Sci Fi & Fantasy / walking the untreaded path chapter 4

4
Test Drive
        Finders were leaving the clearing. It was night with a full moon as our spotlight. Tonight was the last night of the month, the night us Finders continue our travels. Some of us left in smalls groups of threes or twos, others left alone. Children of ten years were hugged and kissed and left alone; it was their time to find their own path in the mountains. The clearing was emptied of tents and fire places; once all the Finders were gone it would be like we were never there.
        The breaking of the Meeting of the Finders was quiet. There was no talking except to say good-by or good luck, even those few words were whispered. It seemed to be a sin to speak louder than the wind. I was waiting for Savio by the edge of the clearing, watching the Finders clear out. Savio and I had decided to travel together for a while, just until we got tired of each others company. Mom, Raza, Sabra, Chasim and Uncle Zell had all said their good-byes to me long ago and were already gone.
        My pack was resting at my feet. It held my tent, the poles were those that could fold up, a pan and a pot, wooden stirring spoons, clothes, herbs, sewing kit, skinning knife, and much more; it was a bottomless pack and felt like I was carrying a full grown ferret. I had my bow slung across my shoulder with a pack of arrows strapped to my waist. My feet were wrapped in soft leather boots that reached my knees, covering my jeans. A camo cloak covered my black t-shirt. It was a nice cloak turning any color I wanted it but not, unfortunately, any cloth; if I wanted a fur cloak I’d have to make my own. Although it was made of a kind of leather that was warm and repelled rain.
        I saw a figure moving toward me and I turned my attention to it. Savio was appearing and reappearing through the quiet moving crowd. He wore blue jeans, green t-shirt and a black cloak. His pack hung from his back and I wondered where his tent was; I knew for a fact that his pack wasn’t the same as mine. Savio reached me in no time. Not daring to break the quietness with our voices we nodded to each other as I gathered my pack and walked into the forest. We were one of the last leaving the clearing. Before we were too far into the forest I looked back to the clearing. It was empty and quiet. The moon’s light filled it, washing away any memory of Finders.

We reached a distance that felt comfortable for us to talk and we took the advantage given us. “Where’s your tent?” I asked Savio, not liking his silence.
        “This is my tent,” Savio smiled a secretive smile. I turned my head in confusion. What…? Savio laughed loudly at the look I gave him. Was he crazy? “My…my cloak is my tent! It turns into a cloak for such times as these and at night it turns into my cover with all my stuff already in it.”
        My eyebrows lifted, “Nifty. Where’d you get it?”
        Savio shrugged his sly smile back in place, “Oh you know, the same Secret the System Stones came from. By the way, have you tried your Heating System yet?”
        “Nah, not yet, it’s too hot yet. If we find ourselves in an ice covered Secret then I’ll use it!”
        Savio chuckled lightly then we elapsed back into silence.  We didn’t have much to talk about; all we wanted to share was shared at the Meeting. Then why had we decided to travel together? Because we were old friends who wanted more time to hang out, and maybe we both wanted to test my Vakt Magisk.
        Something moved against us, it was almost like a burst of wind. It coddled us, spinning around us like a mother’s hand brushing the face of her babe. Savio and I stilled our movements, recognizing the opening of the mountains.
We were stepping into a Secret.
My skin tickled with goose bumps, loving the caress of the wind. This was the best part of stepping into a Secret; it let me know that the mountains still trusted me to keep their stories. A feeling of happiness filled my stomach, rolling up and down throughout my body. It spilled into my legs and spread to my toes, filling them up with a golden glow. At the same time the glow soared up into my chest, through my arms and poured like honey into my head; slow, wonderful and heavy.
I opened my eyes and sighed. I hadn’t noticed my eyes closing. Drinking in the magic that I knew was there, I looked around. We weren’t in the forest anymore. Hills of golden grass rolled out from us, churning my sense of direction. The tips of the grass tickled my shoulders and caught my hair as the wind forced them to a soft bow. I turned, trying to find a way that didn’t include gold grass. No such luck. I turned to Savio but my question died before it reached my tongue. He was staring at me like he had never seen me before.
“Rhona your absolutely glowing!” he said suddenly. Frowning, I looked down at myself. No, I wasn’t glowing. My skin was the same tan color as it was the last time I checked. “No, not physically,” Savio corrected, bringing my gaze back up to his face, “I mean that your glowing. Your smile…your eyes…hell your whole posture has changed!”
Confusion rode through me, covering my good mood, “Savio, what the hell are you talking about?”
