A Woman's World

by Lynne Hill-Clark

  “Yes!” Baya screamed again. “That’s it! The first sign. We set up camp in the dark last night and couldn’t see it.” She drew the symbol of the two fingers with the sun between them and the circle underneath. “The circle represents the lake. See?”

  Vicaroy stared opened-mouthed at the sight of the round lake and the peculiar pillar-like mountains on either side. He glanced back and forth between the view and Baya’s drawing from the scrolls. It was an exact match. “I’ll be dammed.”

  Baya leapt up to throw her arms around Vicaroy’s neck. “If we head east we can find Merth ... or at least the next indicator that we’re on the right path.”

  Vicaroy put his arms around Baya in return. “Do you think there might be others out there?”

  “I do.”

  Vicaroy sighed. Part of him enjoyed having Baya all to himself, well mostly. He could do without Doba’s company. Yet, Baya deserved more. She needed a home, a real one. Vicaroy desperately missed having a garden as well. It would be nice not to have to work so hard just to survive. Perhaps they could have a better life in a city, with companions.

  “What do you want?” he asked.

  “I think we need to find other humans if we’re to survive for much longer.”

  Vicaroy nodded. “Then we head east.”

  Baya squealed before pressing her lips to his.

  He tightened his arms around her waist, pressing her body against his. His hands slid down her back. Her body exploded with a need she hadn’t let come to the surface in some time.

  Since the monsoons their life had been consumed with survival. Find food, prepare food, eat food, stay warm, sleep, walk — that was it. But their kiss ignited the dormant desire. It was like being reunited with an old friend — pleasure, urgency, comfort all in one.

  Baya ran a hand through Vicaroy’s curly black hair and kissed him harder. She leaned her body into his. Her lips parted and his tongue brushed lightly against hers. The escape had been so complete that she hadn’t noticed the familiar tickle of hundreds of legs crawling up her body. A loud hiss followed by irritated clicking broke the spell.

  What are you two doing? Doba’s voice rang in Baya’s head.

  Baya pulled herself out of Vicaroy’s arms with a nervous laugh. She had momentarily forgotten about her little friend.

  Vicaroy glared at Doba, who held his stare with his four unblinking eyes.

  “That thing’s got to go,” Vicaroy's voice was husky.

  “Oh, don’t be that way.” Baya moved to pack up camp. “That leaves two more clues. Next we have to find the stone birds and then the serpent which holds the ancient city.”

  “The only problem is that none of that makes any sense.”

  “Well, neither did the first clue — two sentinels that hold the morning sun. But we found it. Let’s hope that the other signs will be as obvious once we find them.”

  By the time they made it to the lake, both suns were high in the sky. The nights were brisk but the days grew warm. This day was the warmest since the rains had first pushed them off course.

  The clear blue water allowed them to see the lake’s rocky bottom.

  “This is too lovely to pass by. We could use a good washing.” Baya was eager to soak her entire body. The occasional splashing off in a cold stream didn’t get her as clean as she liked. She threw off her pack and began to undress.

  Vicaroy tried not to watch — too closely. He busied himself with unpacking the soap root and lav. They rubbed the two together under water to form suds that smelled of a spring garden. The scent made Vicaroy long for the palace gardens.

  Baya couldn’t wait to rub the soap all over her body. It felt like ages since she’d had a proper bath. The water was cool on her toes but not freezing. Wearing only her stained and threadbare undergarment, she waded into the crystal water and dove in headfirst. She wanted to get the shock of the change in temperature over with as quickly as possible. She came up gasping at the refreshing coolness.

  Vicaroy had not meant to stare after her but his world had stopped as he watched her enter the lake. This time it was more out of relief than male desire. Baya was filling out again after almost starving to death. Her long legs were lean and strong once again. The slight, yet perfect curves of her breasts and hips were back.

  Okay, so there was some desire, he admitted. More than anything, though he truly was relieved that she had gained her health back.

  “Come on. It’s wonderful once you’re in,” Baya yelled.

