While Alex studied the physicality of the three ways and searched the floor for any signs of use and wear, Shade scented the air and whispered to his brother. “All three tunnels smell the same. They’re cold, moist and slightly musty.”
Just when they were both about to give up Alex saw a subtle movement from the corner of his eye. Shade looked at him as he approached. Alex ran his fingers through Shade’s loose shoulder fur and let go. Shade also looked at his fur and saw what Alex found. He exclaimed quietly “My coat is moving. The breeze is so subtle that I didn’t even recognize it.” Shade then gave a wolfish grin to the masters. “We’ve figured it out.”
Shade moved before each entrance, but only one path tussled his fur, the unsightly crafted path. Elo nodded and said “Correct. The gentle air currents are the only means of navigating the tunnels safely. Only the finest of our hair can give any indication of where to head next.”
Gerieg was pleased at how quickly they chose the proper route through the mountain and he safely began leading them down the expansive tunnels.
Without the sun or stars to guide ones time, the continuous darkness frayed the senses. It felt as if they were traveling days, but Alex knew it had only been several hours. They had to break for a few minutes as both Alex and Gerieg needed to rest their tender feet and Alex saw that his master had also scraped the soles of his heels as well. Once the pain subsided they journeyed on.
Just as the torch’s fire began to wane a great event happened. The caves began brightening more than the fire’s light should allow. Shade was the first to exclaim “We’re almost out! I smell trees and grass.”
This was just what all four needed and the pace increased.
In just a minute they saw signs of the exit.
They journeyed throughout the night and were greeted by daylight.
All four of them hurried to find that the new day was of midmorning and once outside the confines of the claustrophobic feeling cave, the outside world was a welcome relief, but what Alex and Shade saw took their breath away.
Gerieg stepped in front of them and raised his arms dramatically, after extinguishing the torch in the sand. “I would like to welcome both of you to your ancestral home, Pilluan.”
Inside the natural protective barrier of the mountains stood the majestic beauty of nature in its rawest, primal, and most beautiful form. Green trees grew as far as the eye could see and the other side of the mountains didn’t seem to exist for they would be weeks away. Rolling mists caught the eye and showed many waterfalls from melting snow and the falls ended and became many streams that cut through the thickly grown forests. Several smaller mountains jutted from the forest floor in random order, shape and size. Off in the distance was a large void, in the seemingly never ending canopy. Pleasant, clean and fresh scents rolled everywhere. Uncountable sounds drifted out of the forest and up the mountain where they all stood, struck by the ethereal beauty of this place.
Alex honestly expected this place to be barren for the ecology of isolation from the mountains shouldn’t allow for life to grow so abundantly, but the sheer size of it made it possible. Clouds would have a nearly impossible time crossing the mountains to bring rain, but this…is so unexpected. This was undoubtedly a paradise unlike any he or Shade has ever seen. But where did the dangers lay?
This was Pilluan, ancient and ancestral habitat of the Furions. The undeveloped landscape honestly felt like another home to him. This was his ancestral home and it didn’t disappoint. Many opportunities became possible and he felt the urge to go exploring and knew it would take a lifetime to discover the many secrets. The look in Shade’s gold eyes said he felt exactly the same.
Gerieg put his fingers in his mouth and whistled towards the forest. The mountains seemed to make the call amplify and echo across the entire area for many leagues around.
As the sound eventually faded a massive disturbance occurred in the forest below. A large area of the forest canopy began shaking violently. Hundreds of Fury’s of varying sizes exploded from the trees and filled the sky, then all began flying swiftly in a single, sky blocking direction.
“Our welcoming party is coming.” Elo commented with a chuckle.
Elo, Gerieg, Alex and Shade stood close together as a flurry of gigantic raptors flew directly overhead and spiraled down in a gentle descent. The most recognizable of them was Sheer as she swooped down, landing a few feet in front of her partner. She then proceeded to rub her head and cheek against his chest. “I was getting worried that something happened inside there.” She commented. “If you hadn’t come out by noon I would have went in there and searched for you myself.” Gerieg chuckled and rubbed her head for reassurance that he was alright.
As she stepped back she looked up at the other circling birds of prey. She then ordered “Come on down and meet Alex and Shade.”
Within a matter of moments, all of the birds began diving down and landing all around. It was disconcerting to see so many Fury lords the size of men surrounding them. Some males were larger than Sheer, but where they were larger in muscle, she excelled in speed and agility. Then each avian did something unexpected. They tucked their beaks to their breast and bent over in a bow. At a command from Sheer they all rose back up to their full height, showing their pride in their individual way. Their unison movements looked like regimented soldiers rather than wild fiends.
As Alex and Shade looked at the hundreds of enormous birds for a silent minute Sheer unexpectedly said “Choose.”
Alex turned to her and asked “Choose? What does that mean?”
