"Toran! Toran, wake up! Toran!" I yell frantically! "She will be okay", I hear Tolug saying in my mind. He is sitting in front of me, with his eyes closed. I know he's afraid and doesn't want to see what I'm seeing right now. Our ship exploded miles behind us. In order to avoid giving our location to the Farrix, its self destruction was necessary. The Farrix were tracking us, so the second we arrived at Crándactar we had to execute an emergency escape in a pod Zul had managed to overwrite. Unfortunately, this has caused some malfunction and Zul is pretty much improvising our already risky voyage.
A series of red rocky mountains and tall purple trees appear in our path. The trees get in our way. They slap our shaky pod like whips, and their pointy branches sound like hail. I'm tempted to close my eyes too, but instead I look down at the gloomy lake beneath us. Bracing myself, I hold on tight to Toran, expecting a rough landing any time soon.
"Please Zul, do something! She's unconscious!" I cry, seeing how Toran bleeds from her head while she leans on my shoulder without responding. "Put pressure on her wound and brace for impact! I'm trying to land as safely as I can, Andreamaba!"
The pod sounds worse as we lose speed and the flapping branches of the trees hit the pod furiously. I'm scared! I try putting pressure on Toran's wound as best as I can even though I can hardly keep control of my own body. "The Zatra Tribe will heal her, my dear child", Tolug says in my head. His eyes are opened now.
The pod crashes into the lake and it sinks. Our voices are muffled by the pressure and the current of the water. Meanwhile, my eyes start to feel heavy… I stare at Zul while he yells at me and takes off my seatbelt. I can see his lips moving but I can't hear the words coming out of his mouth, because of the high pitch ringing noise in my ears.
Finally, the pod comes to the surface and the small door above us opens up. Tolug jumps out immediately and then he pulls me out. I struggle to float and keep my head above the water; I don't know how to swim! Tolug begins to swim, dragging me along, and I involuntarily swallow water while I am being swept across the lake, against its furious current… until we are laying on the dirt.
My view becomes blurry, but I see Zul in the distance, pulling Toran out of the pod. My eyes feel heavy again… I feel weak and can no longer stay awake, so I give in to the slumber.
A distorted voice fills the air and I recognize it. My brother is here!
"My Lady Andreamaba, you made it!" I hear him say, and my heart rejoices. "Quickly, you must gain strength and continue your journey. We are waiting for you here." Kenúd is in a boat. I walk towards him and extend my arm, wanting to grab his hand so he can help me get on board. He smiles at me, taking my hand. "My friend is injured, you have to help her", I tell my brother, while I try to locate Toran. He nods, smiling at me, despite my worried tone. "We will tend to her", he says calmly. "Now wake up, my lady."
"-Wake up, Drea! Drea!-" I hear someone else's voice instead of Kenúd's now.
My heart beats stronger now… I feel it pumping differently, and the image of Kenúd standing in front of me begins to fade. "Drea!" Zul's voice echoes far away from the boat I'm in. Funny, I can't remember the last time Zul called me Drea. Suddenly, everything has turned dark around me, and I am alone and cold. A wave of fear and desolation wraps around my body and I tremble… unable to hear Zul's voice anymore.
Am I dying?
The warmth of someone's lips on mine awakes me, and when I slowly open my eyes I find Zul's face inches from mine. The look on his eyes staring at me is terrifying. He steps back, holding his head with both hands. Seeing him like this, kneeling in front of me, worrying about me breaks my heart. When I turn my head to cough off the water I swallowed, he exhales in relief.
Zul grabs my hand without hesitation and helps me sit up. I look at his hand still holding mine and that makes him aware of his action. Since my intrusion on his soul, he has never touched my hands again. He lowers his head, avoiding eye contact with me, then he lets go of my hand and stands up quickly.
"You scared me, scared all of us, Drea!" He says, looking away. Tolug rubs his head on mine as he sits next to me to keep me warm. "Toran?" I ask, confused. I remember her injury and turn to see how she's doing. She is lying on the dirt, next to me. Her body is covered with a silver sheet used as a blanket. I can still see the blood on her head. She looks pale, but I notice her breathing.
"She woke up. She's just resting now, but we don't have much time before nightfall. We need to keep moving to make it to your brother's boat before dusk", Zul explains. "My brother! I saw him! I spoke to him!" I say, after remembering the vision I had before passing away and almost drowning. "When?" Zul asks. "Just now, when I was… well, he's already waiting for us."
Zul looks at the sky and then at his watch. He waits a few minutes and kneels in front of Toran. "What are you doing?" I ask, but he doesn't say anything. He just starts cleaning Toran's wound. Zul talks to her, "Toran, you must wake up, you're going home". I pay attention to the gentle way Zul speaks to her, almost whispering. There's something different about the tone of his voice, but I can't point it out. Maybe it is because I am not used to Zul showing any kindness to Toran.
