Kiatana's Journey (Creatures of the Lands Book 1)

by Natalie Erin

  CHAPTER THREE

  ATTACK ON THE PLAINS

  K iatana gathered her things and loaded them into the saddlebags of a beautiful animal, small in stature but proud in stance. It was a milky-white winged horse, with pretty little hooves that looked like silver and a shimmering mane that reached below her neck. Her tail tumbled in a wave behind her, in the same flowing way her eyes seemed to soften and spark. Her body had just the right stature for a small person to ride, and her tiny face complimented it. She stood about fourteen hands but her wings, covered in stormy-gray feathers, were almost twice that size.

  “How are you doing, Snow Drop?” Kia greeted, fixing the bags so they weren’t lopsided. “Think you’ll be able to carry me on top of all this stuff?”

  You could have sworn the mare rolled her eyes as she shook her long neck. “Oh please Kia. You act like you’re loading the whole house onto my back.”

  “You don’t stop your sass maybe I will,” Kia said in a playful sort of way.

  “Did you bring the apples?” the mare asked abruptly, smelling the bags. “I won’t have as much time to graze while I’m traveling and I think I deserve a treat.”

  “Yes, but those apples are for me. Your little mouth isn’t getting any of them. You can make do with what you can find,” Kia said, tightening the cinch around the mare’s body.

  “If you don’t share the apples I swear I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stand here till winter comes before I take another step. I won’t go,” Snow Drop pouted.

  “You’re lying. You’d never abandon me,” Kia smiled.

  “Yes I would. You can just clip clop along on your own way without me.” The creature tossed her head in the air.

  “You just can’t budge until you get your way, can you? Fine then. I’ll share the apples.”

  The white mare whinnied in triumph while Keota looked on, stunned. Kia, for the first time since Keota had seen her, had lost an argument.

  “Pardon my asking, but what the heck is that thing?” Keota asked, his curiosity bursting.

  “What does it look like I am?” Snow Drop snorted.

  “If I had to say you were something I would call you a winged horse,” Keota started. “But only Changers can transform into that…”

  “Snow Drop is a pegasus,” Kia replied. “A perfect mix between a horse and a unicorn. All fairies use them for traveling purposes. My mother found her abandoned one day in the forest as just a tiny foal. She was my fifteenth birthday present.”

  “So she can’t change?” he asked. Keota found it extremely difficult to imagine animals being stuck in one form.

  Snow Drop huffed. “No, I can’t.” Obviously insulted, she flicked her tail and moved away to chomp on some grass.

  “But can’t you just use your wings to fly around?” Keota asked the fairy.

  “We could, but unlike you and your all powerful mightiness, fairies eventually get tired. And who wants to carry all their stuff around when a pegasus is willing to do it for you every time?”

  “Can we just hurry up and get going? I am getting extremely bored with this forest and all its inhabitants.” Ionan’s voice boomed in the yard, smoke furling out of his nostrils in impatience. He was pacing around the small, moss covered hut and had been doing so for the last twelve hours, his head clearly visible from around the other side of the dwelling.

  “Yes. I just have to say goodbye!” the fairy said. Kia walked off into the forest before either of the boys could complain about her taking so long to get ready, not caring if they were irritated or not.

  “Kia, you can’t just leave like this with all these animals getting sicker,” Scarlet complained. The two of them were checking up on all those who had caught the illness. These few creatures had been isolated to the best of Kia’s abilities to prevent anyone else from catching or spreading the epidemic.

  “I have to, Scarlet. I need to find the unicorns so I can discover the cure for this stupid sickness. If I can do that then no one else will get sick and I can save my forest.” Kia finished her rounds with the little bird right behind her and she headed back towards her small cabin.

  “But we don’t want you to go…” the bird whined.

  “There’s no option,” Kia said in a very final sort of way. She turned to the hovering bird and said, “While I’m gone I’m putting you in charge.”

  “WHAT?” The little bird promptly fell out of the air. She sighed and stooped down…fainting at shocking news was one of Scarlet’s vices, and she had seen it too many times to even try to count.