“You Rhona! I’m talking about you! When we walked into the Secret you completely changed! It was like you were experiencing something better than sex!”
I scoffed, “Savio, you really need to stop referring to sex. It’s good, don’t get me wrong, but its not that good! Now come on, let’s focus here. Have you ever been here?” I was desperate to change the subject. Savio was making me uncomfortable talking about my sudden “change”. Did it have something to do with…? No, walking into a Secret was the same to all Finders. Wasn’t it?
“I can’t recall these hills of golden grass,” Savio said, temporarily letting go of his previous subject.
“Mmm, neither do I. What direction should we try first?” I asked as my eyes roamed over the grass.
“You choose,” Savio said suddenly, surprising me. Shrugging, I turned to look over my shoulder. The grass hills stretched out farther than I could see, even the blue sky seemed endless! This terrain could be dangerous. There were two possibilities; 1) these planes were devoid of humanoid life meaning that Savio and I were in it alone or 2) there were people here and they were quite hostile.
“Might as well continue forwards,” I finally said; the mountains had pointed us in that direction. We started forward, trying to move with the grass; apparently, if rubbed the wrong way the grass became like knives. I had grass cuts all over my body. The grass had been sharp enough to cut through my cloak and clothes both. I was thankful that my boots were sturdy enough to ignore the sharp threads.
“Never thought I’d say this,” Savio said at one time, “but I don’t like this Secret so far.”
I nodded in agreement, “Ya. Then again it’s a great defense system, don’t you think?”
“Oh ya, great   defense!” Savio said sarcastically, he was trying to lighten the mood. Odd how, when traveling alone, you never notice the mood until it’s too late and then suddenly there’s another person with you and everything changes! It’s actually quite nice to travel with company; that way when I talk, I’m not talking to myself!
“Hey, you see that?” Savio halted so abruptly that I had to risk more grass cuts as I made my way back to him.
“See what?” I asked, gazing around us. Was there something out there?
“There!” Savio pointed ahead of us swaying a bit to the right.
I frowned, studying the area that Savio pointed out. I saw nothing. I shook my head, “What do you think it was?”
“I don’t know, but it follows the grass just as we do. Its big too, maybe human but it could just as easily be an animal,” Savio slowly slid forward; I followed his lead keeping my eyes peeled. I would never doubt Savio’s eyes as long as I lived; he could sometimes even see auras.
We slinked along slowly. Whatever was out there might be attracted to movement. If it was an animal we might have some trouble keeping it away. Sure I had a skinning knife and a bow and a pack of arrows but those were hunting tools and barely useable for weapons, especially up close.
“Three o’clock,” Savio whispered. I looked up to the sun then, embarrassmed, looked to his right. Something moved along the grass, almost like a golden shadow. It was large, as Savio said, and looked hunched. Frowning, I whispered, “Golden cloak.” My cloak changed into the color of the grass, my hood now pulled over my hair letting my vision stay clear. I let my eyes wander from the shadow, knowing Savio was watching it. Were there more? Things who hunt sometimes hunt in packs.
Another shadow moved at the corner of my eye. “Nine o’clock,” I let Savio know. They were flanking us; these were smart predators. Licking my lips I slowly reached for my knife. Something must have given us away because the shadows suddenly jumped at us. I mean they really jumped. Their bodies flew over us, casting a proper shadow over Savio and me. The predators’ momentum flung them to opposite sides; the one that was on Savio’s side was now landing and facing me with a spear, the point aimed at me.
It was a man, tall when he wasn’t crouched, grey eyes, golden hair and skin. He was dressed in yellow, thick looking leather that reached from his chin to mid-shin where brown leather boots protected his feet. His muscles rippled under the leather, letting me know they were there. I took all this in as he landed and the brief second he took before he leapt at me. I nearly fell trying to avoid the spear. I had the knife out, barely bringing it up in time to meet the spear’s head. The man was fast, faster than I was.
I jumped back again, pushing away from my attacker. If I was correct in guessing, Savio had his own hands full with the man’s partner so I was on my own. The stranger leapt again, moving his spear faster than a snake. Again I blocked and pushed off; I needed more time! The man wasn’t giving me much to work with. We were moving with the grass so it wouldn’t cut me. I had a feeling that even if we moved against it I would be the only one hurt.
I had just pushed my self off again when the man changed his tactics. Instead of thrusting his spear he jumped with me, getting close and personal. I could feel his breath brush my cheeks as he forced me down with his arms. Somehow he had brought up the spear between me and him and when I hit the ground the point was at my throat. The man didn’t push on it; did the man really not want to kill me after all?