"Do you understand what he is saying?" Tolug asks me. I smile, confused. "Yeah, I can hear him. Can't you?" Tolug chuckles, "Yes, I can hear him, but you just proved to me you understand the tongue of your father. Zul wasn't speaking English, nor Farrix." I gasp. How is this possible? "Okay, what language are you speaking to me right now? Because I hear no difference at all." "We are speaking Farrix", Tolug says, leaving me baffled.
Tolug looks at Toran and then at me. "We have been speaking Farrix this whole time, since we got to Crándactar." I laugh. "What? Seriously?" Tolug nods and smiles at me. "On this planet, the main spoken language is Farrix. Not too many people speak Kandreo, other than the Kandreo Tribe. Your father taught me, he taught your mother too… Him", he says, referring to Zul, "I assume learned it from his parents, who were healers and were among Kandreo fugitives and traders who seeked for their help. But you, I wonder how you were able to inherit such ability. You are definitely special, my sweet child."
Toran moans in pain while Zul holds a pouch to her nose. When she coughs, he quickly removes the pouch from her face and gently lifts her head, side by side, to look at the glands on her neck. He speaks to her again, in her native language. For some strange reason, after Tolug pointed out the distinction in languages, now I am able to notice when a different tongue is being spoken. "You are going home. You need to get up and start walking. I promise you will rest soon. You can also have my snacks. What do you say?"
Toran grabs the pouch from Zul's hand and sniffs it. She breathes in deep, holding her breath for a few seconds. Then, she shoves the pouch against Zul's chest and tries to get up. Zul takes the pouch and helps her stand up. Once she's on her feet, she extends her hand to him. "Alright, pay off!" She says to him, with sarcasm.
Zul smirks, reaching into his bag's pocket. He gets a small container containing his snack for the journey, and gives it to Toran. She smiles, looking at the container in her hands. Then she says, "Here, I won't take your food. I just wanted to see if you would keep your word." Zul chuckles, takes the small container and puts it in his bag's pocket, along with the pouch. "What's in it?" I ask him while standing up. "Powder made of the extract of some potent herbs combined. It gives you the effect of adrenaline."
Tolug gets in front of us to lead the way as we start walking. Him and Zul are familiar with these dangerous zones. I hear sounds I have never heard before, and see landscapes I have only seen in my dreams. We stay close to the shore and walk outside the purple trees.
A unique type of white grass appears in our path. Tolug rushes to it and starts eating it. Toran and Zul rush after him and they pull the grass until filling their fists with it. I stand behind, watching them do this. They fill their pockets with the mysterious grass and keep getting more, to shove in their mouths. They all eat the white grass and savor it like if it was cake. "Come, Drea, try some", Toran says. I walk to her and take the grass from her hand, looking at it skeptically. "Now this is a proper snack", she says.
When I first put it in my mouth I expect it to taste bitter. I suck on it and bite it. I like it, so I swallow it. The grass is sweet, but it tastes spicy, like ginger and cinnamon. "Not bad, huh?" Zul says. "Yeah, not bad at all!" "Grab some for the journey, Andreamaba. This is a superfood." "Alright." I grab as much as I can, for Tolug and for myself, and when we are done snacking we continue to walk.
We walk for hours and only stop when we hear noises other than the sounds of nature. Those noises are caused by the camps of the people who have been forced to live outside their tribes, or travelers. We just have to be very careful, especially when encountering a Farrix. The sky has turned dark already and Zul says we should be near the area where my brother's boat is.
We continue to walk and Zul puts his hands around his mouth to call out. He makes some sort of bird sound and stops to hear a response. Nothing… so we keep walking. Zul calls out again, the same way and this time we hear the same sound back. It is dark, so we can't see very well. Suddenly, an arrow flies across the lake and strikes a tree nearby. Zul walks to the tree and notices a thin rope attached to the arrow.
"Let's follow the rope into the lake. That's where their boat is." "But Zul, I don't know how to swim!" Before I even finish expressing my fear to Zul, Toran gets into the lake and begins to swim towards the boat we can't see yet. I stare at the water, waiting for it to glow like it did in my dream, but it doesn't do that. "I got you", Zul says to me. "No, I got her", Tolug says, getting in the lake.
I follow Tolug, and when the water is deep enough for me to freak out, he says, "Hop on my back. Don't be scared, I can see the boat." Zul jumps in the water too, and stays behind us. We continue to swim and I keep holding on to Tolug while Zul swims next to us now. "Toran just got there!" Tolug yells out. I listen closely to our surroundings and now I am able to hear the Zatra Tribe speaking in their language from here. I'm so happy! We finally made it.