26

Final Leg

Blissfully unaware of the search of Fourth Earth for him, Saber had lived comfortably in the huge ice palace for those two weeks. After a few days, he had gone to explore the rest of the place, even looking back in on the ghostly banquet in the dining room. In the adjoining kitchen, he had found a few more of the beings, and a large animal he could only assume was a cat. It looked kind of like the cat fortress. He had been checking out a bowl of some kind of food, it seemed, and had a look of mild curiosity on his face. He was huge, big enough to ride, and Saber felt a deep sadness that he had to die. Just like the rest. And it looked as if it had killed this magnificent creature more quickly and mercifully than the warriors in the dining hall.

Elsewhere in the palace were great bedrooms, many ornate, decorated with weapons, or pictures. Many had fireplaces, but the boy preferred the secure feeling of the library, and wanted to stay there rather than a bedroom. He had the whole place to himself so why not? He'd found he could not read the language but he liked it there anyway. It felt safe.

Over the first two weeks, he did little but rest. He had been through much, done much travelling, and seen more than he could ever have hoped to see. He needed the rest, needed to get his thoughts put back together, and figure out just what he was doing.

He had no idea that the Lunattacks of Plundaar, and the most powerful being on the planet searched for him even now. He had no idea they were using sensors, that Infra and her brother were using their powerful vision to search for his heat signature. As he slept at night, he had no idea that they were questioning the villagers in all the towns they came across. It was a good thing. Had he known all this, he would have panicked, would have run. And they would have caught him.

However the evil beings would not catch up to him as fast as they hoped to. Leyati had mislead the Lunattacks of Plundaar, even with Psychren's mind control. They had asked what direction Saber had left the village. He had gone east. But the old Nai knew something that they had not asked. He knew of the boy's intentions. He knew Saber had planned to head south after a while, and so would be heading southeast.

And Leyati prayed that by the time the demon and his servants figured it out, they would be so far out of the way they would not be able to find their quarry. He also hoped that the improvised army caught up to the boy before it was too late. The Nai and their reptile allies had picked up people from the other villages he'd passed through and stayed in, and felt confident that they could fight the demons off.

***

As the weeks went by, Saber felt as if he had given himself enough of a break. His mind was not so stressed, his body not so tired. Although the physical weariness was not so pressing as it might have been at first, had he gotten this far. At first it had seemed as if his muscles would fall right off, the were so sore from walking and carrying. But now they seemed to be working in perfect harmony with each other.

He was feeling homesick, and getting the urge to travel again, and after he had been at the massive fortress a little over a month he prepared to leave. The bitterest part of winter was over, and there were only a couple more months of it. That would not be too hard to handle.

Saber wondered if he should take something warmer than what he had, but he felt funny taking anything from the place. He felt wrong. Still, these people were long dead, and would not need it. He would only take what he needed. And besides, he doubted they would mind, had they been alive.

The clothing was out. There would not be a skin there that would fit the small boy. He had seen no children in the great hall, although he figured there must have been at some point or another. There was some small clothing, but even they were far too big. Maybe an infant's clothing, or a small child's would have worked, but he could find none.

Still, there were other things. As he carefully repacked the things from his duffel back into it, he got some dried jerky and fruit from the kitchen, looking sadly one last time at the frozen feline and the men there. He found some parchment, cut it down to size for him, and packed it as well. He found a waterskin of manageable size and took it. He was able to fashion a cloak of fur from one of the larger garments.

Having enough writing sticks and other things, he finally dressed in the jumpsuit Leyati had given him, slid his boots on, and doused the fire in the fireplace with melted snow. His supplies were heavy now but he was strong enough now to manage it. He would just have to go slow. He threw the heavy cloak about himself.

Finally, it was time to leave. He was approaching the final leg of his journey, he knew it, and his heart raced with excitement. He felt like something was happening, but he did not know what. Even if that feeling was wrong, what would happen when he got home? What would his parents say? What would they think? How would the villagers treat him? He did know what happened to the crazies that left the Valley. They came back raving about things no one had ever heard of, and were thought lunatics...of course they had acted as such. As if their minds could not handle what they saw, and snapped. Would they treat him as such? Even he knew he was a different person than when he left his little valley.

Even if they believed his tales, what would his parents think? Would they be angry? He thought him dead by now, of that he was sure. W hat would they say when they found out he had survived? When they realized he had survived all this time on his own? That he had fought the demons of the rocklands and survived? And when he told them they were mortal....