  “Come on now, wake up,” she muttered as the little bird came around. She cupped him up in her hands and said, “I need you here, Scarlet. Please do this for me.

  Scarlet shook his head a few times while getting up, hopping worryingly from one foot to another. “But I know nothing about being a leader. I’m tiny and edible! They’ll never listen to me!”

  “You and Snow Drop are my only friends here, and I can’t leave her in charge because she’s coming with me,” she whispered. “The others won’t eat you if I order them not to. I don’t need you so much to boss people around as to be a messenger. Try to find me if anything bad happens. My father can watch over things when you leave.”

  “Can you really trust your dad with this?” Scarlet asked, quivering. “You never have before.”

  She grimaced. “It’s not like I have a choice, do I? If I did, you can bet I wouldn’t be dragging those clowns along.” She looked back at Keota and Ionan a few hundred feet away.

  The red bird sighed. “I’ll do it, but only if you promise to hurry back. As they say, don’t kill the messenger. I certainly hope I don’t end up on the menu.”

  Kia shook her head and chuckled. Scarlet snuggled his head up against her cheek. “I’ll miss you Kia.”

  Kia kissed him on the head. “And I you, my feathered friend. I wish I could bring you along instead of them.”

  “No thank you!” Scarlet became petrified at the thought. “You’re due to meet plenty of danger out there, mark my words, and I’d rather have to deal with all the complaining animals and have a nice nest to greet me when I go to sleep then go along with you and risk life and limb! You go and have a scary time. I’ll stay home.”

  “That’s my Scarlet,” she beamed. She put him on a tree branch and said, “Be careful when dealing with the wolverines, by the way. They tend to be temperamental.”

  Scarlet seemed to shrink down on his branch as she turned her back on him and walked away. “Wolverines?”

  WHEN SHE REACHED her home Ionan and Keota were impatiently waiting. As she approached them from the back, an idea came upon her. She walked quietly up behind Keota, making no noise. Then she hovered up so she could lean right over his shoulder and shouted, “BOO!!”

  Keota jumped at least two feet and screamed. Ionan jumped around and Keota tripped, sprawling onto the ground. When he realized it was only Kia he stood up with an unhappy glance, brushing off his pants. “Don’t do that to me! I don’t like being messed with,” he complained.

  “You scream like a girl,” Kia said with a laugh.

  “I do not,” Keota looked hurt. He wondered if she had done that just to be mean or possibly to get him back for the couch incident.

  “Actually, yes you do. I have always wondered if it was really true or if I was just hearing things wrong, but I guess it is true.” Ionan let out a deep chuckle and Keota turned red in the face. Ionan swished his tail and said, “Can we get going now, Lady Kiatana?”

  “Of course we can.” Kia called to Snow Drop, gathering up the reins. “First I have to see someone though. I’m sorry,” she said as she saw the look on their faces, “but this is very important.”

  “ARE you sure this is a good idea, brother?” Lottie spoke softly so she didn’t give away their hiding spot, her nose begging to sneeze. “What if she needed all that food we emptied out of here?”

  “Be quiet Lottie, you’re going to give us away,” Lilja whispered harshly. The pups
were curled up inside one of Kia’s bags, keeping silent as the grave. They weighed as much as the pack, and as long as they didn’t squirm she would never suspect that the wolves were hidden inside. The pegasus wouldn’t know either, not as long as she didn’t smell them. By the time everyone found out, they would be too far away to turn back.

  “I’m just saying that if she needed that food Kia would be really mad that we dumped it into the river. I don’t want to get in trouble,” Lottie whined.

  “Do you want to be here when chaos starts up? I know I don’t, so I’m not going anywhere no matter what you say or think, sister. Her getting mad can’t be any worse than what we‘ll face back there,” Lilja said. The tone that he used made him sound much wiser than he really was.

  “Fine, I’ll be quiet. I just don’t think it was very nice to waste all that food,” Lottie said with a sigh.

  “We didn’t waste all of it. We ate some.” Lilja responded in an effort to defend his plan. He really didn’t think his idea was that great anymore either, but it would still get them out of a forest without a fairy to guard it, and that was all that mattered to him.

