Chapter 10: The plan to freedom
When the fire shard lights, it meant either two things. Danger or the Brethren calling. Sometimes it confused Maheegun.
There was a distant rattle that awoke Jargo. Something had disturbed the forest – and it was the unmistakable scent of Auroch. The evil hunters had come for Maheegun. Jargo had to warn him….
Jargo let out a danger bark and Maheegun scanned the view of the forest. ' Rika! Get down!'. There was no use in calling. They were out in the open and if they traveled into the forest, they may be caught.
'What is it brother?', he softly yipped across the bank.
'Aurochs.', Jargo replied.
Maheegun thought he had gotten rid of them back near the south-eastern ridge. They must have followed the trees on the high ledge and followed them. How could he do this? Maheegun thought. He had endangered himself, Jargo and the lynx girl, Rika.
'Maheegun, what is it?', Rika was worried. She really hadn't thought about this properly. She signed up for something she wasn't sure she wanted to do.
'I told you about some of the people hunting me, eh? Well these are Auroch hunters – with Belktru!'
'Belktru is after you!??? There is no way he is going to let you go! Your going to die wolf-boy!, she added. She didn't want to go along with him, but she made a commitment. And she wanted to prove to Jargo that she could be trusted.
'Oh, thanks. How very comforting! It is nice learning that this may be your final hour of your life! I want to grow up, become chief, have kids – like I'm supposed to! My life is far from over!', he panicked. Maheegun was actually taking notice of death. He had never done this before.
'Fine. Then let us find a way out of here!!!', she yelled in his face.
'Shut up you two. Quit arguing. The Aurochs are nearing. We may still have a chance.', Jargo wanted to live too. And he was very annoyed at the two taillesses yelling. They were loud.
'What did he say?', Rika was very confused, she couldn't understand the wolf's talk – and Jargo couldn't understand tailless talk!
'He said for you to shut up and stop panicking - and he said you are stupid.', Maheegun laughed hard. Rika then slapped him on the cheek, again.
'Ask him how to get out of here!', She said. Maheegun did so.
'He says he doesn't know where they are yet. We must wait until they are closer. It shouldn't be long.', his expression turned scared, and he should be. The bloodthirsty Aurochs shed no mercy.
Rika was terrified. Belktru was a hero for the Aurochs. He won many unnecessary wars and killed many innocent people. He would be what we call a 'warmonger', simply to show his false strength. He was no hero, and he was not kind. His mate, Oktla, was forced to marry him.
'The scent is from the south…', Jargo barked.
'The south?! But that would mean they went around us…', Maheegun suddenly felt the urge to kill himself, for his shame to die with him. But that wouldn't help anything. He sighed, 'Let us take the route to the south-western ridge. It is quite north from here, but it is our only hope. The ridge walls curve around a valley and have caves and tunnels within them, and it would lessen the chance of the Aurochs finding us.', he really didn't want to go back that far. It seemed farther than it actually was, but, it took so much for them to get that far, and, it would all have been a waste to go back.
'Ok. How long will it take?', Rika was happier, but she still was worried that the Aurochs were going to find them.
'Well-. We found your settlement quarter of a daywalk from the ridge. But, we are about half from the settlement. With food and sleep – it would take a day.', he couldn't believe it. They needed to get out of there fast.
'We better hurry. They could be here at any moment.', she smiled and looked at him. Maheegun tried not to notice her, but he couldn't.
'We've got time…', he smiled back. Rika pulled him towards her and whispered something in his ear. This annoyed Jargo, he couldn't hear what the female tailless had said. When she had finished, she kissed him on the cheek and crawled into the bushes, staying low until she reached the edge of the forest. Maheegun was sad she was gone and rubbed the spot were she had both slapped him and kissed him on the cheek.
'Yay! She's gone! Now can we go?', Jargo begged like a dog whining for a scrap of meat.
'Yes. Let me pack my things.', Maheegun said softly while still looking at the spot where Rika had vanished.