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Paya awoke that morning as if it were any other. The forest was relatively quiet for a change. The zerfalk beasts had finally migrated now that the cold had begun to settle in which made everything different. They made every night such an uproarious event with their high pitched screams that echoed through the trees. Xenu had explained to her how harmless they were from the time that she could make boots for her little feet out of a pair of the small creatures, but they still just made her nervous. Anyway, good riddance to the lot of them, it was time for the colder part of the year, when the only sounds were the crunching of leaves underfoot. More Azure time in the sky per moon cycle could be frustrating but it was just for a time.

“Paya, bring the furs and some of the ginseng, and three bundles of the fragrant sticks!” Yelled Xenu from outside of the tent door.

“Coming father!” She yelled back as she put on her deerskin leggings and pulled a jacket of the same over her thin shoulders, “Where is the caravan coming from?”

“Seemed to be children of darkness lands from what the scout saw,” said Xenu.

“My brother is hardly a scout, how would he know the difference between children of darkness and a fishmonger from Farah Bazaar?” Asked Paya.

“I am a scout Paya!”

“Call yourself whatever you like, here are your sticks and furs, I need some food if I am to be helping with the trade today.”

“Get in the cart Paya, we are already late!” Yelled Xenu.

Paya groaned and complied. Father was rude, but he was strong and vindictive also and if she wanted to eat at all today, it would be after the trade. She climbed in the back of the cart and pulled her knees up in front of her resting her face between them and pulling her jacket over her head as the two mules, pulled the heavy cart through the forest along the rutted road and towards Kenax where they usually met the traders. When she woke up her legs were asleep and her neck a little sore but she could hear voices already outside of the cart, and quickly stumbled to her feet to get out from under the canopy that her brother had tied shut from the outside. She could hear some muffled voices, one was Xenu and the other was too quiet to hear.

“We do have some ginseng as well as fragrant wood from the forest, that I would gladly trade for a half-bag of herb if you have any. We prefer the Farah Bazaar roast to the muddy stuff that we can get down here from Rouge…what’s that? Oh you don’t have any, well what about dried meat?…oh okay we will take the dried meat then.”

Paya finally got the cords loose and tried her best to elegantly step out of the cart though she could barely feel her legs as they tingled with the pins and needles.

“Forgive me, I did not know that we were in the presence of a lady,” said the soft spoken man.

“Oh you are most certainly not,” chimed in her brother.

“And how would that change anything?” Asked Xenu.

“Well, I have traveled a long way and I am a bit worn by the road, I fear my appearance is a bit under my normal standards, I just would have..cleaned up a bit had I known,” said the soft spoken man.

“It seems you have an admirer Paya,” said Xenu.

Paya blushed and looked down. The man was handsome, if not a bit older than her, not more than ten years older, but he had a certain confident wildness about him, like he knew things about the world but was strong enough to handle anything.

“It is an honor to meet you sir,” said Paya looking up at him.

“I am Baran,” said the man.

“I am Paya.”

“We do have a custom of the forest peoples that does allow for a bridal price from foreigners, but it is quite a bit higher I must warn you,” said Xenu.

“…father…I …” began Paya.

“I am in search of a bride,” said Baran, “but in my country we do not even consider a bridal price for a woman until we are confident that she wishes to be wed.

“Well speak to the woman yourself then Baran, we won’t slow you down,” said Xenu.

“Shall we sit, eat together, trade our goods and share some refreshment?” Offered Baran. He turned back to his wagon and returned with trays of so many different kinds of food that Paya had never seen before. She could see Xenu’s eyes getting bigger and bigger every time Baran opened another jar, or removed the lid from another stone box to deliver some culinary delicacy that they had never seen in the forest.

“So what are your primary methods of trapping the furs that you trade in?” Asked Baran.

“We have our own particular methods?” Said Xenu.

“Ah, I see, well I suppose that we each do,” Said Baran, “I am particularly fond of the simple hole trap myself. It just seems like such a simple and honest way to trap an animal, yet it does afford it the ability to escape if it wants to, or if another animal can be convinced to drag  a branch to the hole, then it gives it a pretty safe bet for escaping.”

“We mostly use the metal spring traps ourselves,” said Paya’s brother, gives us time to come get the animals when we are ready. If we wait too long sometimes another animal will finish off something that we have trapped, but mostly we get there in time to get it while the meat is still fresh.”

“Would not the animal suffer to stay in a trap that long?” Asked Baran, “and with a broken limb?”

Xenu interrupted, “And where does the kind sir travel from?”

“I have come from many places and from none,” said Baran, “…these boxes came from Farah Bazaar, but I didn’t get them from there.”

“So you have met some traders from there?” Asked Paya’s brother.

“Not the kind that sell what you are after,” said Baran, “but as you can see, the foods that go through that market are so varied, here have you tried this?”

He held up a shiny metal tin which he opened and inside of it was a clear egg, with little black round clumps floating in the center.

“What is this?” Asked Xenu.

“They are eggs from fish from up north,” said Baran, “so salty and yet they pop like little fruits when you eat them, so delicious.”

Xenu was tapping the glass that surrounded the egg with his knife.

“No, I mean the container, what are the eggs floating in?”

“Oh, you have never seen the glass,” said Baran, “yes it is quite fascinating, I don’t understand it all myself, but there is a circle of bones here…let me show you.”

Xenu passed the glass egg to him.

“So you see this seal of red wax around, you chip this off, can I see your knife a moment?”

“Will it not damage the vessel?” Asked Xenu.

“Oh, no, look so you cut the wax seal off like this, then you lift up on the top of it and the top and bottom of the egg fit together with this ring of pins that they have made with the fish bones….you must try these, here, dip the tip of your knife in here.”

“It is very salty,” said Xenu, “The vessel is of much more interest to me.”

“Yes, they are quite popular with the royalty of azure as well. I have heard of princesses trading horses for one of these with the right fish egg inside of it.”

“Horses? For a bit of black goo?” Gasped Xenu, “why would you open that and waste it on us, I don’t need such food.”

“Well in all of my travels I have never seen a woman of such wild and pure beauty as your daughter, and I would gladly trade you a dozen horses for even a chance to be in your company long enough for her to gain an interest in me….if you are willing that is?” Said Baran.

Paya blushed and looked down at her feet.

“A dozen horses would suit us just fine!” Said Xenu, “I don’t need my daughter’s permission to accept her dowry, but if it means that much to you, I suppose we could keep you in our company long enough for her to give her consent personally. You could help us with the trapping.”

“I would consent to that arrangement, if the young lady is willing to consider my proposition, though I would not need an answer for a whole moon cycle if necessary.”

“What do you think Paya?” Asked Xenu.

Paya looked up at the greedy look on her father’s face while her brother lurked around Baran’s cart. Baran was looking right at her eyes with his strong confident wildness. No one had ever looked at her like that before.

“I will be glad to welcome the good man to our company.” Said Paya.

TEXT: END

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TEXT: BEGIN

“Tell me a little bit about you Paya,” said Baran offering her a little silver plate with a piece of flaky honey pastry on it, “…that is a bit sticky, but you will find it sweet, many of the fine ladies of the north feast on it on special occasions.”

“Thank you sir,” said Paya, taking the tray with her long white fingers. Baran’s were much darker than hers and his hands so thick with callouses that they seemed out of place handling such a delicate silver tray.

“You can call me Baran, I am not a sir, though I have known a few, how did you catch the deer that you made your clothing from? Those are very fine skins.”

“My brother, my father, they hunt the traps. I like to search for the animals while they are still alive,” said Paya, “This deer was hurt, it was young and not very large and my father’s trap had severed off one of its feet completely. I had gone out earlier than them, as I usually do. I wanted to hunt a large male deer, to get some meat for the family, to get a lot of leather and even some gut to make cord with. I had my bow with me and enough food to last the day if I had to, and my knife to slice it up when I was done with the hunt.”

“Was this your first hunt?” Asked Baran.

“Oh no, I have hunted since I was strong enough to pull back a string.”

“So thirteen or fourteen moon cycles?” Asked Baran.

“Try seven!” Said Paya.

“Okay so younger than I began.”

“Do you want to hear the story?”

“Yes, do carry on.”

“I always check the traps first, dad and my brothers are so lazy and I hate to see the animals suffer. But this one was covered in fresh blood and I could hear the poor deer in the brush trying to hop away. The dogs of the forest would have shredded it slowly and painfully if they ever would have caught it, so I killed her quickly and skinned her right then and there.”

“How do you make the cuts so seamless for the leggings, that is really intricate work Paya.”

“It was very difficult but I didn’t cut the leg leather at all. I merely stretched it after I removed the skin, so it has no seams at all.”

“Do you invert the skin for the rest of the body? To dry it?” Asked Baran.

“We actually hang it high in the trees above the canopy,” said Paya.

“What is the benefit of that?”

“Well the light of all of the moons can reach it that way, but also none of the beasts of the forest will climb that far and rip it apart for just the scent of blood on it like they would if we left it low to the ground.”

“I have tanned some hides stretched out on some poles from the back of my elephant saddle before,” said Baran.

“Elephants, wow I have only heard of those, are they frightening?”

“No not at all, they are quite gentle. I mean, you don’t want to get caught under one in a bad temper, but mostly they are very slow moving and easy to get along with. Do you have any large beasts here in the forest, other than the deer that is?”

“Well I suppose there are the eagles that everyone wants to consume and get power from, but nobody sees them very often. They mostly live in the snowy mountains of Jaune from what I understand and they only come here to breed when the light of Jaune is strongest over the forest at a particular time in the lunar cycle.”

“What is this power everyone is talking about?” Asked Baran.

“My mother told me stories about it. Apparently the more savage a warrior becomes, the more they want it. I guess my grandparents were obsessed with it. I have never wanted to have more power to kill. My father and brother talk about it like it is some kind of special gift. Nobody really attacks us here, and if they did, I don’t know why I would want to risk my life to defend anything that we own. What do I have, a nose ring, a nice deerskin outfit, my youth? There isn’t much there to want unlimited power to protect.”

“I feel much the same,” said Baran.

“But you have so many things,” said Paya.

“I have had many more and many less, but what I seek now is more important than these things.”

“And what is that?”

“A wife, a child, a quiet place to simply live, eat, sleep, be in the forest.”

“It sounds marvelous, what would you do if you found such a place?”

“Nothing at all, just be alone with my wife, with my daughter…”

Paya interrupted, “So you know that you will have a daughter?”

“Well I can dream can’t I?”

“Yes, you can.”

“Can I dream this with you?”

“Are you not doing that right now?”

“No, I mean, with you Paya.”

“Oh you mean…as wife.”

“Yes, Paya. I want you to be my wife.”

“I…I don’t know what to say…I am just a young girl, and you have been so many places, you know so much. Why would you choose me?”

“You, Paya, are the end of my search, I have never realized that I was looking for you, all of these years. I didn’t know what you looked like, or how you would be like, but now that I have seen you, listened to you, spent time with you. I cannot imagine my life without you.”

TEXT: END

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TEXT: BEGIN

“Everything is for sale and everyone is for sale. I sold my own wife to the Scavenger Valley,” said Xenu,“these traps that they gave me and the knives that they gave me in exchange are why no one can stop us, no one can break these, they are infused with rouge, the scavengers forged them themselves.”

“And you would trust that their rouge came from a pure source?” Asked Baran.

“Of course it didn’t, they wouldn’t be powerful then would they?”

“But to trade them for your own wife?”

“If you think she was as beautiful as Paya, you are correct, yes she was beautiful but that wouldn’t have lasted more than what twenty years, maybe thirty. I enjoy a woman as much as any man does for a moment or two, but power, that is a different thing. We have it in our blood. My blood is from one of the strong tribes and mixed with her blood from her tribe, our children are powerful, one of them could consume the eagle, be taken over by the will of the west. Paya has always been a little weak but, I have my son here, he is training to be ruthless. Paya would just be in the way if she trained also, not that she is even interested in it, but with your wealth, maybe you help our cause in a different way?”

“And how would that be?”

“Well you pay her dowry to us with a dozen or two of these horses that you speak of, and then work with me and I will let you keep some of the food that we grow and some of the furs that we trap, you have a place to live and a wife and I have extra hands to help while we establish ourselves here in the forest. What do you think?” Asked Xenu.

“I will find you six horses and work for you for three moon cycles,” said Baran, “But I want nothing to do with Scavengers and I will not use your knives or your traps, I want nothing to do with moons or their elements, they are an abomination to my God.”

“Ten horses and we have an agreement,” said Xenu.

“Then ten horses it is!” Said Baran.

“Shall we cut our hands?” Asked Xenu.

“The words of my mouth are my blood promise,” said Baran, “and you need to know that I will leave if I ever suspect that you are using the Scavenger tools or any of the four moons or their elements to trap my animals or grow my food.”

“I will swear it with my mouth also, then to keep the tools, moons and elements from our work together,” said Xenu. “Does your word have any mark that is made on the world? Can we cut this tree here and make each our marks on it at least?”

“I will do this for you, though it is not my custom, it seems a good thing to do,” said Baran.

Xenu peeled back a piece of the bark with the edge of his knife exposing a greenish white patch on the tree. He made his mark of an X with a circle above the top right end of the X and another below the bottom right. Baran pushed his ring deep into the bark and the tree bore witness to their agreement.

TEXT: END

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TEXT: BEGIN

“What is it Bari?” Paya asked.

“We have to leave.”

“I know that we do, when…”

“I mean now Paya, your brothers…I can’t even believe…”

“What have they done now?”

“It is beyond just actions Paya, they have given themselves to the darkness.”

“Ok, so we go, let me pack some things, what have they done?”

“Quickly, they will be back soon, unless they somehow recover from their stupor, but I want to be far away before they come back.”

“Are you going to give me no details?…here roll these extra cloaks while you talk.”

“You know the furs that they were meant to trade?”

“Yes, like they always do, south of the Sulati forest. They usually get a good amount of food and some oil of jaune and a few coins for that many pelts.”

“Well they didn’t trade them at all. They just left them in the woods.”

“So we get them…what do you mean?”

“Well there is a whole pile of them there in the woods half a morning’s walk away, right near the traveler’s trail.”

“So they are trading with travelers?”

“No Paya. They are killing travelers, their bodies are just laying there, not far from the pile of skins.”

“How do you know all of this Bari?”

“I followed them, it just didn’t make sense to me how they would always make it back so fast and with so many gems, and so much money and food, when I would get a fraction of that when I traded the same furs with the merchants.”

“But the travelers that go through these woods are not rich enough to have such goods on them, Bari, it makes no sense.”

“That is what I thought, and when I watched them lie in wait for the small caravan that came through the forest, I thought that they would merely pillage them, which they did, but then when they were done…Paya, they did horrible things. I would not defile your mind with the description, but you must know enough to realize that we cannot stay in their company.”

“Tell me just enough then Baran.”

“They used the clothing from the travelers Paya to wrap up what only the mongrel scavengers would buy. They bent low and crawled under the thorns that surround the ruins in the forest to rendezvous with the despicable element harvesters. I did not have to wait long before they returned, crawling out of the forest with a bag of loot and laughing as they walked past the remnants of the caravan.

Paya ran outside of the tent and vomited. Baran grabbed a hunk of dried meat from where it hung on a hook by the door and took his crossbow from above the door.

“I know the path Baran.”

“It is surely a long way to safety Paya, how will we get past the valley of scavengers, are we going to the desert of rouge?”

“No, I have another way through the tunnels,” she produced a leather pouch filled with a brown herb that smelled like pepper and cinnamon.

“That is a lot of hut herb.”

“My father and brother are thieves Baran they have been saving this stash up for years, they don’t even know that I know where it is, but when they are digging it up they are usually so incapacitated that they don’t even know that I am watching them.

“So you have enough hut herb to bribe the guards, but they won’t?” Asked Baran.

“Unless they have another stash somewhere else, but I have never seen them go to it, this is where they bring it in, and where they come to get their hit of it when they think no-one is looking.”

“So you have no problem stealing from your family?”

“Baran, I’m not stealing from them at all! This is not theirs, it was stolen from travelers over many years. I don’t even want to keep it in my possession knowing how it made my whole family crazy, but this is the only bribe that will get us through the tunnels into the Valley of Traders. My family will know where I have gone, and even how to get there, but they are so addicted to this stuff that they would never part with the amount of hut herb that it would take to bribe the tunnel giants to try and follow us.”

“It doesn’t feel right Paya!”

“…look, we don’t have time for another plan Baran, we have to go now! Here grab a few nuts, and whatever else you can carry.”

“Ok, here I will get the tent roll and a couple of skins of water let’s go and talk to me while we run.”

“So there are giants that guard the tunnel, they live for this stuff. It is how their masters control them, but the tunnels can be navigated quite safely by anyone carrying herb as no giant is going to harm someone who will bring him herb for no reason at all. Usually they have to haul a maiden for days from one place to another just to get a little fix of this. My father used to sneak into the valley of traders using it to bribe the guards, as they were never able to get in officially due to their status as mongrel scavengers.

“But how would they trade, since everyone in the valley must have the king’s insignia to buy or sell?” Asked Baran.

“There is a black market there also dear,” Paya said, patting him affectionately. “Look I have it handled, we aren’t going to stay there any way, we will go further north, to another forest that I have heard of, it is cooler there and very few travelers from what I hear, and most of all: none of my family lives there.

TEXT: END

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TEXT: BEGIN

The road through the forest was only packed down where the travelers passed through as they went on the customary path heading north. To the south of the Galadite ruins the forest was almost untouched. The heavy leaves and thick thorny underbrush made the journey hard, but Paya wrapped thick skins around their legs so that the thorns would not shred their skin. Once they neared Kingslake, they cut through just south of the forest palace and made their way northwest towards the hills of Kruish. The forest gave way to a baked desert and the ground was red and cracked as they approached the volcano at Salki. They headed south of the thick jungle that separated them from Scavenger Valley. The ground was smoking beneath them and they had to strap extra leather to the bottom of their boots to be able to even walk on it, but it was better than facing the Zyl that lived under the thick trees that made up the the thicket south of Mount Salki. The Zyl were poisonous giant lizards that scraped their bellies along the sharp volcanic rock and who spat poison from beneath their tongues that would blind a man and disorient him so that he walked in circles until he died of the muscle spasms that the poison caused. The Zyl could eat and process the poisonous fruit of the Zilik plant. Humans ate only the nut at the core of the fruit, and that was a very expensive delicacy, as each fruit only bore one small nut and the poison had to be carefully cleaned off and the nut dried and cooked for days to be edible. The fruit itself was pulpy and stringy and the poison an acidic juice that died the insides of the Zyl lizards’ mouths a pinkish orange. As they ran by they saw a hare zip out of the forest with an orange gash on its back leg where it had been bitten by a Zyl but had managed to wriggle loose. They watched it slow as the poison seized its body. It tried to hop with its remaining leg but ended up just dragging the rest of its body in a circle until it collapsed in rigor mortis.

As they approached the clearing at Vashu, the heavy thorny underbrush had a thick heavy smoke above it and before long the brush had given way to a ground of charred rock and cracked and blackened baked clay. The plume of smoke shot straight up from the ground in the distance as Jaune and Rouge waned and finally Scarlet also waned and the darkness of Azure ascended. The Vent of Vashu as it was known was a heat vent from the nearby volcano of Salki. Thick magma ran in an underground tunnel constantly scorching the ground between the volcano and the clearing of Vashu where no plants could grow. Legend had it that the intense dry heat that came up from the hole of the vent had been harnessed by a man named Vashu who had discovered its usefulness when he dumped out the sand from his clothing and his packs onto the ground and watched it melt before his eyes and then turn to liquid glass. Parts of it he could see through while other piles of sand were too rough and made more muddy yet still semi-clear lenses. The smaller and whiter the sands, the clearer the lenses were. Vashu became fascinated with the process and one day had laid out all of the lenses that he had made on a log propped up. He loved the way the light danced as it shone through them. But then at a certain point, one of the lenses caught the light of scarlet, jaune and rouge simultaneously and set afire a nearby pile of sticks. Being able to use the moons to make fire made trips to the fire-slate man’s hut unnecessary and made him a very popular person around the evening time just before three moons would settle and the coldness of azure would rise.

“Who goes there?” Asked a voice that sounded like it was coming from underground.

“Travelers seeking refuge,” answered Baran.

“We have food to offer in exchange for shelter!” Said Paya.

“Vegetation or meat?” asked the voice.

“A little of both actually,” said Baran, “what is your name?”

“I am Vashka, son of the great Vashu.”

“I am Baran and this is my wife Paya.”

The spear point came up first and then the grey painted face and muddy hair followed shortly. The little man was very short for a moment and in proportion, though the spear looked dangerous, and then he got off of his knees and rose to his full height, towering over Baran and Paya, neither of whom were short by any normal standards. Now the muddy man’s head and torso seemed unnaturally thin and small compared to his lanky long legs that were easily three times longer below his knees than they were above his knees.

“Let me see your vegetation,” he said extending a small palm that had very long stringy fingers extending from it. Paya had grabbed a few cactus ears as they were leaving and a bunch of figs and some carrots that still had the dirt and greens on them.

“Thank God he didn’t ask for the meat,” mumbled Baran.

Vashka’s eyes got big and he bent down, eager to grasp the fruits and vegetables from Paya’s hands. Paya pulled them away.

“Can you give us shelter and safety?” Asked Paya.

“Absolutely, yes, my family will protect you and equip you. It is what we do, and for farmers, there are special gifts of course. I have not had fruit or vegetables since I was much shorter than I am now. Come with me, forgive my manners, I will show you my family. Have you come far?” Asked Vashka.