Then I saw his throat. My skinning knife was across it, threatening as blood dribbled over it. I must have had it up before we hit the ground, the force of our landing cuttin the man’s skin. I looked up meeting my attacker’s eyes, letting him know I could push that little way. We stared at each other for who knows how long, daring the other to move.
Suddenly, the man smiled and moved away, quicker than a viper. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. Keeping my eyes on him I slowly stood, my pack squashed uncomfortably to my back. I kept my knife at my side aimed and ready incase this was a ploy. The man was still smiling as he put up the spear, its butt thumping into the ground.
I took my eyes off of him.
There was no rush or shout of “Just kidding!” so I allowed myself to look around, keeping the stranger in my sight. Where was Savio? Did I dare shout for him? He might still be in close locks with the attacker’s partner. I looked directly at the stranger, suspicion and worry rippling through my arms. “Savio?” I said, not quite a shout. If Savio was still in combat, he would know I was alive and well and not worry about me. Had I had just shouted for him he might have thought I was in trouble and got distracted.
Silence answered my call. I swallowed and moved around the stranger. I had no idea where I was, whether the man had forced me back from Savio or forwards. This was a dangerous place to be, especially alone. No, I wasn’t alone. My attacker was watching me with glimmering eyes, I wasn’t sure if it was amusement or curiosity, maybe it was both.
“Here,” Savio’s voice met my ears. I stilled, not fool enough to turn my back on the stranger.
“You’re all right?” I asked, still not shouting. Savio hadn’t been that far from me anyhow.
“Yup. I got a female here. She’s restless under my blade and not too happy. Are you able to help me?” that was a good way to ask if I was all right without giving my ability away.
I paused. It wouldn’t be a great idea to let the stranger near Savio who was, at the moment, busy guarding his partner. “Um, well sort of. I mean, I’m kinda guarding the man who attacked me.”
“I don’t understand. Does that mean you’re knife is at his throat too?”
“Nnnoooo, I wouldn’t say that. We seem to have come to a…agreement. We tied in our fight so I think, for now, I’m alright.”
The stranger started laughing, so suddenly I actually lifted my knife ready for my protection. Skittish, who me? He hadn’t moved, besides his free hand brushing over his face. “Let her up, man, she won’t attack you again.” The man’s voice was surprisingly deep; he needed a beard to pull it off.
“What about you?” I asked before Savio had a chance to move.
“Neither will I, not today anyway,” the man stepped forward testily. When I didn’t react he continued in a languid way.
“All right Savio, let her up,” I said as I turned to find Savio looking down into the grass, a spear in his hands. Was that the attacker’s spear?
Savio let the woman up by stepping back, watching both attackers. I hurried up to him and waved at the spear.
“Hers,” he said, confirming my thoughts. I looked back at the woman. She was tall, taller than the man which put her about six plus foot, dark blond hair in a tight bun, hazel eyes and golden skin. She was dressed in the same clothing the man was only her boots were black instead of brown.
“You will need a woman who is strong. Stronger than me I’m afraid. That woman is hard to find, I wish you luck,” the woman said, her hand stretched out for her weapon. Savio smiled and gave her the spear probably not understanding a word of it; I was just as confused as he was.
“Wait,” I said as she took her spear, “What are you talking about?” rule number one in my world, when in disarray ask for clarity. Savio cleared his throat in discomfort; maybe my rule wasn’t the same as his.
“This man defeated me; I will continue to travel until I find my match or a man I can defeat. Did your tussle with Daj remove your memory?” the woman asked almost like it was a joke.
“My apologies for our ignorance,” I lied, “but we find ourselves in a role we don’t quite understand. See, we roam around pretty randomly so-”
“Oh,” the man interrupted me, “you must be from the oceans. It’s a far off place to be and much unexpected but unfortunately, our rules abide to all who play.” The way he was saying it gave me the chills.  “You see, we the mountain people come into the grasses and stalk each other until we find a mate. Then we engage the said mate and if all goes well, we marry.”
A cold ran through my spine, “So let me get this straight,” I said slowly, “She didn’t win so ‘it’ didn’t go well meaning Savio is still up for grabs, so to speak. Um, did ‘it’ go well for us?”
Daj’s smile widened.
“Hold on!” Savio started to wave his hands, “Are you telling me that you married Rhona because you were matched?” Daj nodded not looking away from me. Savio doubled over and laughed. He arms tightened around his stomach as he sank to his knees. “I… I can’t believe you got married in the first…in the first Secret from the Meeting!” his speech was broken by boughs of laughter.
