Daughter of Three Suns
Chapter 15
I ran until I could run no more. I slept, ate, drank, and ran again. Time ceased to have any meaning. Wake cycles and rest cycles blurred together as I ran toward the persistent call of that red arch.
The sky was a blinding white from Daughter Sun's glare, but the land around me was full of color. Where once I had only seen the desert sand as gold or yellow, it now had shades of amber and rust, orange and ochre. There were even some I had no name for. Most surprising were the hints of greens and blues. A green bit caught my eye, and I picked it up to find a small stone. It was smooth and flat on one side, but when I turned it over, I found the imprint of a tiny flying animal. The vision from Grandmother had included flying animals much like this one. I placed it in my belt pouch to keep.
There were more scents in the wind than I had ever experienced. Heat had a smell to it. It differed in the direct sunlight and in the shadows of the dunes. It was as if I could smell the difference in the temperatures. I caught whiffs of animals, some musky, some pleasant, and one very bitter odor that wrinkled my nose and alerted me to the presence of a large sand worm, crawling an arm's length below the surface.
The sand almost seemed alive. Sand lizards and worms slithered their way beneath the surface while miniscule hopping insects scattered at my approach. The grains shifted and moved, both from the wind and from the animals living within them. I could see them, smell them, and hear them.
But my supplies were running low, and I needed to find an island to replenish them and somewhere to sleep. It would do me little good to arrive tired and weak in that other world. There was a small rock island located in an almost direct line between me and my doorway. I hastened toward it.
When I neared the island, I smelled water and growing plants. There was something else there, too. A musky scent I did not recognize. It warned me that something was definitely living there. Something that smelled of danger.
There were footprints in the sand near the entrance. I crouched to examine them. They resembled a sand cat's paw prints, but these were at least twice as big as any I had seen or been shown before. Warily, I crept through the entrance to the center pool.
It must have been a long time since anyone had lived here. The pond was overgrown, choked with plant growth and fish. There would be plenty of food, but the water wouldn't be fit to drink, and I'd need to find the stairs to the underground pools in order to quench my thirst and refill my water gourds. I examined the area, trying to find an entrance to the stairs. The walkways were crumbled and filled with debris. Several ramps and stairways to the upper levels had collapsed and some of the cave homes were blocked by the rock falls.
As I edged toward where I thought the underground entrance might be, I heard a low rumbling growl. The sound seemed to come from a cave across the pond from me. When I studied it closer, I could see a pair of glowing green eyes inside. I moved again and was rewarded with another warning growl. When I moved a third time, the eyes grew closer to the entrance, and the head of a huge sand cat came into focus. It lifted one massive paw toward the entrance but leaped back with a yelp of pain when the sun touched it.
"So, the light burns you, and you cannot leave the darkness of your cave." It cocked its head at the sound of my voice, and then two pair of smaller eyes appeared beside it. "Oh, mother, you are trapped with your little ones. How long has it been since you've had food to eat and water to drink?"
I considered the scene before me, wondering what had happened. Most of the walkway and a great deal of the pond was shaded by the overgrowth of appa and rubus vines, but the entrance to her cave was not. That's when I realized the walkway above it had recently collapsed. The vines had been stripped away and the opening partially blocked. She would not be able to leave until more growth shaded her entrance. Realizing I was safe for the moment, I hurried along the path toward the underground entrance.
The rubus vines were heavy with ripened berries. I grabbed handfuls as I walked past, stuffing their sweet juiciness into my parched mouth. Appa fruit went into my nearly empty pack. I had almost reached the stairs when a large fish flopped itself out of the water at me feet. I was just about to throw it back when I had another idea. Carrying the fish back to the walkway across from the sand cat's cave, I carefully tossed it across the pond. It landed perfectly, just beyond the edge of sunlight. I could hear the sound of crunching bones. I grabbed more fish and tossed them one by one into the cave opening. Satisfied that the little family wouldn't be hungry for a while, I hurried back to the stairs.
