Darkstar: Chapter Five

Chapter Five

"Protect her…protect her…"

Cail's eyes shot open and his hand flew to his sword hilt. He was on his feet instantly, searching the immediate area for the voice he had heard. It had been a male voice, one he did not recognize.

But all he saw was the inside of the tree, the dying cinders of the fire, and the woman - Rinna Centauri - still sleeping, curled up on her side. He allowed his breathing to return to normal; the voice had been so close, so clear; as if someone had been whispering in his ear while he slept.

He shook his head and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, then peered upward through the roots of the tree, where daylight was filtering faintly through the broken limb. He inspected his arm, lifting the armor plating, but his arm seemed like it was healing well.

He turned to Rinna then. He watched her sleep for a moment, and lowered his eyes as feelings of guilt wormed their way into his head. He had no idea what she'd been through, and he'd barely given her a chance to explain herself. He'd acted rudely last night, and for all he knew, this woman could be a relation of some high-ranking Elf lord. Regardless of her rank however, she was a woman and his father had always told him to respect and be courteous to females. He certainly hadn't been so yesterday.

He sighed heavily, then crouched beside her. He tapped her shoulder. "Hey. Hey, wake up."

With a gasp and flurry of leaves, she shot up like an arrow.

"It's morning," Cail said, standing.

She blinked at him, then looked up through the trunk of the tree. She opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it and nodded. She stumbled to her feet and brushed dead leaves and spongy material off her cloak.

After Cail had buried the ashes of the fire in dirt, he swung himself into the roots and climbed out of the tree, followed closely by Rinna. He peeked out of the broken limb to make sure the coast was clear, and then wriggled out of the opening and jumped to the ground.

Rinna did the same, with more difficulty, and Cail couldn't help but notice her surprised expression when he held out a hand to help her down. He led her from the tree, back into the brush through which they had fled the previous night. Everything was much less ominous now, with the sun streaming through the blue branches above.

The forest floor was beaten down with the amount of Sevlow-Erem paws that had trod upon it. Cail had never seen so many tracks. It wasn't uncommon to see a pack of five, ten, even twenty, but this looked near forty or more. Thankfully, when Cail touched the marks, they weren't fresh. The demons hadn't returned while they slept. He glanced at Rinna, who was staring in horrified awe at the sheer number of tracks.

"They're long gone," he said, feeling as though he should reassure her, "But we should keep moving. At the pace we're going on foot, it will take us…" he looked up at the sky in thought. "About four weeks to reach Gowna."

"That long?" Rinna cried. She nervously fingered a gold chain that peeked out from underneath her tunic.

"Traveling to Gowna isn't just a day visit to your aunt's, Miss Centauri," Cail said roughly, picking his way around some brambles, "It's across the great river, past the southern mountain range and through who knows how many leagues of forest."

"And…you're willing to take me all that way?"

"I don't really have any other choice, do I?"

"You could leave me."

Cail stopped in his tracks to turn and look at her. "No," he said shortly. "I couldn't. I'd never leave a defenseless innocent behind, much less a defenseless, innocent Elf-woman. They'd rip you to shreds, or worse." He saw her shudder before turning and continuing on his way.

Almost two hours had passed when he noticed Rinna stumbling a little more than usual, and it occurred to him that in addition to probably not having rested well, she hadn't eaten in at least twelve hours. She'd only had a hot drink at the inn the night before, and there was no telling when she'd eaten before that. He peered into the treetops as he walked, looking for a fruit or nut tree that would provide them with breakfast. After a few more yards, he spotted what he was looking for. He waited for Rinna to catch up with him, and pointed to a fallen log. "Wait there."

"Where are you going?"

"Getting breakfast," he replied. He walked over to a clump of trees shorter than the rest, whose branches only grew at the top, and promptly began to shinny up one of them. With his legs firm around the trunk, he knocked several brownish-blue things from the branches with his sword. He came back to Rinna carrying them in his cloak. They were nuts, the size of his fist and covered in a fuzzy husk. He slammed one hard on the trunk they sat on, and it broke into six equal, crescent shaped pieces that were a striking blue color inside. He gave one to Rinna, who took it doubtfully.
"Eat," Cail said, biting one in half.

She hesitantly gnawed off a corner. Her eyes widened in pleasant surprise, and she quickly ate the rest. The nut was sweet and a little tangy, and hearty enough for a full breakfast. They finished off three between them in silence.

As Cail packed the rest in a satchel at his side, Rinna said, "Thank you. And not just for breakfast, you understand. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help. I don't know what I'd do without a guide."

"You can thank me when we get to Gowna, Miss Centauri."

