Breakfast finished, the adventurers broke down camp and started on the next leg of their journey. Much to everyone’s surprise, Asha Ishavera’ai followed them to the forest’s edge but began to whine once they saw the plains beyond.
“Thank you for your help, Asha,” said Wrynn, placing his hand on the wolrung’s snout. “I’m sure Vessa appreciates it, too.”
Vessa stepped forward and patted Asha’s paw. “Yes, thank you.”
The forest guardian let out a happy grunt and licked Wrynn’s face. The man laughed and pushed away the wolrung’s stinking mouth. “Okay, okay.”
Chief stepped forward and offered one last mushroom to the beast. “We will be back,” said the elderly Ufuli. “Please keep the forest safe until our return.”
Asha accepted the offering and padded away back into the forest. Wrynn fiddled with his holo-sight as he watched the creature leave. Turning to the road beyond, he addressed Nerbo, “Which way from here, little Nerbo?”
“This way,” said Nerbo, flying on ahead a couple degrees southeast.
They started walking and Chief broke the silence by asking, “What is your home like, Wrynn?”
“My home?” Wrynn looked down at the small Ufuli. “I suppose I’m from a lot of different places. What do you want to know?”
“I want to know what is out there among the stars.” Chief raised one hand to the sky. “What are your people like? Do you have a village to return to when you leave here?”
He thought of his crew aboard the Starslip — a group of vagrants, wanderers, all from different places around the galaxy — less than a week separated, he still felt a deep longing to return and make sure they were all okay.
“I’m from a planet called Wallaway,” started Wrynn. “Far away from here or anywhere in the galaxy, really. It’s a dry place; you couldn’t find a patch of grass or a trickle of water probably on the entire surface of the rock. That was my first home, but I got out of there quick as I could.”
“Do you have family there?” asked Vessa.
Flashes of a shack in the middle of cracked, orange earth crossed his mind. A distant cracking whip. Wrynn shook himself from the rueful memory. “My uncle raised me. He was an elder of the village, kind of like you, Chief. But not half as kind or interested in a world beyond.”
“So you left your home on one of your starbirds,” said Chief, perceptively. “Where did you go next?”
The man fixed his eyes on the distant horizon as he recalled his days as a foolhardy young man. “Well it wasn’t so easy to get off Wallaway. My first ship barely survived the ride out the atmosphere. I had patched it up from a bird that crashed, so it wasn’t in the best shape to start. Used up the last of my fuel trying to avoid low-orbit debris, so I was stuck three clicks from the planet hoping my distress beacon would be answered by someone who would take me away from that rock.” Wrynn chuckled as he recalled the memory. “I guess I was just happy to be out from that place, because even floating without fuel or food, I felt like I was finally free.”
They walked quietly for a moment and then Chief said, “I can’t pretend I understood all of that, but it sounds like you have survived through great struggles.”
Wrynn rubbed the back of his neck. “I suppose surviving is the right word. Plenty of folk have it much worse. Plenty don’t get a chance to leave.”
Fifteen minutes passed as they trekked through the grassy plain. Wrynn was starting to feel the weight of yesterday’s travels accumulating on top of his crash soreness. The air was more oxygen-rich than he was used to and his senses were a bit sharper as a result. So it was that he saw a glimpse of something peculiar when he stopped to pull a pebble from his shoe.
He felt his heart kick, fight or flight setting in, but he resisted the adrenaline and focused on identifying the thing that was stalking them through the grass. It did not take but a second and he quickly stood up and looked directly at the perpetrator, almost disappointed.
“I know you’re there,” he called. “Come out here.”
The large, furry form sunk low in the grass, but it was a hard task. “Come on, Asha,” said Wrynn, extending a hand. “No use trying to hide.”
There was no response for a moment, but eventually the wolrung emerged meekly, perhaps ashamed it had been caught.
“You were surprisingly stealthy,” said Wrynn, petting the beast behind the droopy ears. “I didn’t even hear you until now.”
Asha panted, leaning into the scratches.
