Chapter 11 - Llallania

Memories of Artonella's Llallanian trial as a Primary and his acceptance into the Gavian space programme. -

Chapter 11   Llallania

"What should I take to Llallania?" I said

"Travel light, it's warm there, the fruit is plentiful from the many trees, the water is as sweet as wine from the mountain rivers and if you do get stuck the people there are generous and will give you the shirt off their backs to help you" my Father replied, he had taken the trial in his youth, but had not passed. He had memories of Llallania from the old days.

"But what one thing should I take?" ('Trialists are only allowed to take one item with them'.)

"Take a knife, a good knife and from that you can make a spear. And with the spear you can defend yourself from most things, then when you've established yourself you can use that spear to hunt. Hunt and kill, feed yourself and then you will survive the long journey ahead." He said making his arm throw an imaginary spear, his eyes locked on to mine for a moment and he wore a serious fearful look, making me worried.

'From the most southerly peninsula of the Gavian mainland we rowed hard out into the open ocean towards the most northerly extent of Llallania' Artonella told Felix 'The crowds of people on the headland waved and cheered as our boat, the last one of eight went out. It was a long trip just to reach Llallania, about the equivalent of hundred Earth miles and some boats did not even make it. Each of us were Primaries taking the trial, the final part of our training. To pass the test was a passport into space. None of us knew each other and we all had been kept separate beforehand on purpose, so no teamwork or sharing of items could take place. When we were clear of the land, without speaking we raised the small sail and this sped up our lumbering vessel slightly, easing our journey and helping us on our way. Luckily I was with sensible ones and all we had in mind to do was row and sail straight and south'

"Stay away from the open areas" my father said.

'We rowed and rowed for hours, until our arms ached and so our hands were rough with blisters, we rowed until we saw the thin line of land ahead that was Llallania. In the middle of that stretch of water we rested, letting the boat wallow and it drifted on the current, loosing direction, dragging away from the south. Then when we had regained our energy we carried on and that thin line of land became fuller, with more features. The sail flapped hopelessly as the light started to fall and it wasn't until early evening that the hull slid on to the sand of the wide beach. In my mind I was so pleased, that we had made it, the first stage at least'

"Remember you're on your own, this is a solo effort. You won't get awarded if you collaborate." My fathers words rang in my mind.

'As I said it was almost dark when we got there, or as dark as it gets on our planet as two of the three moons were fully up, giving plenty of purple half light. Some of the twelve crew ran off straight away heading due south over the top of the beach onto the open plains behind. Most held back like me, getting their bearings and resting before they moved off. I like everyone else was going to head south, but skirting around the edge of the plain by wooded areas, this would take longer as it was a less direct route, but it would give protection and I knew because I had read about it that there were berries there too

"Don't rush, you'll have plenty of time" my Fathers words sounded. "Better to take a year than to hurry into it and make mistakes"

'The following morning the sun rose suddenly, giving a wall of high burning heat and the beach became an instant exposed trap. The bulk of people fell into the suns trap and moved off, but I hung around, just taking the heat, waiting and a couple of others did too. So all but three of us had not started the long trip, the rest had unthinkingly wandering on to the large open plain. An open plain is an exposed and dangerous place, subject to attack, particularly from the air! Standing on top of a high grassy sand dune as I pondered what to do I watched them, my crew mates race across the flat, running in a straight line, not bothering to zig zag for protection. Their shapes became small as they reached the middle distance of over an Earth mile away. The group of six were half way across the plain when 'they' appeared, a large flock of Oradaradoo. They seemed to come from nowhere, as they silently approached low in the sky, but had obviously been waiting somewhere, watching us, ready to strike. Then as they got close to their proposed victims their loud shrieking calls became loud, alarming and disturbing, they circled above the runners ready to swoop. 'In terms of your birds of Earth', Arty told Felix, 'they are like large Ravens, but with big powerful beaks with stripes of colour' One of the trialists watching with me went to help as he had a ready made spear with him, but the other held him back.'

'At first the birds circled over them in tighter and tighter circles, pecking as they came and this slowed the group almost to a halt. I saw them form a ring of defence, some holding up spears, some waving knives, one swinging a long sword. The group was sustaining the aerial assault though and managed to crawl on until one of them got injured, a streak of blood oozed out from his arm. Then the birds, forgetting themselves in excitement changed their tac and they attacked even more furiously, some now on the ground running at the group in three or four step approaches and retreats. As the sudden and horrific event unfolded it seemed some would make it and some would not. One of the six ran back towards us in a sprint and got almost halfway before he was noticed. Two of the larger birds followed him, pushing into his back with their beaks and claws trying to make him fall, but he stumbled on. As he approached the guy with me threw his spear at the Oradaradoo and it narrowly missed the lead bird, making it stall, bark and protest. This gave the runner just enough time to get clear of them and he threw himself down on the sand as he came, taking cover behind a sand dune.'

'The four of us now watched in horror as the remaining five soldiered on, one of whom was injured. More birds had joined and now there was a massive swarm of them above the group and all around them on the ground. All I now could see was a mass of black wings and tail feathers. It seemed the group had had it, there were screams and shrieks from the birds as they were hacked into and shouts from the trialists as they were pecked and clawed at. As they slowly moved on, one was left behind, he lay on the ground holding a knife up with his uninjured arm, blood streaked across him. He slashed out wildly at them as the birds divided. His slashing did not last long and soon all we heard were his last cries of death'.

