Kiravi's Travelogue Ch. 11

"Anghoret would surely allow you back into the hinterlands, wouldn't they?" I said without any real conviction.

"They freely butcher us when the whim strikes them," he shook his head, "And my hunters don't know how to survive in the deeper and arid reaches of Anghoret. Perhaps Yavlon, to the east and northeast? We have already lost six of our elders and four children to the cold, disease, and starvation amongst those barren stones. And that was only this season. The secretive Qulki there, in their deep caves and ancient tunnels, would never take us in. And north? To Zimpal? We would have to pass through all the other tribes' lands, only to hope that the Zimpalese bands wouldn't turn us away."

"Then why don't you fight? Why don't you do something?!" I cried out, still trying to flush the terror of the vision from my mind.

A new fury built in the aging shaman, and I knew I'd pushed too hard. Blue magic twinkled in his pale eyes and fluttered about his fingers. "Would you do battle with the gods, child?! The Undying One slew the gods and devoured their flesh! He pulled the sun down from the sky and swallowed it whole for ten years. He consumed all of the corruption, life, and magic in this entire land and, only when he decided to, he vomited the sun back into the sky, bringing forth the tribes from his own flesh." He panted, glaring at me, but paused. "The other tribes are his chosen, his flesh and blood. We are outsiders, not meant to dwell in his lands, but tolerated. For a price."

My hands shook in fear and empathetic anger, but I stayed where I was. "What price, grandfather?"

"That is enough for today, child," he sighed and cleared his throat. "I am sorry for my harsh words, child. Now, please, help an old half-breed up off the cold ground." I relented after a moment, pushing aside my wariness, and lent him a hand, "You see the questions that I seek answers to. Now that I have sampled your power, and you see the nature of this land, perhaps we can continue to look for answers tomorrow."

I frowned, furrowing my brow in thought. Would any of these meditations bring me any closer to understanding, to my goddess? Or would it just show me the terrors of the Kroyu's life? Would we be pulled into their scraping and scrabbling routine?

How little I knew then, dearest readers, when I finally nodded and agreed.

***

Leotie

Well, Kiravi didn't find the first of my little entries, so I doubt he'll find this one. He never checks anything as he should. Good thing he has Serina and me around, eh? Oh-so-dear-readers?

Ha! If anyone ever actually gets around to reading all of this, I doubt they'd be the type to be called "dear." More like some dusty old scholar in a shit-reeking city. Anyways. Here's what happened next. Or how I remember it, at least.

That first day, as I padded into the woods with the so-called hunters of the Kroyu, I tried everything I could think of to draw answers from them. I'm no glib-tongued seducer like Kiravi, especially not back then, and my attempts were all blunt and awkward. Besides, most didn't speak Anghoreti, other than Gohika, and seemed wary about my presence.

So, I decided to spend the time showing them how much better a hunter a halfbreed from the Eastern Wastes was. In the first hour, I snagged three fat birds, and one of my snares had trapped a plump hare while they counted only two birds between the lot of them. Niknik chased down something the hunters called a 'squirrel,' and I let him snack on it as we continued to prowl through the thick pine and oak stands. If the others felt slighted, I didn't know and didn't much care, but Gohika spared a few words of genuine respect.

The Kroyu weren't entirely without their merit or skills, though. We ranged further than I ever had, down paths nearly invisible even to me. They scattered amongst the rocks and trees, setting snares and traps on top of old sites they'd probably had in place season after season. By late morning, we came upon a series of well-made and ancient blinds built within a thick pine stand.

"We'll wait here and see if any Erigat have traveled this far up the valley," Gohika explained, settling beside me in the most extensive blind.

"What is that? Some kind of llama?" I asked, already peering through the layered branches and reeds to see what game he was talking about.

The skin on his face tightened into his strange Avian smile, "No, huntress. Ten, twenty times the size of the pudu in Anghoret. If we manage to find and down just one of them, we'll be able to store enough meat to get us through to the late summer."

I shifted slightly, glancing down from the pine stand and surrounding jumble of sharp-edged rocks. A stream burbled its way out from the stones we perched over, pooling here and there where more scattered stones blocked its path. I smiled and nodded in respect; bone-white trunks had been stacked and wedged in and around the natural rock, forcing more and larger pools to form. Thorny berry bushes filled the low area, which showed signs of a recent fire that hadn't spread into the surrounding forest. No doubt, beyond crafting the blinds and pools, the hunters also had burned-out older growth to make room for the berries.

