Fourth in my series, Alternaverse. The elves travel the desert to reach Sorrow's End.
All words contained within # # are sendings between elves.
Six days or so had passed since that first sleep in the tunnels. Half or more of that time had been spent travelling underground. The elves had come to the end of the tunnel to discover that they'd been lied to by the tolls. Instead of the green woods they'd been expecting, a barren wasteland full of nothing but mountains of sand and a blazing hot sun were what they'd gotten.
Picknose had collapsed the tunnel, so going back hadn't been an option. Neither had climbing back over the rocks. Even if they elves had been able to climb the vertical rock wall - which was over a hundred feet in height and stretched farther than Scouter could see in both directions - the wolves certainly could not. That left crossing the desert as their only option. It had been a difficult few days and things just kept getting worse. Redlance, badly injured by humans before the forest fire had started, could no longer travel and had been forced to stay behind. His lifemate, Nightfall, and their wolves - Firecoat and Woodshaver - had stayed behind with him. No one wanted to face the truth, but it was likely that Redlance would die in the next few days without a healer's assistance.
Two of the wolves died, dropped dead in their tracks. Others were weak, nearly out of strength. If they didn't reach the mountains soon, find water and shelter, more were likely to die. And not just the wolves...
"Skyfire!"
The shout rang out, a stunning sound when silence had reigned for so long. Regardless of who had actually made the cry, many turned to the one whose name had been called out.
Skyfire was on her hands and knees, her head lowered. She struggled for breath and it was clear that she was exhausted, near the end of her strength. Still, she managed to gather together what little strength remained to her and lunged to her feet. She stumbled on unsteady legs for a moment, then her knees buckled and she fell forward onto the sand. She didn't move after that.
Those nearest to Skyfire struggled to reach her first. It was Starfrost who turned her over and cradled her head in his lap.
"Is she...?" Buck began to ask anxiously, only to find himself unable to complete the question.
"She lives still," Starfrost replied tensely. He reached for Skyfire's water skin, shook it a few times, then dropped it to the sand in disgust. "Empty!" he exclaimed harshly. His own skin was no better, dry as old bones.
"Here," Fiddlesticks said, appearing at Starfrost's left side. She handed her water skin to him.
Starfrost accepted the water skin readily, then frowned as he felt its weight in his hand. He looked to Fiddlesticks for an explanation.
"She's been adding to my water skin. So has Whistler. They thought I didn't know, but I realized what they've been up to almost from the start."
Whistler made a choking sound and Fiddlesticks looked over her shoulder at him. "Its alright, beloved. I know you were both just trying to help me and the cub." One of her hands cradled the generous swell of her belly. The cub kicked against her palm, showing that it was still strong and healthy.
Starfrost, meanwhile, had handed the water skin to Buck. Buck opened the water skin and held it up to Skyfire's lips while Starfrost held her steady, tilting her head back slightly. Skyfire had difficultly swallowing the first few sips of water, coughing and sputtering at first, but overcame the problem and soon had drained half the water left in the skin.
Buck pulled the water skin from Skyfire's lips slowly, then put the cap back on. Skyfire's eyelids began to flutter open slowly.
"Did we just have a rest stop?" Skyfire asked, sounding confused.
"No," Starfrost told her gently. "You collapsed."
"I did?" Skyfire frowned, having trouble remembering her struggles of a moment ago. "Sorry?"
"No apologies necessary, little chieftess," Buck said, reaching for one of Skyfire's hands and holding it between both of his gently. "But we'd best get going again. The mountains are not far off now." Buck did not know this for certain, but he felt it necessary to fib a little to convince Skyfire to hang on just a little longer.
"Okay then." Skyfire started to get up only to discover that the strength had left her limbs. She continued to struggle in vain, not able to raise herself more than a few inches before her heavy-feeling limbs pulled her back down.
"Let me carry her," Skywise said to the small group gathered around Skyfire. He brought his wolf up close. "Starjumper still has enough strength to carry both of us the rest of the way." And if the wolf didn't, he would get off and walk, he told himself.
Starfrost nodded once and rose with some difficulty. He took the few steps to Skywise and his wolf, then carefully transferred Skyfire to the other elf's arms.
As the others returned to the wolves they had been riding and remounted, the elves slowly began the rest of their journey. Skyfire had not been the first to collapse - several other elves, including Rainsong and little Newstar, had been strapped to one wolf's back - but hopefully there would be no more.
