Lost Empire (13 page)

A long, thin tail crept up from behind its head and swayed in the air, slowly rippling like some sort of snake. “You’re not my problem,” shouted Eric, pointing a finger toward the baby creature. He turned away from it and looked around. “I need to find a way down from here,” he mumbled, but when he started to walk away, the creature began chirping incessantly. Trying to ignore it, he kept his back turned, refusing to make any eye contact. The moment he walked away, the chirping stopped.

That’s better
.
Now, where do I even start to
— A light nudge in the middle of his back pulled him from his thoughts. He sighed loudly, not even wanting to turn around at first. Then an idea hit him.
Kind of mean, but I can’t have this creature following me around
. He took a few more steps as he counted down from ten. “Three...two...one.” Eric whirled around, shouting and waving his hands in the air like a madman. The little creature dropped its head all the way to the ground, but at the same time held its back end up in the air as its snakelike tail waggled back and forth. It was acting like a...dog. Eric smacked an open palm to his forehead and tilted his head back.
By the Gods...it thinks we are playing a game
!

“
Shoo! Shoo!” he said, flicking the back of his hands toward it. “Go back to your nest and—”
And what? Starve
? Eric crossed his arms over his chest and frowned at the little creature. Feelings of guilt and sadness washed over him as he watched it gaze around at the trees. Its remarkably flexible tail rippled with waves as it looked back at him. With its head tilted slightly, that long, forked tongue lashed out across its forehead and eyes once more, then retracted with the same viper-like speed. Except for the constant blinking, it just sat there, still as a statue.

This poor creature was a victim of circumstance, similar to himself. Being born was its only crime, and now it had no mother to care for it...because of him. He knew it was a kill or be killed situation and really hadn’t had a choice. But still...the trusting creature was never going to be able to survive on its own. That much was clear. Who knew if it had enough instincts to to hunt its own food or even find water?
Is there even anything to hunt up here
?

Eric sighed, knowing in his heart what he had to do. After all, he singlehandedly orphaned this beast, so it was now his responsibility. “All right then, come on, but understand that this arrangement will not be permanent. For now, let’s explore a little bit and see what’s up here.”
For now, I’m afraid you might be my only friend
. The creature eagerly trotted after him with its snakelike tail waving high in the air.

****

Athel leaned heavily on Jacob with her arm draped across his shoulder while his was wrapped around her waist. Together they limped up the beach toward the odd-looking trees. They found a spot with patches of grass mixed in with the white sand. Jacob gently set her down on a patch, then began to rub her shoulders vigorously. She was cold as ice and still hadn’t uttered a single word. “Wait here,” he said while his eyes darted around. At least now that they were on slightly higher ground, he could get a better feel for their surroundings.

The scenery to the east was not much different from this vantage point. Beyond these odd-looking trees there appeared to be nothing but open field and long, dead grass for a good long stretch. He could still see the mountain range far off in the distance; to the north was a wall of thick black-barked trees with large yellow and green leaves fanning out in all directions. The suddenness of the living wall reminded him of the Mogan Forest, as if the wild trees had somehow been planted in a perfect row. He thought it best to stay clear of that for now. “I’ll be right back. We’re going to be fine, you’ll see.” Athel just sat there, staring off into the distance while saying nothing. She was not even shivering any more, which he found very disturbing.

Jacob stumbled back down the beach and scanned the water as wave after wave rolled up onto the sand. He really wasn’t even sure what he was looking for.
There has to be something we can use
. He could see bits and pieces of wood both on the beach and still floating in the water. It was clear these broken planks were all that remained of the ship.
I can use these to start a fire
.
I have to hurry or Athel will...no. Don’t even think about that. I won’t lose her twice
!

He waded out into the freezing water as rolling waves crawled up his shins, their icy touch biting into to his already numb legs. But he didn’t care. As cold as he was, Athel was much worse, and he needed to collect these pieces of wood. With his arms full of completely saturated planks, he headed back toward the beach. He quickly found that making his frozen legs function, now with an armful of wet wood, was not going to be all that easy. Each labored step took a tremendous amount of concentration as frigid water assaulted the backs of his calves.

Even once his feet were on land, he found walking only slightly easier, as the sand seemed to pull his feet down with each perilous step. He became distracted by a slight movement seen from the corner of his eye. He only glanced at first, then all the wood he had been carrying spilled from his arms and scattered around his feet. He resembled a stringed puppet limping along as his barely working legs did their best to run toward the leather bag rocking back and forth on the edge of the water.

He nearly overran it in his desperate stumbling, then turned back quickly and dropped down to his knees. They sank deep into the moist, cold sand as frozen fingers fumbled around the leather cord. “Oh please...please,” he mumbled while clawing away at it. He finally pinned the bag between his legs while using his teeth to pull on the cord. The tiny pop of the knot coming loose sounded as sweet as any music he had ever heard, but he was not about to relax before seeing what was inside.

At first he scooped around the inside with a numb hand before quickly losing patience. He turned the bag over onto the sand while mumbling a little prayer to himself. Wrapped packets of jerky, nuts, and raisins and a completely ruined loaf of bread that was nothing more than a ball of wet mush fell onto the sand, but he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when a small cloth bag hit the sand—the same white bag that should have been in every leather sack. It was clear its contents were still intact, but he needed to see them anyway. He pulled the drawstring and peeked inside. Relief washed over him as his eyes fell on a small tube of oil next to the flint and steel.

