Jaded Dusk Read online

  Zephyr did not consider himself an expert on the Ipta or any other species really. He did however feel like Grimtav’s plan was a considerable stretch. Were the Ipta really supposed to accept him with arms wide open after he just finished assassinating their longtime leader? It wasn’t Zephyr’s place to question the strategies of Grimtav and he wouldn’t dare speak his mind. It sounded like the cymutt army was going to be placed in Zephyr’s hands for destruction. That was also a tremendous oversight that would eventually return to trouble Grimtav. Grimtav was a fool to think Zephyr would just pass on the opportunity for power of that degree. Zephyr may not have had delusions of ruling all of Faunar, but commanding the cymutts from the safety of Prominence seemed like a cushy way to spend one’s life.

  XV.

  The grass of the Jade Plains between Lake Sier and Bizti Swamp was the tallest that Fenrit had ever seen. The grass still contained its namesake color, but it had started at the traveler’s waist shortly after they disembarked the water craft and had advanced up to their chest not too long into the hike. If the grass proceeded to grow on them at this rate, they would be walking blind and Scourge would be rendered completely worthless in the face of danger. This fact concerned Fenrit more than anything as he was well aware of the dangers that lurked in the Jade Plains. The positive outlook was that the group had stayed overnight near the Lake Sier river delta giving them a full day to cover as much ground as possible on the path between the lake and the mountain pass that opened up between Bizti Swamp and Lake Ulea.

  Nevit had gone into further explanation on why it was to the group’s best interest to circumnavigate the swamp. Plants and creatures who were unique to the swamp made for an extremely unwelcome environment that Nevit claimed only the Mortoptera were stupid enough to tolerate as a part of life. Nevit had gone on to argue that it was probably best the majority of his people confined themselves to the swamp as their biological adaptation to surviving was quick breeding. If the Mortoptera had ever left the swamp for the abundance of food and relative safety of even the plains, they would serve as an infestation to an ecosystem that couldn’t support them.

  The group moved single file through the tall, thick grass with Tradok leading the way and Fenrit at the hind. Tradok seemed saddled from carrying his gear pack, but he eventually quickened his pace as the day warmed up leading Fenrit to believe that the Sauronoid had been energized from the heat. This alleviated Fenrit’s concern that the group would not at least reach Bizti Swamp before it became too dark to travel. Fenrit was unsure exactly how long the journey would take, but he knew that even when they saw the edge of the swamp there was still a considerable distance ahead to reach Lake Ulea. Ideally, the lake would be the perfect resting spot and Nevit had confirmed this suspicion. The narrow stretch between the swamp and lake that led to the mountain pass was best traveled during the light of day due to the creatures that lingered outside the swamp at night according to Nevit. Fenrit was hoping to reach the lake by the end of the day, but the initial pace upon leaving Lake Sier felt too lagging. Hopefully Tradok would be able to sustain his new pace to reach the goal Fenrit had set in his mind.

  “Any idea how far we are from the swamp?” Alejade finally asked.

  “We should see it soon, but I don’t know if we’ll have enough daylight to make it around to Lake Ulea”, Tradok answered. “I will admit that this portion of the plains all looks the same to me, so hopefully I haven’t misjudged any of the distances.”

  “It’s not wise to settle near the swamp”, Nevit reiterated. “If we can’t make it around to the lake by dusk, then I suggest we head north and camp out on the plains.”

  “I’ll caution that the plains have their own dangers, although after hearing Nevit’s tales of the swamp I’ll agree that we’re better off on the plains”, Fenrit offered his input.

  “Please don’t tell me we’ll continue wading through this grass until we reach the swamp”, Alejade fretted.

  “The grass will begin to taper off and get closer to the ground as we get nearer to the swamp”, Tradok said. “That’s the only evidence I have to go off of to determine exactly where we’re at. When the grass isn’t as high up on us we should be able to move a little quicker.”