  Vicaroy began to undress. He wanted to jump in the water and scoop her up in his arms. It would start with a kiss, then he’d carry her to the shore, dripping wet and …

  Baya’s attention turned to Doba who was sunning himself on a rock beside the lake. her cheeks flushed purple and she laughed.

  It was a joyous sound to Vicaroy’s ears, yet he frowned. “What did that thing just tell you?”

  “Not much. Just what you’d like to do with me … dripping wet …” She gave him a playful wink, her cheeks still a shade of purple. Baya couldn’t have been more pleased that he found her long lanky form attractive. He was probably the only man who would.

  “I’m glad you kissed me. It means you’re feeling better. I told myself that I wouldn’t be the first to kiss you, not again. It was your turn and you would when you were good and ready.”

  Baya smiled. He was always putting her first.

  A flash caught her eye. As she turned toward it, Vicaroy was thrown to the ground by a streak of colors. She hadn’t had time to yell out in warning.

  The sudden impact sent Vicaroy flying. It felt as if he’d run full speed into a stone wall. The next thing he knew he was on the ground. Something had slammed into his shoulder sending him through the air. He hit the ground with a thud and turned over to find a large snarling mouth full of sharp teeth. A wild animal was on top of him.

  Baya let out a piercing scream, much different than the excited scream that had awakened him that morning. This was a scream of terror that turned Vicaroy’s blood to ice.

  Yet the scream worked to wake all his senses at once. He rolled out of the way as a large mouth lunged for him. He made a quick movement heading for his spear but the beast blocked his path. The animal growled and Vicaroy took a cautious step away.

  Baya quickly positioned herself between the man and the beast.

  Vicaroy couldn’t believe his eyes. “Baya, no! Run!” Was she out of her mind?

  The beast showed its teeth and a low guttural sound started deep in its belly and came out as a deafening roar.

  Baya held out her arms with her palms facing the beast, as if this would slow it or stop it somehow. “Shhh. It’s okay. … Shhh.” Her voice was low and soft as she tried to calm the animal. “We won’t hurt you, if you don’t hurt us.” She tried to make a connection with the beast by looking into its four wild eyes.

  The creature resembled Mook but was smaller and its eyes were crazed. They blinked and darted about as they examined its prey. This was the look of a starving animal in the middle of a hunt. Now it was Baya’s blood that went cold as she realized that there would be no reasoning with this wild creature.

  It lunged for Baya.

  Chapter 50

  Baya sent up a cloud of thick smoke from her hands and grabbed Vicaroy to pull him out of the path of the beast. He wasted no time in lunging for his spear while Baya disappeared entirely.

  The beast snorted and wheezed in protest as it inhaled Baya’s smoke.

  “Run!” Baya’s voice came out of thin air. She was nowhere to be seen.

  The beast turned its four eyes to Vicaroy who now held his spear. Something told him that he couldn’t outrun this thing. So he braced himself and readied his spear.

  The beast crouched in preparation to lung forward with its powerful back leg. Vicaroy heard Baya scream, even though he still couldn’t see her. This scream was different than her previous screams that day. This time it was a determined battle cry. The beast began to flail aro
und as if it was going mad. It bucked and snarled. It threw its head back and jerked around in circles, snapping its teeth only to find nothing but air.

  It wasn’t biting at the air. It was acting like something was on its back, something that it desperately wanted to get off. Fear pulsed through Vicaroy. Baya must have thrown herself onto the animal. He just couldn’t see her.

  “Baya!” he yelled.

  “Run!” she screamed.

  “I’m not leaving you.”

  There was no reply as the beast continued to growl and leap and bite at seemingly nothing.

  Baya didn’t want the beast to die but no other options came to mind. Time was running out. It was either the beast or them.

  “Kill it,” Baya yelled.

