Kiravi's Travelogue Ch. 02

Welcome back to Kiravi's travels through the deserts of Anghoret (and hopefully beyond)! We appreciate the feedback so far and all of the votes! A bit more explanation before we jump back in: with the world of this story at the very beginning of civilization and much of its denizens still at the hunter-gatherer level, Lussoria is also still filled with the Pleistocene Megafauna that was largely wiped out in the real world as humanity spread across the globe and hunted them to extinction. What does that mean? Mammoths/Mastodons, Sabre-tooth cats, giant ground sloths, etc. will all be making an appearance sooner or later. Without further ado, here's the second chapter!

The rain had gone, and the fire sputtered to death in the night, but dawn had broken over the wastelands to the east, spilling warm pink light into our small camp. Serina seemed to have regained some of her virginal bashfulness during the night: she stopped short of asking me to avert my eyes, but she did awkwardly shuffle beneath the blankets as she pulled her cotton shift back on. On the other hand, I dressed in her full view, and she flushed even though she pretended that she wasn't watching. Her dress was still wet, and I blatantly stared at the way it clung to her curvaceous bottom and outlined her breasts. When she pulled on the bandit's captured breastplate, I sighed with no small amount of disappointment.

I'd expected to be exhausted, sore, and bruised but, aside from a few cramped muscles from the stone floor, I felt as if I'd spent a week resting at the Anghu baths. A result of Serina's sexual bursts of magic, I was sure, but I had neither the breadth of knowledge nor the inclination to find out at that moment. As if to solidify the futility of asking, Serina gave me a bashful, blushing smile.

Soon after we hefted our packs and broke camp, I was already mumbling a colorful variety of curses under my breath. The broken land around the black spire looked entirely different from within and in the daylight, and piles of rubble and dislodged vegetation blocked the most obvious routes up and out of our camp. At least, I thought to myself; we were out of the blistering sun.

After doubling back for what felt like the tenth time and pausing to take a cold sip of water, Serina finally mentioned the subject I'd been avoiding all morning. "My lord, Kiravi...what we did last night," her cheeks were the color of the sandstone behind her, and I groaned inwardly.

"Two young people swept up in the emotions of a perilous day," I responded quickly, practiced at blunting and deflecting such lines of questioning. To be honest, dear readers, I was usually gone by the time such partners woke up.

"But, but we both...I don't know what I'm supposed to feel, Kiravi."

"The most important thing is to get you to the temple, darling. You and your father must know what the gods' designs for you are," I placed a hand on her wide hip. "Your father and the priests don't need to know what happened here."

Judge me if you'd like, dear readers. I will even freely admit that I felt another surge of doubt and self-loathing at that moment, if only because this girl and her powers were so damn intriguing. But, if I continued my journey and discovered anything worth returning to my family, Serina would surely only slow me down. So, I did my best to ignore the beginning of a whimper that I heard from her pouting lips and gently kissed her forehead.

"Kiravi," she said, and I braced myself for a plaintive response, but she surprised me, "Up there. Something is watching us." She pointed up at one of the gaps in the rock above us with her thin arm.

A face peered down at us, some curious animal alerted by our echoing voices and the scrabbling of our feet on the rock. Its skull was thick and squat, and large yellow-brown eyes with vertical pupils studied us intently. Its ears were small and rounded, twitching back and forth between erect and forward, and tucked close to its scalp. Its short, coarse fur was a slightly darker dun than its eyes, and very faint spots started at the base of the short neck and ran down the top of its body.

More critical and concerning were the out-sized canine teeth that stuck down over its lower jaw by half a hands length and the partially retracted claws jutting out from its broad and calloused paws.

"It's a Nimravid," I mumbled back to Serina, though I wasn't too worried: it was only slightly larger than the stray dogs that filled the streets of Anghu but far better fed. "If it were hungry enough to attack us, it would've done it already."

"I've never seen one," she whispered again, her glowing eyes not leaving the Nimravid's curious ones, "how do you know what it is?"

"They have one caged at the Academy in Anghu. Strange, though: they usually live further north and east, in the foothills of the Kazmar mountains."

"I don't like the way it looks at us," Serina said, inching towards and behind me.

