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Description
Chapter 14

Curston stretched. The doctor had been glancing into the tree line since we disabled the campsite and was beginning to wear on the rest of the group. Rods’s open irritation didn’t help any. I glanced up into the dark sky. A light layer of clouds covered any stars that might have been out, but the Saroon showed clearly. The road was empty this late at night. The winds picked up blowing slack grass and leaves at us. Curston abruptly swung around causing Chace to bump into him. Leaning over, the doctor whispered to his brothers. Slowly Lance edged off into the trees. Ignoring the glaring stares given to him by Rods Curston knelt to the ground, making a few yards of space between the wood and himself, listening intensely. Inside the wall of trees, Lance called out. Curston scooped a handful of grass low-balling it towards the trees. For a moment the blades began to scatter in the wind. Then grass turned into a wave - the blades growing until they were as long as a small train. The tidal wave of grass curved high, avoiding hitting the trunks and disappearing into the darkness. Someone hidden august the tall stalks let out a yell as the onslaught struck. A black mass darted from the plants, knocking Curston in the chest before swooshing out of sight. Lance came out of the tree line. The entire front of his body was covered in clumps of black ash.
“What happened?” Chace went to help his brother brush away the soot after pulling Curston to his feet.
“Curston was right about someone following us.” Lance shrugged. “I grabbed him, but after Curston hit him he stomped on my foot and ran.”
As the men discussed the worth of going after the person, Ray and I stood back.
“How much you willing bet you just attacked some random camper?”
They turned to me, and with the three brothers looking shameful and foolish, decided not to mention the event further.
*
Walking was quick. Not quick as in fast but just quick in itself. There was talking, but not about anything really important. I had asked Ray to teach me some of their calligraphy in return for the learning of ours - humans. At the mentioning of that Lance had taken in a breath of energy. There was a remedy to that; no breakfast. The sky grew brighter, streaking in pinks and purples even without an actual rising sun. Some hours after sunrise we stopped to rest. I noticed then that there were less trees and greenery surrounding us. The land was all mostly dirt now with tall standing mountains in the near distance.
“Mayla.” Ray called from a patch of loose earth. “Come write your name.”
I strolled over to him. “In English?”
He cocked his head to one side.
“Never mind.” I looked into the dirt and saw the same symbols that were engraved on my sword blade ?written in it. “Is that my name?”
“Yes, now you do it.”
I wrote my name as large, yet neatly, as possible then copied what he had written and he copied mine with no difficulty. Next I wrote down the English alphabet and Ray wrote theirs.
“Kice-rene seems a bit more complex then yours.”
“That’s A through J, right?” I pointed after counting the symbols. I copied them. J looks like a money sign with an extra diagonal line. I told myself. It was the easiest of their letters to learn.
After he duplicated my alphabet he scribbled the rest of his on the ground. We worked on words, sentences, and phases. Ray was fun to work with, like a cool study partner who made it easer to learn and remember everything. Most of everything - there were phrases that were far different from humans and words that needed to be pronounced in difficult ways. He was a good partner, even if their letters were a bit funky.
The end of break was called. Everyone but Rods groaned cynical complaints as we headed off. I rode on Lance’s shoulder again, watching the rest of the greenery disappear. There were some animals running about the open land. Mostly small game and none that were at all recognized on Earth. The smells of herbal bushes floated around, but the succulent cluster was guarded by a tempered dog-like animal with a frothing maw. Curston elected to pick herbs from someplace else and we moved on. Aside from the breeze and rattling footfalls there was no sound.
“Brother?” Chace said suddenly sounded slightly uneasy. He went on when Curston nodded. “I can see the mountains coming up in front of us - I’m sure we all can. What else? How much more before we reach our first destination?”
“The mountains are ring shaped.” The doctor answered.
“That doesn’t quite answer my question.” Chace sighed. “What’s in and around the ring? Even outside of it?”
Curston inhaled. “I thought we were headed west. The west valley region closet to this one of Aalexander’s palaces. I didn’t know we were going south.”
“So.” Ray glared at him. “What are you saying?”
“I’ve been north, northwest, and west but I’ve never ventured any other way on Mentren. This is fresh territory for me.”
I adjusted myself on Lance’s shoulder. The beast’s scar on my chest had started aching again. It made me uncomfortable but not enough to say anything. There was heat rising between the three oldest kiceka and I didn’t want their attention on me.
“Why didn’t you say something before?” Rods yelled at him.
“Because I did not know. These two” - Curston pointed at Lance and Chace - “said we would be headed into the mountains and I should be well familiar with the area. They never said which way we were traveling.”
