by V. M. Sang
The baby began to cry again. It must be hungry, but Pettic had nothing to feed it with. He did not even know if it were a boy or a girl, he realised. But first he needed some heat.
Pettic began to search around. First he looked for a couple of sticks. He dug in the ground until he found a root that would be suitable to bind them together. That done, he set about searching for a suitable spindle and wood for a bow.
Once he assembled all the ingredients, he made the bow and dug a hole out of the handplate for the top. Searching for some tinder, he picked up dead leaves and then began to saw away with the point he had made at the end of the spindle in the groove where the two bound sticks met.
In a short time, smoke began to rise and soon he had a little flame. He transferred it to his tinder and blew gently. Gradually he placed small twigs, then slightly larger ones until he had good campfire going.
He took some of the water and put it into a metal container and put it into the flames. He dropped some dried meat and vegetables into it and waited for them to cook. When he had moved the baby, who had gone back to sleep, he passed the time talking to Cledo, who appeared to listen with interest.
After eating and stoking up the fire, Pettic spooned some of the now cool broth into the baby's mouth. It swallowed some of the liquid. Pettic hoped it would be alright. He had no milk for a baby and did not know if broth would upset the tiny stomach. He lay cuddling the baby and preparing to spend a cold night.
He shivered during the night and twice got up to put more wood on the fire, but it did little to warm him. At least not for long. Each time he lay down again, sleep was long in coming.
The next morning, Cledo woke Pettic by licking his face.
'Hey, stop that! I know I probably need a wash, but not like that. I don't need your slobber all over my face.' He wiped his wet face with his sleeve.
The dog stood looking at him as Pettic scrambled to his feet, yawning. Then Cledo wagged his tail as if to say 'That's better. Now you're up we should get going.'
He started to trot off down a deer track leading in the direction they had been heading the previous night.
'Wait, Cledo,' Pettic called after him. 'I need to tidy up this camp first. Can't leave the fire. It needs putting out completely before we leave here, and I think I'd better give this baby some water. I've no more broth left. Anyway, I need to gather the things I need to make a bow and some arrows.'
Pettic took a clean cloth and dipped it into the water he had filled his water bottle with. The baby sucked hungrily and fell asleep again as its stomach felt full. Pettic knew water would not satisfy it for very long, though. He must find someone to take it over. Someone who could give it the milk it needed.
He searched the forest and soon he found the things he needed. He cut a yew staff and with a makeshift cord, made from some fibrous vine that was growing up a tree, managed to string it. The vine broke several times, but eventually he had a serviceable bow, if not one that was very professional looking.
Then he searched for some straight branches to make arrows. These he sharpened to a point and hardened them in the fire before he put it out, Now he had a bow and a dozen arrows.
He strapped the baby to his back and then they started along the deer path. As they walked, the sun came out and managed to penetrate the trees in places. Suddenly, from ahead, they heard the sound of growls and crashes as if some large beasts fought.
Pettic motioned to Cledo to stay behind him as they crept towards a clearing in the forest. True to the sounds, there was a fight going on. At first, all Pettic could see was a blur, but eventually he noticed some flashes of white.
Every now and again, the creatures separated and looked at each other. One was a beautiful white horse with wings on its back. The other looked something like a dragon, but was much smaller and had only two legs.
After a brief pause, the two ran at each other again. As the dragon-like beast ran at the horse, it reared up, struck the other creature on the head and then batted it with its wings. The dragon-like creature fell over, but jumped up quickly, just before the horse struck it a killing blow with its feet.
Then the horse seemed to slip. It beat its wings to try to steady itself when its opponent struck. It bit hard into the horse's neck and the horse went down. Pettic could not bear to see such a beautiful creature killed. He drew his bow and aimed. When he let fly, Cledo jumped past him and ran to bite the savage dragon-like creature on the leg, hamstringing it.
Pettic's arrow struck the animal in the chest. It did not manage to penetrate far, due to the scaly armour of the beast, but it seemed to decide that the fight was over now new opponents had arrived and it took to the sky and quickly disappeared up into the heights of the mountain.
Pettic approached the horse as it lay on the ground. It was bleeding quite badly from the bite. As luck would have it, the bite had missed any major blood vessels, so Pettic tore a piece of cloth from his shirt and tried to staunch the blood flow.
After a short time, the blood seemed to slow down and Pettic removed the now bloodstained piece of cloth. Sure enough, the wound had almost stopped bleeding. Pettic tied a clean cloth over the wound with some healing herbs he had in his pack and stood back from the animal wondering if he had done the right thing. How would the horse manage to get the bandage off when the wound was healed?
The winged horse looked at Pettic from its soft, brown eyes. It slowly stood and, extending its foreleg, bowed to the young man. Pettic bowed in return. The horse then trotted out of the clearing.
'Well, that was quite an experience, Cledo. A winged horse. Who would have thought it. Of course, this world has magic and so must have magical creatures too. There were dragons on Ignis and so it stands to reason there will be flying creatures on Aeris, but a flying horse? That's something else.'
