Trojian Horse

Arien pulled Turo closer to him, his arms wrapped so tightly around her chest that he could feel her heart beating in her chest. He thought he felt more than one heart beating. She was awake, barely, still weak from her misadventures. They needed to be as quiet as they could possibly be to avoid detection. The bleeding on her head had stopped and the wound somehow seemed to be almost completely healed. It made no sense but he was grateful she was regaining consciousness because he doubted he could have carried her much farther. There was finally a moment to appreciate how he engineered their escape from the slimy, poisonous gaping jaws of certain death. He breathed a first sigh of relief although he quickly reprimanded himself. He had to be alert, they were not free yet.

Turo began moaning rather too loudly as she started to regain full consciousness. His hand quickly covering her mouth to muffle out the sounds but it was too late. The noise seemed to echo and amplify as it reverberated on the cave walls. As if in response, an echo of falling rocks made its way back to them. A drop of sweat trickled down Arien’s forehead disappearing in Turo’s silky smooth black hair. He reached for the blood-soaked blade that lay at his feet, holding it tightly poised to strike. The echoes terminated in silence and after an uncomfortably long period of waiting Arien felt convinced that maybe they had indeed managed their great escape.

“Can you move?” he whispered into Turo’s ear.

Turo nodded her acknowledgement. She was still feeling a little woozy so Arien provided support as she got onto her feet and she leaned on him as they walked further into the cave.

“Do you know where we’re going?” she asked. She groaned as she walked. The pain was slowly dissipating and her mind was becoming clearer.

“Not really,” Arien answered honestly. “I didn’t really think that far. I’m hoping to find the other way out.”

“What!? How do you know there is another way out?”

“Let’s just say I just have a strong feeling.”

“I hope you’re right because if they find us we’re dead. I’m too weak to fight them off.”

“Hopefully you won’t have to,” he answered. “I did just save both our lives, you know.”

“You should have saved yourself. Now we are both likely going to die,” she said flatly. She seemed genuinely annoyed with him.

“So, I was just supposed to leave you behind to die?” he asked, stunned by her callousness.

“Yes,” she responded bluntly.

They walked on in silence. She was limping gingerly at first but as they walked on her injuries seemed to heal at a miraculous pace. It was uncanny but he was grateful. They stood a better chance if she was even half of her normally imposing self. Soon, she was leading them through the labyrinth occasionally casting a reproachful look at Arien for lagging. It seemed to him that she had formulated a plan for how they would get out of there though she was not sharing. Time just seemed to slip away in the dimness of the cave. For all he knew they had been stuck in the cave for a day, maybe two. Turo jumped at every sound that echoed through the cave while Arien seemed incredibly calm under the circumstances. It was a strange reversal of roles that annoyed Turo. She genuinely was curious why he did not seem panicked that they could be attacked again. The sound of flowing water rewarded their hope. They found themselves at the edge of a wide forceful river which flowed from one end of the vast dimly lit cavern to the other. An underground river had to lead somewhere, hopefully outside to the light, to freedom. This was their way out.

“You think we can swim out?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“How far do you think it goes before it reaches the outside?”

“I don’t know.”

“Okay. And what if there’s a waterfall on the other side?”

“It has to flow out at some point. Whatever the case I’m going. Unless you want to stay here and ask questions?” She stared at him, daring him to ask another question.

“Lead on,” he said, motioning for her to go first.

She lowered herself into the icy cold water, delicately, then held onto a rock on side of the bank struggling against the strength of the torrent. She counted in her head then she suddenly took a big gulp, slipped beneath the surface of the water, and allowed herself to be carried by the river underneath the cavern wall. He was genuinely concerned about what lay on the other side of the wall but he followed her example nonetheless casting one last glance into the cavern, taking in huge gulp of air before allowing himself to be swallowed by the river and drifting toward the light.

They were under the light for so long that his lungs were burning for a fresh supply, begging him to breathe when he suddenly burst out into the bright light. He pushed himself up above the water and took in a huge gulp of air. He heard Turo shouting for him to grab onto some overhanging branches, which he subsequently did and used to drag himself onto the bank. Daytime and the musical sounds of the forest were welcome after their ordeal though he felt it was more his ordeal rather than theirs. He could once again revel in the beauty in the forest before it started to scare him again. He would be happy for the privilege to be frightened by the forest again.

They lay flat on their backs on the bank for a while, catching their breath and staring into the reddish-blue sky. Arien cast a glance at Turo who was staring blankly into the sky, with what seemed like a face full of relief and maybe a hint of gratitude.

“Let’s go. We have lost much time,” she suddenly said perhaps becoming aware of his roving gaze. She rose to her feet.

“Yenu, yenu,(yes, yes)” Arien replied getting to his feet.

She led the way into the forest and he followed. He wondered how she always seemed to know where they were going. They had left the swamp behind them and he could not have been more glad. Sweat was soon dripping off his forehead as he was caught once again in the stifling heat of the jungle. He noticed a little blood on his chest and calmly wiped it off. It wasn’t his own. He looked at the gash he had received on his stomach in the cave to find that it had completely healed and disappeared, leaving behind no trace of the ordeal apart from the partially bloodied knife he was still clutching in his hand. Most of the blood on it had been washed off in the river.