As they continued journeying onward, Skywise distracted himself from his own discomfort by thinking about Skyfire. She had done something noble in secretly giving a share of her water to another elf maiden, one heavy with cub, but at the same time the act had also been a foolish one. Only Skyfire knew how long she had been without water for. She could have died. Two wolves had already done so.
Cutter dropped back from the lead and began checking on all the elves and the remaining wolves.
#Fahr?# Cutter's mind touched Skywise's.
#Starjumper and I are okay, Tam.# Skywise looked down at Skyfire. She'd passed out again soon after Starfrost had place her in his arms. #If we get to the mountains soon, find shade and water, she should be okay, too.#
Cutter nodded. #She will be okay. I won't lose anoth- an elf... or another wolf, not if I can help it.# He urged Nightrunner on ahead, back into the lead.
Skywise watched Cutter as he rode his wolf. He could still send to him, but sensed Cutter's want to be alone with his own thoughts and so left him to himself. Cutter's burdens - the safety and lives of the entire tribe, even those two left behind - weighed heavily on his mind and shoulders.
After travelling throughout the night and into the next morning, the Wolfriders finally reached the mountains. Strange plants grew here - tall, green, and covered in sharp, thin spines - thriving without any apparent source of moisture.
Skywise breathed a sigh of relief as he spied areas of shade among the rocks. Looking to Skyfire, who'd barely moved a muscle since Starfrost had placed her in his arms, he gently tried to nudge her awake. "Skyfire? We're here, we've made it to the mountains."
Skyfire moaned softly and frowned, both actions weak. not that she could be blamed, with everything that she - that everyone - had gone through just to get to this point.
Skywise repeated the message, this time sending it directly from his mind to hers. Skyfire managed to turn her head a bit away from Skywise's chest and opened her eyes. She smiled at the sight that greeted her gaze, taking it all in for a few brief seconds before her eyes closed again.
#Farsight, we've made it.# The joy was clear in her weak send. It was a general send, touching the minds of all the Wolfriders.
Skywise wondered who Farsight was, though figured him or her to be an elf long dead, as none of the six elves with Skyfire bore that name.
Meanwhile, Hawthorne, who was walking not very far away from them, stumbled after hearing the name. It had been like a blow to her body and spirit to hear it sent when she was too weak to raise emotional barriers to protect against the feelings that flooded her mind. Unaware of what was going on around her, she didn't expect the hand clamped down on her shoulder. Startled, she flinched from the unexpected touch and whirled around to find Strongbow standing before her.
Strongbow's hand fell to his side. We have to keep going, we're almost there. He knew that Farsight was the name of her dead lifemate, but didn't know why the name had affected her so strongly now when she'd had no troubles speaking it to him before back in the tunnels. They needed to get to find shelter and water. The last drop had been drained from the last water skin some time ago - now the inside of each was as dry as the sand they walked upon. Feeling a little like a lost cub, it took a few seconds for Hawthorne to absorb what had been said and to nod her head in agreement of it.
Strongbow grabbed one of Hawthorne's hands and led her over to his wolf, Briersting, where he gripped her by the waist and heaved her onto his wolf's back. Strongbow remained on the ground. As they started moving, further up ahead Cutter was about to make a startling discovery.
"Ow!" A curse quickly followed Cutter's shout. He unsheathed his sword, New Moon, and cut the top off of the sticker plant he had pricked his hand upon with a quick, downward stroke of his arm. The blade came away wet. Cutter had just found water for his tribe.
The sticker plant juice and rest in the shade helped to revive the exhausted elves and wolves and they rested for a while, starting their recovery from the dangerous journey.
Skywise helped Skyfire, whose limbs were still weak and trembling, to sit under a small overhang of rock. He held some of the saturated inner pulp of the sticker plant to her lips.
"My thanks... Skywise," Skyfire said when she'd taken her fill of the watery liquid... for the moment, anyway. "I don't think I'd have made it all this way without you." Her eyes, locked onto his, showed the gratitude she felt.
"If not me, someone else would have done what I did," Skywise said honestly. "But I'm glad I could be of some help." He took one of her hands in his, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"So am I."
Other elves were rejoicing in their own little ways for having survived the extreme conditions of the past three days.
As Pike gathered up some of the pulp from one of the plants, he turned to see Ebony squeezing some of the sticker plant juice into the mouth of his wolf friend. When the pulp was wrung out, she tossed the waste on the ground and gave the wolf a scratch behind one ear.