“We are seeking guidance to go north, there is a forest that I know of north of the Valley of Traders, but we do not know the way that avoids the Valley of Scavengers” said Paya.

“Ah yes, there are many ways to get to the valley of Alpha wolf, but they take different amounts of time, and that depends on what you carry with you on your journey. Do you have anything else to trade?” Asked Vashka.

“Well you have most of our vegetables, we grabbed a few herbs and we have our cloaks.”

“If you have the right herbs, you might take a short cut through the tunnels, if you dare,” said Vashka.

“Yes, we know of the giants and their interests,” added Baran.

“Well good, it seems like you have a plan then,” said Vashka, “I can help you get to the entrance to the tunnels, but for now you are our guests.”

As Vashka spoke they  stopped at the edge of a precipice and he looked down and swept his hand across the plain in front of them that was his village.

It was unlike anything that they had ever seen before. The shape of the huts was similar to the domed woven stick structures that many of the forest peoples had adapted to their own various uses, but each of these sparkled and reflected the light of the moons.

“What are your huts made of?” Asked Paya.

“Ah, so you noticed, said Vashka, “Well this is our secret, but would you like me to tell you?”

“Please do,” said Baran, “if you are willing that is.”

“Well of course I will because I am sure that even with the knowledge of it, that you would not be able to replicate my design. It is simply too difficult.”

“You know Baran, I have always wanted a shiny hut,” said Paya.

“Well perhaps, I would teach Baran if you would offer me a few more carrots hmm?

Baran offered another couple carrots.

“Ah yes, come I will show you,” said Vashka, “come, come.”

They began walking through the huts and little heads peeked out from behind various shiny huts as they walked while Vashka gestured this way and that and mumbled constantly to himself.

“Are you many families, to have so many huts here?” Asked Paya.

“Why? Are you seeking to attack us, or are you just wondering if I would sell you one of our spare huts?” Asked Vashka.

“Definitely planning an attack,” said Paya, “but you must admit, that there are so many and why build them here out in the open when there are thick woods not three stone’s throw from here over towards where the volcano is.”

“Ah yes, well these are the spares, the ones that ….well I hate to admit it, but it has been a process to figure out exactly how much sand and how close that the sticks can get to the heat portal before they catch on fire, and well…once the sand is poured just right the awful things are so heavy that it is hard to move them without at least several beasts of burden.”

“So you make the shiny part with sand?” Asked Baran.

“Ah, you have asked the question that not many ever do..in fact, I don’t think if anyone has ever asked about the sand. Did I tell you that part already?” Asked Vashka.

“Yes, you said that you said the sand had to be close to the portal, and not too close so that the sticks don’t burn. So you mean a portal of fire?” Asked Paya.

“Well no, not in the sense of a portal to go from one place to another, though it could…no never mind…well it is actually…let me just show you. Here take these.”

Vashka pulled a couple of very thick and heavy foot shaped stones off of his belt that had some leather straps on top of them and offered them to Baran and Paya.

“You put them on your feet.”

“Ah, ok,” said Paya.

They strapped the heavy rocks onto their feet and kept following Vashka as he prattled on and headed toward the volcano. As they got nearer, the steam pouring into the air was so loud and the cloud so thick that they couldn’t hear any of his words, though he never stopped speaking, nor could they even see more than the strange necklace of purple feathers that went down the middle of his back, half of which were singed and falling apart. Finally he stopped and turned around then motioned to a long ditch in the ground that flowed with liquid red rock. A hissing sound began to build up and he put one arm on each of them and pulled them back just in time for a plume of the liquid rock to shoot up into the air as they kept walking backwards. A blast of heat came at them and then the plume fell down splashing onto the black rock and leaving a raised splatter of magma cooling in a splattered circle around the ditch. The hissing sound was gone and it was a lot easier to finally speak and be heard.

“What are the feathers for?” Asked Paya.

“Ah yes, well they tell me if I am too close, so I put them out on a rope in front of them, and if they catch on fire then I know that my eyebrows probably will too.”

As he said this he opened his browless eyes wide and chuckled.

“So this is how you make the huts? You let the rock fountain fall on the sticks?” Asked Baran.

“Well in a way, but it is more complicated. You see if you bend down here near the rock that is now drying…don’t worry it won’t plume up again until Jaune disappears and that is a long talk or too from now…you see how there is a dark black base to all of the ground right?” Said Vashka.

“Yes,” said Baran.

“Well between the dark black and the new liquid stone, I put a layer of the thinnest sand. It has to be the right kind and just the right thickness of sand, but the heat of the rock changes the sand and makes it clear, or shiny, or something, but not sand anymore,” said Vashka.

“So then how do you get the liquid rock off of the top?” Asked Paya.

“It has to be just as the coldness of Azure is happening, then the liquid stone cools just at the moment that it was going to fuse with the sand that has changed, and then they don’t stick together. But the rock will cool faster, but I have to get it off of the sand layer before the sand hardens too much. If I get it at just the right moment, it will bend around the stick frame, then I drag it as far as I can and I put these together.”

“It is definitely unlike anything I have ever seen,” said Baran.

“Truly impressive,” added Paya.

“Here is a carrot for your troubles,” said Baran as he tossed one to Vashka.

“I was only joking, but I do appreciate it, come meet my family.”

They headed south from the magma stream and into the forest that had not appeared to have any houses in it at all from a distance, but when they got to a place that looked like the face of a rocky cliff, all of a sudden the whole village just appeared in front of them. Paya took a step back.

“This one is a portal, Baran, be careful.”

Vashka laughed, “Take three steps backwards friends.”

Baran and Paya both obliged and the village disappeared again.

“I have surprised you, have I not?” Said Vashka with a flourish.

“You certainly have,” said Baran, “what is it?”

Vashka reached again to his belt and held up a piece of grey stone that had a leather strap strung though a hole in one corner.

“Look at it,” said Vashka.

“I see a stone,” said Paya.

“Flip it over now.”

Paya gasped as she saw her own face looking back at her as clearly as if she was staring into a still pool of water in the forest in the perfect light of the three moons.

“You are not in the stone as surely as this wall of rock is not where the village is, it just depends on which side of it you look at. It is the same melted sand, but this time, I stop the light from shining through it and make it bounce by putting darkness behind it,” said Vashka.

“So you create the bottom of the lake with the stone and the melted sand is the lake,” said Baran.

“Exactly,” said Vashka, “the melted sand I call glass after my daughter Glahs who loves to look through it. She would sit on the floor before she could walk and just turn it and flip it, then pick it up and look at me through it with one eye. The dark one I call mirror after my son Mihr. When he was small I was still working on getting the thickness of the sand layer the way that I needed it, and he loved to play near me. He loved to rub his hands on the dark rock ash and then smear it all over him, even now he enjoys the warpaint that we use, though we rarely fight now that our village is hidden…but anyway one day he picked up the glass with his dirty hands and decided to coat it with the ash. So I was working over here, trying to chip up the molten stone and burning my hands because it was too hot and I had burned up all of the leather that I had brought with me for the day, and I hear Mihr streaking and squealing, he isn’t hurt, but he is looking down at the ground and just yelling and circling….so I go over and I see what he sees, his own little face streaked with black war ash looking back up at him in the glass that had become a mirror. I said to him, “Look Mihr, it is you!” And he said back to me “mih-ror” and so it got its name. And look if you turn it to face one of the moons, I can paint your face with the color of the light of jaune, or scarlet or rouge depending on how I turn it.”

The light made a bright reflection in the center of Baran’s forehead and Paya laughed.

“Do it to Baran from the rouge,” she said.

He turned the glass to face rouge and filled Baran’s face with the rouge glow. He blinked and tried to wave it away as if it was a fly.

“Vashka, this is fascinating, but we are also fleeing our brothers. We do not think they will give chase, but it is also possible that they will as we took our family stash of hut herb when we left, to bribe the giants. Can you hide us behind your mirror, in your village at least for the night?” Asked Paya.

“But of course! And do not worry, no one has ever found our village since I made it twenty years ago,” said Vashka.

“Why would you trust us with this knowledge then?” Asked Baran.

Vashka took a big bite off of the top of the carrot and crunched away with his mouth open as he spoke.

“Carrots!”

TEXT END:

***

***

The evening was spent sitting on the huge felled trees that Vashka had carved out into individual seats and they were coated with woven bark covers for each seat. The children of the dozen or so families of the village crawled around on the ground, most of them with black ash covering them. The older ones did not move as much but sat in their hollowed out log chairs. An older woman with stained orange hands sat in the middle of a pile of fruit hulls from the zilik fruit on her left and behind her that was five or six full paces wide and just as tall. On her right was a surprisingly clean square space of stone that had been framed by logs full of the zilik nuts. As Baran watched the old lady work there was a hypnotizing rhythm to what she did, every time she threw the nut she twitched her head and then would grab the next one. She never stopped muttering.

“Vashka, why does the…” Baran began to ask then all of a sudden a Zyl lizard crawled out from behind the logs and stuck out its split tongue hungrily. Baran grabbed Paya and drew his crossbow in a blink and had it aimed at the beast as they walked backwards.

“Oh don’t worry about him,” said Vashka laughing. Just then one of the children who was sitting on the ground putting on war paint pulled a blowgun up to his mouth and fired a dart at a little rodent that had peeked its head over the top of the wooden barricade holding the zilik nuts. The little boy stood up and grabbed the rodent by the tail, slung it around his head a couple of times and flung it to the Zyl lizard who caught it right out of the air in its mouth and then retreated back into the forest.

Paya and Baran relaxed visibly and looked at each other.

“Do the lizards come in the huts at night also?” Asked Paya.

Vashka laughed, “Oh no, they don’t like the hot stone in the day which is why they stay in the forest, but when the coldness of Azure comes they cannot even walk, they become slow, so even as the three moons rest, they begin to slither under the stone so that the heat from the liquid rock can keep them warm until azure goes to terrorize another land on his relentless path to try to freeze the land.

“I do not know this story,” said Baran.

“Can I tell it father?” Came the voice from the boy who had fed the rodent to the lizard.

“Of course Mihr,” said Vashka..”he is…”

“Father, let me tell,” said Mihr.

“Vashka didn’t stop talking but he did take a few steps over to where the old lady was and immediately started raking up and sorting the zilik nuts muttering to himself while Mihr began.

“The blue moon whose name is Azure, was born out of the ice of the north…” he began.

A couple of the other children picked up rocks at this cue and started banging them against the ground to mimic the sound of the moon coming up from the ice.

Mihr continued as the rocks banged on ”…He immediately wanted to be heard for he was an intelligent moon and he thought that no one else in the world knew of the ice, that could calm their souls and bring them refreshment…”

“Ah, ah, ah….” Echoed the little circle of children that was now forming around them as the story unfolded. Baran and Paya’s eyes were big but they began to smile and sat back a little in their seats to enjoy the story.

“…but the other three moons loved fire, dancing and the craziness of exploring…” continued Mihr and stood up to his full height which was close to that of Vashka. Another child stood up with a flourish and began to run around with a lit torch, a third, this one a girl, began swirling and twirling with a piece of cloth stained the same orange as the old woman’s hands, while a fourth child started wandering around holding a yellow zilik fruit above his head weaving in between all of them with his eyes rolling around and bumping into everyone while he looked at the nut, falling down and then getting back up and heading off in a different direction each time.

“…and so the other moons, said to the blue moon. We cannot have fire when your snow covers up the wood and makes the ground cold and the stone stiff and unmovable, we cannot explore when your ice makes the ground slippery and we cannot dance when your cold makes us shiver and we must cover our bodies with furs. So you may speak, but we will leave so others can listen. If they choose your ice then so be it, but do not come where we are for we cannot be where you are. If a land chooses your ice, then we will only visit that land briefly, but the lands of the ones who choose us, you may only visit briefly,” said Mihr.

Then all of the children stood in a triangle far away from Mihr with their cloth and fire and zilik nut and all at once turned their back on him.

“I will go my way and you go yours,” said Mihr.

Then they all walked in a big circle around the clearing.

Paya and Baran laughed and the children all bowed to the ground smiling and then returned to the seating area.

“Off to bed now children,” said Vashka popping a couple of nuts into his mouth as he spoke.

“Here these are no longer poisonous,” he said, handing a few of the nuts to Paya and Baran. They were black with the ash that was still on his hands but Baran tucked them into the leather pouch on his thigh. “Also I want to give you this,” he said, holding out a lens to Baran, “it will help you make fire by holding it up to the light of at least two of the moons, if you hold it just so.” Vashka demonstrated on a pile of dried wood chips, turning the lens so that it caught the light of both scarlet and jaune at the same time coming from different angles. The lens brought the lights together and then a bead of concentrated orange light shone briefly on the pile of sticks.

“That is amazing,” said Paya.

“Wait for this next part,” said Vashka.

They focused on the orange bead for another minute, and then a little plume of smoke began to rise, and then the sticks burst into flame.

“This is an amazing gift, Vashka, you honor us,” said Baran.

“I want you to live, and I think that this will help tremendously. Plus, I am grateful for the vegetables. Hopefully you will think of me and my family each time you warm yourselves by a fire.”

“We certainly will Vashka, thank you,” said Baran.

Vashka led them to a glass hut as the coldness of Azure began to settle in as the three moons disappeared over the horizon. The shadows of the sticks in the differing thicknesses of glass painted a dancing blue mural on the floor that was not unlike the dance of the light on the floor of the forest back home. Baran and Paya fell asleep in each others’ arms.

TEXT: END

***

***

TEXT: BEGIN

The next morning Baran and Paya set forth walking north. They grinned as they saw the trail of glass huts spread through the desert for miles with the telltale furrows cut in the ground where various beasts of burden had towed the huts and then abandoned them when they snagged on a rock or just got too heavy to drag. Many of the huts had wild beasts living in them and not a few had a gathering of birds or bats when they peeked their heads in. The hard cooked black rock gradually gave way to sand as they journeyed over the next few days, but it was no less hot and they felt the heavy light of the three moons baking away at them from all angles as they walked onwards towards the north. The mountain range of the valley of traders loomed off in the distance at least two hands full of days away and the desert of dunes began to open up before them and take over the horizon as the ground dropped down to below the level of the plateau that Mount Salki sat atop. After a few more days even the smoke of Salki had faded into the distance and all that they could see in front of them was an endless landscape of dunes to the left and right and as far in front of them as they could see.

“Do you have the thinner leathers Paya?” Asked Baran.

“Yes, here I can take your stone shoes Baran,” said Paya, “father told me of the tribe that patrols the dunes, they know which paths are safe and where the desert beasts wander.”

“That could be helpful, so should we wait for them or…”

“Look Baran!”

Baran looked up off to the left where she was pointing and they could see it off in the distance. The black spider appeared only the size of a man’s head, but it clearly sat atop the entirety of a dune at the very edge of the horizon. It was only there for a second and then disappeared down the far side of the dune moving away from them.

“I think we should wait. What do you have left to trade, did Vashka take all of our food?” Asked Paya.

“Well all the fruit and vegetables at least!” Baran said.

“You still have the nuts that he gave you right?”

“The blackened ones, yeah.”

“They must have some value.”

“I do have a couple of skins that could be sold as pouch leather.”

“Well hopefully that is enough to buy us a guide. I guess we should try to build some shelter somehow.”

“That would not be advisable,” came a voice from behind them. Paya and Baran both turned around at the sound of his voice, surprised that they had not heard him approach.

“Can you guide us through the desert?” Asked Paya.

“I can,” said the small bearded man with the spear in his hand.

“How do we shelter from those spider things?” Asked Baran.

“So you have seen the Arzan, have you? Well I can teach you how to avoid them and more, but first, how can you help me?” Asked the man.

“We can offer some pouch leather, and some nuts,” said Paya, extending her hands.

“Ah is that Suruf leather?” Asked the man.

“Yes, from the galadite forest,” said Baran, “do you know of this beast?”

“They are not poisonous, but they do have quite the bite,” the man said as he pulled up his sleeve exposing a round mouth-shaped scar on his left forearm, “I should be quite happy to wear the skin of the little pest over my scar, if not for comfort, just for justice.”

Paya laughed, “you must have tried to climb a ferk tree huh?”

“Yes, actually, it is interesting that you would know that.”

“We are from there so it is not special knowledge, I am Paya and this is my husband Baran.”

“Ah yes, where are my manners? I am called Roanone.”

Just then Roanone lifted his arm and a flutter of wings and a gust of wind accompanied a hawk that seized the leather of his upraised arm and then sat gazing at him intently.

“And this is Kailee, she is the reason that I was in the tree. She is very fond of Suruf meat. Whenever we go through the Galadite forest, I can never keep her by my side as she is always alighting into the trees to hunt them. This particular time when she sat on the branch waiting for too long, and I had determined in my own mind that we needed to have left urgently already, because of some disturbing occurrences deeper into the forest by the ruins.”

“Yes, we have heard of much the same,” added Paya, “are you not a desert guide? What brought you all the way to the dangerous side of the forest?”

“Ah, you have many questions,” said Roanone, “what are the nuts that you have to trade?”

“They are these from the Zyl tree,” he held out his hand with a few of the blackened nuts from the pouch. Roanone quickly approached him and put his finger onto Baran’s hand wiping away some of the black rock dust onto his finger.

“Is this dust from the black rocks of Salki valley?”

“It is actually said Paya.”

“I will take the nuts, dust and all and the suruf skin and lead you wherever you need to go,” said Roanone.

“Great,” said Paya, “what is the special value of the nuts and dust?”

“It has a medicinal benefit, that is important for my family, but it is difficult to get the black dust or the nuts. My people had a conflict with the Salki people that has led to a mutual agreement to not venture into each others’ lands at the pain of death. We do not trade with them either, but the fruit and nuts of the Zyl tree are hard enough to process as it is, with their poisonous nature. I do thank you. Where do you need me to take you in return?”

“We need to make it to the Valley of Traders.”

“Ah, so do you seek to battle with giants or seek to bribe them?” asked Roanone.

“We will bribe them,” said Paya.

“Be careful not to touch what you use to bribe them, I have learned of what it can do to a person, it soaks right in through the skin, even if you don’t eat it or smoke it,” said Roanone.

“We want to go through Pretobol, not through the mines,” said Paya.

“Okay, we will head north through the orphan tents then, will you need a guide for the forest?” Asked Roanone.

“Will we need one? What is in the forest?” Asked Baran.

“Well, we will avoid the dark wolves if we are not heading for the mines, as we get farther north we will deal with the Giant spiders like you just saw. The pretobol forest is relatively tame as far as creatures go, except for the fursnakes. It is not known how long they actually are but it is said that you can rarely even see both ends of a fursnake. They have little poisonous quills that they can shoot out from any segment of their body. They have two heads and each one moves the body its own way so it can be very chaotic to flee from,” said Roanone.

“Can you guide us there also?” Asked Baran.

“Oh no, I don’t know the forest at all, but my son does. I will send a message to him to meet us north of the orphan tents in about five days or so once we have made it through the desert dunes,” said Roanone.

“Five days of desert?” Asked Paya.

“If we move at a quick pace, that is, but you both seem fit enough to run and scamper, am I wrong?” Asked Roanone.

“We can go at whatever pace you think will keep us alive, and away from Paya’s family,” said Baran. “Do you think they will follow us into the desert Paya?”

“I really doubt that they would”…began Paya.

Roanone interrupted “..they would not survive without a guide, the spiders go on specific paths, that I could not even explain to you if I had a year, and there are many bones littered across the desert of those who have tried to guess. Many of them are my family members, I know because the maps in our heads are marked with the bones of those who failed at each juncture, and the spaces between are those who have been found by the survivors. It has taken generations for us to perfect the path.”

  “Shall we begin then?” Asked Paya.

“Yes,” said Roanone handing each of them a very thin but very strongly woven net that was flexible yet rigid. The strands of the net were sticky like dried rice paper but were the thickness of a man’s finger. “Wrap these around you for practice.”

Baran held the sticky net out in front of him and tried unsuccessfully to get it to unfold.

“Lay it down on the ground like this,” said Roanone, laying face down on the net and then rolling quickly over until the net stuck to itself encasing him as if he were in a cocoon.

“You look like something caught by a spider in the forest, something about to be eaten,” said Paya.

“And that is precisely the point,” said Roanone, “the giant spiders only eat once per month, yet they never stop hunting, so if you make yourself a cocoon by rolling in this spider’s web netting, you are food that has already been prepared and so the spider will pay you no notice, unless of course, it has been a month and it is hungry, but even then it can only eat one of us so the other two at least have a fighting chance.”

“So if we see a spider, we essentially pretend to be food that it has already processed, and in this we avoid being processed or eaten, unless it happens to be hungry?” Asked Baran.

“Well when you say it like that, yes, you are correct. But we don’t just have to use the netting, this is only if we encounter a spider. The path that I will take you on is one which the spiders do not enjoy to be on. There is no vegetation of course, but also it has too much exposed desert and direct heat. The spiders like the dunes and particularly any place that has dead trees or something that they can string their webs to. Even the dunes themselves give them something that they can attach their webs to, we will stay on the path that is very flat.”

“We do have some stone shoes that Vashka gave us,” said Baran.

“These will be helpful,” said Roanone.

The evening was spent learning to walk on the sand with the stone shoes and practicing diving and rolling up in the netting very quickly then lying very still to mimic death. Between practice sessions Roanone led them away from the dunes and towards the flat ground to the west. The ground was flat as far as they could see and the dunes were now off in the distance to the east.