Annoyance laced through my body before Savio’s cheer reached me. My lips curled and I started to chuckle. “Yes, Savio. This is a record even for me, but let me ask you this, how many times have you been married? Hmm?”
“Oh no!” Savio started to stand up barely in control, “This isn’t about me. I’m not the one who got married instantly!”
“Ya?” I asked, cocking my hip and placing my hands in a thinker’s pose, “I guess your right! That means I’m gonna have a honey moon!”
   Savio stopped laughing, his face slack in jealousy. “Honey…moon?” Daj asked. By the look on his face he had no idea what I was about to get him into.
“Yes, my husband. If I’m wrong in this situation I believe I’m the one who’s going to have the sex tonight!” I laughed as Savio swung a fist at my arm. I dodged the weak attack and nearly skipped over to Daj. “Am I right?”
“Your right,” Daj said, his smile fading and with it my confidence, “But since your from the sea you don’t know what happens after.”
After? I didn’t want to ask. I really didn’t want to ask. “What happens after?” I asked.
“If the female is satisfied she turns on her husband and kills him, if she can. There are very few known males who killed the female and survived to mate again.”
I was silent for a moment. “Hey Savio,” I called without looking away from Daj, “What would you rather do? Live long or die happy?”

Two moons graced each other above us as we sat around the fire. Savio, Daj and I had made our way out of the grass hills, now known as the Golden Gates, and into a new surrounding. Apparently the Golden Gates were inside a large mountain range, almost like a gold filled crater. The woman who was with Daj had left our company long before we had started moving. When we exited the grass we hiked up the side of the mountain and reached the top at sundown. Now we sat, eating jerky and warming ourselves by the fire. Daj had offered me his jerky and in curiosity I tried it; it was pretty good.
I stared at the stars as I chewed the meat. They were light pink giving the night sky some color; it was actually quite pretty. A cold breeze flitted over me, reminding me that my skin wasn’t nerveless. Shivering, I burrowed deeper into my cloak.
“Its cold out tonight,” Daj said suddenly, breaking the silence. I glanced up and smiled as he came over to hug me. Body heat was always a good source. Savio had thought of the same thing but for other reasons, “Why don’t you two head into Rhona’s tent? I’ll sleep in my be…er, tent and leave you two alone.”
“You two have tents?” Daj asked a sliver of surprise curling through his voice.
“Ya, we have tents. We just weren’t active enough to set them up,” Savio explained as he took off his pack. He stepped away from the fire until we almost lost him to the darkness. He flung off his cloak and, in a flurry of black cloth, Savio was replaced by his tent. Daj gasped, his mouth gaping. Savio peeked out of his curtained door and smiled. “Well,” he said cheerfully as he reached for his pack, “See you newly weds in the morning. Oh and Rhona? Try to kill him silently. Sex is one thing but the sounds of death can penetrate anything!” and he disappeared into his tent.
“Show off,” I mumbled after him.
“I heard that!” Savio’s voice lifted from the depths of the tent. I snickered and smacked Daj’s jaw back up. I knelt and ruffled through my pack that was sitting next to my feet.
“So, is your cloak a tent too?” Daj asked trying to shake off his obvious shock.
“No, mine’s a regular tent,” I chuckled. His shock was funnier than it should have been, like I was drunk or something. It was that moment that I realized that my stomach felt wet. I stilled and glanced at Daj, he was still staring at Savio’s tent. Quickly, I lifted my shirt and turned towards the fire. My eyes widened as I saw the blood.
My belly was stained with blood, the shirt having rubbed it around. Maybe it was from the grass’ knifed edges. No, I would have felt it and cleaned it as I had done with the others. Was this the Vakt Magisk? What was it trying to tell me? Oh damn it! Why did these things always have to be so complicated? Slipping my shirt back down I turned to Daj, “Hold on, Savio has all my blankets. Be back!”
I walked calmly to Savio’s tent and called out, “Savio! You’ve got all my blankets! I want them back!”
“You sure you’re going to need them tonight?” he asked. He did know I was kidding, right?
“Its going to get cold afterwards, smart one!” I pushed aside his curtains and walked in; this was too important for playful banter. Savio had just fixed up his fire when I entered.
“Why don’t you use my Heating System I sold you?” he asked, he really didn’t know that I had been kidding!
