Chapter 18
Ariyah and the Ig
One day after school and female battle training, Ariyah decided to relax by taking a walk. She quickly went home to change from her school uniform, the dreaded long brown hooded gown and sandals, into her favorite silk turquoise harem jumpsuit. She grabbed her red pouch that was nearly full with findings from previous walks; seashells, unique pebbles, silver coins, rare colorful leaves, and teeth from unknown creatures. She hastily ran to the door.
“Vanka, I will be back soon.” Ariyah said, trying to rush out before Vanka could question her.
“Where will you be, chile?” Vanka inquired anyway.
“I’m going to walk through the Idle Forest.” Ariyah explained. There were still other parts of Grandelyn that hadn’t been touched and the Idle Forest was one of them. This forest was very dark and far from the beach mainland. Ariyah wanted to touch every part of the land. Knowing all too well the ambitiousness of Ariyah, Vanka shook her head with displeasure.
“Take Orraco with you.” Vanka demanded sternly.
“Aww Vanka, he’ll only slow me down.” Ariyah whined.
“Take him. Or at least take Sheevar.” “Sheevar is still at The Empire helping the children.” “Take someone because it’s never safe to go anywhere alone.” Vanka advised. Ariyah huffed and rolled her eyes in frustration.
“Okay, okay stop with the lecturing. I’ll find Orraco.” Vanka smacked Ariyah in the butt with a stack of cut bark for sassing her. Ariyah rushed out the door and went to look for Orraco. As she went out to the beach mainland, she looked into the direction of the Idle Forest. She could see the dark green trees from a distance. A smile came upon her face. She dug through her pouch and grabbed her compass. As she was going to defiantly head toward the east of the land alone, she could see the line of young and old males, dressed in white and black armor, trailing from Mount Edgemoore. Looking through the droves of men, Ariyah spotted the handsome young tan-skinned man, with beautiful dark almond shaped eyes and short black cropped hair that shaped the thickness of his head and face. The white and black body armor clung to his hefty body made Orraco look like a great knight. He removed his black zitheranium head piece. He met her with an adoring yet guilty smile. He still felt bad for the way Phyliscia treated her.
“Hey Ariyah.” He spoke softly.
“Can you go with me to the Idle Forest?”Ariyah asked.
“Oh I can’t. I have to train with Mr. Crowesh and the other men.” He answered clearly disappointed.
“Come on. You can do that anytime. After all I am the one that taught them everything they know.” She teased. He looked tempted but his other obligations stopped him.
“I can’t” he answered. Ariyah was disappointed. “Ask Rashad, he’s free.” Orraco suggested.
It didn’t matter to Ariyah. She wanted to go to the forest by herself anyway and this was her excuse to do so.
“Its okay, Rocky. Go teach the men everything I have blessed you with.” She joked. He smiled and ran to be with the other men. Ariyah watched them all march away before turning east to go toward the Idle Forest. She found one of the older, bigger zebralings and traveled away from the beach mainland. The zebraling with the black sheer wings took Ariyah to the front of the forest. She tied it up to a tree and assured it that she’d be right back.
The forest, like the rest of Grandelyn, was beautiful. It was a mix of palm and pine trees, with white sand and green grass everywhere. The brightness of the white sand ensured that it would never get too dark inside the forest. Ariyah reached for her red pouch again, looking for other special items to collect. She began her journey deeper into the forest.
As she walked along, she heard a squawking sound. She looked up to the sky. It was Elai flying in circles above her in the forest.
“I see you, Elai, but right now I travel alone.” She said. He faithfully remained in the air. She proceeded to move forward. The medallion on her chest began to vibrate. She placed her hand gently on the locket and soothed it. “Its okay, Mother. I just want to see what’s out here.” She began walking deeper into the woods. The trees were magnificent. They were shiny and vibrant. Some were fruit trees, containing mangos, kiwi, coconuts, and of course fafuras. A big yellow centipede crawling up a tree trunk caught Ariyah’s eye. She picked it up and examined it. “Wow you look very different than the ones back in Ferocities” she said, watching his little legs writhing around. She let him go and continued her walk. The dry sand crunched loudly under Ariyah's golden sandals as she moved forward. The cool breeze of the early evening rushed over her, arousing her senses and giving her even more energy to continue her exploration.