Just as he finished speaking, he heard a noise from the direction the horse had taken. Pettic raised his bow ready for another creature, but to his surprise it was the horse returning. Behind the creature was a winged foal.
'So that was why she was fighting so hard,' said Pettic to Cledo. 'She was protecting her foal. I expect that other creature, whatever it was. Must have fancied a bit of foal for its breakfast.'
The horse trotted over to Pettic and knelt down. She made to push him with her nose. Pettic did not know what she was trying to do and so he patted her on the neck.
She stood again and then repeated the procedure. Eventually he decided she was telling him he could mount her. He picked Cledo up and tentatively placed him in front of the animal's wings. The horse did not seem to object and so he vaulted onto her back, holding on to Cledo with the crying, and now rather smelly, baby strapped to his back.
The dog whined, remembering how he hated flying on Monarlisk. Pettic soothed him and held him tightly as the horse stood. She trotted out of the clearing, followed by her foal and continued along the track that Pettic and Cledo had been following.
Pettic was a good rider and knew how to control a horse with his knees, but did this horse know the signals? It was obviously not a domesticated beast and had probably never been ridden before.
They came out of the forest into a wide valley. Here the winged horse leaped into the air, followed by her foal. Cledo howled as the ground dropped away.
'Quiet, boy.' Pettic told him. 'I won't let you fall.
The flight was much smoother than that of the dragon he had ridden before on Ignis, and Pettic found himself enjoying it.
They flew over the valley. A river flowed along the bottom. Pettic used his knees to try to direct the horse to the left so they would follow the valley in the direction he planned to go. They would probably be able to get round to the other side of the mountain, now that they were airborne.
To Pettic's delight, the horse responded. She turned to follow the valley and as it narrowed, she flew higher to avoid the mountains encroaching from either side.
Pettic peered down as best he could over the mare's wings. He could see b
etter in the down sweep and he suddenly saw smoke rising.
That had to be people. Perhaps not a village, as there was only one plume, but if someone were living down there, then perhaps they would know where there was a village. What was more, these people might be able to look after the baby. The child was getting weaker and hardly crying now. Pettic worried about it.
How to get the horse to descent though. Pettic pulled on the mane. The mare began to go higher and so he pushed gently. The mare began to descend. With pushes on her neck and the use of his knees, the mare eventually landed outside a house.
She was obviously not happy at being close to people and as soon as Pettic and Cledo were off her back, she once more bowed to the young man and cantered off, trailed by her foal.
Pettic looked round. The area was farmed, and quite extensively too. The house was quite large and as Pettic walked towards the door, he noticed there were cattle in the fields. The farmers would be able to get milk for the baby.
Around the house, chickens and geese pecked at the ground and he heard the grunting of a pig in a sty around the back.
To one side of the building there was a fenced off area where a variety of plants grew. Pettic could not ascertain what they were, but deduced they must be food plants for the house.
He knocked at the door.
A gruff voice shouted, 'It's not time for you to collect yet. There are still two months growing for the beef to do.'
Pettic called out, 'I'm not here to collect anything. I just want directions to the nearest village.'
The door opened and a man, clad in overalls, came out.
'What do you mean, the nearest village? There ain't a village for miles.'
A female voice came from within the house.
'Joert, tell the aerials the beef ain't ready yet. They're early and they know it. Can't give them beef we ain't got. If they want to punish us, we'll just have to take it.'
'It ain't the aerials, Maoni. It's a groundling just like us. Don't know where he's come from.'
'Let him in then If he's here he must have walked for days.'
The man stood back and let Pettic and Cledo into the house. They entered a passage with doors on each side and stairs going up to the second storey. Joert opened the door on the right and indicated to Pettic that he should enter.
A large dog lying in front of the fire, rose and stalked over to Cledo. Cledo's hackles stood up.
'Quiet, Cledo,' Pettic said in a quiet, calm voice, 'we don't want any fights here and this is his home, after all.'
The other dog sniffed at the newcomer and was sniffed in return. The pair, with a few orders from their respective owners, settled into an uneasy truce. Cledo lay down by the window while the other dog resumed his place by the fire.
Pettic looked round. The room ran the length of the house from front to back and had windows at both ends. There were two chairs with arms, and cushions, embroidered with images of animals and birds on their seats next to the fire. A large table stood at one end of the room surrounded by four chairs and there were cupboards on the other walls.
Joert indicated that Pettic sit on one of the chairs and he pulled out a chair from the table for himself.
'Now, lad,' he said, 'Tell us what you're doing here. If the aerials catch you away from the job you've been given, you'll be punished very severely. Where've you come from? You're not running away are you? No one ever escapes the aerials and if you are they'll put you to death.'
'Yes, I am sort of running away from the aerials, but not because I was one of their slaves.'
Maoni came into the room at that moment and took her place on the other chair by the fire. Picking up some knitting, she looked at Pettic.
'All groundlings are their slaves,' she said. 'No exceptions, and either you're running away or you're not.'
Just then the baby stirred, making a little mewling sound. Maoni stood and looked at the small bundle on Pettic's back.
'It's a baby,' she cried. 'The poor little thing's hungry.'
