Lilau spared Makotae the sight of the Fokla gathering in front of them, even if she couldn’t hold back her trepidation. More bears, unique designs of branch-antlers on their heads and leaf-print designs down their bodies, stood at the forest’s border.
She remembered her flight from Wolf Tribe lands into Horse Tribe. The wolf-like Fokla which had hunted her and Makotae as they fled the forest, then vanished as soon as they touched the grasslands. Sentinels, Feechi had called them. Fokla whose sole existence was to guard the edge of territories and prevent anyone from entering, or leaving.
The grassland’s Sentinels had disappeared before the rest of its Fokla, but if this forest’s were alive and well, how had the rider left without them trying to tear her apart? More importantly, how was she planning on getting back in?
Lilau slowed and watched from a distance. The rider never broke stride. As the woman neared the threshold between lands, her pack glowed blue. The Sentinels growled, tensed, then to Lilau’s astonishment, turned and walked away, vanishing into the flora with a puff of green.
She kept her gaze on the glowing backpack as she caught up to the rider. It was the same shade as the fox’s tail. She’d just met the creature, and now it seemed to be a part of everything she encountered. It made her stomach sour.
Keeping the treeline in the edge of her vision, just in case, she looked down. The trickling, dull ley lines of the grasslands swelled at the edge of the forest, glowing with an intensity she hadn’t seen in moons. Her heart rose before she understood what she saw.
She stepped across the boundary, worries temporarily forgotten as she tried to puzzle out this new unease.
The ley lines looked full, yet the Earth’s Blood flowed sluggishly down their length. Its thickness, along with the yellow-green tinge to it, made Lilau’s stomach roil. These lands had life, but it wasn’t healthy.
As if to throw doubt on her conclusion, the forest gradually came alive the further they walked into it. Birds sang cheery songs Lilau didn’t recognize. A woodpecker beat a rhythm into bark. Something small rustled a bush near the path they were on, and Lilau’s stomach growled at the thought of rabbit or squirrel turning on a spit. Much like the rider and her mount, the environment was familiar enough to make Lilau’s skin crawl, yet different in unpredictable ways. Even the spacing of the trees was too wide, the ground too bare, and the scents strange.
Farther and farther they went along a well-worn path until any hint of grassland was far behind, and Makotae’s steps grew erratic. Only then did a village come into view.
Small, stone-walled homes sat scattered between trees. Grass and dirt covered the tops, and Lilau wondered if it was camouflage. A jolt shot through her. What if the Great Eagles hunted around the village? The Sentinels protected tribal territories from the ground, but could they defend the air?
The deer and rider carried on, oblivious to Lilau’s jump in discomfort. Lilau’s steps slowed, then stopped. Inside the village lay shelter, food, and more. All the things she and Makotae desperately needed. Yet the thought of being surrounded by people remained a wall she wasn’t sure she could climb.
Makotae decided for her. He collapsed once more. Lilau settled beside him as he let out a long huff.
Some medic. Who makes their patients trek halfway through the woods without food, water, or rest?
Lilau smiled for what felt like the first time in days. As much as his injuries bothered him, she knew he could go farther. He’d stopped for her benefit, and for that, she was grateful.
Better to stay here until food appears. Makotae lay his head down and stared at the rider.
Finally noticing her lack of followers, the woman turned around and cocked her head. She said something and gestured toward a specific mud-roofed house.
What do you make of that? Makotae’s ears perked up.
Lilau focused in on the woman’s words, her innate ability to learn working now that she wasn’t a step away from death. That’s… her home. She wants us to go there.
Hmm. I figured. It looks awfully small.
With only one way in, Lilau finished.
After their Horse Tribe welcome, neither one enjoyed the thought of cornering themselves in a stranger’s house.
The rider shrugged and walked off, disappearing into the house’s low-slung door. Her buck, its job seemingly done, bounded off into the trees.
An odd silence descended over the village.
Both the Wolf and Horse Tribe villages she’d ever seen bustled at all hours of the day, and sometimes at night. There was always something in need of cooking, crafting, mending, or tending. Lilau glanced up, suddenly wishing the trees weren’t so far apart. It seemed too easy for something to swoop down.
Her attention snapped back to the houses as an exclamation rang out. A young child stared at her from one of the doorways. Another child, somewhat older, appeared alongside the first. Both walked towards her.
Every muscle in Lilau’s body tensed. Makotae’s head shot up. His ears swiveled between alert and annoyed, unsure of whether he should growl to warn the children away, or act friendly to keep the villagers from turning on them.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
More people came from the houses. A crowd of children and adults grew, their words clambering over one another in a racket that made Lilau’s ears ache. Some stood on their thresholds, pointing at Lilau and Makotae with curious expressions while they chatted. Others joined the children as the remaining space between them and Lilau shrunk.
Lilau counted about a dozen, but her mind expanded them into a horde bearing down on her with hungry eyes. Makotae’s ears went flat.
A shout halted the horde.
The rider, laden with furs and flanked by a man and woman, forced the horde apart with a few words. Disappointment shone clear on the children’s faces as the villagers fell back. The first child to encroach on Lilau’s position whined and made a dash toward Makotae. An adult snatched them from behind in mid-stride.
The rider lay out her load a few feet in front of Lilau and Makotae and motioned for her companions to do the same. A thick coat and pants, hand-soled boots with fur sticking out the tops with gloves to match, plus bowls of food and medicine.
Makotae perked back up as the acidic smell of berries mixed with the rich scent of meat and fat wafted towards them.
Lilau fought the urge to dive for the supplies. She’d thrown caution to the wind far too often lately, and her carelessness almost got her and Makotae killed. She kneeled in front of the supplies and waited. Perhaps the rider’s reaction to her hesitancy would give her some clue as to what this new tribe wanted.
