The Crooked Staff (The Chronicles of Will Book 1)

by Jared Campbell

  “The Hiktar?” Will asked Tripp.

  “It means Chosen; it’s what they call you,” Kellin said, looking a little more relaxed.

  Chosen. Will thought about that for a moment.

  The rest of the day was filled with gathering gear and weapons. The most that Will received was a knife, five inches long at most. It reminded him a lot of field exercises in the air force. He finally ended up fully clothed, much like Tripp’s battle gear, and carrying about thirty pounds of gear; nothing compared to the military ruck marches of his past. He was also assigned a horse. He hadn’t even seen any horses until now. The horses were kept penned up in the small section of the village located in the forest, and they were absolutely amazing. The size of Clydesdales, their color was a Missouri clay red, with patterns of black all over their bodies. Will’s horse was about six feet tall and a dark reddish brown; its eyes had the same fire as the Algaer. He wondered for a moment what could give the people and these animals the same characteristics.

  After about an hour they began their journey. Tripp and Will were required to stay with the chief and Kellin; maybe to ensure the safety of the chief and his son, Will thought, using the Hiktar as a shield to save themselves.

  Toward the back of the group, Will saw Awad riding by himself. He looked like he hadn't slept for days. Seeing him made Will furious; why couldn't he just stay with Lo Su and Fernando?

  They rode for hours toward the North. The trees disappeared every once in a while, revealing vast grassy fields decorated with beautiful flowers. Eventually, they stopped and rested; no one – even among the Algaer – was used to riding this long. Will remembered thinking, it’s an island. Where were they supposed to travel? To the edge and back for fun? It turned out that the island was a lot larger than he expected.

  Will jumped off his horse and gave Tripp a look, revealing how difficult the ride had been on him. Tripp acknowledged him, but he looked rather gloomy and began to walk the other way toward a small stream that eventually led back to the beach. Will was a little taken aback by Tripp’s response. Maybe the ride was just miserable for him. Will began to walk with another group toward the tree line looking for some game to hunt.

  They returned with a large bird of some kind – it reminded Will of a mixture of a turkey and a chicken – which the Algaer called a Reppis. The name reminded Will of rabbits, and made him think that the catch probably, like everything else, tastes like chicken. Things were so complicated before Will could speak Algaer, but now he could hunt and do almost anything with them.

  After cleaning the bird, they quickly returned to their horses, one of which caught Will’s eye. It had larger nostrils than the rest, with a large white speck over the left nostril. Its eyes were pitch black, as if they were all pupil, and its head was trembling as if it were nervous.

  “Weird,” Will said as he jumped onto his horse.

  The horse kept shaking his head, almost to the point of vibrating, and its neck was larger than any neck Will had seen before. He looked back to see the others jumping on their horses as well.

  The man named Telvar jumped, laughing, onto his horse, which immediately jumped onto its hind legs. A deep trill came from the horse’s mouth, which opened wider than Will thought was possible. It was a noise that couldn’t be put into words; in fact, no one would want to. Will stared at Telvar, panicking at the sound filling the valley. Why didn’t Telvar fall off? He looked like he was defying gravity as the horse stayed upright. Will looked closer and saw that the horse’s skin had lifted and wrapped around him, gripping Telvar’s legs. It began to run off into the forest on its hind legs, its front two having turned into what looked like arms. The whole thing was surreal; the man to Will’s left had a bow and arrow and quickly attempted to shoot the creature. He missed and the creature sprinted toward the trees. Telvar’s screams echoed from the tree line toward the group of men. The second shot hit Telvar in the chest, killing him instantly. The creature stopped still, facing the forest. Its head turned around to look back at the group. It looked furiously at them as it walked slowly into the forest, still carrying Telvar.

  “What…?” was all Will could manage, gasping for air. The man to his left with the bow and arrow had begun to cry as he tucked his weapon back into its place. No one spoke for at least an hour, but they continued to drive north.