“They seem to have grown very fond of you, Wrynn,” said Vessa. “I wonder why.”
“Yeah,” said Wrynn, then added quietly, “Wonder why.” He hoped it was the promise of companionship rather than a certain meaty treat he had introduced to the bear-like being. The Ufuli’s position on hunting for food was still unclear, but so far leaned towards the negative.
“Maybe they would like to join us,” said Chief, approaching to pet the wolrung’s snout. “More company is more fun and I can think of no better companion.”
Nerbo fluttered over and landed on the wolrung’s head. “This party has become quite full already, Elder. There is not enough food to go around as it is.”
“Oh, think nothing of it,” said Chief. “If we must eat then we will find food to eat. We are not far from the village in any case. Trader or Traveler will find us eventually if things get too bad.”
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“I have supplies for now,” Wrynn stated, trying to sound comforting. He shuddered to think what a hungry wolrung would look like, but he could think of some short-term benefits. “Why don’t you and Vessa see if Asha will carry you?” he asked Chief. “It would make our travel much faster and we might be able to get back to the forest by nightfall.”
“Ride on the forest guardian?” asked Vessa. “That sounds dangerous.”
“I think that sounds like a great idea,” said Chief. “As long as Asha Ishavera’ai would allow it.”
Wrynn fished a slice of jerky from his pocket — he figure it was already too late for corrective action — and handing it to the wolrung he asked, “Would you join us for the day, Asha? We’ve got a short road ahead but I’ll make it worth your while.”
Asha took the treat and then licked Wrynn’s face, seeming to agree to the proposal. Wrynn picked up Chief and tried to set them on Asha’s back. The wolrung accepted the small load and waited patiently as Wrynn helped Vessa up as well.
“Like riding a landofri,” said Chief, laughing. “Don’t you think, Vessa?”
Vessa said nothing, just held on tightly to Chief’s back. Wrynn started walking and Asha followed at his pace easily. He was wondering if the forest guardian would be willing to carry him as well when he realized his Darkal guide had thought of the same idea first.
“Nerbo, you’re supposed to be leading,” said Wrynn to the Darkal perched next to Chief.
“It is not much farther if you continue this direction,” said Nerbo. “You will not miss it if you follow the sun.”
Wrynn let out a sigh. Dreaming of cruising along these plains on a gyrobike, he started walking with the wolrung and his small companions close behind.
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Binar Valley was a series of sloping hills filled with short grass and vegetation. A winding river ran through the heart of the valley and stretched on for as far as the eye could see. The adventurers arrived just after noon, a six-kilometer hike from Restora Forest according to Wrynn’s holo-sight. Clear skies and their new wolrung companion made for easy travel and Wrynn’s furred friends were in high spirits.
“What a sight to behold, Binar Valley,” said Chief, longingly. “It has been too long.”
“You have been here before, Chief?” asked Vessa. “This is the first I have traveled so far from the village.”
“Ah, it was when I was but a young Ufuli, long before your time.” The reminiscing Chief was riding tall on the back of their wolrung mount, surveying the land.
“So where is this vessel you spoke of, little Nerbo?” asked Wrynn. The valley was wide and he was not looking forward to climbing the other side.
Nerbo took to the air and flew up to have a look around. “I have only seen it from the sky. The grounded starbird was of no interest to the mighty Darkal.”
Wrynn waited on the ground, tapping his foot while Nerbo looked around. The word of the winged sheep-person was not something he would normally put much stock in, but it was the only thing that he had in the moment.
“There it is.” Nerbo landed on Wrynn’s shoulder and pointed the way with their wing. Wrynn trained his eye in the direction and instructed his holo-sight to pull up an enhanced image.
The picture focused and there it was. A metal structure that stood up on the opposite hillside. It was deeply overgrown so that it could have been mistaken as part of the hillside, but it was something inorganic, deliberately constructed.
“I’m impressed,” said Wrynn to Nerbo. “I didn’t believe you were telling the truth.”
