Onio (11 page)

She
wanted to talk to Onio about so many things, but was afraid to try. She was too
new to the soul song to moderate her voice, or even know what subject might be
taboo, or cause insult. She stared into the fire and smiled when Onio placed a
fur over her shoulders. “Sleep while you can, Mel,” he said. “We will move
swiftly when we finally go, and we will not stop for many miles.”

Mel
lay on her side and watched the fire, feeling her eyelids grow heavy as Onio
started to sing a little song. She smiled as his soft words lulled her to
sleep.

He
whispered, “Be brave little bear, your mother watches over you.

Hush…
hush… hush.

Be
silent little squirrel, your father watches over you.

Hush…
hush… hush.

Be
steadfast little sasq, your tribe watches over you.

Hush…
hush… hush.

Be
calm little lion, your brother watches…”

Mel
slept.

The
sun was setting over the treetops when a large hand shook her awake. Sitting
up, Mel saw that queen Tanah was kneeling by the fire. She looked calmer now
and studied the meat on the end of her roasting stick with an expression of
contentment on her face. She glanced at Mel and said, “Make sure the small gets
enough to eat, First Son. We will not stop unless it is absolutely necessary.”

Onio
placed a wooden bowl of meat in front of Mel, who regarded it dubiously. She
was barely awake and usually did not eat right away after waking up. She didn’t
dare defy the queen’s direct order though, so she picked a piece of meat up and
took a tiny bite. It was delicious! The meat was so tender it practically
melted in her mouth. Mel eagerly ate all the meat and gratefully accepted the
carrots and mushrooms another sasq offered her.

Tanah
studied Mel’s face while she ate. Mel felt uncomfortable being studied so
openly but bore up under the scrutiny with as much dignity as possible. The
queen’s one remaining eye was as blue as a robin’s egg, and although she was
missing a couple of teeth, Tanah’s smile was beautiful. She was scarred,
painted and looked as wild as any feral beast, but Mel could tell that under
different circumstances the woman would have been considered gorgeous.

Tanah
turned to Wolf and said, “We will leave soon. Please be ready. You and my
warriors will take turns carrying the small one. I would like to reach the conclave
in four nights turning.” She paused and glanced at Mel again. “Tell the girl
her cin is appreciated. My husband rests easier now. I don’t know if it was the
small human’s potion or the fact that my husband is still very strong, but I
think he may survive to tell the story another day.” She nodded once in Mel’s
direction and strode away into the falling dusk.

Instantly,
the camp seemed to spring into quiet but frenzied activity. One of the tents
was dismantled while a number of sasquatches moved in and out of the king’s
quarters carrying bags and bundles of belongings. The fire was put out while
food was packed up and wrapped in layers of frozen leaves and forest debris.

Wolf
picked his bag up and gestured to Melody to climb on his back. She would rather
travel with Onio but she did not dare argue with the big guard. She scrambled
up and looked over Wolf’s shoulder as ten big male sasquatches, led by their
human queen, surrounded them.

Suddenly,
Onio held up a hand. “Wait for a moment please,” he said. The sasquatches stared
at the half smile on his face and then all of them relaxed as they realized
what he was waiting for. The sound of barking echoed through the air and Mel
grinned at the telepathic message Onio allowed her to hear. It was the dog,
Smiles, who had been left behind before and was not about to be left behind
again.

The
skinny chocolate dog came bounding through the trees. Mel had forgotten about
the dog, but was happy to see her ugly, happy face again. Onio gazed at the
queen, who shrugged and said, “Bring the beast if you must, First Son. Just
remember that if she wails, or can’t keep up with us, one of my soldiers will
deal with her in a way that ensures she will not threaten our security again.”

Onio
nodded and scooped the joyful dog up in his arms. Smiles wriggled around in
Onio’s arms and faced forward, clearly eager to get underway. Wolf and Tanah
conferred for a few moments and then they were off.

