Athyyah

Chapter Twenty-two Searching

Ellenah and Alex wondered the blue-green hills, the trees scattered in small clusters giving the landscape a wonderful view. It was the perfect balance of space and vegetation. There was scenery, but not too much to make it feel as though you were deep in a jungle.

They had slowly been making a zigzag course following their original trail back to the vorlixx nest in case Valerie was alive and just lost. They had only stopped their search to get some sleep for the night and to forage for food in the morning. As they continued their search on the new day they, walked opposed to running, so as not to accidentally pass Valerie if she was alive or so they wouldn't miss any clues to where she may have been. Ellenah was a skilled tracker, but to Alex everything looked the same. He couldn't understand how she could tell one hill from the other or even how she was able to see a trail. All he saw was grass.

"Alex, over there! It looks like one of the suits," Ellenah exclaimed pointing to the pile Valerie's armor was in at the base of a hill.

The two of them rushed to the scrap heap.

"She's not here anymore, but it doesn't look like she was forced out. I'd say she got out on her own," Alex said as he knelt down and examined the wrecked suit.

"But where is she now?" asked Ellenah?

"That I don't know. You're the tracker, I was hoping you could tell me."

Ellenah knelt down and examined the ground by the suit.

"There are faint tracks leading away from here. The grass is healthy making it hard to tell just how recently they were made, but I can tell you that she went in the general direction of town. However she could have easily gotten lost. She has never been out here before and at the speed we were moving, it would be hard to remember where we had been. To an inexperienced person, this land can all look the same from here to town and all the way to the ocean," she said as she got up and began walking in the direction the tracks led.

"So, in other words, it would be very easy for Valerie to get turned around."

"Yes. The sun is the only thing she could go by and with it always moving in the sky and not being here long enough to know where it is in the sky at different times of the day, it makes it difficult to follow. When it's gone, it would make it impossible."

"Well, can you follow her trail?" asked Alex. "She obviously got off track at some point, for we didn't run into her?" he finished not feeling at all reassured by the facts.

"The grass is healthy, but the ground is soft, allowing it easy for footprints to be left, but hard to see," Ellenah answered as she felt the ground.

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes, I believe I can follow it," she answered.

"Then lead the way. I may not be an expert, but I do know that a trail gets harder to follow with time."

"Indeed, that is true. What I must wonder though, is whether we should get out of these suits as well?" replied Ellenah.

"From what I've seen of the vorlixx. We won't know where they'll pop out. I'd feel safer if we stayed in them as long as it's just the two of us way out here."

"Alright, but it's making my limbs feel, odd to say the least. Though I have to admit I can walk much easier inside this."

"I know, the same has been happening to me. They aren't used to being used like this, we're letting the suits do most of the work for them," replied Alex shaking one of his legs in response.

"Then let's find Valerie soon so we can get out of these things before we can't walk without them," Ellenah said as she went walking of in the direction Valerie's trail led.