“We don’t want to go too far west or the dark wolves will get us, but we also don’t want to be too close to the dunes or the spiders will see us. This path is the one that we follow, we must stay to the west of where the ground is more red, do you see here?” Roanone said as he bent down to the ground and began to dig away at the sand until there was a pile about as high as his knee in one place.

“What does the red sand signify?” Asked Paya.

“It is a gap, the spiders can sense the vibrations on the solid rock, it is how they sense their prey, they cannot see very well, but they can sense vibrations quite well. Even the specific pitch of the vibration tells them a lot about what sort of prey is moving along their web, it is a little less clear when you are walking across the red sand on top of the stone because it kills the vibration, but they can sense the vibrations on the stone when it is bare or when it is covered with the hard packed sand.”

“But how do you know to dig here rather than any place along the route we have just walked?” Asked Baran.

“I have walked it a thousand times, I have been carried by my father in a sling on his back more times than that. It is a feeling that I get, that I am no longer in the place of the rock, but that there is red earth under me. I cannot explain it, but this is why you are paying me, no?” Said Roanone.

“Yes, you have a good point,” said Paya, “So you had said earlier that we should not build a shelter, how do we sleep?” Asked Paya.

“We roll ourselves in the nets, sleep in shifts and sleep for very short periods of time, unless azure is in the sky.”

“What is different when azure is in the sky?” Asked Baran.

“When azure is in the sky we run as much as we can, because it is cooler and the spiders cannot move when the temperature cools down.”

It was the third setting of azure and Paya was on watch while Baran slept wrapped in his net with Roanone a safe distance away also wrapped in his net. Paya sat with the crossbow on her knees, which were chattering together along with her teeth with the extreme cold of azure that sat like a frozen ball of ice in the sky above the desert. She had buried her feet deeper and deeper into the sand as the night went on seeking after the warmth that it had saved from the heat of the day when the three moons baked the desert. Her head was nodding a little bit and it didn’t seem that she had been asleep, but when she looked up, she could see the Arzan spider coming off in the near distance. It moved very slowly and very carefully, but it was coming their way. Her first instinct was to scream and to run, to wake up Baran and Roanone, but then she remembered what he had said about the spiders relying on sound and vibration for locating and closing in on prey, due to their bad eyesight. So she paused and very slowly put her hands and knees through the webbing of the net and began to crawl very carefully towards Baran. She made it a few steps before she realized that Roanone was also awake. Baran was very tired and it took a few hard pokes to get him to wake up. The spider was getting closer to them and still heading their way. It was moving slowly but its strides covered a lot of distance. Azure was about to set for the final time, and she could see Scarlet beginning to rise and Jaune and Rouge would follow shortly thereafter and with the heat of all three moons, the spider would no longer be moving so slowly. There was nowhere to hide where they were, with the desert spilling out in front of them and not even a dune in sight.

“I thought they didn’t come this far!” Yelled Paya in a whisper.

“This one did,” said Roanone.

Baran was finally up and then opened his eyes very wide when he saw the massive spider moving toward them in the distance. “What do we do Roanone?”

We need to move. If we stay together we cannot outrun it, but we can combine our nets to make one and then if we huddle tightly in the center, it will come and pick us up as one solid wrap and take us to its mound.

“I don’t feel like being food for its babies or anything like that!” Whisper-yelled Paya.

“That isn’t how they store their food or feed their babies. If it carries us it will drop us into a tunnel that will go down into a pit under the desert where it keeps all of its food. They don’t eat the bagged food until it has decomposed and turned to liquid. They use their feet to hold the cocoon and then they move it with two other feet to see if the contents move like liquid, and if they do not, then they do not eat it. They do not have teeth, they only have a long proboscis like a mosquito, that they use like a straw to drink with,” explained Roanone.

“How do we get out of the pit?” Asked Baran.

“We dig, I have a special shovel that I keep with me always.”

“How many times have you done this?” Asked Paya.

“Hundreds.”

“Okay we’re in said Paya, what do we do?”

“Quickly let’s combine the nets and try to figure out a way to leave some breathing holes so that the spider won’t feel that it has to wrap us anymore once it arrives.”

Roanone helped them all unroll the nets that they were in and lay them out at diagonals to each other so that they made a weave that looked like diagonal diamonds, then they all locked arms, faced each other and then rolled on the ground until the web had formed a cocoon all around them. Then they took pieces of the web and tied them off to make cocoons at the end. They could feel the ground shaking as if logs were being dropped from the top of tall trees as the spider approached and the loud clicking of the giant spider’s mouth pincers scraped against each other. The smell of putrid rottenness filled the air.

“That smell tells us that it has eaten recently, that is good news,” whispered Roanone.

“…that is so comforting,” choked Paya.

Finally the light of the three moons was completely obscured as the spider stood over them and two of its legs grabbed the cocoon from either side, spearing it with a stream of web from its mouth and then rolling it quickly up and hooking it to its underbelly. The bouncing gait of the spider made Paya’s stomach churn. She could just see the desert passing by underneath them. The clicking clatter of the spider’s feet hitting the hard stone underneath finally gave way to the stepping and sinking of walking over sand. She felt a gradual lowering of the sack that they were in and then the whole sack shook as the legs that weren’t holding it burrowed and scraped the sand off of a large flat wooden plank that was under them. Then one leg stamped on the end of it and the whole floor fell out from under them as the teeter-totter structure opened up a trapdoor and they fell and fell deep into the darkness below.

The thud as they hit the other cocoons, made Baran’s head hit Paya’s and it stunned them both. Roanone had rolled his head under and covered it with his arms as they hit, but no sooner had they landed when he produced a piece of flint, struck it with the iron of his dagger tip and began burning away the web that held them together. The smell of the burning web was heavy, metallic and oily, but they were soon free and standing next to Roanone on the somewhat squishy yet crusty, floor of cocoons full of spider food. The glowing flint in his hand was not on fire, yet still put off a dim orange light that pulsed as if it was a hot ember of a fire.

“How does your hand not burn Roanone?” Asked Paya.

“This is the fireslate from the north, it is not like Flintstone, it holds the ability to ignite flame without being hot, because it must be struck with an iron to make a flame, until then it rests in light with no flame and no heat,” said Roanone.

“I have only heard of it, but I honestly thought it a story and not a reality,” said Baran.

“It comes in handy,” said Roanone, “the next thing we have to do is get out of here. The good news is that this cavern is a lot cooler than the desert above, and it is also a lot safer than the desert, because mostly the spiders just deposit food into this place. Every once in a while you will feel a web coming out of the ceiling, and then you must move quickly to avoid it, for this is the web that they send to gather the liquid cocoons. Though they would not eat a cocoon with no liquid, the strength of the web is such that it could tie you up with no hope of escape, or crush you with pressure so that you could not breathe, so if you hear a whistling sound above you, look straight up at where the light is coming from and avoid the web that is coming at you. It may never happen, but I have seen it take people before,” said Roanone.

“What about the path above, over the desert, that you told us about?” Asked Baran.

“There is one,” said Roanone, “but it is rare that I get to walk it, the spiders have learned to roam so far into the rocklands that I can very rarely make it across the desert without first coming in here.”

“And you didn’t think to mention that to us before?” Asked Paya.

“Would you have followed me if I would have?” Asked Roanone.

“Point well taken,” said Paya, “so how long will we be under here?”

“It can take three or four days of walking, there isn’t a lot to eat down here so ration out what you have, and I have some of the bug powder that I can share,” said Roanone.

“Bug powder?” Asked Baran.

“Yes, it is ground down from the bodies of the bugs that feed on the bones that are left in the desert. My family has gathered…” began Roanone.

“We have our own food,” interrupted Paya.

“Suit yourself said Roanone, lifting up a pouch of what appeared to be gray sand and then pouring out a few pinches into his hand before quickly slurping them up and then coughing from the dust.”

The cocoons covered the whole floor, some of them were stiff, others were quite squishy and pliable. They got used to the sound of the whistling webs that came down from time to time, but none of them were close to where they were. They would see the pinprick of light of a ceiling opening up, and a cocoon dropping with a thud as the spiders deposited whatever they had just wrapped up and dropped, but mostly their journey was peaceful. Baran stepped in a very old cocoon once and put his foot into a thick black viscous liquid that stunk more than anything he had ever found in the forest and Paya had a good laugh at him, and then told him to walk a good distance from them until the smell died down. Baran tried the bug dust once and vowed to never do it again. Roanone was able to lead them for days in the dark, until finally the air became decidedly more dry and quite a bit hotter. The walls began to glow a little bit and put off heat, and enough light to walk by, though the heat kept them walking parallel to the wall at a distance rather than close to it.

“We are going to have to bear the heat for the last portion of the journey, for the ascent back up to the surface,” said Roanone, “put your stone shoes back on, and you may want to put on any garment that you have around your legs or arms, because if you touch the edge of the stone, it will burn you. Also try to walk far enough away from each other, so that if you kick loose a piece of rock, that it won’t ricochet off and burn the person behind you or below you. It is going to be hot for about a thousand paces, which would seem like a long time if we were walking straight, but we won’t be. It will be a steep climb around corners, the air will be sulfuric and foul and it will make you cough and make your head hurt. They call this the mind of the spider. There are no spiders who can live in the heat of this tunnel, but the heat and the smell of the burning metals from the volcanoes nearby will make your mind think strange thoughts, and make your eyes see strange things. Don’t believe any of what you see or hear, and each thought that comes, do not dwell on it. Think of each other only. Think of the curves of her cheekbones, think of the strength of his hands, focus on each other in your mind, and be specific, remember the details of your partner and keep saying your name to yourself to keep yourself centered. If you don’t, you may forget what you are doing and stop to rest and melt into the stone.”

“What do you mean by melt into the stone?” Asked Paya.

“You will see the stains on the wall as we go up,” said Roanone, “there will be hundreds. They are the marks of those who did not stay focused and the smells and the metals, and the heat got to them, and they stopped, and they leaned into the walls until their skins stuck, and then they burned until they were no more. I knew a man once who only lost the skin of the palm of his hand because his partner grabbed him and pulled him loose, before he gave in to the rock. He told her, that the rock had invited him, to be pulled in, and that it had seemed such a good and compelling thing to do, that he had considered it seriously.

“What are we waiting for?” Asked Paya.

“How long will it take?” Asked Baran.

“I can’t answer that question for you,” said Roanone.

“How long did it take you last time?” Asked Paya.

“Maybe 300 to 500 breaths,” said Roanone, “I just thought about my wife’s nose the whole time.”

“Her nose?” Asked Baran.

“It is quite pointy, well it was, I mean maybe…look, this is the only way out. Just follow me.”

Paya and Baran followed. The heat steadily rose in temperature until there was no moisture in the air at all. Paya felt as if her eyebrows would be singed right off of her forehead before they were through. She looked over at Baran, who had wrapped several cloths around his head when they began, but now was stripping them off as the heat intensified. Roanone had insisted that he bring up the back, to be able to corral them forward if they lost their resolution to continue on.

“How many corners are there Roanone?” Asked Paya.

“Forty-seven,” he answered.

“Forty-five more,” said Baran.

The sweat that had been on Paya’s forehead was long gone, and the heat felt like it was crisping up the skin of her forehead, like that of a bird held over hot coals. She tried to spit on her hand to get some moisture to rub in to her face, but her tongue was itself almost completely dry. Her lips began to crack in pain.

“Roanone, go faster!” Screamed Paya.

“I have to…to follow the shadow of the rabbit.” Said Baran.

“What are you talking about?”

“He is hallucinating, just keep following…push him on,” said Roanone.

“Your hands are strong Baran!” Said Paya.

“Your cheeks…” began Baran, then began grunting and humming a tune.”

“What are you doing Baran?”

“I am singing along can’t you hear it?”

“No I don’t hear it. Think of my cheekbones Baran!”

“Ah yes, they are vibrating along with the song, just keep floating Paya, you will make it.”

“I am not floating Baran!” Said Paya, and then she took the nails of her hand and gently put the points of all of them to the back of his neck and sung a song to him, the one that she always sang when he was the most sad. He stiffened and stopped for a second, then softened and turned to her.

“Twenty more turns Paya,” Said Baran.

“Yes Baran, twenty more.”

“Try not to speak now,” said Roanone, “the blue air here is quite toxic, you will have to bring some into your lungs to make it through, but it will burn in your throat, and will make your head hurt for some days after.”

The walls were indeed quite blue here. Paya could see a kind of cloudy pale dust flaking off of them and then floating into the orange light of the cave like spores from a mushroom that has been smashed against a rock. The dust was very fine and it clung to her hands, it coated her eyebrows and then some got on her tongue. It was acrid and so so dry and then it began to burn like the spiciest food, but not seemingly fading, but just going deeper and deeper into her lungs as if she had swallowed a flaming torch. She began pushing on Baran’s back forcing him to go faster. She felt Roanone behind her pushing her in the back as well. Only fifteen more turns and they would be out, but how could she take even one more step. She felt Roanone’s hands wrapping something under her armpits, but she could only focus on the blue pain, the deep agony that was soaking into her lungs.

“Take this end Baran!” Yelled Roanone, passing him the end of a long piece of silk. “Put it under your arms and I will put it under Paya’s. Just keep walking and I will push her from behind and hold her up.

Baran kept muttering, “her cheekbones are sharp…her cheekbones are sharp,” but he kept walking and pulling and Paya could feel the silks pull tight and then Roanone’s strong hands pushing her forward. The blue had burned all the way down to her stomach and she was only taking shallow breaths.

“Twenty more steps,” said Roanone.

Paya’s legs felt like they were melting and she gave up.

“Stay with me Paya,” said Baran as her legs began to drag and her body hung from the silks. She could feel Roanone holding her up from behind under her armpits and hear his grunts and labored breaths, and then the bright light came, the dust blew in through the mouth of the tunnel, and they all began to cough, but at least they were out of the heat. They all lay there on the baking hot sand, breathing air at last.

TEXT: END

***

***

TEXT: BEGIN

“Now what?” Asked Baran.

“Well now we are mostly through the desert but there are still several days of journey left. We are passing close to the orphan tents there on the west you can see those little dots on the horizon yes?”

“Yes, I see them,” said Baran, “are those all full of orphans?”

“Ha, no not any longer, those were the orphans of the king of jaune.”

“What happened to them?” Asked Paya.

“Ah it is a long story, but I suppose I can tell you while we walk to Sumir.”

“Are there spiders in Sumir?” Asked Baran.

“Oh, no we are done with the spiders for now, mostly Sumir is thieves and murderers, but not to worry, most of them are my former family members, they won’t hurt us, plus they only deal with the people who make it past the Crags and I don’t plan on trying to take you past them.”

“Who are the Crags?” Asked Paya.

“They live in underground caves under the rocks, mostly they scavenge people who are dumb enough to try to pass through the desert of rouge to jaune. Trust me you don’t want to be sold to the Scavenger Market.”

“Comforting,” said Paya, “but you have a plan to get by them that is hopefully better than the one that you had for the spiders right?”

“Yes, we will bribe them, they are not intelligent, you need not worry.”

“Tell us more about the orphans,” said Baran.

“Ah yes, so there were many of them, let us say at least one for every maid or servant that the king of Jaune had in his house if you take my meaning.”

“Understood,” said Paya.

“So the queen did not appreciate the king having so many princes and princesses in her castle, something like that?” Asked Baran.

“…am I to tell the story or you?” Asked Roanone.

“..pardon my interruption.”

“Pardon granted….so yes, the queen was quite upset. The king was caught because he had the bad luck of passing on his prominent nose to each of his children, and the queen figured it out, so she banished all the king’s children and each maid that they called mother, no matter her rank in the palace.”

“How many were there?” Asked Paya.

“A hundred maybe more if you believe the legends.”

“So they all died?” Asked Baran.

“Oh many of them did eventually, but that was not the plan. You see once the king realized that he had been caught, he made an agreement with the queen, that whichever child was strongest would become the heir if he could beat her son in combat, even though her son was not the oldest of his children. She didn’t know who the mother of the oldest heir was, just that it wasn’t her, as the king had half a dozen children in the fold before she had ever met him.”

“So she was not his first queen?” Asked Paya.

“She was the first to go by the name of queen, before that the King was a raider, a general, he had a great tent and a strong sword and his women came to him as plunder. Many stayed as his wives, but none of them had ever lived in a palace, or anything more than a tent. It was when he came into the palace of Jaune and his whole band of raiders killed the king and queen and all the men in the palace, that he first even met the woman who would be queen. She was barely a woman when he met her, and he had only had the broad cheekbones of manhood for a couple of seasons himself, but he knew a find when he saw her standing there. His men took their pick after him of the princesses left in the palace, and went out searching for their own homes in the nearby areas, but he was the only one who really wanted to stay in the palace. His queen hadn’t really spent much time with her family, or seemingly was not put out by their deaths, as she gave herself to him easily and it was said that they had a peaceful union for many years as she learned his language and continued her life in the palace, that is until all of the strange-nosed children started popping up all around the palace.”

“So that was in Jaune in the east, and these tents are many days from there and in the west, why so much distance between the tents and the palace? If she just wanted the children dead, why wouldn’t she just kill them? Or if she wanted them shamed, why not keep them close to the palace to make them an example? Why shame them far away?” Asked Baran.

“I think it was not shame that she desired, I am speaking of a character in a legend so I don’t want to read to much into it, but according to the story, the king of Jaune really did believe that she wanted for the children to compete and he rather liked the idea of seeing which of his children would be strongest. It is said that the queen was sure that she would win because she knew of the king’s addiction to what is now called the “hut herb”, and she made it be the main reward for the orphan’s for winning their battles, thinking that her son alone would be able to resist it and therefore be the one who was the victor over the others, as she had forbidden it to him. It was said that he was a good son, that he was loyal to her and that she had taught him to speak in her tongue, before he even learned the tongue of the king or of any of the other trading languages that they taught in the palace. He was devout and loyal to her,” said Roanone.

“But he was too small and weak to win?” Asked Paya.

“Oh he was not small at all, quite the contrary,” said Roanone, “he was a giant of a man even at a young age. The queen was of the northern tribes and though she was not a giant herself, her family had been so. She was a twin and it is the only reason that she was only of similar height to the king himself, which in itself was impressive as he was quite tall. He never would have married one taller than himself, and had he seen the sisters of his queen, they would have been intimidating to him for their height and ferocity.”

“So the son of the queen, what was his name?” Asked Baran.

“Zuma,” said Roanone.

“Of the Fonzuma?” Asked Paya.

“Yes, you are correct,” said Roanone.

“So he clearly lost,” said Paya.

“Hold on, fill me in on this, who are the Fonzuma?” Asked Baran.

“You know the giants that we have to bribe with the hut herb to get through the tunnels?” Asked Paya.

“Yes,” said Baran.

“They are also called the Fonzuma, it means ‘from Zuma’ in the Azurean tongue.

“So these giants all came from the queen’s son who lived in the orphan tents at that time, but somehow lost favor?” Asked Baran.

“Yes,” said Roanone, “It turns out that the queen mother’s plan backfired on her like a cannon with a stopped up mouth, as Zuma became so addicted to the herb once he tasted it, that he lost all interest in being the conqueror, other than its benefits in getting herb for him from all of the other orphans, that is until he was so incapacitated that he could no longer overpower them and they all dragged him out into the desert and left him for dead.”

“So how did he get to the valley of traders from the desert?” Asked Paya.

“Cabaz,” said Roanone.

“The leader of the slave trade in the valley?” Asked Paya.

“Well not the same one who is there now, but yes, one of his relatives, he came from the valley of scavengers before the valley of traders became the center of trade. He had sold some slaves to others in the valley, just one or two, whoever he could handle and transport with his nephews, and they would live off of the money from that sale while they hunted in the forest and in the valley of scavengers for anyone foolish enough to wander away from the villages and settlements of the lands of the children of darkness or jaune,” said Roanone.

“My brothers do much of the same apparently now,” said Paya.

“It is not an honorable profession,” said Roanone, “I see why people of your honor would flee from such a family rather than share in their dishonor.”

“Thank you Roanone,” said Baran, “we need to distance ourselves from this place and we appreciate your help.”

“Yes, I sense this, and you should know, that I do not ever assist those who are transporting people against their will. Though I will help anyone who is fleeing or who is driven out. It is how I thank those who helped my family as they escaped into this desert many generations ago,” said Roanone.

“Did you flee the valley of scavengers also?” Asked Paya.

“Ah no, we were actually much deeper in jaune. The Ricelands,” said Roanone.

“That is as deep into Jaune as you can get without heading into the mountains or the jungles west of the palace,” said Baran.

“Well, the Ricelands are where we fled from but our ancestors came from even farther south,” said Roanone.

“You would have to be from the sea to be farther south than the palace,” said Baran.

“We are from the isle of Ramoa,” said Roanone.

“Fill me in here,” said Paya, “what is the isle of Ramoa.

“It is where the rouge powder came from,” said Baran.

“Are you royalty then?” Asked Paya.

“My family has born much shame from the bringing of the rouge powder to the northern lands as we call them, but we have never profited from the weapon that rouge has become, nor do we agree with how it is used or what it has become,” said Roanone.

“So the tree of rouge, the city, none of those are your people?” Asked Paya.

“Not a one,” said Roanone.

“But your family brought the red powder that has made them one of the strongest kingdoms under all of the four moons,” said Baran.

“Yes, to our shame, but we have dedicated our lives for the sake of our family’s honor to changing that,” said Roanone.

“How?” Asked Paya.

“By assisting those who wish to change the course, the cycles of revenge, the conflicts. You are doing this in your journey are you not?” Asked Roanone.

“I don’t know what I think about that,” said Paya.

