Chapter 7
The next few days of their journey blurred into one another. It was to be an endless cycle of walking, sleeping and eating. The soles of Kiayani’s feet had become hardened because of all the walking and she felt herself getting a little stronger all the time.
The third time they stopped for sleep Leo made a request of her.
“Kiayani, you know how you told us that story about the lovers and the bridge between the realms and stuff?” he said quietly.
“Yes,” she answered not looking up as she undid her bedroll.
“Do you know any others that you could tell us? I mean you must know some more,” he said looking slightly embarrassed.
“Of course,” she said without thinking, it was so hard to refuse Leo. He was the little brother she had never had.
She was trying to remember every time she had been told a story as a child. None immediately sprung to mind. Leo was smiling, his face lit by the fire, expecting a tale of some great fantasy.
“What are you two doing?” asked Mik looking up from the other side of the fire.
“Kiayani is going to tell a story,” said Leo.
“Let’s hear it then,” said Mik, the shadow of a smile on his face.
Kiayani took a deep breath; she was going to have to make one up. She was about to speak when a powerful memory emerged. She had a story to tell.
“In the time of magic and spirits,” she began, “the sun and the moon where men. They were both as equally powerful and the other spirits feared them. All but one. She was a fox spirit, hair as red as fire and a cunning mind. She knew that both of them loved to quarrel. Wanting to see them fight she went to the moon and told him that the sun thought him weak and worthless. Then she went to the sun and told him the exact same thing. But she also told them that each other was on the opposite side of the earth. When the sun realised the fox must have meant the other side he ran around to try and find the moon. The problem was the moon had thought of this also. Both were proud and would not give up the chase and to this day they chase each other across the skies.”
“They chase each other?” Leo said frowning.
“It’s a story Leo,” said Mik, “a tale. It isn’t real.
“Oh,” he said, his forehead relaxing a little.
Kiayani looked over at Koran who had been listening. She had noticed while travelling with them that he said very little, only speaking when he had to give an order.
“What did the fox have to gain by making them look like fools?” Koran asked looking up, staring straight into her eyes.
His gaze made her cheeks go red. She was slightly speechless. Luckily Mik had an answer.
“The fox wanted to show the other spirits that they weren’t as powerful as they made out. Their arrogance got in the way.”
“I guess that makes sense,” said Leo frowning again before yawning, “oh am I tired. Who knew walking for hours on end made your feet fall off? Well I’m going to try get some sleep.”
“Good idea,” said Mik slipping into his blankets.
Kiayani followed their lead and drifted off into sleep quicker than she thought possible.
Every few nights after that Mik or Leo would ask for a story. She guessed that they needed something to entertain them. So as she walked she tried her hardest to recall all the stories she had ever heard. Once she read them a paragraph out of her book. In a way she felt a bit like a mother to them, the way they stared at her attentively with wide eyes like ten year olds. It made her feel like laughing sometimes.
All of them but Koran seemed to have no problem talking to her. he still seemed distant with her. He had acted normal when they first met but after it was decided that she should go with them she was always was met with the same cold indifference. Kiayani couldn’t quite bend her mind around it because it didn’t make sense. What also didn’t make sense was the feeling that she got when she was looking at him that made the blood rise in her cheeks. She thought about it a lot while she walked mostly because she preferred not to talk. Perhaps that was why the others liked her stories; maybe they just wanted to hear her voice. It was a silly thought but she did not push it aside. Could it be possible that she was starting to think of these boys as family? They definitely felt closer to her than her father or brothers had been.
One day while walking she had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she had forgot to look where she was walking. She was just thinking about how tired all the travel was making her. The bit of forest they were walking through had had rain through it quite recently and the ground was very damp. And for some reason the ground was less solid here than everywhere else.
At first while walking through it Kiayani had marvelled at the strange trees and the vines that wrapped themselves tightly around the thin trunks. But like the rest of the forest, it had lost its initial appeal very quickly. The girl was so lost in thought that she wasn’t paying any attention to where the others were walking. And it was with a loud thump that she walked straight into waist deep mud. She gave a squeal the mud clung to her legs.
Not completely sure what she should do Kiayani grabbed for the nearest tree. The others were running over to her, being very careful not to end up in the mud.
“Kiayani are you okay?” Leo called out.
Kiayani tried to propel herself forward with her legs but she sank deeper into the mud.
“I can’t get out,” she said both frustrated and panicky.
“Hold still,” Koran’s voice commanded.
She tried obey but the mud was slimy and it felt like it was full of hands trying to pull her down into its dark depths.
“Grab this,” Mik threw her a vine from the solid ground.