The white sand was dirty, dark and muddy. As the area grew darker, her medallion vibrated even more. “Calm down, Mother.” Upon walking into the deep part of the woods, Ariyah saw a large black building with the two cracked, black marble pillars at the eerie dark entrance. On the top of the building was a sign written in a foreign language. The sign read: Indigenous. Ariyah looked at the place curiously. “I wonder who used to live here” she said to herself.
She grabbed a broken tar-covered branch and, using a rock to provide a spark, was able to start a flame on it, creating a makeshift torch. As she entered the gloomy building, the stomp of her foot created a cloud of dust that rushed into her nostrils. Ariyah sneezed, causing a huge echo to vibrate throughout the lonely architecture. Trying to feel her way through the seemingly empty structure, Ariyah placed her hand on the old cracked wall and she felt deep grooves. She used the light from her torch to see what it was. She was amazed at what was before her. It was carved scrolls and images on the wall. She turned around to look at the other wall and there were more foreign carvings. As she studied the carved drawings on each wall, she desired to know what they meant. The images showed a great monster with a huge opened mouth and jagged teeth. The beast was shown to be battling seamen. There were foreign words written all around it. Ariyah placed the torch over the wall. “What is this? What does this say?” She whispered feeling the text with fingers. There were more carved images and words along the next wall. She slid her hand across the writings, only wondering more what these things could mean.
Broken flooring crushed under her feet as she made her way through the darkness of the unknown. A cool breeze brushed against her skin as she roamed deeper inside. She could hear Elai’s squawking echoing from outside, but she went forth. Her curiosity drove her as she turned every corner in the building. Around nearly every corner there was a new wall of carvings.
The deeper inside she went, the more humid it became. After awhile she realized that this place was a maze. With every part of the building, each wall of the maze was filled with the foreign writings and drawings of this big lonesome monster defeating army battles. There was a big picture of the monster towering over a battlefield, massacring its enemies. While trailing through the opaque darkness of the area in front of her, Ariyah could see a big ray of light from the sky outside. She reached a part of the maze where the roof of the building was missing. This allowed light to come inside this dark dungeon of a place. The cool air from outside blew out her torch. Her eyes began to burn from the strain of looking through the dark and the irritating smoke from the extinguished torch. She threw the stick down and used her hands as her guide to walk her way through the rest of the building.
She came up against something solid. She felt the object over. It didn't feel like a wall exactly, but it was as hard as concrete. She tried to push her way through. But her efforts were in vain. She used the light from the exposed roof to see what was blocking her. She squinted her eyes really hard. The sunlit beam from outside showed two big yellow eyes peering through the darkness. Ariyah wasn’t sure of what she was seeing so she brought her face in closer and peered in to get a better look. A roar blasted through her ears.
Jumping with fear, Ariyah swiftly moved back. A dark shadow rose up slowly. Ariyah's heart began to beat wildly as she
tried to back away carefully. Whatever was in front of her took in three deep heavy breaths and let out an ear-piercing wail. The massive figure lunged at her.
Ariyah screamed and she turned and ran. Being chased by the unknown, unseen menace, Ariyah smashed into the walls that created the maze. She could not see where she was going at all. She could hear the loud thunderous thumping and roaring gaining on her. She continued to bump into the ragged walls before her as she was getting lost in the maze. Whatever was chasing her smacked into the confusing walls as well.
She found herself facing a blocked wall and was unsure which direction to go. The beast crashed into an exposed wall behind her and swiped at her. It was able to grab hold of her long ponytail. After digging her nails into its hand, Ariyah was able to break away from its grasp. She continued running, in whatever direction was closest to her. With each turn she hoped there was an open entrance.
The monster was gaining momentum. “I can’t get out!” she screamed. The creature roared loudly again, actually rumbling the foundation of the building. Once again she found herself locked into a part of the maze. The massive grotesque shadow lunged at her, but she managed to duck again and crawl under him, getting her out of that corner. From a distance she could see the light leading to the entrance. The beast was still roaring like a lion; the thumping of its feet caused the entire place to shake as though it was amidst an earthquake.