'Of the remaining four of them only two managed to get to the other side, to the protection of the meadow lands and beginnings of the mountain foothills. It seemed to me now I was in a group of four too, although I wasn't supposed to be in a group at all and I sadly knew they would weaken me as they were already looking to me for guidance. I knew we were being monitored and watched from the mainland and by occasional hoverjets overhead, so I struck out around the edge of the plain, showing no mercy for the one who had come back injured or the other two who looked confused and bewildered, not knowing quite what to do. We all had felt afraid and sick by what we had seen, but I knew I had to put it out of my mind and move on'

'Although I had prepared for this event throughout my training I still had never felt so hungry, so as soon as I got to the woodland on the edge of the plain I started looking for the small fruit berries I had researched. There were some on the low lying branches of bushes, but not many. Then I searched for a sapling trunk from which to fashion a spear. There was an array of trees to choose from and as I trudged through the high undergrowth I was aware of being watched. I carried on about my business ignoring the sounds of footsteps behind me. There were a clutch of three suitable saplings and remembering what I had rehearsed with my father I started cutting into the base of the trunk with my knife, using the long heavy blade as an axe. Then a voice behind me said :

"Why aren't you going on the trail?" it said. I ignored it and carried on chopping. "You'll never get anywhere at that rate" it went on and then I heard the person move off. After carefully cutting off the now detached trees branches to make it as symmetrical as possible, I cut the base into a sharp point. I knew it wouldn't be much good as a throwing spear, but could be used in defence at close quarters. Hefting it in my hand it felt good and well balanced. It was worth it as once I held it I felt much safer and now I had two weapons, unlike everyone else. Sweating and dry mouthed I moved off around the edge of the plain looking for flint stone to attach to the head. Later that day standing in a clearing I practiced throwing my newly made spear, it flew well, but was quite heavy and only suitable for shorter throws. As I practiced I could hear the shuffling of feet again and turning saw the other three, one of whom was injured.

"We need to split up" I said

"We'd be better off sticking together" the lead one exasperated.

"Well you know the rules" I replied

"Yes I know, but you saw what happened back there" he replied desperately.

"Just keep away from the plains and clearings then"

"How can we, it's all plains, haven't you seen!" Another argued aggressively. I looked at them sharpening the blunted tip of the spear, looking at the injured one.

"How's your arm?"

"The bleeding has stopped and I can walk so..." He said wincing, clutching his bloodied forearm, moving towards me. I nodded reassuringly and then moved off without them, heading for the mountain foothills. It was the first time I was on my own and the landscape of Llallania seemed alien and strange, there was a constant chattering of birds from the upper branches of the tall trees that loomed up sporadically and the light was forever changing. I walked quickly so as to pull clear of the others, I didn't want to be disqualified for collaboration, I was serious about getting into space, I wanted to get on the sacred space programme. Soft lowlands changed to the hard rocky reaches of the beginnings of the slopes of the mountains under my feet and very soon I heard the gurgling of a small mountain stream. I drank and drank and drank until I could drink no more, over filling myself with water as I did not know when I would drink again. Looking behind me I saw in the distance the other three making slow progress and beyond them on the open plain the remainders of the three unlucky ones who hadn't made it, their bodies hacked to bits by the Oradaradoo. Above me now some of them swooped and called, shrieking and barking threateningly. I waved my spear at them in defiance and threw a rock up at the horrible scavengers, but it didn't put them off; I had to keep moving.'

"How did you know where you were going?" Felix asked from the comfort of his twentieth century armchair, taking a sip of tea.

"I was using the position of the moons, they gave me bearing, but each day they took on a new formation, so the trick was to remember what day it was and relate their position to it. Also I had studied the maps of the Llallanian landscape and knew most of its general features." Artonella said taking a large gulp of bulls blood red wine. "It was the best time of my life and the worst time".

'I kept to the low of the mountains looking for a pass through them to the other side of their range, to the south side, following the river bed sometimes and always looking up to the sky to check for those treacherous birds, although I knew they weren't the only predator. There were a number of wild animals that inhabited the untamed and unforgiving continent. An animal similar to your lion roamed this area, preying on the herds of cattle that stampeded the open plains, though fortunately there weren't many of these. But I knew of I met one I would be no match for it. That first full day it got so hot so very quickly and a hunger was setting in too and I knew I couldn't stay long in the mountains as they offered nothing, they were a hard barren place. Swirls of warm air burnt me unabated in blasts, making my clothes seem totally inappropriate, making me feel feeble. I kept walking later into that day, ever fearful of being watched or attacked and as I walked I gathered suitable small round stones for throwing.

Across the flat of the pass that I happened upon there was a sandy track, with wiry vegetation dotted here and there that widened, it looked almost artificially made, but was in fact a natural causeway. Either side of it were small pools of water of sparkling clear blue that looked so pure and appetising. I felt hot and dry from walking and wanted to dive in to one. Sliding down a dusty bank to one, I stood up to my knees in the icy cold water, drinking from it as I did, it felt cooling and refreshing. It wasn't long before I was happily swimming, bobbing around like a fish, the saltiness lifting me up. I had checked and there was no one around that I could see, so naively I left my clothes and weapons on the bank. After a while I felt something nibbling at my feet, I thought nothing of it and just shook it free, it tickled actually and wasn't unpleasant. Then the nibbling became the tugging of a bigger mouth. Getting to my feet in the water I looked down at what was swimming around me. There were shoals of sharp toothed fish in great numbers, I froze in shock and some excitement. As I did a figure calmly walked along the causeway, it was a young woman and she was carrying a well crafted spear, it was Alouisa. She stopped to look at me swimming naked and laughed.'

"You'd better get out of there, do you know what's in there?" She said

"I've just found out" I replied smiling at having been tickled, thinking of the fish I wanted to grab and eat one I was so hungry, I wanted to eat one raw. I had no way of cooking any meat without a fire, it would've had to have been raw.

"Have you read nothing about this place?" She said telling me off, but in a caring, motherly way, still looking at my naked body. Then she saw my weapons and clothes and started twirling my spear around, making a hole with the tip in the ground.

"Hey can you leave that alone please"

"Its not bad, not bad, but I ought to take your clothes really" she said tauntingly holding up my brown shirt and trousers. I smiled at her, pretending not to care, cowering under the water, she shrugged, laughing and then was gone.

