32 Summer 511
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Continued from (here)
“Will you come back out with me?” Shausha pleaded, pulling on Chi-ee’s wing.
“Why!” exclaimed her friend, indignant. “I’m still bleeding and you don’t need my help anyway!”
Displeased, she hissed, but Chi-ee merely rolled her eyes as she continued to lick blood out of her fur. It was a little past midnight after she had finished her lunch. Usually, Goliath would call on her at this time, but he had not requested her for a training session for the past few days. The thought made her frown. Shausha paused before leaving. “If Goliath sends for me, will you come get me?” she asked.
“Yeah, yeah.” Chi-ee said dismissively, waving a paw behind her.
Shausha pushed into the air, exiting the underground system and rising in the night sky. She watched her moonlit shadow flow over the grass as she approached the scarred tree that had been her training dummy earlier. She landed with a soft thud and sank into the tall grass. She rolled over several times, trying to impart the earthy smell into her fur and taking it into her lungs as well. She lay on her stomach, examining the weapon and thinking of its potential uses. After a moment, her hackles raised uncomfortably. Shausha slapped a hand to the back of her neck and looked around, trying to root out the source of her instinct’s discomfort. Finding nothing, she got to her feet and unwound the rope weapon from her neck.
Like earlier, she tried spinning it round and round, stopping to find it when she accidentally flung it away. Slowly beginning to understand the mechanics of this weapon, she sorted out what did and did not work. First, she realized the limits of just swinging it in circles; It was far too unwieldy and unreliable to use this method in any kind of combat situation. A pivotal moment was when she realized that she could use her body to change the direction of the dart; After swinging it around like a lasso, she’d wind it around her arm, unwind it, and using her forearm to bend the rope ninety degrees, it would fly with greater speed and accuracy than just spinning it overhead. She didn’t spend her next few hours aiming it at the trees, rather, bending the rope around her arms, legs, waist. Her unskilled fingers fumbled clumsily with the unbalanced weapon causing it to swing wide, or spiral too quickly around her body, giving her small lacerations.
While she was spinning the rope around her forearm, her fur prickled once more. She spun around, releasing the blade in a straight line, but no one was there. She yanked on the end of the rope nervously, recalling the blade. However, she pulled a little too hard and had to sidestep to avoid being pierced by the returning dart. Hissing, she held a hand to her newly-cut jaw and looking around confused. She definitely thought she had heard something.
Sinking to the ground once more, she rolled onto her bare back. The grass prickled under her skin, bending and shifting. A cool current of air ruffled across her chest, making the meadows sway. Shausha took a deep breath and stretched. The gentle creaking of the trees, the far-off cawing of birds, and the sky’s shadow pressing on her skin all lulled her into a state of immense comfort. She pressed an ear to the ground, listening intently, curious if there was anything to hear below. After a moment, she almost jumped out of her skin. While she was focusing on the underground, two Zith landed next to her overtuned hearing to amplify the actual “thud” of their landing.
“She’s right there,” Chi-ee drawled, flipping her long hair behind her shoulder. Expecting to see Goliath, Shausha quickly got to her feet. However, standing in front of her was Four-Fang. She looked from Chi-ee and Four-Fang, raising an eyebrow. Both smelled of sweat and were panting.
“Is something wrong? What did you rush here for?” Shausha asked, eyes now meandering over Four-Fang’s figure. He was covered in scratches. Chi-ee sniggered and turned, kicking his shoulder as she took off.
Circling his shoulder in its socket, he said, “Yeah, uh, Goliath was looking for you. I was gonna get you because...ahh...I wanted to see how you and the rope thing were getting along.”
“Getting used to it.” Shausha said, “but it’s a pain in the ass.” Four-fang leaned forward and examined the freshest cut on her jaw.
“I can see that,” he chuckled, wiping at the blood and sucking it off his thumb. “Come on, he’s waiting.” He was nearly a foot taller than Shausha, and his wingspan at least four feet wider. Using his much stronger legs to push off into the currently windless air, he circled overhead as Shausha got a running start. Aiming at a downward slope, she ran and opened her wings as suddenly as possible. Her wings filled with the sudden burst of air and it lifted her off the ground.
Beating her wings vigorously, she gained altitude, up to where the stronger currents of air resided. Unfortunately, the upper layer of air was rather still as well, so she had a some trouble keeping up with Four-Fang. The second time he had to pause and wait for her to catch up, he laughed, put his arm around her waist and gave her a boost of speed. She beat him off, squawking something like “I know how to fly!” at which he laughed harder.
When they finally reached the ruins above Xy, Shausha searched and found Goliath in their courtyard. He was speaking with a couple Zith she did not know. The strangers seemed important, judging by the way he was holding his shoulders and wings downward. Shausha saw Goliath glance up at her and shake his head slightly. She veered off, towards the entrance of Xy, unsure what to do. Four-Fang broke away from her, heading towards Goliath until he, too, was shooed away. The two landed. Shausha looked up at Four-Fang who rubbed his forehead, perplexed.
Four-Fang squatted down, picking up a stick and running it over the ancient cobblestone ground. “I suppose this is about the group of Akalak we spotted with the help of Ikbal. Probably the same as the ones that pursued you,” he guessed and sighed. “Come here. Look at this.” Shausha crouched next to him and peered at the drawing he had made in the loose sand. Depicted were several long lines with squares on either side. “This is Riverfall, the home of the blue men, the Akalak. There’s an enormous waterfall that plunges through the city...see here? And here.” He indicated to the housing on either side of the waterfall. “The city is built upwards, not downwards, like Xy.” He went on to explain several key locations that proved too fortified to attack, “The only advantage we have in Riverfall is being able to fly and that is not enough to make a smart raid. A predator never attacks on grounds where it does not have the advantage.”
“You should also know that they, like us, have a dark sight, a night side. They live four times as long as any Zith and are about three feet taller than you. We’ve rarely made raids directly on the city, because of their ability to see the heat of the body. You’ve heard that before, right?” he asked, turning to see her nod. “We prefer to pick off the sides and the widespread Drykas. Recently-” he paused to pass his hand over his face, “- Goliath has got it in his head that he wants to raid Riverfall.”
“He’s...” Shausha began, wide-eyed. She had not taken him for a brash or unwise hunter.
“A freakin’ moron,” Four-Fang finished. “One-on-one, a single Akalak male is stronger than Goliath. Probably. They are fierce warriors and weapon crafters... though, they’re dying out.”
“Dying out? From what?” she asked curiously.
Four-Fang tossed his head back and laughed, “They can’t find enough women that will carry their children!” He spat on the ground, standing up. “We Zith are prolific. We will take over. Every female bears two pups. Our numbers expand daily. Do not worry about Goliath’s fantasy. He cannot make the raid without two-hundred Zith and he can’t manage that without his elders consenting.”
The Zith that were speaking with Goliath departed, black bullets against the sky. Goliath walked out of the crumbling room the meeting had been held in, a dark look on his face.
“Aaaand that’s my queue to depart,” Four-Fang sang, backing away and jumping into the air.
“I’m sure he’s been filling your head will all kinds of stories,” Goliath rumbled, looking down at her. Shausha lifted a hand and traced a small, rather deep wound in his side. It was in the process of healing, but looked like it had been opened again recently. “The weapon around your neck did that,” he explained, lifting the cord that hung around her collar with a finger. “Alright, show me what you’ve learned with it.” Shausha instinctively drew her hand away and sucked the blood off her finger. It had a rich, powerful scent and a metallic taste that stung her tongue slightly.
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