Chapter 25
I jumped up, brandishing the weapon in front of me. I was ready to defend myself from the strange skaal approaching me and I hoped that my attack would catch them by surprise. I was fortunate to see a flash of surprise flit across the light scaled face of my adversary who was still striding forward, yards away.
“Araceli, stop!”
I ignored Dakarai’s warning, continuing my charge towards the skaal who was just beginning to snap out of her surprise.
A sudden force slammed into my chest, causing the air to rush out, stopping me in my tracks and throwing me to the earth. I struggled to get to my claws and almost fell over again, becoming dizzy from the lack of oxygen. My lungs finally began working six long seconds after impact and I gasped at the air greedily as I watched the skaal come closer.
This is how it ends, I thought. There was no way I could fight off two skaal, I wasn’t that strong. I gripped my blade tighter, knowing I wouldn’t make the fight easy for them at least.
“Halt your attack!” Confusion flitted across the face of the blue scaled skaal as they turned towards Dakarai.
Now’s my chance! I flipped the knife around and dove at my attacker. Seeing my movements, she turned around and swatted the knife away, clawing my arm in the process and causing me to fall again. She was just about to land another blow to me when suddenly, an inferno of fire consumed her figure. I flinched back as I tried to escape the heat of the flames.
Dakarai slowly approached the skaal who was trying to shake off the flames that were beginning to die out, her scales showing no signs of the flames that had just engulfed them.
“You see, I can’t have you do that. Annoying though she may be, it is my duty to protect this hatchling.” Dakarai grabbed her victim by the throat and lifted them off the ground. The stranger’s limbs began to flail as they attempted to pry the purple hands away from their throat. Dakarai sighed as she glanced over at me, still sitting on the ground.
“I really wish you hadn’t come here, Araceli, I could have sent Ora here on her way. Instead, I’m going to have to end her here.”
I watched in terrified confusion as Dakarai returned her attention to the blue scaled skaal and lifted her higher, choking the life out of her.
“Stop!”
Dakarai turned to look at me, and only then did I realize that I had spoken out.
“You wish her to return to her superiors and tell them of our location and of your presence? If she does, I will lose my place as a double agent, something that is not easy to come by in skaal ranks.”
“No but, do you really have to kill her?” My voice sounded strange, even to me. It croaked and sounded distant, as if someone else had taken over my voice and altered it.
“I thought you had no feelings for us skaal, where is this mercy coming from? You hate our kind, is that not true?”
“It is… I mean it was… I mean… Look, I don’t know. What I do know is that I’ve seen enough pointless death and torment to last me for a long time and if I can stop someone from suffering then I should, no matter who it is.” I gritted my teeth, fingers digging into the earth below me as I adverted my glance from the duo.
I could feel Dakarai’s gaze boring into my head as Ora’s cries began to soften to a whimper.
I started as a heavy load drop to the earth, making the ground beneath me tremble for a moment. I looked up, surprised to see wide topaz eyes staring at me, blinking rapidly and gasping as her lungs fought for the air they had been deprived of. The skaal on the ground turned to look at Dakarai with fearful eyes as the purple skaal looked down at her, baring her fangs in a subtle, but terrifying, manner.
“So what would you have me do, hatchling? Shall we send her off and risk being overcome by skaal forces on our journey?”
“I don’t know, don’t you skaal have magic? Can’t you make her keep a secret or anything of the like?”
Dakarai cracked a smile, I wasn’t sure if it was genuine or not since every smile she gave made my feathers stand on end.
“We have magic, but each differ in our abilities. I do not have such a power.”
“Please, if you will allow me to speak?” Ora’s voice was softer than before, startling me from the contrast of the normal rasp of the skaal.
I glanced back at Dakarai, having looked down at Ora as she spoke. Dakarai simply shook her head, nodding towards the other skaal with an indifferent shrug.
“You may,” I cautioned.
“If you are true to your word and do not want to see me die, I will gladly assist you on your travels.”
“Just a moment ago, you were ready to end my life. How can I trust you after that?”
“You know as well as I the history our species share. It was no fault of mine or yours to want to kill the other. However you spared my life and I am indebted to you. If you will have me, I will serve as a guard against any and all obstacles you face.”
“If you know of our history, then I am sure you will understand if I do not fully believe your words.”
