The Nuclear Reign of Strottimar [Part 1]

Chapter 8; The Other Set of Eyes

Utterly exhausted was the only way to describe myself in this unbearable cold. Alone, in unforgiving barren nature. As a whole, I remained surprised that I'd managed to keep myself in one piece. It was almost the break of the time stop. Whatever happened during the time stop never mattered, I just sensed it was going to be short.

As I stalked through the neutral ground of the barley field, it felt as if I had a million brambles in my feet and a tree trunk tied to my back. Why had I run away? What was I thinking? I could've been hibernating in the warmth of the Red Wood's Hollow by now, yet I was out here with these unforgiving chills, running in and out of territories like I knew how to defend myself. What was wrong with me?

The wind turned and brought some peculiar smell that I recognized. Fuck, landers. I'd been told all my youth that landers were a threat. Landers weren't to be trusted. You weren't to interact with anyone outside the Red Wood Community, unless they were a treddor messenger, and if you did, there'd be consequences. I didn't care about consequence out here. I was free, but the burden was heavy. The price for survival was a hard one to pay some moonfalls.

My only friends out here had been mithodes and treddors, they'd come and go, well, at least the treddors would. Treddors were peaceful towards my race, we were no prey for them, because we were too alike. I was too close to the mithode streams and swamps to have them not swarming around me sunrise to sunfall. Yet, their little acrylic colored wings and stripped tiny bodies were too fragile to swat away. Plus, their grabby little arms, all four of them would stick to my prickly fur that rested on my shoulders and at the joints of my limbs, as if hitching a ride to somewhere, feeling the wind with their tiny antenne. They were growing on me, really. It was as if their former annoyance had formed into a friendship.

An egliptie's real enemy was the critzsits, so very similar to landers, but so very worse. Critzsits, sure, were negotiable on a good day, but they saw everything as prey, either that be a prey bird lander breed or an egliptie like myself. They, I feared. It was a critzsit from the east that'd fucked up my arm, lifted me middair and then dropped me hard once I'd began to change. I was getting picked up by too many strangers out in these woods, especially ones with wings, I was still learning how to fight.

I shook my head of my awful thoughts and crouched low to the ground, the chilly tall stalks hiding my pale body while my eyes scanned everywhere for the source of the smell. There were no mithodes in my ears here, thankfully. Out in these cold fields, it was too dry, yet, I still missed their somewhat comforting buzzing and tiny cheeps that'd keep me from losing my sanity. I'd never sat so still in my life once I heard the chatter of distant voices up ahead to the north.

Their tongue was not one I could understand, because they were supposed to be an enemy, I was never taught, it was expected I'd never need to know landerish. Yet, here I crouched, my legs growing more sore by the second as I drew a gentle breath, my exhale visible in the cold morning air. The overcast set a gloomy mood to the day as my gaze sharpened once I spotted them. Just two of them, males, both birds of prey. I could tell by the size of their wings. Something inside of me wished I'd get fortunate and wind up with that gentle prey bird from earlier, a lame dove of some sorts, yet, I kept small and quiet in the tall grass as I tried to understand what they were saying.

Some time passed and I knew I still could not move, they'd drawn too close, yet they still hadn't noticed me as I began to realize, these were young landers. Inexperienced doctors, out here picking herbs, of course. I listened in as closely as I could, holding my breath. "I've been hearing," began the one on the left, slightly taller than his companion in some flat tone. "That, you've lost your girl?"

"I didn't lose my girl." muttered the little one on the right. He had dark wings and black brown hair, and his tone sounded half passive aggressive. "She left me, I had no part in it." he huffed. He sounded beyond frustrated but contained himself, I could read his sharp brown eyes.