Marked for Eradicationby Leona Rigger |
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| conclusion |
Tears flooded Allunai’s painful eyes. “I’m sorry. I was desperate. I thought that if I did Nakkin a favor he’d get me a pardon so that I wouldn’t be an exile anymore. But he betrayed me too. He tried to arrest me and you. I know you’d done the same if you were in my place.”
“Wrong! I not do that. Humans rejected you. If you got pardon, humans still suspicious you for rest life. You always human who helped Jerinn. You have no hope get favor again.”
Allunai lay there for a few minutes. “You’re right. Even if I did get a pardon, people would still think I’m a criminal.”
Showa was silent for a while.
“What are you going to do?” Allunai asked.
“I should kill you. But I should kill myself if I kill you. I not escape humans or Wonus on my own. Take me shore or I kill you.” Showa’s grip on Allunai’s throat lightened somewhat.
“I swear, I swear,” Allunai blurted out, gasping for air.
“We not go near towns. If you do anything-anything, I kill you. I hold my breath long time. You power cannot hurt me.”
Allunai shook her head. “I’ve no reason to betray you anymore. Nakkin was the last person I thought I could count on. I’ve no one else I can trust.”
Showa slid off of Allunai. “You human. You know you cannot trust humans.”
Allunai sat up and wiped the blood off her face. She was able to pry her left eye open and looked down at her tattered, red blotched shirt. “I guess I can’t argue with you there. What about you? Have you ever had a friend betray you?”
“No, Jerinns not much betray others. We better than you.”
“You’re lucky.”
Showa peered at Allunai. “Be embarrassed you human. Let us go. I sick you wretched kind.”
* * *
They journeyed southeast through the forest over the next three days. They traveled slowly because Showa refused to let Allunai assist her and hopped or crawled several yards behind. Although Allunai was eager to get Showa to the shore, she was grateful for the slow progress. Hard traveling would tear her wounds open.
“I hear water nearby” were the first words Showa had spoken in two days.
“I hope we don’t have to cross it,” Allunai said. “My head hurts too much to move water.”
She spotted a creek ahead. She sat on the bank and checked her injuries while Showa hobbled into the water and scraped the dirt off her skin. Allunai massaged her sore knee.
“Lucky you walk good,” Showa said.
“I deserved it,” Allunai whispered. “The Regal Guards would’ve killed you.”
Showa twisted toward Allunai. “What you think they plan?”
Allunai averted her eyes. “I’m truly sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”
The Jerinn’s claws twitched. “How you repay person you tried kill?”
Allunai winced. “You can’t, can you? I deserve to have Wonus kill me.”
Showa’s ears flicked up. “You let him?”
“I can’t do it. I’m too much of a coward.”
“I kill you if you want when we reach shore.” Showa’s tail beat the water.
“No, thank you.” Allunai scooted back. “Do you know how far south the cliffs are from the Jerinn islands?”
“Two-day walk.”
“You think I can survive on the cliffs? Is it easy to fish and find food down there?”
“No, waters there deep and harsh. Little fish. Fish like shallow, calm water. Few eatable plants there.”
“There’s nowhere else I can go. There’s no other place that doesn’t have people. No one will let me live near them. They all think I’m a whore and a witch.”
“Witch part right.”
Allunai closed her eyes. “I guess you’re right. My power is kind of like witchcraft. But I can’t get rid of it.”
“Too bad you human. If you Jerinn, we use you power. Volcanoes erupt all time and destroy homes and kill us. You move lava. But you backstabbing human.”
“With the way things are, I wish I was a Jerinn.” Allunai eased herself to her feet and splashed water on her face.
Showa stared at Allunai. “Human who want be Jerinn. I thinked I never hear that.”
“Being anyone or anything would be better than being me right now.” Allunai wiped the water out of her eyes.
Showa dragged herself out of the stream and cried out.
“How’s your leg?” Allunai asked. “Is it getting better?”