“I feel that we are doing that Paya, I cannot stop your brothers from their evil, so I must separate us from it, and as you decided in the tent not two hands of days ago to follow me, we both, in a way did decide that together,” said Baran.

“So what cycle will we make to change that of my family?” Asked Paya.

“It is up to you to make the new cycle,” said Roanone, “it will start with the two of you, it will be influenced by your journey, and it will be established once you arrive in the place where you build your new life. I know nothing of this forest of the north of which you speak, but it may be the place where you put down new roots for your new tree.”

“I certainly hope we make it there,” said Baran.

“We will!” Said Paya, patting the pouch of hut herb, and then putting both of her hands around Baran’s strong arm. Baran smiled and embraced her.

“Shall we continue then?” Asked Roanone.

TEXT: END

***

***

TEXT: BEGIN

They continued north headed for the Pretobol forest. The orphan tents gradually faded off into the distance as they headed west. The rocky ground was desolate with no wildlife or even plants as they headed into the volcanic desert of Sumir. The rock under Paya’s feet seemed to ebb and flow due to the waves of magma that had solidified mid-crest into crevices, waves, ridges and plateaus that flowed away from her like an endless ocean. The hiss of the underground geysers and hot air vents was a constant conversation that the ground seemed to have with the sky and each hiss was like a sudden whisper that echoed across the landscape as they walked. Paya felt the hot spittle from the crack of an outcropping whistle by her legs singeing a fresh scab on her knee. Baran was walking upright and his mind seemed clear, yet he kept turning around to look in every direction.

“The Arnaz do not come here, there is no need to worry,” said Roanone.

“I still feel the heat of the tunnel walls,” said Baran, “I cannot shake it from me.”

“Ah yes, that is the blue rage as they call it, do not worry, it will soon pass,” said Roanone.

“I just feel so compelled to find something to take, to pick up, to conceal it and hide it, but there is nothing here to take, there are not even rocks on the ground!”

“Hold me Baran,” said Paya, standing close to him but not touching him.

He reached out and took hold of her.

“Can I take your pouch, just to hold it,” asked Baran.

“Yes, here, does that help?” Asked Paya.

“Let me hide it yes, I will tuck it here,” said Baran.

“The Az from the cave walls is very strong, the fumes are in your lungs, they settle in, and even the little particles will make you want things, they will be cravings for a few days, but they will pass,” said Roanone, “I will show you the weakness of it though, do you want to see?”

“Yes,” said Baran, “show me the weakness of it, for it is so strong that I am afraid that I will take everything that you have, though I do not want it myself, it is like there is something else trying to tell me what I want, I don’t like it.”

“If you approach my things, I will cut you,” said Roanone, withdrawing a gleaming curved metal blade from his thigh.”

Immediately Baran felt himself stop abruptly and he stood very still for a few seconds without even blinking.

“What has happened to him Roanone?” Asked Paya, “Baran are you ok?”

“The resistance of the rouge in me is stronger, the little bit of Az cannot compel him past his own fear. It is just a suggestion that he gets in him from wanting his body to feel a small pleasure, this is what the Az does. But the fear that his body feels is stronger so he has overridden the Az with the natural protection that his own body has when it feels threatened, watch now, he will return,” said Roanone.

Baran snapped back to attention.

“What happened love?” Paya asked.

“I was in a whirlwind for a second there,” said Baran, “I had to have what Roanone had, I knew that he had wonderful things in the pouch there on his back, and I wanted them….then he drew out his knife and I came back to myself and was very afraid, and I didn’t want the pouch anymore, but something else kept wanting it, it wasn’t me, but I had thought that it was me not a moment before,” then I was blank for a second and I took over control of my own thoughts again.

“I breathed the same fumes Roanone, why do I not have the same thoughts? Asked Paya.

“Show me your hands Baran,” said Roanone, “Do you see the yellowing of your nail beds there?”

“Yes, we soaked our fingers in the jaune oil every day when we were kids, it made us much faster at learning the dances, the weapons, I couldn’t get as much of it as our family was poor but I got enough for it to stay in my nail beds,” said Baran.

“This is why it effects you and not Paya,” said Roanone, “show me your hands Paya.”

“Here, no I have no jaune, we never touched it nor anything yellow, it was forbidden by my tribe, and it stopped the scarlet oil from flowing how it should, you couldn’t smell it properly if you were near anything yellow. No yellow was ever allowed even in the hut as I grew up,” said Paya.

“I never have noticed that in all of our years together Paya,” said Baran, “why does it matter Roanone?”

“The oil of jaune, it yields control to whatever you dip in it,” said Roanone.

“What do you mean yields?” Asked Paya.

“It cedes, it gives up its own autonomy, it is like a mark to a passing strong one that says, this is an open room, this is an empty vessel.”

“I have heard of the strong ones, we call them desolations in my tongue,” said Baran.

“Yes, that is why you of Jaune soak your fingers as children, you train which gives you skills to do things, but once your hands are marked and a desolation finds you, you lose that control. It is still a choice that you make that opens the door, like you choosing to breathe in the tunnel.”

“How could he have chosen not to breathe?” Asked Paya.

“I would have had to choose not to be in that tunnel,” said Baran.

“Exactly,” said Roanone, “but once you were in the spiders’ lair, that choice became the most obvious one to make.”

“But really, he didn’t choose to be in the spiders’ lair either,” said Paya, “so I guess the choice that he made was way back when he chose you to guide us, how is that fair?”

“But did he choose for me to guide you?” Asked Roanone.

“No,” said Baran, “once we saw the spider, our fear and ignorance led us to need you and then you were there right away.”

“But you wouldn’t have been there looking at the spider, had you not made a choice to leave where you were before, am I wrong?” Asked Roanone.

“And that choice was one that we made together, when we saw what Paya’s family…” Baran began.

“…brothers..” Paya corrected.

“Yes, when I saw what Paya’s brothers had done and told her, our choice was as good as made for us…we had to leave,” said Baran.

“But even that, was it a choice made in the moment?” Asked Roanone.

“I suppose,” said Paya, “that was a choice that we made years before. When Baran and I met and I saw his yellow nails, I told him how it made me uncomfortable, he had never stolen though, never killed anyone, never “yielded” as we call it in scarlet. I made him swear that if he did that we would leave wherever we were.”

“And you made a reciprocal request did you?” Asked Roanone.

“Yes, my apprehension was that she would not let the scarlet “sing” as we call it in Jaune,” said Baran.

“We call it the “refreshing”,” said Paya.

“But, yes. I did not want her to take the pleasure of the scarlet oil in my presence for it is an abomination to me,” said Baran.

“As is the color yellow to me,” said Paya.

“So you both chose to deny the colors that you had grown accustomed to for your whole lives, in order to follow each other instead…that is truly honorable,” said Roanone.

“But as you were saying Roanone,” said Paya, “That is the moment where we chose to breathe the azure fumes in the tunnel of the Mind of The Spider.”

“You understand better than most,” said Roanone.

“How does the Rouge not control you then?” Asked Paya.

“It is a battle of my mind each time I wield the knife, I have trained myself to draw it out without using it, usually the fear alone will counteract whatever fumes of Az that have entered the lungs of those that I assist, but I have to be careful that I do not help any who are searching for revenge or seeking someone or something to take it, for then our rouge rages will clash, or the Az will be too powerful to simply combat with resistance.”

“Has that happened?” Asked Baran.

“To my shame it has,” said Roanone, “But you need have no fear of me, we are through the worst of the mind games now, though soon we will have to test our cunning as we will be nearing the crags of Sumir. Other than your nails Baran, have either of you soaked your skin or cracked your bones to any of the four moons?”

“Not at all,” said Paya.

“It is an abomination to me to think even think of it,” said Baran.

“Good, then we shall be little temptation to the crag dwellers,” said Roanone.

“You mean the Sulati?” Asked Paya, “the ones who fled the citadel of Ruyi to live in the desert rocks.”

“Yes, they survive by looking for flesh to sell to the valley of scavengers, they are paid in hut herb as well for their troubles though, so I am sure that we can bribe them and be on our way, as long as they have something for their foray out of their holes, they will retreat fairly quickly. They have little sustenance to sustain a long fight, though they can be beasts if there is nothing for them to sell or smoke. I have always won my fights with them, but there was one prince of azure, who was with me once who insisted on fighting them, I am not sure why, but he was quite proud of his prowess as a warrior. He breathed the Az of the tunnels and got it in his mind that he should take over their crags. His mind was broken and I tried to warn him of their ferocity but he would not listen. I kept my distance even as the Crags approached, but they tore him to pieces in minutes.”

“That must be them approaching now,” said Paya, pointing off to the near distance at what looked like a lumbering beast coming across the stone and dragging itself over the waves of rocks as it approached.

“Are they big?” Asked Baran.

“No, there are usually five of them or a “hand full” of messengers as they call them, they stick together and they move slowly so it looks like one beast,” said Roanone.

“So do we just run out a pack of hut herb to them? How much do you think?” Asked Paya.

“They will have seen three of us and in their drug addicted minds they will envision that we are all covered and soaked in the colors of the moons and hope that they will get the full pinch of hut herb that the Scavengers pay for each body, so if you give 4 pinches to them they will turn right around and leave. They are desperate but they still know that four is more than three,” said Roanone.

The lumbering Crags, finally split up into the five that Roanone had predicted as they came a bit closer and Paya, Roanone and Baran all took a few steps apart and gave them time to notice that there were three of them.

“Shall I take it then?” Asked Paya.

“I will go,” said Baran.

“Here take these four pouches and put a pinch in each,” said Roanone, “we will all walk forward about a hundred paces and lay down a pouch each, then I will take the fourth pouch and lay it far from the other three and then we will all walk backwards so that they can see that there are four. Then we wait for them to find them and approach the final distance.”

The five figures dragged their gaunt bodies the final distance to the pouches that they had left with the fifth one not even making the final hundred pace journey once he saw that there were only four pouches. The crags did not even look up after they found the pouches, but turned around and started eagerly consuming the herb as soon as they found it. Paya laughed as she watched the fifth one realize his mistake at not crawling the rest of the way to the bags. The sad creature sat down exhausted while the others walked in circles falling down and cackling as the herb took its toll on their gaunt frames. Paya, Baran and Roanone turned their backs and began to make their way to the north towards Pretobol forest.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go visit your relatives in Sumir now?” Asked Paya.

“Former relatives,” said Roanone, “and no, they are dishonored in my sight.”

“That doesn’t sound like a fun visit Paya,” said Baran, “and Roanone probably doesn’t want to talk about it either.”

“Oh it is not complicated to speak of it, said Roanone. My family divided when some of them chose to let the Rouge rule them, to give way to the power of violence and to leave behind the honor of brotherhood and the respect for family.”

“So there are others of your family that did maintain their brotherhood?” Asked Paya.

“Yes, my brother, whom you will meet soon, and my uncle and a few cousins, all of us our guides, we live in tents and we carry everything that we own with us. It is our burden to bear for introducing the Rouge into the mainland when we should have left it in the ocean to die along with all of the wretchedness of the old cursed world,” said Roanone.

“How is this your fault alone to bear as a family?” Said Paya, “hasn’t each person who takes the Rouge powder into them made their own choice?”

“My people have a saying in our tongue. ‘Byzhat nemkin fuhuka menji kur.’ Roughly translated it means nobody could eat enough grapes nor hold them in their stomachs long enough for them to be turned into wine, ferment and make them drunk.”

“Explain it to me,” said Baran.

“You can’t get drunk on grapes would be an easier way of saying it,” said Paya.

“Yes, Paya has captured the essence,” said Roanone, “the idea is that the one who brings the temptation to the one who is too weak to resist it, holds a culpability, not all of the culpability of course, but it is not nothing.”

“But your family lives out the shame of what your ancestors did by depriving yourselves of homes, possessions and meaningful work?” Asked Paya.

“It is not meaningless what we do, we are building where we once destroyed. And it is our choice to live without being tied down to a place or things. It is an honorable way to build trust and it lets us live by our knowledge, and gain the treasure of having contributed to the success of people who will correct the course that we once set astray.”

“That seems a lot to try to figure out about a person at a first meeting,” said Baran, “Didn’t you say that you only help those whom you are sure are not going to hurt or hunt another or something like that?”

“It is not as difficult as you would think, people who are going somewhere intentionally, present themselves very differently than those who are chasing, or fleeing,” said Roanone.

“Wait, but we were fleeing when you met us,” said Paya.

“I do not think that you were, said Roanone, to flee you would have to be chased, and your only intention would be to get away to anywhere. Do you really think that your family is chasing you? I haven’t seen you look behind you once or even speak of them.”

“And we had actually decided that we would leave if we ever felt that her family was endangering us also, and we already knew where we would go, so I guess we weren’t fleeing by any of your definitions,” said Baran, “so what would you call it then, what we are doing?”

“You are birthing a new life together. My people send out a new couple into the desert for two weeks when they decide to marry. We give them basic supplies and enough food, water and weapons to survive with, and if they come back…”

“…wait, did you say ‘if’?” Asked Paya.

“…yes, if they come back, then they become an honored couple ‘bezak’ as we call them and we then give them the maps that we have of the deserts.”

“Wouldn’t that be dangerous to have physical maps of the desert that people could steal?” Asked Baran.

“Oh they are not physical maps,” said Roanone, “we have other ways of giving them the maps, it is the one secret of our family, but it is not through looking at an object and the maps are not physical where they could be stolen, I tell you this because someone will ask you, some day, and you will be able to tell them that you were with a desert guide, saw all that he possessed and that he had no map. Look I show you my pack right now.”

Roanone took the leather pouch from his back and laid it out as he spoke. It was simple leather but very supple and worn. In it was a Flintstone, a knife, a lens of Vashu, a couple of small pouches with various herbs in them a roll of braided  animal gut about the height of three men and some pouches of dried meat, bug dust and an extra face cloth. The edging of the pouch was stitched also with a leather lace that wove in and out of both sides. He folded the pouch up, put the strap over his shoulder and with a flourish began to walk toward the forest.

“You will like my brother. He is quite a bit younger than me, he is a feisty one.”

“Where will he meet us?” Asked Baran.

“Tomorrow he will meet us closer to the forest, he does not like the rocky desert, he is much more of a forest dweller, you will be shocked at how much lighter his skin is, I always tell him he is as pale as the roots of the trees that he has hidden under his whole life. He says that my wrinkled skin makes me look like his grandfather, we have good talks in the rare moments when we meet each other.”

“Wait, how did you even send a message to your brother, you have been with us the whole time since we met you?” Asked Paya.

“Do you remember Kailee?” Asked Roanone.

“I had almost forgotten,” said Paya.

“So you sent him a message with the hawk?” Asked Baran.

“Yes, just after we met.”

“Fascinating!” Said Paya, “But how does she know what to say?”

“Ah, no she does not speak, I merely hang the weight on her talon, her destination depends on which leg I attach the weight to,” said Roanone.

“And your brother just knows what you want when she shows up?”

“We have our coding system, another of our secrets, but yes, he will know.”

“I never knew that the birds could be so intelligent,” said Paya.

“In the forest they are worshipped as gods, but somehow still not considered to be intelligent,” said Paya.

“That has always been curious to me how the forest peoples simultaneously worship the very birds that they seek to eat,” said Baran.

“I have never heard of a people who eats their own gods!” Said Roanone.

“Well the reasoning that my father explained to me is that in the bones of the great eagles is a concentration of the jaune, from all of the other birds that the great eagles feast on throughout their lives, such that if one can eat those bones, they will absorb the oldest and purest form of the Jaune oil, and that with it, they will be able to yield control to the strongest of the wills from the old world,” said Paya.

“Has anyone ever done it?” Asked Roanone.

“There is only one living who can be controlled by the eastern will of the old world, so there must be one who has done it, and they would be replaced only by one who had more oil of jaune in them than the current master of jaune,” said Baran.

“Do you know who that is?” Asked Paya.

“I do not,” said Baran, “remember that I left Jaune behind when I was a child, back then the master lived in the palace of Jaune, when he wasn’t in the Tealands or the Bayou, he was very old then, I don’t know if he is still alive or if someone else has now ‘given their will to the East’ as they say.”

“I have heard rumors,” said Roanone, “of a wild daughter of the forest who had sought to consume the eagle, but surely if she had found it we would have heard of her by now. It is curious that so great a power would be dormant for so long though. The wills of the north, the south and the west still wage great wars against each other, but the east has been quiet for a long time,” said Roanone.

“So you are saying that, much like the master of Jaune, that there are similar masters in Azure, Rouge and Scarlet?” Asked Paya.

“It is different, it is not so much a single person in the other lands”, said Roanone, “with Rouge, the fierceness and the strength is available from the powder, but it takes a very strong will exerting itself over a long period of time to hold a kingdom by violence alone. They say that the Will of the South is itself impetuous and that it does not partner well, instead fleeing from place to place eager for the next fight. The Will of Azure is not interested in the people, it hates to be owned or controlled at all, it just wants them all to go away, but it will partner with the one who takes the most, and who is relentless in doing so, it is like a harvester that cares not for the grain, the roots or even the soil. The Will of Scarlet does love the act of consuming the people, it loves to dwell in as many as it can, whichever ones will give themselves over to feeding the beast, and to making more children and bringing more friends, family or even foes into the place where they too can feed the beast. So Scarlet comes through the senses, through the addictions that eventually focus only on getting more of the moment of the fix.”

TEXT: END

***

***

TEXT: BEGIN

They were coming to the edge of the desert and soon the Pretobol forest loomed before them. As they got closer to the trees, Paya was overwhelmed by the sheer height of them. The Galadite forest was like an herb garden compared to these massive trees. Even the ground inside of the forest was dark, it almost looked like night beneath the trees, though the lights of Rouge, Scarlet and Jaune were all blazing in the sky. They drew within a hundred paces of the wood when all of a sudden Kailee burst out of the darkness from among the trees flying at full speed toward Roanone before swooping upwards at the last second and flying around them all high in the sky finally alighting on the arm of a laughing Roanone.

“Kailee, you are back I see!” Said Roanone, “…and where is?..” He began.

Just then a very thin quiet figure dressed in white stepped out of the darkness of the trees and stood staring at them.

“Brother! Ku mai yee shi ma kumbit!” Yelled Roanone, running to embrace him.

The figure smiled and put out his arms and embraced him.

“How are things in the dark forest?” Asked Roanone.

“We have better food hiding under rocks than the whole desert has on its finest plates!” Said Zim.

“We do not eat bugs in the desert Zim! Well at least until they have disintegrated into dust,” said Roanone.

“And who are these brother?” Asked Zim motioning at Baran and Paya.

“This is Baran and this is Paya, they will be giving some gifts to the giants at the tunnel so that they can get through the valley to the woods of the Alpha Wolf.

“Alpha seekers huh?” Asked Zim, “Well, I can get you to the giants, but from there you are on your own, I don’t really like the direct light of the moons you see.”

“Which explains why you don’t live in the desert anymore,” said Paya.

“Oh I have never lived in the desert,” said Zim.

“…but Roanone,” began Baran.

“…oh he has only been in the desert since the family broke apart,” said Zim, “we all grew up in this forest.”

“We both came out of the dark, I just like to think that I found the light and liked it more,” said Roanone.

“My brother likes to see the beasts coming from a distance, but I don’t mind the thrill of a sneak attack coming at me everyone once in a while,” said Zim. Here he squatted down and turned his head quickly striking at an invisible enemy.

“Shall we get moving then?” Asked Paya.

“There is the small matter of my price,” said Zim.

“He does love Zyl nuts,” said Roanone.

“I do,” said Zim.

“Then it is done,” said Baran, producing the pouch full of nuts that Vashka had given them.

“Ooh, is this black dust from the Vashu rock also? How did you know that was my favorite?”

“Umm…” began Baran.

“…Well I must be going,” said Roanone, “I do hope that we meet again and may the moons speed your way north.”

“Thank you Roanone, we owe you our lives,” said Paya.

“We are truly grateful,” said Baran.

Roanone lifted his arm at which Kailee immediately appeared again from the top of the trees and alighted on it. He gave her a Zyl nut and she shrieked happily.

“So there are a few tunnels that lead into the Valley of Traders from within the forest, is there a particular one that you like? Do you have a favorite giant that you like to bribe or anything?” Asked Zim.

“…not particularly…” began Baran, “Paya do you?”

“The one that we used to use was quite hairy, but I would not say that he was my favorite.”

“Do you mean old Cabaz? Covered with tattoos, big white beard?”

“Yes, that one exactly.”

“Wow your family must have been pretty nasty, no offense meant of course.”

“They still are actually,” said Baran to which Paya elbowed him in the ribs.

“Either way, he is no longer available, as he is currently trafficking in people being sold into slavery against their will, plus he used to control just the one tunnel coming in just west of the valley of lost maidens. Let’s just say that I am not friends with the queen that runs that portion of the forest anymore,” said Zim.

“So there is more than one queen of the forest?” Asked Paya.

“Three actually, they are all sisters, none of them are particularly evil on their own, but Smaj ended up with a pretty wicked great grandson named Beli who has locked down that part of the forest completely, it might as well be a Crag refuge for the chance anyone who goes there has of surviving a night in one piece. He has a lot of sons, one of them is actually the king of Rouge but most of them are just as vicious as he was.”

“So who are the other two queens then? Are we safer with either of them?”

“Ah yes, Fazam and Pyk are the others, I get along pretty well with both of them, though only one of them really controls the tunnel into the Valley of Traders.”

“Fazam is a lot more aware of the other kingdoms than Pyk is. They say her slightly lighter skin helped her identify better with the peoples of Azure, though it was the thing that they teased her most about when we were growing up,” said Zim.