Sheer stepped toward him and expanded while outstretched her impressive wings to incorporate her meaning. “What I am trying to say is it would be prudent to select another partner from among these potential candidates.” She then seemingly smiled as she opened her curved and very sharp beak. “Each of these other Fury are my friends, but some are related. They are each proud and powerful in their own way and they have come from all over to have the chance of becoming a Furion’s partner and they know only one will be chosen so they also came to meet you. Also as one of your masters I must have a pupil of my own to train regularly. You have Gerieg and Shade has Elo. It would be beneficial to have my own student so that your chances of survival will increase. We must prepare you for all manner of situations and should we neglect a single thing, your life may become forfeit.”
Alex glanced at Shade who gave a great shrug. They had talked some time ago about partners in general. Shade said he didn’t mind having another companion in his pack for he loved building bonds with just about everyone. Alex also knew of the many benefits of having an extra set of eyes in the sky.
He then looked to his grandfather and was about to ask for advice, but Gerieg quickly said “She is right. I know each of these good beings around us, but it will be your choice to find a new partner. Today is a day of rest for each of us and you’ll have to choose a suitable partner as quickly as possible, but this is not the best atmosphere to decide.” He then looked at the surrounding, mostly giant, birds. “I wish for a change of venue. We will all meet back at our home. If you wouldn’t mind bringing some food for us, we haven’t eaten anything for quite some time.” Sheer said she’d find them something and ordered the other Fury’s back to their roosts until Alex chose a new partner.
As all of the hundreds flew back towards the forest Alex and Gerieg mounted their partners. The descent of the slope was more solid and didn’t hold many dangers. Soon they dropped a hundred feet and entered the forest.
Not ten minutes into the forest they were greeted by a pack of Shadow Fang’s with five of the six being lords. Shade came to an abrupt halt as did Elo. The pack Alpha was the only other male lord besides his beta and all followed him as he approached. Larger than Shade by six inches, he and the others also came to a stop. The lead Alpha and his pack were like Shade in almost every conceivable way. Only subtle differences were categorized. Shade’s dark coat glistened the most out of them all, but the Alpha’s sa
bers were fourteen inches long and thicker than Shade’s. All of their eyes were golden of varying luster and their personalities individualized them. The Alpha looked at his pack and waited as he approached Elo and Shade. He showed a scar on his jaw and flank from previous fights he’s been in. The large male then looked up towards the elder Furion. “It is good to see you back so soon Gerieg. I see your trip was successful and I have a new Shadow Fang lord to look forward to meeting.” He glared at Shade.
“Midnight,” Gerieg said pleasantly, but a threat loomed beneath the words. “this is my grandson, Alex, and his partner, Shade. You need not worry about being challenged for the packs are your domain and Alex is his.”
Shade stepped forward with wide eyes as he met another of his kind after all this time. His tail wagged and he smiled. “Hello, I’m Shade.” He said and glanced at the others as well, but all he received was a curiosity glance from them.
“Name’s Midnight.” He replied a little lighter as he looked at Shade more closely. “Your quite young for a lord, aren’t you.”
“I’m a lord now?” His tail stopped wagging as he began thinking. “It is hard to accept personally, but I guess it’s true.”
Midnight nodded curtly with his enormous head. “You still have some growing, but it is doubtful that you can be considered standard any longer…”
Gerieg cut in “Midnight, we can all get to know each other later, for now we have things to take care of at the moment.”
“Very well, we shall meet up another time.” With that, Midnight and his pack walked off and was consumed by the thick vegetation.
Shade was too wrapped up in his thoughts as he and Elo continued moving so Alex asked “Master, what happened back there. I got the feeling something might have happened if not for what you said.”
“What you must know is there are laws in the fiend and animal world, just as it is in the human. Midnight is the High Alpha of all the packs and he views any outside Shadow Fangs as a threat to his rule. He would have challenged Shade to prove he is the undisputed leader of the area and as it is, Midnight’s strength and experience would outclass Shade in moments. He’s even proved a worthy advisory for Elo a time or two. Luckily he remembers a Furion’s partner is exempt from being challenged, unless he or she initiates the challenge. As long as Shade doesn’t give a formal challenge to Midnight, he cannot be Alpha, but it also protects him as your partner. And Midnight won’t dare attempt to usurp this rule for he knows I’ll step in and force him to leave this sanctuary for the rest of his days.”
“Speaking of, how many fiends actually live inside this area?”
“About ten thousand or so to my knowledge, I believe. Some live outside Pilluan and guard the mountain boarders… usually for food though… Most of the fiends consist of Shadow Fang, Beran and Fury, but we also have Pikro and Orggian spread throughout the area.”
“Really? How can a place as confined as this support such numbers?”
Gerieg smiled to his grandson. “We have strict rules to not overhunt, for stocked inside this place is wild deer, boar, plentiful fish and other wild game. We eat what we need, but I’ve taught the Orggian how to cultivate the soil and raise everyday farm animals for food.
“Confrontations do arise in any confined space, but most are quickly resolved. Murder among the fiends is strictly forbidden, but those that are caught are shown the same fate, to discourage any further outbursts or attempts. The one thing all fiends agreed upon is to never harm the Orggian for they hurt none and support us all. Some confrontations cannot be avoided so a challenging arena was dug so combatants could release any hostility and sharpen their skills.”