She flung out for it, arms flailing widely. She had to hold it with both hands as the mud was making the vine slippery to hold.
“It’s too slippery,” she said sinking another few inches into the mud.
Tears were stinging at the corners of her eyes, but she held them back.
“Calm down Kiayani,” Koran said slowly.
Another wave of panic hit her. How could she not panic? She was in a pit of mud and rapidly sinking. She took a deep breath. The panic was harder to swallow than a whole chicken egg and it took all of her strength to do it. She focused on the vine that kept sliding through her fingers and began wrapping it as tightly as she could around her wrists.
“Pull me out,” she tried to say calmly but her words came out as if she were choking on them.
She watched nervously as the twins grabbed the other end of the vine and began reeling it in. she could feel the mud trying to suck her in but it was no match for the twin’s muscles. She was almost at the edge when her foot got caught on something lodged in the water. She gave a small cry of pain. The twins pulled harder on the vine. It slid through her fingers as it was only constricting her fingers. Upon her releasing it, Rute and Yulan both stumbled backwards a bit. Kiayani released the end of the now useless vine with shaking hands.
“My foot is caught on something,” she said to Koran. At the same time she tried to yank her foot out of wherever it was stuck with little success. Leo and Mik exchanged worried glances.
“You are going to have to dislodge your foot by yourself,” Koran said to her, leaning close to the mud, “we will throw you the vine to pull you out.”
Kiayani nodded to show her understanding as it felt like there was something stuck in her throat. She waited until they had thrown her another vine while trying not to get into panic as she sunk even further. The mud was getting closer to her chin. Her arms felt heavy as she dragged them tirelessly through the gunk. Like before she wove the vine around her hand in order to get a firm grip. Once she was sure she would not sink any further she began to twist and turn her foot.
It was hard work and she panted as she writhed. It seemed as though her foot was caught in some kind of hole and she had to trying and pull it backwards while twisting it. Desperation began to seep into her. Kiayani kicked harder. And then all of a sudden her foot jerkily pulled free.
“Oh,” she gave a little gasp of surprise. She almost landed her face in the mud and had a difficult time stabilizing herself.
Gathering that her sound of shock meant that she was free Koran commanded the twins to begin pulling. She experienced the same slimy feeling as before as the mud tried to cling to her clothes and hair. Then at last she was by the edge of the mud and Mik was pulling her out by her arms along with Koran.
Kiayani’s body was shaking violently as she was gently sat down. Covered nearly from head to toe in the mud she was a wreck. The others left her alone for a few minutes to recover. She quickly regained her ability to think clearly and her initial feelings were that of embarrassment and shame. She was so stupid as to walk into a pit of mud because she couldn’t watch where she was going. To top that she had slowed the others down and now they had to stop.
Mik came over to her after a while and said for her to come with him. She followed him without a word, not even curious as to where she might be going. She noticed, however, that Mik had her muddy pack in his hands. She trailed him through the towering oaks watching very carefully as too where she was going.
When he stopped she almost crashed into the back of him because she was looking at the ground. Through the dark she could hear a soft trickling sound.
“There is a natural spring here,” Mik said dropping her bag by the edge of the pool, “I’ll leave you here to bathe or clean yourself. I’ll come back in half an hour to collect you so please take as much time as you need. Oh, and also the water should be warm.”
As she sat down by the edge of the water Mik moved off. She dipped a mud encrusted finger into the water, watching the dirt flow from it. It was hot. She wondered how Mik knew about it. Maybe they had been here before? It was a possibility so she just went with it.
Feeling very conscious of the shadows around the pool she slipped her stiff clothes off. With only her underclothes on she slipped into the water. She made it her first task to scrub the clothes clean of all mud. She pulled them into the warm water with her and rinsed them out thoroughly before placing them on the rocks that lined one edge of the pool.
Steam rose from the water in little swirls and Kiayani enjoyed watching them disappear into the air. While she lazed in the water she cleaned the dirt out from underneath her nails and out of the tips of her hair. She checked her watch regularly. She wanted to make sure she was fully clothed before Mik came back. The thought made the blood rise in her cheeks and she sank her head into the water and blew bubbles out of her nose.
When Mik came back for her Kiayani was sitting by the side of the spring fully clothed and her bag on her back. She was relieved to find when she washed her pack that the mud had not got into the inside of the bag so all she had to do was empty it out and wash it in the spring. She stood up at his approach and made her way over to him.
He studied her for a moment but didn’t say anything. Silently they made their way back to where they were camping to find a small fire burning. The others were just conversing not even bothering to get out their bedrolls yet. Kiayani, feeling tired told the others to wake her up for food and rested her head on her arms. Even over the boys chatter she was able to sleep.
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