The spring was clogged with sand and stones. Cleaning it took only a few moments before water bubbled up, filling the drinking basin with clear, cold water. I satisfied my thirst, then filled my drinking gourds. The water ran over into the first of the bathing pools. When it was full, I stripped off and washed the sweat and grit from my body. A nearby ledge made the perfect sleeping platform. I curled up on the stone and was asleep almost immediately.
…..
I woke refreshed and eager to be on my way. The doorway was tugging at me, urging me to hurry. Once again, I ate, drank, and checked to make sure I had plenty of supplies. I had no idea how far I had to go, or if I would find another bare-rock island on my journey.
As I made my way toward the entrance, a soft huff caught my attention, and I glanced across the pond to see the mother sand cat watching me from her lair. Was she still hungry? Catching more fish, I tossed them into her cave. There was a scrabbling behind her, and I assumed her young were eating the fish, but she didn't move, just continued staring at me. There was something compelling in her gaze. What was she trying to tell me?
When I looked over the rockfall blocking her doorway, I realized it was much more extensive than I had first thought. Perhaps she was too big to squeeze through the small opening that was left. Even if she could, how long would it take for the vines to grow enough to shade the entrance? I wanted to leave. The urgency to be on my way was pulling at me, but I knew I couldn't leave her trapped in that impossible situation.
If I removed most of the stones, she still wouldn't be able to leave because of the burning sunlight, so I would need to construct something to shade enough of the entrance to allow her to have access to the covered areas of the pond. To protect myself, I'd have to stay in the light while I did so.
Dropping my pack at the island's entrance, I gathered thick stalks of vines and began weaving them together into a dense mat. When it was finished, it was tall enough to stand on the ground and lean against the rock wall above the cave's entrance. I carried the mat around the pond and began sliding my way along the edge to the jumble of rocks that marked the opening.
The first one pulled loose fairly easily, and more tumbled after it. I was surprised at the strength in my hands and arms. The bigger ones proved more difficult, and I had to move closer to dislodge them. Her large eyes watched me warily, and a deep, low sound rumbled in her chest. She didn't seem angry, and it wasn't a growl, just a little warning sound. I was still in full sun, so I wasn't too concerned.
When the cave entrance was cleared, she stood and stepped closer to the opening. I stared at the biggest animal I had ever seen. On her four legs, she was at least as tall as or taller than my waist. Those legs ended in large padded feet tipped with long claws. She was covered in golden fur that would make her almost impossible to spot in the desert sand. Intelligent eyes stared at me from a massive head topped with tufted ears.
"Great Mother, you are so beautiful," I whispered to her. Those eyes swept over me, then glanced to the sunlight outside the cave. "I'm going to fix this," I whispered again.
There was movement behind her, and two bundles of fur joined her at the entrance. Like their mother, they had large green eyes and golden fur that begged to be stroked and cuddled. I remembered the image of the small girl holding a cat on her lap from the pictures on the cave wall and understood the desire to touch them.
All three watched as I maneuvered the woven screen into place between us. My back was to the island's entrance, and I stood in full sun. The screen would force them to turn to the left where cover still remained over the pond. When it seemed secure, I backed away, careful to stay in Daughter Sun's light.
The mother was the first to leave. Hesitantly, she stepped out and surveyed the scene before her. Then she leaped gracefully to the edge of the pond and began to drink. She called her young, and they followed her. While they drank, she sat on a nearby rock, guarding them and watching me pick up my pack and prepare to leave.
We stared at each other, and then I turned to go. A loud roar shook the air around me. I spun quickly to see her nod her head twice, then lie down on the stone walkway. Her babies crawled over her, tumbling in their play. I smiled at the peaceful scene before me, then turned and walked into the desert toward the glowing red doorway that promised so much.
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.AN: Thank you for reading and reviewing.