  “I know. I’m going to try and sleep a little while we’re here, since there’s nothing better to do.” Lottie yawned, and curled into a tight ball to sleep.

  “That’s a good idea,” Lilja said with a yawn bigger than his sister’s. It didn’t take long before both of them were out.

  THE SMALL GROUP stopped outside another small hut on the other side of the forest. As they came to a landing Keota tried not to make a face. He had to wonder what business Kia had with anyone here. The hut was dilapidated and the outside of it was unkempt. Thorns were crawling up the sides of the crumbling walls, as well as weeds, and trash was scattered all along the brown grass. If Keota could have guessed who lived here he would have assumed it was a hermit or an outcast. Ionan’s nose scrunched up in distaste as he stepped over a cracked wooden bucket, shooting his Accompany a look as he changed into a cat.

  Kia walked up and knocked on the small door. An older man answered, opening the creaky door with squinty eyes. His wrinkles showed deeply on his ghostly face and his thin mouth was pulled back into a regretful smile, showing yellow teeth. His robe was old, baggy and dirty, with patches and various holes. His wings were a dingy dulled green that matched the color of his murky eyes.

  “Yes?” he answered in a cackling voice. “Oh, Kia. How good to see you.” His tone indicated how good it was not to see her.

  “Hello father. I just came to let you know that I’m going on a journey and need a few maps.” Kia hugged the man awkwardly.

  “I heard what happened to your forest,” he said, ushering her to his side. “Come on in and I’ll get them for you.”

  Keota stepped forward. “Hello sir, I suppose you must be Kia’s father, Malaki. She told me about you on the way here. I’m Keota…” The Accompany held out his hand but the older fairy slammed the door in his and Ionan’s faces. Kia tried to ignore the sound of Ionan hissing through the wood.

  It was very dark inside the house. Malaki had boarded up all the windows so little light shone in. The man was a horrible pack rat, with bunches of broken glass and various items huddled all over his floor. There were odd looking books clustered on the small table with only one chair and the wooden fireplace looked forgotten. It was obvious he had few visitors. When Kia looked through the open door to the only other room in the house she saw that Malaki had left his bed unmade, and a horrible smell was rising from it. In the middle of the floor, there was a bump in the rug that Kia tripped over.

  “So your entire forest has been taken, then?” Malaki asked. “The whole place is infected with the Night Darkness?”

  “Not all of it. There are still quite a few animals who are well.” She didn’t want to give the impression that her realm was weak, especially to her criticizing father.

  “But you have to leave to find a cure, yes?” the old man wheezed. “That’s why you’ve came to me now, after not speaking to me for years.”

  Kia felt a pang of guilt. “I’m sorry Father. It’s been too long…”

  “Leave it in the past, my darling,” the old man waved his hands. “It’s been almost five years since you came to own the Verinian. We don’t need to bring anything up again. You’re nineteen now; old enough to make your own decisions.”

  Kia sighed with relief. So her father had finally forgiven her. “We need to find the unicorns, Dad,” she started. “It’s the only clue I have. Do you know where they are?”

  A glint seemed to flash in Malaki’s eye. “Nobody knows where the unicorns are. They are a shadow of a dream, a mere fantasy. Most people say they don’t exist. You must be silly to chase after them.”

  Kia gritted her teeth. “It’s the only chance I’ve got. And if you’re not going to help me…”

  “Patience, my dear. I never said that I wouldn’t tell you what I know,” he chuckled. He went over to the cupboard and flung it open. Dirt, paper and moths all came fluttering out.

  “Here we are,” he said. He placed a large map on the table and smoothed out the crinkles. It was a map of the Lands, an island surrounded by ocean on all four sides. The top of the map was of a large forest, and then as you moved south you met the plains, which were clustered with small mountain ranges and patches of woods, though nothing as large as the Verinian. The plains split into two directions; one towards a vast desert with a few volcanoes on its edge in the west and the other towards a group of large mountains that were drawn to be very pointy, menacing, and bitter looking in the east. It was obviously the worst place on the map.

