The Path To Khamal

The path of Khana

As my feet began to swell from walking so long all day on this path, and not to mention I still hadn't recovered from the terrifying encounter before I decided to sit and take a break. I had been walking for a really long time inside of this dense forest, and the sun was starting to set. I knew if I didn't rest I wouldn't have the energy to make it through the night. As I dragged my feet against the dirt path, with the smell of my sweat, and the sounds of animals scattering through the forest. I eventually came across a little cove in the forest where there was still a bit of sunshine beaming down onto the grass. I walked into this cove, and laid down on the grass.
So many things were racing through my mind. What has happened to me? Who were those people? Why were they after me? What's up with this dragon mark? Where am I? I must have been in really deep thought because when my senses came back to me I had noticed there was no more sun, and it was completely dark out. The only form of light being the moon, and stars. The moon was full, and the sky was filled with stars that night. Twinkling with all kinds of wishes that were made on them. I couldn't help but feel relaxed with so many beautiful things. It felt like forever since I had been camping.
All of a sudden something amazing happened. These creatures that looked like jellyfish started to fly around in the night. Some were neon red, others were aqua blue, and some the most amazing shade of magenta I have ever seen. Their skin glowed like a fire in the night. I was absolutely amazed by these creatures. They reminded me of something from an old fantasy novel I had read. I was so captivated by these creatures I didn't even realize my body was moving on its own to touch one of these creatures. As my arm reached out to touch this creature I heard someone from behind me say something in a language I didn't understand. "Dakhe gan khefa!" The voice screamed.
I stopped doing what I was doing immediately, and turned around to face the person who had shouted this. I was shocked at what I saw. It was a man that was no taller than three foot five, with long black hair hanging down to his shoulders. He had a scar across his cheek that ran all the way to his forehead. He wore some type of light armour that I had never seen before, but what stood out to me the most was his glowing blue eyes, and the patch on his shoulder that had what was obviously a dragon sewed onto his leather armour. He carried an axe and across his back he had a bow. The man began to walk towards me.
"Dakhe gan khefa." He said smoothly. Though I didn't know what he was saying his actions showed me exactly what he meant. As he said these words he pointed to the strange creatures, and pretended to touch them. He then pretended that he started to die. Wallowing around on the ground.
It was obvious what he was trying to tell me. If I touch these things I will die. The man then walks a little way into the forest. Even though he is definitely strange he is the first person I had seen the whole time I've been here so I began to follow him into the forest. We walked for a short way until he stopped in front of a tree. It was obvious this tree had seen its last days. It was about eighty feet tall, and very round. I'm not sure what type of tree it was, but the bark was a very dark brown color, and it just seemed eerie to me. The man then picked his axe up, and swung it at the tree in one strong move.
I couldn't believe what I saw. With one quick swing his axe slicked all the way through this tree, and cut it in one fell swoop. Do you know that old saying "If a tree falls in the woods, and no one's around to hear it did it really make a sound at all?" Well the sound this tree made while crashing to the forest floor was enormous. It sounded like the earth itself was exploding as it hit the ground rumbling. The man then turned to me with a serious look on his face.
"Vatha." He said sternly without a hint of humor. He waved his hand for me to follow.
I thought to myself Vatha must mean follow, or come. I guess it is good I am at least learning this one word in this person's language. Even if it doesn't translate exactly I at least know the basic meaning of the word. I follow him into the dark forest. Trying to communicate with him. I deduced that he definitely had never heard English before. Due to the extremely weird look on his face he gave me when I tried to ask him where I am. We walked for what seems like miles in this dense forest. I began to get a little paranoid thinking that maybe this person was here to kill me, but I was too scared to run.
After what felt like three hours of walking into this forest I began to see a faint light up ahead on top of a small plateau just coming into vision. I looked toward the man, and he was showing signs of a faint smile on his face. "Vatha," he said excitedly as he began to pick up the pace.
As we got closer to this Plateau I began to notice what was causing this light. There was a small log cabin on top of this plateau. It was small to be for normal people, and that's why judging by the man's height, and his reaction and his reaction to seeing the cabin I deduced it belonged to the man I was following.
Eventually we made it up to the cabin, and it was larger than I expected. The door to the cabin was like something you would see in a fantasy novel, or manga. The man opened the door, and gestured for me to come. Even though I was hesitant I had been out in the weather this whole time, and the weather was beginning to drop. I accepted his offer, and ducked under the door. The inside of the house had three separate rooms. When you went through the front door you were in the living room. To the left straight ahead there was another door that led to a bedroom that also had a bathroom built in it, and straight to the right as soon as you walked through the door a hallway led to what I could make out as a kitchen.
The living room had 2 small old time rocking chairs adorned with intricate patterns of flowers. The chairs were set a little way off the wall facing a fire place at the opposite side of the room. In the middle of the floor was a small rug set that had patterns of flowers, and trees. The man gestured for me to come in further and sit down. He took me to the chair closest to the fireplace, and instructed me to sit down. In fear of breaking his chair because it was so small I decided to sit on the floor.
At this moment I heard a commotion from the room I had noticed was a bedroom. It was a lady saying something in this language I didn't understand. She said "Nata! Vekhe ha?"
The man then said in response "Nata Vekhe! Thut to phae nga bathun."
I then heard the lady make an exclamation of surprise, and heard footsteps approaching. As her footsteps grew closer I kept my attention on the bedroom door. A lady walked out. She has curly grey hair, and was wearing a nightgown adorned with pictures of wolves howling at the moon. The man then walked farther in the house, and I saw him hang his axe on the wall. This brought a bit of relief for me, and even though they were a bit strange they seemed like good people.
The lady then approached me with a smile on her face. "Pa to gata ha?" She asked sincerely and nicely.
I felt bad I couldn't understand what this lady said, and she seemed to realize I didn't understand what she meant.
The man looked at her, and said "Duzo to khane Banzu," He said to the lady.
The lady then had a shocked look on her face, and then a warm smile appeared on her face. "Hello young man. Are you doing ok?" She asked very warmly. Giving off more warmth than the fireplace.
I was so shocked I heard English I forgot to answer her. She asked very kindly again "Are you doing ok?"
I answered nervously "Yes th-th-thank you very much," I said shivering.
"Not many people can survive the path of Khana as long as you did. You must have had a spirit looking closely over you." She said this with such conviction. It was obvious she must have meant what she said.
"Path of Khana? What do you mean?" I ask her genuinely confused about what she was referring to.
Her face grew distracted as she looked at the man for some kind of confirmation. The man nodded, and sat down on his chair. "I'm hungry," The man smiled.
I was confused because I had never heard this man speak English once, and now he spoke it perfectly.
"Let me go make dinner, and we will speak as we eat. Is that okay with you young man?" The lady asks me with a very nice smile.
At this moment I realized how hungry I was so I decided it would be best to eat also. I nodded my head yes to confirm it was ok. The lady smiled, and headed off into the kitchen. It was long until I started smelling something delicious coming from the kitchen, and my stomach had started to grumble. It had now almost been two days since I had eaten, and my stomach was angry. I couldn't wait to eat.