  “Should I send Jandra ahead?” Alejade asked.

  “Probably best so we can make a decision now on what direction to head”, Tradok replied. “If there’s no chance in making the lake by tonight, then we may as well start heading in a northeast direction.”

  “Why not just have Fenrit do it?” Nevit joked.

  Alejade ignored the comment while she whistled for Jandra to come to her side. She fed directions to the raptor explaining the need to give the best judgement on distances between their current position, the swamp and then on to Lake Ulea. The circuit would take a while to complete, but Jandra had been lazily floating above the group all morning long. She now had the opportunity to go forth at full speed and benefit the group with some scouting. She could also use the break to hunt for a quick meal, which was nearly an impossible task in what looked like a never ending field of towering grass.

  “What do you mean?” Alejade finally responded to Nevit’s comment.

  “Apparently your brother can replace your ability with a rock”, Nevit said sardonically.

  “So they do exist”, Alejade said aloud as if confirming a long held rumor.

  “You know about the aft crystals?” Fenrit asked.

  “Everything I’ve ever read sounded more like a tale”, Alejade explained. “Some individuals have even incorporated the concept into explaining how creature empaths like Arkiva and myself received our abilities. They claim either the creature empath or the mother carrying a creature empath child unknowingly consumed water with impurities leaked from the crystal. I don’t claim to know how any of it works, only that my skills have grown stronger over time with practice.”

  “Well we all heard her speak in a language we could understand”, Tradok said.

  “The aft crystals were rumored to be rare finds, but I never understood how they could have existed, yet there were no records of anyone presently possessing one”, Alejade began. “Surely that’s something you pass down as a family heirloom. Arkiva had once even told me she had never confirmed their existence. I never put much more thought into the matter after that. How long have you had it and where did you find it?”

  “I probably should have told you sooner, but I’ve had it since I went out looking for materials to construct Scourge”, Fenrit answered. “You won’t believe how I ended up with it, but I nearly forgot about it until you had been cast into the water and we needed Jandra’s help.”

  “If I remember my history correctly, the crystals can be found all throughout Faunar”, Alejade shared. “No one was completely sure how the deposits formed, but they did so underground and as underground water sources shifted the deposits fractured and the crystals were brought closer to the surface. Theoretically, a miner could stumble across a larger deposit and source thousands of separate crystals. The incredulous tales were always of individuals who had found a single crystal though. In all fairness, the crystal delivered a wider breadth of skill than I possess. The holder of an aft crystal could reach out to any open minded creature rather than specific species like the skill of most creature empaths. The key is open minded, which in itself can be a rare trait to find.”

  “Would you believe I found a whole underground chamber full of the crystals?” Fenrit exclaimed.

  “Several in one place?” Alejade questioned with surprise.

  “I couldn’t locate the underground cavern again, but there were several”, Fenrit began. “This probably sounds less crazy given our experience with Jandra, but I actually had a conversation with a lizard who identified them for me.”

  “Why wouldn’t you be able to find the cavern again?” Alejade asked.

  “Oddly enough, the mystery of the situation wasn’t how I was communicating with a lizard, but rather how the cavern disappeared after
my departure”, Fenrit explained.

  “I don’t understand”, Alejade said.

  “That makes two of us”, Nevit added.

  “I guess I’ll start from the beginning”, Fenrit decided. “I started to investigate a stream that appeared to just sink into the ground. After spending some time observing the strange feature I realized it was a sinkhole that lead into an underground cavern. Taking more risk than I probably should have, I entered the cavern where I stumbled across a room with crystals embedded all along the rocky wall. This is where I came across the lizard. After a conversation with the lizard the room flooded and I was knocked unconscious. When I awoke I was back above ground near where I thought I had entered the underground cavern. The only problem was that the cavern entrance was no longer there. Somehow the aft crystal made its way into my satchel.”

  “That is quite a perplexing story”, Alejade expressed.