"This is an impressive site, Gohika," I whispered with genuine respect. "You could take game here year-round, I'm sure."

He peered out at the tree line surrounding the clearing, "We could if we remained here." He tapped a taloned finger against one of the framing pieces of wood, "Tukyo and the other grandfathers built it well. It will last as long as the Kroyu do."

I sensed an opening, and, surprising myself with a rare display of social acumen, I took it. "Why don't the Kroyu remain here for every season? You have the river, the game, piles and piles of those acorns you love so much. So why leave?"

"We do not farm as you southerners do," he responded quickly but turned away from me and stared back at the glade. "We can't remain in the same place all year."

That brief moment of awareness had flitted away, and I was too bull-headed then to see Gohika's obvious demurral. I pressed. I needed to know just who the Kroyu were. It was Kiravi's responsibility to protect us, yes, but he wasn't from the tribes.

"There's so much beauty here and not so many of you. You could move around within these hills and never go hungry. You could winter here, instead of foolishly climbing up into the snow during the dead of winter."

Gohika snapped, beak clicking, "We go because we are commanded. The Undying One doles out his decrees at the spring festivals, and we obey. This year, and the last, and the one before that, he and his chieftains demanded white furs. So we were sent into the high hills to trap and hunt the beasts with the winter coats. You do not understand."

"But why the whole tribe? Surely just a hunting party could-"

"You do not understand!" He barked and stared at me with those vast, golden eyes. I forced myself not to shrink from their predatory intensity. "He commands the whole tribe to go into the high hills because he does not want the whole tribe to return."

What kind of High Chieftain or great shaman, whatever this 'Undying One' was, would ever command such a thing? The tribes always thrived with the young to hunt, the children to learn, and the elders to teach and sing the stories. Tribal life was already hard enough; why purposely cull the old and very young?

I couldn't respond before another of the hunters faintly whistled at us from another blind. I turned on instinct and caught sight of a solidly built, snuffling beast emerging from the tree line. The first was the largest, with a curiously long, flexible snout and heavy, yellowing incisors. It stood maybe eight or ten hands high, with a stubby tail and thick legs. Two more followed, perhaps half the size of the first beast, sniffing curiously. Their fur was coarse and wooly, with dark brown and black splotches, and their squat forms belied powerful bulks and shoulders filled with muscle and valuable fat.

The mind of a huntress returned, questions momentarily forgotten. "Erigat?" I whispered.

"No, Sachawiko. Still, a good catch if we can hit them from here." Gohika murmured. He slowly hefted his atlatl, not wanting to give away our presence. I carefully strung my bow in response, pulling out the best-fletched, straightest arrow I had made. He sent rapid hand signals to the other blinds before whispering again. "We go for the male. He's the biggest target. On my sign."

I nodded, feeling the familiar rush, the slowing of time as we waited silently for the three snuffling beasts to wander their way into the berry patch. They sniffed the air, but the breezes blew off the Choked Sea and across the blinds. Deciding there was no threat along the creek, they trundled into the tangle of vines and thorns, chuffing as they sought a meal of their own.

Gohika clicked the quills on his neck together, just barely audible, and cocked his arm back. Four darts hissed down almost as one, followed by another six. The range was long, the bushes thick, and the targets relatively small at such a distance: only one hit the male, and another pierced a dam's haunch.

All three bellowed and grunted, bolting in different directions. The darts sticking from their hides snagged the two wounded beasts amongst the thorns, but the third squealed in terror and bolted. Gohika and the others efficiently launched another volley at the wounded beasts, ignoring the last dam. I shouldered past him, brought my new bow up, and loosed my arrow at the fleeing, screaming dam.

It punched down and into her side, the flint tip slicing through her lungs and heart.

Someone whooped as the dam slid to a stop in the loam with frothy blood on her lips. "That was an impressive shot, huntress," Gohika said without resentment. He leaned over and out of the blind, "A very good, very long shot." he glanced at my bow, "I'm not familiar with the design."

I calmed my breath, "It's from Anghoret, and even they got it from the east, from the same travelers that brought the wheel." It hurt my pride to admit that the design wasn't from my tribe's wit, but I'd just downed the last dam on my own, hadn't I?