The rider’s two companions frowned, but stayed silent. The wrinkles on their faces and wispy grey hair showed their age. Lilau couldn’t help but remember the faces of the Wolf Tribe’s Elders, her foster parents Mara and Raval. Her throat tightened at the memory.
Lilau’s stomach growled. The rider raised an eyebrow, a clipped sentence emphasizing her gestures as she waved toward a bowl of food.
Lilau pointed at the bowel and back at the rider. “You first.”
Makotae whined, his restraint threatening to break in front of a free meal.
Don’t. Lilau pushed her will at him. Neither would touch it until she knew it was safe.
The elders’ frowns deepened. A spark of anger flashed behind the man’s eyes. The rider threw up her hands, grabbed a food bowl full of small spheres, and popped one into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed before jabbing the bowl in Lilau’s direction. It was the first show of annoyance from her Lilau had seen. Proof Lilau had likely offended their hospitality.
Disrespectful or not, Lilau held on to her caution. She took the bowl, easing it down in front of her while keeping her eyes glued to the rider. Her mysterious benefactor stayed upright and clear-eyed. If the food was drugged or poisoned, it was slow-acting. Lilau sighed, scooped a handful from the bowl and passed the rest to Makotae.
Each ball measured slightly longer than the tip of her thumb. As the sweet smell suggested, red and purple berry pieces dotted the reddish-brown sphere, while the outside was slick to the touch and left a residue on her hand. Although the ingredients differed, Lilau knew how to make it. Dried meat, berries, fat, seed, and nuts, all mashed into pieces, mixed into a paste, then formed into various shapes. When made properly, it would last for many moons.
Lilau ate one. Tangy, greasy, and rich. She swallowed and ate another before anything more detailed could come to mind. The individual flavors didn’t matter as much as dulling the sharp emptiness in her gut.
Far too soon, her palm lay empty. The sound of Makotae’s tongue working over his lips told her he’d finished his, probably long before her. The elders both offered a thin smile.
The rider motioned toward the other bowl of food. This one held strips of fresh-cooked meat and vegetables. Lilau had a sinking feeling she’d just eaten all her travel supplies, but smothered it. She and Makotae had gone too long without food to worry about leftovers. The emptiness in her gut opened into a ravenous pit. She grabbed the bowl of strips, its contents vanishing quicker than the last.
The elders muttered to each other, then shambled back to the rider’s home. The rider remained, regarding Lilau with a curious stare.
Makotae cocked his head. What else does she want? Does she still want us to follow her into the house?
Lilau shrugged, breaking the uncomfortable impasse.
The rider slipped her bag off, fished out the fox statue, and set it on top of the clothing pile between them. Although it had lost the glow it had at the border, the paint on the carving kept an eerily realistic appearance. Lilau half expected it to talk.
“Alakna.” The rider pointed to her chest. Lilau nodded, but before she could reply, Alakna pointed at the statue. “Tirijuki.” Alakna waved a finger between the statue and herself. She rattled off a sentence Lilau couldn’t keep up with, but Alakna’s miming seemed to say the fox had spoken to her.
Lilau’s worry built. She had been right. The Fokla had sent a medic to fetch and take care of them. Lilau continued to stare as Alakna went quiet again. Lilau’s ability to pick up foreign words seemed to be working, but she hadn’t learned enough to hold an actual conversation yet. Without a way to communicate clearly, Lilau had no chance of gaining answers. Still, Alakna looked like she wanted some kind of response.
She mirrored what Alakna had done, introducing herself before naming the Fokla. “Tirijuki talked to me as well.” As before, the foreign word, once embedded in her mind, came out smooth despite its strange feel and sound.
Alakna grunted. Her face didn’t show whether Lilau’s response had been appropriate. She mimed walking and pointed to her house.
Lilau shook her head, ignoring Makotae’s incredulous snort at the idea. “No. I’ll stay here.” She waved a hand out toward the area outside the village. “Yes?” Lilau nodded to emphasize, hoping her desire to stay out of the village wasn’t taboo in this new tribe.
“You’ll stay?” Alakna grimaced, then sighed. “Come.” She grabbed the statue and stood.
Some of Lilau’s tension bled away as Alakna moved past her and Makotae, and farther from the village. Some tension returned when they stopped a mere thirty paces away.
“Here.” Alakna ran her hand across a fallen tree. It leaned against its larger neighbor, wedged into the bark. Its broken branches stuck out evenly down its trunk. Green-yellow leaves fanned out in a symmetrical pattern. It was new enough to provide some cover on its own, but old enough it wasn’t likely to come crashing down on the next breeze, especially with a bit of added support.
Lilau smiled and placed a hand on the fallen trunk. “Yes. I’ll stay here.”
Alakna jerked around to face her. Lilau belatedly realized she’d spoken in the new language. Lilau backed away on impulse, but Alakna merely shook her head and walked away, muttering something about Tirijuki.
Lilau spent the rest of the day assembling a simple shelter of tree branches and logs. Alakna helped, and Lilau let her only because the woman brought more food and won Makotae’s heart.
The rest of the village took turns standing outside their houses and staring at her and Makotae, then having animated conversations between themselves. It made Lilau’s skin crawl.
She made it a point to build her shelter’s door facing the staring villagers. As much as she wanted to hide from view, she wanted to see them coming even more.
Fortunately, the new tribe settled with the sun, and soon Lilau and Makotae were left alone in the moonlight. Only the chill breeze gave Lilau the energy to change into the offered clothes, an act far more difficult with one useless arm. Exhaustion drove her to sleep soon after.
Dreams of madness plagued her. Distorted reality cracked at the edges. The bark of trees melted as animals leaped from their skins. A glow covered the sky in sickly green. Something pulled from the east, pulled loose the threads of life as it ate away at what should never be touched.