  Will remembered that Telvar was one of the men who had carried him from the Sahk-Behk to the village.

  Kellin pulled up alongside Will, and his face was somber as he began to explain.

  “The creature is called a Rohk. It is the reason my father told us to watch our horses. They call horses into the forest, where they kill them and change their appearance to be like that of the horse. Then they wait until the rider appears and, you know the rest…” His face twitched a little, as though wincing with the pain of the memory.

  “It was shaking before Telvar jumped on, what was that?” Will asked.

  “It is difficult for the Rohk to maintain the shape of a horse, but it is the closest thing they look like and the best way to get food,” Kellin answered.

  “Where did it come from?” Will said, panic touching his words.

  “They say that when the gods came to this land they took any creature they desired, new or old, and inhabited them, making them insane. Then they bred with the other animals and that is where all evil creatures come from,” Kellin said with sadness in his voice.

  “Did Telvar have a family?”

  “He had two children: Rika and Karea.”

  Will felt his conscience grow heavy as he remembered noticing the strange behavior of the Rohk; he should have said something.

  Kellin fell back to the group behind Will and left him to his thoughts. Thoughts of guilt and regret of letting Telvar get onto the Rohk.

  Up ahead, Will could see Tripp. He hurried his pace to catch him.

  “Hey,” Will said quietly, still upset about the past few hours.

  “Hey,” Tripp replied.

  “I can’t believe it, he was right there next to me.”

  “It’s horrible.”

  Tripp wasn’t really communicating much after this morning and his joyful mood had sort of disappeared. Will was about to say something when he saw Rya about thirty riders in front of him. It was the first time he had seen her since they started the trip. Her hair looked beautiful in the light of the sunset. He hurried his horse toward her, trying to catch up.

  He came around her left side quietly, trying to remain unnoticed for as long as possible. He just watched her; she was truly amazing, how she held the reigns, how she kept the same position. Maybe she was stronger than he thought.

  “Hey,” Will said, finally pulling alongside her.

  She turned quickly and saw him. Just by her hands, Will could tell that her first reaction was flight.

  “Please don’t, I just want to talk to you.”

  She didn’t say anything. Why did she never say anything?

  “I don’t know why, but I get the feeling that you’re mad at me for some reason,” Will began. “If I did anything to offend you, or hurt you, I really am sorry.”

  She sped up her horse a little, but looked at him, strangely pouting her lips just a little.

  “Please don’t go. I’m very sorry, please just talk to me,” he pleaded.

  She waited, staring at the road in front of her. “What do you want me to say?”

  That was enough, he thought.

  “Do you forgive me?” he tried to say sweetly.

  The side of her lip lifted a little as she tried to fight a smile.

  “Is that a yes?” Will said, grinning as wide as his mouth allowed.

  “Maybe,” she said matter-of-factly, still trying to maintain her composure.

  “Is there anything I could do to make it up to you?” Will could feel his old energy returning.

  She looked away from him, to her right side, hiding her smile.

  “I will think about it.” Her voice came out like th
e sound of music. After a few words, Will felt like the whole world might have just passed before him in all its beauty and splendor.

  “So tell me about yourself,” Will said, longing to hear more.

  She laughed. “Like what?”

  “How old are you?”

  “Well, according to our books, I am thirty-seven,” she replied.

  “Huh?” Will accidentally said out loud.

  “Thirty-seven?! How could you be thirty-seven? You look like you’re twenty!” Will exclaimed.

  “Twenty?” Her face reddened again. “I do not look like I am twenty.”

  “You do to me,” Will said laughingly.

  She huffed and began to go faster.

  “Whoa, whoa, alright you look thirty-seven. Happy?” Will said after catching up to her once again.