He hastily scooped it all back into the leather bag along with quite a bit of sand and started back up the hill. Athel still remained seated just as he had left her. In fact, it did not seem as if she had moved an inch. “Athel, look. Look what I found!” he said, hoping to get some kind of response from her. She did little more than blink while staring off at nothing. “Here, there is some food in here. I’m going back for the wood. We’re going to make a fire, OK? And you...you’re going to be just fine.”

Now a bit more limber and moving better than before, he was able to scamper down the hill and collect the wood he originally dropped. It was completely saturated and nearly dripping, but with the oil and any kindling he might find under the trees he was sure it would still do the trick. He scampered back up with his first armful and dropped the pile before Athel, who didn’t even so much as look at him. “Just hold on, OK? I’ll grab a few more and we’ll get started. We can do this. Everything is going to be fine.”

He darted back down the hill, picking up the random pieces he had dropped from his first load. His heart was pumping hard from all the frantic effort, but it made him feel good. Alive. And although he was far from warm, he was limber now and moving well. When he made his way back up the hill he nearly dropped the second load as well. He could see Athel moving the wood around, forming crossing patterns with the pieces so the flames could breathe. She was moving very slowly...but moving. A good sign, to be sure.

“
Here, here. Let me help you with that,” he said while gently pushing her hands back. She was still cold as ice, and he needed to get this fire started as soon as possible. “Just relax. I’ve got this.” He continued crossing the wood planks over each other in sets of two, soon completing the miniature tower. He then scooped up all the small twigs lying around the area. They were cold and still a little damp, but were certainly dryer than the larger wood. He spread them out evenly along the tower’s base.

With a few twists he removed the cork from the tube of oil, then dribbled it along the twigs. He hurried and gathered the flint and steel. Holding the flint firmly with what he determined to be the sharpest edge facing the wood, he struck it with the thin steel bar. It only took a few strikes before several orange sparks flared out onto the oiled wood. Within a minute he had a few small flames licking the much damper wood. It hissed and crackled defiantly at first, but before long they had a warm, comfortable fire to sit next to.

“
Come on. Sit closer,” Jacob urged as he scooted Athel in, then began rubbing her shoulders and arms again. “Common, we have to get you warmed up.” He knew he was babbling on, but didn’t know what else to do. She had become so distant, almost as if shock were setting in. He just wanted her to hear the constant steady voice of a friend. He didn’t know if that would help anything or not, but figured it certainly couldn’t hurt. He knelt down behind her, placing his chest firmly against her back. When he wrapped both arms around her tight muscular stomach, he felt her begin to shiver for the first time. He vigorously rubbed up and down across her arms and shoulders, trying to generate as much heat as possible.

The fire popped and fizzled as the two sat there in silence. Jacob watched on as tiny glowing sparks rose high into the air. Watching them float off before eventually winking out, he couldn’t help the greedy thought that popped into his head. Here in this strange land he knew nothing about, he was very thankful not to be alone.

****

Eric moved along cautiously with his new friend in tow. The sheer innocence of this creature was simply astounding. While Eric was trying to move along silently, at least until he was sure they weren’t sharing this platform with anyone or anything, the young reptile bounded around him in circles as if it were all some sort of game. Scolding the creature only made it jump around even more, as it seemed to mistake scolding for attention.

But the grass-covered platform was not really all that large, and it only took a few hours to cover the terrain. Almost every inch was covered with some form of vegetation, mostly grass, but there were several patches of odd-looking weeds as well. He decided it was best to avoid them, seeing as how he knew nothing of this land. Almost anything could be considered dangerous.

The two of them walked clear around the edge of the stone platform as startled rabbits jumped from behind bushes and rocks.
Well, at least there is food up here
. Eric had to virtually force himself to look over the edge and see if there was any way to climb down. The sheer drop into nothingness made him weak in the knees. It was the same view from each angle, nothing but a long drop to where he couldn’t even see the bottom.
Well, this is just great
. There were two particularly large trees which he could not identify. If it weren’t for the oddly enormous leaves, he might have thought they were oaks.

One large gray peak stood up through the middle of the stone platform. The stone peak was hollowed out on one side, forming a shallow cave. It would make for a good place to rest for now, at least until he could figure out how to get down from here. The ceiling was too low for him to stand up straight, so hunching down low, Eric crept inside as his lizard friend eagerly followed. The walls were pitch-black and looked to be made of some sort of crystallized coal. They were rigid and almost sharp to the touch as Eric lightly rubbed his hand along them. The ground was loose and soft, most likely sand, but the light was too low for him to be sure. He also took note of two sharp stalactites hanging down from the cold, black ceiling. Both were towards the side of the wall and he wasn’t likely to bump either, but if he ever forgot about them and cut himself open up here in the middle of nowhere...

Sitting down with his legs crossed, he leaned forward, resting his chin in one palm. The little creature boldly moved in and began sniffing around his chest. Eric jerked back a bit, not quite ready to trust the wild beast just yet. Although it was very young, a full set of white sharp teeth promised it could do some serious damage if it suddenly got an idea.

“
Go away. Stop it,” he said while pushing gently against its head. Even though it hadn’t shown any aggression at all towards him, he didn’t want to set off any primal instincts by moving in a way that could be mistaken as hostility. He stopped pushing and just dipped his shoulder, using it as a barrier while the creature kept sniffing away. “Look, see. I don’t have any food for you.” He held his hands out wide to prove he was telling the truth.

The creature sniffed his open hands one at a time, then backed away looking a bit disappointed. “Believe me, I wish I had something to eat.” A slight growl of his stomach backed up his statement. “Besides, I don’t even know what you eat anyway.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he remembered how he got here in the first place, and what was almost certainly the reason this creature’s mother had brought him here. “On second thought, I think I know exactly what you eat, and that is no longer an option.”