“Wait did you say that you grew up with her? Doesn’t she have great grandchildren and you don’t look a day older than fifty moon cycles,” said Paya.

“Try a hundred and fifty,” laughed Zim.

“I guess the Rouge dust has done you well,” said Baran.

“Never joke about that,” said Zim very seriously.

“I…I am…”stammered Baran.

“I jest, said Zim, you are right, it does sustain life quite a bit. Though it has not been a happy one, mostly.”

“But you seem to be quite happy now,” said Baran.

“Oh I am,” said Zim, “finally found a good woman. It only took me a hundred and forty-seven moon cycles but we are quite happy. She loves these too,” he said as he opened the pouch and popped a Zyl nut into his mouth, “she is from just behind Sumir towards Vashu, so she grew up with these all around.

“So how do we get to the mouth of the tunnel?” Asked Baran.

It will be a few days journey through the forest. We have to get permission to pass through each portion. The peoples are very tribal and we will have to persuade them however we can in each village to allow us to pass. They know me, but it is not a small thing to just go from one place to another. They do not trust each other and let’s just say, there has been a lot of betrayal.”

“Do they sell each other like the Sumir?” Asked Paya.

“No it is much more revenge and imprisonment here,” said Roanone, “they hold grudges for generations, there are fights still being fought from hundreds if not thousands of moon cycles ago. I have joked with them before that their fights are so old they seem to go back to the old world. There is but one Will of the South but I personally feel that it is a fragmented one, desiring revenge in the moment, yet also desiring the long punishment for their foes. They are very different things. It is strange but the Pretobol peoples do not even seem to fall along family or tribal lines, in which ones will seek revenge and which ones will seek imprisonment of their enemies. Some of the daughters and sons of even the most wicked tribes will end up being fair and just leaders. Like take Pretobol himself. He wasn’t a patriarch of the clans…”

Baran interrupted, “…I thought he was the father of the queens…”

“Oh no,” said Zim, “would you like a Zyl nut, these are so good.”

“No thanks you enjoy them…” said Baran.

“Oh yes, as I was saying, Pretobol was just a son, just a man in a tribe, he liked to walk through the forest and he found things while he was walking, things that he liked to eat or look at or drink or whatever. He started gathering them as he walked and then one day as he came out of the woods, there was a caravan there of traders coming down through the salt forest of all things. They had begun to make their way towards Jaune and they had thought that they would pass through the Valley of Scavengers…”

“…that wouldn’t have worked out well,” said Paya.

“…no not at all,” said Roanone, “so just then Pretobol was coming out of the forest with his bag on his back and the caravan sees him and sends a man over to talk to him. He was a giant from the Qyst peoples, a good giant, and the leader of the caravan. They had given up trying to trade with Scarlet in the north when they began to purge the villages of giants. That was your hairy guy Cabaz that led that effort.”

“…not my guy,” said Paya, “just a thug that we met along the way.”

“…anyway, the caravan from the salt forest had salt to trade and they came over to sit in the shade of the trees and he had laid his bag open with the different berries and herbs and things that he had gathered as he went through the forest, mushrooms, lots of things and so they traded him some salt and were about to go on their way towards jaune. They didn’t speak the same tongue, but he managed to dissuade them, pantomiming the death and destruction ahead were they to continue on their path.”

“Did they listen?” Asked Baran.

“They did actually, or so the legend says, so the trade opened up between the forest peoples and the salt forest. It led to a lot of great things for both of them and gradually pretobol learned enough words for them to communicate. They had always dried their leftover meat, but adding the salt to it, added so much more to the variety of things that they could preserve. The qyst also knew about tapping certain trees for sugar, and under which trees to dig for certain minerals, as they were a mining people. It turned out very good for both peoples,” said Zim.

“So that is why they named the forest after him, because of the trade?” Asked Paya.

“Yes, he was the only one who ever came out of the forest and they only knew his name, none of the Qyst ever knew that there was ever more than just him living in those woods. He told them of his people but never by names, and the Qyst were content to trade and to keep their distance.”

“So who do we need to talk to get permission or blessing or whatever we need to get to the next position in the forest?” Asked Paya.

“Ah yes, we will first encounter Pija’s clan. They are very dark and almost impossible to see in the limited light of the forest. They are a good people but they do not trust anyone, and with good reason. They are the closest to the edge of the wood and have been invaded the most over the years. Mostly they will just want you to get through without touching, cutting trees or killing any of their animals.”

“I think we can do that without too much trouble,” said Baran.

“And also, do not speak, not one word. Just follow me and do exactly as I do, if I lay down, lay down. If I jump, jump just as I do. Imitate me exactly. It is how they will know that you are traveling under my authority. They will not be afraid of you if you are willing to imitate anything that I do, no matter how silly it may seem. Are we clear?” Asked Zim.

“It makes sense,” said Paya, “so we will follow you.”

They walked slowly as they first entered the wood, the amount of darkness was truly incredible. If Paya turned around and looked behind them she could see the light of the desert, but it did not penetrate to the woods at all. The canopy blocked all the light of all of the moons. It could have been only Azure in the sky for all that they knew in these deep woods.

“Paya, Baran. Touch my hand one of you and the other hold hands also, keep a chain. No more words now. I will be the next to speak.”

Paya held Zim’s long slender fingers tentatively and gripped Baran’s with her whole strength. He walked a little quicker than she was comfortable moving, since she could not see her feet or even her hand in front of her. Baran’s breathing was constant, if not a little to loud for a person trying to be stealthy, but she held his hand as firmly as she could. Zim gripped Paya’s hand more firmly, moving their palms together and he pulled her up a slight incline. Paya did the same for Baran straining her back a bit as she pulled Baran up with Zim pulling her other arm and supporting her. When they got up to the level of the new clearing there was a little bit of light. The moss on the trees were putting out some bioluminescence that glowed in a blue-green and looked like little clouds floating in the darkness in front of them. Red eyes hovered in the air between the little clouds of light. Paya put up her hand to try and touch one of the clouds as they walked toward it and immediately rapped her knuckles on the hard bark of a tree. She whimpered a bit at the pain and sucked on her knuckle a second where the skin had ripped off. They were approaching a little semicircle of clouds that spread out in a pretty big arch in front of them and about four heights of a man above the ground from where they were standing when Paya felt the sharp point of the spear in her back.

“Mazu kumbawapi, fuzumakab!” Said the voice.

Zim responded, “Fuzu maka Zim bai maka Paya, bai mako Baran.”

The spear went down and Paya heard a hundred spears clank to the ground all around them.

Zim spoke again, “Mazu me kha jan, vin ka la mesi.”

The spears clattered as they were picked up again.

“Vin ka la mesi, jin gy za mayik,” said the spear holder.

“They want you to pass your bag to them,” said Zim.

“What my whole bag?” Asked Baran.

“Do it Bari,” said Paya.

Baran pulled his shoulder bag strap off over his head and hung it on the end of the spear that was in his back.

“Va zunka. Vin ya trebet,” said Zim, “I told them that is all that we have, do not worry they will only take one thing, but they want to see all of the things, because it will tell them of who you are and if they can trust you.”

The spear bearer looked through all of the things one by one holding a handful of the bioluminescent moss draped over his arm as he scanned through the items. He finally settled on the small skin pouch that Baran had put the Zyl nuts into. He dumped it out into the bigger pouch and held it up. The black dust from the rocks of Vashu stained his fingers which he then quickly wiped on his legs staining them. A few snickers broke out from among the spears and the man paused for a second. Paya was sure that there would be violence, but then the spear holder let out a deep hearty laugh holding up the little pouch of skin and showing it to everyone in the group.

“What is he saying Zim?” Whispered Paya.

“He says that he has sought the skin of this little creature for many moon cycles and he is glad that the Will of the South has brought him its carcass, for he has longed to have it.”

“Those little things are quite annoying,” said Baran. That is a Quilquift skin. They regularly rob the bait from our traps and escape without harm. I only caught that one after setting a second trap hidden under the leaves inside of the larger trap so that when it jumped over the dummy trap, it got caught in the second one.”

“Can I tell him that story?” Asked Zim, “it will probably help us to gain favor in his sight.”

“Go right ahead,” said Baran.

The spear bearer was now looking up at them and the circle was silent.

“Ku ba rime, za na Quilquift, muzee Zhang. Zara bumki, jahk fi ba sumilit. Fin kza jula Zhang jubang kol,” explained Zim.

The whole tribe began to bang their spears on the ground in unison and the atmosphere completely changed. They rushed over and grabbed Baran from Paya’s side. She smiled up at him as the loin cloth clad warriors hoisted Baran onto their shoulders and began to run around in circles with him.

“Can you explain the change in mood Zim?” Asked Paya.

“Ah yes, I forgot to translate for you,” said Zim, “they loved the trickery that Baran used. You see the Quilquift is a very useful creature to them, they use it to hunt the fursnake, but not in a traditional way. They call the Quilquift by another name. Zhang is what they call it. Anyway, they feed the Zhang for a long time until it is very full and very fat, and then they let it loose in the woods. The Zhang sleeps because to its body, the darkness and the fullness put it into a state of hibernation and while it sleeps, the fursnake swallows it whole. But the skin of the Zhang is resistant to the acids of the fursnake’s stomach and so it does not digest, instead it wakes up, bares its sharp claws and rips its way out of the fursnake killing it in the process. It is worshipped as a tricky beast, even trickier than the feared fursnake that ravages the villages in the forest regularly eating the small sheep and goats, chickens and any other small animal left unattended on the ground. You will see in their village, that each animal must be hung in a cage at night, it is quite a sight to see, but the fursnake cannot climb so it is the only way to do it.”

“So here is another culture that celebrates the death of one of its gods,” said Baran.

“I suppose so, in a way, though they are mostly celebrating you, because no one has ever outwitted a Zhang in any of their history. The Zhang is celebrated even in children’s stories as the wisest of the creatures of the wood and even the meaning of its name is “wise one”. They have a saying: “Zhang kibitz Zhang, Zhang bat ki.” That is (sinfonie orchester Frankfurt Shostakovitch #10 IV andante allegro 54:50 of 1:03:40 version)roughly translated. ‘If you can out-Zhang a Zhang you are truly Zhang’. And here you are having outwitted one. The spear bearer, will keep the little skin that you brought as proof that someone that he has met, has the Zhang. He will wear it with much prowess.”

“I am glad that we could be helpful,” said Baran.

“He wants us all to follow you and we will eat with the tribe tonight before they escort us tomorrow to the edge of their lands,” said Zim, “it looks like they are going to carry Baran all the way though! We will follow along and meet you there not to worry!

The tribe continued to rejoice and parade Baran off deeper into the forest while Paya and Zim followed behind at a slower pace.

“Does the chief have a name?” Asked Paya.

“His name is Koom and he is the king, and his wife is the queen Sheezah. The small fierce one over there is their son Syk. They have a daughter also who is called Mayish, she is the one over there with the long fur draped over her back and over her head. She covers her head so that she can run with the male warriors without being recognized.”

“Are the women not allowed to be warriors?” Asked Paya.

“Oh no, to the contrary, they are often the most powerful warriors in the woods, but as a daughter of the king she does not want to be recognized for the long braids that she has grown since she was a little child. The royal hair must not be cut until she is queen, but all the warriors must shave their heads. The lowest servants of the villages wear the skins of the animals over their heads when they walk. It is a way of showing that they are not worthy of being spoken to, she sees it as a way to hide, to stay in the battle as she loves to do, but to appear as a lowly servant while she does.”

“But wouldn’t she be the only one with the fur over her head and thus stand out?” Asked Paya.

“Actually there are many servants who do fight as warriors,” said Zim, “and they wear the furs over their heads also. They are not given the rank of warrior, but many who are faithful fighters and if they accomplish a great feat of bravery can earn their way into that rank.”

“And what is the fur that she has wrapped all around her?” Asked Paya, “I don’t recognize that creature at all, it is as thick as a large wolf but it is seamless from head to foot and she is not a short woman!”

“That is the skin of a fursnake.”

TEXT: END

***

***

TEXT: BEGIN

“So she killed a fursnake?” Asked Paya.

“Yes, and not just a kill as you and I would reckon it, the Pretobol warriors must bring the head of whatever beast that they wear. In the case of the fursnake this becomes more complicated because of its sheer size and length,” began Zim.

“Doesn’t the fursnake have two heads also?” Asked Paya.

“The lady is correct,” said Zim, “and just because one head is cut off, does not mean that the rest of the body will die or that the second head will not attack. The fursnake is so long that the heads could be hundreds of paces away and in a dark forest it is hard to even see your hand in front of your face in some places.”

“Why would you not just cut through it piece by piece since its middle could be so far away from its heads, until it just bleeds out?” Asked Paya.

“The blood of the fursnake is acidic, if you hack at it with a sword the blood will burn your skin. If you ever see one of the pretobol with a bleached mark on their skin, you will know this has happened. It is quite painful, and the skin never recovers its pigment, if the acid stays on your skin too long, it poisons your blood and you can lose the limb or even die.”

“How did the little animal kill it from the inside, what is called?”

“The Zhang.”

“Yes, the Zhang, how does it claw its way out without being burned or dying?”

“It is one of the marvels that surrounds this animal, the lore says that it is immune to the poison, but you will still see them with bleached fur from the acid, the ones who have fought the fursnakes are the most sacred to the Pretobol people.”

“So with hundreds of paces worth of fur, what did she do with the rest of it?” Asked Paya.

“Oh it is her tent, her one boast, if you will, though it is merited. It is stitched from the fur of the snake and its ribs were dried out to make the supporting structure. The poles are of the pretobol wood which is the darkest wood in the forest, it is full of a fragrant oil that keeps the wood both hard and supple for many generations. The Pretobol protect these trees with their lives, but there have been trees that have died over time and fallen down. Each of the Pretobol royal family have items made from this wood. The spears of the warriors are limited to the number of pretobol spears that were made by the ancestors. The number of tents is limited to the number of poles that were made. Of course there are other tents for the servants and the members of the tribe who are not royalty, but you can always tell when you enter the tent of a royal because of the deep fragrant wood oil that fills the tent. It soaks into them. Oh look we are here, time to eat.”

The clearing in the center of the woods was much better lit than the dark forest that they had walked through. The tops of the trees were barely visible and extended far above where the firelight reached. The full circle of trees that surrounded the clearing was fully covered with the bioluminescent moss which provided a very ethereal ambience to the gathering. The warriors had finally released Baran to walk on his own two feet and he staggered towards Paya’s embrace.

“Aren’t you the celebrated one?” Said Paya.

“Who knew that trapping that particular creature would have brought me such fame!” Said Baran.

“Did they return the rest of your bag?”

“Yes, and they will be giving me a gift also, tonight in the fire, is what Zim said.”

“In the fire?” Asked Paya.

“It sounded a bit strange to me also, but Zim assured me that it would be good.”

“So they are not taking anything other than the Zhang skin, and in return you are getting something else?” Said Paya.

“Yes, it would have been nice if Zim would have passed on that little piece of information at the moment that they took my sack,” said Baran.

“Come here both of you,” said Zim, walking up to them and taking them both by the arms one in each hand and moving them quickly towards the fire in the center of the clearing. The fire was blazing and white in the center but it was unlike the fires that Paya had seen in the forest or in any other place. There were no flames but one and it went straight up from the center as a white light that went straight up in a perfect swirling cylinder of smoke. Beneath the base of the column of smoke light was  a collection of dark spears that were all leaned on each other forming a cone shape as tall as the tallest warrior at its center. In the center of the ring of spears stood King Koom. His teeth shone brightly in the white light of the fire and the bone rings on his fingers were just as white. The rest of his body was as black as night as were the spears that encircled him. He held up his left hand and beckoned to them to come to him. Paya hesitated but then she felt Baran pulling her forward and felt Zim gently pushing at her back as well. She took a deep breath and stepped forward towards the fire. She kept expecting the heat to come, to blast at her face, but it didn’t. Instead a cool breeze seemed to circle all around the fire, it chilled her legs and made her shiver. She could hear Baran’s teeth chattering as well. Koom continued to move his hand inviting them forward. When they took the final step to join Koom in the middle of the fire, she felt the pain. Her bare foot stuck to the hot stone and she could not move it, the icy blast went around her legs. Baran yet out a yelp and then breathed in sharply. Both of their feet were stuck and the pain shot up through her legs and clear up to the base of her head. She saw Koom’s eyes glowing in the firelight and then his strong hand gripped her wrist and moved her hand to hold one of the spears and the pain immediately went away. Baran let out a deep breath and she felt his grip loosen on her arm as well. The coolness of the breeze now chilled the rock and her feet felt normal again. Koom now pushed them both out of the fire with their hands both holding the same spear. They came out of the ring of spears and fell down onto the ground holding the spear in their hands. It was without temperature, smooth, yet textured somehow, and it put off a deep oily fragrance that filled the air like perfume.

Zim stood behind them and put his hands on their shoulders.

“You need to give us more warning about these things Zim!” Said Paya.

“You want I should tell you about pain and pleasure and try to explain unexplainable things?” Asked Zim.

“Could you at least tell me what just happened to my feet?” Asked Baran, “I felt the most burning pain that I had ever felt, then all of a sudden when I touched the spear, it went away and now they feel stronger than ever, but heavier.”

“Yes, you now have the iron feet of the pretobol, also you have been given a spear of royalty. I have never seen them embrace a traveler as they have embraced you both,” said Zim.

“Feet of the pretobol?” Asked Paya.

“Your feet are now as strong as iron,” said Zim, “Take the spear and push it against the bottom of your foot.”

Paya took the end of the spear and pushed it gently against the bottom of the center of her foot. She couldn’t feel the tip at all. She touched the same tip with her finger and immediately the blood came to the end of her finger which she quickly put into her mouth to try and stop the blood flow.

“What, Paya?” Asked Baran.

“I can’t feel anything on my foot, but this spear is clearly sharp enough to cut my finger. What is it Zim?”

“It is the stone, it binds with your skin and injects the azure crystals in a fine coating all along the bottom of your foot, that is the burning that you felt. But the dark wood of the spear and its deep fragrance that swirls around it is the essence of Scarlet and it brings an instant healing to the burn.”

“So we now have azure and scarlet in our feet?” Asked Paya.

“Yes, it is quite the gift is it not?” Asked Zim.

“Neither of us have sought the stones of the four moons,” asked Baran.

“You should be grateful that they chose to honor you rather than kill you,” said Zim, “Do not show ungratefulness to them or they will feel dishonored.”

“So what do the iron feet do for us then?” Asked Paya.

“You can run on hot coals, you cannot ever be pierced in your feet. They will not get cold or hot, you don’t even need shoes,” said Zim.

“I worry about being defiled by not one but two stones now, but I can see how they would see this as being a great gift, and we are no use to anyone dead,” said Baran.

“It is a fair point Baran,” said Paya, “maybe we can figure out a way to reverse it someday.”

“No one ever has, even under torture,” said Zim, “but perhaps you will, shall we go?”

Paya and Baran stood up holding their spear in front of them. Koom soon stepped out of the fire and as he did, the plume of white smoke light shot up into the sky and the circle of spears alone remained in the clearing. Each warrior got up from where they had sat in a circle on the ground in the darkness, and took their spears and disappeared into the darkness.

“Pu na hyk, ya fu wahl?” Said Koom.

“He says, how are your feet?” Said Zim.

“Tell him that we are very grateful for his gift,” said Paya as she and Baran nodded and smiled at Koom. His white teeth opened up in a big smile.

“Fasi mina kutu!” Said Koom.

“He says, enjoy your new strength!” Said Zim.

We should follow him now, he will escort us to the next portion of our journey.”

Koom led them for what seemed like a very long time through the sheer blackness of the jungle. Paya had counted over a thousand paces before she realized that there was no way that they would ever find their way back to the center of the clearing again even if they had light with all of the veering that Koom was doing. Finally they stopped abruptly and Koom took her hand and then began to pull her downwards. He seemed to be climbing over the edge of a cliff.

“Hu ma ja fus. Zin ka jul,” said Koom.

“He says, ‘feel the cliff with the front of your body, step down with a foot until you find a crag,’” said Zim.

Paya held her body against the cliff, gently pulling at Baran’s leg once she had found her foothold and they began the descent down the cliff into the pitch darkness. There was no wind, for which Paya was grateful. She could hear the scratching of the bone rings on Koom’s fingers as he gripped the cliff. Zim still had on a pair of the stone sandals, or something that would click every time he made a new foothold, so she knew that they were both still alive below her. Baran was easy to track with his heavy breathing and the whistling noise that his breath made as it went through his beard. She had always teased him that he sounded like an animal hunting in the grass whenever he breathed hard. Her fingers were getting very sore from the constant gripping and her arms hurt even in the back muscles that she hadn’t used since she climbed trees as a girl. Finally when she didn’t feel that she could hold on for even another step, she reached down and felt her foot land on solid flat hard ground. Immediately she heard the sound of Koom’s rings, clambering up the side of the cliff again.

TEXT: END

***

***

TEXT: BEGIN

“Are you still there Zim?” Asked Paya.

“Yes, only Koom has left us now, we are now in a new part of the forest, this area is called the lowlands.”

“How is the light here?” Asked Paya.

“Well there is plenty of light where we will end up but there are still under dwellers here that will pop up out of the dark places from time to time,” said Zim.

“Isn’t this still a forest though?” Asked Baran.

“Yes and no,” said Zim, “the forest is still Pretobol forest and the trees are still here, the invaders from rouge called it the empty forest when they first discovered it.”