- - -

They traveled almost an hour in silence until Rinna spoke. "Are…are you from… um…Trolis?" she asked, having difficulty maneuvering around a large boulder.

"Do you start all conversations this way?"

"No. I'm sorry, it's just that you don't look like the majority of the people I've seen."

"I don't hail from Trolis."

"Oh. Where are you from?"

"You're not very familiar with other planets, are you?" Cail asked as he stepped over a large tree root. He wrapped his cloak tighter about him.

"No, I grew up part of my life on Earth. Most of it I spent among Elves, on the planet Leirini. I haven't traveled very much at all."

That's pretty obvious, Cail thought.

"So…where are you from?" Rinna asked again.

"You really want to know?" Cail asked, stopping in his stride to face her.

She halted and gave a half-shrug. "Yes."

"You seem to want to know as much about me as you can, but not very keen to tell me anything about yourself," Cail said, narrowing his eyes.

Rinna's gaze dropped, locks of hair falling in her face. "It's…safer that way. For both of us. You don't have to tell me anything about yourself if you don't want to…I just…I thought I should get to know you better if we're going to spend four weeks together."

Cail surveyed her, catching her eyes when they rose again. She was keeping secrets; that much was certain, but he didn't think she meant him – or anyone else – any harm. She was just trying to survive, and get off the planet. He suddenly turned and started up his quick pace again. She followed.

"I grew up on the planet Kema," he said, after so long a pause that he wondered if she might have forgotten her question. "My father was a Kemai, and my mother a Magin."

"Magins…I think I've heard of them," Rinna recalled as they made their way down a stony slope, "Are they…is it a very common race?"

"They're dying." Cail leapt down onto the path from a small hill.

"I'm so sorry."

He looked over his shoulder to see Rinna stopped at the top of the hill, her eyes full of concern and remorse. He smirked ruefully. "Save your pity. I grew up among the Kemai. My mother was despised for marrying my father – she left her planet out of her own choosing. Good riddance to them, I say. The only good things the Magins gave me were my mother and my strength."

"You don't care at all that they're dying?" she asked, stumbling down the hill.

"Should I?"

"They're a part of your existence!" Rinna said incredulously.

Cail snorted, stopping once again in his tracks. He turned to look her in the eye. "Look, Miss Centauri. I have more pressing concerns than the fate of a distant planet to worry my mind."

"Like what?"

"Like our survival."

- - -

Some time later, Cail found a small stream where they stopped for a few moments to drink and rest. They'd been traveling for hours, without a sign of any danger apart from the occasional bramble bush. But now, as Rinna drank, Cail couldn't help but feel they were being watched. On the pretense of stretching, Cail subtly scanned the area and surrounding treetops.

A dark shape in the upper branches of a far-off tree caused him to freeze. It looked like a clump of dead leaves or a nest of some sort, but he'd never seen a nest with that shape. It looked like it had a tail. There were no native birds with tails like that.

"Come on," he said a little more loudly than usual, careful not to stare too long at the thing in the tree, "We have to keep going." Then, in a voice only loud enough for her to hear, "Move quickly, and watch your step. Be prepared to run."

She tensed, looking at him wild-eyed, and turned her head to look behind her.

"Don't look. If you do, it will know we're aware of it."

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure. It may be a Tengu." He was praying it wasn't. Tengu Ihreakin were flying, scaly demons that were quiet on the wing, and he didn't want to run into one of them.

They quickened their pace slightly, and Cail stayed in line with Rinna lest she fall. If she tripped, it would be a perfect opportunity for an attack. As they walked, he kept an eye on her, and kept his right hand free should he need his sword. Thinking back, he was now sure it had been a Tengu, and expected the creature to swoop down on them at any moment. What he didn't expect was Rinna to suddenly push him with such force that he fell to the ground.

"What in blazes do you-" he yelled, but his mouth snapped shut as the ground exploded where he had been standing mere seconds before. Gunfire! In one quick motion, he was on his feet again, sword in hand. "Run!"

He and Rinna raced through the trees, branches and brush scraping at their bodies. He could hear demons crashing through the undergrowth behind them, and more than once a gunshot burst near his head, hitting a tree or the ground, just narrowly missing him.

All at once, over the noise of gunshots and running footsteps, Cail heard a sound that filled him with relief. The river. He cocked his head, trying to discern in which direction the river lay closest, and took Rinna's arm. "This way!" They ducked in unison under a half-fallen tree, supported only by two strong limbs.

