The group retired to the room where large council meetings were held, and dinner was brought to the weary travelers.
Alex sat across from them and said, “Tell us what happened in Lasta-ah after we left.”
Harta-ak and Vesta-eh met each other’s eyes, then sighed.
“Manta-ak, with just the three of you, you managed to destroy the greatest city in Kragdon-ah.”
Those who had closed in to hear the story beamed at Alex. They had known he was the mighty warrior who had destroyed Denta-ah, but the story of what happened in Lasta-ah had not been widely shared. The idea that he could destroy an entire city on his own was a new source of pride.
Monda-ak woofed softly—his dignified reminder that there were four attackers on Lasta-ah.
“Sorry,” Harta-ak corrected himself. “The four of you managed to destroy the greatest city in Kragdon-ah. The fire tore through the city and by the next morning, there was nothing but embers and ashes everywhere. Versa-eh and I returned to my barge and left immediately. We sailed upriver to Grinta-ah and made our normal run back down. It took us a full moon-cycle to make the trip. We had hoped that when we returned, the rebuilding would have begun and no one would be any wiser as to the part we played in helping you escape.”
“It didn’t happen that way,” Versa-eh said, picking up the story. “When we came into the port at Lasta-ah, there were armed guards waiting for us. They tried to trap us and hold us there, but Harta-ak pushed off lightning-fast and we ran with the river for hours. We went through the uncharted territories.”
“Uncharted, but not unknown to a river rat like me,” Harta-ak added. “Eventually, we turned around and made our way back upriver. We passed Lasta-ah in deepest night and kept going until we hit Grinta-ah again. I felt like I had put my crew at risk as well, so I gave them my barge as payment. We floated back down the river, selling off everything we carried and used that to trade for horses and everything we would need for a fresh start.”
“And now you’re here,” Senta-eh concluded. She looked at Versa-eh with admiration. “Not many would have been able to make that trip safely. You are clever.”
“After we got past the first village, where the people didn’t seem to think too much of you, everyone else was kind to us because we were traveling in the footsteps of the great warrior and The Chosen One. You made our trip easier without even knowing it.”
“What are your plans now?” Alex asked. He couldn’t imagine what a young couple could do, homeless and wandering across Kragdon-ah with only what they could carry.
“To take things as they come,” Harta-ak said. He laid a gentle hand on Versa-eh’s knee. “As long as she is with me, life is good, no matter where I am.”
Alex glanced at Versa-eh and saw she felt the same.
“We are going to a village called Rinta-ah tomorrow,” Alex said with a sudden inspiration. “Would you like to come with us?”
“Of course!” Harta-ak said. Like Alex, he was always up for whatever the next adventure might be. “What is in this village that is worth seeing?”
“Well, they may have a rope bridge that they use to cross a mighty river,” Alex said.
“If they rebuilt it after you tore it down,” Senta-eh reminded him.
“That was two years ago,” Alex chided her. “Surely they would have rebuilt it by now.”
Harta-ak and Versa-eh laughed softly. They were more than aware of how Alex managed to find trouble wherever he went, though he rarely sought it out.
“They know where a large amount of a spice they call danta is located and they offered to share it with us. They said there is enough of it to last us all many generations. We are going to take them a karak-ta egg and they are going to show us where to find the danta.”
“Karak-ta egg?” Versa-eh asked, then waved the question away. It was obvious that there were many things she needed to learn about this new world.
“We will be ready to ride,” Harta-ak said. A small smile played on his lips.
He is smart. Always looking for opportunities wherever he goes. He will not stay a poor wanderer for long.
The four humans, their horses, and Monda-ak set off the next day before dawn. When they reached the path at the edge of the forest and turned right, Alex couldn’t help but remember the same moment when he, Senta-eh, and Werda-ak had crossed the same point.
Werda-ak was so young, but so full of possibilities, all of them lost now.
They made much better time on horseback than they had on foot two years earlier. Alex rode point, but Harta-ak and Versa-eh rode close behind so they could talk. As they rode, the two new arrivals filled Alex in on the many adventures and sights they had seen on their journey. Senta-eh rode behind. As usual, she was content to listen and learn.
When they came to a sharp turn in the path, Alex held his hand up to slow everyone down. He moved his horse just off the path and went around the corner. It was the same spot Werda-ak had nearly fallen in the hole dug by the kidnappers on the first trip.
Alex assumed that the hole might have been filled in, but when he turned the corner, he saw the hole was still there. He swung off his horse and everyone else did the same. He peered into the hole and saw that it had become a burial ground of sorts. When they had last seen it, there had been a lone coyote and an unidentified carcass there. The kidnappers had planted sharp spikes at the bottom of the hole. The first animal had stumbled in and had been killed by the spikes. The grunda-ta—the coyote—had been drawn to the dead animal and fallen in, though not onto the spikes.
Now, on top of those corpses, there were
