Chapter 12

‘Green’, that was the first word that popped into Archos’s mind as they drew ever closer to the forest. The distance covered was spent in an amicable kind of quiet. However it was readily apparent as the time moved on that the forest towards which they were trekking was farther away than he believed. The trees seemed not to be approaching as they moved, and finally he had to ask. “Just... how big are those damnable trees?”

His mouth stayed open as he spoke, and Ayente looked at him with a cockeyed expression and a raised eyebrow, “They are many manies of you standing atop one another, well... some of them, around the great ring within, they grow smaller.”

Archos could not frown with the same depth she could, but despite that he felt a sense of unease grow within his guts as he was reminded just how different this world really was, how alien. “I see. That is... of interest, but how much longer will it be?”

She thought for a moment and then looked up to the sun, holding up her fingers to measure the distance from the distant horizon to the sun as it hung in the sky. “Another hand of fingers, perhaps half of one.”

“I see, that is not so much.” He said with some sense of relief.

So on they went until their arrival, and he found himself in the rare situation of having to crane his neck upward. “By the ghost of my father... never have I seen such a tree!”

He hesitated for a moment to go in, as he wanted to stay and linger at it, he reached out and touched the bark, it was smooth, peeling like the fibers of certain plants, and immediately his mind flew to the many uses such fibrous material might have. The tree was easily thirty feet around at the base, and he could not see the tip of it, obscured as it was by branches far, far up. “How old?” He asked as he tapped it lightly with his talons and his tail began to pound the ground with intense desire.

“Ah, to know, we must cut down... and none has done this... these are sacred to the deep people. If we try, they and we will fight.” Ayente explained herself as if to a child, slowly to ensure her words were understood. She enjoyed the respite his curiosity gave her, and savored the warmth of the sun on her skin before she had to dress in shadows in the deep wood. Tilting her head back to bask in the rays of the light that would make for shadows when they ventured into the forrest.

“What are the deep people?” Archos asked, “You have never spoken of them.”

“They are...” She scratched her head, “Like us, but not us, they have very long ears, and softer skin than I, but are often taller, they like to throw things to fight, but have short knives if necessary.”

“Why do they call themselves the deep people?” He asked, wondering privately how many questions one had to ask before the asker became a pest, but he couldn’t help himself, the curiosity was just too great. ‘I must know more!’ He thought to himself as she sighed slightly.

“They do not, they call themselves ‘elves’ we call them the deep people because they live deep within the wood, we will not go far enough within to meet them, they give room to the Red Ax tribe to take wood and game for two days and two nights depth within the forest, more than that, it is theirs and we must either trade or fight.” Ayente explained, a brief shadow of anger passing over her face, she clenched her jaw reflexively.

She then reached out to touch the tree as well. “These big ones are especially sacred to deep people, we know these are ancient. Our oldest of oldest old stories tell of them already being giants in the time of our coming here. The deep ones say these trees dropped the seed from which the world grew, I do not know if this is true. They also say we must not cut them down, because the tallest of the tall ones hold up the sky and keep it from falling on us all. So we do not touch their sacred trees with our axes. Even if we are not friends, we do not wish to have the sky land upon our heads.” Ayente said with a very serious expression on her face.

Archos felt his awe dissipate slightly with the sudden urge to laugh, but her steady expression told him she meant every word. “Has no one climbed them?”

Ayente shook her head, “No, their gods forbid it, and say it is a curse to whosoever tries to touch the sky by climbing the sacred trees.”

Archos’s scaly brow furrowed, “I fear no curse, and if these gods say this is so, let them tell me themselves now, before I climb it for myself to see.”

Ayente’s eyes filled with absolute terror. “No!” She reached out, and jumped to grab his arm, she dangled from it for a moment, swaying as she hung there.

“What?” Archos asked as he gently let her down.

“Am I not curse enough?! It is said where two cursed come together that spirits nightmare and disaster copulate and birth demons of torment! If you do this thing before we face the unikoslof, I fear for both our lives! Please... do not curse yourself and leave me to stand and watch!” She held his thick, muscled and scale coated arm, her lightly tanned hand was very small, and trembled as she urged his forbearance.