'I didn't see her again until nearly the end of the trial, some months later, by that time, if you were still alive you were most likely to stay alive as you would have mastered the art of survival. It didn't by any means mean you would find your way to the tower, getting lost was still high on the agenda and the forever changing landscape a continual test. Of the ninety six trialists over half had been killed, were lost or were forced to retire by returning to the beached boats and by just rowing off the continent. The person I saw next was Oussez, the young man who had got injured running back from the Oradaradoo attack on the second day. We bumped into each other by the banks of the mighty river Lasara as I was working out a way to cross it. I knew I couldn't sail or swim down it as its outflow went north away from the prize, from the tower'. I marvelled at its smooth glistening ever moving surface, with swirls and spirals of back flow

'The river itself was deep, wide and fast flowing and was a great dividing feature of two very different types of landscape. On one side were that flat plains and barren mountains that had only offered berries and raw fish as sustenance and on the other side, there were the impenetrable forests, the unspeaking natives and amongst other things the disused fruit gardens of the abandoned cities. I decided all I could do to cross it was to walk further up its course until it narrowed and I found a suitable passing place. Oussez came with me, he came with me as he knew he had to cross too as over the other side were the richer pickings and easier living. Oussez soon updated me on everything he had seen and how he had survived, his arm had almost healed and he was able to move around almost normally. He told me he was determined to live and complete the trial, but how the other two he was with had perished. Although they weren't even supposed to be together as a group, the other two had had had a knife fight and one had taken a fatal wound. The other some weeks later, while still with Oussez had fallen down a ravine while hopping across the highly deceptive, but sharp craggy faces of the lower mountains, he had just slipped and fallen to his death. Now that was at least five from our boat of twelve that had died and I wondered if it was all worthwhile and wanted to pack it all in. To cheer myself up I thought of the girl I had seen while swimming in the mountain pool. I asked Oussez if he had seen her and began to describe her.'

"She was taller than most girls, walked with a wide strided confidence, she carried a well honed spear like a warrior would and seemed to know where she was going" I said picturing her in my mind, Oussez seemed interested in this, but no more clear as to her appearance.

"Yes, but what did she look like?" He said smiling and looking confused

"She had long brown hair, tied back and wore a bluey green jump suit, a tael blue" I added

"That's most girls, what did she look like?" He said frustratedly.

"She had freckles, lots of freckles, her skin was tanned, she looked healthy, not worn down by Llallania" I said concentrating trying to remember her looks.

"Was she pretty?"

"Yes she was good looking" I said looking at him seeing him take pleasure at building a mental picture of a pretty girl, but he also looked quizical, thoughtful trying to place her. "She had a humour about her, that's what made her interesting"

"Ah, I might know her, was she curvaceous, slim or athletic?"

"Athletic, quite sporty looking, muscular in fact" I said without thought. Oussez looked down at the sandy ground deep in thought for a few silent moments, then his head sprung up.

"That's Alouisa" he said suddenly "I know who you mean"



I spent many happy and wasteful hours with Oussez, mulling over our fates and the fates of others and getting more and more depressed and uncertain. We walked as we talked, not taking much notice of the dangers around us. The meandering path of the noisy river Lasara took us on a convoluted and winding route, but eventually it narrowed and there was a natural bridge of rocks and stones in the water.

We waded out into the shallows until we were up to our chests, then we lunged forward making for a large rock a third of the way across, using it as a giant stepping stone, but it was in deep water and as the torrent rushed passed our unsteady bodies, it swept up and over us. I was still holding my spear above my head and felt very unbalanced and as the waves washed over me I knew I had to make a decision, I had to make for the rock somehow, that moment, right then. So reluctantly I let my spear go and scrambled forward almost under water, my hands reaching out and clawing for the safety of the rock. As I did my feet were lifted off the ground and I was carried down river, the rock loomed up to my left and with one last desperate attempt I grabbed for its slippery dark surface. My body spun around as I locked onto it and I struggled to haul myself up out of the water, straining all my muscles and upper body strength. As I manoeuvred myself on to a ledge more of my fathers words echoed in my mind :

"A blue feather of an Oradaradoo chick is a prize beyond measure and if brought back the sign of a true trialist"

As I swivelled my body into a position of stability and comfort Oussez drifted by, his arms and legs flailing in the strong current of the rapids. I kicked out with my leg almost falling off the rock trying to reach him, he stretched out, but was just out of range. He then quickly floated away, bobbing above and under the water in the middle of the river, taking occasional swimming strokes and shouting in gurgled spurts. We would meet again, but not for a while.

I worked my away along the large rock, to the to the part of it that was closest to the far bank and then made a leap for a submerged flat stone further across, wobbling on it for a few seconds I hurled myself again, propelling myself on, swimming wildly towards the other side, but the current took me and I was soon in the deep of the river as Oussez had been. As I was carried down and the choppiness subsided and I managed to make a diagonal cut towards the far muddy bank, I tried touching the bottom but it was still too deep and so had to use all my energy to swim on. Gradually I got closer to the other side and managed to grab on to an overhanging branch and pull myself in, touching down on the shingle beneath.

Soon I was running and walking along again, but felt naked and unprotected without my spear in my hand and wanted to make another one quickly as I had done before, but there were no trees in this part of the land, just undulating fields and meadows, with high grass and many colourful flowers. Every now and then there were outcrops of large red rocks and around them what looked like small muddy paths. Paths either made by packs of wild animals or by the natives I thought. On the face of one rock about twenty foot up above the path, engraved in large bold letters ten inches high was written

'Vhas Aett ➡️'

which means 'This Way'. I couldn't believe it and stood there for ages just looking at it in amazement. It was the only item of civilisation I had seen since being there. Was it a joke? Was it written by the organisers as a helpful hint? Or was it actually a useful indication as to the right way? I did not honestly know, but kidded myself I did and pretended to myself that it must be authentic. I followed its direction.

