The Reconnaissance Clock

CHAPTER 9 NEW DIRECTIONS

Stones were crumbling beneath Flel's feet and he could feel every particle of dust move apart from one another with a new sense of awareness. He could visually see a path to the Clock. His fingers were tingling with radiance but he did not understand it yet. A new awareness of what I am capable of? A new awareness ran through Flel's entire body. He looked up and saw a raven flying overhead and a caw echoed. He decided that he would no longer be looking for signs and that a raven is just a raven.

The group ventured through the surrounding trees and away from the Spire and headed back towards the trading post, this time with better health. Prirmenha was starting to walk with more confidence than ever. Flel stayed silent and did not talk to anyone. Their path seemed to narrow and appeared a bit different than before. They soon recognized a specific stump that they had noticed before. The tree had been cut down to a stump but had burn marks all around it. They continued to walk now knowing that they were still going in the right direction. They walked through the gate at the wall that was still unguarded. Morso thought that it did not seem far at all this time and he was glad that they were not struggling as hard to make it there. It seemed as though the bath had taken care of some of their hunger but they were still hungry. Flel reminded Morso of the dangers that they still might face and Morso continued to remote view in looking for danger. As large as Morso was, you would think he would not be afraid of anything, but he always seemed anxious. Flel suspected that his anxiety came from the loss of his family which was understood at this point.

Flel prayed to the Higher Creator that they find food soon and to keep them safe. These days he seemed to pray more than ever. They made it back to the trading village. Flel stopped to look in his pack and admire the little amount of ammunition he had left then he thought about the power that Prirmenha had been gifted with. Upon arrival into the village, Sora greeted them. He looked like he was barely still surviving but they group had nothing more to give him. "I have nothing I can give you" he told them he said with lips that were cracking and dry, "but if you wish for a place to stay this evening, you can stay in my home" he said. "We wish to get across the ocean but to stay North of the wall if possible" Flel told him. He thought for a while and pondered on it. "We do have a boat, but it has not been used in ages. It is a fishing boat, but it would be fit for you. The waves are intense at night here and it is difficult to navigate a boat." He said. "We won't be staying tonight" Flel told him.

Flel considered staying, but without supplies it would do no good. Seemingly out of nowhere, Prirmenha kissed Flel on the cheek, "I never got to properly thank you for protecting me back there." She said. "You saved us" Flel said, while blushing. "You held Kasinic off for enough time for me to do what was required. You protected me" she said smiling. Flel still had his crucifix necklace and held it tight. Prirmenha then hugged him. He felt a sigh of relief, he really did love her but had not told her that. He could not point out what she saw in him, but he could feel that there was something between them that could not be torn apart. He had no other family left, "Prirmenha, I will protect you till the day I die. You don't have to worry about that." He told her. She smiled and blushed. Flel looked at Sora, "We will use your boat, I hate to ask this, but do you have any food or water that we could take with us?". Sora was tired but responded, "We do have some water we can give you, and some tobacco, but not enough food left to give you.". Flel nodded and directed him to get the boat ready. Morso sat down in the grass and rested, "We have a long way to go." He said.

Sora proceeded to get the boat ready. He was so tired barely had the energy to do it. He cleaned out what he could of the fishing supplies and escorted the group to the boat. "We know there are some strange things on the land north of the wall on the other side of the Enoch River. We have not been over there in many years. I would encourage you to be as safe as possible." He said. The group nodded and reluctantly stepped on board. To Flel, the air tasted salty and rotten at the same time. If there was any food left on the boat it was gone bad by now. The sounds of sails flapping and rustling, the mast was creaking. Sora handed them a chest full of water and tobacco. Prirmenha took her flask and emptied two from the chest into her larger one. Flel replaced his flask with one from the chest and Morso did the same. Morso took some of the tobacco and put it in his mouth to chew on it and saved more in his pocket for sooner rather than later. The sun overhead lashed at the group already and Prirmenha went to the hull to find the beds. Sora's leathery face was grimacing and he walked off of the boat, "If you can, come back with the boat in one piece. Its all that we have left. Keep in mind that you will have to pass through another gate to get through the Godwall when you head North from here between this and the other land. I do not know what you will see there but it was once heavily guarded by the mutants." He said and then began walking back to the village. Flel was surprised that he didn't ask for anything in return, but it was obvious that they had nothing to give him at this point. "Wait!" Flel screamed to Sora. Sora turned back, "Yes?". "Would you by any chance have any arrows for my bow? We are out of any sort of defense that we have." He asked. "As a matter of fact, yes, hold tight." He said. Sora returned with some arrows and handed them to Flel. "Good luck" Sora said, "Be safe."