Genesis #24

*Part 1 of Chapter 11*

________

A cluster of large, dusty backpacks leaned on one another, lying on the dark ground. Faint footprints disturbed the purple sand, four pairs of heavy boots moving south from where the packs lay. One could tell their wearers stepped carefully, the toe of the print deeper than the rest. Now, in the distance, one could hear the screeching bellow of a grieved animal surrounded by creatures one-tenth of its size. The infernal, tiny creatures were in the beast’s territory, where it was trying to grieve its loss. They would pay.

____

Clint stared up at the creature, mouth open in awe and fear. Reflecting on his eyes, was their target, a multi-armed beast with slick, sand coated scales, a primate face with a leering mouth and huge, gleaming tusks; transparent red claws tipped its eight arms, the theme color of the creature’s body.

Rune stood before the beast. The four of them had formulated a plan; Rune would try to communicate the creature, which the sarsh was not happy about, but Keila had insisted that the creature was not inherently evil, and could might be upset. If that didn’t work, then Rune would fight it for dominance. Right now, they were in the first stage.

The sarsh swallowed and held his hands out in a gesture of peace. Quickly, he morphed to match the creature, but slightly smaller as to not intimidate it, and he communicated through a series of howls, whines, and grunts. The larger creature seemed to understand, turning and pointing with one of its long, scaly arms towards the west. There was a few more minutes of unintelligible grunting and whining, and then Rune transformed back to himself, a deep crease between his brows. Clint stepped forward, watching the beast out of the corner of his eye as he asked his friend what happened.

“The creature, called Tacke, says her baby is fell into a ravine during the sand storm, and is stuck. She also said she’s going to kill you all if we don’t get her baby out.”

______

“What are we going to do now?” Keila huffed, crossing her arms and scuffing her boots. “How are we supposed to get that thing out of the ravine? The baby is probably bigger than any of us, even you, Rune.” The sarsh raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know yet, why don’t we go get our packs back and set up camp near here; and I will talk with Tacke. Maybe she can help us.”

The four of them trekked back to where their packs lay in the sand, retrieved them, and arrived back by the Tacke’s cave. Rune glanced restlessly at the darkening sky. “We don’t have much time to do this. Once nights falls, it’s going to be too dark for anyone but me to see.”

Jethro frowned. “We can make fires or torches around the area we’re working.”

Rune nodded. “But I prefer if we got this done before nightfall. We need to go ask Tacke to lead us to where her baby is and scout out. There may be an accessible area to carry the baby out of the ravine.”

“Why can’t Tacke do it herself?” Keila wondered aloud. The sarsh shrugged. “I don’t know yet, I guess we’ll find out when we see the ravine. Let’s go.”

____

Rune stood before Tacke; he and the massive creature sounded as if they were angry, snorting and roaring loud enough to raise goosebumps on the humans’ arms. “That is so weird,” Keila mused, watching the two colossal beasts as she set up her tent. Clint grunted in agreement.

“I don’t understand it,” He complained. “But Rune insisted that was only because it wasn’t possible for us.”

“Makes sense.”

Clint snorted. “But then he uses it to show off.”

“He’s got a little better.”

Another snort. “I’m going to see how the progress it going. Nighttime is coming fast.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“We can all go,” Jethro called from across the camp. “We’re done setting up.”

The three approached the beasts, Clint called up to Rune. “We’d better hurry! Night is falling.” Tacke stuck her face low to the ground where the humans stood, and chuffed out a breath, her huge orange eyes narrowed at them. Rune morphed back to himself, there was a small smile on his face. “She likes you guys.” He reported. “Good thing she trusts you or she’d have eaten you by now.”

Keila smiled, undeterred by the sarsh’s words, she gently petted Tacke’s nose. “Good girl,” She whispered. “We’ll find your baby.”

_____

The three humans sat astride Rune, who was in the form of the wolf anarii; they followed Tacke through the thick trees, where eventually, a dark chasm in the purple sand became visible, the sand particles were blowing across the ravine like dark clouds. The humans all covered their mouths with bandanas and replaced their arm and leg sleeves; it was growing colder now. “There it is!” Jethro called, his voice muffled by the cloth over the bottom half of his face. Clint nodded, refraining from answering; he was too nervous; beneath him, Rune rumbled acknowledgement to Jethro’s announcement. Tacke neared the edge, peering down with a whine of distress; the humans dismounted and got as close to the edge as they dared, attempting to spot the calf through the blowing sand, Rune joined them. “I see her!” He announced, pointing to an area where only a patch of darkness was visible. The humans didn’t agree, squinted until they went cross-eyed trying to see Tacke’s calf; the sarsh watched them with an amused expression.