“Please!” She asked with a tight catch in her voice, her narrow, fearsome, piercing eyes turned wide with anxiousness and fear that ran to her core.

Archos held his arm outstretched for an instant, his curiosity screamed at him to climb and see what none of his kind had seen before... but as he looked at her anxiety riddled face and compared it to the fearless one he saw before, he felt moved to pity. ‘I can wait and know another day.’ He thought to himself, and nodded.

“Then we go, tell me more of these creatures before we reach them, in my world, these beings we call ‘Cave Bears’ have families that lay together within their lairs, but they are stupid brutes and despite their size, not especially strong relative to a young dragon, they are only a threat as a group.” He ticked off what he knew with rapidity to give her a basis for explaining things, and as he quickly saw the way her head shook, he recognized he was right to do so.

“Ours do not do this, they are large, very strong, they are not as smart as we, but they are smart enough, and they bond in pairs or are alone. There may be cubs, but they do not stay long with mother and father. We must lure them from their lair in order to take them safely, and it is best to kill the male immediately, he is the larger of the two, and if he sees his mate die, he will go mad and become far more dangerous.” Ayente’s gaze turned into the thick woods beyond the great tree, “That is how we lose most, when we get the wrong one first.”

“I see, so we draw them out and ambush them, simple enough.” Archos answered, “But then, everything is simple until the blood flows freely. Well, it can’t be helped, lead on.” He gestured to the woods, and she silently did as he commanded.

It was another hour of walking under tall trees and through thick woods, and more than once Archos found himself drawing his sword for, of all things, cutting a pathway. ‘Finest sword ever made, riddled with magic and of the strongest metal in the world and yet... I must use it as if I were a gardener?! I swear this is the sort of perversity that Taskaros is no doubt laughing at me over.’ Archos grumbled in mild annoyance and nostalgia alike, his grumbling drowned out by the snapping of limbs and the fall of plants and small trees.

Grass and twigs snapped beneath them, and the scent of a living forest surrounded them both, flowers, wet moss, and acrid green plants that released a pungent odor when cut down. But most alien of all to Archos were the vibrant purple and blue plants that caught his eyes. They seemed to writhe and undulate as if they were serpents, yet they were clearly plants entwined around and grown out of the trees themselves.

Familiar insects, smaller versions of the ones he knew, crawled over logs and rocks. He did a double take when he recognized a tiny ant, and stopped dead in his tracks.

“Are all like this?” Archos asked as he put a talon out to a tree trunk and let an ant crawl over him.

“What? The manymanies?” Ayente asked as she returned to stand in front and held his hand in both of hers so that it was eye level to her.

“We call them ants.” Archos said patiently, “But yes, this ‘manymany’.”

Ayente giggled a bit, her serious demeanor briefly broken. “Yes, they are all this small or nearly, but come in great numbers. Disturb their home, and they will come out of the earth and attack whatever is too close to them in a mad frenzy.”

“That sounds like ants. Those of my home burrow deep, and often make their homes in mountains, or great hills. They are as long as you are tall, stand to your waist and are without fear of death. Every year on the outlands we send warriors to clear out their nests. They are troublesome pests.” Archos said with a rumble of annoyance, and squished the ant as it moved off his talon and over the scales of his fingers.

“Your homeland is a dangerous one.” Ayente said succinctly, and shuddered as she tried to imagine manymanies sweeping over the ground to attack her people. ‘We would all be dead before we knew the danger.’ She then turned away and pointed her spear deeper into the woods.

“Come, the cave draws close, every season there is at least one unikoslof that makes its home there.” Ayente said hastily, eager to skip thinking of the things Archos had just told her.

He shrugged and followed as she resumed the walk forward.

His thoughts drifted away until they came to a large cave with a series of oblong rocks jutting out from the earth nearby. Ayente stopped in front of him and turned around. “We are here... but this I must... I must say.” She swallowed hard, “Please... if this goes wrong, and it may as even with you, we are but two... run! Please run, do not risk yourself for me. I would not have your blood on my soul as I already have enough for many many lives to bear. Do not let yourself be taken for my sake!”