  “There’s no such thing as forest seraphs?” Nevit sarcastically asked.

  “I wish I could offer any explanation, but nothing I observed, experienced or have even heard of begins to explain the situation”, Fenrit remarked.

  “Nevit actually has a point”, Tradok commented to the astonishment of everyone, Nevit included. “You encountered a situation where your mind can not offer a solution. Instead of filling the gaps with nonsense like mountain seraphs, your mind simply stored it to be solved later if better information ever presented itself. If you take nothing else from your experience, your reaction at least tells a lot about the kind of person you are.”

  “And your comment about mountain seraphs tells us a lot about you”, Nevit pointed out.

  “Perhaps, but nothing you didn’t already know”, Tradok replied.

  The height of the grass had grown noticeably shorter between the time Nevit brought up the topic of the aft crystal and when Tradok drew his conclusion about Fenrit’s nature. The swamp was not yet in view, but the group was relieved to not be met with the resistance of hiking through chest high grass.

  Fenrit’s thoughts had returned to Scourge and how his bow would once again be functional rather than impeded by the height of the grass. The sense of being able to protect oneself was second to none in Fenrit’s mind and having to rely on a knife while trekking through the tall grass was a source of anxiety.

  “Time for a short break”, Tradok said halting at the front of the line and then taking a seat on the ground.

  “I can’t complain with that suggestion”, Nevit agreed also falling to the ground to give his legs a break.

  “Let’s make it brief, please”, Fenrit said. “We still have a lot of ground to cover and it’d be ideal if we could reach the lake by this evening.”

  “This won’t take long”, Tradok said before ingesting some flash he had removed from his gear pack. “I hate to disappoint you, but we’re probably going to end up on the plains tonight. No sense in fatiguing ourselves before we reach the mountain pass anyways. It’ll be exhausting work from there as I imagine none of you are experienced mountain hikers and you’re being led by an individual that is biologically hindered by the cold.”

  “Very well, but I’d prefer not to slack”, Fenrit said. “The sooner we shut down that controller, the faster we can get back to our regular lives.”

  “Saving the world is so stressful”, Nevit mused.

  “Anyone else want some flash?” Tradok offered.

  “Thanks, but I’ll subsist on foraging”, Fenrit said rejecting the offer.

  “If time is a concern, then I’m not sure when you’re going to fit in foraging”, Tradok replied coldly.

  “I’m built to go the length of the day without food or water”, Fenrit explained. “It’s a vital skill for the life of a premalier. I’ll forage after establishing a camp.”

  “Is lack of sleep another vital premalier skill?” Tradok asked with a slight tone of mockery.

  “In a way, yes”, Fenrit replied. “While traveling, you sleep in short bursts and once you land in a secure place you catch up on lost sleep.”

  “That sounds pretty rough”, Nevit commented.

  “It’s not natural, but you can train your body to push forward without sacrificing too much focus and attention”, Fenrit said.

  “The premalier leaders are cognizant of the physical demands on an individual, which is why they’ll rotate them on assignments”, Alejade added as further explanation.

  “Yes, so if you’ve caught your breath we should probably start back up again”, Fenrit suggested.

  Tradok and Nevit returned to their feet. Fenrit had a point that they would all be able to rest easy once their objective was complete. Procrastinating on their mutual agreement would only drag out the unpleasant situation. They had all made the commitment and no one would be turning back now. Tradok returned to the pace he had been holding before stopping the group. They were on the move again, which was ideal for Fenrit whose muscles were ready to stay in constant motion.

  A noise emitted not too far behind the group as they began moving once again. The sound came across as a rustling of the grass that could only be evoked by a beast of significant size. It was clearly audible to all the members of the group as the ambience of the grassy plains only consisted of a light wind blowing through the grass and an occasional bird. Nevit and Alejade continued marching forward, but each of them turned their heads in the direction of the sound trying to determine the source. Both of them failed to spot anything out of the ordinary. Tradok and Fenrit kept their forward momentum showing no signs that the noise had startled them.