Before I could say anything else to reassure her, the Nimravid stretched with languid grace and padded away and out of sight. "As I said, it wasn't hungry. Just curious, I'm sure. Come on, darling, we've got to keep moving."

We drove on through the narrow channels choked with deadwood and broken rock, my bearings slightly improving as the morning dragged on. I could feel us moving downhill, past the looming spire that we kept a respectful distance from. No one in Anghoret wanted to linger near the Blackrock. To Serina's discomfort, the Nimravid appeared at least a half dozen more times, always peering down at us but never so much as licking its fangs, much less tending to pounce.

Finally, I could see the channel we'd been following open up into a wide gap and felt cool air blowing towards us, laden with the stink of the river. The ledges above us receded and arched towards the opening, ending where two massive boulders framed our path to open ground. I sighed happily, picked up the pace, and was eager to be free of the stony labyrinth and closer to my second of many more destinations.

But, dear readers, our constant companion appeared between the boulders ahead. I could see it better then the rippling muscles underneath the short and coarse fur, concentrated around the neck and shoulders to help it bite through gristle and crush bone. I glared and set my jaw, still confused as to why it was stalking us so doggedly. It didn't matter. I pulled energy through the conduit in my guy and gathered it around my left hand anyways, gripping my staff tightly in my right.

"I wouldn't do that," a feminine voice called from the ledges above and behind us. I heard the faint groan of protesting wood and sinew and knew that I had an arrow trained on my head.

"Keep an eye on that beast," I muttered to Serina and turned slowly to face our new threat. A fit, wiry woman stood above us, framed against the bright blue sky with the sun at her back, pointing a drawn bow at me. I let the gathered energy dissipate from my hand and raised my limb slowly, and she eased the bowstring slightly.

She had a nomadic look, one of the many pastoralists that still herded their livestock between the towns and cities of the Empire, turning away from shelter and farming to cling to the old ways. Her torso and limbs were all clad in cured hide and sun-bleached leather, mixed here and there with cotton fabric bartered from some town or hamlet. Extremely long hair, strangely the color of sandstone, draped over her shoulders in two long and thick braids woven tight to her scalp. Her eyes took Serina and me in, and I suddenly realized she was at least part Bhakhuri; her eyes were slightly too large for her other features, and the irises were the same rich reddish-brown as her hair

"Have we done something to upset you, huntress?" I called up to her.

She took a handful of steps down towards us, still covering us with her bow. "Depends. Were you in the Juniper Valley yesterday?" The Huntress was glaring at Serina; specifically, the leather breastplate I'd made her wear. This woman knew the answer to her own question already and was probably out to avenge her fellow bandits.

So that left another fight. I knew I'd have to be fast if I was going to get a spell off, and then there was the Nimravid to contend with, "Yes, we were. Come to revenge yourself on us for your dead comrades?" I taunted her, goading to try and give myself an opening to strike.

She snarled and spat on the rocks before lowering her bow, "They were my quarry. You solved the problem for me." She hopped down into the last stretch of the cracked rock ledge just above us, and, without the bright sky silhouetting her, I got a better look at her figure. Maybe half a hand taller than Serina, the Huntress was much more muscular than my pure-blooded human charge. Her hips and rear were slightly smaller than Serina's, but her breasts seemed to jut out larger and perkier, even bound as they were underneath her hide coverings. While most Anghoreti had rich bronze skin or more golden-brown like mine, hers was a shade or two lighter than even the lightest skinned Anghoreti human and tinged the same red as her eyes and hair. Her cheekbones were lower than ours, her cheeks plumper, eyes larger and rounder as I'd noticed when she ambushed us on the rocks. I supposed that she had nice and plump lips usually, but at that moment, she had them pressed together tightly as she scowled at us.

"Niknik, come," she patted her muscular thigh, and the Nimravid — named Niknik, apparently — trotted past is and to her side. I cocked an eyebrow, intrigued but not entirely surprised. A Bhakhuri nomad like her? It wasn't uncommon for them to worship the Kwarzi of the land, to draw power from them as I did from the Eldritch. A power that, amongst other things, let them bond with wild animals.

First a virgin oracle, and now an annoyed Huntress wielding primitive country magic: what a trip, I thought. "You thought we were more bandits? Running from whatever killed the rest?" I sprinkled a mildly humorous tone into the question, trying to disarm this woman further.