“This place is more complicated than it looks.” Alex admitted and Gerieg concurred with a smile.
As noon came around, Shade and Alex came upon the strange void in the forest they saw from the mountainside three hours prior. Only once again, the siblings were wrong in many of their assumptions.
They walked out of the dense forest and came upon an enormous shelter, only it was constructed entirely out of living trees. At least eight hundred great trees looked to have been woven together like an overturned basket. The trunks were bending at strange and unnatural positions and each tree was held in position by another, keeping them all locked in place indefinitely. The lush trees had branches of thick green leaves interlocking with each other, forming a shelter that no light penetrated and also showed it to be naturally leak proof. No tree was erect inside the woven shelter for that was what gave the impression of the void in the forest earlier. The ground beneath the trees was well worn by traffic so very little grass grew. Around the bases of the inner trees were small mounds and Alex came to a quick solution and knew it to be decomposing waste that would serve as fertilizer for the trees to remain healthy.
If the shelter was something to behold the hoard of creatures beneath them were more inspiring to look at.
Well over a thousand fiends were in the open and all looked to them as they approached. Well over sixty percent were lords and of the multitude were as Gerieg said; Fury, Beran and Shadow fang. The Pikro weren’t around but the Orggian sure were. Few Fury moved along the ground while most were content to be perched on a tree or soared through the sky.
The last book Gambit gave Alex told of the many fiends and the written knowledge sprung to mind. The Orggian diverged from it cousins the orangutan and has retained almost all of the physical characteristics of their predecessors, but the difference was that a hard turtle-like shell grew from their back as their only means of protection. The normal Orggian stands no more than three feet and have a five foot arm span, but the lords stood no more than five and had a seven foot long reach. Their common coloring is an orange brown and their facial features are as individually distinctive as any human’s. Usually the males are solitary and fight for territory, but here they worked together in harmony. Their only redeeming special features as a fiend include that their saliva has remarkable healing properties and their level of intelligence and ingenuity is like any resourceful human.
Some began whooping and calling in announcement that Gerieg and the others returned.
“Welcome to our new home for the next few months.” Elo stated to his students as Gerieg climbed down his back.
Alex and Shade remained speechless.
When the whooping calls from the Orggian faded all manner of order left the area as all of the fiends rushed in Alex’s direction. The hoard swarmed around them, asking thousands of questions. Fear set in for each brother, being surrounded while also not knowing what to do against such odds. Shade’s tail dropped and he began backing away and Alex wished he could yell over them, but not even his loudest voice would reach the nearest Beran lioness.
A large shadow swooped low and Sheer shrieked “ENOUGH!”
Her shrill was so strong that most fainted without warning and Alex and Shade were among them. Darkness took them in silence.
Alex came to and realized how quiet things were, but the familiar sound of a crackling fire allowed the knowledge that some time had passed. He then remembered what happened and realized that was the first time he had ever been on the receiving end of a Fury’s shriek. The aftereffects weren’t surprising as it gave a throbbing headache which left him in an almost swimming fog that was hard to shake from his mind.
He slowly sat up, feeling that he’s worked the fields for an entire day. His eyes opened and showed that he was shaded from the quickly failing sun and had somehow been taken inside the woven trees. As he continued to find his bearings he spotted Shade a few feet away, laying peacefully on his side and oblivious to the world around him. Long draglines in the soil showed someone powerful had brought him in as well. Each deep breath expanded his ribs in such a way that Alex knew he was still sleeping off Sheer’s effects.
“You’re finally up.”
Turning in the opposite direction, his grandfather was sitting beside him. Elo was nowhere to be found, but Sheer was by his side; looking apologeti
c. “What happened?” Alex asked as his foggy mind slowly began sharpening.
Gerieg replied “I’m sorry all that happened. Many of my friends have been waiting years to finally meet you and they became overzealous in their initial greeting. They’ve all heard our story and wanted to meet you for so long that their patience was overpowered by curiosity. Some wish to become your partner, but they should know better by now. When Sheer saw your distress she intervened and made just about everyone go unconscious. When you and Shade collapsed with the others we brought you both inside until you’ve recovered.”
As Alex moved his feet to sit more comfortably he realized something. The soles of his feet were no longer sore nor should be at this stage of healing. “How is it that my feet are healed?”
“Because one of the elder Orggian used his saliva to heal the wounds.”
“You’ll have to introduce me so that I can give my thanks.” Gerieg nodded that he would.
Gerieg went silent for a few minutes as Alex continued taking in the surroundings. Many fiends began coming under the shelter and on many lower and thicker branches were perched Fury’s staring at him with an assortment of silent questions. A breeze brought the scent of moisture and it clued Alex in as to why the many nocturnal fiends were coming in under the trees shelter. It was going to rain soon, but the sanctuary of Pilluan would be an entirely different ecosystem.
He and the others were in the center of the shelter and the comforting nearby fire was worrisome that the canopy would catch fire. The only opening in the center of the tree canopy was more than sufficient enough to allow the smoke to exit and any embers to be snuffed out before reaching the greenery.
Furion's Trials (Book Two of the Items Trilogy) Page 20