“I don’t even have my tent up yet!” I hissed. Savio stilled and looked at me full on. It might have been the tone in my voice or maybe what I had said, either way he was searching my eyes. “What’s wrong?”
I lifted my shirt, “I need a damp cloth.”
Savio had one in a few seconds. Surprise at his quickness was pushed to the back of my mind as I sat down and wiped at my stomach. Dried blood cracked and washed away as the cloth passed over it but fresh blood seemed to seep out of my rose.
My rose.
I scrubbed at my stomach clearing it enough to see that tears of blood were leaking from the thorns. What in the world? The flow of blood seemed to slow as we watched it then, finally, it stopped completely. “What the hell was that?”
Savio stayed kneeling in front of me, a frown glued to his face, his eyes staring intently. “You said that it could tell truth from lie, magic directed towards you and protect you. What else?”
I thought back to Sabra. What had she said? “Lets see, it was a lie detector, Vakt Magisk detector, death of loved ones and…lets see. One more. It was…oh ya. A poison shield.”
Savio glanced up at her sharply.
“You think someone poisoned me?” I asked, frowning.
“You ate Daj’s jerky but he didn’t have any. Apparently you didn’t notice him chucking the meat behind him. Also, their mating ceremony reminds me of spiders. The female and male mate then the female kills eats the male.”
I stayed silent for a moment. Savio was letting me think this through. I shuddered inside to think of spiders. The only animals I’m deathly afraid of and it has to be spiders!
“Rhona concentrate!” Savio shook my shoulders lightly. I shook my head. Right! Poison makes the mind weak and vulnerable. I should have known that! Oh, right, poison.
I chuckled a little, “I’m repeating myself.”
Savio rolled his eyes. “Okay, Rhona, think out loud. I’ll keep you on track. Now, why would Daj want to poison you?”
I chewed on my lip; the thorns were bleeding again. “Because…he doesn’t want to die.”
“Right,” Savio nodded, “and how can he prevent death?”
“By keeping it at bay?”
“Yes, but how?”
How would Daj prevent death? The answer actually gave me chills, “By…killing me, the female spider.” I was sure of this answer. Even if Savio said I was wrong, I was sure it was right.
Savio nodded, “You’re lucky the Vakt Magisk can protect you. Take a moment to rest. I’ll find some blankets you can use.”
Savio got up and disappeared behind one of the dividers. I slouched in the chair I sat in. How clumsy and stupid of me! It should have occurred to me that these men would kill for their life. They wouldn’t want to take a one night toss in the bed and then die. How much stupider could I get?
I straitened. No, I wasn’t stupid! I’ve been traveling the mountains way too long for those kinds of thoughts to enter my head. I was lulled by Savio’s company and him of mine, apparently. We got distracted from our instincts and almost got one of us killed…okay, almost got me killed. I don’t like admitting it, but I had no luxury for such denial. I promise, on my soul and Vakt Magisk, that I would never let my guard down again. It was way too risky!
Wiping at my stomach with the cloth I noticed that the blood had stopped again; this time for good. Smiling and standing I shouted out to the treacherous Daj, “Savio’s gone to get them. It shouldn’t take much longer!” was Daj even still there? Or had he run off to save his own hide?
“Ya!” Daj answered, his voice seemed calm but there was shock and dismay layered in it.
Savio came back out with two blankets, “Use your Heating System, it’ll get really cold tonight!”
I exchanged the blankets for the bloodied rag and stepped out of the tent cautiously. I’ve seen Daj fight, if he wanted me dead he’d have no trouble with a woman whose hands were full. That would be a sad and stupid way to die. I think Daj had come to the same conclusion because he was still sitting near the fire. My smile was still in place as I gave him the blankets to hold. I reached into my pack and pulled out my tent, set it up quickly and laid out the blankets.
Daj began to enter the tent but I stopped him. His eyes sharpened for a second before he forced them to soften. “I know you poisoned me,” I said, watching his eyes stay the same, “but I’m immune to poison, all kinds and I don’t want to be watching your hands for a means of death. So I want to make a deal with you. In the morning, whether I’m satisfied or not, I will not kill you. I don’t like waking up to blood and death. I have nothing to prove my words worth, but when I make a deal or a promise I keep it till I die. So, do we have a deal? Oh, remember, if you agree my life is as much in your hands as yours is in mine. I’m trusting you.”
Daj was silent for a moment, letting his cleverness shine through his eyes. “I agree. You ocean people are strange to us mountain folk but damn do you keep your word.” Smiling, I led Daj into my tent.