"Something like that."

I smirked at her and just glanced down at Serina, at her tiny and feminine body that would serve her poorly as a trailside bandit. "Us? Really?" I waited for the Huntress to finally ease her focused, savage features. When she did, I gave her my very best roguish smile, "I'm Kiravi, and this is Serina."

She still glared at the two of us with sandy eyes for a long moment before her features softened a fraction more, and she responded, "Leotie. I'm Leotie, and this is Niknik." She hopped from her last, low perch, and I couldn't help dear readers, but cock an eyebrow at the feral spring in her stance. "You've both made this season much...easier, for me." She stammered, like it was difficult to communicate anything resembling thanks or that she hadn't spoken to anyone for some time. Perhaps both, I thought. Her accent made her words clipped and harsh sounding.

"What did they do?" Serina whispered, finally finding her voice, "The bandits, I mean."

"That is unimportant for you to know," Leotie snapped, but her features softened almost immediately in an unspoken apology. "They must have done something particularly bad to you to cause such a...violent response." Those eyes watched me now just as her pet beast's had, furious and predatory.

Serina blushed almost as brightly as she had for me the night before but said nothing. I spoke for her, starting to grow a bit annoyed by this aloof half-breed Huntress. An annoyance tempered my dear readers, of course, by my vivid imaginings of what lay underneath the utilitarian but form-fitting leathers she wore.

"They barred our way. And they acted rudely towards the lady."

Leotie smiled at me the way I imagined Niknik grimaced at his prey before he took it, "So it was you, then, that butchered them so...creatively?"

Serina spluttered angrily, "He wasn't the only one to fight!" Outside of our wonderful romp the night before, that was the most emotion I'd seen from the girl. Was she jealous? Threatened, even? No matter, I thought to myself then, I'd be on the road alone again soon enough.

Leotie assessed Serina for a second time; the harsh morning light had made it difficult for the Bhakhuri woman to see Serina's eyes' 'touched' nature. "So you both have magic, then? It is good to meet others. The folk in the hamlets out here can be quite mundane. Soft, even."

Serina's face changed from red to an angry purple.

"Enough," I said, exasperation winning out over other, more barbaric feelings. "We have done you a kindness, however unintentionally. And you seek to insult one who helped you?" My voice had grown harsh, edged by annoyance at another delay. It seemed to have the desired effect.

"I am sorry. I meant no offense." Leotie said, and Serina nodded slightly, the angry color draining from her face.

"Now, since you have satisfied yourself that we are no friends of the bandits, where are you headed?"

Leotie glanced back at me, "Atala. I have a sackful of hides and smoked biltong to sell. It's been a wet spring, and the rabbits have been fucking with a purpose."

I chuckled out loud, and Serina's face returned to an embarrassed shade of red.

"We are heading that way as well," I returned my very best roguish smile to my face, "if you'd like to accompany us. According to my, um, map here, we're fairly close."

She laughed, but it was good-natured, and I just smiled back at her. "We can be there just after noon-tide. If we leave now and quit all of this talking."

I had no reason to argue with her and simply gestured through the two imposing boulders formerly guarded by Niknik. The impressive creature paid me little mind as he and Leotie walked past, but it did nuzzle against Serina's hand with its thick, stocky head. That small act finally wiped the adorably embarrassed and angry look from the girl's face, and we all continued through the last of the cracked sandstone and back out onto the valley floor.

I squinted in the already blistering sun and shook my head; if not for the last night's storm and encroaching nightfall, I would have seen the smear of buildings along the banks of the Nekoar. Serina gasped at both the city and what lay beyond, and I must admit, dear readers, that I also had to stop for a moment and admire the grandeur.

The Kazmar Mountains, the ancient spine of the world and father to the three great rivers of Anghoret, rose out of the horizon's haze. They seemed to scrape the very sky, their peaks perpetually snow-capped, and I could not pick out a single apparent pass through their imposing heights. Even then, I could feel that my travels would take me one day through that high fastness if only I could survive long enough. Leotie barked at us, and we continued on after her, one eye at our feet and the other cast up at the mountains. Well, for me, that was a lie, as I made sure to remain behind both supple young beauties to watch their shapely behinds while they trekked down to the city's edge.