"Perhaps you could show us?" Gohika said, even as he went to climb from the blind. "To help us provide more for ourselves when times are lean."

"Or when the Undying One gives a command that anyone should refuse?"

He paused but said nothing, his quills fluttering and chittering.

Niknik had already started picking his way down to the animals, sniffing the air around the dying stud. "Stay back," I muttered under my breath and through our connection, "This one looks ready to draw blood even with its last breath."

"How true," Gohika said, keeping a safe distance from the bleeding and thrashing stud. "Best to finish it off up close." He drew back another dart, muttered something in his native tongue, and punched the flint tip through its throat.

Of course, with three fresh sachawiko over our shoulders, the Kroyu were delighted to see us as the light faded in the west. Gohika and I were heaped with new praise, and Serina sent me an adoring look that set my womanhood ablaze with pride and fresh need. I only hoped I wouldn't drink too much of their heady wine and fill up on the stud's fatty meat. After all, I intended on pinning down my little seeress and having my way with her.

For the second time in as many nights, we feasted on the bounty of a bountiful land that had more than enough to give to a tribe of only a hundred souls. Laughter took twenty winters off the elders' faces, and a fresh feast kept the tears from gathering in mothers' eyes. For a few hours, I forgot about the heated words I'd exchanged with Gohika.

As I ducked into our hut, drunk and ready to buck around under the furs with Serina and Kiravi, I glimpsed the taciturn totem-bearer watching us.

Kiravi had left first, drunk the most, and eaten enough roasted meat to feed a village. He was already sprawled across the furs beside the smoldering fire, alternating between snoring and mumbling incoherently as Serina laid more skins across him. Anger flushed in my mind, and frustrating heat flushed through my womanhood at seeing him already insensate, but she turned when I entered and gave me that damned shy smile again.

I forgot every scrap of anger I felt instantly and crossed the hut with hungry, needful speed. She giggled as I scooped her up into my arms, a sound that melted into a soft moan when my lips found hers. After a moment of hesitation and overwhelmed confusion, she threw her arms around my neck and wrapped her lithe legs around my waist. If Kiravi was too much of a drunken lout to dominate me how I wanted, then I'd just have to do the same to Serina.

"The Kroyu love you, you know," she panted when our lips finally parted, and I let my lips trace down her neck.

"Who cares," I smiled, and the movement of my lips against her goose-bumped skin made her giggle, "You and the big brute love me."

"Yes, oh, yessss," she hissed when I clenched my fingers against her ample ass and pulled her hips tight against mine. "They want you to stay." She panted and held my face in her dainty hands.

Her burning eyes pierced through the cloud of lust and drink for a moment. "It's not me that decides." I glanced down at Kiravi, where he snored gently and drooled onto the furs. A flicker of unease went through me, thinking of all the unanswered questions and oddities the Kroyu still hid from us.

"Hey," she cooed and cupped my cheek, and I melted inwardly at the softness in her eyes, "Think about it? For me?"

I couldn't help but smile right back at her. How had I found the man that would be my leader, my damnably heart-fluttering protector, and this perfect little woman, all in one season? Which god had smiled on me and given me what I hadn't even known I wanted?

With a playful snarl, I saved all that needless introspection for some other time and ground Serina more tightly against me. She squeaked happily, especially when I tossed her down onto the thickest pile of furs and pinned her down. Her plump, wet lips parted with another moan, and my tongue found and overpowered hers.

Serina's hands desperately searched for a handhold somewhere, anywhere, as I overwhelmed her with my strength. Dainty fingers tugged at my tunic, pulling it up to my shoulders, and teased at the thongs holding my bandeau together. Little lightning bolts of pleasure shot through my womanhood every time I ground my hips down into Serina's and, based on the way her breath came in hitching gasps, I was doing the same for her.

Part of me wanted to do precisely what Kiravi always did: tear Serina's battered dress and undergarments apart to get to the lithe flesh beneath as quickly as possible. Despite the drink and lust pounding through my veins, I managed to exert just the smallest amount of control over myself, and I flipped Serina onto her belly. She trembled as I pulled the thin cotton up her thighs and cooed moaned when I yanked the soft leather loincloth away.