"I bet that feels better, huh?" she asked, smiling. She giggled a moment later as a warm, wet tongue swiped across her face.
Pike laughed as he rose and approached the pair. "He likes you," Pike stated, sounding pleased.
"And I like him." Ebony hugged the wolf around his neck. She soon released the animal to accept a share of Pike's small load.
They fell quiet as they concentrated on taking moisture from the pulp.
"Lets go find some shade," Pike said a short time later, having just shared the last bit of the precious liquid with his wolf. He held out his hand and Ebony put her hand readily into his and followed his lead.
Pike and Ebony had grown close over the days since the two tribes had first met. While affectionate touches were often hesitant and unsure, it was obvious there were feelings blossoming between the pair and those who took the time to consider the relationship budding between these two believed it was inevitable that they would soon become lovemates.
Not far away, Strongbow was walking over to Hawthorne. She'd been strangely silent ever sice Skyfire's weak sending some hours before, quiet and withdrawn. From what he'd come to know of her over the past few days, he knew it was most unlike her to behave this way. Even after they'd stopped and Cutter had found them all water, she had remained cheerless. Strongbow didn't know why he was bothering with Hawthorne when someone else - any of those six elves who'd known her longer, for instance - would probably be a better choice to talk with her. Perhaps it was because he saw something of himself in the dark-haired maiden, or maybe because he wanted to forge connections with the other tribe as Pike was doing with Ebony. Well, maybe not exactly as Pike and Ebony. He wasn't looking for a lovemate in Hawthorne - on any other elf maiden, for that matter - because Moonshade was his lifemate and she was all he required.
#Hawthorne?# The send was unusually gentle, probing around the edges of her mind.
Hawthorne looked at Strongbow with eyes that were dull, almost lifeless. She remained silent.
Strongbow offered Hawthorne some of the strange sticker plant insides. He'd noticed that she hadn't drank much of the water these plants had to offer them. Dehydration was still a possibility, a dangerous one at that. Hawthorne could ill afford to pass up the opportunity to drink her fill here.
"I..." Hawthorne started to speak but trailed off quickly. #Thank you,# she finally said before accepting his offering. The clear liquid dripped between her fingers and into the sandy ground beneath. She stared at it a moment as if she couldn't comprehend why it was there or what to do with it. Then she finally brought it to her lips and began to suck out some of the moisture.
Strongbow settled himself next to Hawthorne on the ground as she sucked precious out of the pulp. His body told him he should be in the shade right now, with his family, but he remained by Hawthorne's side. She seemed to need the company.
#Do you want to talk about it?# Strongbow asked after a while had passed.
Hawthorne's hands fell away from her mouth.
#No... But yes at the same time,# came the confusing reply. Hawthorne lowered her gaze to stare at the ground. #You already knew that Farsight was my lifemate and Skyfire's older brother, but I never told you about my cubs... except that they both lived and now they don't. You also know there were three other elves with us before we became slaves of the trolls. Of those elves, who were killed by the humans, the lone female among them was my girl cub, Tawny. I saw the human that took her life. I'll never forget his face...# She breathed deeply, trying to quell the tears that threatened to fall. The task was made easier by the fact that her body had little moisture left to make tears.
Strongbow nodded once, slowly. #Losing a cub isn't easy, I know.# He shared images of his dead daughter, Crescent, just as he had back in the troll tunnels, only this time he showed different memories of his cub. Crescent had also been killed by humans, though Strongbow had not seen her death.
Hawthorne's mouth opened, as if she meant to say something, then closed again. Moments later, pictures of her own cubs, and some of her lifemate as well, flowed into Strongbow's mind from hers. She also chose to show memories of them that Strongbow hadn't seen. #Does it ever stop hurting?# she ased after she stopped sendng images.
#You'd think that it would, especially with the now of Wolfrider thought. But the memories of loved ones never really fade, neither does the pain of their loss. It lessens, gets pushed away as other emotions take its place...# Strongbow paused to regard his son, Dart, who was resting in the shade with his mother, Moonshade. #But a piece of it always stays with you.#
#These seven turns... I've never really had my time to grieve for them, or any of the others. None of us have. Going in search of your tribe - Huntress Skyfire's descendants and that of her other tribe members - then living with the trolls, there was never much time for anything else besides trying to survive.#
Strongbow understood what Hawthorne was saying. With no time to grieve previously, now that she was free and it looked like they were all going to live, those emotions that had been locked away were now surfacing.