  Vicaroy stepped closer, raising his spear higher. “But I can’t see you. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  Baya’s hands struggled to hold onto the beast’s feathery neck. Her muscles strained from the effort it took to cling to the beast. She couldn’t hold on much longer anyway. She let go of the glistening rainbow-colored feathers. She materialized as she hit the ground and rolled away.

  Vicaroy didn’t hesitate. As soon as he was able to locate Baya, he lunged with all his might. The spear slid into the scaly-flesh of the animal’s chest. A loud growl was cut short as he drove the spear deeper into the beast.

  Panting, Baya got to her feet and brushed herself off. “Are you hurt?”

  The animal lay at Vicaroy’s feet. Its front paws twitched and dark blue blood pooled around the beast’s head and chest. Vicaroy was covered in splatters of blood. Baya didn’t care, she buried her head in his bare torso.

  “I don’t think I’m hurt. You?” He held her tight and scanned his surroundings in search of any other threats. He couldn’t see any. “It came out of nowhere.” His fear and the instinct to fight gave way to shame. “I’d been …” he lowered his head and shook it.

  Baya narrowed her eyes. “Don’t do that.” Her words were short and pungent.

  “Do what?”

  “Lower your head, like you did something wrong — like you’re beneath me because I’m a woman. Look at what you did.” She gestured to the slain creature. “You saved me.”

  “But I shouldn’t have let myself get distracted. I should’ve seen it coming. My guard was down and it put you in danger.”

  She lifted his chin so she could see into his dazzling golden-brown eyes. “The only thing that you did wrong is not look at me. Please don’t shy away. Don’t hide from me. In this land I’m not the daughter of a high priestess and you’re no longer a garden boy. We’re partners — equals. It will take both of us working together to survive out here. Do you understand?”

  “But I can’t do all the things that you can. You made yourself invisible. That was amazing.”

  “And yet it was you who managed to stop the beast. In fact, you made it look easy. We make a good team. My powers and your strength, together we can make it in these wild lands.” She gave him a wry smile. “Let’s get cleaned up and get out of here in case there are any other hungry monsters out there.”

  They wasted no time in cleaning up. So much for enjoying themselves in the lake. The beast was a clear reminder of the dangers of this land. No more teasing and relaxing. They would have to stay alert at all times.

  Once they were clean and packed, Baya headed in the direction from which the animal had attacked. She studied the ground and headed north.

  “Where are you going? I thought we were heading east?” Vicaroy asked.

  “We are or will. I need to … find something first.”

  Vicaroy raised his eyebrows.

  “The beast was desperate. I tried to communicate with it — to convince it not to harm us. But she was too hungry and —”

  “That was a she? And you could communicate with it?”

  “Yes. She was desperate to feed her starving baby.”

  “In case you’ve forgotten, we were supposed to be the ‘food’ you’re talking about.”

  “Yes. We would have provided lots of meat for her baby, much more than the small game she’d been forced to try and survive on. I think we can help though.”

  “Help who?”

  “I’ve seen her kind before. Only much bigger.” Baya was glad to find that she was able to talk about her trials now. Once outside of Pathins the spell that kept her silent before must have been broken.

  “You mean to tell me that that thing was small?”

  Baya nodded. “The ones I’ve seen were kept in captivity and better fed. They must’ve been able to grow larger. This one was struggling to hunt for herself and her baby. That must be why I wasn’t able to convince her not to eat us. The one I met before was not starving and only wanted to play.”

  Vicaroy looked baffled, so Baya told him about her second trial and about Mook.

  “That still doesn’t explain what we’re doing now — heading in the wrong direction.”

  “Without her, her baby will die.”

  “That’s a good thing — one less wild beast in this land.”

  “I don’t want the baby to die. It’s the least we can do for an animal that was only trying to provide for herself and her offspring.”

  “Then it will grow up and try to eat us.”

  “Not if I can befriend it, like I did Mook and we keep it well fed.”

  “We don’t need another mouth to feed, especially a potentially dangerous one.”

  Baya gave him a crooked smile with her head cocked to the side. It was a look that said the debate was over.

