Bridgeiro, page 1
part #4 of The Xidoran Prophecy Series
Bridgeiro
Book 4
of the
Xidoran Prophecy Story
By
Elaine Bassett
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ISBN 978-0-9889313-3-6
Text copyright © 2016 by Elaine Bassett. All rights reserved.
Published by I Dream Publishing, LLC.
Cover illustration by Tom Wood
Edited by B. Linder
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by I Dream Publishing, LLC.
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Prologue
Zhanavrey climbed up the ladder and removed the false puddle that hid the entrance to his underground abode. He stepped onto the soil and looked up at Flarecrewen’s red, cloudless sky. The warrior studied the area around him. Zhanavrey noted that Renato was gathering the weapons they would use for their planned hunting expedition. He ignored the man and continued to get on with his daily routine.
Renato glanced around and saw that the commander’s face and upper torso was painted to camouflage himself from their prey. He winced when he noticed that Zhanavrey’s body was heavily scarred from past battles. It was difficult, even for him as a past guard on his home planet, to look at the unpleasant deformities.
The man’s trousers were rolled up, and were dirty and ripped. A scaled skin pouch hung from his belt. Strapped to the former commander’s body were various knives and weaponry in their protective sheaths. To Renato, the man looked as though he was ready for combat instead of a routine hunting trip in the swamp. He also noted the former military officer carried a metal spear in one hand. The tip of the spear was etched with strange designs.
Renato had made inquiries in order to learn more about and to locate Zhanavrey Choacrim, before stowing away to Flarecrewen. He knew that the man had been an esteemed military commander overseeing all of the universal military branches. In the universal military, Zhanavrey’s high rank meant that he was once second in command to the Interstellar President, Carson Jones. Not only did the former commander work closely with the interstellar president during his military career but he was also a sought after planetary specialist from the mysterious Kasindimis Base.
Renato reflected on his decision for enlisting Zhanavrey’s help. Memories of his experience with the Suzerain began to unfold in his thoughts. He had almost lost his life during his tribe’s last conflict with the depraved vermin. All of his warrior friends had been killed in that battle. Renato was left to crawl back to his village to tell the sorry tale. Once he recovered from his wounds, Renato began searching for the truth about the Suzerain and his unscrupulous deals. The man was becoming too powerful. Zhanavrey was the only man in the universe capable of helping him take on the Suzerain. He needed the former commander to guide him through the process of transmogrification.
Renato was determined to end the Suzerain’s chicanery. The stakes were too high. He wasn’t about to walk away and allow the Suzerain and his crooked cronies to gain control of the universal political system. If they did then he believed there would be nothing but dismal darkness and chaos foreshadowing the future of the cosmos. Renato decided that he would have to be the determining factor that tipped the destiny of the election by eliminating the current Suzerain. He believed that in doing so, the Suzerain’s powerful allies would be rendered ineffective and they would be forced to remain silent.
Renato hoped that after the assassination occurred, the universal government would assess the evidence brought before them. The evidence would prove the man’s cronies should be brought to justice before the universe. Then the government could reevaluate the universal role of the Suzerain. Renato further hoped the coalition would determine that power should be taken away from the Suzerain’s title, or that they would at least put necessary restraints on the position. In doing so, they could insure that kind of threat would never arise again in the future. It was a noble cause worth dying for.
Renato quieted his thoughts of revenge and observed as Zhanavrey used his spear to draw a circle in the dirt around his position. Next the man forced the spear into the ground then drew his hands up to his chest as if praying. The commander began to speak, summoning the spirits of the swamp. When Zhanavrey ceased talking, he took a special ingredient from the pouch on his belt and sprinkled it along the outline of the circle. Then he grabbed the spear and removed it from the ground. The warrior spun the spear around as he began moving about within the circle, performing the crucial steps to a ritual. Smoke began to rise from the circle the commander had drawn in the ground. The smoke changed colors as he spoke to the spirits in tongues. A sudden gust of wind created a vortex of smoke around Zhanavrey. Outside of the circle a mirage formed of the different swamp creatures. They encircled him, prowling all around the area.
As Renato watched the man from a distance, his vision seemed to play tricks on him. How could swamp creatures materialize out of thin air? He quickly looked away and continued working. He could barely hear the commander’s voice as the man continued to speak the words to a meditative ritual. The warrior wasn’t speaking a language that Renato was familiar with but his mind understood every word. The commander was asking the one that ruled over the swamp for permission to slay the creatures that he would need in order to survive. Zhanavrey moved about inside the circle jabbing at all the mirages of the ferocious creatures that prowled around him. When he finished the meditation, the wind died down and the smoke dissipated.
While the commander was performing his ritual, Renato checked the crudely constructed tools of his own that he carried in sheaths hanging from a strap inside a travel bag. Renato nodded in approval when he verified that each tool had been accounted for as he closed the bag. He was now confident that he would be an asset to the hunt.