“Why is that?” Asked Paya.

“Well, in part because they never saw anyone there when they walked through it, and then, if anyone strayed too far away from the caravan of their companions, they would simply disappear leaving their horse empty,” said Zim.

“How did that happen?” Asked Baran.

“The Zuman people, as they call themselves, are kind of sneaky. They stopped living above ground as a way to avoid the fur snake, and then after a few generations, they just avoided the above ground areas altogether, except during hunting expeditions. They hunt whatever they can find, sometimes it leads to just harvesting animals to eat, and other times well…”

“They aren’t cannibals are they?” Asked Paya.

“Oh no, they are more into kidnapping for ransom,” said Zim, “nothing to worry about.”

“That does seem a bit worrisome to me!” Said Baran, “burning my feet and getting  the moon elements forced into my body against my will was bad enough, but I do not consider being kidnapped, or having Paya kidnapped as being something that we are willing to do.”

“I can see that that would be troublesome, except that this is my wife’s family so we will be quite safe here, not to worry though we may be….”

Paya was not able to hear the end of what Zim was saying because at that moment the ground disappeared under their feet and she Baran and Zim all fell through. A pile of leaves and clods of dirt swirled around them and they thudded to the ground in a pile onto a damp slimy stone floor.

“What in the world was that!” Asked Paya as they dusted themselves off.

“Shhh!” Said Zim.

“…don’t you…” Paya began.

“Welcome home husband!” Said a voice from the darkness. They heard a thump and then saw a swirling sphere of fireflies appear and the light from the cluster shone up on the figure who had spoken.

A tall, lean woman stepped out from the shadows with her white teeth gleaming behind the biggest smile. She reached down with a very long arm and pulled Zim up from the ground.

“Who are your friends?” She asked.

“Where are my manners?” Said Zim, “This is Paya and her husband Baran, I am escorting them through our lands to the valley of traders.”

“Ah, welcome! We must feed and clothe you and get you equipped and on your way then! Tell me are you planning to fight the giants in the tunnels or simply indulge their nasty smoking habits?”

“Umm,” said Paya, “do you have a favorite way of dealing with them yourself?”

“I am Meeja, it means “spider” in the tongue of our people, so what do you think?” Asked Meeja.

“Meeja much prefers to trap and fight!” said Zim.

“That is how I got you after all!” Said Meeja.

“Yes, this is true, though you would have to spin a pretty big web to catch a giant from the tunnels,” added Zim.

“We have the herb to simply bribe them,” said Paya.

“Oh, what fun is that?” Asked Meeja.

“Shall we take our guests in for some hospitality?” Asked Zim.

“But of course, come this way,” began Meeja,”Oh, careful don’t step there, that one is a trap that one of our daughters set…and oh Baran don’t go there either…I’ll tell you what, I will carry Paya and you carry Baran what do you think Zim?”

Before Paya could even protest Meeja bent over in front of her grabbed her legs and hoisted her onto her back.

“Come on let’s go!” Said Meeja and quickly began to trot up a path that led upwards into the cavern. She held a lighted reed between her teeth for a moment before she spat it out onto the ground, then all of a sudden all of the pieces began to crawl up the hill behind her and flutter all around their legs and arms as they walked.

“What are those?” Asked Paya.

“That is a munchel stick,” said Zim,”it is a kind of jungle worm that cocoons as one worm but it does so inside of a rapidly growing plant called a kundis. By the time the worm is ready to mature into a moth, the kinds plant has grown so much that it has split the worm up into many smaller segments and each one of them grow into a new moth. The worm feeds on the bioluminescent moss that you see in the forest, so all of the other moths have the “night-glow”, as we call it. They are quite helpful when you need a light in a tunnel if you can harvest them at just the right time, though they can taste a bit dusty if you bite down on the stick in the wrong place.”

“How many daughters do you have?” Asked Baran.

“I am not really sure? Meeja, how many are there now?” Asked Zim.

“We think about twenty three, though I have not seen many of them for a while.”

“How would you not know how many children that you have?” Asked Paya.

“I have many at a time, it is something strange about our family,” began Meeja, “but they are also quite reclusive once they leave home, so it is difficult to know if they are still alive. Do you have children?”

“We don’t yet,” said Baran, “but we hope to some day, maybe when we get to the forest of the alpha wolf.”

“I recommend it highly!” Said Zim, “they keep you on your toes…”

“Or knock you off your feet in the case of our daughters!” Laughed Meeja.

“But twenty-three?” Asked Baran.

“I travel a lot,” said Zim, “so she needs company.”

“So what is with all of the traps that you wanted us to avoid?” Asked Paya.

“It is the way of our people. We have followed the way of the spider, we lay our webs in the forest floor and in the floors of the caverns and whatever comes our way, we do our best to use to our advantage. Not many people intentionally travel through the forests here, once they know that the ground is not safe to walk on, but many stumble in for the first time and then …well we trap them.”

“What do you do to them then?” Asked Baran.

“It depends on how they act really,” said Zim.

“The good ones usually stay with us,” said Meeja, “but there are some of our relatives and some others who are in the forest for reasons that we do not approve of, and we sell them back to their families of course…” said Zim.

“…if they will have them, that is,” added Meeja.

“And what if they don’t want them back?” Asked Paya.

“Well there was the case of Beli,” said Meeja, “they didn’t want him back so they paid us to keep him here.”

“Like in a jail?” Asked Baran.

“Not really, I mean it is a big cavern…he couldn’t get out, but they did pay us to keep him there,” said Zim.

“I don’t understand,” said Baran.

“Well Beli is a very strong, tall, good looking young man, and they did want him to produce an heir but they could not stand to have him living with them in the tribe with them, so they kicked him out. They sent him out without so much as a spear in his hand and he comes wandering through our forest…” began Meeja.

“…outside of the territory that our grandfathers had agreed on..” Added Zim

“…yes, outside of their territory, Beli comes wandering in, so we spidered him down a hole and offered to send him back in return for some of the goods of the deep forest,” said Meeja.

“And what did the deep forest people say?” Asked Baran.

“They did send twice what we had asked, but they said that we should feed him with the extra and keep him locked up, and they would even send him a wife soon,” said Zim.

“So you agreed to it?” Asked Paya.

“Oh yes, it has worked out well,” he has been here for what nine, ten years now?” Asked Meeja.

“Probably so, he has quite a few children also, but they always get to leave with their mother after about a year or so, but Beli always stays and the payments keep coming from Pretobol forest. It feeds our children and keeps him out of trouble,” said Meeja.

“So how do you recommend that we get to the tunnel where we can bribe or hunt the giants and get through to the valley of traders?” Asked Baran.

“I was just kidding about the hunting,” said Meeja, “those things are so smelly any way. I would just bribe them and be on your way. It is a little bit of a journey but we can get you some rest first and then guide you from there. There are about thirty seven traps to avoid along the way.”

“Thirty eight if you count the one that Myrsk just made by the tunnel,” added Zim.

“My husband is correct,” said Meeja, “that one is pretty tricky to avoid as well. Well shall we go and clean ourselves up and go get some food?”

Meeja led them up through the smooth stone tunnel and into a wide open chamber where Paya could hear rushing water pouring in that made it almost impossible to hear each other. Before she could say anything Meeja and Zim both walked straight into the waterfall that was falling right through the cavern. The shock of the cold water chilled her completely and she shook free of Meeja’s firm grip on her thighs as she carried her. Baran did the same and they all fell down to the floor of the cavern laughing.

“That was a bit unexpected!” Said Baran.

“I would think you would be used to that by now!” laughed Zim.

Baran stepped forward and pulled the hair out of Paya’s eyes. She laughed and held him for a moment.

“Do you have other garments for us at least?” Asked Paya.

“But of course!” Said Meeja, but we shall dry these also, step out here for a moment.”

As she said this she took a few steps up some carved stone steps and beckoned them her way. The clothes clung to her and to Zim both and Paya was shocked at how skinny they both were. Baran looked at Paya and she grabbed his hand and followed up the steps. At the top they could hear the rushing of wind this time and could see Meeja’s long black frizzy hair blowing straight up into the air. Zim’s turban had come off of his head as well and they both stood there with their arms raised and eyes closed as the upward drafts of wind came up the cliff face and pummeled them with hot dry air.  As Paya approached the edge of the cliff, she could see the source of the heat below. A lake of magma was bubbling far below them and beyond it she could see the mountain range that led to the valley of traders.

“I thought that the burning lake was only near to the valley of scavengers?” Asked Baran.

“It may be the same lake, I have often wondered the same,” said Zim, “but there are these mountains in between the two, so it is hard to know.”

“It does wonders for drying the hair and clothing though doesn’t it?” Said Meeja.

“I don’t know if I will ever use a cloth again,” said Baran.

“Shall we eat then?” Asked Meeja.

“What is the feast tonight?” Asked Zim.

Meeja walked over to the edge of the cliff face and began to pull a braided cord up hand over hand until a metal cage full of brown things came up over the edge.

“I have been slow roasting these all night, there are lots of tasty little beasts in here,” said Meeja, opening up the cage and removing some small roundish animals, some things with long legs that might have been some kind of rabbit, but seemed to have a beak, some other things that had eight limbs that were shorter and squatter. In the center of the cage was a little collection of spikes that had various fruits and vegetables impaled on it which Meeja carefully removed and put onto stone platters that were very thin, yet impossibly light.

“I have never seen the likes of these plates,” said Paya, “where do you get them?”

“These are from the end of the lake there, under the shaded portion behind the waterfall. The magma cools just enough when azure is in the sky for a little skimmed section to harden up just next to the stone, and we scrape off the molten metal at the height of azure and then rush it into the waterfall inside to cool it down before it gets misshapen. One of our daughters figured out how to do it, Zim was that Kala or Zumi?” Asked Meeja.

“Zumi, I think it was,” said Zim.

“I don’t recognize any of these beasts,” said Baran, “and I have trapped a lot of beasts in my life.”

“The eight legged one is a Frynip, they have very strong jaws, but as you can see..” As this Zim held up the whole roast, “…their legs are really too short to be able to run away.”

“What about this one with the long legs and the beak?” Asked Paya, “It is surprisingly tender.”

“Ah those are my favorite too!” Said Meeja, “those are the Pylinka, they can jump very high and they feed off of the smaller animals that climb the trees in the forest.”

“Are they like the legendary frog of the old world?” Asked Paya.

“A little bit,” said Zim, “though they are bigger, than the frogs were.”

“A jumping animal with a beak?” Asked Baran, “doesn’t it fly also?”

“No, it doesn’t have any sort of wing. Is it normal for beaked creatures to have wings?” Asked Zim.

“…your falcon has wings and a beak doesn’t it?” Began Baran, “..though I have heard that there used to be small birds back in the days of the dark side of the world.”

“…I jest, Baran, yes the beaked hoppers are very unusual even for the forest. The story that our ancestors tell is that the Pylinka came about due to the prayers of the last small bird and the last frog that survived from the old world.”

“Can I tell it Zim?” Asked Meeja.

“She does do a better job of the story than I do, having told it to many more daughters than I ever have!” Said Zim.

“Yes do tell,” said Baran, “I am quite curious about this one.”

“Well it is said, that at the beginning of the new world after all of the animals had died on the dark side of the world, that the small frog was alone as was the small bird. So they went to God and they both prayed each for a mate, and when they arrived to pray on different sides of the great tree in the forest, that they prayed at the same time. God spoke to them both that he had an answer for both of them but that it would not be what they expected. He had them come out onto the branch of the great tree and he took a tear from the bird’s eye and a drop of water from the tongue of the frog and dropped them on the dust of the forest floor. Then he blew across the ground and all of the rocks moved out of the way and he reached down with his hands and made a ball of mud and when he threw it up into the air, it looked like a bird for an instant and the bird’s heart was happy for a brief moment, but then the bird fell to the ground for it had no wings. But just as it was about to land on the ground God spun the animal around and these long frog legs popped out and the frog was so happy to see that God was answering his prayer. Just then the animal landed on the ground, looked up and then leaped up into the branches to sit between the bird and the frog.

‘This is not my child,’ said the frog.

‘This is not my child either,’ said the bird.

‘This is my new creation for you both,’ God said, ‘I have made it and you will see its mate hop up in a moment.’

And just then, the female Pylinka hopped up next to the male one.

‘I have given them the bugs of the trees to eat, and these will be a special animal for you both to enjoy and know that you prayed for them to come to be.’ God said.

So that is the story of the creation of the Pylinka in answer to the prayer of the frog and the bird.”

“So the small frog and the small bird both died without ever finding a mate?” Asked Baran.

“Yes, they could not mate, but they were friends until the day of their death, for all of the old world had to pass away for the new world to come to its fullness,” said Zim.

“So how did the falcons and the giant eagles survive then? Are they not both from the old world?” Asked Baran.

“The giant eagle, yes, but the falcon is also a new creation, there is another story about that too that I can tell you some time,” said Zim.

“So if God did not let the small bird and the frog survive in the new world, then how did the Giant Eagle survive.”

“That is what the meddlers did.”

“The meddlers?” Asked Baran.

“So you know how the old world is blocked off from the new world by the impassable barriers?” Said Zim.

“Yes,” said Paya, “God put them there to keep the dark side of the world from being accessible to us, since it destroyed all of the humans the first time.”

“Exactly,” said Zim, “but the meddlers did access the dark side of the world and they brought some of the big animals to the light side of the world.”

“Like the Giant Leopards and the Felin Cats?” Asked Paya.

“And the Giant Eagles,” said Zim.

“Pretobol once told me that the fur snakes were also from the old world,” said Meeja.

“It is quite likely,” said Zim, “it is said that all of the giant creatures have an element of one of the four moons in their bones that is at such a high level of concentration, that it would give unthinkable power to anyone who could ingest it.”

“Wouldn’t that much of any element just kill you?” Asked Paya,”I have watched my brothers consume even just the powdered rouge and they can barely move for hours, I thought they were dead one time, and that was just a little bit mixed into a giant container of water.”

Here Meeja piped up, “The forest peoples of the veil of skyking used to pursue the giant eagle in order to consume the marrow of its bones…”

“That is where we used to live,” said Paya, “right next to their former lands, didn’t they all get wiped out by a prince of Jaune?”

“Well all but one was wiped out,” said Zim.

“Who survived?” Asked Baran.

“She was the daughter of one of the fiercest warriors in the tribe, but she was also very beautiful. It was said that after the prince had killed all of her tribe, that when he lifted up his spear to kill her, that her beauty overwhelmed him and though she was fierce and violent to him, that he still took her as his wife and kept her long enough for her to bear him two children,” said Meeja.

“That is horrible,” said Paya, “so what happened to them?”

“Well one of them moved back to the palace of Jaune and the king adopted her. The other was banished to the scavenger valley,” said Zim.

“No wonder they are so vicious there, I have heard such horrifying stories of what the skyking people did to the surrounding peoples of the forest before they were wiped out,” said Baran.

“What about the unwilling wife?” Asked Paya.

“Well she raised her daughter, the one that moved to Jaune, and then she fled one night and was never heard of again. It is rumored that she went to consume the eagle. It is what the Skyking people lived for, the pursuit to be the most powerful and the most vicious of their tribe. The rumor is that she is still out there on the mountain somewhere hunting the eagle. They are not easy to track down,” said Zim.

“And if she finds it or consumes it or whatever, what happens then?” Asked Paya.

“Well the legend says that the will of the East would inhabit her, like it did her mother before her. The Will of the East is from the old dark world, and it cannot come to the light side of the world unless it is invited, and it only follows violent death and it does not share its will with whoever it inhabits. It just takes over,” said Meeja.

“I have never seen a person controlled by one of the old Wills, but I would happily never see that for all of my days,” said Zim. “Shall we perhaps discuss something less grim? Azure will be making the sky cold soon and I should think some music would calm our tired bodies more than such discussions.”

They walked over to the other side of the ledge that went out to the cliff. Here Meeja pulled a heavy skin off of a long trough that had a bunch of holes in it that seemed to be covered with thin pieces of the same metal that the trays had been made of. She sat down on a bench in front of the trough where there were a couple of long wooden poles at her feet, that were attached together with shorter wooden pegs to form a sort of ledge that she put her feet on. Paya watched her curiously as Meeja pushed down on a portion of the poles at her feet and a low humming sound came out of the top of one of the holes. When she pushed down on another part of the wooden pole several more of the lids opened up above the holes and other sounds came out. Meeja began to hum with her throat and closed her eyes and Zim started to make a higher pitched hum that harmonized with hers but had more of a nasal pitch to it. Then Meeja began to move her feet all up and down the poles at her feet and the lids opened up, for short periods of time and for long periods of time and the rocks began to sing and hum, moan and purr as the hot drafts of air passed through the holes in the rocks. Paya closed her eyes and let the waves of the music speak to her mind. She saw molten rock flowing beneath her feet, and fish were swimming in the molten rock, then jumping up into the sky and turning into clouds that floated away. Black soot was falling from the sky that looked like stars and shone brightly before they slowly floated down and disappeared into the fiery lake. The wind sounds were like a thousand wandering little birds flittering through the air, and the whistling was the sound of a thousand hawks, all landing all around her. She jolted awake as the vision became so real that she wondered if her eyes would open to see actual birds and fish. Instead all she saw was Meeja with her eyes closed and Zim sitting next to her. Baran had fallen asleep leaning against the rock, so she moved closer to him and put her head on his chest and joined him.

Meeja woke them both when Azure was low in the sky and the three moons were just starting to shed their warming light.

“We must walk a lot today if we are to make it to the cliffs by nightfall,” said Meeja.

“Ok, can we eat some more?” Asked Baran.

“Yes, take a few of the roasts from last night, some of those little fruits dry out quite well also, here is a pouch you can use,” said Meeja.

Zim helped Baran gather a pouch for each of them and they stuffed the remaining food and some extra cloaks in each pouch before heading back down into the cave where the waterfall was. This time Paya only got her hair wet and spent a few minutes securing it into a long braid which she then folded in two and tied off with a bandana so that it tucked nicely into her cloak. Baran shook his wet beard at her when he was done washing. Zim and Meeja grabbed a couple of short spears each and gave some to Paya and Baran as well and they were off. The cave also had another exit to the left of the waterfall. This one went down and was not obvious as it was just a hole in the floor that was just at the back of the cave and right against the wall, yet under it. There is no way that Paya would have even seen it had Meeja not broken open another moth stick releasing the shining little army of flittering things to fly in front of them under the wall. They had to sit down at first and sort of slide down a few slimy rocks to begin the journey. The green slime had a wet mossy damp smell that was sour and Paya’s eyes burned a little at first, when she tried to wipe the slime off of her hands, some of it splattered into her mouth and it was surprisingly sweet. The gritty sweetness was uncomfortable on her tongue and she spat it out, hitting Baran in the back of the neck.

“Hey Paya!” Baran yelled up at her.

“Sorry for that,” that stuff is vile.

“When it ferments completely it is quite the treat!” Said Zim.

“I will pass on that one!” said Baran, ”The stench of it in its natural form is enough, I can’t imagine what it would be like as alcohol.”

“Shhh,” said Meeja, “in this next room we may need to be careful each of you take a moth stick and when I tell you to break it, we must all break it together. This room is often full of the Kachu bats, they are mostly harmless but they can give you quite a fright if they fly into your face and they do bite if they are frightened. The good news is that they love to eat a mouthful of glowy moths, so if we scatter them about and then run through the middle, we should be able to make it to the other side of the cavern without too much trouble.”

They came up out of the slippery rock tunnel and climbed upwards now into the next room. Paya could hear the screeching and high-pitched clicking from the Kachu bats coming from every direction but she could only see black in every direction.

“Ok, now!” Said Meeja.

They all broke their moth sticks at the same time and threw them behind them and ran as fast as they could, the ground was a bit slippery and they slipped and slid a bit in the midst of the bats hungrily attacking the swirling glowing moths all around the floor of the cavern. They finally made it to the other side of the cavern as the bats finished off the last of the moths that they had left behind them.

“Well we are close to being able to see where you will need to go to meet the tunnel giants,” said Zim.

“Oh my, I thought that we would be with you for a few days longer,” said Baran.

“Oh you will be with us a bit longer, but you can see it there now across the magma lake, but we will have to go around,” said Zim.

“Didn’t you say that there were a lot of traps that we had to circumvent?” Asked Paya.

“We have skipped about seventeen already, we just never told you what they were,” said Meeja.

“Is it a secret?” Asked Paya, “I mean it may be handy if we ever want to come back this way.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” said Zim.

“Why not?” Asked Baran.

“Well without us you wouldn’t last five minutes in here. Do you see that line of trees there in front of us?” Asked Zim.

“Yes,” said Baran, “what about it?”

“Well each of those trees is actually twice the height that it appears, all the ground within fifty paces of the trees is a giant net covered with leaves. That trap is not owned by one of our daughters, she is Xyl and is a spider in her mind, she came from jaune completely on her own, and she loved the trapping life so much, that once she learned our ways, she never left. But she sells to Scavenger Valley. She isn’t friendly,” said Meeja.

“But surely she couldn’t survive off of, ransom or whatever, with how few people wander into this part of the forest within fifty paces of her tree?” Said Paya.

“Oh, none of us really have need of money in here, so it mostly about trapping the animals that come through, cultivating the mushrooms that grow on the forest floor and then trading whatever we can with each other when we get bored of the things that wander close to our own lairs,” said Meeja.

“I am still curious about how many people wander through these parts in a moon cycle, surely there can’t be that many?” Asked Baran.

