A Raven's Plight, page 30
“You know that I do not choose sides, I only do what I believe is in the best interest for the heir.” While he spoke the truth, there was far more to his position than merely protecting the psarmatic heir. The balance of the universe hung on him fulfilling his duties, but Ayla was proving far more uncooperative than he’d anticipated. If she got herself killed, the consequences would be irreversible. Many lived under the pretense that if Ayla died, Umaneikind would collapse. But Eldereth knew better.
The universe shared a common enemy: one that had been forgotten long before. Countless millennia had thrived while the eyes of darkness looked elsewhere, but one day it would return. If they stood defenseless against it, one by one, galaxy by galaxy would succumb to its hunger.
Giska raised a critical eyebrow, but nodded slightly. “I’ve prepared a team for when we’ve located the wreckage. We have reason to believe it crashed within 100 miles of Skycity62, an unusual coincidence. Several ships are scouring the forest as we speak. There have been reports of smoke rising from beneath the trees, but a storm moved in before we could get any closer. What do you know of these forests on Airhee?”
He considered her question for a moment. On Zvalvadoria, the forests were ruled over by the highly intelligent, but hostile Illudinari. To set foot beyond the treeline was to invite immediate death, their venom so quick to work, that there was no hope to administer any antidote, which the Umanei didn’t possess anyway. The feud between the two species was as old as the power of psarma itself, the result of a cruel betrayal. As Eldereth reflected upon the past, he felt culpable for all that had happened since. Even shunned by others of his kind, he had to try. Don’t others realize that if I fail, the universe will unravel?
The Illudinari, along with the trees within the Zvalvadorian forests were impervious to psarma, and so it was agreed that the Illudinari could keep their woodland home, and the Umanei would rule the open fields of their world. At first, it was widely accepted that such trouble wouldn’t exist on other planets, but the Umanei quickly discovered that galaxies all over the universe had forests harboring danger beyond their wildest imaginations. Soon, exploration was restricted to open land only. Indeed, Airhee had laws put in place hundreds of years earlier by Umanei agents with the intended purpose to avoid loss of life, but also to prevent potential refuge for when Zvalvadorian forces were ready to take the planet. No doubt Aria had known that, thus Ayla’s upbringing.
“I know very little of their forests,” he admitted. “Airhee’s histories have been so tampered with over time, it’s hard to know fact from fiction. I have read that there are dangerous creatures roaming within the trees, but I don’t know what they are capable of. Ayla seems to have an alliance with them, as she was allowed free passage when we first located her.”
“Really…” Giska replied, a perplexed expression crossing her face. “Eldereth, do you have any reason to believe that the crash was… deliberate?”
The doctor paused. “You think she intentionally put herself at tremendous risk?”
“I have reason to believe that she misled myself and my emissary about her life on Airhee, and I find it too coincidental that she crashed so near her old home. I also have reason to believe that there are individuals she’s trying to return to, perhaps even that she intends to resist me.” Her eyebrows arched ever so slightly inward, anger stirring just beneath the surface. “Please tell me that you’re not behind this, Doctor.”
Eldereth gave a short shake of his head, never losing his calm demeanor. He didn’t like to lie, so frequently found a way to do otherwise. “Ayla was eager to be away from Anash. She boarded Damion’s ship willingly, as I advised her to do. As far as I was aware, she was to be delivered to you safely, and without incident. If she has chosen to deliberately crash Damion’s ship, it was without my guidance or foreknowledge, and had it been brought to my attention, I would have adamantly advised against it.” Too much was at risk for her to take such irresponsible action.
Giska pinched her lips together in obvious displeasure. “Thank you, Doctor. I will have you shown to your room. Should you think of anything useful, please don’t hesitate to contact me.” She strode away, several of the guards taking her place. Eldereth watched as the Queen vanished around a corner, his concern growing. Ayla, this isn’t a game, he thought, wishing she could hear him. As much as he wanted her to remain free of Giska’s clutches, the longer she remained missing, the more dangerous things became. Ayla was running out of time. They all were. The electrodes might help, maybe they would even be enough to save her… but with her human heritage, nothing was certain.
