Spirits of Alaruk

Chapter 10: Preparations

Held in a large pen near the nomad camp, the herd of kariags nibbled away on shrubs and cactus fruits as Treke precariously eyed the group of large beasts. They looked rather relaxed as they stared absentmindedly back at her, flicking their ears curiously about and gnawing on plant matter. The foul odor they gave off was something else.

“I take it you’ve never seen a kariag before today, eh Vratinsav?”

It was the yellow desert fuglan from earlier. Treke found this nomad to be suspiciously odd in his behavior. He seemed helpful enough, although it seemed he was more interested in amusing himself with Treke’s lack of experience.

"No, the desert is completely unknown to me..."

"Iatak, you're in for a real treat then," he replied gleefully. "I can't wait to show you all the desert has to offer."

"Your name is Geiru, correct?"

Geiru grinned with a hint of mischief in his eyes. "That’s right. I'm impressed you remember, but let's hope you can learn how to ride a kariag as quickly as you learn names."

"My companions and I will need to learn a lot before we travel." She glanced over at Siku and Taksue across the camp, who appeared to be speaking with the other nomad named Viz. "I hope so, too..."

"Don't worry--you have us to lead the way. We know the desert landscape better than anyone in the whole clan." Geiru patted a kariag with reassurance, which grunted back at him. "It's easy to get lost out there if you don't know what you're doing."

"Oh..."

"You could die from heat exhaustion, dehydration, starvation, or be eaten by wild animals..."

"Oh no..."

"Knowing where good food and water sources are nearby is essential for survival, but you can leave the hunting to us if we run low on supplies." Geiru gave Treke a sly smile. "Unless you'd like to learn that too? Hunting is my favorite."

"I-I don't plan to do any hunting on our journey..."

"Ah, what a shame! But if you ever change your mind, let me know. I could show you my knife collection that I use for skinning and dressing," he chuckled.

"Um, well, I-I..." Treke stuttered as she tried to find something to say, unsure how trustworthy this desert fuglan was with his off-putting offer. Admittedly, knives were certainly not something she would enjoy, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to tell him that.

"Geiru, don't tease the forest fuglan," Viz chided as he approached the two, hobbling along with a bamboo walking cane.

"I'm not!” Geiru replied, feigning a hurt look, “I'm just trying to help her out. She’s got a lot to learn, daru?” He flinched as Viz swiped one of his legs with his walking cane.

"Quit goofing off and start packing up the supplies. I'll be teaching this one how to ride." He gave Treke a wink as Geiru dismissed them with snort. "Don't mind him, friend. He likes to cause a bit of trouble for everyone.”

“I see…”

“He's just like that. That's why I often need to keep an eye on him."

Treke sighed with relief. "Is he your partner?"

"Yep, we've been sharing a tent together for years. We try our best to look out for each other out here." Viz rubbed his hands together with excitement. "So, are you ready to learn how to ride?"

Treke looked over the herd of kariags again, attempting to spot the least intimidating one. "I suppose... I'm a little nervous, to be honest. I've never rode a creature that large before. Or, well, any creature for that matter."

"Our herd is fairly tame, don't worry. I'll let you ride Kilu, one of our older kariags. She's very mellow."

Treke agreed to follow Viz to one section of the pen, where he had a blanket and saddle ready. After saddling the creature and ordering it to sit, he demonstrated how to mount it by climbing onto its back. "Like this! Now you try it," he said as he hopped back off.

Surely riding a kariag wasn’t that hard, Treke thought to herself as she climbed up. If Viz could do it even with a missing leg, then she could do it, too. "Okay, so how do I get her to stand--"

As if on command, the kariag stood up with an abrupt jolt, sending Treke tumbling backwards down its thick, tapering tail. There was much laughter from the other nomads nearby as she landed in the dust. Zizi, woken by the tumbling around in Treke’s robe, circled around before making a beeline for the pond on the west side of the camp. Dusting herself off, Treke groaned to herself as she tried to regain her confidence.

"Oh, I should have mentioned you should hold onto the reins so you don't fall off," chuckled Viz. "I didn't even get to show you that part yet! Do you want to keep trying?"

"If I must," Treke sighed, letting Viz help her back on.

