Too Far Gone, page 22
part #3 of The Jaxon Grey Chronicles Series
Aside from finding the sacred yume herb and bringing it back to Finnis, Rengar also instructed us to provide the Dracari tree with a drop of blood each. “It is our gift to the tree,” he explained, “for taking its seeds.” He then reached into a pouch on his belt, “And lastly, please take this, and leave it amidst the branches. You brought it back to Finnis, so now you can complete its journey by bringing it to its final resting place."
It was Svix's amethyst necklace, the one I had returned to Rengar following the tragic and untimely death of his eldest son, and the same one Ricson had been wearing just hours earlier. I suddenly felt a pang of grief, but I was also happy to be able to do this for Svix and his father.
We continued on through the cold night for hours and hours, some of us more begrudgingly than others, fighting against the driving snow and furious gusts of wind that had each of us chilled to the bone, even through our skin-tight jumpsuits and the added meer fur. I was trying very hard not to think about how our group, not covered in fur like our Tatoran counterparts, ran a much higher risk of hypothermia.
The forest of thehnwood grew predominately on the long strip of land between Mercer's coast and the plateau that made up the center of the island-continent. Though it was the dead of winter, the thorny branches of the coniferous thehnwoods still held their dark green needle-like leaves, as well as the vibrant red moss that covered their trunks like fur. The red of the moss was an identical hue to the red underside of the predatory Tatoran bird, the thehn; the tree's namesake. The forest gradually rose in elevation the closer we got to the plateau, but the rise was nearly imperceptible to us on the ground with snow drifts as high as our heads.
Navigation became increasingly difficult the further inland we went, as we were not at all familiar with the wintry landscape. At present, all we could do was take note of the red moss growth and use it to provide a rough bearing for north, which then gave us our easterly direction. In northern hemispheres, moss tends to grow on the northern side of trees and rocks, because that side receives less sunshine than the other sides. To enhance our navigational accuracy, we neglected any moss grown near the ground or by sources of water, using only moss that had grown high on the trees, hoping to eventually stumble upon the plateau. From what Rengar said, it wasn't too difficult to locate, but we couldn't just rely on blind luck to see us through.
The night appeared darker than usual with the dense forest canopy engulfing our small group, obscuring the snow-covered ground from reflecting the bright starlight. Just finding our way along the narrow trail was difficult enough, not to mention the various roots and rocks that lay hidden beneath the deepening snow. More than once I stumbled and fell on such impediments, as did the others, but onward we continued.
Walking through the dark woods reminded me of our last night together, as we drove toward my uncle's cabin. Only then, the Aurora Borealis had been bright and magnificent in the northern sky, showcasing beautiful shades of green; and I had made a flirty comment about how it brought out the green in your eyes. If I've been keeping track correctly, I've been without the pleasure of your company for almost a full Earth year, but I still have the lingering image of you lying on your back, gazing at the stars and sky. I wish I could just go back to that time, back to you and all that could have been between us. But no, instead, I am on a strange quest for a sacred herb on a wild planet a million lightyears from Earth, seemingly lost deep within the tenebrous entanglements of this disorienting forest. And who knows where you are or what's happening to you right now.
Before my thoughts went down that dark path, I was snapped back to my surroundings by the creaking of a tree limb off to the left of the trail.
"Did you hear that?" Nepalen hissed, his voice hardly above a whisper. "There is something in the trees!"
"Probably just the wind, Sir," Thristin replied. "Try not to be so jumpy."
His words were followed by the loud and unmistakable snap of a branch.
"That wasn't the wind!" exclaimed Nepalen.
We all froze in place, not quite sure what to expect. Out of the corner of my eye, a dark object came swooping down across our path, flapping its wings furiously.
"We are under attack!" Nepalen squeaked, stumbling into Dolvin and Alexitus in his fearful excitement.
"Calm down," Alexitus commanded of his co-captain. "It is only a bird."
The nocturnal critter was gone in an instant, hooting an owl-like call and leaving feathers floating in its wake.