One of the guards directed him to the left. “This way, Doctor.”
Gentle chirping and the sounds of dripping water tenderly roused Damion. He yawned sleepily, slowly becoming aware of how chilly and wet the air felt against his skin. His eyes snapped open a moment later as it all came back to him. He searched the nook frantically for his petite companion, furious to find her missing. He practically leapt to the edge of the tree, tossing the medkit down, and cursing at valuable tracking time already lost. I was a fool to fall asleep. A damn fool. When I find her, I’ll break both her legs, and…
“Morning sleepy head,” a voice called from below. Damion nearly fell out of the tree with surprise, barely gaining his footing back as he descended. Once on the ground, he turned to face the girl, her pretty cheeks pink with exertion. In one hand she held a large silvery pink creature (which she later called a fish), in the other she held a knife. His knife. Instinctively, he reached down to his thigh where he’d kept it hidden beneath his tunic, only to find an empty sheath.
“Here,” she said, reluctantly handing it to him. “I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed it for a bit. I’m not a fan of gutting fish without one.” She shrugged innocently.
Angry, perplexed, and annoyed, he took the knife back and resheathed it. He had no idea how she’d known about it. How she’d managed to take it off him was the bigger mystery.
“You shouldn’t have taken it without asking,” he growled, trying to keep his temper.
She cocked a hip out to the side, giving him a critical stare. “Would you really have let me have it?”
“Of course not,” he replied in a huff, looking away to the surrounding wood. What nightmares awaited them today? The fact that they survived the night was a pleasant surprise, but how long could their luck hold out? “What now?”
“Follow me.” She began walking briskly, but he caught up in two easy strides. “There’s an overhang down by the river. It’s nice and dry. We’ll eat breakfast there, wash up, and then start with our day.” She led him out of the grove, bouncing slightly as she went. Was she actually humming? He glanced around nervously as they entered more thick underbrush, trying not to become annoyed by her almost-chipper demeanor. It wasn’t natural.
Damion snarled several times as thorns reached out and pricked him, leaving multiple lines of blood across his hands. Even though the blood red of his uniform concealed dozens of small scrapes, the fabric was badly worn from snags, and his right shoulder had a large hole burnt through it. The bandage was still tightly wrapped around his arm, but it was very tender.
The river wasn’t far from the tree in which they slept. If he had known what to listen for, Damion might have realized how close it was. When they stepped out of the brush onto the riverbank, trees still towered overhead, some leaning over the water itself. Ayla led him to a nearby overhang, where a pile of dry wood was already arranged, along with some dry crunchy leaves. She picked up a rock and leaned by the stack.
“May I borrow your knife, please?” She asked sweetly enough. It was a test, he was certain of it. Who’s the better liar? Well, she couldn’t touch me with that blade anyway. He handed it over and watched as she struck a stone to the back of the blade, sparks flying. She did this several times, before a spark lit fire to one of the leaves, the rest of the tinder going up quickly. Before he knew it, he was enjoying the warmth of crackling flames, Even forgetting for a moment what company he kept.
“It’s nice to see you smile” the girl said, a self-satisfied gleam in her eyes. “You should do it more often.”
He frowned immediately, not wanting to play any of her games. She made a fool out of me, crashed my ship, and ruined my future career. I hate her. But it was also up to him to bring her home to Zvalvadoria, and that would mean pretending to feel otherwise.
She was laughing at his reaction by now, not an unfriendly laugh by any means, but it still annoyed him. As she skewered the fish on a stick and held it over the fire, he asked, “How did you catch it?”
“It’s spawning season. Every few years the salmon swim upstream to get to the place where they hatched. By the time they get this far up, they’re tired and slow, and if I’m being honest, not very tasty. But it’s good fuel, and safe to eat. Some people even eat them raw, along with their eggs.” She made a face like she found the idea unappealing.
