Authors: Stephen Zimmer
The women cast some furtive glances in the direction of the exiles and the Onan warriors. While their interest in the newcomers was apparent, they were still very careful to keep the curiosity of the encampment’s children under firm control.
Janus turned his eyes towards a few village men who were making some sort of preparations by a canoe that was set down at the water’s edge. They were placing a couple of long poles into the vessel, as well as what looked to be several unlit torches. Another canoe was being similarly equipped a few paces away. He had no idea what they were preparing for, but he wanted to satisfy his curiosity. He saw little harm in making an inquiry.
Turning to one of the nearby Onan warriors, Janus asked him, “What are they doing? The ones there with the canoes, the poles, and torches.”
“Hunting wild geese, or ducks. This is done at night by the Lnuk hunters. Those boats will come back full of birds,” the Onan warrior replied. “They will guide those canoes into the coves, where the birds gather to sleep on the water. They will rouse them with torches aflame, and then knock them out of the air as they circle about the flames in confusion. They will take up the stunned birds, finish them off, and put them in the boats, to bring them back to the village.”
Janus nodded to the Onan warrior, and looked back towards the men as they continued their preparations for the night hunt.
After a little while longer, a few women from the encampment brought Ayenwatha’s warriors and the exiles some food. Freshly cooked fish, a good portion of oysters and mussels, and some roots and berries formed the core of the meal.
Janus discovered at this time what was being skimmed off in the wooden kettles, a kind of butter, which he learned after questioning his Onan companions derived from the boiled fat and marrow of a moose. While he did not find the idea of the butter’s origins very appetizing, it was evidently a very prized source of nutrients for the Lnuk.
Janus had become ravenous by then, and consumed the food quickly, in as polite a manner as possible. The others with him also ate rapidly in silence, displaying ample evidence of the great hunger that had grown within everyone throughout the long, arduous day.
The women of the Lnuk looked upon the strangers with great curiosity as they served them the food, though they said very little. The women of the Lnuk were clad in long garments of animal skins that were comfortably wrapped around their bodies, just under their arms. There were what appeared to be thin strips of leather over their shoulders, which acted as a kind of suspender for the wrapping garments. Snug-fitting girdles further secured the attire in place.
Leggings, moccasins, and separate sleeves of hide or fur rounded out the basic garb of the village women. Their clothing was richly decorated with a variety of materials, such as animal claws, quills, and even teeth, as well as a plethora of colorful, painted designs, many of which echoed the same forms and patterns displayed upon the outside of their dwellings.
Like the men, they wore their black tresses unbound and flowing, though they exhibited more personal adornment in the forms of earrings, necklaces, and arm and leg bracelets fashioned of quill or shell. The décor extended to their girdles as well, and a few of the women exhibited what looked to be silver coins that had been adopted to aesthetic uses.
Ayenwatha finally ended his lengthy conversation with the Lnuk, and came back to summon his waiting party. While far more extensive than the last time that they had stopped for a respite, the rest felt all too short to Janus’ weary body.
There were more than a couple of protesting groans coming from among the exiles, especially from Antonio and Kent, as they labored slowly to get back up to their feet. Their momentary repose had resulted in rapidly stiffened joints, and tightly drawn muscles, causing Janus to grimace more than once as his movements mercilessly revealed each taut bodily area.
The Onan warriors displayed their usual stoic countenances, getting up much more smoothly. Janus could not fathom that the warriors would not have desired a longer rest, if the truth were to be known.
Several of the Lnuk warriors from the riverside encampment joined the Onan as they moved to requisition several new boats. A tall Lnuk warrior led Ayenwatha to where most of the Lnuk vessels were kept, singling out seven of the largest craft among those resting upon the beach. Three were sharper in profile and narrower of beam than their kin, but all were of roughly the same length.
Janus marveled at just how light the vessels were, especially in regard to their length and sturdiness, as he helped in the efforts to carry them down to the water’s edge and turn them over. The men placed the canoes down in the water and slid them out with little difficulty, quickly getting into the sizeable boats as Ayenwatha’s party moved to resume their trek down the river.
