Chronicles of the Wolf: Of Wolves & Spiders

Chapter 13

A few days had passed, and I was still in a state of wonder about what had just transpired. Not only had I seen a long thought mythical being, but I also had witnessed a pack of lizard…things coming out of these floating boats. I was still trying to wrap my mind around things, and I was trying to clarify things with Lacia.

“So, this Hanuman character, is he a god?” I asked.

“The correct way to call him is a deva,” Lacia said.

“What is the difference?” I asked.

“A deva is defined a shining one,” Lacia said.

“And god does not shine?” I asked. “What about the god of the sun he would shine would he not?”

“Not that type of shining you fool.” Lacia said.

“Then what type of shining are you talking about?” I asked.

“Someone who is divine,” Lacia said.

“Isn’t a god divine?” I asked.

“I swear you are impossible no wonder Lord Hanuman distrusted you.” Lacia said shaking her head.

That reminded me I had to look at how this creature could have possibly made me feel so heavy. I had heard of this place off in Ozgon where there was a pit that many Beghrest had gone exploring in. The deeper you went into the pit the heavier you seemed to get. Could it be there was a pit like this, and somehow, I stepped on it and that caused me to get heavier? There had to be some sort logic behind it.

Otherwise I was looking at some possible super natural explanation and that was not something that I was willing to accept as a possibility. It was that pack of lizard creatures I knew that Lacia had assigned these things some sort of supernatural aspect to them, but I felt as if this was far from the case.

“Despite everything that is going on you still have your doubts about it?” Lacia said seemingly knowing what I was thinking about.

“Unlike you I don’t believe your super natural mumbo jumbo,” I said. “These things are flesh and blood creatures. Even that creature you called Hanuman earlier, he was an actual flesh and blood creature, not an apparition. Even though somehow it was able to elude our senses it does not mean it’s some sort of super natural entity.”

“So, you are saying the fact that Lord Hanuman was able to elude our senses, two fully grown Beghrest, doesn’t mean anything?” Lacia said.

“That’s right,” I said.

Lacia rolled her eyes and headed off frustratingly into the valley. I made a motion to go after her but decided against it.

“Man, she must really like you if she hasn’t decided to ditch you.” A voice said that made me look around and spot the mysterious being named Hanuman. He was again perched on a nearby tree. This time however her was on a branch leaning his back against the side of the tree.

I again looked around. I tried to understand where he had come from. I knew he wasn’t there a second before. I had no sense of him, no smell, no sense of his heart beat nothing. Yet, here he was sitting up on that tree. There was no way he had been there all this time, nor was it possible that he had made it there without us hearing him. Even with our argument I should have heard him.

“Where you there all this time?” I asked, though I knew full well he wasn’t.

“You know I haven’t been here this whole time,” He said simply.

“Then how did you just appear there?” I asked.

“No offense but you lesser beings have no concept of how to just be there.” He said, and I looked at him confused. I had no idea what he meant by that.

“What do you mean lesser beings?” I asked.

“Of all the things I just said that is what stood out to you?” He asked.

“You speak like that creature with the silver armor,” I said.

“Don’t lump me into the same category as him.” He said. “He is obsessed with destruction, I have no part in that sort of operating basis.”

“Oh yes, and it is coincidence you appeared shortly after he did?” I asked.

“Think of it that way if you will,” he said. “You need to wake up and smell the white tails mister big bad wolf, in case you haven’t noticed but that thing is after Lacia and you just let her storm off by herself?”

It suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. I turned in the direction that Lacia had ran off to and turned back at the creature. He was gone. There was no sign of him what-so-ever, there was not even evidence that he had ever been there.

“What sort of trickery is this?” I asked scanning the valley around. There was no sign of him, nothing. No smell, no heartbeat, no sounds of him scurrying off in the trees, nothing.

After scanning the trees for any movement some more I headed off in the direction that Lacia had headed to. A question was now circling my mind what was this creature after? Was it after Lacia herself or was it after her power? I did not know, and somehow, I had this feeling that I was going to soon find out.

I must have run for about a mile before I finally found Lacia.

“You fool don’t run off like that!” I said when I came behind her. She was sitting on top of a boulder on the outer edge of a big pond. “You know that thing is after you and you run off like that?”

