Vexyna and Cateran stumbled from the cave and paused to brush themselves off. Growing shadows at the clearing before the cave gave the impression of early evening.
“The day is already growing long,” Vexyna observed. “Something odd must have happened with time when we were in that inner chamber. We have to find shelter and I can’t say I trust the accommodations in the cave. Which direction should we head?”
“Let me get my bearings,” said Cateran. She glanced around at the tree tops, then considered the wind. “We should walk this way.” She pointed into the trees.
“Okay.” Vexyna shrugged. The two made their way into the forest in the direction Cateran had pointed.
They moved forward, stepping over fungi of many varieties. Low-hanging leaves the size of an elephant’s ear drooped everywhere and had to be constantly moved out of the way.
Cateran stopped ten meters inside the forest. She listened for a moment, then cupped her hands to her mouth and issued forth a ‘woo woop’ sound.
“Woo woop yourself,” a sarcastic voice came from the trees.
The girls whirled around to see a young man clad in dark green advancing towards them from off one of the trees. He was upon them in an instant.
“Honestly, Cateran,” chastised the man with burgundy hair. “I wish you’d remember which greeting to send at which checkpoint. This is checkpoint three. I was expecting you at checkpoint two. What took you so long?”
“I’m sorry, Raj…” Cateran began. “Oh! Raj, this is Vexyna. Vexyna, meet Raj.”
Raj bowed low with grace and flair . His green satiny tunic billowed slightly through the puffed sleeves and caused the sides of his vestment to open, revealing the slight gathering of hair on his chest. The high white collar of the tunic offset the deep tan of his face. “Why is she with you?”
“I promised to help her. You don’t know what happened in that village. It was horrible. We can’t let that sort of thing happen again.”
“You shouldn’t be bringing strangers to the main camp. It’s not a good idea.”
“She’s just one person.”
“You are just one person. I am just one person. Is she a spy, perhaps? Or an assassin? How do you know she isn’t either or both? How can you trust her?” Raj barraged Cateran with questions.
Cateran’s face grew redder and redder. Her left hand snapped up in front of her with the index finger extended. She proceeded to poke this steel finger into Raj’s chest and said to the beat of her jabbing finger, “Now you look here! Something big is happening and it’s going to affect us whether we like it or not. Vexyna needs our help. From what I’ve seen, I think we’re going to need her help as well.”
Raj grabbed Cateran’s finger. “Enough, I get the point.” He turned to Vexyna, who was absently admiring the form-fitting nature of his tights. “What’s with the glasses?”
Vexyna sighed. Now outside her village, she would have to explain the glasses over and over again. “I have sensitive eyes. I was told never to remove my glasses. Apparently my eyes wouldn’t be able to withstand the light.”
“Oh,” said Raj. “You seem to have stirred up quite a state in Cateran. Come; let us go to our main camp.” He marched off into the thick of the forest. The two girls quickly followed.
As they twisted their way through the thick underbrush and heavily laden tree branches, Vexyna commented, “Cateran says you have your own special talents.”
Raj’s dark features turned a slight shade of red.
“Or, are your talents for Cateran alone?” Vexyna slyly enquired.
It was Cateran’s turn to be red-faced. “No,” she said somewhat tersely.
Raj stuck a finger in the collar of his tunic and ran it around the circumference quickly while changing the subject. “Cateran, tell me what has happened to get you into such a state. Why should we trust or help Vexyna? What’s in it for us?”
Cateran was quick with her answer. “Helping Vexyna is helping us. I’ve seen the destruction Empress Din can bring down. If we want to live the way we want, we have to stop her.”
“Destruction? What happened in the village you were supposed to spy on?”
“Spy on?” Vexyna turned to Cateran for an explanation. “You told me you just got lost.”
“It was a test,” Cateran confessed. “I was supposed to see if anything interesting was happening in your remote village and grab whatever might be useful.”
“Then she was supposed to report back to me,” Raj interjected.
“The others wouldn’t let me try these things or teach me what I want to know, but Raj does.” Cateran beamed at him.
“So you’re a spy and a thief,” accused Vexyna.
“In training,” Raj added. “She isn’t proficient at either yet. What happened in your village, Vexyna?”
“The ground seemed to come to life. Buildings toppled and streets rocked like the sea while the people ran screaming in terror. There are now giant rocks blocking the gateways into the village. It is impossible to enter it now.”
“You might be able to move those rocks with a couple of Gargantuans,” Raj mused. He idly watched the way Cateran’s hair bobbed in the breeze she made while she was walking. “They use a lot of Gargantuans in a mining town in the northern reaches of this continent. The town is called Ninim.”