  “You did hear that, right?” Nevit asked of Tradok and Fenrit.

  “Don’t worry, it’s keeping its distance”, Fenrit assured Nevit.

  “The petryx has been following us for a while”, Tradok explained further.

  “Impressive that you know it’s a petryx”, Fenrit complimented the Sauronoid. “I didn’t even pick up on that.”

  “How do you know what it is?” Alejade asked.

  “Evolutionary relic”, Tradok explained cryptically. “The petryx urinates before it begins its hunt. At some point my smaller ancestors were able to detect this smell, which alerted them to take cover. Does nothing for me now, but when that smell hits your nostrils for the first time, you never forget it.”

  “So it is hunting us?” Nevit asked for clarification.

  “Like Fenrit said, it is keeping its distance”, Tradok began. “To go after prey as large as us means the mother and possibly her cubs haven’t eaten for days. Typically they go after smaller creatures like my ancestors or squinits. It has been trailing us for quite some time and I’ll admit I’m surprised it hasn’t lost interest yet.”

  “The fact that it’s stalking us doesn’t concern you?” Nevit asked with a panic.

  “I felt like the situation was and still is under control”, Tradok started. “When I initially picked up on the scent I wasn’t quite sure where the petryx was. As I said, the urine is quite potent to my sense of smell so it was possible we were simply down wind or we had just happened to pass through a spot where the petryx had urinated some time earlier. I haven’t smelled enough urine samples to distinguish the subtle hints. Later, when I finally picked up on the fact it was tracking us, I glanced back and noticed Fenrit getting fidgety with his bow and satchel where I assume he keeps a knife or dagger.”

  “Seems like a confirmation you would want to make verbally”, Nevit said with a snarky tone.

  “It seemed unnecessary to be overly cautious when you, Alejade and Fenrit are all between me and the petryx”, Tradok said with a grin.

  “I’d like to point out that it’s still there”, Alejade said trying to draw the conversation back to the situation at hand.

  “Can’t one of you just talk to it and make it go away?” Nevit asked.

  “Remember, that the creature has to be open minded”, Alejade began. “Some creatures are naturally more difficult to reach than others and it’s even more challenging when the creature is star
ving as Tradok believes is the case. Just think of how grouchy you can get when you’re hungry.”

  “Since it’s causing our Mortoptera friend some anxiety then we should probably deal with the problem”, Tradok conceded. “Any ideas, Fenrit?”

  “We might as well try the crystal”, Fenrit suggested. “I follow your logic Alejade, but what can it hurt?”

  “Just be quick to abandon the idea if it doesn’t look promising and you’ll be fine”, Alejade recommended.

  Fenrit removed the aft crystal from his satchel and held it out in his palm just as he had done when trying to communicate with Jandra. The group moved forward at its same pace as Fenrit began to call out to the petryx.

  “Can you hear me?” Fenrit asked. “Do you understand me? I’m the being in front of you and I’m aware of your presence.”

  The questions were met with no response and Fenrit was torn on how long the attempt should last.

  “Try offering a solution”, Alejade suggested.

  “If you can hear me, maybe we can work out a mutual agreement”, Fenrit continued.

  Still no response came from the petryx. Fenrit was beginning to grow hungry himself, which was typically not the case when he was focused on a day’s journey.

  “Will I feel anything different?” Fenrit asked disappointed with the results so far.

  “Excellent question”, Alejade praised Fenrit as a teacher would commend their student. “Not all responses are through spoken words. Sometimes you are overcome with emotions or sensations that are the creature’s present state of mind being projected within you. Your job at that point is to interpret and act accordingly.”

  “I feel hungry”, Fenrit explained. “How do I know if it’s me or the petryx?”

  “Without experience it’s difficult to tell”, Alejade explained. “If it was sudden sensation or unusual for you, then it’s likely you’re projecting the petryx’s hunger.”