Archos looked down at her with narrow eyes and drew out his sword. “I had to bear the shame of leaving Taskaros to die to deprive our enemy of at least one victory. I will not abandon one sworn to me, out of something so petty as fear.”

A low growl came from within at the very notion, and she lowered her head, “Forgive my selfish request but, please. If you must run to stay alive, then run, you may collect me later when they abandon me to the land then... ya’ me lope...” [Help my people...] She uttered the first words she’d used when they met, and his slow burning anger faded like a fire not given fuel to thrive.

“There is nothing to fear,” He said as he tapped his talon lightly on her head, “And if you are so afraid I might die... why then, fight hard enough to ensure I do not. Remember, if you protect what you value, then you do not need to fear it coming to harm.” He held the finger up close to her face to ensure she saw that he was making a point, and then let it fall away.

She relaxed visibly and jammed her spear into the dirt, she went nearby and with her obsidian knife, she cut a series of branches, and taking a pair of small stones up from nearby, she quickly made a spark and caught the sticks alight, creating a small improvised bundled torch.

She then threw it into the cave, “They hate smoke and fire, they will come out soon, I must be ready.” She said hurriedly and rushed over to the large outcropping of stone and ran up the edge, then with astonishing dexterity, she jumped up to a place on the edge of the cave exterior, and climbed up. She held out her hand, “My spear!” She said urgently, and Archos snatched it up and tossed it lightly under hand.

She caught it, spread her legs shoulder width apart, and stood above the entrance.

They did not wait long, a mere minute or two later, a terrible pair of roars echoed out of the cave. Archos pounded on the ground with his tail and held out his blade. “Come and get it!” He growled, restraining the urge to roar back at them, lest they not come out.

A moment later, there they were. They had the dark metallic fur he was familiar with, similar to his own scales in shade, but they were taller by a good half a foot and full foot or more each. As they barrelled out of the cave and saw Archos, they stopped and reared on their hind legs, and Ayente thrust her spear down as hard as she could.

Unfortunately for her, the thrust was not precise, she jabbed the female in its shoulder when it moved unexpectedly at just the wrong moment. A roar of pain and the beast went to all fours, and eager to diminish the odds, Archos moved close and thrust his sword into the skull of the wounded beast.

The bear beside it... went mad. It brought itself down on Archos’s arm and bit... hard. Archos roared in pain and lashed his tail out, bashing the bear hard in its side, where its thick coat absorbed the blow impossibly well.

But it did send the beast reeling over, and when it struck the cave wall, the stone shook.

Ayente learned of this the hard way, as she was thrown off balance and fell forward, over the edge. She thrust her hand out, letting it absorb the impact, and then snapped her arm straight into a bounce, so that she launched herself away from a fatal fall, instead balling up while moving from the point of impact, still holding the spear to her side before she sprang up and landed on her feet facing the beast.

The bear charged in, mad with rage at the death of its mate, it hit Archos full in the chest, with his grip lost on his blade, he began to grapple with the beast, he grabbed its paws with his taloned fingers and held it fast a few yards away from where Ayente was crouched down like a coiled spring.

She shook her head hard, throwing off the brief disorientation, and howled a warcry as she sprang against the side of the bear, thrusting her obsidian spear deep into its side. It slammed its head hard against Archos’s thick skull, sending him staggering back, and flung its now freed claws out against Ayente, she yelped as she leaped away, blooded across her face.

Archos roared louder and longer than it could, and using his tail to stop his rear momentum, he pushed himself forward and charged hard enough to take a leap against the beast that drew it away from Ayente and rolling one over the other back toward the cave, before he flung the beast off himself and they both got up.

The bear’s eyes were mad with bloodlust, and Archos opened his enormous maw to reveal his predatory teeth, as well as his open hands with their sharp talons that had left deep gouges on the body of the beast. Still, despite the clear ferocity it still had within it... it was hurt.

Archos caught Ayente’s eye, the spear had been flung free in the scuffle, he glanced where it lay, then back to her, and then to the large outcropping.

‘I see... yes...’ She instantly understood his mind, as if they’d fought for a lifetime together instead of but a moment. She ran for the spear as Archos intercepted the bear again and they began to strike blows against each other that shook the ground beneath, talons and claws, scales and fur, maw and maw. They began to tear into one another as she snatched up the spear and on fleet feet she pounded the ground until she reached the outcropping again, ran up, and leaped wildly over the edge with her spear drawn back... then thrust... hard... high into its back.

