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"An Abomination Like No Other"
May. 16th, 2022 08:55 pm"An Abomination Like No Other"
10/8-10/12/2021
I.
The Land Rover died suddenly in the middle of the clearing. The dashboard screens went dark, the engine stopped and the massive vehicle rolled to a halt. Levon shifted into Park and took out the key. "And it seems this is as far as modern technology will function," he told his partner.
As she unbuckled her seat belt, Zulayka scowled at the trees fifty feet away. "Veganora! Past Heirs of Wakimbe have ventured here many times, Azzalem. You have not been called to come here until now."
"No. The Council decided unanimously that we should investigate the actions of this strange... 'jungle girl' and see what threat she might pose. So far, there are three dead men and one sighting of this blonde archer." In his late thirties, of medium height and built like a runner, Levon Bingham kept his hair so short that it looked as if he had shaved it and was letting it grow back. He was not as dark as his companion, more a rich medium brown in tone and his heavy-featured face showed a serious nature. The deepset eyes were surpringly bright green and lambent. Cat's eyes.
In contrast, Zulayka was a typical Danarakan, with skin so black it had a gloss to it. She was naturally pretty without make-up, and her hair had been straightened and pulled back into a bun. Like Levon, she was dressed for hiking with sturdy boots, loose khaki pants and a denim shirt. Both wore open vests with a number of pockets holding useful items. "My approval was not asked!" she said. "The rift between Inner Danarak and Outer Danarak is getting too strained to suit me. I think we should be in Honjabi in case of rioting."
The Cat's-Claw nodded and started to get out. "You have a point, Zulayka. As always. But whenever we disregard the Council's decisions, it always leads to endless meetings and long tiresome debates. I'd rather face any creature of the night than put up with that."
"Very well. The sooner we settle this nonsense, the sooner we can get back where we are really needed." She hopped out on her side, reached in the back seat to pull out her knapsack and walking staff. Levon was doing the same. He locked both doors manually with the key.
Seeing her quizzical look, he said, "I wouldn't put it past some curious monkey being able to open a door and get into our supplies. We'd come back to find the seats decorated with droppings." He patted his vest in a final check and hefted the six foot walking staff. The two longtime partners began striding through tough knee-high grass toward the line of trees.
"Do you feel unexpected reluctance?" Zulayka asked after a few minutes.
"Yes. Very much so. I'm... getting apprehensive without knowing why. If I didn't know this was a safeguard placed by Jordyn himself, I'd definitely be inclined to turn back."
She scoffed. "Outsiders to the Midnight War would be too afraid to go any further, Azzalem, but we know better. This is only an invisible barrier to keep people in the real world where they belong. Very few would have will strong enough to keep going."
"I bet it also keeps birds and animals from wandering in or out," Levon added. Each steps took more determination to complete, but at a certain point the mental resistance broke and they were walking freely through the Deep Woods.
It was surprisingly spacious under the canopy of interlocking branches high overhead, with plenty of open areas between the huge centuries-old trees and sparse underbrush. The heat and humidity were less here than out in the open, and sunlight slanting down through the leaves was scattered. As they hiked, Levon ventured the observation that the birds here were smaller and less colorful than in their own Danarak.
"Bah," replied Zulayka. "In every way, Veganora comes in a pale second to our homeland. Even the trees are not as sturdy. And of course, Veganora does not have a champion like you, Azzalem."
"The Cat's-Claw remains cool to the touch," Levon said. "It senses no hostile gralic force in the immediate area. We are still heading West, of course?"
"What do you think, that I become easily lost? In every realm, even Maroch, the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West. The stars in the night sky are also the same. We will spot the Three Queens easily enough."
"To the world outside Danarak, those stars are the belt of the hunter Orion," Levon said, hopping lightly over a fallen tree trunk well covered with moss. "And what we call the War Axe, the world refers to as the Big Dipper or the Great Bear."
"Our ancestors had a deeper feel for symbols and significance than the white men of so-called Classsical Greece," she retorted. "And much earlier, as well."
Levon let the bait for an argument pass. Twenty years of traveling with Zulayka had given him tolerance for her often caustic tongue and her habit of ranking Danarak above any other culture in the world or the adjacent realms. He had learned to let her remarks slide past him without friction.
Hours crawled by as they marched at a steady, unhurried pace both could maintain without strain. Down into rifts with steep sides and gradually back up again to crest hills, they had covered many miles before the sun touched the horizon ahead of them. Aside from birds and frogs and other small creatures, no animals had appeared.
Levon and Zulayka selected a defensible site to make camp, where the base of an ancient tree nudged up a rocky outcropping. Although he was granted superior night vision by the Cat's-Claw, they needed to rest at some point. Clearing a ten foot circle and assembling loose rocks into a platform, the Danarakans gathered more than enough stray branches and dried twigs to get a comfortable fire going that they could tend during the night.
They ate sparingly from their supplies, put on fresh socks and hung the ones they had been wearing up on a branch to air out, then sat discussing their mission for a while before turning in. Both were light sleepers even when tired. Between the Cat's-Claw and his Kumundu training at Tel Shai, Levon had enhanced hearing and sense of smell that gave him awareness of his surroundings sharper than that which a guard dog could have matched. With her stretched out next to him, Levon felt Zulayka's breathing change into a pattern that indicated genuine sleep.
He himself only dropped off after he felt certain no attack was imminent from the young woman watching them from high up in the trees.