“You would be surprised,” said Zim, “there are a lot who do not want to risk the Sulati or the desert beasts, who are trying to make it to the Valley of Traders or even to Scavenger Market.”

“But you would think that there would have to be a limit to how many travelers would be that stupid?” Said Paya.

“Roanone and I are very particular about the people that we are willing to help,” said Zim, “people from Rouge generally do not want to do business with the Scavengers and want nothing to do with Jaune either, so either trekking far to the west and then north into Azure through the salt forest, or bribing the giants to sneak into the Valley of Traders are really the only ways to trade for anyone living in Rouge or in the desert.”

“We can usually get almost anything in the Galadite forest, so I had never thought of that,” said Paya, “but you are right, we never did get any goods from Rouge that I can think of. Everything that we traded for came from Jaune merchants or from the lands of the children of darkness. I suppose there were some of the glass eggs and some of the dried fish from way up in northeastern azure that we would get through those traders that made it down our way from Farah Bazaar, but that was only once a year, what was it that they usually wanted Baran?”

“They liked the skins of the small animals, and the Pyja berries that grow near the ruins of the Sulati citadel,” said Baran.

“What are those like?” Asked Zim.

“Very strong, and not very sweet, but they are a powerful stimulant, many of the caravan drivers, put it in their leather flasks and reuse the dried berries for many months to give them energy as they travel,” said Baran.

“What does Rouge trade when they go north?” Asked Paya.

“People mostly, if they are strong or beautiful and not given over to the four moons elements. But there is also quite a market for the rouge powder, though Rougeon does not endorse it leaving his lands,” said Meeja.

“Isn’t that the key to the strength of his armies?” Asked Baran.

“Well, they don’t trade the pure rouge powder,” said Zim, “it is much watered down and most of the traders mix it with regular red dust from the desert since it is difficult to tell it apart until someone ingests it.”

“Is there anything helpful that comes out of Rouge?” Asked Paya.

“The healing herbs that grow deep in the desert are very valuable,” said Zim.

“I have never heard of those?” Said Baran, “where do you find those?”

“That my friend, is something that you are not going to find out from me!” said Zim, “Roanone and I are sworn to secrecy about where they come from or even what they look like. It is our main source of wealth and a secret that our family has paid dearly for over the generations.”

“My family always taught me that the herbs from the desert of rouge were poisonous,” said Paya.

“That is true, with only a couple of exceptions,” said Zim, “and the desert is littered with the skeletons of my dead relatives, who gave their lives to figure out which of the herbs were safe and which ones were not.”

“But if you trade them, don’t the people that you trade them to then know what they look like?” Asked Paya.

“They would if we left them in their raw form,” said Zim, “but we don’t.”

“What sort of things do your herbs heal?” Asked Paya.

“There are very few things that they do not heal,” said Meeja.

“When we arrive to the hills before the giants, we will give you some to take with you. If you ever get injured, just soaking a cloth in the healing herbs mixed with oil or water and applying it to the wound will heal it in three days or less,” said Zim, “of course, if you had any more of those nuts, we could always trade you a good amount.”

“That sounds like a great arrangement,” said Baran, “we never know what or who we will run into once we leave your excellent care.”

“We actually do have a gift for you Meeja,” said Paya, “to thank you for your music and your food and protection.”

At this, Paya reached into her pouch and pulled out a small handful of light brown fur, as she continued to pull on it a long stole of light fluffy fur began to unroll and waft about in the breeze that was now blowing through the trees.”

“It is beautiful Paya!,” said Meeja, “What creature is this?”

“This is the Zulat, actually it is several of them that I have sewn together. They are very fierce hunters and they are the only known killers of the small serpents that dwell near the Galadite ruins,” said Baran.

“So wouldn’t you want to keep them around if they fend off the serpents?” Asked Zim.

“Well there are lots of them,” said Baran, “the reason we trapped these two is because they had developed a habit of raiding our traps even before we could get to them to check them in the morning. One time I remember I was setting traps to catch some of the Kulatish next to the river and before I had made it up the hill from the river’s edge, I heard the trap snap so I turned around to go back and get one to bring home with me for dinner. Well, by the time I got down to the trap, these two were already busily devouring the thing. I made quick work of them with my blow darts, I couldn’t have them raiding my traps before I could even empty them.”

“What are the Kulatish?” Asked Meeja.

“They are a kind of fish, but they have long jaws with razor sharp teeth that are firm enough to saw through bone. The meat is actually quite flaky and wonderful, after you peel back the rubbery fat layer, but they are not easy to catch on a line. You have to actually bait a trap and hide it in a floating trap of sticks and put a creature in it and then the Kulatish jump up to get the creature and get trapped out of the water.”

“You know enough about trapping to be able to survive quite well in our forest if you ever get bored of living with the alpha wolves up north!” Said Zim.

“I prefer a lot more light than you get here, but I do thank you for the offer,” said Baran.

“Shall we be stopping to get some rest soon?” Asked Paya.

“We have only been going a couple of hours,” said Baran, “are you feeling alright?”

“I feel a bit tired, it is strange, but I do need to stop and eat, though I don’t feel like eating,” said Paya.

Meeja gave a knowing look to Zim which Paya did not understand but she kept her question to herself.

“Here Paya, these are quite nice,” offered Zim reaching into his pouch and producing some sweet round cakes that were sticky on the outside and filled with some seeds and some chewy stringy substance.

“These are delicious!” Said Paya, “thank you.”

I am going to take advantage of the break in pace to catch a couple of winks myself,” said Zim as he made his way over to a large tree with some very pronounced roots and some thick moss growing underneath it.

“Can I borrow your new gift to lay my head on Meeja?” Asked Zim.

“Absolutely not!” She said, wrapping it around her neck and snuggling up to it, “these fierce little beasts are going to hunt serpents in my dreams, here you can use my pouch as a cushion.”

Baran made his way over to another set of roots around the other side of the tree and leaned back to rest. Paya joined him leaning her back on his chest and moving his beard out of the way so that she could get comfortable as she slept.

As Paya slept she looked out into the forest from behind her closed eyes. It was always darker than she was used to, but this darkness was different. It had the tinge of azure behind it and she felt the coldness of the moon stirring up the plants on the ground all around her. It was like each one was freezing and becoming a little icicle sticking up from the ground until the whole floor of the forest was white with the frozen plants. Then she saw the white and blue wolf stepping on top of the white ice blanket. It appeared at the edge of the forest and was just a black silhouette against the white and blue light of the clearing beyond the end of the trees. Then she heard the shattering of the ice crystals as it walked towards her. Step by step it got closer, and as it did, it got larger and the sound of the ice breaking was louder and louder until she had to hold her head from the deafening noise. The wolf had fully blocked out all of the light now and was towering above her filling her whole field of vision. The light of azure and the brightness of the clearing behind was gone now, but there was no less light hitting her eyes. In fact the light had increased now that the wolf was standing right before her. She could see the outline of its bones, through the white fur and she could see that the blue light was actually emanating from the bones that she could see through the white fur. It was immense and its fur was somehow blowing in the wind, though she felt no wind around her at all. She began to shake, she could not control it, it was as intense as the shake that came with her fevers when she was a child, but she did not feel cold at all. Then she heard a deep, deep crack and saw the wolf begin to fall, its fur still blowing in the wind that swirled around it kept swirling, and it felt like she was starting to float upwards. Yet when Paya looked down, her feet were still standing on solid rock, while the wolf continued to fall through the ice into deep waters under the surface, it was now below her, in the water and continuing to sink and sink, until it became smaller and smaller. Then just as she thought it would become too small to even see, it began to spin around in the wind, faster and faster like a tornado swirl, then it was gone. Paya gasped and woke up to Baran’s strong arms holding her.

“What is it Paya?” He asked.

“It was a giant wolf…”

“There is no wolf here Paya,” Said Baran.

“I know, I know!” she said, hitting him in the chest and bringing herself to her feet,”but it is gone now, the wind took it!”

“Then we are safe,” said Baran.

“No, it wasn’t good for it to be gone…it fell into the ice, but it was beautiful…I was terrified but it was not evil…but that wind that blew over its fur, it took it away.”

“What color was its fur?” Asked Zim, approaching them now that everyone was awake.

“The fur was white, but it was also blue, it was like there was a light shining out from its bones that made the fur a beautiful blue…I didn’t want it to die,” said Paya.

“The legend says that the Alpha Wolf has the Az in its very bones,” said Meeja.

“But wouldn’t it want to dominate and to steal everything in site if it had that much Az in it?” Asked Paya, “I didn’t feel any evil coming from the wolf, it was not going to eat me, all I saw was the beauty of it. The massive glory of this beast that was bigger than any animal I could have imagined.”

“It doesn’t affect the animals the same way, is what I have heard,” said Zim.

“But aren’t the giant beasts all from the dark side of the world?” Asked Baran.

“Yes, but they did not come of their own volition, and they don’t necessarily mean us light siders, any harm,” said Zim.

“But what of the dark wolves of the high country? Are they not the most vicious predators?” Asked Baran.

“Well, in their case, there is a partnership that took place…” began Zim.

“How do you know all of this?” Asked Paya.

“Well I have many kinds of travelers pass through my desert, and not all of them for good reasons, many are fleeing from those who I do not guide, the ones that I leave alone or lead astray if necessary. I saw one who had partnered with the high wolves once. He was very sly and had a lot of Az on him and in him. When I shook his hand it was like the strength of stone, and the intensity of his gaze as he shook my hand, made me wonder if he was stealing my very soul from me just by touching me. I sensed that the enormous shards of Az that protruded from his pack were stolen from the moment that I laid eyes on him.  I could see the marks of the giant wolf all over his body, the deep gashes, the teeth marks in his neck. He had a wildness about him, and the azure was so thick in his blood that you could see it through his skin. He  wanted my hawk, my tunic and cap. I felt a compulsion to give him everything that I had. I felt the eyes of the dark wolves behind him, though I could not see them. But I fought all of it. I closed my mind like an iron gate to him and I sent him off in the opposite direction. I spoke to him of the riches of the Galadite forest, I suspect he may have ended up in the Scavenger Market,” said Zim.

“But he told you all of this before you left him? Asked Paya.

“Oh no, it wasn’t he who told me, it was the lad that he was chasing. He was a young prince, very fond of purple. I have never seen a man wear more purple than this one. His robe was very nice but it looked simply preposterous out in the middle of the desert. It turned out that he had been raised entirely underground by the king’s women. He had been sent away to Battle School until  he fell out of favor and was set loose in the desert. He was very good at hiding and navigating once he got back underground, for he had spent many years in the tunnels of Lost Maidens. He led his pursuer and his giant wolf into the tunnels of the great spiders, that you no doubt passed through with my brother,” said Zim.

“Oh yes, I think Baran still has a bit of that black muck on his boot,” laughed Paya.

“Yes, I have left a sandal or two in that cavern myself.” said Zim, “At any rate, the little prince managed to lose the wolf and the azure thief when he disappeared into the spider caverns. I was just on that ridge up there just above where you and I met. I had just finished leading a caravan somewhere and I saw him surface from one place, and then a little while later from the top of the hill, I saw the prince with his ridiculous regalia, pop up out of a hole quite a ways off but on the other side of the big line of dunes that are closer to where the Crags live.”

“Yes, they are a memory that I hope I soon forget!” Said Paya.

“Yes, so I chose to help the prince and once I got him well hidden for the night and resting safely under a cloak on the ground disguised as a rock, I went and found the pursuers and sent them off towards the forest. It was quite the tale that he told me.”

“So the azure thief, was he an ally with the wolf?” Asked Baran.

“It seemed even more than that, it was as if he was the wolf’s cub,” said Meeja, “isn’t that what the boy told you?”

“Yes, he had wandered into the battle school late one night without his wolf, but with the clear smell of it on him. The chief in charge of the beasts met him at the gate, as he was the only one up at the time doing his nightly feeding of the nocturnal hunters. Well he smelled the high wolf scent on the thief and he turned him right around telling him that he cannot come here for just the smell on him would make all of the rest of the battle beasts cower and be useless for training,” said Zim.

“So why was he there?” Asked Baran.

“Well the thief was actually seeking after that particular purple prince, who had just been sent away from the battle school for some political reasons. As far as the prince could figure out, his mother had some bad blood between her and a young man that she had caught doing some misdeeds back in Lost Maidens. So she had sent him away to Battle School mostly to hide him, but also to toughen him up a bit. He felt that he was safe and was getting good training and then all of a sudden he gets exiled from battle school by his mother’s friend, who finds out that the enemy of his mother had figured out where she had hidden him,” said Zim.

“So, you are saying that the Azure thief had come to battle school to kill him, and then finds out that he is alone in the desert instead so keeps pursuing him there?” Asked Paya.

“Yes, that is a very simple way to put it,” said Zim.

“So Zim finds the prince and he tells us all about this enemy of his who had infiltrated the halls of lost maidens and even started a relationship with one of the king’s concubines, before he got caught by the prince’s mother,” said Meeja.

“Wow, pretty aggressive, but also seemingly pretty foolish wouldn’t he be, to try that right under the king’s nose?” Asked Baran.

“Absolutely,” said Zim, “but that is the thing about the Az, it takes over the will, it fills its victims with a very strong confidence that makes them feel invincible to any foe. There is never a place where they feel that what they have is enough. The Az always wants more. In the desert we call it the hole that is never filled. ‘Kazh hahpi’.”

“So his enemy got caught, so how did he manage to hire the Az thief assassin guy to chase down the prince after that?” Asked Paya.

“Well that was a bit of a mystery, as the young man had been thrown into the dark dungeon of beasts that is connected to lost maidens. It is a place where they put people whom they want to disappear with no trace. Usually whatever beasts are in the darkness consume whoever goes in there. He must have found some way to escape,” said Zim.

“So how did the prince find out that it was this enemy in particular who had hired the assassin?” Asked Paya.

“The seal of the concubine from the king. He had her necklace. It was a gaudy thing, but of a particular stone only found in her village, adorned with some very particular feathers that I had never seen,” said Zim, “I saw it around his neck and told the prince about it when I went back to him, it was only then that he had figured out the connection himself.”

“How did he figure out the part about battle school?” Asked Baran.

“I found that out myself also when I asked him what he was seeking, as I always do. He told me straight away who he wanted and offered to pay me handsomely in rouge, which I of course refused.”

“So, after all this you think that the wolf I saw was evil like the high wolves or was it good like I felt that it was in the dream?” Asked Paya.

“Oh yes, I was explaining the difference between the high wolves and the alpha wolves, I get so distracted when I tell my stories,” said Zim, “so the high wolves and the alpha wolves were brothers who were both set loose into these lands by the miners who dug deep into the mountains in search of crystals. Those who went the deepest into the earth actually broke through into a deep underground cavern where the wolves had been since the desolation of the dark side of the world.”

Meeja interrupted, “can I tell this part Zim?”

“Of course!”

Meeja continued where Zim had left off, “so the high wolves ended up in the care of a pair of miners from the wolf heights above the Spynki caves, and the alpha wolves ended up taking off across the snowy plains and ending up in the forest of Alpha Wolf where they were taken care of by some humble farmers from the area.”

“So the wolves took on the characteristics of the people who raised them then?”Asked Paya.

“Yes, the miners were cruel to the animals but kept them under tight control, the animals were very strong and they could use them to pull the long bags of crystal out of the chutes that they had dug deep into the mountain. They used the webs of the Aranat spiders as ropes and used the wolves to pull on the ropes,” said Meeja.

“Aren’t those crystals very hard to find?” Asked Baran.

“Yes, it could take days or even weeks for a spynki miner to gather enough crystal to make the trip worth it. There have always been only a few families who knew where the crystal could be found and the tunnels had to be so small due to the hardness of the rock in which the az crystal is found, so the Spynki happened to be the smallest people who were also strong enough and hardy enough to survive the life in the dark. But the use of the giant wolves to pull the crystal out let the miners attach the spider web and then crawl out on their own without having to use a hand to drag the bag of crystals with them,” said Zim.

“What of the alpha wolf family?” Asked Paya.

“We know a lot less of those wolves, but they are said to protect the humans of the forest. The humble farmers may still be there in the woods or thereabouts, I am not sure, but the white wolves that live there are legendary for their size and for their strength and goodness. I only know of legends of them, it is said that they find the lost travelers that wander through the woods, and protect them and keep them from wandering north to the lands of the giant Felin cats,” said Meeja.

“Well the wolf that I saw should not have died,” said Paya, “I don’t know why it fell or how, but I do not want to see that happen.”

“Dreams are sometimes the past, sometimes the future and sometimes just mysterious,” said Zim.

“The Felin cats are quite real, and we know that that the High Wolves are real, so why would the white Alpha wolf not be real?” Asked Baran.

“Oh, I have no doubt that it is real”, said Zim, “I’m just not sure what Paya saw or why. Do you think the wolf was trying to communicate with you?”

“I felt its sadness, so yes,” said Paya.

“Shall we continue on the trail?” Asked Meeja.

“We can still make the edge of the forest by nightfall if we keep up this pace,” said Zim.

“I am feeling a lot better after the rest,” said Paya, “Is there anything else that we should gather from the forest before we head into the valley of traders?’

“As we walk, grab some little strips of this moss, do you see the really light green stuff on that tree there?” Asked Zim.

Baran walked to the tall trees that he was pointing to.

“How much should we get?”

“Roll a piece up about the length of your arm, but roll it really tight, like this,” motioned Meeja as she deftly pulled a piece of the moss off of the tree and tightly spun it between her fingers piercing it at the end with a little piece of bone.

“Here are a few of these bones, that you can use also. They are from the ribs of a river fish from the forest and they are popular among the seamstresses in the valley,” said Meeja, passing them each a handful of the bones.

“What is the moss used for?” Asked Baran.

“In the light of the moons it glows. Many people use it for light. It is the same moss that you saw in the Pretobol forest. Rolls of it go for a couple of days wage in the valley, it should help you get some extra provisions but it doesn’t take up much space. Pull the needles out though and go to the seamstress tent with those and you can trade them for some fabric.”

‘We so appreciate the gifts and your hospitality,” said Baran, “we hope to be able to pay you back some day.”

“We may come see you some time,” said Meeja, “right now there are so many people trying to pass through the desert that what Zim and Roanone do is becoming more and more important to us. We certainly don’t want the Scavengers or the Azureans making their way into our forests, but if Rougeon doesn’t establish some positive alliances with at least one of the other kingdoms soon, we do fear that Rouge may change for the worse.”

Paya and Baran and Zim and Meeja continued through the woods, separating as they walked to gather as many rolls of moss as they could carry comfortably, while digging the occasional fragrant root up as well. The trees were thick for most of the afternoon but by the time that the three moons began to wane and they started to see pieces of Azure light coming over them, the trees had thinned out quite a bit and the rocks of the cliffs loomed ahead of them. The lights of Jaune, Rouge and Scarlet scattered their pools of color on the lighter rocks ahead mixing their rays, until Azure set in and the coldness came.

“We will set up the camp over here near these trees”, said Zim.

“Baran began to look for some long sticks and was about to cut one with his knife.

“No, just here,” said Baran. As he said it, he stopped over a rock and disappeared.

“Zim?” Asked Paya.

Zim popped up right away from behind the rock, “it is a hidden camp!” he said.

Paya walked over to the roots next to the tree and climbed up a bit so that she could see the rock that Zim was behind. The roots were so prominent on the tree that the deep pit that was dug in between them was fully the height of two men. There were lines of rock that had been laid in such a way that from any angle other than just by the tree, they just looked like a bunch of rocks strewn over the ground.

“This is quite amazing!” Said Paya, “Did you build it?”

“We have used it for generations, but we think it was built by my great grandfather, any way, it keeps the giants from seeing us out of the mouth of the tunnel, until we wish to be seen at least. They do frequent that tunnel mouth up there that you can see, but usually it is so that they can send out deliverers to go to the Scavenger Valley or to the prison down past the city at Savka. Depending on the destination, they will either follow that stone path to the east that runs along the ridge of the mountain to Scavenger Valley, or they will go west and then be seeking a way through the Pretobol forest. If they need to get through, we make a judgment ourselves about the prisoner and help the deliverer if he or she is worthy.”

“What about the Scavengers? Surely you don’t help them?” Asked Paya.

“Correct, we want nothing to do with that trade. It is a desolation to us and we do not honor it, Rougeon has forbidden it in his lands. He is not a perfect king but he does draw the line at treating people like animals to be butchered and sold.”

“Isn’t that why he and his brother Hazdi split the kingdom?” Asked Baran.

“Yes, you have heard well, it did divide the kingdom, but Hazdi left the lands of Rouge, he did not stay to fight his brother, he abandoned the whole kingdom when his son was killed by Ruyi,” said Zim.

“The warrior Ruyi is the one who killed him?” Asked Paya, “I had heard it was some of the raiders in the forest, but I didn’t know it was Ruyi himself. But wait, isn’t he Rougeon’s right hand man? That makes no sense?”

“It was difficult for Rougeon as he lost his son also, but that is when he changed. He realized that his own son was showing him how his own kingdom could just as easily fall if it challenged the wrong enemy. So when Ruyi came to Rouge looking for an alliance, Rougeon saw the opportunity to start again, to rule differently out of strength. It was a hard time for him as he had just lost his brother, his son and his nephew, but he chose to ally with Ruyi. I think it was a very bold move on his part as the king and I respect him for it.”

“It is hard moment when you realize that your own family will destroy you if you stay with them,” said Paya.

“So how will we communicate with the giants to get through the tunnel?” Asked Baran.