Saber started from the ice palace, shocked at the cold wind. He had on his gloves and his hat once again, and set out through the snow. It was considerably less deep now. He thought as he walked, that he did not think his people would rise up against the demons. His people were too set in their ways. Unless he could somehow show them...if he could make them realize they could be fought,. that his people did not have to be confined to the valley they lived in.

It did not matter for now. He would think of that when he got there. Now, he still had weeks, maybe months of travel ahead of him. As he got closer to his home, his directional sense was stronger and stronger, and he knew he was going the right way. Now if only he could stay on that path and not be deterred by any more oceans.

Saber had to trudge through the snow for several days before it began to subside once again. It was still chilly, and he figured that he was two weeks into the second moon-time of winter. He finally realized, as he looked back, that he had climbed a mountain! It had been tough going, and as he looked back now, he could barely see the massive fortress on the mountain, which was vaguely hook shaped. no wonder it had taken him so long! It was steep! It was a much shorter trek going down the other side. The boy was now going steadily southwest, and he noticed the temperature change, and was puzzled by it. He was not going fast enough or far enough, and time was not passing that quickly to warrant that kind of temperature change so quickly.

He was not all that disappointed though, as it was getting warmer as he went.

Saber was soon able to ditch the cloak, gloves and the hat. Of course since after the sea he had been travelling up, uphill, and he learned in school that when you got higher, it got colder. Now he knew that to be true. Saber was gradually getting into more trees and less rock, which he was happy. He also found many streams of icy water: snow runoff, though he would not know the term were it mentioned to him. He did know that it was clear, crisp, and refreshing. He filled his canteens of it, the metal one and the skin he had found in the palace.

It was still chilly, no doubt about that, but the snow and cheek-chapping winds were gone, and he was glad of it. That was something he had never encountered before now, and did not appreciate it too much. The snow was somewhat fun when he did not have to sleep in it.

As he approached the final moon-time of winter, the terrain again slowly started to change. Although to his left and right the forest seemed to stretch away forever, ahead where he had to go, it seemed to be thinning out. It seemed to be...there was a word for it that Saber could not think of. It gave him an uneasy feeling, but as he went on, he could see that going around it might take him days. Dying out. Yes, the forest was dying out.

As he walked, his unease increasing with every step, the trees began to die, they became withered and grayish. The air itself became humid, but not like the fresh air before a rain, but a fetid smell, like mildew or mold. There was another scent Saber's nose picked up. It smelled faintly of chemicals, like the ones he had tasted in the Berbils' fruit. This alone made him uneasy.

Finally, the last of the forest gave way to a scaggly tree here and there, and the creek Saber had been following was down to a trickle. The boy took a long drink, filled both his canteens to the brim, and with a deep breath left it. He would have to be careful with his water from here on out.

It was midday when he was finally able to see what kind of terrain he faced. Here, the air was thick with musty moisture, and the ground had gotten soft and mushy. It was unnaturally warm, warm enough for him to want to take off his jumpsuit and put the loincloth back on, but he did not. He did not want to expose his skin to the ground if had to sleep here.

To his disgust, the boy found himself walking into ankle, then knee deep mud. Here and there, a dead, rotted tree told him just how livable this land was, and he was almost tempted to turn back and go around, no matter how long it took him. But he decided that if it had not harmed him yet, it would not. He hoped.

Saber walked until nightfall, when it was getting too dark to see. He came to one of the dead trees and wondered if he dared try to climb it. He certainly could not sleep in the mud! However, when he tried to climb it, the slim tree broke at the trunk, and he fell in the mud. His eyes widened as he heard a skittering noise and saw hundreds of tiny bugs like he'd never seen, scurry from the rotten insides. He gave a cry of revulsion and got as far from the tree as he could.

Spooked and unnerved by this, Saber stumbled around until he found a reasonably solid patch of ground, where he had to set down for the night. He took a blanket he had gotten from one of the villages and spread it on the ground, lying down on it. His duffel served as a pillow.

Saber felt very unsafe here in this foul smelling land, which really could not be called land It was swamp. He'd never seen the likes, but there is such a place in his lesson books, that they say the ancient ones that lived on the planet had seen. He wondered how old his schoolbooks and the information in it were.

Jumping at the numerous noises, and splashes, and alien sounding calls in the pitch black, Saber reluctantly closed his eyes. He would move quickly through here; he wanted to be as far from it as he could.

Part 27: Wastelands

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