Showa wrapped her tail around her left leg. “No, human put lance in it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before? I could’ve looked at it.”
The Jerinn’s nostrils flared.
Allunai stepped back. “Never mind. Do you want me to look at it?”
Showa’s expression relaxed. “All right.” She ripped the bandages off, revealing a deep, blood-crusted wound.
Allunai frowned. “I’ll see what I can do.” She scraped the blood away and examined what she had to work with. Showa grimaced and clenched her claws while Allunai pulled the muscles together as best she could, stitched them together, and rewrapped the wound with fresh cloth strips that she tore off her blanket.
“How look?” Showa demanded.
“It should heal well,” Allunai whispered.
Showa snorted. “You not tell something. Not lie, human. I not allow again.”
Allunai swallowed. “I only really know about horses, but it looks like the soldiers really hurt your leg. I don’t think it’ll heal completely so that it’ll be as good as it was. You’ll probably have a limp for the rest of your life.”
The Jerinn snarled.
Allunai scrambled away.
“How I hunt?” Showa snapped.
“Sorry.”
“I hope all humans die!” Showa shouted.
“Please don’t yell,” Allunai said. “The Regal Guards will hear us if they’re around.”
The Jerinn took a few deep breaths. “They crippled me. I kill them! If they come, I kill them.”
“Hopefully they won’t.”
“I cannot swim home.”
“I’ll help you build a raft,” Allunai offered.
Showa watched Allunai for a minute. “Let us go.”
They hiked southeast for seven days. Traveling was difficult at times because the rock on the slopes was loose and unstable. Allunai explained that was a sign they were close to the shore. At least one earthquake assaulted the mountains along the coast every few years, so the rock never had the chance to settle and become firm. The trees were far more thin and stubby than their cousins inland. Allunai wondered if that was because larger trees fell more easily in quakes or the trees decided not to grow tall to increase their chances of survival when the earth trembled.
Showa suddenly stopped, ears erect.
“You hear something?” Allunai asked.
“Far away but sound like Wonus.”
Allunai’s stomach dropped a few feet. She looked around at the feeble trees. “We have to run. There are no hiding places around here.”
Allunai abandoned her pack, picked up Showa, and hurried up the mountain. The sight on the other side of it made Showa cheer. At the foot of the mountain was a jungle, which gave way to a beach of copper sand.
“That my island!” Showa said, bouncing on Allunai’s back.
Allunai gazed at the grey ocean that hammered the shore with waves yards high and spotted a faint brown streak on the horizon. “Are you sure that’s your island? Could it be an island that doesn’t belong to the Jerinns?”
“Jerinn islands only islands you see on shore.”
“Good, let’s get down there.”
They descended the mountain and trekked though the jungle that was thick with vines and ferns. The jungle canopy was filled with the shrieking of birds and monkeys, which irritated Showa and forced her to press her claws against her ears. Glancing at Showa’s creased expression, Allunai was thankful her hearing wasn’t as keen as a Jerinn’s. They arrived at the beach.
“Away from wretched animals,” Showa muttered. She climbed off of Allunai and trotted on four arms and right leg toward the water.
“Wait! We need to find something for you to float on,” Allunai called. She turned toward the jungle, and the blood fled from her face. The palm trees shook and snapped as Wonus plowed through them. “Showa, run!” She bolted after the Jerinn.
Showa looked over her shoulder at the monster and growled. “Stupid animals. I not hear him!”
Wonus burst out of the jungle and charged.
Allunai could swear she’d never run so fast in her life, but every time she looked back Wonus was closer. “Showa, get into the water!” She spun around and launched a wave of sand into Wonus’s face.
Wonus howled and skidded to a halt. Rubbing his eyes with one claw, he swung the other wildly.
Allunai turned and spotted Showa who stood, looking at the ocean. “What are you doing?”
“I cannot pass waves with leg,” Showa said.
“I’ll help you,” Allunai said. “But we need to find something that’ll float.” She grabbed Showa’s arm and dragged her back into the jungle. They crouched behind a fern.
