The Labors of Ki'shto'ba Huge-Head: Volume Two: The Storm-Wing

By Lorinda J Taylor

The Storm-Wing is a tale of high adventure and battles with strange monsters (with a theme of sibling rivalry running through the mix). At the end of v. 1 (The War of the Stolen Mother), the Champion of the Shshi (termite people) Ki'shto'ba Huge-Head and its Companions set out to cross the dangerous Nu'wiv'mi Marsh on their way to visit a friend in the mountains. They soon encounter and do battle with the Marsh Guardians – huge sauro-avians that attack from the air with beak, claw, showers of poisonous dung, and barbed feathers. Ki'shto'ba lops off the leg of the King-Bird but fails to kill him, with consequences that will prove ominous.
The Quest is then diverted in a southerly direction, where a fortress being terrorized by a water monster requests Ki'shto'ba's aid. As a reward for slaying this creature, Ki'shto'ba is granted the surname of Monster Slayer.
Finally the Quest heads west, where the Companions find themselves in the domain of the Marchers, a Shshi people ruled by another great Champion. After an eventful sojourn among the Marchers, whose Seer pronounces some disturbing prophecies regarding the Quest, the Companions at last turn northward into Northern Nasute country. There they find that the fortress of their friend Sa'ti'a'i'a is being invaded nightly by a monster that resembles a primitive Shi. Ki'shto'ba kills this formidable enemy, only to find it must also eliminate the monster's mother, who lives in caves under a lake and is even more fearsome ...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lorinda J Taylor
• Release date: Mar 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301901838

Lorinda J Taylor

A former catalogue librarian, Lorinda J. Taylor was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and worked in several different academic libraries before returning to the place of her birth, where she now lives. She has written fantasy and science fiction for years but has only recently begun to publish. Her main goal is to write entertaining and compelling fiction that leaves her readers with something to think about at the end of each story.

Book preview

THE LABORS OF KI’SHTO’BA HUGE-HEAD

Volume II

The Storm-Wing

by

Lorinda J. Taylor

This is a work of fiction. All characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. However, the person presenting this book to the 21st century does not guarantee that such characters and events will not come into existence at some time in the future.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return toSmashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

The person responsible for the existence of this book in the 21st century wishes to acknowledge her debt to three sources:

First, to Robert Graves and his impressive compilation entitled The Greek Myths, from which parts of this tale and much of all the tales in the Ki’shto’ba Series have been drawn. The points of view and the comprehensive information contained therein made this series possible.

Second, to Dr. Timothy G. Myles, whose amazing website taught me most of what I know about termites.

Third, to Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf, the best source for familiarizing oneself with that mighty story and its original rhythms and diction.

L. J. T.

Cover illustration (Ki’shto’ba confronts the Storm-Wing) by Lorinda J. Taylor.

Copyright © 2013 by Lorinda J. Taylor

Dedicated to the memory

of my undergraduate Professors at Colorado College,

who are now deceased but not forgotten:

Frank A. Krutzke

Thomas W. Ross

Lewis M. Knapp

George S. McCue

Wallace C. Boyce

Charles T. Latimer

J. Glenn Gray

Albert Seay

and many more, all of whom bore great responsibility for

my love of literature, languages, philosophy, and music

Contents

Note to Smashwords Edition

Facsimile of the 30th-Century Title Page

List of Principal Characters

Translator’s Foreword

Chapter 1: Di’fa’kro’mi Resumes His Dictation

Chapter 2: In the Nu’wiv’mi Marsh

Chapter 3: The Guardians of the Place of Dangerous Darkness

Chapter 4: Ei’tot

Chapter 5: A Change of Plans

Chapter 6: The Companions Arrive at Li’ei’mi

Chapter 7: How to Kill a Water Monster

Chapter 8: Tei’kit’ko’a

Chapter 9: The Third Ford

Chapter 10: The Horn Speaks

Chapter 11: The Companions Linger in Marcher Lands

Chapter 12: The Champions Compete

Chapter 13: The Tale of Ju’a’a’mu’a Spear-Puller

Chapter 14: The Great Gathering

Chapter 15: The Seeings of the One Between

Chapter 16: … but One and Six …

Chapter 17: The Journey to No’sta’pan’cha

Chapter 18: Rash’ta’rak

Chapter 19: Strife in the Horned Hall

Chapter 20: An Unforeseen Revenge

Chapter 21: Twa’sei’s Adventure

Chapter 22: The Companions Tarry among the Nasutes

Glossary of Shshi Words

Note to Smashwords Edition

The print edition of this tale includes a map of the beginning of the quest. Partly because the small e-reader format would most likely render this map illegible, the 21st-century presenter has omitted it here. It can be found online at http://termitespeaker.blogspot.com and the reader is welcome to print it or download it from that source.

Because of difficulties in linking the footnotes in both directions, the presenter decided to distribute them throughout the text rather than placing them at the end of the book. A double dagger [‡] marks each note, which is then placed at the end of the paragraph. This seems to be the lesser of several evils, ensuring that readers have an opportunity to view the note without overly disrupting the flow of the reading.