“I need to know what’s happened and who’s survived in my village,” Vexyna continued. “I’m also looking for my mother.”
“That should be easy enough; after all, she is your mother,” Raj said.
“You don’t understand,” Vexyna said stiltedly as she stepped over a tree root. “I have no recollection of my mother. It’s like we never met.”
“Are there any clues as to where your mother is located now?”
“All I have is this amulet, my mother’s diary and my grandmother’s candlestick. There was a note in a chest in Garnet’s Cave, but it disintegrated in a ball of flame.”
“It’s true,” Cateran chimed in. “I was there and saw the whole thing. It was amazing. Tell him about your candlestick.”
“My candlestick talks if you light it.”
“No way.” Raj was intrigued. “This must be brought to the attention of our leader, Krajav. He probably won’t grant you an audience, but it’s worth a try.”
The forest began to thin out and the group could see the lights of many fires dancing in the distance. Above them, they could finally see the velvety sky as it began to fill with night diamonds.
“Not far now,” Raj informed them. He turned to Cateran. “I will explain her. You never left the camp as far as anyone in authority is concerned.”
Since they were out in a clearing, it made it easier for them to make up distance. They were at the camp in a couple of minutes.
As they got closer, Vexyna realized there was one huge bonfire in the middle of a circle of seats. A couple of smaller fires, with seats scattered around them, burned off to the sides of the main blaze. There were several dozen people milling about tending to different things.
“Thievery must be a booming business,” Vexyna commented, half to herself.
“We’re not all thieves. Not like Miss Fancypants here.” Raj indicated Cateran. “The majority of us just gather information.”
“My pants aren’t fancy,” retorted Cateran. “They’re practical and befitting someone aspiring to be part of the elite of the clan.” She stuffed her thumbs under the suspender straps on either side of her coveralls and gave them a push forward, stretching them just a bit.
People around them stopped their activities to stare at Vexyna as the three walked through the heart of the camp. “You don’t get many visitors to the main camp, do you?”
“Outsiders are rarely permitted to enter the main camp. Even fewer are granted an audience with our leader, Krajav.” Raj led them to a large tent not far from the main bonfire.
The tent was a dull, flat green on the outside. It peaked in the center and was held up by four thin posts.
Two oversized
men stood with their arms crossed, blocking any entrance to the tent. They both wore black turbans and black cloaks. “What is your business with this stranger, Raj?” asked one of them.
“She bears important news concerning the destruction of the village of Shojiki.”
“We heard the village was laid waste. Is she from there?”
“She is standing right here. And, yes, she is from that village.” Vexyna was growing impatient. She was exhausted and thought she might actually sleep at night for once.
“Well, will she tell us what the deal is with the dark glasses at night?”
Vexyna sighed heavily.
Cateran was quick to jump in. “She has a name, you know. It’s Vexyna. And her eyes are sensitive to light. So lighten up.” Cateran was right in the guard’s face as she said it.
Raj grabbed Cateran’s shoulders and pulled her away from the guard. “Vexyna has told me about the destruction of her village. She also claims to have magical artifacts. These may interest Krajav.”
“I shall see if Krajav will see you.” One of the guards disappeared into the tent.
He returned swiftly. “Krajav wishes to see your artifacts. Please give them to me.”
“I will gladly show them to Krajav, but I will be the one to present them to him,” was Vexyna’s reply.
“Krajav will not see you before verifying genuine interest in at least one of your artifacts.”
Cateran turned to Vexyna and said, “Give him the candlestick. It’s a good way to build trust. We still hardly know each other, but I feel like we’re forming a friendship. We have a common bond propelling us towards a common goal. Let my people help you, Vexyna. First, you must trust them in order to let them help you.” Her gaze was one of sincerity even though she was looking into Vexyna’s shaded glasses.
Vexyna was moved by Cateran’s sincerity and relented. She handed the guard her grandmother’s candlestick. “This belonged to my grandmother. If you ignite the wick, it will ask you to invoke an incantation.”
The guard took the candlestick with some hesitation and vanished back into the tent.
Again, he returned swiftly and this time he threw open the tent flaps and bowed as he pointed the way into the tent. “Please come inside. Krajav will see you immediately.”
The trio attempted to enter the tent, but the guard stopped Cateran. “Get back to your duties, girl.”
“But I…” Cateran started to say before Raj stepped in.
“Go to the main fire and wait,” Raj told her. “We will meet you there.”
“Yeah, but…” Cateran stammered.
“Go,” commanded Raj.