  Vicaroy lowered his head. He should’ve known better than to argue with her.

  She grabbed his chin more gruffly this time and lifted his gaze. “Head up.” She demanded. “That’s a terrible and all too ingrained habit of yours but we’ll keep working on it. You have every right to question me.”

  Baya’s expression lightened. “Let’s keep our eye out for fresh game to feed the little guy when we find him.”

  Chapter 51

  Vicaroy shot two birds and Baya managed to shoot her first animal. It was a scaly creature that didn’t make it back into its burrow before Baya’s arrow found it.

  She held her prize up by its thick back leg. It was heavy. She’d never seen anything like it in Pathins. “It’s fat and juicy, perfect for feeding a baby meat-eater.”

  Vicaroy shook his head as they made their way back to the faint trail of the beast who had attacked them.

  They traveled until the suns were getting low in the sky.

  “We need to make camp soon so that I can cook these birds for dinner,” Vicaroy said.

  Baya nodded. “Just a little farther. The den must be close.” There was a desperation in her voice.

  Vicaroy frowned. Why was the offspring of a beast that tried to kill them so important to her?

  Dusk was upon them when it began to rain.

  “No! The paw prints are hard enough to follow. Now the rain will wash them out.”

  Vicaroy picked up some branches and began tying them together to make a lean-to.

  “You got this, right?” Baya asked.

  “If you mean, can I make a shelter and a fire? Then, yes.”

  “Good.” Baya headed off in the rain.

  “Wait. Don’t go looking for that thing in the dark … alone. What if there are more of them?”

  Baya smiled and then vanished. “I’ll be fine,” she said, when she materialized again.

  “Be careful.” Vicaroy bit his lip.

  But she was already headed off into the night.

  She was soaking wet when she returned — empty-handed. Baya plopped down under the lean-to by the fire. Vicaroy stirred a lovely smelling stew that made her stomach growl.

  “Damn rain! I lost the trail. I looked all around but … nothing. Now we’ll never find the little guy. Poor thing, out there all alone. Waiting for a mother that won’t come home.”

  Vicaroy tried to feel sorry for the animal whose mother he had kille
d but he couldn’t understand Baya’s desire to save the creature. He decided it was best to remain silent as she was visibly upset.

  They both jumped to their feet at a light rustling sound that came from a nearby bush — Baya with a bow drawn and Vicaroy with a spear ready to issue a deadly blow. Doba deftly buried himself in their belongings.

  “What was that?” Vicaroy asked.

  She moved away from the fire so she could better see her surroundings before cautiously heading toward the sound. Vicaroy moved around the other side of the fire.

  There was a hiss and the sound of crunching leaves. Baya moved toward the noise. A flash of sparkling feathers and scales caught her eye as the light from her fire ball reached the small creature. It disappeared into a den under a rock.

  “There it is!” Baya yelled. “In there.” She pointed to a mostly concealed hole.

  Vicaroy studied it. “It looks like someone covered it with branches to try to hide the entrance. Like we used to do to cover the trail to our cove.”

  “Its mother must’ve done that to hide her baby while she hunted.”

  “Animals can’t possibly be that smart, can they?” Vicaroy’s brow furrowed with concern. The wild beasts of this land were not only as fierce as the ancient legends claimed but they were also intelligent, making them even more of a threat.

  “Look at Doba, he’s smart. Mook seemed pretty smart as well. I’ll try to lure it out with some meat.”

  Vicaroy went back to tend to his stew. He prided himself on never ruining a meal.

  Baya waited with her kill. Thankfully the rain had stopped. She laid the gutted varmint by the den. It seemed like ages before a long scaly nose came into view.

  “That’s it, little one. Come and eat.” Baya whispered.

  Four dark eyes blinked at her followed by a hiss. The creature retreated once again.

  Maybe it didn’t like fire? She quickly extinguished her fire ball and waited.

  The little nose sniffed the air before venturing farther out of its den. It eyed the meat and then Baya.