“You do not know much of our culture I assume?” I shook my head. “We skaal are good on our word. We may seem brutal and perhaps savage to your kind, but when we make a promise, we stick to it. We also hold our honor above all else and we do not easily forget, for we are a long lived race. You saved my life even though we were enemies and so I owe my life to you. It seems you trust Dakarai-kweii, ask her if you entertain doubts on the words I just spoke.”
“She spoke true,” Dakarai answered when I glanced her way.
I was completely lost, I wasn’t even sure if I did trust Dakarai. It seemed she was hiding something from me and I wasn’t sure how important it was to our mission.
“How far up are you in skaal ranks? From what I heard, you are someone under few authorities.”
“My rank has nothing to do with this, you will leave my past well alone, pavox.” I started at the savageness in her voice, even Ora blinked in surprise.
“Very well. But suppose I do take you with us, how am I supposed to explain this to the others, especially once we arrive at our destination? Having you come along was risk enough, Dakarai no offense.” Where was Amiri? I could use his advice right now.
“Simply tell them the truth, you saved her life and she now follows you to protect yours.”
“And they’ll accept it?”
“I never said they would, you will just have to make them understand. Think of it as another test to prove to them that you are your own person and are capable of making your own decisions that may actually be better than their narrow minded ways.”
“That is my family you are talking about,” I warned Dakarai.
She gave a sharp laugh. “That’s rich, coming from someone who’s never met them. Trust me on this, Princess, sometimes families don’t see eye to eye on many things.”
“Perhaps, but we can still try. Dakarai, go back to the camp and watch for anything else that might be out there, it shouldn’t be too long until your next shift will take over.”
“And what about you? What will you do?”
“I will be staying here with Ora, I want to speak with her and I doubt that this would be the best time to spring a newcomer on the rest of them. I will return just before the dawn and we will see where we are then.”
“So you feel safe being alone with her?” Dakarai arched her eyebrows at me.
“I feel safer with her here than I would with her among my friends at the moment. If anyone asks, say I went for a walk and did not say when I would return, but not to worry.” I forced my words to be calm and strong. Of course I was terrified, I would be alone with a monster that only moments ago was more than willing to kill me as if I were an insect. Still, I did not want to show weakness in front of either of the two. And what I had said was true, I’d rather have her here with me so I could question her and in the meantime, keep her away from the others.
Amiri, I hope you’re somewhere close, I’ll need some support.
I am always close by, Friend-of-my-soul. I am almost there, worry not.
I smiled at the mind-voice of Amiri and turned to Ora who was watching me carefully, I only barely managed to suppress my shudder.
“If you wish, I will see you at first light.”
“You will.” I watched as Dakarai left, waiting until she had disappeared over the side of the hill. Almost as soon as she left, Amiri appeared out of the night like a phantom. He lighted down on my shoulder and scrutinized the skaal who was now sitting up on the ground, her tail wrapped around her scaled legs. Her slit eyes widened at the new arrival as she took him in, and then me again. I sighed, there were a lot of things we needed to discuss.
The sun was just beginning to rise, painting the sky with a deep orange when Ora and I approached the camp. Raven was on watch duty at the moment and glanced our way as we approached. At the sight of Ora, she shot up from the ground and reached for an arrow on the quiver behind her back and knocked it.
“Relax, she is with us now.”
Raven gave me a quizzical glance but I told her to wake the others and warn them before they saw our new guest so they wouldn’t be alarmed.
The group was beginning to stir and one by one, pairs of eyes turned towards us in guarded surprise. Dakarai approached us and nodded to Ora before facing me.
“So you have decided to allow her to join us have you?”
“I have. She gave me her word that she would protect me.” It had been strange when Ora had learned that I was the lost hatchling. At first I had seen something in her eyes that looked as though she wanted to kill me again. However she simply sat there, as if she were warring with herself. She had finally bowed her head and pledged to protect me against anything, saying if she was to protect someone, she was glad it was for a noble cause. She had seemed sincere, however I still had qualms about the situation and would be watching her closely.
“Let’s get moving,” I announced. “Dakarai, you can explain things to those in the air if you must, but let’s keep going. I don’t want to be out here on the road any longer than necessary.”
Ora watched me perplexedly as I approached the horse and folded my wings neatly behind my back. Dakarai regained her attention, and with everyone ready, the five of them shot off into the air, leaving Kenneth and I alone with the horse.