  She stared ahead, keeping her chin up high. Will realized the sun was going down and that the two moons were already held aloft above the horizon. He looked around to see if anyone else was wanting to stop and realized that Rya had been riding alone all day. No one would ride next to her. The group in front of them was thirty feet ahead, as was the group behind. He looked back at her. Her fiery eyes were sad, and he caught her watching him. She quickly turned her head back to the front, acting as if he never saw her.

  “Are you alright?” Will asked.

  “Yes, I am fine.” Her voice broke as she pushed out the words.

  “What’s wrong? Did I do something?”

  “No! No, why do you keep blaming yourself?” she asked, apparently fighting back tears.

  “Well…”

  Will looked around again, waiting for the answer, until he realized what the problem was.

  “Am I the first one to speak to you today?” He looked at her solemnly.

  The question broke her and her tears immediately began to flow. Will’s response was to talk his way out of the awkward moment, a gift he used on the moon in bad social situations.

  “It’s okay, it’s not a big deal.” His gift may have been lost in translation.

  “Yes, you are the only one,” she pushed out, regaining control. “You do not understand, Will.” He paused for a moment, thinking about her saying his name, and had to fight back a smile.

  Rya continued, “you are not from here, you cannot understand.”

  “It can’t be that hard to understand,” he responded comfortingly.

  “I am different, Will. Different from the others in the tribe.”

  “Because you’re Sahk-Behk?” he said without thinking.

  She snapped her gaze toward him, shocked. “Who told you?” Her face began to tighten and her tears came even faster than before.

  Wow, can this get any worse? Will thought to himself.

  “Who told you? Never mind, it doesn’t matter. Yes, I am one of them. I am a daughter of the Sahk-Behk.” Her heart is pained at the words she has forced out.

  “But you’re not,” Will replied. “You’re an Algaer now. You left willingly.”

  Her head shook as she let out all her pain, and the realization hit Will hard: Maybe she didn’t comply that day at the raid.

  “You fought?” he muttered quietly.

  She shook her head, affirming his thoughts.

  “The chief carried me back to the village, I screamed the whole way. It was the day before my ceremony.”

  A disgusting thought ran through Will’s head as he imagined her wanting to tear out her eyes and embrace the wickedness the Sahk-Behk symbolize.

  It hurt Will to ask her, but he had to know. “You still want to go back?”

  “No!” Her tear-soaked face turned red with anger at the accusation.

  Before Will could respond, the chief slowed down from the first group and drew back alongside Will.

  “You are not at the front?” he asked, looking curiously at Will and Rya. “We are going to stop for the night.” Then, loud enough for the whole tribe to hear, “We are stopping here!”

  “Tomorrow at mid-day we will arrive at the Ruik village. They are our distant brothers. We will ask them to join us in this fight.”

  “What if they don’t come?” Will asks.

  The moonlight highlighted the chief’s rough older face, revealing scars and wrinkles not as easily seen in the daylight.

  “Then we cannot win.”

  His words weighed heavily on Will. He carried that weight throughout the night, until finally he fell asleep.

  13 Ruik

  The night was freezing, but the leather mat and blanket in each of their packs kept the brave travelers warm. Since they stopped in the dark of the previous night, Will got his first look at their surroundings when he awoke. They were following what looked like a path carved out of the forest, nearly two hundred yards wide. In front of them were mountains and, behind them, trees and more grassy fields.

  As everyone rose to pack their belongings and continue their journey, Will spotted Rya again, on the outskirts of camp. He was about to call for her when the chief stepped toward him and grabbed his attention.

  “Today you ride with us, huh? Lover boy.” The chief turned around and walked back to his horse smirking.

  “I liked you better when I didn’t understand you,” Will mumbled as he discreetly peaked back at Rya.

  She was watching him talk to the chief, but when he saw her she turned her head, pretending not to look. Glancing back at him, she saw Will motioning his hand awkwardly, looking at her. Finally, she realized he wanted her to come over to him. Her walk was slow and precise, attempting to look nonchalant and unwaivered.

  “Good morning.” He smiled.

  She blushed, “Good morning, Hiktar.”