( the rest of the story )
10/8-10/12/2021
I.
The Land Rover died suddenly in the middle of the clearing. The dashboard screens went dark, the engine stopped and the massive vehicle rolled to a halt. Levon shifted into Park and took out the key. "And it seems this is as far as modern technology will function," he told his partner.
As she unbuckled her seat belt, Zulayka scowled at the trees fifty feet away. "Veganora! Past Heirs of Wakimbe have ventured here many times, Azzalem. You have not been called to come here until now."
"No. The Council decided unanimously that we should investigate the actions of this strange... 'jungle girl' and see what threat she might pose. So far, there are three dead men and one sighting of this blonde archer." In his late thirties, of medium height and built like a runner, Levon Bingham kept his hair so short that it looked as if he had shaved it and was letting it grow back. He was not as dark as his companion, more a rich medium brown in tone and his heavy-featured face showed a serious nature. The deepset eyes were surpringly bright green and lambent. Cat's eyes.
In contrast, Zulayka was a typical Danarakan, with skin so black it had a gloss to it. She was naturally pretty without make-up, and her hair had been straightened and pulled back into a bun. Like Levon, she was dressed for hiking with sturdy boots, loose khaki pants and a denim shirt. Both wore open vests with a number of pockets holding useful items. "My approval was not asked!" she said. "The rift between Inner Danarak and Outer Danarak is getting too strained to suit me. I think we should be in Honjabi in case of rioting."
The Cat's-Claw nodded and started to get out. "You have a point, Zulayka. As always. But whenever we disregard the Council's decisions, it always leads to endless meetings and long tiresome debates. I'd rather face any creature of the night than put up with that."
"Very well. The sooner we settle this nonsense, the sooner we can get back where we are really needed." She hopped out on her side, reached in the back seat to pull out her knapsack and walking staff. Levon was doing the same. He locked both doors manually with the key.
Seeing her quizzical look, he said, "I wouldn't put it past some curious monkey being able to open a door and get into our supplies. We'd come back to find the seats decorated with droppings." He patted his vest in a final check and hefted the six foot walking staff. The two longtime partners began striding through tough knee-high grass toward the line of trees.
"Do you feel unexpected reluctance?" Zulayka asked after a few minutes.
"Yes. Very much so. I'm... getting apprehensive without knowing why. If I didn't know this was a safeguard placed by Jordyn himself, I'd definitely be inclined to turn back."
She scoffed. "Outsiders to the Midnight War would be too afraid to go any further, Azzalem, but we know better. This is only an invisible barrier to keep people in the real world where they belong. Very few would have will strong enough to keep going."
"I bet it also keeps birds and animals from wandering in or out," Levon added. Each steps took more determination to complete, but at a certain point the mental resistance broke and they were walking freely through the Deep Woods.
It was surprisingly spacious under the canopy of interlocking branches high overhead, with plenty of open areas between the huge centuries-old trees and sparse underbrush. The heat and humidity were less here than out in the open, and sunlight slanting down through the leaves was scattered. As they hiked, Levon ventured the observation that the birds here were smaller and less colorful than in their own Danarak.
"Bah," replied Zulayka. "In every way, Veganora comes in a pale second to our homeland. Even the trees are not as sturdy. And of course, Veganora does not have a champion like you, Azzalem."
"The Cat's-Claw remains cool to the touch," Levon said. "It senses no hostile gralic force in the immediate area. We are still heading West, of course?"
"What do you think, that I become easily lost? In every realm, even Maroch, the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West. The stars in the night sky are also the same. We will spot the Three Queens easily enough."
"To the world outside Danarak, those stars are the belt of the hunter Orion," Levon said, hopping lightly over a fallen tree trunk well covered with moss. "And what we call the War Axe, the world refers to as the Big Dipper or the Great Bear."
"Our ancestors had a deeper feel for symbols and significance than the white men of so-called Classsical Greece," she retorted. "And much earlier, as well."
Levon let the bait for an argument pass. Twenty years of traveling with Zulayka had given him tolerance for her often caustic tongue and her habit of ranking Danarak above any other culture in the world or the adjacent realms. He had learned to let her remarks slide past him without friction.
Hours crawled by as they marched at a steady, unhurried pace both could maintain without strain. Down into rifts with steep sides and gradually back up again to crest hills, they had covered many miles before the sun touched the horizon ahead of them. Aside from birds and frogs and other small creatures, no animals had appeared.
Levon and Zulayka selected a defensible site to make camp, where the base of an ancient tree nudged up a rocky outcropping. Although he was granted superior night vision by the Cat's-Claw, they needed to rest at some point. Clearing a ten foot circle and assembling loose rocks into a platform, the Danarakans gathered more than enough stray branches and dried twigs to get a comfortable fire going that they could tend during the night.
They ate sparingly from their supplies, put on fresh socks and hung the ones they had been wearing up on a branch to air out, then sat discussing their mission for a while before turning in. Both were light sleepers even when tired. Between the Cat's-Claw and his Kumundu training at Tel Shai, Levon had enhanced hearing and sense of smell that gave him awareness of his surroundings sharper than that which a guard dog could have matched. With her stretched out next to him, Levon felt Zulayka's breathing change into a pattern that indicated genuine sleep.
He himself only dropped off after he felt certain no attack was imminent from the young woman watching them from high up in the trees.
( the rest of the story )