“Believe it or not,” scoffed Nerbo. “The great Darkal are many things, but we keep our bonds and do not tell lies.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll find you a juicy bloodfruit if I can get my bird fixed.”
“Hmm.” Nerbo let out a purr. “That will be an acceptable reward.”
They took off down into the valley. Asha Ishavera’ai had a bit of trouble finding footing, and slid a few times down the elevation. After the first time, Wrynn took Chief and Vessa off the wolrung’s back so they would not have to worry about falling off.
Into the valley, the sky seemed farther away as the hills around them rose up to enclose their front and back. The river that cut through the landscape was easily able to be crossed, millennia of erosion smoothing out its domain to a gentle glisten over shallow rocks. There was wildlife that resided in the stream, small fish that darted under rocks when the shadow of Wrynn’s boots came down with a gentle splash.
Closer now, Wrynn could tell whatever vehicle or structure had been abandoned had crash landed, much like his own ship. There was a deep groove in the ground and damage to the exterior. But it was of no familiar make or model of spacecraft he had seen before. Perhaps an intra-planet vehicle that had met a disastrous fate in decades or centuries past.
The climb up the opposing hill was heavy on his aching calves, but the promise of salvaging a part that he could use for communication was more than enough motivation for Wrynn to keep going. Thirty minutes after their arrival at the valley, they reached their destination.
Up close, Wrynn could tell it was an extremely primitive vehicle, at least technologically speaking. It appeared to be designed for flight, but there was no way the tiny jet engine could break through the atmosphere. The airfoils were still intact, and hung over the ground slightly above his head. The size of the cabin told him it was possibly a passenger vehicle and if the people who had built it were the size of the meter-high Ufuli, it could have held a great many of them.
“Have you ever seen anything like this before, Chief?” asked Wrynn.
The experienced Ufuli stepped forward and tapped the vehicle which replied with a hollow, metallic ring. “Never in my days,” said Chief. “What do you think it is?”
“Looks like maybe an airplane,” said Wrynn. “Ancient, though.” The man walked around the vehicle looking for an access point and found a decent-sized hole near the nose where a door had previously been. “Can you stay here while I have a look first?”
“Be careful,” called Vessa. “It looks as though it could fall apart at any moment.”
“Right, thanks.” Wrynn gave them a wave and dipped his head to enter through the doorway. The interior smelled dank and it was chilly and dark within. Clicking a button on his wrist, a light appeared and illuminated the inside. He found himself in the main cabin and it became quite apparent that the ship was once a passenger vessel as its final payload — rather, the remains thereof — were still strapped into their seats.
Wrynn was unfamiliar with the shape of the skeletons, but they all appeared to be of the same race. Bipedal, with heads a little smaller than a human, they were wearing cloth garments so he could tell the general shape by the way they were sitting. His hand grazed the shoulder of one of the creatures and the bone crumbled to dust at the touch.
He grimaced and pulled his shirt over his nose and mouth so as not to breathe in any of the dust. Shining his light around, he saw the cabin consisted of three sections of seating separated by two aisles. Most of the seating was filled by skeletal bodies indicating this had likely been a flight that met an untimely doom with few survivors. He stepped carefully to the front, trying not to disturb the deceased.
What he needed would be in the cockpit. He pushed the thought of the screaming ghosts of these ancient beings out of his mind and made his way up to the front of the aircraft. A door barred the entry, latched shut. It eventually gave way to a hard yank just as he was thinking to resort to more violent means.
Inside the cockpit, two uniformed bodies were sitting at attention at the console of a massive flight deck. A vast array of buttons and switches, panels and dials swarmed the surface. Bony fingers were wrapped around the steering system in a panicked death grip and a headpiece receiver was wrapped around the skull of one of the pilots.
Wrynn could not believe his luck. Here was technology, primitive as it was. Here was a civilization that had mastered flight. They could not have been more than a century off from space travel. And here — Wrynn gripped the speakers of the headset suctioned onto the skull of the pilot and pulled it free — here was a chance for him to send a distress signal.