She noticed one of the carved images from earlier and realized that she was close to the beginning. She could now feel the heat of the creature’s breath on her back. Finally, she saw the lit opening of the building. With all her might, and as much speed as she could gain, she quickly jolted out, springing up and slamming into the ground outside.
As she rolled away from the building, Elai flew down to be with her. She saw the building shaking and she could hear what sounded like the stampede of 100 elephants. Whatever was chasing her leaped out head first and crashed through the front entrance. She couldn’t believe her eyes. A massive, beige-colored ogre was lodged between the pillars of the entrance. It roared, exposing yellow, crooked teeth. Ariyah and Elai were startled. It tried to break through the solid pillars but to no avail. After awhile all the ferocious roaring turned into helpless whimpering. It was stuck.
Bewildered, Ariyah went from terrified to concerned. She rose up and slowly walked toward it. Elai flew all around her head trying to stop her from going to it. The ogre continued to whimper like a wounded dog. As she reached out to touch it, it eyed her cautiously, snarled, and then roared at her again. Startled, she tried again. Elai flapped his wings frantically. Ariyah put her hand up, signaling everything is okay.
“Calm down. I’m trying to help you.” She went to touch it again as it was unsure of her. She grabbed hold of its neck. It was still trying to snap at her but she scolded it.
“Look if you don’t stop I won’t be able to help you. You want to get out, don’t you?” The ogre looked at her with anger, but could see the sincerity in her eyes. He calmed down and obeyed her. Ariyah threw her pouch down and drove her hands into the wedges between the ogre’s neck and the black pillars. She wiggled deeper into the spaces so that she could get a good grip on it. She slowly began to pull at his massive head, wiggling it back and forth until she could feel it begin to loosen up. As she kept pulling, he began to roar out in pain. His yellow eyes were welling up with tears.
“What’s wrong?” Ariyah questioned. She could see its huge arms flailing behind the pillars trying to point to the problem. “Is it your neck?” she asked. It hopelessly nodded. “Okay don’t worry.” She pulled even more. It was in obvious pain so she wanted to hurry this up. She gave one last good yank and she pulled his head through the opening of the pillars, falling back on the ground. He was able to get the rest of his body out. She looked down at her pant leg and she saw a puddle of blood. She checked to see if it was her, but it wasn’t. She looked up at the 12 foot massive ogre, in all of its nakedness, and she saw the blood spurting from the gash in his neck. There was a broken piece of the pillar sticking out when he crashed through, and the jagged piece ripped through his neck when Ariyah tried to pull him out. He was howling in pain.
“Let me fix that.” Ariyah got up and went to get a few leaves. She gathered enough to press against the gash. She then picked up some muddy sand and patched the leaves to his neck. She emptied her pouch and used it as a bandage, wrapping it around his neck. “This should stop the bleeding.” She smiled at him reassuringly.
He stared at her with adoration and gratefulness. Ariyah was the first human to ever treat him with such kindness, even after he tried to kill her. He began to bow down before her. She looked at him with confusion. “What are you doing?” She chuckled. He continued to kneel with his head toward the ground in honor of her. She didn’t know what to say. Elai had flown down and perched himself on her shoulder. Ariyah told the ogre to stand. He complied.
“What is your name?” She asked nervously. “Igwomwom magooshlin tari...” The ogre's language was complete gibberish to Ariyah. She was filled with confusion. “Igwomwom? I'm sorry I just don't understand you.” She said apologetically. He seemed hurt by their great language barrier. “How about I just call you the Ig?” He shrugged his shoulders. There was so much more she wanted to know about him and in turn there was so much the Ig wanted to tell her.
The sky was getting dark and it was best that Ariyah get home soon. She didn't want to leave him and he didn't want her to leave. “I have to go now but I promise you I will visit you right here every day.” He seemed to understand that. “Come, Elai, let's go.” She began to run out of the forest. She turned back to him, “I promise!” and she untied the tired zebraling waiting on the other side and rode home. The Ig watched his new companion leave. He looked at the crushed entrance to the black crypt building and knew he would never have to be trapped in there again. And to make sure, he revved up all his strength and kicked the pillars down, causing the front of the foundation to crash down into a pile of rubble. He smirked. Instead of running off with his freedom he decided to stay right where he was discovered. He waited patiently for the return of his new friend.