Paddles were soon dipping into the water, propelling the lengthy canoes. The party swiftly lost sight of the encampment behind them, but not before Janus witnessed a throng of Lnuk warriors hurrying to move some other canoes down to the water. The sight of their urgency, in the wake of his party’s departure, troubled him greatly as they disappeared from view at last.
The Lnuk that had joined them in the new vessels were very welcome additions to the group, as the vessels soon attained a rapid pace that worked in harmonious concert with the flow of the river.
Ayenwatha informed the occupants of his canoe that the location of the large Lnuk camp was not far from the ocean, as the semi-nomadic Lnuk spent most of their year in the coastal areas. Janus did not know whether to be relieved or not by the tidings, as he did not know how far they intended to go once they reached the ocean. He settled into a rhythm with his paddle, knowing that time would eventually give him the answer, one way or another.
Ayenwatha pointed out one special landmark as they traveled along the river. Located up the slope of a great hill, a small cave entrance overlooked the river farther below.
“A Wizard named Kluskap, who had the great power of turning things to stone, used to reside there,” Ayenwatha explained to Janus, Erika, and Kent. “That cave was the last place that he was seen in these lands, and his absence is deeply lamented by the Lnuk people … much as Wizards who were friends to our tribe are now greatly missed. I believe it is all part of the same mystery.”
Janus stared off towards the hillside cave, acutely perceiving the melancholy undertones lying just beneath Ayenwatha’s words. He did not know how to respond, though he found it intriguing that the Lnuk, like the Onan, were evidently struggling with the loss of Wizards that had once befriended and aided their tribe.
Less than an hour had passed when they reached the ‘Gateway to the Great Waters’ that Ayenwatha had spoken of. The sight opened up dramatically to the convoy, as they passed through the last few hundred feet of flanking trees. The river emerged into a wide, expansive bay, which opened into the great seas beyond.
Sandy beaches ran up to the edge of the forest ringing the broad, crescent-shaped bay. The light of the sun, though just a scant few hours from dusk, sparkled off of the surface of the glassy waters. Whitecaps crowned small waves that rolled towards the beaches, their motions harmonious with the pull of the tides.
Many seabirds glided high overhead, drifting along the mild air currents, and sending their high-pitched calls out over the bay. Others of their avian ilk walked the lengths of the beach where the waves gently caressed the shoreline. A soothing breeze flowed off of the waters, washing across the flotilla of canoes. It was at once refreshing and invigorating, bringing a salty scent that lingered in the air.
The wondrous vision spread out before them, as they paddled out from the river and into the midst of the bay, was simply rapturous to behold. Janus was momentarily spellbound by the entirety of the timeless, beautiful scene. Though his body continued to work his paddle, he stared outward in amazement.
The undulations of the low waves were smooth and rhythmic, and the Lnuk warriors with the convoy navigated the sea-capable vessels gracefully through the bay’s waters. Any tinges of fear or pent up anxieties within Janus at the prospect of heading into the ocean were quelled as the boats nimbly sliced through the rolling waters.
The broad expanse of the ocean reached forth under the clear turquoise skies to the distant horizons, beckoning to places beyond the boundaries where sky and sea flowingly intertwined. The awesome sight called powerfully to Janus, with that timeless invitation to worlds of unknown adventures and new experiences. Janus could only guess that the sensation was the deep, primal inspiration that adventurers often felt within the core of their beings, throughout all the ages of every world.
As the canoes glided across the bay, he noticed that the water itself held a different shade of color from the waters that he had seen back in his own world. Like the sky above them, the waters of the bay held a unique, greenish-blue hue. The richness of the water’s color compared favorably to the luster of a rare jewel.
The mystical allure present within the regal vision appeared to be something that strongly moved Janus’ companions, as he looked around at their faces. Widened stares of wonder and excited expressions were displayed by all of the exiles, witnessing the tremendous vista spread out before them. Even the stoicism of the Onan warriors had softened, with unmistakable reverence displayed in their miens towards the majestic display of nature. Only the Lnuk warriors, who were likely well-acclimated to such a grand sight, exhibited no exceptional reactions.