Her tawny skin glowed in the smoldering firelight, and I wasn't entirely convinced it was just from the hearth fire. Our seeress was as full of secrets as the Kroyu. She tried to turn, to rise and put her arms back around me, but I put one hand on the small of her back and the other firmly on her wide hips.

She cooed and gave up, especially when I bent forward and pulled her hips up just enough to arch her back and let me see her glistening little womanhood. The lust inside me was like an animal, a hungry beast, and I gave it exactly what it wanted. I didn't tease or kiss, and I wasn't slow or gentle: I licked up and down her slit like I was dying of thirst.

One of her hands clutched the furs, the other reached back to tangle in my dark red hair, and she moaned loud enough that I was sure every Kroyu in the village heard it. I released her back, grabbing those wide hips with both hands and pulling her insistently back towards me. My tongue touched and caressed and devoured every part of her, and I drank in her nectar and lust all at once.

She writhed and gasped, pushing her wetness against my face with an urgent need, and I shifted so my tongue could find her hard little nub. Another panting squeal tore itself from her throat, and her hand tightened in my hair. It would've been painful, yes, if not for the boiling and rising lust churning in my center. One of my hands had snaked its way into my loincloth without my even noticing, but I supposed our frantic pace and the wine had just distracted me.

"Yes, yes, goddess yes!" She moaned, arching so hard I thought she'd break her own back, and I could taste the rush of her nectar as she found her pleasure.

Instead of basking in her moment, she tried to wriggle away from me and roll over. I pursued her, laughing and moaning with the expectation of pleasure, and we grasped and playfully clawed at each other in our sudden struggle for dominance. Serina found a surprising reserve of strength, rolling us over first onto our sides before forcing me over onto my back.

Her skin certainly glowed with its own inner light now, just as it had in the meadow before the Kroyu arrived and in the cave before that. At that moment, oh-so-dear readers, all that meant to me was that I was doing an excellent job pleasing my petite lover. Her eyes flamed with one color after another, her face slack with pleasure and wild with lust all at once.

"Let me please you, lover," she cooed, her hand pulling my loincloth aside to rub at my wetness frantically. Her voice quivered and reverberated in my ears, competing with the thundering of blood, but I was more focused on reasserting some sort of control. I crooked my leg upwards, my thigh against her wetness, and she instinctively ground her hips down against it. By way of a response, I pulled her close to me with solid arms, hungrily kissing her even as her fingers found their way inside me.

I gasped into our kiss and pressed my leg harder up against her. My mind felt fuzzy, thoughts coming in muddled bursts, and my womb felt like a bubbling pool of molten bronze. Serina moaned back against me, her fingers thrusting and rubbing faster and faster inside me while her thumb strummed against my nub. Her other arm cradled my head and held onto my shoulder for balance, even as she pushed desperately against my raised thigh. My fingernails dug into the slender curve of her back, her skin burned like a winter sunset, and I could feel the magic rising inside of me alongside my release. I caught a glimpse of my leg between frantic and breathless kisses and saw that I was faintly glowing with the same internal blue light as in the cave.

"Let go," she cooed, and I squeezed my eyes shut to focus on the rising tide of lust, "Let go for us." A distant voice sang a note of confusion, but a torrent of molten heat swept it away. Serina's fingers pounded into me over and over, and her other hand clenched tightly in my hair. The sudden surge of delightful pain sent me over the edge, and a moaning scream tore itself from my throat. I could feel my magic surge to the surface alongside my cry and my exploding lust. My eyes snapped open as I passed the highest crest of pleasure so that I could look into Serina's eyes.

Serina didn't look back at me; her eyes screwed tight as the friction against my thigh gave her another release, but nine other faces looked down at me with beatific smiles from behind her shoulders.

I gasped in panic and confusion, but Serina still didn't notice anything was wrong. Thinking I must've been bleary-eyed or drunker than I thought I was, I quickly tried to blink the vision away. When I opened them again, only Serina looked back down at me, but the afterimages of the others were burned into my mind. Each had looked as if they could be Serina's sister or cousin and had burned with inner power like Serina's unknown goddess. But, where the goddess shared the same red-orange aura with Serina, each of the others had taken on a different shade and hue. Gold, white, blue, gray, green, yellow, red, purple, and glittering gem-like iridescence.