Renato put on his hunting goggles and took off in search of the traps the commander had previously set around the perimeter of the grounds. He had already memorized the places where Zhanavrey had skillfully hidden the snares. As he checked the closest traps, Renato decided to take on the task of clearing and resetting them. That particular day the traps had yielded an excellent outcome. The commander had caught more than one man could possibly carry in one trip back to camp. So Renato figured the outing would be a relatively fast hunting trip. Renato carried a load of carcasses back to the camp then returned to check the remaining snares.
Zhanavrey gathered all of his hunting gear then he too set out walking to the east of the camp. The former commander stopped and eyed the terrain. He quickly reached in his belt to retrieve a sharp, metal star. The expert hunter flung the weapon with practiced skill. It struck and wounded a scaly creature with two heads and two tails not far from camp, but the beast didn’t immediately give up and die. Zhanavrey tracked his prey to its hiding place. He quickly and efficiently killed the creature before moving on to his next destination.
After Renato emptied and reset the traps, he decided to hunt around the grounds. He walked to the north, then stopped and listened. He waited for a minute then camouflaged himself by crouching down in the tall grass. He spied a creature that hadn’t yet seen him. It carelessly wandered near. Slowly Renato stood up from the grass and took aim. Using his small, crude bow and arrow, he shot the creature. He went over to where his prey had fallen. He proficiently field dressed the creature, bound it and picked it up. Renato slung the limp carcass over his shoulder then went in search of the commander. He began walking a wide circle around the campsite until he picked up Zhanavrey’s fresh tracks.
When Renato caught up with the commander, he once again unobtrusively concealed himself in the natural environment in order to observe the man from a distance. When Renato decided to approach the hunter, he crept slowly forward so he wouldn’t interfere with Zhanavrey’s rituals. He’d already learned some valuable information for hunting the indigenous creatures just from watching the commander’s techniques.
Renato watched as the expert hunter stopped midstride when faint grunting and snorting sounds were heard. Zhanavrey’s eyes scanned the nearby brush. The former commander cautiously advanced toward the moving grasses. Renato saw the beast off in the distance. It had shaggy fur that was matted with mud and grass. The beast had two corkscrew horns on top of its head with a pair of eyes in the front and back of its cranium. The terror came charging from the brush straight for the man. Zhanavrey stood motionless as he aimed his spear at the boralilo.
Renato cautiously moved to retrieve the carcass. As he sneaked closer to the wounded creature, he noted it didn’t stir. The boralilo acted as though it had already given up the fight and was already certain of its fate. It was no longer making territorial sounds but instead was gasping for breath. He bent over the creature’s body, finished the kill then tightly bound its legs together. While Renato worked, he imagined performing the same act with the Suzerain.
Zhanavrey quickly continued his rounds, circling the hunting grounds. He made certain no other wild game was in the circle’s perimeter to be captured. The former commander returned to Renato with the creature that had been wounded and killed earlier over his shoulder. Renato had the remainder of the trapped prey already field dressed and bound from his earlier scouting regimen. He signaled to the commander when their prey was ready to be transported back to the campsite. Zhanavrey picked up what Renato couldn’t carry alone and they walked back to the camp. Once the two men made it to their destination, they worked alongside one another in silence, skinning and preparing the kill.
Zhanavrey lit a fire and began roasting portions of the fresh meat. He then hung a pot, filled with liquid, from a tripod set above the haunch roasting on the fire. While the meat was cooking, the commander climbed down the ladder to his shelter and entered the naturally refrigerated section. He soon returned to the fire with vegetation that had been previously gathered. He rinsed the food in liquid that he poured from a nearby pouch. Next he boiled the vegetation in the simmering pot.
When Zhanavrey finished with the meal preparations, he noticed ominous clouds were forming in the sky. He quickly gathered his meal and belongings then left Renato to clean up the area they had used in the skinning and dressing process.
Renato didn’t particularly mind being left with the job of cleaning up. It didn’t bother him to do his share of the chores. Working for Zhanavrey gave him a sense of purpose and allowed him to focus his mind on something other than revenge. That night he was in good spirits as he worked because for the first time Zhanavrey had shared his food during the meal. From the moment he had arrived, he’d had to work for his own sustenance in order to survive. The nighttime haunts that stalked him were good only for their skins and bones. The needle thin, prickly feelers inside the creatures’ mouths and throats were useful to sorcerers, but unfortunately the body parts were not good for consumption. What he’d caught for himself during the daylight hours was grossly inadequate in order to survive for any extended length of time.
After Renato finished the cleanup, he checked and double-checked everything to make sure nothing had been forgotten from the understood protocol. He noticed that the weather was quickly changing. The wind had become gusty. Since the sun was approaching the horizon and dark clouds were now looming overhead, Renato decided he had better go to his own nightly refuge to wait out the storm.