L.J.T.

Facsimile

of 30th-Century

Title Page

The Labors of Ki’shto’ba Huge-Head

A Series

Volume Two

The Storm-Wing

By

Di’fa’kro’mi the Remembrancer

Translated by

Prf. Kaitrin Oliva

Published through

the InterQuad DataBase

10 January 243 (old cal. 2998)

Planet Earth

List of Principal Characters

The Members of the Quest:

Ki’shto’ba Huge-Head, of To’wak, a Warrior, our hero

Di’fa’kro’mi the Remembrancer, of Lo’ro’ra, an Alate, the First Companion

Wei’tu, of Lo’ro’ra, a Worker of the Builder Subcaste, the Second Companion

Twa’sei, of Lo’ro’ra, a Worker of the Grower Subcaste, the Third Companion

A’zhu’lo, of To’wak, a Warrior, Ki’shto’ba’s twin, the Fourth Companion

Za’dut, of Kwai’kwai’za, an outcast Worker of the Builder Subcaste, the Fifth Companion

Ra’fa’kat’wei, of No’bu’cha, a Healer Alate, the Sixth Companion

In the Marsh Fortresses (Ei’tot, Gut’akh’zi, Ko’prai):

Zon’to’a, Warrior, Commander of Ei’tot

Yo’mi’ma’ga, Alate, Chief Healer of Ei’tot

Hai’ti’ma’na’ta, Mother of Ei’tot

Tro’bor’pai, Warrior, Low Commander of Ei’tot

Nam’ga’vei’a, Alate, Remembrancer and Chief Alate of Ei’tot

I’kei’tei’zei, Alate, joint Seer of the three Marsh Fortresses

In Li’ei’mi:

Mat’li’pai, Warrior, a Lieutenant, emissary from Li’ei’mi

Ist’toi’lo, Warrior, Commander of Li’ei’mi

Tei’kit’ko’a, Alate, Holy Seer

Kwi’dai’ni’shtei, Chief Priest

In the Lands of the Marchers (Shkei’akh’zei):

Zhu’zi’a’ro’a Yak Na’vrun, High Commander of Prai’na’mi’cha and Overlord of all the Marcher fortresses

Venerable Lug’tei’a, an Intercaste, Holy Warrior Priest of the Sky Mother

Wei’li’ta, Worker, aide to Zhu’zi’a’ro’a

Su’akh, Worker, aide to Lug’tei’a

Is’a’pai’a, a young Warrior from southern lands

Krai’zei, Worker, aide to Is’a’pai’a

Na’tu’ta’hwa, Mother of Ni’shbu’uto’cha

Ma’mo’sa’gash, King of Ni’shbu’uto’cha

Gri’a’ein’zei’a, Warrior, Commander of the fortress of Ni’shbu’uto’cha

Na’tu’ta’pri, Mother of Prai’na’mi’cha

Wei’two’a’tav’a, Warrior, Commander of Vu’rak’vit’cha and designated successor to Zhu’zi’a’ro’a

Ga’pol’kwai, Alate, Remembrancer of Prai’na’mi’cha

Na’tu’ta’fum, Mother of Vu’rak’vit’cha who died from Sta’ein’zei fumes

In No’sta’pan’cha:

Sa’ti’a’i’a, Warrior, one of the Six Chieftains

Kan’a’akh’a’a (often shortened to Kan’akh), High Chieftain

Prai’lo’reig’ta, High Mother of No’sta’pan’cha

Mor’gai’ji’ma, High King of No’sta’pan’cha

Na’tei’tha, Holy Seer and Remembrancer

Thel’rut’sei’ta, Mother being groomed to take Prai’lo’reig’ta’s place

Names of Monsters:

Hak’tuk (Storm-Wing), a Marsh Guardian, the King Bird

Water monster (unnamed) attacking the fortress of Li’ei’mi

Lightning-shooting reptilian (unnamed)

Rash’ta’rak, an Ancient Cursed One

Rash’ta’rak’ta, the Mother of Rash’ta’rak

Translator’s Foreword

The truth is that there is a creation,

howsoever it comes here, and we small

created ones can speak to one another

and care for one another and share joy and

grief, whether we be Shshi or Star-Beings.

There are some who are allowed to see

more deeply than others, and their Seeings

always take the shape of metaphors …

– Di’fa’kro’mi the Remembrancer, in

The War of the Stolen Mother

There are creatures in the universe

who speak, form symbols, and share

emotions; these may be called human.

– Mythmaker Precept, No. 17

The three months since the first volume of The Labors of Ki’shto’ba Huge-Head appeared on the IQDB have produced an effusion of favorable reaction salted with some not unexpected criticism. To everyone whose communications fall into the former category, I extend heartfelt thanks. To those responsible for the criticism, I take this opportunity for a brief rebuttal.