'Can you feed it?' Pettic replied. 'The aerials sent it down with me. Something about it being born a groundling. I couldn't leave it to die.'
Maoni smiled and took the baby from Pettic's back.
'Of course we can,' she smiled, and she took the child to another room, coming back shortly with a makeshift bottle with milk in it. She sat down and began to feed the child.
When she had settled down, Pettic told the tale of how Prince Torren had been kidnapped and he was trying to find the gems to rescue him. He told of the worlds of Terra and Ignis. His hosts gasped at the story of the dragons and told him that the dragon-like creature he had encountered was a wyvern. It was said be a close relative of dragons, but no one on Aeris really believed in such large, fire-breathing creatures.
Joert balked at the idea of a pegasus, (for that was what he said the flying horse was called) allowing someone to ride on its back. They were shy creatures and shunned human contact.
'He helped the creature and perhaps saved her life and that of her foal,' Maoni told him as she held the baby over her shoulder and gently patted its back. The baby rewarded her with a loud burp. 'She would want to do something in return, I suspect. Anyway, how else do you explain how he suddenly appeared on our land?'
Joert reluctantly agreed with his wife, then turned to Pettic.
'You say you must reach the nearest village. You were put down near the summit of Mount Etius and from there the nearest village would be Smithtown. That's round the mountain from where they set you down. If you leave here and head westwards, then at the road junction you turn south, you should get there in—what?—five or six days.'
'There are many dangers out there,' Maoni told Pettic 'There are many beasts besides the wyvern and snake that'd have you for their dinner,'. You have your dog, and you have the bow you made, but the arrows aren't very good.' She turned to Joert. 'Do you have any arrows to spare? A few decent ones with a proper metal tip would help him, I'm sure.'
Joert grunted. 'I can spare some, I suppose. The aerials will no doubt have some to trade for the beef.'
'I can't take your arrows. You'll doubtless need them for protecting your animals and crops.'
'Nonsense,' replied Maoni. 'We can't have you going off unprotected. I want to hear no more from you about not taking them.'
Pettic thanked them and then said he should not impinge on their hospitality any longer and that he should be going. The couple looked at one another and an unspoken word seemed to pass between them.
'It's getting near to dark now,' said Joert. 'We would like you to stay the night and eat with us. We can give you some food to take too, and some milk for the baby, although I don't suppose it will last until you reach Smithtown.'
Pettic thanked his hosts. He was certainly not looking forward to another night in the cold. Their generosity moved him greatly and he told them so.
Joert smiled sadly.
'We had a son about your age,' he murmured. 'Until he got to twelve years old. Then the aerials took him. We don't know where they took him, nor to what job they assigned him, but we've not heard anything of him since.'
Maoni was looking into the fire.
'We weren't singled out. It happens to all us groundlings. They come and take our young away to serve them in whatever way they please,' she said. 'It happened to us too. I never saw my parents after I was twelve. They trained me in animal husbandry. That was fine, because I always loved animals. I thought I'd be put on a farm somewhere to rear cattle, sheep or something. Then I was given to Joert as a bride. I didn't know him. I'd never seen him until we were mated. That was the most frightening day of my life. It is for all girls, and I suspect for young men too.'
Joert nodded at this. Maoni turned and smiled at him.
'But I was one of the lucky ones. Joert is a kind man and was gentle with me. They put us on this farm and told us to raise beef for them.
'Joert and I have come to love each other, but that isn't always the case
. Many girls I saw as I was growing up ended up with violent men, or men who bullied them in other ways.'
Joert interrupted. 'Then Maoni became pregnant. We were so excited. She gave birth to Bobiam in this house with no one to aid her. She nearly died, but she's a strong woman and she pulled through. However, she could not have any more children and Bobiam was our only one.
'We hoped the aerials would allow him to stay here to take over after us, but they had different plans. One day they came and took him away.'
Joert's voice broke as he spoke and Maoni had tears running down her face. Pettic found he was almost in tears himself at this sad story.
He was angry with the aerials. They obviously thought they were so far above the groundlings that they could treat them as animals. He said as much to the couple.
'Yes, they do,' said Joert.
'Look,' Pettic said, 'You lost your boy. I can't look after this baby. Would you take it and look after it?'
Maoni's eyes filled with tears. 'Would we? We'd love to. By the way, this baby is a little boy. I changed him when I got the milk. Thank you for bringing him to us. I promise we'll take the greatest care of him.'
Pettic was delighted he had found a kind couple to bring up the baby, but there was one thing he wondered about.
'Do the groundlings ever give birth to children with membranes?'
'Sometimes, but not often.'
'What happens to them?'
Maoni had recovered herself by now and she replied, 'They never find any.'
Maoni would say no more and she rose, handed the baby to Joert and began to prepare a meal. Soon there was the smell of a delicious beef stew wafting through the house, and Pettic's stomach began to growl.
After the meal, Pettic helped to clear away and then he fed Cledo with some of the left-over stew Maoni gave him for that purpose. They also gave their own dog some.
The darkness was falling rapidly and Joert showed Pettic to a room at the top of the stairs where he quickly fell into a deep sleep.