Despite all of the weighty concerns, burdens, and fears within him, Janus could not help but have his spirits lifted up, as his eyes continued to take in the elegance and splendor of the dreamy setting.
The waters became rougher towards the lip of the bay, where its calmer, more sheltered waters finally met the raw expanse of the ocean. Ayenwatha’s boat skillfully took the lead, helping to set the pace as it guided the seven Lnuk canoes onward.
Janus felt a reprieve, as his eyes scanned the horizons. Fortune appeared to be with them, if only for the moment, as the sky in all directions was completely clear, empty of any threats of storms.
He pulled again and again on his paddle, as the canoe rose and fell along the contours of the waves. Once past the mouth of the bay, the rhythm of the waves settled down once again, into a gentler, rolling pattern. It was as if the waves were in reality slow-moving, low-lying hills, watery terrain to be smoothly glided over.
The temperature out over the waters, buoyed by the soft breezes wafting through the air, was cool and comfortable. The time of day, with the sun now beginning to dip towards the far horizon, was also advantageous. With scant cloud cover to obstruct the rays from that fiery orb, it was fortuitous that they were not in the direct heat of the midday.
The small formation of vessels continued at a steady pace into the open sea. The shoreline behind them grew more distant, until it was just a solid, ambiguous line.
Though between two different horizons, the passage was anything but uninteresting. There were plenty of sights to see all around the convoy, the likes of which appeared to fascinate both the foreigners and the Onan. Even the Lnuk did not seem to be completely inured to the abundant signs of life.
More than once, the waters close to the canoes were agitated with the turbulent passages of large schools of fish. The vast numbers of fish moving beneath the surface churned up the ocean waters into a frothy tumult.
Numerous sea gulls hovered about in the air above the violent, choppy swathes of water, as they shadowed the passage of the schools of fish. With excited cries they awaited the aftermath of the obvious feeding taking place just below them, as the ranks of predators cleaved into masses of smaller prey.
The colorful backs of a larger variety of fish broke the surface of the water in many places, their scales refracting the light of the ebbing sun as they splashed back down into the depths.
It was during one of these episodes, when Janus knew well that the shore was far behind them, that he observed a number of immense dorsal fins cutting through the water, each one towering high into the air. The huge dorsal fins were on the outskirts of the latest schools of fish passing by, swiftly trailing the great multitudes of quarry beneath the surface.
Janus’ eyes widened, and his heartbeat quickened, as he beheld the fins heralding the presence of titanic newcomers. As he was in the canoe with Ayenwatha, their vessel was one of the first to draw near to the vicinity of one of the gliding leviathans.
As Ayenwatha seemed to show no outward signs of discomfort, Janus quickly questioned him about the creatures. Ayenwatha must have sensed the panic rising in Janus, as he quickly entreated him to relax, reassuring him that there was no real danger. Ayenwatha then implored one of the Lnuks, paddling just behind Janus, to tell him of the giant sea creatures.
As the Lnuk warrior informed Janus, the large dorsal fins belonged to a huge, shark-like, sea hunter known as Shrakas. The enormous predators hunted in small packs, and the Lnuks had evidently fished and navigated their boats among them for generations.
The Lnuk warrior indicated that while they were in the boats, they had little to fear. There had been very few occasions that the great predators had shown any interest in boats. As nervous as Janus felt, he did not want to ask the warrior about those rare exceptions.
Ayenwatha reassured Janus that the creatures did not attack canoes, though the Onan war sachem displayed a little anxiety as one of the creatures swam very close to their vessel. The dorsal fin soared high above them, and Janus could easily estimate that the creature was more than three times as long as the approximately twenty-five foot boat, if not four times. It was a beast of tremendous bulk, with a girth that was much wider than the beam of the large canoe. As far as Janus was concerned, the canoe did not feel all that safe, and the extremely close proximity of the Shraka was deeply unsettling.