"It is the forest," said Crispin. "It will be full of life at night."
"Predators hunt at night." Nepalen added.
"That is true," Crispin admitted patiently, "but they won't bother us."
"How can you be so sure?" Nepalen asked with skepticism.
"There are many of us, and we are in full health," Thristin replied for his brother. "Any predators out here will want to find easier prey. Unless, of course, we are being stalked by scudgunum."
"Scudgunum are just a myth!" Nepalen scoffed defensively, trying to convince himself, but failing to do so. "And they wouldn't be here on Tatora!” He paused, “Could they be?"
"They are shadow-walkers," said Thristin, "so I'd suspect they could be any place where there is darkness. Just don't go wandering off from the group. Scudgunum always take the stragglers first."
Crispin stood beside his brother, making a menacing face as he slid his thumb across his throat. Nepalen shuddered, while Crispin and Thristin chuckled at his discomfort.
"Shadow-walker?" I whispered to Demtrius.
"A creature of lore," he replied. "It supposedly lives in the shadows. It is a story that we tell our young to keep them from getting into too much mischief. I don't believe there is any actual evidence of the scudgunum's existence, yet the myth has persisted for ages."
It was interesting that the Dotarans succumbed to superstitions and lore just like us, even with all their technological advancements.
Nepalen was still shaken. “I just think my skills would be better utilized back on the Iccaryn,” he muttered.
"Oh have some dignity," Alexitus lashed out at him. "By the hand of Carnyle, you are a captain! Act like one!"
I couldn't have said it better myself, but, to be completely honest, I felt a slight twinge of fear as well. My imagination was beginning to run wild in this forest, and was worsened by Nepalen cowering at every sound. Every crunch of snow became a faoler preparing to pounce, every rustle of thehnwood needles a hungry primadon on the prowl, and every footstep brought us further and further away from the safety of civilization. I could only hope that we found the yume herb quickly and that daylight came soon after.
“Maybe we should stop and make camp,” Nepalen suggested. "We can resume the journey when it is light out. At least then we'll be able to see what we're doing."
"Rengar said the yume herb can only be harvested at night," said Dolvin, "and we are going to need all the time we can get. I, for one, don't even know what a Dracari tree looks like."
"I do," I replied. "There was one near the Aramis. I saw it a few times, and I'm sure I could find another."
"See?" said Nepalen. "We can rest now and find the tree later."
"Better to find the tree and make the harvest as quickly as possible," said Alexitus. "The sooner we complete this task, the sooner we can return to the Iccaryn."
"I agree," said Demtrius, "the sooner, the better."
"Indeed," Dolvin agreed.
Nepalen began to protest, "But-."
"But nothing!" Alexitus interjected impatiently. "Three to one; the decision has been made. We push forward."
And so we did.
I'm not sure how much longer we travelled, but the seemingly endless night dragged along at a snail's pace, and none of us were getting any warmer. We had been walking for days it felt like, but, without the guiding hand of a moon, there was no way to gauge how much time had actually elapsed. All we had was the hooting of the dark bird that had crossed our path earlier. It seemed to be following us now, letting us know it still accompanied our group with its low hoot that carried across the frozen landscape. We eventually started passing several pairs of Mercerians, returning from their quests. They gave us a wide berth as they passed and we had no contact with them, but it reassured us somewhat that we were on the right track.
We kept our rest stops to a minimum, wanting to complete the quest as quickly as possible, but our bodies could only take so much. We stopped to sleep four times. Each time we took to digging out a small snow shelter to block out the heavy winds, using thehnwood boughs to layer the floor and also to seal off the narrow entrance. I remembered seeing a wilderness show once where they had made a similar shelter, and they had dug out the floor of their shelter to make it deeper, with a small trench running to the entrance. This way, it would allow the cold air to vent out as the shelter was warmed by body heat.