Two stomachs roared simultaneously. “Big brother.” the twins whined in unison “We’re hungry.”
Nice save. I rolled my eyes.
Curston leaned in. “You two are always hungry.”
“Yes, but now we want something to eat.”
The group fell silent. Not for any reason but the sheer stupidity of what was just spoken.
Their older bother pulled back. “There should be a village, or maybe a town, at the end of the mountains. And the pass is not long. We can rest there and get some food.” Curston gave me a direct look. It lingered in the air for a moment then broke when he winked one of those deep silver eyes. “I’ll be taking my leave after that.”
Rods smiled for the first time since we left the river side. “Good.” He raised his head, almost too smugly. “We could stand to get rid of some unwanted trash.”
Nervously I maneuvered the shield which cradled the sword. “You know Rods I’m starting to get the feeling that you really don’t like Curston.”
Rods reached for me. I cringed as he took me in his hand and placed me on his shoulder for the first time. Sitting with him was… different.
“I think you might be right.” Rods said. “In fact, I think I hate him.”
Curston waved him away. “You are just upset because I know what Aalexander had planned to do with his little Mayla.”
I raised an eyebrow and held my temper. “His little Mayla? What, pray tell, is he going to do with his little Mayla?”
“We’ll be reaching the start of the mountains in an hour or so.” Rods maneuvered the rest of the conversation with less than half a breath. But it was true. All of that had been going on while we were still walking and it had helped us not notice the time it took. Without all the chatter it seemed to take longer. But we got there. The beginning of the ‘ring’ started off at a low set cliff side and part of the pathway down was collapsed. So with a silent vote, that I was not part of, the boys jumped… off the edge of the cliff. The air whistled. The ground shook in a way they could not feel as they landed. Mentally what they did didn’t kick in, but physically it did and held my body in a tense lock.
“Mayla?” Rods tapped me with his finger. “Breath Mayla.”
I grabbed a loose strain of his hair and yanked as hard as I could. “Don’t ever do that again!”
The mountains towered above us as we wandered through them. Almost three or four times as grand as anything back home. Sparse green grew on the crags, housing tiny caverns and nests. At our feet a thin ground path lead us deeper into the region. At one point the massive slopes spread further away and made give to a larger path that started at a sign in kice-rene.
It read: Town Crows. Semati.

Description
Chapter 14

Curston stretched. The doctor had been glancing into the tree line since we disabled the campsite and was beginning to wear on the rest of the group. Rods’s open irritation didn’t help any. I glanced up into the dark sky. A light layer of clouds covered any stars that might have been out, but the Saroon showed clearly. The road was empty this late at night. The winds picked up blowing slack grass and leaves at us. Curston abruptly swung around causing Chace to bump into him. Leaning over, the doctor whispered to his brothers. Slowly Lance edged off into the trees. Ignoring the glaring stares given to him by Rods Curston knelt to the ground, making a few yards of space between the wood and himself, listening intensely. Inside the wall of trees, Lance called out. Curston scooped a handful of grass low-balling it towards the trees. For a moment the blades began to scatter in the wind. Then grass turned into a wave - the blades growing until they were as long as a small train. The tidal wave of grass curved high, avoiding hitting the trunks and disappearing into the darkness. Someone hidden august the tall stalks let out a yell as the onslaught struck. A black mass darted from the plants, knocking Curston in the chest before swooshing out of sight. Lance came out of the tree line. The entire front of his body was covered in clumps of black ash.
“What happened?” Chace went to help his brother brush away the soot after pulling Curston to his feet.
“Curston was right about someone following us.” Lance shrugged. “I grabbed him, but after Curston hit him he stomped on my foot and ran.”
As the men discussed the worth of going after the person, Ray and I stood back.
“How much you willing bet you just attacked some random camper?”
They turned to me, and with the three brothers looking shameful and foolish, decided not to mention the event further.
*
Walking was quick. Not quick as in fast but just quick in itself. There was talking, but not about anything really important. I had asked Ray to teach me some of their calligraphy in return for the learning of ours - humans. At the mentioning of that Lance had taken in a breath of energy. There was a remedy to that; no breakfast. The sky grew brighter, streaking in pinks and purples even without an actual rising sun. Some hours after sunrise we stopped to rest. I noticed then that there were less trees and greenery surrounding us. The land was all mostly dirt now with tall standing mountains in the near distance.
“Mayla.” Ray called from a patch of loose earth. “Come write your name.”
I strolled over to him. “In English?”
He cocked his head to one side.
“Never mind.” I looked into the dirt and saw the same symbols that were engraved on my sword blade ?written in it. “Is that my name?”