Mel
never dreamed that any creature could move so fast. The sasq flew over the
rugged terrain like there were wings on their feet. They ran through the forest
for many miles and then the trees grew sparse, opening to an area of pastures
and rolling hills. Looking over Wolf’s shoulder, she could see a ribbon of
twinkling lights in the distance. It was a highway, and what looked like a gas
station and truck stop.

Mel’s
heart started pounding in her chest. This was her chance to break away from the
creatures that held her in their grasp! They were kind, fierce, strange and
alien. They were everything she was not, and for a moment, her heart went out
to the human beings in their cars that drove down the darkened highways, never
knowing, never dreaming what might be watching them from the distant hills
above them in the night.

As
though sensing Mel’s feelings of hesitation and doubt, Wolf set her down on the
frozen turf and walked away. Mel swayed slightly on wobbly knees and looked
over at Onio, who stood some distance away, studying her face in the moon’s
faint glow. She heard his voice in her mind.

“It
is an hour’s walk to the highway from here, Mel,” he said softly. “I would not
blame you if you wanted to rejoin your people now. Tanah and her soldiers have
agreed to join Wolf and me in keeping watch over you while you walk down this
hill to the road.” His deep-set hazel eyes looked into hers as he continued. “I
would have you stay. I wish to learn much about you and the small humans. I
know though, that our meeting has been wrought with sorrow and danger. The
journey to the conclave has only just begun, and it too, will be long and
hazardous. Maybe it would be best if you go to your people now.”

Onio
had let go of Smiles, who disappeared briefly into the darkness and then
returned. The dog approached Mel timidly, tail pressed flat against her
backside as though in sorrow and disappointment.

Mel
fell to her knees and kissed the dog’s wrinkled brow. She stared down at the
valley below for a few moments and then turned to look at the sasq that
surrounded her. Tanah was adjusting the leather saddle straps on the back of
another soldier, giving the first soldier a rest from her weight. Wolf pulled
strips of meat from the rucksack he carried, while a young, red-haired giant
passed a skin of water around.

The
sasquatches were not guarding their thoughts from her, as far as she could
tell. They weren’t saying much, but the general feeling of their thoughts ranged
from excitement to trepidation, and from sorrow to exultant justification in
their actions. There was one strange thought though, that was vague but
frightening in its intensity. It spoke of rage, hatred, and ambition. It was so
different…so passionate, Mel stiffened, looking around in alarm.

Onio
followed her gaze and stared at the other sasq as they went about their
business. He sensed the girl’s alarm but could not pinpoint the cause of her
anxiety. “What’s wrong, Melody?” he asked.

Mel
shook her head. Everything seemed fine and the stray thought that had run
clammy fingers down her spine was gone…if it ever existed in the first place. She
turned to Onio and said, “It’s nothing, Onio. I was just thinking.” She stared
one last time at the lights below her in the distance.

“If
it’s still all right with you, I want to stay. There’s nothing for me down
there.” She paused and added, “Sure, there might be danger ahead, but if I go
back I’ll die from loneliness. I know it.”

The
grin that Onio gave her made her blush with pleasure. Wolf approached with
water and a piece of meat. Although he did not smile, the look in his eyes was
warm with satisfaction as well. Even the dog seemed to sense the human’s
pleasure. Although she did not bark, she spun around in a happy dog dance of
joy. Many of the sasq warriors chuckled at the dog’s antics. Even Queen Tanah
rolled her eyes in amusement.

***

One
pair of eyes though, glittered with wrath. Thunderbolt had become adept in
schooling his thoughts and features into bland neutrality over the years, and
he did so now. He finished rubbing bear grease into the welts left by the queen’s
saddle, took a deep drink of water, and stood ready to march with his fellow
soldiers up into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

Chapter 13

Mel
saw that they were approaching a series of hills. The light of the moon
illuminated the ever-increasing slopes in shades of silver and grey, and beyond
them, a mountain range loomed. It glowered down on them as if to say, “How dare
you tread upon me?”