Cateran slunk off towards the fire.
Vexyna let Raj take the lead as they entered the tent.
The interior was a lavish spectacle of wealth and pleasure. It was much bigger on the inside than it seemed on the outside. There were small fountains in three of the four corners, surrounded by small ferns and multi-colored flowers. Each of the fountains contained the statue of a woman during three stages of life: as a little girl, as a woman and as an old woman. These statues were pouring water from their jugs onto the brightly colored fish in the pool beneath them.
Tables with bunches of fruit could be seen here and there, and several large lounging seats were set about the room.
In one far corner lay a huge display of pillows, feathers, and shiny silk and satin accoutrements. In the midst of this lay a man who could only be described as large. It was hard to say just how large this man was, because his shiny white robes were vast and flowing.
He busily flipped through the pages of a book, stopping every once in a while to take a bite out of a dark-colored loaf of what looked to be bread. He smiled when he saw the trio approaching. “Welcome Vexyna, daughter of Nogard.”
“Thank you,” Vexyna said. “But my father’s name was Lanton. I don’t know what my mother’s name was. I do know it began with ‘L’.”
“Nogard is the name of a place. A place we believed was only spoken of in myths.”
“Nogard? Where’s that?”
“I do not know. This candlestick bears the engravings of the language used by the people of Nogard. This type of writing hasn’t been seen in many centuries.”
“Geez, I knew Grandma was old, but I had no idea she was that old.”
“If she is from Nogard, she is thousands upon thousands of years old. Undoubtedly, there is magic in you, young woman. The people of Nogard were supposedly more than just human. They were supposed to have been the humans formed from beings descended from the sky at the time of the great battle between the two lords of the universe.”
The two stood there with their mouths hanging open. Vexyna was the first to speak. “I know nothing of magic. The family objects seem to be exhibiting some unusual behavior, but I have never before experienced such things.”
“This candlestick came from your grandmother?”
Vexyna nodded. “She lived with us in my village until a few years ago. I’m not sure where she went. I know she had to leave quickly.”
“Would that be your mother’s mother or your father’s?”
“My father’s mother.”
“What do you know about your mother?”
“Very little. She left me this amulet and said to find her.”
Krajav leaned across to have a closer look at the amulet. He turned it over in his hand and drew his hand back as if it had been bitten. “You will leave this camp now.” He handed her back the candlestick and motioned to the guards.
Two burly black-garbed guards moved towards Vexyna.
“What? Why?” she asked.
“You are the plague born amongst us. We must pray you never become what you are destined to be. Nogard is somehow involved, which is intriguing; however, I want no more part in this. Be gone with your curse.”
The guards picked her up, whisked her out of the tent, and didn’t stop until they had arrived at the outskirts of the camp. Here, they dropped her unceremoniously to the ground.
Cateran came running after Vexyna. She seemed upset.
Vexyna was dusting herself off when Cateran asked, “Where to now?”
“I don’t know,” Vexyna said while examining her cloak. “All I know is I am tired and hungry. I need to find someplace to rest.”
“Cateran,” said one of the guards. “Women are forbidden from leaving the camp.”
“And what’ll you do if I try? Are you going to stop me?”
“If you leave, you must never return.”
“Never return? Fine then, I won’t. I’ve seen some pretty amazing and terrifying things in the last few hours. I can’t stop now. This is much bigger than this camp. I told Vexyna I would help her and that is exactly what I intend to do.”
“Cateran.” Vexyna touched her arm gently. “Thank you.”
Raj appeared with a large gray knapsack. “Here,” he said, placing it at Cateran’s feet. “This pack contains a tent and other supplies. I had it prepared earlier today for me to use on my next assignment. I thought you might be stubborn enough to disobey our law. This should help.”
Cateran threw her arms around Raj and squeezed him tightly. “Goodbye,” she whispered into his ear. For everyone to hear, she said, “Don’t think I’m going to miss you.”
“Not much,” was Raj’s only reply.
Vexyna and Cateran each lit a torch before turning and leaving the edge of the camp.
Raj and the guards stood watching them disappear further into the forest. The guard said to Raj, “I’m sorry, but you know the laws of our clan.” He put his hand on Raj’s shoulder.
Raj looked at the grassy ground. “Cateran is still pretty innocent. I hope this is going to open her eyes.” He looked up at the six-foot seven-inch man who stood beside him. “Avez, my swarthy friend, Cateran has always traveled along with the main camp. The world may come as a shock to her.” Under his breath, he added, “Please be safe, Cateran.”