'Its direction led to trees, trees and many more trees. This was useful at first as there were plenty of saplings nearby to make my new and much needed spear with, but then it proved to be very problematic as the layout of the forests ahead became maze like. After making my new spear I ventured into them some way and then became lost and so retreated. I retreated halfway back to the sign and then approached again from a different angle, but again became lost and so retreated again. Then returning all the way back to the sign again, I walked further along the front of them, viewing them from afar, until there was a side opening between the large groups of trees. I walked into this opening that started as a wide meadow field with a dip in the middle, it was fine at first, but after several hundred yards tapered to a narrow point, only leaving a barrage of thick trunks before me. There were ways through them here and there, but none of them led very far, the thick trunks seemed to interlock creating a barrier of solid wood. I returned back to my starting point and tried again, only to find the same problem. I now knew that the sign saying 'This way' was obviously a trick or a joke and cursed it'

'But at that time of my life I was more determined than ever and I was not going to be defeated. I tried again, jogging this time, further west and eventually found after several miles a large clearing in the entwined trunks of the trees. The clearing led me south, which was a good sign as that's the way I wanted to go and knew to be the right way. On either side of the wide clearing, which was a high grassed wild meadow the tall purple trees loomed up, making me feel small and diminished, these were the ancient ones and I could see among them there were some that stood five to six hundred feet tall. Again the clearing tapered so it narrowed bringing the forest close all around me and again I cursed the sign, that I now wished I had never noticed. The clearing held though and far up ahead I could still see light, not the dark shadows that inhabited the forests. It was too late to turn back now and as I was still heading due south, with some trepidation I headed into the forest where the trees were looser apart.'

'It was dark in there, so dark and so cold and very soon I felt lost. I could not see above me to use the moons or the sun as my guides, I could not get my bearings. Soon I became cold and disorientated, not knowing whether to carry on, turn back or change direction. I had to trust my instincts and something inside me told me that the sign was right and this was the right way. It was eerily quiet in there too, nothing made a sound except the gentle creaking of high branches swaying in the breeze. Occasionally where there were openings in the branches, were pools of light that I could use as a guide. The light shone down on a muddy floor of rocks and moss covered stones. I had heard nothing or read nothing about any creatures to be feared in the forests and so didn't feel threatened, but I was mistaken. The air in the forest was clear, strong and intoxicating and soon I felt sleepy, so finding an inset in the trunk of a great tree I settled down for a late afternoon nap, intending to carry on in an hour or so and very soon I was dreaming. My dream was heavy and surreal, details that seemed unimportant were brought yo my attention with fine clarity and issues of great importance and worry were made vague and out of my control. It was a typical mind distortion dream, that disturbed my subconscious mind. In the landscape of it there was an alien thing that buzzed in the background, it was fixed and constant and somehow caught my minds eye. Focusing on it I saw it was a set of snarling white teeth and it woke me. As my eyes opened I saw those white teeth before me for real, snarling and dripping with saliva.'

'The animal those teeth were attached to was a large wolf like creature and I realised a long time afterwards that unfortunate encounter that luckily for me it was on its own as it did not usually hunt alone. It stood over me snarling, its bright yellow eyes fixed on mine and I knew I had to react before it pounced. So without loosing eye contact I got up and pointed my spear at it and drew my knife, holding that up too. The grey coated powerful and graceful animal moved around to my side in a sweeping, circular motion, trying to get away from my spear to find a weak spot, but I naturally turned to face it and then used that time to move off, trying to continue along my journey. As I walked off I withdrew my weapons and tried to ignore the ever watchful creature and looked up for a low branch to swing up to, but there were none. I strode a few good steps away from it, but knew like a dog it would follow and chase me, seeing my movement as a retreat. I prepared myself for its attack and sure enough it pounced, throwing itself through the air. As it did I turned to it and stooped, reducing my open target zone and bringing my weapons right up above me between me and it. My new spear staved it off under its chest as its claws and teeth searched me out and this bought me enough time to get a quick stab in, then I made myself fall right down, so it passed over me, I twisted away as it fell to the ground beside me. As I regained myself it came at me again, ignoring its slight injury, its teeth were crazy and even more pronounced, it was so quick it was almost on me and at my neck. At this short range all I could do was turn away again, whacking its body solidly with the thick end of my spear shaft, then slashing out with my knife, I cut into its back. It slowed at this, taking stock of its injuries and as it did I ran at it, thrusting the spear into it, I drove it deep in, through its ribs as it lashed out and squealed. The sound of its flesh squelched and ripped and blood gushed out. The fight was almost over, but I knew an injured animal is a dangerous thing, so without thinking I stabbed my knife into it several times, over and over again until it didn't move.

Standing over the dead wolf I wiped my spear and knife on its dry wiry fur and realised with sadness it was an older one, looking around I checked I was not being watched by others of its kind. It was big in size, almost as long as I was tall and it had thick set legs and a powerful neck. Its head was streamlined with a long snout holding a ferocious set of teeth. I opened its gums to see the length of those teeth as the creature stirred drawing its final breath. At that moment I wanted to hack one of its legs off to eat as I was so hungry, but knew this would leave a trail. Then the alarm bells rang and I realised the pack it belonged to wouldn't need that to track me or it down and so I took flight away from the dead animal. I ran as fast as I could not knowing which way I was going, but knowing for sure I was getting away from becoming instant prey. I ran for as long as I could, until my breath and legs would carry me no further. I stayed where the trees were sparse using what light there was as a guide. When I caught my breath I moved on, running at first and then jogging, then walking quickly, then just sauntering on, until I could run again. When night fell in the forest it was dark, dark like I had never seen before, there was hardly any light and this brought out a different type of creature, including the wolf. As I sat on a rock, wondering where to camp down for the night I heard their howls. Their howls were eerie, long and loud and by the sound of them were getting closer, coming my way! I knew with a shock wave of fear That they must have picked up my trail.

Where were my fathers words of advice now? He had no experience of the situation I was in for sure and so like an animal I had to follow my instincts and run. And I ran, ran, ran. At the start of the trial I had worked out that I would have to travel thirty to forty miles a day in the right direction to stand any chance of getting to the tower and passing the Llallanian test.