“Turo, your knife,” he said, holding out his hand for her to take the knife.

“Oh, I wondered where that had gotten to,” she said taking it from his hand and placing it in the sheath on her belt.

“How much do you remember about what happened?” he asked.

“Questions again,” she said still walking deeper into the forest.

Arien kept silent and walked on. At length she broke the silence.

“Well, not much. I remember something grabbing my leg in the swamp, I tried to fight back but I got knocked out and next thing I know I was waking up in the cave with you next to me. Don’t really recall anything before that. And now here we are.”

“Oh,” was Arien’s reply.

They carried on walking but it seemed to her like she was missing something.

“How exactly did you get me out of there Arien?” Turo asked.

Arien was glad for some conversation as opposed to listening to the sound of his own breathing and the forest that had begun to unnerve him yet again. Something about the way Turo spoke to him betrayed a kind of confusion and genuine curiosity with no hint of annoyance.

“Well, I followed the trail of the beasts to the cave--”

“They’re called noka,” she interjected. “You have no idea how lucky you are to be alive right now.”

“On the contrary, I do. I knew I had to do something. I could not let you simply die. I had to save you or die trying.”

She let out a sigh. Arien thought that was probably her way of showing disapproval in his actions. He refused to be agitated.

“The trail gave me an indication of what I was dealing with. I could not have been really prepared for what I found but I had an idea. The first thing I knew I had to do was lure them out in the open so I could grab you.”

“Them?”

“Yes, there were two. I think that area was a nesting ground, one female and the other male, which I was not expecting that but I had to adapt my plan as I went along.”

“You actually had a plan?” Turo asked. She giggled to herself. Arien thought her face lit up beautifully when she was happy.

“The female that tried to grab me knew I was out there so she figured with a well laid trap they could get two for the price of one. Somehow, they knew I would come for you. So, I had to be quick once the diversion was set. It is also fortunate that I found your blade where I did.”

“Go on.” She said.

“Well, I made something that looked like me from branches and reeds and put some of my own clothing over it hoping that the smell and the noise would lure the noka out. It worked.”

“That’s what happened to your upper garment! What noise though?”

“I whistled.”

“What is that?” she asked.

Arien demonstrated by whistling for her. She stopped and watched him curiously as he whistled, intrigued. She pressed his lips together trying hard to emulate the ways his lips and tongue moved. She failed miserably a couple of times and eventually gave up, frustrated.

“Yes, that’s the reaction I get a lot of the time so I figured it would confuse the…noka. It’s not that hard. I’ll teach you if you like.”

“Where did you learn to do that?”

“I don’t actually know. It unsettled the noka enough.”

She nodded then turned around and carried on walking. He stopped talking and followed assuming she was uninterested in hearing the rest of the story.

“Well, carry on,” she said.

“Oh. I went to the top of the hill, whistled, and threw stones at the mouth of the cave until the noka came out. They both came out. Somehow, they slithered off in the direction of the dummy I had built. Maybe they couldn’t really tell the difference between that and my own movements from afar. I slid down the side of the hill and ran toward you. The noka attacked the dummy and were too distracted to notice me at first.”

“I think I felt something trickle down my mouth at some point,” she added rather distractedly as if she were vaguely remembering some distant memory.

“Yenu. There was a lot of blood. Some of it probably went down your mouth. Now that you mention it maybe that’s what did it.”

“Blood? Whose blood? Did what?” she asked slightly panicked. She spun around and glared at him demanding an answer immediately.

“You were badly. There was a big gash on the top of your head and a few scratches all over but it wasn’t all your blood or mine. It was the noka’s blood. It was all over me and it probably got onto you too when I grabbed you.”

“Wait, what? I am very confused. How did that happen?!”

“Strange that such beasts can be capable of anything useful,” Arien commented.

“You’re lucky it’s not their venom you met with. Now tell me what happened!”

“Anyway, I saw how quickly they moved so I knew that we would not be able to outrun them especially since I had to carry you.” Turo looked ashamed at the mention of carrying her, as if it was beneath her to be carried for any reason. He continued. “I decided that the best way out was in. Further in. So I carried you into the cave but I think at that moment the noka figured out that they had been tricked or one of them may have seen me carrying you into the cave, I don’t know but the next thing I could hear them slithering back into the cave. Slowly and as silently as they could manage waiting for us to give our position away.”

“I would not have done that for you. I would have left you,” she said. The way she said it made Arien think she was ashamed that she wouldn’t have done the same for him. He was not going to let that stop him though because he was desperate to tell someone all that had transpired.

“Well, I’ll try to make sure my life is never in danger so you’re never faced with that problem.” Arien replied. “Anyway, I can’t explain it but right then I had a strong feeling that the only way away from the noka was in. I knew we couldn’t outrun them but with enough time maybe we could evade them.”

“You think in a very different way. Maybe that’s why they want you.”

“Okay. They?” he asked, rather hopefully.

“You’ll see,” came the reply. One that Arien was fully expecting.

“And what happened next?”

