Chapter III

-- Take the firewood to the cave; we don't want it to get wet.

The valley was damp, and the leaves were flying a few hours ago, swirling on the plains, and it was rumored to be a sunny day. These two vagabonds hurried to the curve.

-- Did you manage to gather the rabbits? A question that came more from the gut than from thought.

-- No, some crows appeared, and I didn't want them to starve too.

The older vagabond didn't know how to respond to the young man.

-- Listen to me, Vaf. Animals are used to going hungry, but they have adapted to hard times.

-- How can they adapt to being hungry?

-- Thanks to their internal characteristics, they can decide where the best living conditions are, thanks to their instincts.

-- Is this the best place for us to live?

-- What do your instincts tell you, Vaf? Do you feel this is the best place?

-- No, I've felt hungry every day. It's getting colder and colder, the horses have left the valley, and I keep hearing screams in the forest.

-- I see you have a whole list, but don't worry. Soon some friends will come to take us to a warm place with food stores for you, Angir said, trying to encourage the boy.

-- What's a storehouse? He asked curiously.

And as if curiosity could replace hunger, Angir continued explaining things to his companion.

-- A storehouse is a kind of cave, like this one, but filled with anything you want to keep. What would you like to store if you had your own storehouse?

-- I think roasted frogs, the ones I ate at home. When we find my mother, I'll ask her to make me a storehouse of those, he said as if his mind had transported him inside the storehouse.

-- Of course, Vaf. I just hope she hasn't taken the boat. Angir said these words almost in tears.

After much chatting, the boy fell asleep. Angir covered his friend's ears so he wouldn't hear the fireballs, then skimmed through Vaf's mother's recipe journal, trying to learn about his friend's favorite subject: food.

If three things could have come out of that smoky house, Angir would have chosen the mother, the journal, and the boy. As soon as the sun rose, he left the house, killed five rabbits, and gathered pure water away from the blood pools of Argen. "I hope that damn soldier returns by tomorrow," he said to himself as he gathered spices and frogs. He returned to the cave as soon as he could and prepared a feast. A notable detail was that around the cave, many dead frogs and scattered apples with a distinctive hole were found. Whoever had heard them, they would leave that afternoon.

Vaf woke up, shook off his sleepiness, and suddenly the delicious smell entered his nose, not blood, not mud, but food this time. He walked in complete hypnosis to the source of that homely smell.

-- You finally woke up, boy. Could you stir this while I get some leaves? Like a good altruistic magician, he saw happiness cease to be abstract and personify in the boy.

-- How was it?

-- It was incredible, just like at home.

-- Tomorrow we'll eat something similar. Today we'll continue our journey; you must be ready.

-- Of course! My mother thinks she can take that boat without me. Hey, what happened to our friend? You said we'd leave when he came back.

-- I know, but we shouldn't waste time. We'll gather some provisions.

As soon as the pot was finished, our travelers gathered dry branches and rocks to make some tools, wove ropes from tree fibers, and stored the rabbits and frogs in cold water bags. They collected some mushrooms, and by sunset, everything was ready.

-- How do you know all this? I never thought you could uproot a shrub.

-- In all my travels, I've had to hide a lot. Food straight from the ground has been my sustenance.

-- And why do you live traveling? I could travel, though not far, but I always had to return home. Homes are warm, and there's food.

-- I don't deny it, but everyone's home is the earth, and I prefer to know each of its rooms.

-- I don't understand. What about walls? And doors? The mother and siblings?

-- It's a good observation. I believe everyone is my sibling, and my mother and father are the sun and the moon.

-- But they don't give you things or ask you to carry water to the pigs or say a prayer before eating, Vaf said as they tried to jump over a stream.

-- They fulfill all those functions you described, boy. The earth asks for respect and provides apples and animals to eat, and we must give thanks, not to something intangible but to something earthly.

At this point, a creature's scream spread through the forest, and five seconds later, it sounded as if the dark fortress walls had fallen. Vaf and Angir hid in the bushes they had cut and started crawling toward the source of the horrible scream. They saw a Melkar knock down a tree with one blow and then leave at great speed.

-- What was that, sir? Whispered the boy.

-- It's gone now, boy. Don't be scared. Angir couldn't help but think something was odd because this demonic creature, known for its supreme bloodthirstiness, had only given them a way to cross a ravine, as the tree it felled perfectly connected the two points of the valley.

-- Yes, but how is it so powerful? Look, I can't do anything to this tree, Vaf exclaimed once his fear and despair had faded.

-- Wait, Angir said, and started searching through his heavy saddlebags.

Finally, he found the object, similar to a large, hard board covered in leather, with some leaves sticking out from the book's edges.

-- What's this heavy thing?

-- We Marroneros call it Ontology of the Earth. It contains everything we observe in our travels about climates, fruits, and creatures. When there were Marroneros meetings, we shared and compared data.

-- Wow, it's very heavy. Can you read to me what that was and then give it to me? I swear I'll learn to carry it myself.

-- Okay, but you must never forget to write in it, or it will die.