It took a considerable amount of time to make these snow shelters, and we dug in short turns since none of us wanted to run the risk of sweating too much, which would just speed up hypothermia. Each time we completed a shelter it was better than the previous one, although our sleep was invariably difficult and broken, and all the while we were continually harassed by the incessant hooting of that insidious bird, taunting us from the shadows. I had a flashback to my time traversing the great forest outside of Lake Azizi, home of the Sapphire clan, where another feathered creature called the Maku bird had followed us and annoyed us with its chirping. It had the uncanny ability to mimic Tatoran words, and was trained by the Sapphire clansmen to spy on strangers. It made me somewhat paranoid that this owl-like bird was a similar ally of the Mercerians, but to what end I didn’t know. Perhaps to make sure we followed the rules of the quest, but I was just conjecturing.
The path before us started to rise gently in elevation, eventually coming to a steep forty-five degree angle of ascent. At the height of this slope was the western corner of the mountainous inland plateau, which rose vertically for dozens of feet to the cliff's dark precipitous heights. The walls of the plateau split in two directions, one running slightly northeast and the other running roughly southeast, forming a flat, inverted triangle before us. The snow had stopped, but I couldn't see beyond the upper edge of the cliff, obscured in darkness as it was. It must have risen even higher still since the stars were bright in the sky everywhere except beyond that upper edge. What we were seeing was apparently only the first tier of the plateau. Somewhere up in that shroud of darkness though, was the flat summit; we just had to figure out how to make the ascent.
Aided by the now-visible starlight, we made a quick inspection of the surrounding area, but, from what I could see, there didn't appear to be a viable path to the summit, at least not where we stood. We had followed the trail as best we could though, and it had led us to this point, so we were relatively sure there had to be some path nearby that would lead to the top. Unfortunately for us, the intense winter wind, whistling and howling as it swept against the cliffside, was driving snow in every direction and covering any tracks left behind by our Mercerian predecessors.
Our quick search of the surroundings revealed nothing, save for a couple of small waterfalls on the northern-facing wall that fell from the higher level in long, narrow streams of frozen ice. Other than that, the tall, rigid walls of the mountainous plateau went on and on unchanged, occasionally jutting out into the forest or receding back somewhat, but always towering over us and providing no path to the top.
Slightly discouraged, and with no obvious options, we contemplated what to do next, but all signs seemed to point toward making a risky climb up the icy and foreboding precipice, if it was even possible. I must admit, I would have been reluctant in even the brightest and driest conditions.
"Well, who wants to go first?" asked Dolvin, attempting to make it sound easy. "I'll be right behind you."
"Maybe we didn't search far enough," Thristin suggested. "We could split into two groups, each taking a side of the plateau to cover more ground, and then meet back here to report what we find."
"Hold that thought," Demtrius interrupted, holding a cupped hand to his ear.
"What is it?" asked Crispin.
"Quiet," Demtrius ordered, and then lowered his voice. "Just listen for a few seconds."
"Listen for what?” asked Nepalen, afraid that his worst fears were coming true.
"I don't hear anything," Alexitus proclaimed dismissively.
"That's just it," said Demtrius. "I don't hear anything either. The bird isn't hooting anymore."
"So?" asked Alexitus.
Just then, seemingly from the darkness itself, an arrow hissed right passed me, so close I could feel the wind from it on my face. The arrow was immediately followed by several more, aimed to kill. Luckily, the strong winds were still blowing so the projectiles all went wide; more arrows would be coming though. Any reasonably good archer could loose ten to fifteen well-aimed arrows in a minute, and we were caught completely off-guard.
Instinctively, I dropped to the ground, bringing Alexitus with me. He began to protest, but then saw the long, feathered shaft of a Mercerian arrow protruding from the tree it had struck, and he closed his mouth, speechless.
"Take cover!" I shouted, though the others were already seeking refuge from the treacherous bowmen. More arrows went hissing by overhead, one of them striking the hard rock of the plateau and shedding orange-white sparks. It was all happening so quickly; I barely had any time to react. The others had been nearer to the trees and were safe for the moment behind the thick thehnwood trunks, but Alexitus and I were still out in the open, now struggling to crawl down the slope to the tree coverage. Our snow shoes made the crawling difficult, and arrows were landing all around us now. I was surprised that neither of us was hit, but the wind was on our side.