“I carried you into the cave as fast as I could then when I found a suitable place I hid you in a narrow opening in the wall and whistled again to lure the noka away from you. I had to even the odds so I decided I would have to kill at least one of them to give you a chance to recover and for both of us to escape.”

Turo listened silently as they walked on.

“They both came at me but I just kept on running until I reached a fork in the path. I hoped this would divide them and I was right. I think they couldn’t see me so maybe they thought we were running together and had separated to confuse them. The female came after me and our battle began. It managed to cut me with one of its fangs on my stomach. It was a nasty gash that began to bleed though it wasn’t too deep and there was no venom. We fought. I knew I had to kill it quickly before the other noka came back because then I would be outnumbered. That’s when it happened.”

“What happened?” she asked.

“I was struggling to pierce the scales of the noka and its long body was covered in them. Even the bottom was covered in scales. It just seemed there was no way to defeat it and I could hear the other noka slide back to join its companion. I think I wished in my head I had a longer and sharper blade to pierce its skin and the next strike which I aimed just below its head did the trick.”

“Did what?” she asked.

“I plunged the blade and this time it went in. All the way in and out the other side of its head. If I hadn’t seen it myself I wouldn’t have believed it happened. I’m sure I felt the blade grow in my hand and I saw it grow longer then shrink again. I must have stabbed a vital organ, maybe the brain or the heart because the next thing it dropped to the floor instantly, and went limp.”

Turo stopped immediately and looked at Arien.

“You are telling the truth Arien?” she asked solemnly.

“Yes, of course. I knew you wouldn’t believe me, that’s why I didn’t want to tell you.”

“And the other noka?” she asked. They had stopped moving, she staring into his eyes as if she hoped his eyes would confirm the truth to her.

“Well, the other noka came back at around the same time I killed its companion. It wasn’t happy. It lashed out at me but I managed to stab it just above its eye and I ran out of there to find you. It never followed me out. It was badly injured and even though it was alive I felt it wouldn’t follow me. He was in mourning. When I got back to you I found you were recovering and I just needed to make sure we would not be attacked again. The rest I think you remember.”

Turo remained silent for a while looking into Arien’s eyes. Arien wondered if she would believe him. He maintained her gaze, beginning to feel more uncomfortable but hoping that somehow, she would see the truth in his eyes.

“It is true then,” she said eventually. She was a little shocked but she was genuinely convinced Arien had told her the truth. There was a confusing blend of feelings welling up inside of her.

“What is true?”

“This is a blade of intention.”

“What does that mean?”

“Stories I heard when I was growing up. A long dead relative of mine is said to have been given one sword and two small blades imbued with great power.”

“What kind of power?”

“The power to understand intention. The sword was the most powerful of the three but the blades, one of which is holstered in my belt were said to have the power to grow sharper and longer depending on the intention of the wielder as they struck out. It is also said that only a select number of beings are able to wield the power of the blades. I have no idea what happened to the other blade and the sword. One day I will go and look for them.”

“How do you know this?”

“It means...you. Arien… That’s why they want you. I don’t understand…you have managed to use the blade in a way I have struggled to do my entire life,” she said.

Turo slumped to the ground and stared blankly into the forest. She seemed to be processing everything Arien had told her and a lot more. Her hand instinctively rested on the hilt of the blade.

“I don’t understand what’s happening. What are you talking about? Will you tell me who wants me? What does this blade have to do with me?”

“Possibly everything. Possibly nothing.”

“That’s not helpful,” he answered. His eyebrows inched closer together.

“There are so many things you know nothing of Arien. So many. Now I’m beginning to understand that there are many things I do not understand either,” she said. Turo felt genuinely felt shocked by Arien’s revelations. It was a chiding moment for her.

“I thank you Arien.” She placed her hand on his cheek then quickly removed it. Arien felt slightly unnerved by her behaviour. Gratitude in any form was unusual for her.

“What does the sword do?” he asked.

“It is said to possess the power of the shorter blades, sharper than any material in the known universe. It is said to be able to cut through anything even time.”

“How do you cut through time?”

“I don’t know.”

“I--”

“I really don’t know Arien. Really.”

That silenced him. She turned and they continued walking. From that point, onwards she took care to be more patient with Arien, a change which he did not fully understand but was grateful for it. They walked on for several hours in sparse forest then suddenly proclaimed that they had almost reached their destination.

“Where is there?”

“The village of the elders. We are on the outer territory of their land.”

“Okay, and what do I have to do with these elders?”

“The elders will answer all your questions Arien, many of them I really don’t know the answers to.”

Arien contented himself with her reply. She had actually answered him politely which was a good reason to be patient until whatever she brought him here for had happened. They walked down a clearly marked path winding down along the side of a hill and he could see smoke rising from the valley floor in the general direction they seemed to be going. He guessed that the source of the smoke was their destination.

“I do have one question though?” she asked suddenly.

“Go on?” Arien said.

“How did you know which of the noka was female and which one was male? And how could you tell the male was mourning? In fact why does it seem like you were somehow in their heads, you knew what they would do. I can’t figure that out.”

“That’s easy. They told me,” he replied.