my eyes as if trying to spot a bird twenty miles away. “I thought you were dead! I know this is where they come to speak to the dead, but you’re not dead!”
I frowned a bit in curiosity. “Why would you think that I’m dead?” I suddenly recalled my last “mission” with the King. “You mean the King told you that I had died? Did he even come to look for me?”
“I thought so. I mean he came back later that night but said that you were kidnapped. And that unfortunately we’ll have to wait for another another few years for the next Huntress. But I told him the prophecies don’t have another Huntress, there’s no others!” She was very emotional.
“So you’re telling me that he left with me, then came back the same day. Yet there wasn’t any search party?”
“I guess so. I don’t control those kind of things. I just know that there’s no more Huntresses after you. Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t but the prophecies stop… oh, I’m not supposed to tell you that. But nothing mentions another Huntress. There’s just a bunch of warnings, revelatory to the end of the world and extinction, which is very vague as to when that would be.”
I thought there was something like this. I know it won’t happen. But then a thought came to me. Maybe it does. Maybe it happens even if I try to stop it. I’m supposed to try and stop it from happening, but… that’s what makes it happen. There’s no more prophecies because there’s no more Felines to prophecize for.
“What happens in the end?” I asked.
“I don’t know!” She was sobbing again. “All I know is that you started something. But all the prophecies are correct, and they don’t tell me what you’ve started. The Ancients are supposed to come together and finalize what they came here for. And even if you didn’t kill Dacoit. It still would have happened. The prophecy is it. Even if you did something, I still know the general future… but…”
“What’s happening? Why are you crying so much?”
“The King has just threatened to kick me out of the village if I don’t tell him the prophecies. But I told him I can’t tell him any more. I told him what he needs to know and nothing more. I mean he doesn’t need to know the prophecy about the carrot crops being sufficient this year. I’m the only one who has read them all, but he wants to know everything and I can’t tell him. I even said that what I know wouldn’t change anything and he already knows what he needs to, but thinks he doesn’t because why else would he be asking?”
She completely lost me there, but I think I got what she was saying. “Listen. I know you know a lot of things, at least more than you think might think you know. Why don’t I take you into my temple and we can have some lunch and talk this over for a while. It may be good for the two of us to get some company. Plus I can tell what I’ve been through in the last month or so, since I was kidnapped by that Murid.”
She shook her head between sobs to sign that it seemed like a good idea. Then we both stood up and walked the path down to the temple. She looked towards the village as if saying goodbye, losing hope. But I confidently steered her on her way to my temple where we would eat and talk and get to know each other. I’m sure she thinks, somewhere inside, that I’m just doing this to get answers to questions I’ve never been able to ask. But I don’t, the only thing I would ask her is what she would think is the best plan of action, not what everyone else has been asking her for all her life: What’s my prophecy?… What’s going to happen in my life?… Am I going to die old or young? Banal questions that mean nothing, not that she would even know. I doubt that each Feline’s prophecy is written for her. I’ve seen the tomes of the prophecies. They only span a single book shelf for the last ten-thousand years, not a whole library.
———
After eating she definitely looked better, more life and energy. Then we sat at the table and talked for nearly the whole day. I didn’t even get a chance to tell her my last few months, not even the story of visiting the island of Dakur.
Towards the end of the night we ate dinner and I let her talk some more. She told of all the crap that the King is giving her, giving her orders, yet she is the Maiden of Truth. Politically speaking, between her, the King, the Queen and I the Huntress, nobody gives orders between ourselves. Each of us have our own responsibilities and they don’t overlap.
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Both of us knew the King was up to something, especially after that suicide mission he gave me. We both came to the conclusion that he left me there in the shipyard to get kidnapped. The Maiden of Truth had heard other things and was even bribed to keep some things secret for the Queen.
The Maiden of Truth was closer to him than I was, so she had a lot of material that would’t be fit for a king. He did things like leave the village for a few days, come back with large sums of money, sometimes come back with less. Large crates and boxes that were kept in the ship, supposedly in secret, and sometimes in rooms that were forever locked, until he went inside and brought more, or sometimes took them out, apparently selling them to unknown buyers across the country. Many of his actions were sporadic and compulsory, none of it seemed to add up, saying one thing and ten minutes later saying the opposite. While matters needed attending to in the village, he would leave for days, coming back and having forgotten that anything was wrong. The whole village was in turmoil and he did nothing to help.
The Queen sat there manicuring her claws and being fanned by servants, eating horse or buffalo or exotic meats that most villagers never had even heard of, nibbling on sweets that weren’t even made by Felines. Yet she would do all that, day after day, sometimes giving speeches about the hard work that must be done to continue the survival of the Felines, but no help, no coordinating, no monetary support, no charitable business from her.
I had my conclusions about the King and Queen, I knew since my return from the island of Dakur, no real concern for me or my business, only their own and just to get rid of me. This confession from the Maiden of Truth confirmed it, and I knew they mustn’t be trusted.
It was very late now, I offered the Maiden of Truth to stay in the temple, but she insisted that she go back to the village, in case people worry for her. Not there at night, not there in the morning, Felines worry.
I reminded her that it may not be safe, but she insisted that she goes, there are other things she must do. Everyday she must ensure the prophecies are safe. I figured I might be able to see my family as well. Or if it comes to it, confront the King myself and ask him why he left me in that shipyard all alone, no search party, no backup. I really wanted to know and I had some questions burning in the back of my mind that might hurt when I ask them.
I looked at the Maiden of Truth and she looked back at me as she drowsily got up from the table and made her way to the door. “If you want you can accompany me to the hall. I can get in from there."