“Ventu!” With the verbal command to stand up, the kariag did so as Treke held on tight. “She’s very well trained to follow directions, as well,” said Viz.

Perhaps a little too well, but Treke was determined to learn quickly. She was fortunate that she had someone helpful like Viz to show her the ropes. Keeping her balance as the kariag moved forward, her heart pounded hoping she would not fall off again.

“Wow, you’re already riding a kariag!” Excited and curious by watching Treke, Siku rushed over to the pen to see. “How is it, Treke?”

"A little wobbly, but I can see a lot more from this height."

"Can I give it a try next?"

"Of course, as soon as I figure out how to get her to sit down--" She braced herself, suddenly remembering how readily the kariag listened to commands. Bringing her down with it, the kariag folded its legs and obediently collapsed in the dust with a thump.

"Iatak, you're learning faster than I can teach you!" said Viz with a grin. “You already know her commands!”

It was “ventu” and “etia” that were the commands for sitting and standing, Treke discovered, common words in Fuglanese that meant “up” and “down”. She took a mental note not to repeat those words while riding the kariag unless she wanted it to move. "I think that's enough riding for me, for the moment," she groaned, offering to give Siku a turn. “You can try it now.”

With her friend's energetic and bold personality, she figured Siku would have a much easier time picking up riding. As Siku insisted she wanted to try it herself without the help of Viz, both Treke and Viz decided to sit aside to take a break and chat. "I don’t mean to pry, but may I ask how you lost your leg, Viz?"

"Ah, this?” Viz patted his wooden leg. “I got bit by a critter while hunting a few years back. My foot got infected and Geiru had to cut it off."

"Oh my!"

"Yeah, but it's not so bad though. Geiru also carved me a new leg. Speaking of which..." He extended his leg to show Treke and popped off the prosthetic. It was remarkably well carved from hardwood and polished with coconut oil. "This thing gets uncomfortable to wear all the time, but it helps me walk and keep my balance."

"He made that for you?"

"Yep, he cut off my leg and replaced it with a new one," Viz laughed. "He also made this walking cane for me. Walking on a wooden leg gets a little tiring sometimes.”

Despite Geiru's behavior, Treke found it was oddly sweet to care so much for his partner. "Does it... still hurt?"

Viz shrugged indifferently. "Sometimes I can still feel my leg as if it were still there, but it doesn't bother me that much. The pain usually gets worse during the wet season, but it’s mostly just itchy. Ever tried scratching something that isn’t there? It drives me nuts sometimes," he chuckled dryly.

“If you’d like, I could take a look at it. I’m actually a ruksala healer.”

"Oh yeah?"

“Well, I mean… I just recently became a ruksala. I’m not well accustomed to using healing magic yet, but I do have a lot of experience with salves and medicinal teas.”

"I don't think medicine can help me get a new leg," Viz laughed.

"I-it's just to help with the pain! Healing magic is not strong enough to heal entire limbs."

"Well, I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll be fine. I managed to make it this far, after all. Pretty remarkable I managed to survive from losing a leg, but we’ve got medicine too.”

"I see... I don't want to bother you any more about it, but let me know if you ever change your mind."

"Sure. You seem all right, Vratinsav."

After getting to know each other a little better, Viz and Treke watched Siku as she attempted to ride Kilu the kariag on her own. Despite Siku’s determination, the beast was quite stubborn without proper commands.

“Kalagala, move already! Come on, you lazy kariag!” Looking back at Viz and Treke, Siku shrugged helplessly. “She won’t listen to me.”

"Have you tried asking Kilu to stand up?" asked Viz.

“What do you mean? I’ve already tried to get her to stand up–”

Standing on command, the creature bolted forward in surprise as Siku wrapped her arms around its neck to prevent herself from falling off. “Wait, slow down!” she shouted at the panicked kariag as it began running laps around the pen.

“You’re doing great, Asu, just hold on tight!” Viz called out to her. “I’ll grab Kilu for you.”

Treke couldn’t help but chuckle a little at Siku’s plight, almost feeling a bit guilty as Viz and a couple other nomads rushed to calm the creature down, but Siku did insist she try riding without any assistance. Even Siku, bold and brash, couldn’t handle the gentle old Kilu.