“You don’t need to lecture me about that Behemet,” she said looking down from the boulder she was sitting on. The boulder was big it was nearly 10 feet tall and just as wide. I wondered how she had gotten up there for a second before I realized she must have leapt up there. We Beghrest were known for our ability to jump.

The sun had begun to set in the distance and the way that the reflection of it burned through the sky made this orange glow in the sky. It was perhaps with this in the background that made me realize just how beautiful Lacia D’Opidium was. I felt myself idiotic for not noticing it sooner. Everything about her was just unique and was in a level of beauty that was unrivaled.

“I’m just saying that you should be more careful,” I said trying to stop myself from looking at her so much.

“I suppose you don’t know the legend about this valley, do you?” She said suddenly looking out across the pond.

“I don’t remember any legends about this valley,” I said. “and that is not because I paid no mind to them, I actually do not remember ever hearing any legends about this valley.”

“Well you know how the Terskay-Alata valley is close to Lake Ysyk at least right?” She said in an almost demeaning tone.

“I am not that dense Lacia, I know how close Lake Ysyk is from here,” I said snorting. She looked at me as if she was surprised. “I know where things are Lacia, tangible things that people tell me about are things I pay attention to not fairy tales.”

“Fair enough,” she said. “But my mother said her grandmother journeyed here long ago because this place is blessed by Lord Brahma, that no evil may be able to enter here.”

“Is that why you decided to come here?” I asked.

“Part of it yes,” Lacia said.

“Seems kind of folly if you ask me,” I said. “That pack leader that attacked us earlier is a real flesh and blood creature not some sort of evil spirit.”

“You may be right,” Lacia said. “There is an old saying that what is true for oneself is what is true. If you lose that ability to see what is true for oneself then one has lost everything.”

“I can think with that,” I said.

“Have you heard of the Rasiea Ruh.” Lacia asked.

I of course looked at her blankly.

“It was a gift given to Kyzl by Lord Brahma when she became pregnant with his child.” Lacia said. “It was said to have magical powers that Lord Brahma gave it.”

“But that translates to the medallion of souls or something like this,” I interjected when I put those words in my mind.

“That is correct,” Lacia said.

“And let me guess you think it existed?” I asked.

“It does exist and that is why I am here,” Lacia said motioning to the pond in front of us. I looked out at it and back at Lacia. I expected her to say something else, but she did not she merely got up on top of the boulder she was on. She tugged on her dress and pulled it off and with a sudden jump she dove into the water.

I had gotten a glimpse of her and it was starting to sink in. Lacia was not a normal Beghrest. She barely had any fur on her body. That what she did have was very thin unlike the fur she had on her face, and her arms and legs. I was a bit more taken aback by the fact that she had just dove off into the pond in front of us. I had no idea for what reason

I stood staring at the wake in the pond she had made and was left waiting there. I had no idea why she had dived off into this pond, it looked like she knew something was under the pond and she was going to go find it. What in the world it was I had no idea?

I began to pace back and forth waiting for Lacia to reemerge when some time had passed. I began to worry about her. Beghrest could hold their breath for a long time but the amount of time she was taking was a lot more than what I thought would have been the tolerance a Beghrest could withstand. Just as I was beginning to think she had drowned her head emerged from the water breathing hard. She pulled something out of the pond and raised it above her head and started swimming towards me.

“What the hell were you thinking diving off like that for so long?” I asked.

“Here grab this,” she said ignoring my question when she got close to the edge of the pond and handed me this large container. I dropped her dress on the side of me and grabbed the container from her and pulled it up on the shore. I stared at the container in disbelief wondering what this thing was in the meanwhile she climbed out and quickly put her dress on, despite her being soaking wet the dress remained dry.

I stared at the container and ran my fingers on it. It was a shade of gold that glowed orange in the ever-setting sun light. On the cover of the container were these strange markings. They looked like some language I had never seen before. On the side of the container were more markings and what looked like a latch keeping the container shut tightly.

“Let me see,” Lacia appeared next to me and grabbed the container from me. “My grandmother was the last one to have touched this container, when she was a little older than I am. This was shortly after my mother was born my grandmother came here because she was convinced that with this medallion, she would be able to communicate with my grandfather who had died a few months prior.”

Lacia turned the container around and pulled it closer to her. She did something that made the latch on the container suddenly spring up. She carefully pulled up the lid and in it was a very interesting looking medallion.

“This something very special,” Lacia said looking up at me. “It is how you are going to help me escape that creature.”