“She’s in a small cave,” He told them. “That must be why Tacke couldn’t get the calf on her own.”

Keila frowned. “Is she injured? And how long has she been in that cave?”

“Tacke said the calf broke both its front legs, but it’s only been in there for less than a day. It fell during the dregs of the storm, landed in the shallow river at the bottom, but how it got into the cave, I don’t know. I only know that it’s now our job to get her out,” He paused for a minute and sighed, his eyes glazing as he stared into the distance, after a second, he shook his head softly. “Let’s go, Tacke will lead us to the incline where we can access the ravine.”

____

Keila stared down the steep incline that almost looked like it was artificial, it was so smooth, worn down by sand over time; it was also strange how there were no bumps the whole way down, and it slid smoothly into the ground at the bottom.

“Well...” Rune murmured. “You all know what a slide is, right?” They didn’t even bother answering, each of the humans knew exactly what the sarsh was suggesting; there was an awkward pause, broken as Rune shrugged.

“I guess I’ll go first.” He dropped on to his backside, feet facing down the long, steep stone hill, and he pushed off.

Keila’s jaw dropped as the sarsh picked up speed, rocketed down the stone, the light coating of fine sand assisted momentum. He reached the bottom, stumbling to catch himself as his feet struck the ground at the bottom; after catching his breath, the humans could hear his laughter echoing off the stone walls. “Come on!” He shouted up to them.

Clint and Keila glanced at each other.

“We should go together.” Keila said, her voice breaking a little. Clint grinned. “Don’t be scared, it looks fun! Dad, are you coming?” Jethro nodded, glancing anxiously down the smooth hill; then he dropped to the ground behind his son and his friend.

Clint and Keila pushed off, quickly followed by Jethro. The gritty wind flew into their open mouths; coughs echoed through the ravine, by the time they reached the bottom, their teeth crunched uncomfortably and any piece of exposed skin stung.

The chilly wind tangled Keila and Jethro’s long hair around their faces and tousled Clint’s; they were all gasping for breath, coughing, and laughing their heads off, sitting on the ground like little children, legs splayed out in the sand. The sarsh spat on the ground, smiling faintly as the humans recovered.

“Alright, let’s go,” He prompted, glancing up the incline, to where Tacke peered down at them curiously with her four fiery eyes, she put one foot catiously on the incline, snorting as she slipped and began sliding down after them.

The sarsh cursed. “EVERYBODY MOVE!” He roared, yanking Clint and Keila to their feet, and shoving Jethro with his shoulder.

They all moved to one side, standing far from the hill as Tacke sped down it, eight legs splayed out like a smashed spider. She landed with a thump, and climbed to her feet, her eyes wide and mouth slightly open in shock. Clint and Keila were on the floor, laughing again, tears carving their way down their sandy faces.

“That was the best thing ever!” Keila exclaimed, picking herself off the ground and helping Clint up. Rune’s humor had long since evaporated, he was watching them with an unamused expression and crossed arms.

“Right!” Clint dusted himself off. “What are we waiting for?”

The sarsh rolled his eyes. “Let’s just go.” They all fell in step behind Tacke, who lumbered carefully beside the river running through the middle of the ravine. It was, of course, the same black color as all the bodies of water on Sulien.

“Is that potable?” Clint asked, looking down at the shimmering onyx water, the red light of the sky turned the liquid a menacing color. Rune gave him the side-eye.

“What do you think we’ve been drinking?”

The young man’s lips tilted down. “Wait, this whole time, the water in our canteens was black, and I didn’t realize?”

“It would seem that way.”

“Great. Now I’m going to die of poisoning.”

“Clint. Why would Augen give us polluted water?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I was just worried if we ran out of the water we had, we wouldn’t have anything to drink.”

Rune didn’t reply, only stepped up his pace, and continued after Tacke. Upon arrival at the cave, which was large in relation to the humans and Rune, but too small for Tacke. The sarsh peered into the dark hole, where he could see four glimmering eyes watching him. “I see her,” He announced. Tacke let out a moan, peering in the hole; her baby wailed and struggled to stand up, but it was an unsuccessful attempt.