* * *

“My fellow fuglans, the full moon is merely a few nights away.”

In a large chamber within the Derunerin caves, Karrak stood before a large crowd of cave fuglans. His potential following had grown to two thirds of the Ralukah clan, and splintering of the clan was imminent. The remaining third of the clan, mostly elderly, younglings, and those filled with doubt, were useless to him as an army. He just had to push his followers a little more.

“The Figrras clan has agreed to assist us to take Hulerin. Many of you are willing to assist and I am most grateful for your help, however…” He glanced at his two most loyal followers in the crowd, Duikez and Tsevik, who gave him a nod of assurance that they had his back. “There is still one issue: Elder Tladek holds us back with his disapproval.”

“We should cast him out!” Tsevik shouted from the crowd.

“Yes, he only holds us back by keeping us down here,” added Duikez.

Over the last month, Tsevik and Duikez had been hard at work converting the other clan members by planting the seed of suggestion. Here and there, most of the cave fuglans were easy to sway with subtle rhetoric and rumors, but Elder Tladek and his immediate circle were doubtful and strong-willed with their traditions. But between the three of them, Karrak believed his plan would succeed by splintering the clan and pushing the resistors out. It was divide and conquer.

“Hmm, an interesting suggestion, Tsevik. But how do the rest of you feel about this?”

There was a murmur among the other fuglans as they considered the idea. It appeared most of them already agreed.

“Elder Tladek is old and his time to lead has passed, don’t you think? Most of you are still quite relatively young and still have much to live for, yet it is tragic for those who will never get an opportunity of a better life. Poor Uadran was so young when she passed away last month. She will never get that chance. But you, you still have that chance. Will you allow yourselves to rot away down here as well, to deprive yourselves of the outside world?”

The murmuring grew to a loud chatter as Karrak continued. From the sound of it, it was a compelling speech.

“That’s not to say you must leave your caves, but when else will you get such an opportunity as this? Tladek only holds you all back, believing it’s best to rot here in the darkness.”

As the sound of rallying cries filled the cavern, Karrak stood back in satisfaction at the successfully swayed crowd. It was easy to manipulate others if given a relatable plight, even if it was manufactured from practically nothing. People always wanted more and it made them easy to control. But the commotion came to an abrupt halt as a familiar gruff voice called out as he entered the chamber.

“What is the meaning of all this?!”

"Ah, Elder Tladek. It seems the clan grows restless."

“Karrak! Is all of this your doing?”

“I don’t know what you mean. I was merely having a discussion with the clan. Speaking of which, have you changed your mind about Hulerin?”

"Certainly not!" Tladek scoffed. "We give you shelter and sanction here in our caves, and this is how you repay us for our hospitality?"

It seemed Elder Tladek was quickly losing favor with a majority of the clan. The shouting and tail-light blinking from the other members cemented that fact. Karrak grinned deviously behind his dark cowl, savoring the outrage from the old fuglan’s voice.

“As a healer, I’m only looking out for your clan’s best interest. This dark, dank atmosphere is not ideal for one’s health. I’m giving your clan an opportunity to leave and live a better life, up above in the open air.”

"You have done nothing but shun our way of life, Karrak, you arrogant fool! I should have never trusted you!"

The slight against Karrak wounded his ego, but he remained calm nonetheless. "Ludaru, now is the time," he whispered harshly.

He must leave... He must leave! The air grew thick with animosity as Ludaru filled the cavern with rranha. The negative energy would ignite the dispute even further, giving Karrak the upperhand.

“Silence, Tladek! We’ve made our decision!” shouted one clan member. The rranha was already making the cave fuglans more hostile. Before Tladek could respond, more cave fuglans began to push him out of the chamber. Realizing there was no hope of de-escalation, Tladek became quickly overwhelmed by the angry mob and made his escape through the tunnels.

“Ralukah clan, it has been decided!” shouted Karrak. “In three nights, we will join the Figrras clan to invade Hulerin! Anyone who is not with us will be cast out like Elder Tladek!”

The cheering from the fuglans roared and echoed throughout the caves that night. With both the Ralukah and Figrras clans on Karrak’s side, everything was going according to plan.

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