“We have a white flag that we put up by the tree, then we wait. Usually the giants will come at least once a day and sometimes more often. When Azure is high in the sky and the coldness has settled is the normal time that the Scavengers come to meet the deliverers. Their foul smells are less pronounced in the cold I guess, but it is when they come. We will keep watch as Azure sets and let you two sleep, and then as soon as you hear a giant roar from the tunnel, wake up and we will go to them. Have your herb ready to exchange,” said Zim.

They shared a meal of some of the dried meat from the night before and heated it up on the fire with some of the fragrant roots that Baran had found in the forest. Paya brought out the last of the nuts that Meeja and Zim loved so much and they settled down against a smooth pile of smaller stones that angled up against the tree roots. After a few hours, just as the chill and stiffness were making Paya’s legs ache, Meeja was next to her. The smell of her musty braids mixed with the fragrance of the roots that she had shredded with her hands a few hours before as she shook Paya gently.

“It is time,” said Meeja.

“Baran come,” said Paya.

They made their way carefully up out of the rock pile and walked in the near darkness closer to the tree where Zim had placed the white flag and surrounded it with the glowing moss. Just then a deep throaty roar resounded through the air from the tunnel mouth.

“They have seen our flag. I did see a deliverer leave a little while ago, headed for Scavenger Market. The giants don’t bellow for us until the deliverers are long gone. They will have smoked the small bag that was paid them for the escort of the deliverer through the tunnel, but they will be looking for another hit before they wade back to the Valley for their morning food,” said Zim.

“We are ready,” said Baran.

Paya dug through the bag and got the little bag of herb out and put it in her hand.

“Put your other bags on your backs and put your cloaks over them,” said Meeja, “keep the herb in your hand and a little knife or your crossbow is fine, just so they know that you are armed, keep a bit of the glowing moss tied on your belt so you will look like forest traders if they want to see inside of your cloaks, but they will ignore you once you give them the herb anyway.”

Paya could feel the weight of the bag on her back and her legs were still tight with every rock that they scaled, but they were soon at the top of the climb up the side of the rocks to the plateau that led into the tunnel. Paya could see the firelights high up in the tunnel even from outside in the dark. Were the giants sitting up on a ledge in there? And then they stumbled out. There were two of them. Paya had remembered them as large from the times they traveled in her youth, but they were somehow even larger now that she was an adult. She shook a little bit as the larger of the two sent out a grunt that boomed all around her.

“Hold out the herb Paya!” Said Baran.

The big hand came down out of the darkness and Paya could only see a bit of its forearm shining in the light of Azure as it came out of the tunnel. She quickly put the bag in its hand and cowered for a minute, almost expecting a blow to follow, but the giant went back into the tunnel. The next one appeared and bent down a little farther to where Baran was standing holding up his herb with one hand and shielding his nose from the stench with the other. Both firelights, relit quickly in the giants’ pipes and they disappeared back into the tunnel.

“Go now and Godspeed!” Said Zim as Paya and Baran ran into the tunnel and out of sight of the forest.

TEXT: END

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The tunnels were a lot darker than Paya ever remembered them to be as a child. Of course she had been riding in a pack on her father’s back and probably had slept through this portion of the darkness as much as any other portion of the trip. The dank, musty smell of the cave was an itchy feeling in her nostrils that almost made her sneeze until a waft of air from the mouth of the cave reached them and brought with it the rancid smell of the giants’ odor mixed with the thick smoke of the hut herb.

“Walk faster Paya,” said Baran,”even with just the two of us in here, we have to move quickly, they can’t smoke that all night and their steps are five or ten of yours or mine, and when they run out they will be looking for us to get more.”

“With the amount I gave them, they will sleep for days,” said Paya, “but I am glad to get as far from that stench as I can as quickly as we can.”

“Hold my hand at any rate, so if one of us falls we will at least have that extra support.”

“I don’t need an excuse to hold your hand Baran,” said Paya, “I think that there should be a little light coming up soon. I only vaguely remember it, but there were like these oily snake kind of lights along the edge of the tunnel that I remember from when I was a little girl.”

“Well I will use a roll of the moss for now,” said Baran, “so that we don’t fall down some strange pit or something, who knows what these tunnels could hold.”

“You just don’t want to step in another spider sack admit it!”

“That is for sure, what do you mean oil snakes?”

“They were blue in some places, yellow in others if I remember, look down on the floor there next to the wall, can you see it?”

“Yes, there is a bit of glow of Az like it is deep inside of a rock. It doesn’t put off much light though does it.”

“They were really bright when I was a girl…and don’t you see that has been a long time!”

“I didn’t say it!”

“I guess even the az fades over time though.”

“So what is the plan Paya?”

“I remember bribing the giants, then we were in the tunnels, then the next thing I remember was eating breakfast in an inn in the valley. We had fresh grapes and this lamb sausage that was very peppery, and some sheep’s cheese….”

“Ok you are going to have to stop talking about food…plan Paya.”

“Yes, it was a nice place that inn, I guess we should find it and get through the valley as quickly as possible.”

“Is there a way directly from there to the Valley of Alpha wolf?”

“Well there will be another tunnel after that.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize that…wait, did you save any herb?”

“Of course I did Baran.”

“Sorry, of course you did. So then what? We just bribe the next giants and then get through to the forest?”

“Well that is what I am thinking, as it worked on the way in to the valley.”

The tunnel continued for hours and hours. It had been night already when they started and Paya was sure that it had to be morning already by the time the air changed from being musty and stale to being acrid and damp. There was a fork in the tunnel for the first time since she and Baran had entered, and now there were two options. Off to the right the faint azure oily pipe continued out of sight down between some sharp rocks and around a corner. Baran took a couple of steps down and made a sharp cry as he banged his head on a rock after pulling it back suddenly.

“What is it Bari?”

“My goodness, the stench of something dead is so thick in there. I pulled back my head to get away and rapped it hard on that rock there.”

“Are you ok?”

“Uggh, the smell got in my mouth, let’s not go that way.”

“Oh, I am pretty sure that we need to keep going straight.”

“Well why did you send me in there then?”

“I didn’t, I just said that there was another tunnel there.”

“Well there is another up there on the left, do you want to check that one out?” Asked Baran.

“Not particularly, that one has jaune oil in the pipe. I want nothing to do with anyone who would go down that tunnel.”

“Getting picky about your bad guys now?” Teased Baran.

“After what Jaune did to the forest peoples, father taught us to steer clear of them completely,” said Paya.

“You know I probably have some Jaune blood in me?” Said Baran.

“Yes, but you are different my sweet one, aren’t you.” Said Paya.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go see if someone is consuming a giant eagle down that tunnel?” Asked Baran.

“Not in the least!” Said Paya, “where we are going is different Baran, so it is important that you know a few things about the valley of traders.”

“What should I know?”

“Keep walking, we are staying on the azure path.”

“Ok, wow, it doesn’t smell much better here,” said Baran.

“Ok, focus Baran, so in the valley everyone will appear to be trustworthy and everyone will be friendly in the buildings, but we will be watched every moment. If we can get to the inn early in the day, if the same family is there, we should be safe to ask for a room to rest from our long journey, then inquire about having some food later in the night after we awake. I will tell them that we have a long journey ahead of us and it will take the whole night to make it through the tunnel and out. No innkeeper would disclose the identity of their guests to other guests, so we will only be at risk of being seen by whoever is around late at night when we eat before we leave.”

“So what do we tell anyone who asks of our journey?” Asked Baran.

“I am for telling the truth,” said Paya, “just not every detail, like you might want to. They are not all going to be as good hearted as Roanone and Zim were to us.”

“So we are fleeing the forest peoples because they are too cruel for our taste?” Asked Baran.

“That may not be the best way to say it.”

“There are a lot of people fleeing Rouge right now, not that you or I look like we are from there at all. So we focus on that portion of the story and it should draw the comment that we don’t look like we are from there automatically, to which we instantly reply, ‘oh no we had just come to rouge to trade and did not find the fortune that we sought, so we are moving on to Scarlet. That should get anyone’s attention who wants to trade with us while also avoiding the detail of our having come from the Forest.”

“And if they ask where we were before Rouge?” Asked Baran.

“Well your family has some Jaune in it but also some Azure yes?” Asked Paya.

“Yes, and yours has Azure and Scarlet,” so we go back to our family roots in Azure and tell them that after sojourning in Rouge, we are homesick for the old land and are going back to see if we can find our families.”

“That sounds vague enough and is true enough to get us through without mentioning your family or the forest peoples.”

TEXT: END

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TEXT BEGIN:

Paya could see a thin dry branch laying on the ground just against the edge of where the thicket became impassable for the thorns. She put her boot on the end of it and pulled up as hard as she could expecting it to snap off. As thin and dry as it was though it simply bent under her foot and barely at all. She took the braided strap off of her shoulder that was holding the other sticks and gripped the branch again with both hands this time putting her back into it and pulling still faster upwards. Again the branch barely bent,

“Baran, come help me with this…” She began, and then the light all around her went dark as she looked up. A bright white light flashed behind the brush and the crunch of a thousand branches breaking at once and then the thud of a huge tree hitting the ground shook the forest. Far above her, the white wolf with the glowing fur waving in the wind that she could not feel was looking down at her.

Paya shook again as she had in her dream and looked up into its blue eyes. She felt no fear at all, but she felt an immense sadness as the wolf raised its right leg slightly and she saw a red hatchet buried deep in the bone behind where its upper leg bent. She trembled and looked away as she tried to lift her hand up to reach the hatchet. The wolf towered above her and though she was on the hill she was not close to where she needed to be. It continued to stare down at her without moving or changing its expression. Its white fur glowed and pulsed as it vibrated in the invisible wind that seemed to swirl only around it. Paya kept her head down and tried to avoid its gaze while making her way to a nearby tree. The trunk of the tree was sticky and the sharp little broken branches scratched her leg as they tore through her buckskin leggings. She rested her foot one branch at a time holding the thin bending bows, one at a time as she gingerly maneuvered upwards through the spiky needles. The wolf watched her without moving until she reached the top of the tree that she had chosen and then its head came closer. Now she could feel the energy around it, it was like light was shining out of its very skin through the hairs of its fur. Its breath was thick and warm but it did not bare its teeth, it simply opened its mouth and gently gripped the collar of her jacket in its teeth and lifted her out of the tree.

Paya’s mind panicked for a second as her face slid down into her jacket and her chin caught the collar which was now the only thing keeping her from falling all the way back to the forest floor. The wolf moved her slowly and then dangled her as close to the wounded leg as it could before letting her loose onto its fur. Paya grasped handfuls of the fur and climbed up the bottom of its leg to where the backwards knee joint provided a little crevice that she could sit in. The rouge tomahawk was wedged in between the bones of the back of its leg and the area had swollen and hardened around the blade. She could see where the rouge had begun to dye and poison the area with its heavy acrid stench. The smell of death was strong and she wondered if the leg could be saved. She removed her jacket and put her hands inside of it to make as thick of a barrier as she could between her and the rouge hatchet. Something with that much rouge in it would soak into her skin and who knew how much damage that would do to her, yet she wanted to save this wolf. She needed to. As she got her hands around the handle of the hatchet, she could feel the violence emanating from it, even through the leather. The desire to chop the leg off, to finish off the wolf, it pulsed through her and she had to let go. The wolf let out a deep rumbling and she looked up expecting to see teeth and a snarl, but it was still looking at her peacefully. It lowered its head and blew out a breath towards her. She felt the heat and moisture of it hit her and the rumble from its throat ignited the water in the air and a ball of light formed around the hatchet. She put her hands on it again and this time felt no violence, the leather jacket began to stain red in her hands, but as she pulled the hatchet came loose. She dropped her jacket and the hatchet with it to the ground and watched it tumble and fall the height of five of her before it hit the floor of the forest. She sat for a second just staring at it, leaning back into the fur of the wolf. The wolf lowered its head to the ground without moving and took a tree in its mouth and lifted it up into the air, then, with its other leg it pushed the jacket and the hatchet into the hole made by the uprooted tree and then replaced it. Paya looked up into its eyes again. The wind had stopped moving its fur and its eyes were at peace. It came closer to her face until its giant eye was close enough for her to stand at her full height and look into it. She felt such peace and then she saw a reflection in its eye. She saw Baran standing behind her and he was holding a little girl, Paya herself was there too, but now her hair was longer and she was no longer pregnant. As quickly as it had appeared the vision was gone, the wolf had vanished and there she was sitting on the forest floor with no jacket next to a pile of dirt and brush under a crookedly planted tree.

“Paya! Are you okay?”

“Yes, I think so…wait…where have you been?”

“You know, I am not sure. I just woke up, I have no idea how long I have been asleep…I just came…what is up with that tree?”

“You tell me, I think I know but I don’t know if you will believe me.”

“It looks as if it has been uprooted and then replanted by the looks of the fresh dirt pile, but it is sideways and there has been no wind here has there? How long have I been sleeping?”

“No Bari, there was no wind..well there was but not on the tree.”

“What happened to your jacket Paya?”

“Um…there was a wolf.”

“Are you okay? Is it still here?”

“No it is gone…don’t worry. You haven’t been asleep long, it had to have been the wolf.”

“What do you mean Paya?”

“The white wolf from the dream, it came here.”

“Was it good?”

“It meant me no harm, it did need my help. It had a rouge hatchet buried in its leg.”

“Wait…you didn’t touch Rouge did you?”

“No, of course not, but I felt its pull Bari, it was frightening how much the violence hungered to control me, but the wolf breathed on me and then it stopped.”

“So where is the hatchet?”

“Same place as my jacket…under that tree.”

“So you buried it? That looks like a lot of work.”

“No, the wolf did. Bari, it picked that tree out of the ground like you would pluck up a carrot, it pushed the hatchet into the hole with my jacket wrapped around it, then it put the tree back. Then it was just gone and I was sitting here.”

“Is that what the dream was about then?”

“I guess, I mean it has rid itself of the hatchet, but I never heard it leave after that, it was just gone, and then you woke up and came.”

“How big was the hatchet?”

“It was a lot of Rouge Bari, a lot of Rouge, probably the most metal that I have seen in one place and perfectly dyed. The temperature that you would need to get metal dyed that red could only come from a volcano. Father tried to infuse some metal with jaune one time and it just floated on the top of the metal and rolled off. When he tried it with rouge, the powder just burned, it was such a disgusting smell. I don’t know how this hatchet was made, but it is good that it is hidden now. That much violent influence in one weapon would be so dangerous in the hands of the wrong person,” said Paya.

“It would seem that it would have been enough to kill the giant wolf to have that much rouge lodged in its flesh,” said Baran.

“It doesn’t affect the giant beasts the same way as it does humans.”

“Why is that?”

“They have the light in their bones from the dark side of the world.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know exactly, but it somehow counteracts the influence of the four moons elements so that it doesn’t affect them. I remember that was one of the reasons that the forest peoples wanted to consume the giant eagles. Their bones were said to hold the purest form of jaune absorbed from the light of the moon, but without the oiliness of the jaune element. It was said that it was the most pure form of the jaune since it had never touched soil,” said Paya.

“But that doesn’t answer my question about the counteracting of the rouge by the wolf? How does that work?” Asked Baran.

“Oh yes, well what I was going to say is that the eagles themselves are actually very tame, for predatory birds that is…they have an incredible amount of Jaune in their bones, but it doesn’t stain their flesh and make them absent like it does with the forest peoples.”

“Ok, so the Jaune didn’t affect the eagles, but what about the Rouge and the wolf? Did it feel aggressive to you? Are you okay?”

“It was…gentle, that was the thing that was the most amazing part of encountering him…”

“Him?” Interrupted Baran.

“Yes, I knew it was a him, he was not like an animal Bari, he was communicating with me, and the whole time I felt complete peace. There was no violence at all,” said Paya.

“Did you touch the ax at all?” Asked Baran.

“Just with my coat, but even through my coat I could feel it so strongly, I didn’t think I could even pull it out, until the wolf breathed on it, then the Rouge flow just stopped. I wasn’t going to risk touching it even then, so I still used my coat.”

“And where is your coat now Paya?”

“It is under the tree still around the ax. The wolf picked up the whole tree and just shoved the whole thing in there under the roots, and then smashed it back in, that is why it is bent, and the soil all around.”

“We must cover the roots of the tree up again Paya, here help me get some branches and pine needles. We will never have peace here in this forest if that kind of violence can be yielded by someone. I am happy to know that so much refined Rouge will be hidden and not used again. When we leave here, lets spin around and not even try to remember where this place is, so that we are never ever tempted to come back here.”

“I don’t want to feel that ever again Bari.”

“Even if you don’t, it is better if we don’t know, if we confuse ourselves, so that no one could ever make us show them where it is.”

“Who is going to do that Bari? The giants? They don’t even know where we went, they have all of the violence that they need already embedded in their skin.”

“Maybe your family Paya.”

“…okay, maybe you are right. I don’t want you to be, but they have done what they have done. If we are going to truly start over it is the only way.”

“Help me kick some more of these over here and tell me about the wolf.”

“It was the same one as in the dream that I had back in the forest. It was so much bigger than I realized when I actually was standing on its leg. Its fur had its own wind, it blew with no other movement of air around it.”

“That is the Az from its bones,” said Baran.

“Doesn’t Az make you want to take things from other people or something like that?” Asked Paya.

“Well again, to humans it has that effect, but it isn’t that way for the wolves.”

“So like what I was saying about the giant eagles.”

“Exactly. My father told me stories of the high wolves and of the white wolves and the valued Az that was in their bones.”

“But the high wolves followed the dark ways didn’t they?” Asked Paya, “I thought that the Az didn’t affect them.”

“In the bones it does not, but if the bones are broken, the Az can seep out and get into the blood, poison the brain and have ill effects even on the creatures of bone such as the wolves and the eagles.”

“Wait, maybe that is what the hatchet in the wolf’s leg was about then, do you think Bari?”

“You mean to try and free the Az in its bones or to infect it with Rouge?”

“I don’t know, I mean what good would a massive wolf be to someone if it was more aggressive or territorial than a wolf would already be naturally?”

“Oh I doubt someone would want to make the wolf more aggressive, I would have no trouble believing that a person with a Rouge-laced ax like that would believe that hacking off a bone’s worth of Az from a giant wolf would be a logical and plausible thing to do though. When that Rouge swell hit me, it was an almost irresistible urge. I fought it with all of my being, I don’t think I could have held up, had it not been for the wolf’s breath.”

“Did you see where the wolf went?”Asked Baran.

“No, when I woke up I was alone and as if I had been asleep.”

“That is how I felt as well, one instant I was picking sticks and I heard you call and then the next thing that I knew, I was waking up.”

“I don’t feel afraid if we do see him again Bari.”

“Well that is comforting to know. In the dream wasn’t the wolf falling or something?”

“Yes, but I think that was about the ax, it is probably why I saw him, or why he sent for me, or whatever happened between that dream and this encounter.”

“I hadn’t thought of that until now Paya, how does a wolf call you in a dream to a place you have not been since you were a youth, while you are in a place that no-one knows on a journey that you didn’t plan?”

“I am not sure Bari, I just know that it was the same wolf. I could tell that he was the one who had called me to these woods, to that hill to set him free from that rouge ax, and I am glad that I did it!”

“We should get back to gathering the wood and get some shelter built before nightfall. Where did you used to stay when you were little?”

“I don’t remember much, there were definitely lots of hills and valleys below us, I remember that much. They were all covered with trees, I remember thinking that it looked like I could run over the tops of the trees from where we were. I wanted to go down the hill and do it but daddy explained to me that they were not as little as they looked from where we were. I didn’t believe him so I went down the hill one day to look for myself. I scared them pretty badly I guess as they kept me much closer after that.”

“Did you get hurt?”

“Not really, but I did try to climb down a cliff.”

“A cliff! How old were you Paya?”

“Maybe four years old.”

“Oh my!”

“Yeah I could see the tops of the puffy green trees below and I really wanted to walk on top of them so when I found this place where I could look down over them, I thought I had found the spot to try it.”

“You didn’t jump did you?”

“Oh no, I wanted to walk on the tops so I started climbing down the side of the cliff, the rocks were solid and there were lots of little shelves to stand on, I don’t know how far down I got before they found me, the rest of the story I remember from mother telling me about it later in life.”

“If we found that place, it would give us good high ground to defend ourselves if we ever needed to. Do you think you could find it.”

“I don’t know Bari, it has been twenty years at least. We need to build our camp near to water. I can’t honestly remember the water part. We were always traveling through these woods, but we never stayed long. It is different to think of building and settling down.”

“I remember when I was growing up in the northern lands on the coast of Jaune near the Azurean coast, father used to always find the water source before dark. We would come up and down the coast where the acid sea would eat away at our vessel every moment that we floated on it. He would always say the same things, ‘Ok Baran, water, heat, shelter, food…go about it’, and I knew to start looking for the place along the coast that had the greenest trees the deepest into the land. We would constantly look whenever we reached a high place on our journey.”

“How did you find the food part of your list?”

“A lot of it had to do with what not to eat. I remember one time we found a tree with some beautiful round fruit on it, it looked so delicious and we found a whole tree full of the fruit in a nice shady spot near the river. I was practically at the tree and ready to eat a piece when dad came running from the boat screaming ‘No, no no son!’ I was so confused. He stopped me and had me look around at all of the fruit on the tree. He asked me if any of them looked like they had been eaten by birds.”

“Had they?”

“Not one.”

“So it was poisonous?”

“I suppose it was, Father never let me try it. I wanted to though.”

“So we need to find some food and some shelter and water and heat ourselves now Bari.”

“Let’s go further up this ridge and find some higher ground.”

TEXT: END

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