While the sun was setting, he thought about when he had first arrived on the planet Flarecrewen. Renato had learned the hard way, through experience, that the most vicious predators he had ever seen came around several hours after dark, scavenging the campsite for food. They were intimidating looking creatures with lean, muscular bodies and enormous paws with bony claws as sharp as a Damascus sword. However, the nocturnal beasts’ paws weren’t the worst of their survival mechanisms that they used to kill their victims. He quickly learned when the creature first approached its prey it would protrude an extremely long, coarse tongue from its mouth in order to access the victim by taste. Once it decided to consume the victim, the animal quickly contracted the tongue to the back of its throat. It would then vomit a sticky, acidic substance from its stomach. When the beast reopened its mouth and lunged at the intended victim, all that the victim would see coming were long, thin bones that appeared to be flesh gripping, acidic dripping spikes. The teeth stabbed and burned its prey so that once skewered it couldn’t escape. The victim would become instantly paralyzed as the acidic saliva punctured its flesh. The frightful scavengers, called dareseltis, were so enormous that Renato imagined they could easily devour a grown man.
Renato remembered his first night on Flarecrewen. He was exhausted after finding his way back to the camp. He had set a few traps around the perimeter of the camp then had returned to the pool of water where he had last seen Zhanavrey. He looked around the camp area then had climbed with his travel bag, a sword he had smuggled away from his former planet, a dead tree branch and a short, homemade spear onto a platform built on a sturdy tree limb. Renato wore a headlamp in case he needed to see anything of importance in the dark. He fell into a deep sleep as soon as his head hit the travel bag. In the dead of the night, he had been startled by a dareseltis’ surprise attack. The devious creatures were stealthy as they sneaked around the campsite, sniffing around for anything edible. They sniffed out his hiding place and caught him off guard. He felt a tickle as something brushed against his chest. He forcefully pushed whatever it was away. His subconscious awoke him from a dream. He opened one eye and abruptly came face to face with one of the raiders curiously sniffing his face with its slimy nostrils. He could smell the animal’s foul breath as it had already vomited a putrid liquid into its mouth. The beast snarled and roared as it reared on its hind legs. Its tongue darted toward his face. When the creature tasted salt, it quickly contracted its tongue. At that moment Renato flipped the switch on the headlamp. The dareseltis, caught off guard by the light shining in its eyes, opened its enormous mouth giving Renato a terrifying view of large, needle sharp spikes as they were coming directly toward him. He had no choice but to view firsthand the terrifying sight of a swamp creature that had been captured earlier by the beast. It was stuck in the dareseltis’ throat and was skewered by sharp red teeth, holding the swamp creature in place. The dareseltis’ throat compressed, draining the creature of its blood. In between the sharp teeth were tiny appendages that had fanned out and were continuously tearing and ripping at the creature’s flesh dragging it down to the beast’s digestive system. Renato quickly gave the beast a forceful kick in its jaw to close its mouth. Then he frantically backed away to the furthest place on the platform. He promptly switched off the headlamp to avoid the attention of the other dareseltis.
Renato’s adrenaline immediately kicked in as he reached for his sword in the darkness. He quickly stabbed the unsuspecting beast between the eyes. The maneuver allowed him enough time to shakily grab his bag and other weapons with one hand while scrambling to his feet. He regretted having to leave the sword behind in the creature’s thick skull, as he leaped from the platform. While the creature writhed and moaned in pain, the other scavengers that had accompanied it stopped what they were doing in order to come charging toward him. There was nowhere to escape or hide. He could not adequately protect himself or fight them off. Sensing his fear, the beasts stalked after him.
The moonlight allowed him to seek another place of refuge. Renato was able to put his bag and remaining weapons across his chest as he backed himself up to an overgrown patch of thorny bushes where the creatures couldn’t easily get to him from behind. His body was dripping with sweat and was overloaded with adrenaline. When the vicious predators made aggressive advances toward Renato, he screamed as he clubbed and kicked at them.
He’d hoped Zhanavrey would hear his screams and join in the fight. After a long struggle, Renato came to the conclusion that the expert hunter meant his earlier words when he warned that he wasn’t about to help in the struggle for his survival. With that in mind, Renato knew he was on his own to decide the future outcome. His primal instincts took over. He wasn’t about to go willingly to his own demise without giving the night terrors one heck of a fight. If they wanted to consume him, they were going to have to work for it.
Renato’s disheartened soul had a glimmer of hope when one of the snares he had constructed was successfully set off, doing its job. The trap slammed long pieces of bone that had been bored into a log through the beast’s body instantly killing it. Renato had a fleeting moment of pride when he thought: One down, a multitude to go. The predators became momentarily confused by what had happened. The creatures that were hungry smelled the victim’s life-giving fluid. They turned away and went to feast on the slain carcass. The others became more frenzied as they stared him down. It seemed that they were giving thought as to whether they should try to wear him down, or by trial and error discover his weaknesses.