The soles of my feet were sore and the skin had gone thick and flaky. My shoes had become tattered and broken and I was tempted just yo throw them and go bare foot. I broke into a slow steady run, as I knew on average it would get me further. I roughly worked out that I must have already ran about ten miles away from the dead wolf, which wasn't much, wasn't nearly enough for any level of safety. Then to make things worse as I ran it became pitch black, so much so I couldn't see my feet, I had never experienced anything like this before and found it increasingly difficult to carry on. I was used to light nights with two or three large moons reflecting the suns rays, but this wasn't happening in the forest. The ground beneath me was uneven and full of divets and as I couldn't see them it wasn't long before I twisted my leg and fell. Lying on the ground the howls of the wolves sounded ever closer and I knew they would catch me up, I stumbled on desperate to get away hobbling and as I held my leg, I started to panic. Was I going to die here deep in the middle of the Aragoran forests? Attacked and killed by a pack of wolves that no one would ever know about? Why I had I chosen to take the trial? Was I crazy? My head was full of doubts and confusion as the howls of the wolves became louder. The horrible sound spurred me on still further, but what was the point of running, I might as well stay and fight, I might as well go down fighting I thought, there was nowhere to go. With that I stuck my spear in the ground and stood firm on the ground, ready to die, looking all around me I couldn't see very much, as unlike your Earth eyes, Gavian eyes don't adjust to the dark as there is no real darkness. The howling got closer, the pack was only minutes away now and soon I would see them hurtling towards me, white sets of teeth and grim yellow eyes, perhaps I could take one or two out before I died.

In those few moments of death, my mind flashed through recent memories. The rowing ashore, the attack of the Oradaradoo birds, crossing the river Lasara with Oussez and following the fateful sign that was going to lead to my undoing. I thought of the girl, Alouisa I had seen in the mountains and her cheeky, flirtatious smile and suddenly with that warm thought inside me I felt an unusual calm, everything all of a sudden seemed so straightforward, natural and easy, there was no logical reason to give up and every reason to live. I picked up my spear and ran off again away from the growls and howls. All of a sudden I was with the living again, I was with hope and was not going to let go just yet, I wanted to succeed and win and in my stride I picked up new found determination. My eyes had adjusted somewhat now and ahead of me I could see the outline of small trees in my path, they weren't the normal huge Topaziz type, these were smaller fruit bearing trees. I passed one that smelt sharp and zesty and then another that was sweet and fragrant, I could see blurry images of the low hanging branches laden down with heavy fruit all over the place. Behind me there was a scrambling of feet as the pack neared, there was no time left now, I had had a good run, now it was over. I backed up against a thick sap oozing trunk and my head thumped into a sharp broken part of a jagged branch that made me look up, I didn't rub my bruised head as I was looking at the legs of wolves in the near darkness. Through the branches they circled and swept around, closing in on me, their eyes yellow and piercing. As the lead one slowly approached something occurred to me, the branches were low enough to climb and so dropping my spear I did. I quickly stretched up to the lowest thick bough and then swung my legs onto a higher branch again, then slung my body over onto it. The lead wolf was beneath me reaching up on its back legs as I climbed up higher again. The others joined it sniffing me out, their eyes following their noses upwards to my lofty position. I was just high enough to be out of their reach and they snarled and snapped at my feet. Then to my horror the lead wolf got up a branch and was in the tree with me, it bit at me, catching me on my arm and leg and I recoiled onto a thin bendy branch that could barely take my weight. Cornered I could only use my knife to jab at him and after a few pokes, whimpering he dropped down on to the ground with the others.

I stayed up in that tree all night and the wolves stayed around the base of it all night and also for a couple of hours into the morning, until they got bored and slunk off. The next day I moved on through the forest ever watchful for them, but they were never around much during the day. Then by night I would find another tree to get up into, never getting much sleep there, always on my guard and the wolves would return again, having still followed my trail. This went on for weeks until I finally got out of the Aragoran forest. As I ran by day through the dim half light of overhanging branches of the Topaziz and the small fruit trees, keeping to a course of due south, I saw flashes of yellow eyes every now and then, they never attacked by day though, only at night or when it was dark.

Having got through the huge Aragoran forest I knew I was far south in Llallania, perhaps half way through the journey in total and this was a major achievement in itself, it certainly was to me anyway. Across open fields of high golden corn I walked for miles and miles, untroubled and undisturbed and the line of the edge of the forest became smaller and smaller behind me. I saw no other trialists, no sign of any civilisation and came across no threat from nature. I was happy as I knew I was on a course of due south. On the second day for the first time in weeks I saw a flock of Oradaradoo barking loudly in the clear blue sky, they were looking down scanning the ground for prey. Before they would have troubled me, but now having faced and ran the gauntlet with the large grey wolves, I felt unchallenged by them. I took cover though as I didn't want or have the time for another fight. At night it was light again and I slept on a mattress of cut corn and under a blanket of it too. It was a peaceful time and although I was thin from hunger, scratched and bitten, I felt content.

'A few more days passed and the fields turned into hills, smooth, green and undulating. This was a welcome change at first, but then the hills became annoying obstacles, making me continually alter my course and have to re-evaluate my direction, but on the upside they also served as view points. From the top of one in the distance I could see unnatural square features, made by the hands of civilised people. After sitting on the hill for a couple of long hours I determined exactly what they were and decided to make for them straight away. They were the abandoned walled fruit gardens of the lost civilisations'.

In the walled gardens there were rows and rows of overgrown fruit trees of all different types and they formed into massive squares of grid of hundreds of them. Behind the crumbling walls most trees were dying or ruined, a lot had been ravaged by birds and animals and some, a very few were left intact, growing normally. In these massive gardens that interlinked each other were fruits similar to the apple, orange and banana and I gorged myself, making myself feel ill, making my insides groan, it was so nice not to feel starving. There would have been enough fruit to feed a city and as my mouth spewed with sweet juices I looked around for one or at least the remains of one. I moved through from one giant enclosure to another, through the openings of crumbled walls and gates off their hinges. I noticed that around the edges of the walls were little beds of smaller plants, that looked like herbs and by them were open patches of earth where vegetables had been grown. I stuck my spear and knife into the sun dried soil in the hope of finding an abandoned vegetable, rich in nutrients and after a while found something, it was a potato like plant, but it was black and full of insects, so throwing it to one side I dug again and found more or less the same, this went on for a while until I found one whose firm white round body had not been damaged by insects or weather. I sliced it open and its juices were pure and transparent, indicating it was healthy and so I bit into the raw vegetable and it tasted bland, sour and unappetising, but my need was great and so with little difficulty, I ate it whole, making my insides even more painful.