#If I can do anything for you...# Strongbow sent, making the offer without stopping to think about it.
#Thanks, I'll remember that.# Hawthrone raised her hand and started to suck moisture from the pulp again. Though small, she felt a renewed sense of purpose sprout up deep inside herself.
Strongbow started to rise, intending to return to Moonshade and Dart, when Hawthorne's next send caught him a little off guard.
#Strongbow? Thank you. If you mean it, I could use some help with my archery skills. After six turns, my abilities have dulled considerably.#
Stopped half way from the ground up, Strongbow turned his head and nodded his assent to the request. #We'll have to see about getting you a decent bow then.#
#Something simple, I don't need something with fancy designs. Never saw much point to them when a plain one would do. Especially since all that decorative stuff can be distracting.#
Strongbow nodded again, managing to hold back a knowing smirk until his face was turned away. So he and Hawthorne were more similar than he'd thought. Even their preferences for bows were the same. He finished getting up and returned to his family. As he crossed the sands to where they rested, he noticed Cutter and Treestump climbing the rocks. No doubt they were going in search of a more reliable source of water than these strange plants.
#Cutter?# Strongbow sent to his chief.
#Stay put, Strongbow,# Cutter sent back, sensing the direction of the archer's thoughts. #Rest while we check out the surrounding area. But keep an eye out for danger. We don't know what we are facing yet in this new land.#
When Cutter and Treestump returned, they brought news of a village full of elf-like beings. They looked like elves, but lived openly and outside during the day. They had to tree dens nor wolf companions, they wore strange clothing and had dark skin. Cutter planned to make a raid on the village, those who were to accompany him were to grab whatever food and water they could carry before Cutter gave the order to retreat.
"The maidens and cubs will remain behind, as will Whistler, Buck, and Starfrost," Cutter said. When the three males looked ready to protest - they wished to make a contribution to the tribe and felt a bit humiliated to be deliberately left out - Cutter cut them off before any of them could say anything. "We will be riding the wolves into the village and there aren't enough to carry you three." With the deaths of two wolves in the desert, and two out there still with Redlance and Nightfall, only two wolves remained that wouldn't be going into the raid.
"Even if I took two of you to ride the remaining wolves, you haven't been in battle for six turns. I would prefer not to risk testing your skills at this time."
Skyfire knew that, however reasonable Cutter's words were, it was still a blow to the three males's spirits. She began to lock-send with Cutter, offering another solution. The two chiefs faced each other as they talked privately, then turned heads away once they were done.
"You three," Cutter said, addressing Whistler, Buck, and Starfrost, "will accompany us as far at the top of the mountain. Act as scouts while we others raid the village, then bring provisions back to the maidens and cubs."
The three elves nodded. While this was not the task they would have chosen, it was an important one just the same and one they would each do their best to perform.
As the men ascended the mountain, the maidens and cubs watched them go. Once the men were out of sight, they returned to hide in the patches of shade. From now until the men returned, they would remain silent, using only sending to communicate with each other. And then, only when necessary.
#Cutter, he just stopped in front of this one maiden, frozen still. Next thing we knew, he'd grabbed her up onto Nightrunner and ordered the retreat.#
Whistler, Buck, and Starfrost had just returned and were dividing up the food they'd been sent back to the others with, while sharing words and images of what they had seen.
#Some of the lads from the village are climbing into the mountains now, trying to get her back.#
Cutter's behaviour was strange, to say the least. As the women returned once again to their hiding spots - now with the three lads in tow - they tried to reason out why he would snatch a hostage. A female one at that. Cutter was very protective of females, lifebearers, and for him to endanger one - even tough this one was not of his own tribe - did not make sense to them.
#Do you think it was Recognition?#
#It's a possibility, I think.#
#But is it possible to Recognize one that is not an elf?#
#It has never hapened before. I don't know.#
#But these... villagers. They could be elves.#
#That's right. Just because they aren't Wolfriders and don't look like us, doesn't mean they aren't elves.#
#True, true. Timmain, mother of all Wolfriders, was not the only High One. The others could've had cubs as well, cubs without wolfblood. Some of those may have settled here.#
A short while later...
#Everyone, come out,# Cutter sent to those below in hiding. #Come up here. These villagers are elves, descended from High Ones other than Timmain. We're going down to their village.#
A surprising turn of events, but then so was finding a village of elves that thrived out here in this strange land.