-- The Melkar is a creature born from the Gulf battles 1,700 years ago. The flesh of fallen soldiers mixed with poisonous chemical components used in the battles then. It has a high healing factor and the same speed as a frightened horse, as well as the ferocity of a wolf and a lion combined. Very few specimens exist, but they are almost always responsible for massacres in the forests. Its strength is equivalent to 11 men, and its most outstanding characteristic is its blood perception, which allows it to detect blood traces and differentiate them by type, making it a fearsome hunter.

-- According to your ontology, this creature should have devoured us, but it only sliced that tree.

The boy is right, Angir thought, confirming his suspicions about the odd behavior.

-- Haven't you noticed anything else, Vaf, any oddities on our journey?

They held hands and carefully crossed the ravine.

-- Sometimes I feel the crows are watching us. When I go to collect rabbits from the traps, they have a death wound in their brains.

-- It's very peculiar, but in our world, there are also beings we cannot see but influence the behavior of living things.

-- And what are they called? What are they? It sounds a bit scary. Does it mean these creatures exist in the forest?

-- They are cursed entities that dominate a certain area, which could be a castle, a house, or a piece of land.

-- Oh, I found it in this brick, but there are several blank pages.

They continued talking about the contents of the monstrous book until they saw the sun take refuge among the mountains. Angir noticed his companion loved the book and kept asking questions, thus discovering his second passion: food and adventures.

-- Sir, why do the cursed entities have blank pages? This book uses all the space; I don't understand.

-- They are protection words that only reveal themselves if you are in the entity's domain area. These words allow you to make a pact with the entity so that it lets you stay in its territory.

And when Angir turned his head, the poor boy had already fallen asleep. He laid them between the blankets they had been carrying and left the refuge.

-- I know you're following us, and I also know you want me to know. Angir didn't know exactly what to expect, death or some sign, but he understood he had nothing to fight with.

Suddenly, he was ambushed by the gazes of thousands of creatures with large and small eyes that stood out in all directions, shining like lanterns until some somber eyes and a bushy fur blended with the night's darkness.

-- You and I need to talk, the Melkar said, convulsing from the mental strain required for the beast to communicate.

-- I know who you are, and we are on different sides. I don't know what you sought to discuss with me. Angir took a stance of powerful dignity, though he indeed felt the fear in his muscles. After all, who would accompany him on his journey if the Brotherhood of Reden found the boy?

-- Things have changed, and I need an ally. It doesn't matter if you don't accept today, as long as you accept within 15 days. By then, you might already be dead. You know very well you won't escape the valley on foot. The creature's choked voice gave more credibility to its threats.

-- Why should I believe in this supposed alliance you seek? With your advantage, it would simply make things easier for you, and I would never trust a mage who has surrendered to the orders of those corrupt spheres, filled with malicious and hoarding elders.

-- Is this how you Marroneros always speak? If you don't agree within 5 moons, I will leave you to your fate. I have more cards to play.

Suddenly, the atmosphere of animal possession dispersed, and the forest returned to feeling gentle. Angir continued to evaluate the possibilities, understanding that he wouldn't escape without someone's help.

He couldn't sleep that night; worry and questions troubled his mind. Why did this creature want to help them? Clearly, it gained some advantage, but in what way? "They found us very easily," he thought. Perhaps he would accept the deal if they weren't captured by Mitras' knives by morning.

And so it happened. He woke up before Vaf, climbed a tree, and saw nothing and no one observing them until his companion emerged from his slumber. As every morning, they went in search of food, finding once again a bounty of fruits and animals ready to be gathered. They continued onward, the young man not separating from the book.

"What section are you on now?" Angir asked with a certain pride, seeing his friend's dedication.

The Datriars are the most fearsome creatures, immune to magic, resistant to fire, with strength surpassing that of 20 men. How do you deal with something like that? If not for a human, it would be one of those! Look, it says they have an indefinite lifespan!

You must observe carefully. If these creatures walked the earth freely, we wouldn't be humans but their descendants or servants. They are beings of invocation, living only as long as the energy of their summoners allows, and there is only one record of a Datriar in history.

I see now. It says there was one 2500 years ago in Clavira. 'Guiral was born when smoke and blood boiled in the fields of the Dietys River. The Congress of Sorcerers needed to erase the trace of the Utuitas in the south and put all their machinery to work. According to calculations, 300 connected mages were needed to sustain the invocation of this creature and maintain it for at least a week. This beast not only requires an energy source but also a body where it can reside, resulting in a body made from scraps of many creatures: humans, wolves, melkars – any living being would suffice. All these tissues combined and cooked one upon another formed the perfect vessel. They achieved a height of 5 meters and sought to bind it with blood ties to serve their purposes, but its power was nowhere near rivaling Guiral's. Guiral enslaved the sorcerer's congress and attempted to secure an energy source to stay on earth. He searched for Orofists worldwide, raised mountains, razed villages until finally his body could no longer contain his immense power.

Sir, what is an Orofist?