It was getting towards the end of the day and I found what looked like a safe corner of one of the squares to sleep in. As the purple light of the moons rose, there seemed to be an eeriness about the place, that the dusk brought on. Through every doorway I expected to see a pair of eyes watching me, over the long lines of crumbling walls a I anticipated there to be a person standing, staring and through the trees the rustle of the breeze became a predator lurking, but there was no one and no thing there. I slept lightly that night as there were many sounds and noises, the movement of small creatures, foraging for fallen fruit, the wind picking up and rushing through the leaves. Before leaving the gardens the next morning I filled my pockets with fruit and vegetable for the ongoing journey and headed out over the hills the other side. Behind me in a valley hidden by the walled gardens I could just see one of the abandoned cities and behind it in the distance another. They were overgrown and crumbling, buildings entwined with plants, towers dirty and roadways broken. These were the cities the Gavian people decided to abandon many years ago. As I strode over and between the hills I had a heightened sense of purpose as using the cities as a reference point, having studied the map of Llallania, I now knew exactly where I was and what lay ahead. Some way off was the land of the natives.

The verdant green landscape of the hills and dales became more woody and every now and then a massive Topaziz tree would appear surrounded by fruit trees and trees similar to your Oak. There were little streams in the valleys trickling with clear and beautifully sweet drinking water that gave me some sustenance. As I moved on the clutches and copses of trees became a proper expanse of woods, but the make up of them was not like in the giant forest of Aragaron, where there were so many impassable places. These woods were much more open and easier to walk through, they were interspersed with low wet and exotic looking bushes, that had weak thick stalks that were hollow and easily broken. These woods were wetter places, that had hanging creepers and twines, they were more jungle like and so I knew I was very far south, which was good and so I felt happy and carefree. This was a mistake of course because I didn't realise what I was walking into. Unseen to me high in the trees were the black shapes of the Oradaradoo! After a while as I looked up there were many of them, tens and hundreds, but it seemed they hadn't seen me, so with some trepidation I quietly walked on hoping to walk away from the nesting site. But as I walked on I got deeper into this massive roost, there more and more of them they were all around me, the large branches thick with them now. They were making their usual barking and shrieking noises, but quieter, not so aggressive as though preoccupied some how. Most of the nests were a long way up, about fifty feet or so, so I realised they probably wouldn't see me, not needing to look down, but as I went on there were lower nests and then I could feel evil back eyes on me.

Out of a low nest a chick suddenly appeared on the path in front of me, it measured only about three and a half feet tall and other than being smaller than a normal Oradaradoo, I knew it was a young one as it had the fabled and distinct blue feathers on the underside of its small undeveloped wings. At that moment I just wanted to run at it and pluck some bright blue feathers out of it as they were worth so much. As It barked and pecked at the ground looking at me with hostile eyes, striding towards me confidently, I knew before long it would gain the attention of the others and so thinking on my feet, from my pockets I reluctantly rolled an apple like fruit at its feet. This distracted it for a few short seconds, which gave me just enough time to side step passed it. I towered over it as it pecked at the fruit and then instinctively around for more, it looked at me and then at the empty ground and then seeing nothing, called out, lifting its pure black head and opening its beak as wide as possible. Within a few seconds two more chicks appeared, running towards the first.

"Craakk Craakk" it called again and the others approaching joined in, all now facing and started to run at me. I quickly emptied my pockets of fruit, rolling and throwing all I had at them and as soon as they were quietened I ran off as fast I could. I didn't know which way to go for safety, so just carried on with my original course, straight ahead, due south. It took me through more large low lying nests, some of which were being vacated by chicks eager to see what the barking was about. In their haste one or two ran passed me not acknowledging what I was. In the back of some of the nests their mothers lay, watching and on guard, they hissed at me, their black eyes glistening, wide in alarm and so I ran on. Looking over my shoulder a few were following me, but it seemed they couldn't make any great speed on the wood floor for any distance. It seemed I was out of the thick of it now and there were only a few nests about, I slowed my pace, gauging the diminishing danger and took time to look about. Just a couple of steps away off the path to my left was a single Oradaradoo chick in a scattering of blue feathers. Looking behind me again it seemed they had lost interest in me and so taking a chance I reached up to the nest and took a handful of feathers and put them in my pocket and then ran like lightening out of that wood. I ran across a clearing and into another even more jungle like area of woods.

In the woody jungle I felt eyes upon me from behind the low boughs and through the high foliage, all around they were, not animal eyes but the eyes of people. There were several pairs of them, they were smaller than normal, closer together and lower down, telling me they were of the natives. When I looked around to search them out, without a sound they disappeared into the shadows. Nevertheless I marched on losing the sun and moons for direction, the forest bed became thicker and my way more narrow and windy. Soon I was loosing my way. Standing stock still I took in my surrounding and listened. The breeze blew in a hot gentle rustle, the birds chattered and chirped in an endless chorus of song and also faintly in the distance there was an unusual sound, of a breaking twig heavily ; I was being followed. I turned sharply to face the sound and there standing in a half approach was one of them. He wore nothing much in terms of clothes, but was heavily decorated with a lot of jewellery and ties of string, his face was painted with blue and white stripes. To me he was short, but he was as tall as a fully grown human, just under six foot. On seeing me he stopped in his tracks froze and so I moved on, cutting through some of the thick undergrowth with my knife now, using my spear as a beater. I was making slow headway and had lost any form of a path, but I carried on, determined even if I was going the hard way. I battled on for a good couple of hours and all the time felt eyes in the back of my head and the occasional noise of cracking branches.