  “Call me Will, please.”

  She blushed again, “Thanks.”

  “Hiktar?” The chief called for him. Will acknowledged him with a nod.

  Will turned back to Rya and quickly asked, “Ride with me up front, please.”

  “I, I can’t…”

  “Please.”

  “Hiktar?” Again the chief beckoned.

  “I… I’ll try.”

  “Thanks.”

  Will jumped on his horse after securing his belongings and raced off to the impatient chief.

  Awad watched as Will rode off on his horse. How he had grown to hate Will over the past few days. His hand balled up into a fist and his jaw clenched. His every muscle could feel the imaginary fight taking place in his mind.

  After an hour of riding, Will hadn’t seen Rya and began to wonder if she really was going to come ride with him. The chief had been telling Will the story of their ancestors and their lineage for hours now. Every tree looked the same as they rode toward the Siraku mountains ahead. Every moment seemed to be more desolate than the last, until finally Rya appeared alongside Will. She looked embarrassed as he smiled broadly at her.

  “Here she is,” the chief smirked as she rode up to join them. “I could see Hiktar’s face begging for your companionship from the moment he came up here.”

  She looked away from them, avoiding watching eyes as her face blushed. The chief resumed his heritage lesson, and Will no longer cared how boring it was. With Rya beside him, he felt as if he could endure anything.

  The sun was directly above them when Will first saw the red flag of Ruik. The city was about six miles across and lay beyond the mountains and next to a lake, and its construction was well organized. The homes were made of clay from the mud on the lake and wood from nearby trees. The streets were paved with rounded stones from the lake, which were pressed down into the clay.

  As they made their way into the city, the chief handed Will the flag for the Algaer and asked him to produce the staff. Until now, it had been tucked away with the rest of Will’s belongings, mostly because he didn’t know what to do with it.

  As they approached the middle of the city, the Ruik chief and some others walked toward them with their own flag. Their clothes were dyed different shades of red and all wore the same style dress as the Algaer.

>   “Rika, my dear old friend, how it pains me I have not seen you in so long.” The chief declares flauntingly.

  “And you, dear Tareen, how long has it been?”

  Will raised his eyebrows as he realized this was the first time he had heard the chief’s name.

  “Nearly sixteen years, I think,” replied Tareen.

  “Too long, is the point.” Rika smiled, revealing his bright white teeth. Will couldn’t place it, but something about Rika’s smile made him uncomfortable; he didn’t feel that Rika was dangerous, but rather fake. The opposite, he realized, was how he viewed the Algaer. Everything about the Algaer was real and acceptable, whereas the Ruik struck him as a bit more shallow.

  The people of Ruik had a lighter complexion than the Algaer and their hair was a dark brown or black. They were also a little shorter than the Algaer, but otherwise looked nearly identical, including the same reddish brown eyes.

  Tareen walked alongside Rika, the Ruik chief, and into a home near the center of the city. It was there that the chief would spend time trying to convince Rika to join him in this upcoming battle. Will immediately sought out Rya, who, as it turned out was also looking for him.

  “This place is big,” says Will.

  “They don’t have to worry about the Thohg-Behk decreasing their numbers.”

  “You mean the Algaer choose to live near the Thohg-Behk?”

  “No, the Ruik have other problems to contend with. First, the Niphil and the Mihana Rine in the South. In the North, they have the ice and the snow, yet they still have more numbers,” she explained.

  “Are they fighters?”

  “Some are, but mostly they are fishermen.”

  “Great, fishermen. That’s what we’ve come all this way for?”

  “Fishermen have changed history, Will.” Tripp pulled up alongside him, speaking to him for the first time since the previous morning.

  “Hey, where have you been?” Will asked, realizing his absence.

  “Talking to Kellin, mostly,” he replied somberly.

  “Hiktar!?” Will knew who was calling: It was dear old Tareen.

  “I’ll be back.” Will told them all laughingly.