The
sasquatches fell into a single line and began to climb a switchback trail, and
Mel gulped as the path grew steeper. Frozen rocks and clods of dirt fell away
to the valley below at their passing, and the landscape seemed to swirl
dizzyingly in her peripheral vision.

They
scrambled higher and higher. Then she watched one sasq after another disappear
into a cleft in the rock wall on their left. Onio turned around once, grinned
at her and then he too disappeared. “Duck your head girl,” Wolf demanded.

Mel
tucked her chin down on Wolf’s shoulder and held her breath as they dipped into
what turned out to be another cavern, much like the cave Onio’s tribe had
inhabited. Most of the sasq stood back while scouts ranged forward looking for
any threat hidden in the nooks and crannies of the stone enclosure. After a few
minutes, the scouts came back and called the all clear.

The
sasq fell into line again and began walking through an elaborate series of
tunnels. Some of the tunnels were huge and echoed eerily with the sounds of
their passage; others were so cramped and narrow the biggest sasq needed to
turn sideways in order to squeeze through. It seemed to her as though the sasquatches
night vision was preternaturally excellent, but they did carry a couple of
torches maybe for their queen’s benefit. Mel was relieved. She didn’t think she
suffered from claustrophobia, or fear of the dark, but spelunking a high
mountain cave in the dead of winter had never been high on her bucket list.

The
fitful glare of the torches cast huge shadows on the tunnel walls, illuminating
one small area, only to leave vast hollows of darkness in others. Occasionally
Mel could see the silhouettes of stalactites hanging over their heads like an
enormous bed of nails, and more than once she saw furtive movements stir within
the gloom, and the red reflection of an animal’s eyes as it blinked in startled
surprise at the false sunrise.

Wolf
sensed her unease and said, “Don’t worry about the animals that slumber in
these tunnels. Many of them sleep away the cold season and won’t awaken at our
passing. Others are far more frightened by us than we would ever be of them.”

Mel
nodded and replied, “Thank you, sir. I’m just not used to this sort of thing.”

Wolf’s
amusement rumbled through his body. He laughed silently and for a moment Mel
wanted to slap him, but then she let out a nervous giggle. Onio’s teeth flashed
and he reached back and gave her shoulder a playful pinch. For a few seconds,
it seemed as if all the sasq shared in the joke. Then the queen snapped, “Quiet!
There are hazards in these tunnels, as you well know. I would have you pay
attention!”

They
resumed their journey in cautious silence. The unremitting darkness and the
strain to see through it caused Mel’s eyes to ache with fatigue. She knew it
was probably only nerves, but she was becoming convinced that something was
watching them…following them.

She
was afraid to say anything though, as she had been the target of fun once
already on this journey, and she didn’t want to slow everything down or make
anyone angry by acting like a nervous Nelly again. She closed her weary eyes
and tried to forget about the evil gaze that was boring holes through the back
of her neck. Finally, she lay her head down on Wolf’s shoulder and slept.

She
snapped awake with a start. Hideous screams filled the air and there was a
cacophony of startled shouting from somewhere behind them. Mel knew she was
hearing these sounds telepathically through Onio, but the pure terror and pain
he heard was enough to make Mel’s knees go weak with fear.

Wolf
set her down on the tunnel floor and pushed her back against the stone wall.
Then he and Onio ran back to see what was happening, along with many of the
other sasq warriors. Mel stayed plastered to the wall for a few moments, but curiosity
got the better of her and she crept back down the tunnel to see what was going
on.

What
she saw made her wish that she had stayed back against the wall in blissful
ignorance. A large female cougar and two young ones were attacking the sasq warriors.
The young red-haired sasquatch that had passed the water skin around in the
valley earlier lay dead on the floor of the cave. His throat glistened wetly,
and his blood had spread into a sticky, slippery pool that made the stone floor
treacherous for the sasq but didn’t seem to affect the animals at all.