Then with some relief I broke out into the strong sunlight of a clearing ahead, the heat of the day bore down instantly on me as I staggered into it brushing myself off on clean long grass. As I did I noticed that across the grassy surface, the other side of it, about twenty feet away there was a line of natives, similar to the one who had been following me. They were all dressed in small rags for clothes and by some way of contradiction, were heavily decorated in colourful, expensive looking jewellery. There were large hoop like bangles on their wrists, all the way up to their elbows, many stone encrusted necklaces of jewellery around their necks and ties of string like bracelets about their wrists, that were intertwined with strips of leather and more unusual leaves from the forest. There were five of them blocking my way directly, who each had three war spears with them, two stuck firmly in the ground and one held firmly in their hand, as if ready to throw, at me! From behind their long animal skin shields they looked at me stony faced and forbidding. There were another four natives standing to one side just staring sternly, their eyes fixed on me, they were also armed,they looked more discerning and judgemental. Also there was a group of women and children at the back, they looked serious, worried, if not upset by me. There was a few seconds of pause before I took a small step forward, but that was enough to set them off

"NICH NACH NICH NICH NICH NACH" the central one of the five warrior types shouted, pointing behind me as he stepped forward from the line, his face was angry and distorted. He was broader than the rest and more highly decorated. "NAY NAY NICH NOCH NOCH NOCH NOOO" he continued in a smoother tone, but still with his voice raised. I stepped back again to my original spot just out of the edge of the wood as a sign of non provocation and realised, looking over my shoulder that he was pointing due north and that's the way he wanted me to go. To go back and to get off his lands.

"I mean you no harm, I'm just passing through, I'm heading south to the tower in the jungle, I'm doing the trial" I said nervously pointing. My heart was beating so fast, my hand sweating around my crude home made spear. They looked at me, straining their ears, as though they could understand some of my words, their faces looked blank though, confused and perplexed.

"BY BYA BY BOCH BA, BAN BAN BAR BAN, BORA BORA NAY" he shouted furiously, stamping his feet and smiling menacingly at my inferior spear. I noticed he spoke in alliterations with force from his chest, tensing as he spoke as if ejecting each word. I looked around as he spoke, looking along the faces that stared at me and I think they could tell I was no wiser from what he said. I knew now by standing there, just being there I was making things worse and the only safe thing to do would be to turn back north and sweep around them, but it would be a very wide sweep. My eyes looked that way as the five main warriors then raised their spears pointing them at me.

"BARA BARA BAN, BAN BANAN BANANA NAN NANA NEAM NUN NO" The main one said again in a husky shouting gasp. He swept his arms forward and the two either side of him moved forward with him, their spears pointing at me. The five spears were on me now, pressing into my flesh. One of them knocked my spear out of my hand and I didn't resist, then another took my knife from my belt. There was blood on both and this created a wave of reaction among them. The leader looked me once over as though looking for anything valuable, but I had nothing. He held up my hand in his two showing my thin silver receiver bracelet to one of the ones behind. With that one of the four elder natives standing at the side walked forward, he was much older than the others and less aggressive looking.

"NOO NAYA NOT BAYA BAN OORAN SAN FEY" the elder one said mildly and the others listened to him intently, his language seemed more complex and expressive. Then to my amazement he spoke in my language "You cannot pass, go back"

"Going back would mean death, certainly without my weapons" I said

"Don't argue or they will kill you now" he replied, then saying the equivalent in his own language to the others and they nodded, jabbing their slate headed spears into my skin, but I did not move, I froze in sudden fear not knowing what to do, I knew I would be killed if I went back, by wolves or the Oradaradoo. Oradaradoo I thought the Oradaradoo, but the significance didn't register.

"Kill me here then, it seems I am dead already" I said dropping to my knees, shaking, bowing my head and putting my hands in my trouser pockets. I felt the spear points around my neck now painfully skewering the skin and the sound of them shouting excitedly among themselves. Without thinking, feeling in my pocket there was an unfamiliar softness of something, then one of the natives ripped off my brown shirt, tearing it off me to the ground. Death was near, I could feel it, I looked up at the sky at the beautiful world around me and the pitying faces of the onlooking women, I didn't want to die and felt bitter and angry, not so afraid now and then without a thought I emptied my pockets and to the ground some small stones dropped to the ground and four bright blue feathers fluttered down. Then I was pulled down and saw the flash of a knife above me as the shouting continued, the mood changed and the spear points were off me, the warriors backed away and were silent. But the knife cut across my throat that I was expecting never came. Looking up the elder was holding the Oradaradoo chicks blue feather above his head and showing it to all the others.

"A blue feather of an Oradaradoo chick is a prize beyond measure and if brought back the sign of a true trialist" my fathers words sounded in my head. A prize beyond measure in civilised Gavian society I had always thought, not thinking it might be of value to the natives, why would I? Why would that be of any relevance, but it seemed to be saving my life.

"These feathers are the sign of a great warrior" the elder stated, pointing to the top of the lead warriors spear, that had a blue feather attached to it. "YANNA YANA YUCH ORADAR VUCH TIA VUCH ORA TYE TO" he announced to all the others his voice broadcasting around. "I told them the ORADARADOO are our great enemy and anyone brave enough to get a blue feather is our friend. You may pass" <"A blue feather of an Oradaradoo chick is a prize beyond measure and if brought back the sign of a true trialist" my fathers words sounded in my head. A prize beyond measure in civilised Gavian society I had always thought, not thinking it might be of value to the natives, why would I? Why would that be of any relevance, but it seemed to be saving my life. "These feathers are the sign of a great warrior" the elder stated, pointing to the top of the lead warriors spear, that had a blue feather attached to it. "YANNA YANA YUCH ORADAR VUCH TIA VUCH ORA TYE TO" he announced to all the others his voice broadcasting around. "I told them the ORADARADOO are our great enemy and anyone brave enough to get a blue feather is our friend. You may pass"

"I was very lucky that day and very unlucky" Artonella said

"You were" Felix said, putting another hunk of wood on the open fire. "Go on Arty, go on"

'I was rewarded in many ways for my unwilling gifts to them, they had only collected twenty feathers in the history of the whole tribe altogether and now I had just given them another four. So they politely took me back to their village, deep in the next forest and while their music of drums and flutes played I was given food and drink. I feasted with all of them and we ate and drank into the night, I don't know what it was that I had, most of it tasted awful, but it gave me energy and afterwards I felt good and then eventually fell asleep where I sat. Late the next morning I found myself lying in a round hut, being looked over by two native women. As I bleary headedly got up they smiled at me warily. Then outside standing waiting for me were the lead warrior and the elder, the women had followed me out and stood at the door of the hut smiling

"GUYAN THEA GOSH ORA GURR GERE, GERE UY ORA YAYA GUYE" the lead warrior piped out, then he gave me a well fashioned spear and took a short bow and stepped away.

