69

Introductory Text

69th Post

Posted 25 May 2016 at 19:15:08 EDT

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> I had to go. To back down would be cowardly, not something that belonged among the Deeds. But I would have to be very careful out in the rocky land. Maybe the crone was telling the truth, and the monstrous evil strangers were real. But more likely, she would try to kill me out there and blame it on the strangers. That would get rid of me and make the people even more afraid.
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> Rona, the crone and I set out the next day. I let two women walk ahead of me, with Rona weeping and the crone whispering strange things to her. I stayed behind them. It was hard to look at poor Rona's red weeping face, and I did not want the crone near me. I had taken the fishing head off my spear and attached the war head. I also had my black stone knife hidden inside my tunic, and I brought my two favorite cats, Charm and Grayscruff, in my satchel. They both rode in the satchel well and were very clever and watchful. I wanted to be ready for any sort of trap.
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> We quickly left behind the gentle trees and bushes of the river land and went into steep, bare folds of the rocky land. I had only been away from Mother River's voice a few times in my life. Out in the rocky lands, there was nothing but the occasional stirring of the wind, which was not warm and burbling like the river, but thin and whispering. All around, I could feel the evil dryness and death that covered the land. Dust blew over the tilted rocks, and here and there were animal skulls and stalking black birds.
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> The sun was sinking down from its highest perch when we came upon a huge, smooth stone which rose above everything else. It was round like the top of a bald man's head and large enough that many men could stand on it at once. The crone said that this would be the place where the evil stranger would arrive. I asked her what we must do. She said that we only need to wait for night. Rona would go atop the stone. The stranger would come.
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> Rona did not weep now, but looked at the stone with glittering eyes. The crone ran her hands through Rona's hair, gently pulling out the tangles, and Rona smiled at her. I asked her if she was afraid. The crone had told her wonderful stories about how the strangers would treat her kindly because she was coming to them willingly. They would take her across the rocky land to another river which was far greater than Mother River, wide and flowing with sun-gold waters, and they would make her into one of the great women of their band.
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> I kicked the crone over. She cried out. I told her if I heard her voice one more time, I would paint this evil rock with her brains. She became meek. Rona protested, but I told her that the crone was a trickster. I tied the crone's hands behind her back with my belt and stuffed a wad of cloth into her mouth. There would be no tricks from her now.
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> I brought Rona and the crone atop the rock and looked around. The rocky land had many folds and hiding places. Still, the high stone was not a good place to make an attack. I let Charm and Grayscruff out of my satchel, and they stretched their legs and sniffed the rocks. If they felt any evil in the land, they did not show it. I walked far around the giant rock and searched among the cracks and folds in the land to see if there was anyone waiting. The whole place seemed to be empty. There were a few dry, dead bushes, so I gathered firewood.
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> When I came back, the sun was sinking behind the rocks, and long curving shadows lay across the bare world. I built a fire, and Rona and I ate while we watched the sky turn orange and purple. Finally all color fled from the world and darkness fell. With no moon, the small fire was the only light except for the stars. I told Rona to stay by the fire with the crone, who lay on her side, seeming to sleep.
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> I withdrew from the small circle of light and lay flat against the still-warm stone with my spear by my side. I was completely hidden in the darkness. Looking away from the firelight, the world was a perfectly black. Grayscruff startled me as he appeared out of the dark, sneaking up the rock to sit by the fire. Charm soon joined him. Maybe it was too dark for even the cats to hunt. Or maybe the land was too dead.
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> A long time passed, and there was no sound but the fire. The crone seemed to sleep. Rona added wood to the fire and drowsed. The cats lay side by side, like a man and woman. I wondered if I had ruined the crone's plan, if I would just lie on this rock all night with nothing coming. It was better than being stabbed in my sleep. More time passed. My thoughts became loose and wandering. I imagined the waters of the river flowing through the weird folds of the rocky land. My eyes closed.
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> I opened my eyes again. I wasn't sure how long I had slept. Everything was quiet. The fire still burned well. Rona and the crone slept. Grayscruff and Charm were still lying next to each other, both awake, both looking off into the darkness, both looking in the same direction. I looked out into the darkness. I couldn't see anything out there, just far stars over the blackness of the land. Were the cats watching something? Their eyes were wide.
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> I found myself slowly wrapping my hand around the shaft of my spear. The cats did not take their attention away from what they were looking at. Maybe they had both heard noise, a pebble falling somewhere. Grayscruff slowly, carefully got up, keeping its gaze fixed. Charm did that same. I pulled my spear close and gripped it tight.
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> The cats both jerked their heads slightly in the same direction, following something. Something was out there. It was close. I pulled my knees up under myself and held my spear with both hands. I listened to every noise, everything around me. I knew I was outside the light of the fire. I would hear anybody coming up the rock. Still, I wished desperately that I could see what the cats saw. It was awful to not know.
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> Charm and Grayscruff crouched and turned their bodies, ready to flee, but still watching the thing in the darkness, their wide eyes glowing in the fire. Slowly, they raised their heads, following the thing up and up, until they were looking almost straight up. They must have been watching a bird. That was the only thing that could be that high. I let out a relieved breath. A gust of wind made the fire shudder, and the cats both jumped, scrambling off into the darkness.
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> Rona screamed. It landed just in front of her with a flap of wings and a gust of wind that scattered the fire in a spray of sparks. I was on my feet, holding the spear out. The brightly burning pieces of wood showed its shape, like a giant pale man with huge wings instead of arms. It stood for a moment with its wings spread, far larger than any bird, but with no feathers like a bat's. The firelight shined through the thin wings, showing the creature's long bones and the streams of blood that flowed under the skin.
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> It turned to look at me, and I realized that the scattering of the fire had brought me into the light. It could see me. My war spear felt like a frail little stick in my hands. Its face was like a rock lion's but with awful black teeth and huge, filmy eyes. It was just as the crone had said. She had been right all along.
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