Meanwhile, the two girls were mak
ing their way through the Argotha Forest.
“Is there another clearing not too far through the forest?” Vexyna was growing more and more tired.
“Yes, there should be a one and a half hour walk to the west.”
“Good. Let’s keep moving.”
“I wonder what sort of food Raj packed in this sack.”
Vexyna took up a position behind Cateran so she could dig around in the knapsack on Cateran’s back. It was difficult to feel around in the bag while Cateran was moving, so Vexyna extinguished her torch. Vexyna managed to pull out two pieces of fruit.
The two munched on the fruit as they trudged along. It took about five minutes to make it to the thick of the forest. The fruit was gone by that time.
“There’s a path of sorts running due west into the forest. A short way off that path to the south is a small clearing.” Cateran moved overhanging vines out of the way to help make her way through the dense forest.
Vexyna merely wished to rest and grunted a noncommittal, “Yeah, whatever.” She relit her torch.
Cateran still had plenty of energy. “What do you plan to do now?” Her eyes caught sight of a Nosiop stalk. “Don’t touch those sickly yellow plants. They’re poisonous and can be deadly.”
Vexyna took note of the thin, pale yellow plant. It had a slender stalk on top of which balanced an open pod ten centimeters around. The face of the open pod was a dull brown. “Why would anyone want to touch one of those plants? They’re ghastly. I can’t imagine such an ugly plant giving off any sort of odor that I’d care to smell.”
“I just thought you should know.”
“Thanks. I do appreciate it. I’m just tired.”
“We’re almost there.”
“Good.” They twisted their way through the forest. Curious beasts of all sizes watched them from the shadows and scurried or slithered away as the light of the girls’ torches drew near.
Cateran stopped to pull several hanging vines away from a fork in the path. “The clearing is straight through here. If you didn’t know what was beyond these vines, you’d never think there was a clearing.”
“No,” Vexyna admitted, because it was a statement of fact. The most used path through the forest carried blindly on. This little detour was nicely secluded.
Cateran held aside the multi-colored vines as Vexyna entered the clearing. The vines quickly swallowed up where they had come from and they found themselves in a land of green and solitude. The clearing was no more than twenty meters around its edge. They could even see the stars from where they were.
“This clearing is often used by my people. That’s how I know about it. We created it as a safe spot to rest during our travels. The wildlife of the forest won’t bother us here, so we can sleep.” She placed her torch on top of an obvious fire pit before swinging the knapsack off her shoulders.
“Handy,” Vexyna said. She yawned. She politely put a hand up to her mouth.
A small green and brown tent was extracted from the knapsack along with two sleeping rolls. “Two rolls? Just what was Raj prepared for?” Cateran wondered. She set about pitching the tent.
Once the tent was erected, Vexyna unrolled the sleeping rolls and climbed inside one. “This day has just been too full. I could sleep for a week.”
“I’m not tired,” stated Cateran. “It’s still pretty early for me.”
“Usually, I wouldn’t be tired at this hour. At this hour, I’d have only been awake for a short time. Today was just an exception to the rule because of all the commotion last night and the devastation this morning.” Her yawning prolonged her last few words.
“I’m going to check out the forest for things we can eat.”
“Do you have to consume your own weight in food every day in order to survive?”
“Eh?”
“I’m kidding. Don’t stray far and be careful. Thank you, Cateran, for everything. I know now you’re not just a thief or gatherer of information; you are a caring person,” Vexyna said as she curled up in her sleeping roll. “We need more people like you.”
Cateran smiled at her new friend and said, “You’re a puzzle I can’t put down. What can I say? I love a mystery.” Having said that, she made sure the fire in the fire pit was burning properly to sufficiently burn on a low flame without running out of fuel. After that, she left the clearing.
Vexyna nodded off and snoozed for a time.
She was abruptly reawakened by a pair of rough hands grasping her shoulders and hauling her out of her sleeping roll.
When Vexyna opened her eyes, she saw five men gathered around the fire pit with Cateran on her knees. Cateran had her hands tied behind her back. She shouted at the men. “You can’t have her! Let me go!”
A rusty-haired man ambled up to Vexyna. “Let’s have a look your eyes,” he said as he prepared to remove her glasses.
“No!” both girls cried in unison.
Vexyna implored the man, “I can’t remove my glasses. My eyes are just too sensitive to light.”
“I want to see your eyes,” shot back the man. He proceeded to remove her glasses.
Vexyna snapped her eyes shut. The man poked her in the ribs until she finally turned to face him, opened her eyes and said, “Here. Look. Happy now?”