“How do you know all this?” He asked, perplexed that someone who had spent her entire life inside a city was so comfortable in nature.
At this point, the girl seemed to hesitate. So full of secrets. “I grew up in these woods.”
Damion locked his jaw shut to stifle a gasp. How? A place so full of hostility couldn’t possibly support raising a child… unless everything he thought about the forest was wrong. He looked around, the intense sense of danger he’d felt before beginning to dissipate. “Really? How did you manage to stay alive?” He tried to keep from sounding smug.
Her jovial expression was suddenly replaced by dead seriousness. “I didn’t grow up on this side of the mountain, and trust me, the sooner we cross the border to the otherside, the better.” Her words introduced a shred of dread back into his psyche, but he tried hard to dismiss it. From what he’d seen, the danger lurking here was merely a product of his imagination, and her desire to manipulate him.
“I thought you were raised in the city. Why choose to move out to potential danger?”
“I imagine it had something to do with you,” she replied, turning the fish. “My mom said people were hunting her, and…” she suddenly stopped talking, as if she’d said too much. Damion concealed a self-satisfied smile. So the forest is just a hiding spot, and she’s given away her greatest advantage. He was about to say as much, when Ayla suddenly set aside the fish and stood up, taking a hesitant step back. She was focused on something behind him. “Don’t make any sudden moves,” she whispered urgently.
“Why, what is it?” He asked mockingly, certain that she was trying to trick him. He turned and glanced over his shoulder at the ‘fake danger’, and felt his blood run cold.
“Idiot,” she sighed. Her next words were spoken very quickly, already circling toward the river, where a very large, furry, sharp-toothed, four legged beast approached them with angry eyes, a miniature one trailing cautiously behind. “Stay here, build the fire as big as you can, and make two large torches.”
“But,” he was about to object, but she was already moving at an aggressive run toward the creature, waving her arms until she had its undivided attention.
“DO IT!” she screamed.
Damion felt frozen as he watched her pick up a stick and wave it threateningly, the giant creature standing up on its hind legs was nearly 7 feet tall. Its sharp teeth gleamed as it snarled. For a moment, the creature glanced back to Damion, but the girl tossed her stick, hitting it in the muzzle. She and the beast both paused for a moment, and Damion realized Ayla's bold body language was not matched by her expression. She’s afraid… and crazy… Abruptly, she turned and ran, bounding across the river with the creature lumbering after her. He reached for his psarma ray, but grabbed only air. She can’t get herself killed… She can’t!
“THE FIRE!” he heard mutely through the trees.
Frantically he piled the entire collection of sticks and brush onto the blaze, using the dry fuel first, and then anything else he could find. Within a minute, the fire had quadrupled in size, crackling and popping angrily as more wood took light.
Her second command echoed in his head. Make torches. Psarma frequently nullified the use of fire for Umanei people, but he, like most young men, had found great entertainment in playing with it. It had been a few years since he’d made a torch, and he’d never done it with such wet material, but with the sound of crashing branches somewhere nearby, he didn’t think the details mattered much.
Damion found two large branches, tearing off the lower part of his tunic and tying them around the tips of each, and plunging them into the flames. Sweat began to bead on his forehead. Where is she…
A snarl from up river drew his attention, and he watched as Ayla leapt off the ten foot ledge from one side of the river, soaring across the entire width, nearly 20 feet, and landing on the soil near the bank. She rolled as she hit the ground, glancing back at the angry monster, who’d paused at the small cliff. Only a millisecond passed before she was sprinting back to the fire, her hands opened as Damion tossed her the torch.
“Bear,” she gasped. “Mamma bear.” The bear followed slowly, wary of the fire behind them, her cub somewhere back in the trees. “Not afraid of fire… but smart enough not to touch it,” she said raggedly. “Really… really fast.” She swung the torch in front of her aggressively, taking a tentative step forward. “NO BEAR!” she shouted, “Go! GO!”
