When I woke up this morning, Eshak wasn’t there. I tentatively made my way out into the honeycombed interior of Mawroi.
I made my way cautiously down the winding paths, dodging Bachas1 in a hurry to get to one place or another.
I finally found him in a secluded corner involved in an intense conversation with two other Bachas I didn’t recognize. They were even bigger than Eshak (which is saying something) and I could tell they all meant business.
I noticed they all had packs on their shoulders and looked ready to begin some kind of journey.
Eshak saw me and politely tried to send me away, but I used my imperfect Bachit2 and signs to let him know I wanted to help if I could.
The other bachas glared at me, but Eshak nodded and waved me over with his paw. One look from him made them subside.
I ran back to Eshak’s baira3 to grab my skeen and pull on my cloak and boots.
I got back just as the group was leaving. They were in a hurry so all Eshak could say was that a friend of his was missing and they needed to find him.
We ran to our right, joined up with the tunnel to the outside, and burst out into the morning sunlight, the bachas moving like shadows while I did my best to keep up.
Faslo woke early that morning like he usually did. He stretched and made a quick circuit around the campground, checking for anything dangerous, out of place, or out of the ordinary.
All around him, the world seemed asleep or slow to wake up.
Sunlight drifted lazily through the canopy far above, taking its time before it brushed against his shoulder and finally fell on individual members of the sleeping Pasgrota.
Faslo noted that Cuddles wasn’t sleeping beside Oxter, but he knew the beetle liked to wake and forage early in the morning, so this wasn’t unexpected. Oxter slept peacefully with a massive bug-shaped impression in the plants behind him.
Other than that, his cursory glance revealed nothing that concerned him. He stretched his back, then his arms, and finally turned his face up to soak up the gentle heat from the early sunshine.
His mission was far from complete, and the threat of the Neslah hung like acrid smoke in the air. Nevertheless, Faslo felt unaccountably peaceful, focused, and undisturbed in either body or mind.
It was the last time today he would feel like this.
As he turned his head back to regard the camp, something caught his eye. Cuddles was gone, but everyone else slept peacefully where they lay down last night… except Collop.
There was a space in the spot he occupied last night beside Poldi, and his gear was gone as well.
An unusual breeze stirred Faslo’s hair, passing directly over his head. Then Faslo heard a muffled THUMP a few feet away and the ground around him reverberated.
Faslo ran to investigate the noise, passing right through the center of the campground.
As he ran, he yelled,
“WAKE UP! Everybody wake up now! Something’s wrong, get up now! Do you hear me, now!
Faslo ran past the fallen stalk of an enormous flower, came around the corner, and stopped in his tracks.
A large brown sparrow stood impassively in front of him. It made no move to attack, and it did not flinch when Collop stood beside the bird. On the ground beside the bird and kefi was the fattest tikmo Faslo had ever seen.
“Fas, where’s Kai? I need him now.” Collop said and then indicated the body of the tikmo on the ground.
“This well-fed tik needs medical attention now. He’s been struck with a Neslah arrow, so he’s got limited time. I know he’s just a beast, but there’s something different about him, and I could’na leave him to die.”
“I’m here, Collop,” Kai said as he walked up beside Faslo.
“You did the right thing. Poldi, please gently pick this tikmo up and bring him closer to my supply bag.”
“Sure thing, Kai,” Poldi said.
Faslo followed at a respectful distance, keeping a watchful eye on the camp. Nothing unusual caught his eye, and he turned to watch Kai and Poldi work.
Gingerly, Poldi picked up the massive mouse like an empty bag, carrying him over to where Kai kept his supplies. Calbat shivered and twitched, and Poldi held him close to his body in an attempt to soothe the suffering creature.
Calbat briefly regained consciousness as Poldi set him on the ground, but the pain from his wound and the delirium brought on by the Neslah poison were too much for him and he drifted away again.
Kai reached in his bag and pulled out a curved metal utensil. Slowly and carefully, he reached down to the wound and made small movements Poldi couldn’t see.
Poldi heard one sharp, short clack sound and then Kai slowly removed the severed arrow, placing the two pieces carefully on the ground just out of reach.
“Poldi, we’ve no time to waste,” Kai said. “Please reach in my bag and bring me the dark green vial as quickly as you can.”
Poldi moved to the bag, rummaged in it a moment, and then came back to Kai’s side with the vial in his hand.
Kai uncapped the vial and tipped a small portion of the green liquid onto the arrow wound.