The man gazed into the deep well of her dark brown eyes and Vexyna knew he found his mind growing blank and happiness welled within him. “Yes, thanks.” He smiled at her vacantly.
“Give me back my glasses.” She held her hand out and closed her eyes again.
“Yes, ma’am.” He started to hand back her glasses, but stopped with his hand over hers.
Vexyna reached up swiftly and grabbed her glasses out of the man’s calloused hand. She quickly put them back in their proper place.
The man started to reach for Vexyna’s glasses again. Vexyna thought about the events of the last few moments and decided to try something. She put her hand up to the bridge of her glasses and closed her eyes while she slowly pulled them down her slender nose. She leaned close to the man and opened her eyes. She fixed him with a steely gaze and said, “Hands off the glasses. Release the girl.” She pointed toward Cateran.
The man wandered over to Cateran and removed her ropes. His companions broke away from their looting of the girl’s things to walk over to find out what was going on.
Vexyna’s eyes were not as sensitive to the light as she had been told. There was a great deal of discomfort when she first removed the dark lenses, but with each new bare opening they were gradually becoming accustomed to the light. It helped that it was night time and the violent sun wasn’t blasting the ground. Vexyna removed her glasses completely and glared at each of the men in turn. One by one, they all stood transfixed by her gaze.
Cateran was astounded. “You do have magic in you, Vexyna!” Then she made her own remarkable discovery. “Your eyes don’t need protection; it’s the people around you.” She kept her eyes on the men and avoided Vexyna.
Vexyna told them to move in closer to her. When they all stepped closer and Vexyna was sure all the men were locked on her eyes, she said, “It’s piping hot in this clearing. Remove your clothing.”
The men complied and soon they were all standing in their underwear, still staring at Vexyna.
Wonder blazed in Cateran’s wide-eyed stare at the masculine flesh displayed before her.
Looking more annoyed than interested, Vexyna continued to issue commands. “Now boys, I know you can’t wait to play far, far away in the forest, but you can’t get through the exit of this clearing with your underwear on. Quickly boys! Go play in the forest.” She pointed them toward the exit.
The men gleefully ran for the exit and hurriedly removed their underwear.
While Cateran thought her eyes would pop out of her head because of all the sights she was seeing, Vexyna remained fairly detached. Vexyna’s reaction turned from general annoyance to mirth with no hint of being attracted to any of the men.
Both girls found it hard to suppress their la
ugher as they watched the buttocks of the naked men bounce through the exit and disappear into the forest.
When they couldn’t hear the antics of the men any longer, they both exploded with laughter. Vexyna had long since replaced her glasses and was looking at Cateran when she asked, “What was that all about?”
“They caught me in the forest,” Cateran admitted. “They were looking for us because Krajav had informed Din’s men that you might pose a threat to their leader.”
“That rotten so-and-so,” Vexyna spat. Placing a hand on her hip and leaning slightly to one side, Vexyna commented to her companion, “Your stealth techniques need work. You’ve been caught twice in the past day or so.”
“You only caught me because of your particularly perceptive peepers,” Cateran corrected Vexyna.
“So, how’d they get the drop on you?”
Sheepishly, Cateran looked at the ground to avoid Vexyna’s stare. “I got distracted by some wild game.” Flipped out lips formed a pout. “That would’ve been really tasty for breakfast, too.”
The two started rifling through the men’s clothes. They didn’t find anything of interest except some dried rations.
“We should hang on to a couple of these outfits. They might come in handy later,” Cateran observed.
Vexyna agreed and the two neatly packed two of the outfits they felt most likely to fit them into the knapsack. The gray pouch was rather large and could accommodate a great many items.
“We probably shouldn’t remain here too much longer,” Cateran advised.
“We have no clues leading us forward. Perhaps we could get more answers if we could get back into Shojiki.”
“Raj mentioned Gargantuans to move the rocks. We should head for Ninim and seek help,” Cateran concluded. She was rubbing her wrists where the ropes had bound her. “Did you get any rest at all? I was gone for about an hour and a half.”
“It didn’t seem like any time had passed at all. Besides, now my night restlessness has set in and I’m wide awake.”
“We should exit this forest as soon as we can. I know the shortest route, so follow me.”
“I have no idea where I’m going, so of course I’ll follow you.” Vexyna laughed.
After packing up the last of their gear, the girls set off into the forest. They walked in silence and kept a watchful eye out for any sort of activity. Cateran had them twisting and winding their way through a path of her own invention.
At last, they came to the end of the forest and found themselves at the end of three dusty dirt roads.
Chapter 4: Hop to it Girls