She grabbed the thick fur with her free hand as she tried to force the spear deeper, and when she couldn’t, she reached for her obsidian knife at her waist, and brought it around and jabbed the black glass hard into the left eye of the bear. “You...will... FALL!” She screamed as it flailed in agony.

It let loose a terrible roar of pain, and threw its head back at the sudden rush of pain. Archos took quick advantage of the moment, and grabbed the bear at the jaw, yanking it forward, he tilted his own head back, and snapped his maw over the bear’s throat. He shook the thick, powerful muscles of his neck, rending flesh and blood with the same ease that he remembered was involved in tearing wet paper back home. Ayente clung to the back of the bear for dear life as she was shaken with it.

The roar of the bear cut off, and it struggled no more. Archos grabbed it before it could simply collapse, and slowly lowered his prey down to the ground, allowing Ayente to push herself off and back to her feet.

“You fought very well.” Archos said as he disengaged himself from the beast. Her face was coated with blood, and the eyes were back, he saw a hardness and resolve in them, a relentless courage, the spark of the hero's light.

She wiped her face and cast off the blood impassively and yanked her spear out of the body of the bear.

“You are every bit as fierce as I imagined, Archos.” She said with a toothy grin that seemed to him, like it should have had the sharpened teeth of a dragon instead of the flat ones he usually associated with prey.

“You are wounded though.” Archos remarked with mild concern, tracing a talon over her face and holding the blood streaked evidence before her eyes as if expecting her to doubt him without evidence.

Ayente smirked and replied, “If a person dies without scars, they died in infancy or died a coward. I got these from an unikoslof at a hands reach... I will bear these marks with pride till I die.”

She looked down at the two corpses, and the reality of it all set in... “I... we did it. This has never been done before. To bring down beasts like this requires many hunters, and though you are worth many, we are still but two, and they...” She waved her hand between the two. “They are considered the lords over caves, the Cave Children revere these beasts as emissaries of the gods, and to die hunting them is considered to be a sacrifice that tells of a good year ahead. If they have several bad years, it is not unheard of for them to send one of their own to be eaten by these beasts as an offering.”

“And yet we killed them by ourselves.” Archos said, his mouth open in a very small grin as the corners at his maw drew back.

“True, but you did not come away unscathed.” Ayente remarked and pointed to his injuries, his blood streaked arm, shoulder, and body.

“These are nothing that will not heal quickly, he did not go as deep as it seems, if I do not use magic or a potion, then the one on the shoulder may leave a scar, but I am still fit to transport our prizes back to the Red Ax.” He wiped off the blood and cast it off into the dirt, just as she had a moment ago, to reveal that the bleeding on his body had already stopped.

“Besides, you are bleeding worse than I am.” He said bluntly as he pointed again to the still oozing injury that ran across her face in five ugly, angry streaks.

“I have more blood inside me to spare, it will be fine.” She said with a cocky and infectious, broad smile on her face. “Besides, you’re bleeding more than I am. Not the other way around.”

“True. However I am large and have much to spare, but you are very small, there is likely not much in there to waste, so tend the wound and keep your blood inside your body where it belongs.” He said sardonically, and the corners of his mouth stretched as a belly laugh followed from his joke at her expense.

Her already big smile grew bigger and she threw her head back and started to laugh at the well intended mockery, almost as if in competition with her companion on the hunt as to who could laugh louder, and punctuated by the pounding of his blunt headed tail on the ground. That great humor went on for several minutes before Archos went and took his sword out of the head in which it was still impaled, and Ayente bent down withdrawing her obsidian knife from the corpse. She cleaned the blades of both her weapons as he wiped his sword, and when they were done, she looked up at him with a serious expression on her face, one made all the more serious by the bloody streaks that would surely leave a scar if not healed by magic or potion.

“We may not look it to your eyes, but we ‘are’ a warrior people. And now you and I have fought together.”

Archos’s expression was no less serious than her own. “We have, and I will be pleased to do so again, Ayente.”