Fiddlesticks was placed onto the back of one wolf, Dart and Newstar on the other, and together the elves went up the rocks to rejoin the rest of the tribe.
"Mama, look what dark skin they have!" Newstar exclaimed in surprise upon seeing Leetah and Rayek for the first time. She pointed at them and looked back at Rainsong, her mother.
"Newstar!" Rainsong caught up to the wolf her daughter and Dart rode upon. "Be polite."
Newstar nodded, then turned back to Leetah and Rayek. She tilted her head to one side as she looked at them, as if trying to figure them out.
"Alright, everyone, mount up and lets get moving," Cutter ordered.
Leetah and Rayek both watched as the elves did Cutter's bidding. Clearly, he was the leader of these barbarians.
Two-eights and six of these Wolfrider there were. And an eight and two of the beasts they rode, the wolves.
Whatever Leetah and Rayek thought of the Wolfriders, they kept it to themselves as they led the way down the mountain into the village.
Many of the Sun Folk watched the second arrival of the Wolfriders into their village. Some watched from out in the open, others from their homes, but all were curious about these elves that seemed so much like them and yet... not, at the same time. Seeing the women and young arrive, when there had been none before, realization and understanding began to set in among the dark-skinned Sun Folk. These strangers had been protecting and providing for their families. The violence was a little harder to understand for those used to living in peace nearly every moment of their lives. Until today, the only danger ever visited upon the village came from large animals. Rayek, as chief hunter and protector for the Sun Folk, was the one who took care of these dangers as they arose.
As the Wolfriders assembled in the village, an elder soon appeared before them. Leetah stood by his side.
"Call me Sun-Toucher! I do not see with my eyes, Wolfriders, for I gave them up to the almighty Daystar many years ago. But the heart can learn to see more deeply then the eyes. Let me look at you now...!"
For the short time that Sun-Toucher 'looked' at them, the Wolfriders watched him warily in return. They had never heard of an elf that could see inside another's soul before.
Sun-Toucher smiled gently and spoke again. "I sense a greath weariness... and hidden sorrow for the loss of all that you have known. Your days have been perilous... yet you have andured them with courage - and a ferocious will to survive! Life, and all that it means, is precious to you - more so because your number is small."
As the elves were marvelling over Sun-Toucher's accuracy and keen insight, Cutter came to a sudden realization.
"Redlance and Nightfall!" Cutter shouted, remembering the lifemates. "Forgive me, Sun-Toucher, but we had to leave two of us behind in the desert! One was injured, perhaps dying! I've got to g back for them before it's too late!" He pulled himself wearily onto Nightrunner's back.
"But you are exhausted, young chieftain, and so is your beast!" Sun-Toucher said in protest, trying to talk some sense into Cutter.
"No matter!" Cutter replied. Skywise approached them and handed Cutter his bear fur vest, which he'd dropped on the ground a moment ago without realizing it. Cutter accepted it, then turned to the gathered crowd of Sun Folk. "If there is a hearler among you villagers who dares follow me, let him do so now! I'm going!"
Surprisingly, it was Leetah who stepped forward. "Wait, Wolfrider! I am a healer!"
Rayek grabbed Leetah's arm. "Leetah, what are you saying! You can't go with him! I forbid it!" His words were spoken in a near-yell.
Leetah turned a dangers look upon Rayek. "You... forbid?" she asked in a venomous tone.
Rayek realized that he'd just made a serious mistake in trying to command Leetah to do something. But he dared not let Leetah go into the desert alone with Cutter, either. He apologized and offered to accompany her instead.
Mounts and supplies were readied quickly as Cutter waited impatiently to get going. Redlance could be dead now for all he knew - though deep down he felt the other elf lived still - and Nightfall either refusing to leave the body or already on her way here with the wolves, Woodshaver and Firecoat. But he had to try. While there was still a chance, he could do no less than his very best to bring both elves back.
The Wolfriders gathered around Cutter and Nightrunner as they waited for Leetah and Rayek to ready themselves for the journey. Each had their own good-bye to speak to Cutter as well as a wish for his safety and good luck in his quest.
"Everyone, rest up while I am gone. I will return soon... with Nightfall AND Redlance. Skyfire, take charge until I return."
Skyfire nodded, acceptng the role. While she wore the chief's lock, she was still a chief, and Cutter treated her as such. None of the Wolfriders moved as Cutter rode out of the village, Leetah and Rayek riding on their zwoots behind him. Not until all three elves were out of sight did they begin to move.