I accepted, knowing it would be good for me to see the village once more, and walked with her down to the village putting my goggles on and turning it to night vision. I first noticed about twenty messages from Clyde.
3:36 pm: Don’t talk to her.
3:50 pm: Dawn! Don’t let her into the temple.
3:55 pm: She’s rotten. She’s going to do something. Take her to the village.
4:25 pm: I closed the door before you two came in. Just keep her there and don’t show her around.
5:45 pm: I’m listening to everything she says. Keep getting more data. I need to know what they’re up to. Trust or don’t trust.
7:53 pm: Make sure she doesn’t stay here over night, she will try something I know her. She’s too close to the King and Queen.
10:28 pm: Dawn, really. You need to look at these messages more often. Fortunately, I used a thought controlling machine, probably hit you as well, but I made her think she desperately needs to get back to the village.
10:36 pm: Stay alert. Watch for any movement, keep infrared on as well, if there’s any trouble, I know you will be able to handle it, but keep your distance and keep your eyes and ears open.
10:37 pm: Anything suspicious, just come back. I’ll notify you if I notice something you might not have seen.
Great. Clyde warned me. I really hope nothing bad come of that conversation, plus I was starting to like her, despite the frantic, crying victim she may be. She’s not the type of permanent friend I’d want. I’d probably have to listen to her crying all the time.
Accompanying her down to the village now, I kept my goggles on as Clyde said, I kept infrared on, superimposed on the night vision so I could see where I was walking. I didn’t need it, but when I can only see infrared I have to see where the ground was.
The Maiden of Truth was looking better than when I met her early today, but now tired, looking like she would fall asleep before her head hit the pillow.
I noticed a few too many red dots in my vision. Two on the left of the path, three on the right and possibly some more further down. I got a message from Clyde.
10:42pm: Dawn, be careful. Stay where you are. But don’t head back until they start approaching you.
I heeded Clyde’s advice. “Good night,” I told the Maiden of Truth. I let her walk into he village as I took five steps back towards the temple and turned around to see if the ambush was for me or not.
I crouched down, making sure there’s was nobody near me, and saw the first two figures stand up and address the Maiden of Truth. “What are you doing out here so late?” I could barely hear him. She muttered something that sounded unsuspicious, then I waited some more. The first two made a signal that was common for our guards to mean that the passerby is harmless.
They stayed there and after a few minutes I let it go, wondering if this was an ambush for me or not. Even if it was, I’d like to know how they knew that I was back home after that mission. If they even thought that I might have survived. All I know if that I don’t know. I don’t know what they think they know of me, and, and, and…
I made it back to the temple and went in to talk to Clyde. “How do you know they’re after me?” I asked, trying not to sound accusative.
“I know somethings. I know all of the prophecies. I was given them once and keep them stored safely.” He tapped his midsection, which is probably where his memories are stored. “The are more than a few prophecies that explain this period of time, though it’s quite vague. I have more faith in you than any other Huntress, and less faith in this King than any other King to date.”
“But what is the outcome?” I asked. Though I had many questions, the least answerable I asked first.
“The prophecies can be interpreted in many ways. They are vague, but true enough. They are sometimes more useful to look into the past than into the future. And what future there may be, I’ve calculated and postulated and posed many possible outcomes, but many don’t end well. What has come and gone already puts more faith in you than you can imagine. The number of times you have escaped death, not to mention, turned death towards the least possible outcome, killed the Ancients as no other Xeno has done before. Ever.”
He sounded tired, it must have been all the listening of the Maiden of Truth’s worries. I gave him that and told him that it’d probably be best to talk about it in the morning.
“How did you like the goggles?” He asked me before I got to the door.
“They were surprisingly handy. I don’t think I would have made it back tonight without them.” I reminded myself of something. “I can already see in the dark.” I said, not meaning to say that they were useless.
“I thought so. There have been some interesting times wondering how you could move so quickly and flawlessly at times.”
“Thanks. It’s sometimes a bit odd when you remind me that you know where I am at all times.”
“Maybe it is. but I am no judge and nor am I your mother. I have emotions and feelings but the feelings for you are for your safety. I know that without surviving, there might not be all that much to protect at the end. It’s been said before, but I have all the faith in you to save Xenobia, and all of my days and nights go to protecting you and keeping you alive.”
“Thank you Clyde.” I said honestly. “I do like the goggles, as with the other gifts,” Ungu and the suit, “I’ll get used to it in time.”
“Very well, there will be much practice.” He seemed to smile as robots do. It was kind of hard to make out, but I think I could see something move on his face. “Speaking of practice. There’s a lot of that for tomorrow. I’ll get you started on some training and get you flying soon as well.”
I glanced up at the ship in the hangar. It’s always been there but I never paid much attention to it, being too busy with the relic lately. “Exciting,” I replied and walked back to my room.
Clyde had put the Relic in my room, next to my other items. The gold rings, the feather of Farrow, the feather of Midnai, the hand of Stheno, the scale of Ophidon and a few other miscellaneous items that I had collected since my early childhood.
I laid down in my bed worried what might become of my village, but glad that many other problems have been solved, the puzzle of opening the relic was solved, my basic training was completed, the three doors were unlocked and that mysterious door at the bottom of the stairs was now open. And what a treasure it is.
But I was still worried about many things. Bigger problems than when I was young. Before it was how to find food for the village, now it’s how to keep the village safe from whatever the King and Queen were doing, and, how to save the whole of Xenobia from the Ancients encroaching on the survival of us all.