“You’re going to have to explain what happened last night.”
“Let’s get going and I will tell you everything.”
The next few days of our journey were tense around the new member, even those who were used to living with different species kept a close watch on her. I was glad to see they were a bit wary towards her since it showed they weren’t blind to the possibility of an attack or sabotage.
Soon however, Ora proved to be quite helpful. She helped us find food when we were running low and seemed to know the land well.
A few days after our encounter, Ora explained to me that she had been cut from her high standings back in her home town for aiding the enemy. The only thing she had done was show pity for one of the younger pavox they were interrogating and allowed them a drink of water and refused to lash them when they were not forthcoming with the information they were looking for. She was expelled from the ranks to wander around the country side for a year to think of her actions, and that had been only two months previous. Ora had hoped that by attacking me for Dakarai, she would have gotten her back in good graces with her superiors with Dakarai’s blessing who was, or had evidently been, a high ranking official, but she never delved into details as she said it wasn’t her story to tell.
We were supposed to reach the Azinza’s sea side village within the day. A faint odor of something I had never smelled before made the air crisp and salty, Kontar said it was the brine of the sea that I was smelling. I glanced up at those flying and spotted the teal spot wheeling about in the sky. Ora had been with us nearly a week now and I had inexplicably grown fond of her, at least more than I would have thought possible. Despite my newfound feelings, I was nervous for the time that we might have to explain her presence among our ranks. The azinza got along better with the skaal than did the pavox, but it didn’t mean they weren’t wary of the group.
Atop the horse, I spread my wings wide in a stretch and rolled my neck and shoulders as I peered past Kenneth’s shoulders to see if the town was in sight. All I could see was the sparse grass that was tucked into the brown ground blowing in the wind as the leaves of the waist high bushes swayed amongst the air currents. Off to my right, I could spot a blue stream, winding its way lazily through the land. I groaned slightly and rested my forehead against Kenneth’s back in annoyance.
“You hanging in there Ari?” Kenneth laughed.
“What did you call me?” I removed my head from his broad shoulders.
“Umm… a nick name? Your name has too many syllables to say easily so I thought I’d shorten it.”
“Oh.” Only Alida had called me by that name. Her and my mother, or whoever she was. “So should I start calling you, Ken or something?” I saw the side of his jaw tighten for a moment.
“I’d prefer if you didn’t.”
“The village has just become visible now, I doubt you can see it on the ground yet.” I glanced up to Alida who had lowered in altitude only slightly.
“Thank you, I’ll let Kenneth know.” Turning towards Kenneth again, I relayed the message.
“Wow. That seemed pretty fast. So are we still set to ride up to the place?”
“As far as I know we should be fine.”
“Good, it looks like we still have a few hours of light left to enter in and get everything settled with them.”
“I guess so.” I tilted my head towards the sun that was now descending from its zenith.
I looked forward again, straining my eyes to see if I could spot the village. All I saw was a dip in the land that led off to nothing. Amiri came down from his place next to Alida and Raven above to settle down on my shoulder.
How does it look? I asked him silently.
It looks wet. I hope there will be enough food for me here.
We’re close to the pavox capitol, of course you’ll find something to eat; they wouldn’t live in a place where owls couldn’t find something to eat. You worry too much about food.
You can never be too careful when it comes to the supply of food.
I gently pushed his head away playfully as he rasped at me, startling Kenneth who had been unaware of his presence before.
I laughed at his reaction as he whipped his head around to stare face to beak with Amiri who was watching him carefully, his obsidian eyes unblinking.
“Geeze, warn a guy when you’re going to make such a terrifying sound so close to my ear.”
Amiri ruffled his feathers to make himself look larger as he uttered another indignant, screeching rasp. I laughed again and smiled at Amiri, scratching him with a finger as he leaned against my hand.
“Whoa, check this out, Araceli.”
I glanced up from Amiri to see what Kenneth was looking at. I gasped too as I took in the sight. We had reached the edge of the drop off in the land and were now looking down on the village. We had made it.
AN: New chapter in 12 days, whaaa?? Slightly longer than I had hoped but it's still a lot better than I've been doing right? Vote for the story if you think it deserves it and I'd love to hear any thoughts/ (constructive) criticism you have for me in the comments below! Totsii!