  “Here is where you must go.” Malaki pointed to the mountains and inwardly Kia groaned. “The Ice Borns. Here is where the unicorns supposedly roam. You should go through the plains, and then travel to the Blue Sky Peaks. That’s where the last known unicorn was killed. Going through the middle of them may be your only hope...after that I have no idea. The land is foreign to me.”

  “Wait a minute. This path isn’t owned by fairies at all!” Kia protested. “It’s bound to be festering with thieves!”

  “It may be a dangerous road, but it’s the fastest,” he said, folding up the map. “Unless you want me to trace a safer route? It would take longer.”

  Kia shook her head. “No. I want the fastest way possible.”

  Malaki put his arm around her and said, “I want you to be safe, Kia dear. You are my only family after all.”

  There was mourning in his voice, and she actually felt sorry for the old man. Kia put her arm around him too and said, “Don’t worry Dad, I’ll be fine. Now can you spare some clothes for my…friend out there? He needs supplies too.”

  Malaki looked disgusted at the thought, but went into his bedroom and pulled out a bag, stuffing clothes into it that had never been worn and were horribly mismatched. “Here,” he said, shoving the bag into Kia’s arms. “Didn’t like the look of him when I first saw him, or his fancy big lizard either. This should be enough, along with a heavy coat if the idiot manages to make it that far.”

  “Thanks,” Kia nodded. She began putting the map on the table into her bag and she heard Keota call out, “Kia, are you ready yet?”

  Malaki’s eyes narrowed at his voice. Kia noticed and said, “Come on Dad, you don’t even know him. Give him a chance.” Even to her ears, her words seemed ridiculously ironic.

  Her father didn’t hear her. “Watch him,” he pointed to the door. “He’ll betray you yet. I don’t like the look of that buffoon. If I were you, I’d lose him as fast as I could.”

  “I’ll try to,” she laughed. He gave her a face before retreating into his bedroom, shutting the door and not coming out. Ten minutes later Kia emerged from the house with two more packs and at least twenty more maps of the Lands, each one drawn by someone different.

  “Why do you need all of those? I thought you knew the way,” Keota demanded when she came out of the front door.

  “How am I supposed to know how to get
from place to place in a land that I have never seen? I’ve never left the forest before, let alone the realm,” Kia retorted.

  “What were you doing in there that took so long?” Keota complained.

  “Figuring out a way to get us to where we need to be,” Kia shot back.

  “I just hope we don’t run into anything nasty along the way. Unfriendly elves and such,” Ionan flicked his tail. He was obviously still irritated by Malaki’s rejection.

  “Better those things than Ortusans,” Kia said darkly.

  “Ortusans? What are those?” Keota perked in interest.

  “Don’t you know anything?” Kia snapped. When he still looked blankly at her, she sighed and said, “Ortusans are dark fairies. They have no wings, and drink blood to stay alive. They’re almost as strong as you are and can change into wolves, at any time, though they’re forced to when it’s a full moon. You can become one by being bit by another. But even they aren’t as bad as their fullest forms, Bloodlusters.”

  “And why should we be afraid of Bloodlusters?” Ionan growled.

  “They’re the cruelest beings alive. They’ll hunt you for days and make you suffer by giving you the most painful wounds, and when you finally beg for mercy they eat out your heart,” Kia said simply.

  “Don’t worry Kia. Ionan and I will protect you from Bloodlusters, no matter how horrible they are,” Keota beamed.

  Kia attached the two new packs to Snow Drop without comment and placed the maps in the only empty pack she had left. She then remounted and took up the reins on her young white mare. “Let’s go and find that cure. I need to save my forest.”

  “ARE you sure you didn’t pack too much Kia? The one bag feels heavy,” Snow Drop moaned.

  Kia grimaced. “Sorry Snow. It’ll get lighter when I start using up supplies.”

  Ionan hovered closer to them as well. To better suit Snow Drop he had changed into a pegasus himself, his fur a rich sorrel color and his shorter mane rippling. Keota sat upon his large back without a saddle or bridle as well, gripping with his legs and holding clumps of Ionan’s mane gently to hang on. He watched Kia, wondering if she had any idea where they were going. The great forest was just about to end and they were getting into a vast yellow plain, which looked scraggly and unkept.