Serina caught on an hour or so into our trek and kept glancing back at me with a sly smile and reddened cheeks. Oh Kiravi, I remember thinking: what had you gotten yourself into? We'd had our romp, and I'd be depositing her in the city before heading back on my way through the rest of this wide-open, fantastic world. Maybe, I thought then; I'd be able to bed her for just one more night?

The Huntress remained silent - except for admonishing us when we lagged - but she had been right. As the sun descended from its highest point, we passed through the fields of sunflowers and arrowroot, and a simple two-story guard-shack rose out of the fields beside the slowly widening track. Like most everything else, it'd been built from sun-dried mud bricks, and two tired-looking guards watched us from underneath an awning of camel hide.

"What's your business here?" One of them asked, peering over the edge of the roof.

I blinked in the bright sun and realized the guard was an Enges male. He was roughly the same height as Leotie, maybe a bit taller, but that wasn't unusual. All Enges, for those readers that have never seen one, are shorter on average than humans, but not by too terribly much. The guard's midface protruded noticeably, and pronounced brow ridges shadowed his small and dark eyes. His skin was lighter than Anghoreti humans,' and dark auburn hair spilled from underneath a leather helmet. Over-muscled, short arms grasped a bronze-tipped spear that he didn't deign to point at us.

"I have skins and meat to sell," Leotie called up, shielding her too-light and too-big eyes with her hand, "Maybe you'd care for some?" The guard grunted dismissively.

"I have business with the city's Academy," I said confidently, "And I am a scion of Kiral."

Serina hung her head in shame, not wanting the guard to see her altered eyes, "I've come to pray to the Pashudia, for guidance and healing."

I reflexively winced at her statement, but the guard spoke again before I could control the damage from her words. "Healing? What sickness do you want to bring to our people?" The other guard, a human, had stood up and glared down at us.

"No sickness, gentlemen, no plague," I beamed back up at them, taking a few steps to stand beside Serina, "Trust me," I whispered to her, cupping her small chin in my hand. I tilted her head back, shading her face with my other hand so that the guards could see, "She has been touched by the gods! Would you deny one such as her entry into Atala?" I smiled at Serina out of the corner of my mouth to mask my annoyance at her naivete.

The Enges recoiled noticeably and sputtered. "No, my lord al-Kiral. You may all pass." He beckoned, and we went.

The afternoon was starting to cool as we finally entered the city proper, mud-brick dwellings rising all around us. Most of the citizens were still out tending their crops or herds, though we still saw a cosmopolitan smattering of people like you can only find in the many cities of Lussoria. Humans, burly Orgos, shaggy and bow-legged Enges, even Bhakhuri and their half-breeds that had migrated in from the hinterlands in generations past.

Leotie made a sound like a half-snort and turned to us once the last of the fields were well behind, and the track began to branch into multiple winding streets and alleys, "The temples and Academy are that way. I'm off to the tanner and the market." She paused, as wrong-footed then as she'd seemed when not-quite-thanking us for killing the bandits. "Kwarzi guide you."

Hurrying, she turned down an alley opposite our destination and disappeared into the shade between buildings. One last time, I leered at her taut behind, her narrow waist, and long braids. It would have been fun to try for that conquest.

Oh well, I thought.

It was easy to hide such lingering thoughts from Serina, though; at the mention of the temples, she'd frozen in place, eyes wide and limbs trembling. The sun was dipping back towards the far bank of the Nekoar; the shadows were lengthening across the narrow and poorly cobbled streets. There wouldn't be any time to do anything more than take Serina to her fate and find lodging at the Academy for myself.

"It's what we came here for, darling. We have to get going."

Serina just nodded, ever so slightly, and we pushed on into the city. She kept close to me, stopping just short of clutching my arm but still finding an excuse every few steps or so to touch my arm or shoulder. A part of me, dear readers, a small part to be sure, wanted to pull the girl into my arms and comfort her. To tell her that everything would be fine and that I would wait for her. I could have said those things, readers, and brought a smile to her beautiful face, but I would not have meant them. So we continued in silence as the buildings around us grew more and more well-built, and the street better-cobbled.