“How find something and pass monster?” Showa asked.
Wonus blinked and began to search for a trail.
“Simple,” Allunai said. “Once we find something, I’ll distract Wonus while you get into the water. Then I’ll make a hole in the waves, so you can get past them and out into clear water.”
Showa’s jaw dropped. “You cannot deal with Wonus and water at same time.”
“I’ve a plan.”
Wonus raced to the jungle edge. He reared onto his back four needle legs and surveyed the forest. Showa and Allunai crawled deeper into the jungle.
They retreated behind a giant plant with leaves shaped like rounded triangles. Showa pointed to a mushroom coated log several yards away. They crept to the log and pried a strip off, which wasn’t too hard given it was rotted.
Wonus peered in their direction and dashed toward them, scorpion claws wide. Scooping up Showa, Allunai ran wide around Wonus toward the beach.
As Wonus neared them, Allunai dropped the wood and pitched wave after wave of sand and leaves at him. He slowed and shielded his eyes with his claws. Her foot struck an unseen rock in the sand, and she fell. Showa flew from Allunai’s arms and rolled a couple yards.
As Allunai pushed herself up, Wonus’s claw rammed her back into the dirt. He pressed harder; ribs cracked. Allunai screamed as pain blasted through her chest. His other claw came down and clamped onto Showa’s arm, lifting her into the air. Showa howled as the sharp teeth on the claw pierced her arm.
The Jerinn speared her free claws at Wonus’s claw, but they bounced ineffectively off his obsidian hard hide. Showa opened her mouth, but Wonus twisted his claw violently, bashing her against it. The Jerinn went limp.
“Showa!” Allunai’s thoughts erupted from her mind in every direction and summoned every air particle around to her. She quickly compressed them into a single point under Wonus’s stomach and released them. The air specks exploded upward, taking Wonus with them.
Showa landed beside Allunai. Wonus crashed into the trees on the edge of the forest, snapping them in half.
Allunai rolled to her feet, head awash with nausea and pain. She grabbed Showa, who breathed heavily, unconscious, arm reduced to a bloody stump, and ran into the ocean. Despite the great pain that racked her body, Allunai pushed the water away from her feet. When the water level reached her neck, she freed her grip on it and jumped up as the ocean closed about her.
Allunai tore a long strip of cloth from the bottom of her shirt and wrapped it tightly around Showa’s serious wound. She hoisted Showa onto her shoulder and swam toward the island.
When Allunai’s homeland was just a red sliver on the western horizon, Showa stirred and yelped. “My arm! It gone!”
“Wonus cut it off,” Allunai told her.
Moaning, Showa gently touched the stump of her arm for a while. “Leg and now arm...What next?”
“At least you’re alive.”
“I crippled,” Showa said.
“Won’t the other Jerinns help you?”
The Jerinn moaned. “Yes, but...”
“Look on the bright side,” Allunai said. “At least you’ve got somewhere to go.”
“Allunai, want come and stay with my kind?”
Allunai jumped and stared at Showa. “How hard did you hit your head? I’m a human.”
“No, you not my favorite. But you saved my life. Jerinns use you power. How about?”
“That’s crazy. The Jerinns would kill me before I even touched the beach.”
Showa gazed at the sky. “You right. You cannot walk on our island. There deserted islands nearby where you stay. I go Jerinns and try convince them about you. I tell about you power and how you helped me. I sure they agree. I come island and tell you their decision.”
Allunai looked toward the island and then back at the mainland. She knew she hadn’t killed Wonus by hurling him into the trees. At the most she had only knocked him out. Her choices were either a group of islands inhabited by poisonous creatures that loathed mankind or the mainland, the home of a monster that wanted her dead.
She was positive which was the better option.
“I’d like to see if the Jerinns will give me a chance,” she said. She swam toward the Jerinn island and hopefully a new home.
Copyright © 2008 by Leona Rigger