"Keep going!" Cail yelled, and turned back towards the tree. He gripped his sword in both hands and with the mightiest swing he could manage, sliced through one branch and then the other. The falling tree would not only block the path, but their enemies' vision. As the tree groaned with horrible splitting and snapping sounds, he caught the sight of the demons after them – Ihreakin hybrids, just like Nobrraz and Arrodod from last night had been. One of them raised a gun, but Cail had already turned and was dashing away after Rinna before its shot shattered on the falling tree.

The woman kept looking over her shoulder for him, and he saw her face brighten in relief when she saw him nearing. But a shadow fell over her, and Cail saw the Tengu that had been watching them swoop down from the treetops, screeching hideously.

Rinna screamed, but instead of holding her hands up to her head to protect herself, she held them to her chest, as if keeping something safe there. She dodged and ducked around the Tengu, which was hard pressed to find a perch, until finally she found a split in a large tree and ducked inside the opening.

Cail's legs pushed hard against the ground, gaining speed with every second. He shouted at the demon to get its attention. It worked.

The Tengu flared its wings, which were more massive than Cail had originally anticipated. It had over a fifteen-foot wingspan, and each pump of those wings sent tremendous gusts of air howling against him.

"You can't protect her forever, muraga! My master will have her soon enough!" the creature rasped. With a beat of its wings, it lunged forward, long-beak like jaws snapping. Cail darted out of the way of its teeth, elbowing it hard in the eye as its head snaked by. It howled and beat him over the head with one of its wings, throwing him to the ground.

It flapped its wings in anger and stretched its long talons, diving right for his heart. But Cail had been in this predicament before, and at the last possible instant rolled to one side, instantly thrusting his sword into the neck of the demon as it landed on the ground where his body had been.

The Tengu let out a shrieking gurgle, frantically flapping its wings, but with a quick turn of his blade, Cail severed the creature's head. He ducked under the flailing wings and tail; the decapitated demon was still moving.

"Come on!" He pulled Rinna out from her hiding space and steered her in the direction of the river. The forest was beginning to thin out, and Cail knew they were getting close. There - a flash of silvery blue, and the turbulent sound of the Greater Ebun River. "You can swim, can't you?" he asked.

She threw him a rather reproachful look. "Of course!"

"Good!" He caught a whirring noise and moved his head just in time to evade the shot from one of the hybrids' guns. They were gaining, fast.

The river was so close now; he could smell the fresh scent that only water could bring. He sheathed his sword. If they could find a suitable place to cross where the current wasn't too strong, they could make it to the Klasuni region and escape into the woods there. The trees suddenly were gone from around them; all they saw before them was a thin muddy bank populated by grasses and rocks. He ran down the bank, slipping on the river-smoothed stones, searching for the best place to cross. He looked over the flowing waters, over to the distant far side of the river, and spied a more shallow area with several stones jutting out, perfect for grabbing onto. "All right, come on!" he beckoned to Rinna. "Cross here, and mind your footing!" he yelled over the current.

Rinna nodded and stepped carefully among the rocks. She nearly slipped a few times, but made it nearly a quarter of the way through. She stopped there, holding onto a rock, and turned to make sure he was following. He waved at her to keep going, but suddenly a horrified look came over her face.
He heard her shout his name in warning, but it was in vain. Pain exploded in his left shoulder, the force of impact pushing him face-forward into the river.

The current immediately picked him up, washing him toward and past Rinna. She threw herself into the river and managed to grab his cloak, but soon a large boulder that appeared between them compelled her to let go. "Cail!" she gasped, reaching for him.

He heard the demons cursing as they ran along the riverbank, but he felt the current picking up, growing faster every moment. Soon they would reach the rapids.

He tried to ignore the searing pain in his shoulder, instead focusing on keeping his head above the water. He saw Rinna, now further downstream, swimming valiantly against the current.

The rapids came up sooner than he expected. Besides deeper, faster waters, he found himself pushed and battered against rock after rock. He managed to push off most of them, but when one, hidden beneath churning waters, rose up and struck him in his wounded left shoulder, it was all he could do not to black out. His mouth opened to yell in pain, but it instantly filled with river, and he found his head beneath the waterline.

His shoulder was in such excruciating, blinding pain that, in combination with being tossed and buffeted by the current, he could not keep his whereabouts straight. He didn't know what was up or down, right, left, forwards or backwards. He barely saw the rock in time to grasp it. He gasped out as the gesture hurt his shoulder, and coughed out the water that violently filled his mouth. He pulled himself further onto the rock, clinging to it as if it were the only thing between him and death. He scanned the waters for any sign of Rinna, but saw none. Too weary to think, he rested his wet, throbbing head against the stone. The river was so cold, his pain was so great, and he was so tired. His eyelids grew heavy, and he slowly succumbed to the darkness that crept into his mind. If he could just close his eyes for a moment…only for a moment.