“Okay,” Rune said, turning to his companions. “Let’s get this done quickly.” The humans nodded, though they had no part to play in this plan. They would only prove to frighten the calf, it was up to Rune.

The sarsh morphed to a creature the size of Tacke’s baby and entered the cave, whining softly to the calf. Only minutes later, the two of them walked out, up on their hind legs. The mother and baby greeted each other joyfully, and Rune joined the others. “That was fast,” Clint pointed out. Rune nodded. “The calf didn’t know how to stand on her hind legs yet, and there was no other way for her to get the weight off her broken leg. But she’s fine now, Tacke can carry her back to their cave.”

“We need to get back to camp before night falls,” Jethro announced, glancing at the ever-darkening skies. “We’ve got fifteen minutes at most.”

Everyone else nodded agreement, and together, they turned and walked back the way they’d come. When they arrived back at the hill, Clint slapped his forehead. “Wonderful.” He groaned.

“What now?” Rune asked, an edge of annoyance in his voice.

“How are we going to get back up the hill?”

“You aren’t, I am. Get on.” He commanded without a hesitation. The humans jumped as he morphed to the anarii and crouched down; they climbed on, clinging tightly to his thick fur; they all had a general idea of what the sarsh was about to do. When they were all on, Rune backed up a pace or two and then bound full speed at the incline. His paws connected with the stone, claws tearing at the surface, scrambling for purchase; involuntarily, the sarsh roared as he used all his strength to climb. Rune could feel a pain searing in his left frontal paw, and up his leg, but he ignored it; if he let go now, they would all tumble back down the steep incline and his immense weight would crush the humans.

Not happening. He pushed harder, animal instinct taking over and in one last bound, he cleared the top and landed roughly in the sand, where he lay down, catching his breath and gently licking his paw with his black tongue. Keila slid off his back and walked around to his front.

“Are you alright?” She asked. Rune morphed back to himself, sitting up and dusting his back off. “I’m fine,” He answered quickly, and stood up. Keila could barely make out his figure, it was so dark now. “We need to head back to camp,” Rune informed everyone as they grouped back together, Clint clapped Rune on the back.

“You did it!” The young man exclaimed. The sarsh gave him a blank look and said nothing in response to the praise, but began walking the way they’d come. “Let’s just go,” He sighed. Keila and Clint glanced at each other, shrugged, and jogged after the indistinct silhouette of the sarsh.

“Rune?” Clint called into the darkness, squinting to see where his friend had gone. “Wouldn’t it be easier if we did the same thing we did earlier?”

“Probably,” Came the reluctant answer from the darkness. There was the squeak of sand against claws and a slight whine of discomfort, then Clint felt a huge paw poke him to get his attention. The young man led his father and Keila to the sarsh and they clumsily climbed on. As soon as Rune started walking, Keila noticed his gait was off. Rune was limping. She frowned and patted his fur.

“Are you limping, Rune?” she asked softly, the darkness pressing on them seemed to mute their voices, which were the only sounds in the forest. The sarsh growled, which, of course she didn’t understand that he had only cursed in pain, but she took it as a yes. The young woman’s frown deepened. They were helpless in the dark without Rune; they had forgotten their lights in their packs. But now, if Rune was in pain, they would only add to the weight behind his step, causing him more pain. She sighed and quickly informed her companions of their situation.

Without the sarsh’s consent, they all slid off and continued walking, guiding themselves by keeping their hands on him; their fingers vanished into the thick black and blue fur of his flank. He morphed to himself, causing the humans to stumble, crashing against each other in the darkness. Keila felt Clint’s hand slip into hers, and then he led her toward Rune, Jethro joined them, and the sarsh led them through the darkness, trusting him to guide them safely; he warned them every time there was a stone or dune, and they worked through it together. Before they knew it, they had arrived back at camp, and they lit a fire, relieved to see again.

The sarsh sat and bound his ankle tightly, cursing under his breath the whole time. Everyone else nursed a few bruises and scrapes, as well as grumbling stomachs and drooping eyes. Rune limped to his tent and collapsed inside, where he fell asleep despite his whining stomach; in his mind, he wasn’t hungry enough to eat, and he was afraid of running out of food before reaching the end of their journey. The others ate and copied Rune, all collapsing in their tents with groans of exhaustion; no one bothered to take watch.