“Yes, now you do it.”
I wrote my name as large, yet neatly, as possible then copied what he had written and he copied mine with no difficulty. Next I wrote down the English alphabet and Ray wrote theirs.
“Kice-rene seems a bit more complex then yours.”
“That’s A through J, right?” I pointed after counting the symbols. I copied them. J looks like a money sign with an extra diagonal line. I told myself. It was the easiest of their letters to learn.
After he duplicated my alphabet he scribbled the rest of his on the ground. We worked on words, sentences, and phases. Ray was fun to work with, like a cool study partner who made it easer to learn and remember everything. Most of everything - there were phrases that were far different from humans and words that needed to be pronounced in difficult ways. He was a good partner, even if their letters were a bit funky.
The end of break was called. Everyone but Rods groaned cynical complaints as we headed off. I rode on Lance’s shoulder again, watching the rest of the greenery disappear. There were some animals running about the open land. Mostly small game and none that were at all recognized on Earth. The smells of herbal bushes floated around, but the succulent cluster was guarded by a tempered dog-like animal with a frothing maw. Curston elected to pick herbs from someplace else and we moved on. Aside from the breeze and rattling footfalls there was no sound.
“Brother?” Chace said suddenly sounded slightly uneasy. He went on when Curston nodded. “I can see the mountains coming up in front of us - I’m sure we all can. What else? How much more before we reach our first destination?”
“The mountains are ring shaped.” The doctor answered.
“That doesn’t quite answer my question.” Chace sighed. “What’s in and around the ring? Even outside of it?”
Curston inhaled. “I thought we were headed west. The west valley region closet to this one of Aalexander’s palaces. I didn’t know we were going south.”
“So.” Ray glared at him. “What are you saying?”
“I’ve been north, northwest, and west but I’ve never ventured any other way on Mentren. This is fresh territory for me.”
I adjusted myself on Lance’s shoulder. The beast’s scar on my chest had started aching again. It made me uncomfortable but not enough to say anything. There was heat rising between the three oldest kiceka and I didn’t want their attention on me.
“Why didn’t you say something before?” Rods yelled at him.
“Because I did not know. These two” - Curston pointed at Lance and Chace - “said we would be headed into the mountains and I should be well familiar with the area. They never said which way we were traveling.”
Two stomachs roared simultaneously. “Big brother.” the twins whined in unison “We’re hungry.”
Nice save. I rolled my eyes.
Curston leaned in. “You two are always hungry.”
“Yes, but now we want something to eat.”
The group fell silent. Not for any reason but the sheer stupidity of what was just spoken.
Their older bother pulled back. “There should be a village, or maybe a town, at the end of the mountains. And the pass is not long. We can rest there and get some food.” Curston gave me a direct look. It lingered in the air for a moment then broke when he winked one of those deep silver eyes. “I’ll be taking my leave after that.”
Rods smiled for the first time since we left the river side. “Good.” He raised his head, almost too smugly. “We could stand to get rid of some unwanted trash.”
Nervously I maneuvered the shield which cradled the sword. “You know Rods I’m starting to get the feeling that you really don’t like Curston.”
Rods reached for me. I cringed as he took me in his hand and placed me on his shoulder for the first time. Sitting with him was… different.
“I think you might be right.” Rods said. “In fact, I think I hate him.”
Curston waved him away. “You are just upset because I know what Aalexander had planned to do with his little Mayla.”
I raised an eyebrow and held my temper. “His little Mayla? What, pray tell, is he going to do with his little Mayla?”
“We’ll be reaching the start of the mountains in an hour or so.” Rods maneuvered the rest of the conversation with less than half a breath. But it was true. All of that had been going on while we were still walking and it had helped us not notice the time it took. Without all the chatter it seemed to take longer. But we got there. The beginning of the ‘ring’ started off at a low set cliff side and part of the pathway down was collapsed. So with a silent vote, that I was not part of, the boys jumped… off the edge of the cliff. The air whistled. The ground shook in a way they could not feel as they landed. Mentally what they did didn’t kick in, but physically it did and held my body in a tense lock.
“Mayla?” Rods tapped me with his finger. “Breath Mayla.”
I grabbed a loose strain of his hair and yanked as hard as I could. “Don’t ever do that again!”
The mountains towered above us as we wandered through them. Almost three or four times as grand as anything back home. Sparse green grew on the crags, housing tiny caverns and nests. At our feet a thin ground path lead us deeper into the region. At one point the massive slopes spread further away and made give to a larger path that started at a sign in kice-rene.
It read: Town Crows. Semati.