That fact was short lived, however, as Alexitus suddenly yelped in pain when an arrow found his shoulder. Another arrow pierced the tail end of my furs, getting caught and tangled in the loose hide and failing to penetrate my body. I thought of what would have happened had my body been turned just slightly, and shuddered involuntarily at that grave prospect.
Demtrius, courageous as ever, jumped forth from behind his tree with his sword drawn, putting himself between us and our attackers. He seemed ready to take on all of them at once. Meanwhile, Crispin and Thristin ran to Alexitus and were commencing to pull him to the safety of the trees. It was clumsy work in the snow shoes, but without them none of us could have gotten more than a few feet.
The hidden archers took aim upon Demtrius, but, quick as a flash of lightning, Demtrius dodged the lethal shafts and proceeded to help pull me to the trees before more arrows could be loosed.
For a moment, all was silent, save for Alexitus' moans and the howling wind.
"Stay still," Demtrius told Alexitus. "It will be more painful if you move."
"It's already painful!" Alexitus complained. "Wait-," he started, but before he could say more, Demtrius had begun cutting the fur from around Alexitus' shoulder, baring it to the skin to provide access to the wound. Alexitus yelped again, and his cries were answered by another volley of arrows, all thudding into the opposite side of the trees we were taking cover behind.
"Can you get the arrow out?" Alexitus asked weakly, more concerned than I had ever seen him before.
"It went through to the other side," Demtrius replied with some relief. "I can remove it, but I don't know how extensive the damage is internally. It's not bleeding badly, but if an artery or vein has even been nicked, you could bleed out over time. If only we had something to cauterize the wound..."
"Damn Mercerians," Alexitus said weakly. "Had we been permitted our gear, our lasers could have made quick work of this." He had tears in the corners of his eyes, and winced with each gust of wind. "Do what you can," he said, "and be quick about."
"What's the plan of attack, Captain?" asked Crispin of Demtrius.
"Nothing," said Demtrius, as he snapped off the feathered end of the arrow shaft about an inch above the entry wound, causing another yelp of pain from Alexitus.
"Someone cover his mouth," Demtrius ordered, to which Dolvin hastily obeyed. Demtrius then worked on the arrowhead jutting out of Alexitus' collar bone, which was less exposed. It was hard to get a good grip, and Alexitus made muffled moans of pain while he fiddled with it, but finally Demtrius was able to remove the broken arrow. He then took the scraps of fur he had cut off and put them back over the wound. "Hold this here and keep pressure on it," he said to Alexitus, who nodded in acknowledgement. His face was looking pale and he had beads of sweats running down from his temples.
Another volley of arrows came, most of which thudded harmlessly into the trees, but one managed to punch through the branches and nearly struck Demtrius, though he stood unflinching.
"There must be at least three, maybe four of them with bows, and possibly more without," said Demtrius. "I can't be sure."
"What do we do then?" asked Dolvin.
"We fight!" said Crispin and Thristin simultaneously.
Crispin continued, "We can use the night to our advantage, like scudgunum. We may not be able to see them, but they can't see us either."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," I replied. "Tatorans can see much better in the dark than we can."
"We need to get out of here," Demtrius replied, his usual calm self, even in this tense situation.
"But to where?" asked Thristin. "For all we know, they could have us surrounded by now."
"Up," Demtrius suggested, pointing at the trees. "We know at least that direction is clear."
"Climb?" asked Dolvin. "We'll be right out in the open, prime targets for their arrows!"
As if in response to his protests, more arrows were loosed, each making a dull thud as they sank into the trees in consecutive order, the last arrow grazing the side of a tree a dozen feet away and ricocheting off to get lost in the snow. Our attackers were guessing now, not quite sure where we were exactly, but their aim was still too close for comfort, and soon they would follow up on foot with axes and swords. If it was the Mercerians, which the arrows indicated it was, then they would know we wielded only children's blades, and they had the far mightier adult weapons of their race.