The beast did seem to hesitate, especially when Damion stepped forward with his torch. He was much taller than the half-breed, and predators could sense when they’d encountered another predator. There was a moment of indecision, when the bear glanced back at her cub, and seemed to decide to leave them alone. Ayla stood at an alert as the mother retreated, only loosening up slightly as the monster vanished into the woods on the other side of the bank.
She backed up to where the fish sat, and plunged it back into the fire, her eyes never leaving the trees, constantly alert. Damion watched her, completely confused. What had just happened? “Why did you do that?”
She seemed to consider his question before answering. “From what I’ve read, mother bears can be extremely irrational, and very aggressive. When she emerged from the trees and saw you, I could see her body language change. We were a threat.” She sighed and took another deep breath, her face pinched in discomfort. “What I did was stupid, but I didn’t have a lot of time to come up with a plan. Luckily she changed her mind about mauling us.”
Damion glanced back into the woods nervously. That wasn’t what he’d meant when he asked why she’d done what she did. Why’d you risk your life for mine? If he had been in her place, he would have waited for the bear to begin mauling her, slipping away discreetly during the bloodbath, and celebrating his newfound freedom. What she did was… altruistic. And insane. “How did you manage to outrun it?”
She shrugged, as if unsure of the answer herself. “I don’t know.” There was far more left unsaid, he would have known that, even if not for the uncomfortable expressions she struggled to hide. Before the silence stretched on for too long, she said, “I’m glad it rained last night. Wouldn’t want to start a forest fire.”
“Why?” He couldn’t grasp her actions.
“Well, the forest is my home, and the home of countless other,”
“No, I mean why? Why did you do… that!?” He motioned out in the woods toward where the bear had vanished, unable to speak the words ‘save my life’. He wasn’t sure whether he should feel ashamed or grateful, and that annoyed him.
“Oh…” She considered his question for a moment, turning the fish which had crisped well on one side. “Well, I made you a promise didn’t I? I said I would get you out of these woods safely, and I intend to honor that promise. Besides, I’m not really big into watching maulings.” She pulled the fish out, asking for his knife again. Quickly, she cut it into four pieces, and offered him three as she nibbled on one.
“Shouldn’t you have two also?” He asked, hesitantly accepting his share.
“You’re bigger and require more calories. Besides, I spotted some blackberries along the bank on my little jaunt. They’re a bit overripe, but they’ll be delicious.” The fact that she noticed anything while fleeing for her life seemed highly unlikely.
Damion bit into his fish, his hunger overriding his distaste for the flavor. He ate quickly, spitting out the tiny bones that ran through the flesh, and finishing as Ayla walked to the river to start splashing water over the fire. Within a minute or two, the blaze was a sizzling smolder, and clouds overhead hinted that rain would likely finish the job. This place is far too wet, he thought bitterly to himself. He stood and walked over to the stream, kneeling beside Ayla as he tidied his hands.
“We’ll cross here, and head straight south,” she said. “After we’ve gone a few miles, we’ll angle more southeast, although I might have to climb a tree or two to get our bearings. I’m hoping that the bears are all remaining close to the river where the food source is, although we’ll likely run across a few more tributaries running off the mountain. We need to be cautious as we go.” She gave him an encouraging smile as she shook the water from her hands, and then waved him on.
Ayla explained that since it was the end of the dry season, the river was still quite shallow. The water only came up to Damion’s calf at its deepest. Evidently during the rainy season, the river would swell, and the overhang where they’d had breakfast would likely be submerged. He was thankful it was still summertime, but as tiny drops began to fall from the sky, he shuddered at the thought of ‘wet season’.
It wasn’t far from the opposite bank when they came across a blackberry bramble, much to Damion’s surprise. Ayla began quickly picking berries, eating half, and collecting what she could carry in giant folded maple leaves. Damion tried a berry when urged, and had to stifle his absolute delight at how pleasantly sweet it was. In the minutes that followed, he ate so many that his stomach began to protest, and his pockets were overflowing.