It bubbled furiously for a few moments, but when it subsided the wound was less red and appeared healthier.
Calbat woke again and started to writhe, but Kai put a calloused hand on his shoulder and held the tikmos eyes for a moment.
“I know you don’t understand me, but I’m not here to hurt you.” He pointed to the remainder of the vial in hand.
He’d poured a smaller portion of the liquid into a silver cup. He made a sign indicating Calbat should drink it and extended it.
Calbat didn’t understand the words, but he was too confused and weak to put up a fight anyway so he tentatively took the cup and poured it down his throat.
It burned going down his throat, but the effects were almost immediate. Calbat’s fever broke and the pain in his leg started to weaken and fade.
He sank back onto the grass and fell asleep, but this time he rested peacefully.
Collop watched as the others left with the tikmo to make sure he was being cared for. Then he turned back and put a hand on Caser’s side.
The sparrow’s large eye fixed on Collop.
“Thank ye, feather bottom. Your debt to me is officially repaid. “
“Don’t mention it, pint-size. If you don’t have other fat tiks for me to carry, I’ll be off. If you need any other help, feel free to not call me again. Savvy?”
Collop smirked. “Aye, Caser me lad, I understand.”
The sparrow spread his wings, pushed off, and flew quickly out of sight.
“You’re nae fooling anyone, Case.” Collop smiled. “You’re a bleedin softie. I thank the maker for that.”
Oxter yawned and opened his eyes. He’d somehow managed to sleep through all the shouting and commotion, but nature’s call finally managed to drag him into the land of the living.
He stretched his back then bent down and fetched his spectacles from his pack.
His sleeping area was on the side of the camp farthest from Kai, so he did not see the drama unfolding there.
Yawning and muttering, Ox wandered into the thick grass growing on his left side.
He followed the curve of the ground as it sloped down in front of him. Oxter felt something drip on his shoulder. Was it starting to rain? He thought to himself.
At first, he was too sleepy to care, but as the occasional drips persisted, he finally grew irritated.
Oxter looked above him and his breath caught in his throat. Above his head, a net hung from the limb of a rose bush. The empty eyes of a dead sika4 glared unseeingly down at him from a severed head.
Shreds and pieces of the creature’s dismembered corpse lay scattered throughout the hanging net, dripping fresh red blood down on Oxter’s head.
“Do you like it?” A caustic voice said behind Oxter. “ He crossed me before I had my breakfast, so I made a little example out of him.” The voice transfixed Oxter, and although the sound of it chilled his bones, he turned around as if compelled.
Oxter turned to see a tall, lanky Neslah towering over him. He wore ragged clothes covered with a messy camouflage of black and dark green. His right shoulder had a nasty-looking irregular gash that bled freely as he moved.
An unkempt glob of greasy black hair clung to his head, sticking out in unpredictable ways with a particularly long clump slashing down over his left eye. His stygian eyes bored deeply into Oxter, taking in every detail.
“You shouldn’t be out here by yourself.” the neslah growled. “You never know what’s lurking around the corner.”
Oxter’s eyes involuntarily flicked toward the campground. Unfortunately, the Neslah saw this, and a smile spread across his face.
“Ah, so you’re not alone.” The Neslah pulled a long black skeen from a sheath on his hip. “Let’s go say hi.”
Oxter panicked and ran in the opposite direction, desperately trying to cover as much ground as possible.
He didn’t make it far. A few steps into his flight he slammed hard against something large and unmoving.
He looked up in terror at a Neslah towering over him. The creature was so tall it didn’t seem possible, and so wide he filled Ox’s entire field of vision.
An equally massive head tilted down to favor Oxter with a jagged mass of broken and irregular teeth formed into a crude impression of a smile.
Huge hands gripped his mouth before he could scream or move and thrust him back into the black-eyed Neslah’s arms.
Long ropey arms held him fast, and the black skeen bit into his neck as the Neslah’s putrid breath slithered into his ear.
“Nowhere to run, Gicha. Move forward if you want to live. Make a sound or try to run, and I’ll make ribbons out of you and take my time doing it. MARCH.”
Oxter did as he was told.
The Bacha, an advanced race of mice
Bacha language.
Bacha dwelling.
Kefita for rat or large rodent.
Neslah are so cool despite them being baddies. The different races are very fun and interesting. I like that they are pretty easy to visualize since we know most of these creatures in reality. I love the convergence of storylines that is happening. Excited to keep reading!