Ariyah didn't tell the Grandenites of her discovery. She didn't want them to panic and perhaps harm the ogre. But she did keep her promise, and she and Elai visited the Ig daily after school and battle training. The three became extremely close. The Ig was unable to eat regular human food, as it was too small for his massive frame, so Ariyah took him to a section of the land where there were mountain lions that he could feast on. They developed their own sign language that only they could understand. It took awhile before they could break that barrier but the first step in the development was Ariyah teaching him her name. Ariyah came back to the Idle Forest where the Ig continued to stay. Each time, he was excited to see her.
One day, she returned with a bundle of rye. She sat on the ground and signaled for him to do the same. He plopped on the ground, causing thunderous shaking. “Not so hard.” Ariyah laughed. Both sitting in lotus position, Ariyah pointed to herself repeatedly. The Ig nodded acknowledging that she was talking about herself. Then she made the letter A with her fingers. “Ah...” She sounded out the letter and then she pointed to the bundle of rye. “Rye...” Then she made the letter A again. “Ah....Rye...Ah.” She pointed to herself, made the A letters, pointed to rye and made A again. She repeated this 5 times. Although the Ig did not say anything, he nodded to let her know he understood.
Eventually they mastered their sign language and through this, the Ig would tell Ariyah his story. For decades the humans always tried to attack the ogre and his species because they didn’t know what these monsters were. Many wars were started between the ogre and his human enemies because of the misinformation of this indigenous species. Unfortunately in their last battle, his entire species was massacred. He was captured, brought to the then isolated Grandelyn and ultimately locked inside the isolated maze crypt. The people of that time carved the
images on the maze walls. They wanted to tell the story of why this ogre was locked away. The scrolls and images showed the humans at war with the species and showed the humans losing. The deeper walls within the maze showed the human’s victory over the ogres.
The maze was to lead to the proof of the defeat of the ogres. He would be their trophy. He had been locked inside for 15 years.
He knew nothing about Grandelyn, he was just placed there and forgotten about among the forsaken woods. Ariyah desired strongly to have him come to the mainland with the others but she could not trust their human reactions.
No longer wanting the ogre to be cold, homeless, and naked, she knew he needed at least a pair of shorts big enough to cover his huge frame, which Ariyah estimated to stand about 12 feet tall and weigh as much as 800 pounds. She asked one of the best seamstresses from the mainland, the fiery red-head and buxom Cori, to make a pair of black shorts that could potentially fit an elephant. Cori was puzzled by such a request. Ariyah didn't want to give up her secret so she just explained that they would be used for teaching the students how to battle with armor and baggy clothing. Cori wasn't a part of the warrior clan being trained so she believed her. But making such clothing would be expensive and required a lot of material. Ariyah agreed to work for Cori for 5 months as her assistant and store maid to pay off her debt.
Not only did Ariyah work to pay for the Ig's clothing she also had to persuade the architects of the land to build a building or cave in the Idle Forest. The men didn't want to, because they saw no reason to do such a thing. They knew no one in their right mind would go in there and they had no clue that she went there daily. Ariyah told them that the mountain lions in the forest were trying to attack the zebralings around that area, and the zebralings needed a place to hide. The zebralings were cherished there so the men built a 3 story stable. She worked with them to get their resources and supplies. After seven months went by Ariyah was able to surprise the Ig with his new home and a new pair of crisp black shorts. He was very thankful to her for her kindness. He loved his new space and shorts.
Saddened, Ariyah told the Ig “I can't come back for awhile. The humans have done so much to reply to my crazy requests and I don't want them to become suspicious of you.” She spoke and signed. The Ig, who was stroking Elai, became sad as well. He understood. She rode out of the Idle Forest quickly because she didn't want to see the look on his face. But as she rode away she could hear the loud roars and wails from the Ig. She only hoped that the people couldn't hear him from the city.
Grandelyn Page 19