"He says, thank you for the feathers and as a present in return, he offers you a tribal spear" the elder translated. I looked at the spear and marvelled at its smoothness and how straight it was. It was so sleek and well balanced and I could tell it would throw far and accurately. "You are forgiven for your trespass, but must leave now"

"Tell him thank you, what is it in your language?" I asked

"Thea" the elder replied, giving me a bag of food for the journey. "That might be enough to last you. The jungle with tower in is only a couple of hundred miles further on, just keep heading due south, stay in the clearings, there are tracks now, but not you far out in the open"

"Thea" I said to the warrior and then I said it to the elder too. "Thank you very much" This brought a vague smile from both of them. I held my hand up as a parting salute and waved at the women, who just smiled at me. "Good bye then" I called and started to wend my weary way, heading south again.

"BOCH" the Lead Warrior shouted, I never did find out what it meant.

::::::::::::::

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'There were large twisting swathes of hard sandy clearings, like broad roads and on them were deeply gouged discoloured tracks. Were they ways where others had once been I wondered? It seemed that the landscape had been flattened by something mechanical at some time and had never fully recovered, there were clumps of grass here and there and some small flowers, but nothing more. At distant intervals over the horizon an occasional Topaziz tree came into sight, they seemed to be extra tall here, almost eight hundred feet I guessed and as usual they had thick exposed roots, that grew to interlock with others around. The roots were so high that if a person stooped they could walk under them in places. As I walked as was now a normal part of my journey I checked the sky for any potential air attack and also the moons for my correct bearings, but as my insides rumbled in hunger I knew I didn't need to worry about scavenging for food. When I had walked over the swathes a good few miles from the village I felt the need to try out my new spear and so cutting a square of bark out of the centre of a broad trunk I made an open notch in a tree and then walked away taking aim at forty paces. To gauge it I threw my old spear first, knowing although the natives seemed to have sharpened it for me, it would not stick in the hard wood of the Topaziz. I launched it fast and true and it arced up over my shoulder in a smooth curve and looked as it approached the target that it would land near the mark. But as it homed in on the tree its back end lifted up and it lost direction and hit the bark at an angle over a foot to the left of the exposed area of the notch, then fell to the ground in a clatter. I readied myself to throw the elegant spear I had been given and weighed it in my hand for flight, it felt perfect, but then...

..."Whooooosh" another spear flew over me, narrowly missing my head by a few inches. I turned around in a start, beginning to take a fighting stance, facing the threat, expecting to see the natives who might've somehow come back for me in a change of mind, but it wasn't them, it was Alouisa. She smiled at me, holding up her chin as her spear stuck in the trunk a few inches away from the notch, eyeing me in her moment of glory. Then I threw and the spear the natives had given me gracefully cut through the hot morning air and silently landed in the centre of the exposed area. I turned and smiled at her, basking in my victory over her. 'Alou' as I would come to call her looked ragged and thin, her space suit was torn and dirty, she had marks on her arm from a large scratch of some sort and her shoes having fallen to pieces were hung on her hip. Also about her waist were some small dead furry creatures ready for her next meal. We shared our stories, we shared our food and we shared most of the journey over the next six days to the jungle together. We both knew we had to separate as collaboration was not allowed and so on our last night together we were lovers.

"You made it to the tower?" Felix asked seeing Artonella's face full of emotion

"Yes we both did, it took another two days" he replied. "There's not much more to tell really"

"What was the jungle like?"

"Does it matter? It was a jungle, after a day I could see the tower and it took me another whole day to reach it"

"Go on Arty you might as well finish the story" Felix insisted.

'In the jungle there were spiders, snakes and ferocious rutting creatures that would charge at you with massive horns on the front of them, so my new spear came in very useful. On the second day I saw the creature like a lion from some distance and didn't know what to do, I didn't know whether to run, hide or stand and fight. The large lion saw me and if he had chosen to could have finished me off, but he just gave me a casual look and turned away. In those moments I thought I had lost it, but some sort of luck held out for me. The trial had been a test all the way through and it seemed those ten thousand miles I had walked were etched on my soul. When I finally reached the tower I slowly climbed the front steps and walked into the featureless central stone area, not knowing exactly what to do I held my arm up so my silver bracelet could be read. As it was read, to the side of me a stone door slid open and the light of civilisation shone out from behind it. I entered and as I descended the stone stairs behind, for me the trial was complete and I was so happy as I knew I was going into space. At the bottom of the stairs was a large room, at the front of which was a welcoming committee of nurses and officials waiting to check me in. It was like a hotel down there too, a hotel, a hospital and a hover jet airport ready to take us away back to the Gavian mainland.

I threw down my spears and fell into Alouisa's waiting arms.

::::: End of Chapter 11 :::::

Reviews

[Lyn Anderson]

This is a nice development of the story. It flows well, and makes sense. A couple of things I noticed. Watch that non restrictive and restrictive sentences include commas in the right spots, like in this sentence, it will make it flow better. Second, there are a few missing apostrophes on possessive words, and try to not use Then to start a sentence, especially when it can be started with an I" Forgive me for not reviewing sooner, I wanted to make sure I had the time to do it right.

[Leigh]

You are very brave to read this chapter through as it is and will be the largest chapter in the book! Your comments are helpful to me, thank you. This chapter will be proof read and punctuated correctly.

[Jetta Zippora]

Lovely, lovely details. Great writing, friend.

[Leigh]

It may have more parallels to LOTR when I add more detail, thank you for reading