A few skeptics have pronounced the work a complete fiction pseudonymously composed by the alleged translator. (Surely the style and vocabulary are too sophisticated to have proceeded from the mouth of an insect!) Others doubt that a society with such a primitive cultural level could have developed such human moral and religious concepts; still others are repelled by certain Shshi behaviors (specifically necrophagia) and by the acceptance of violence as the Warrior Caste’s way of life. Some of my colleagues contend that my method of transcribing the spectrographic Shshi language is unnecessarily arcane, objecting particularly to the link notations, which possess no intuitive spoken equivalents (this complaint has been – and will be, I am sure, for years to come – argued in scholarly venues, and I dismiss it here).

As for the work’s being a fiction of my own devising, I assure you that Kaitrin Oliva is quite incapable of producing fiction of any sort – it’s not her talent! Furthermore, where the Shshi are concerned, reality is far stranger than any tale imagined by Earthers could ever be! That being said, I invite the skeptics to come to Okloh and examine with their own eyes the scrolls that contain the documents, to peruse laboratory verifications of the authenticity of their materials, and to consult other scientists who have studied the G. Gwidian isopteroids.

In regard to the comments about style and vocabulary, the very choice of the word mouth implies ignorance. The assumption seems to be that no mere insectoid could be expected to produce more than brutish squeaks; how could any work of literary merit be produced by such means? The fact of the matter is that the mouth of a Shi serves only for eating and grooming; this totally deaf creature speaks by means of a carrier wave transmitted and received directly from and to the brain through the antennae. I would counsel these cavilers to educate themselves on the anatomy and function of the Shshi neurological system.

The question of human moral concepts demonstrates additional prejudice, i.e. this particular critic objects less to the TD level than to the very idea that a six-legged invertebrate ILF could have anything in common with properly evolved mammalian humans. To answer this objection, I need only refer you to the quotations that form an epigraph to this Foreword.

To those who find some of the cultural dissimilarities unpleasant, I would say such revulsion arises from a lack of experience dealing with people whose customs, instinctual imperatives, and physical requirements differ from our own. I suggest that these people should become better acquainted with the Te Quornaz or the Krisí’i’aidá, both of whom have become a familiar presence on Earth. Most of my extraterrestrial friends are quite open to a discussion of such matters.

I have not changed my translation style one whit in this volume, because I believe it honestly reflects Di’fa’kro’mi’s own voice, which I have heard with a magic antenna. I have continued inserting explanatory notes throughout the text whenever I deem them useful, in spite of receiving a smattering of complaints that they were a distraction. The authorial voice speaking in the footnotes is entirely mine. I have also appended a Glossary of Shshi Words at the behest of my worthy colleagues in the field of linguistics. For additional background information, the reader may consult my Foreword in the first volume of this series.

The present work begins where the first tale ends and encompasses slightly more than two years of the journeys of Ki’shto’ba and its Companions, whereas The War of the Stolen Mother covered less than one. The plot turns on several physical fights with monsters, but it also begins to address the soul-struggles that are an integral part of what makes us all human.

It is with pleasure that I return you now to Di’fa’kro’mi the Remembrancer and the portion of his tale which I have entitled The Storm-Wing.

Prf. Kaitrin Oliva (Prof. Spec. Xenoanth. and Ling.)

Shiras-Peders University of Xenological Studies

10 January 243 (old cal. 2998)

Chapter 1

Di’fa’kro’mi Resumes His Dictation

Well, I greet you, Chi’mo’a’tu! How are you? Splendid! Yes, I am feeling very well! Nothing like a Regeneration Ritual to – ha! – regenerate one! What is in the bag? Oh, styluses! tha’sask|>|| How many are you planning to break? Yes, I promise to reform and speak more slowly! But we hit a nice balance, you and I – did we not? – during the last tale.

Where were you stationed during the Ritual – in the Alates’ Assembly Hall? … I was there, too, for a while, but it is no wonder I did not see you – it was so crowded. My flanks got sore from so much rubbing and they had to hold my wings out of the way because they have become so fragile. And it seemed everybody wanted to contact me … But later they helped me down to the Holy Chamber – I had not remembered it was such a long trek! – and I personally touched the Mother. Then my Holy Fon’gwa’ma’na’ta and I spent a long time talking. It was a moving experience for me because it may be the last time I ever come into a Mother’s presence …

No, I tell you – I feel fine! But all this tramping about – it takes something out of a 28-year-old! Yes, I went to the shrines as I intended. I touched Kwi’ga’ga’tei’s burial cyst and talked to her. I felt no response, except the satisfaction I took in my own gut. Those ones who say they feel more than that – perhaps they do not understand the difference between a true spiritual experience and a feeling in the gut. But who am I to say? I never was a Seer.

Then I spent some time meditating beside the Star-King’s shrine. For some reason I found that to be even more affecting. Perhaps it is because it commemorates the power and the pain of loss. Ah, the pain of loss … All of us grow to understand how that feels if we live long enough … ‡

***

‡[When Prf. Gwidian was injured during the first expedition to the homeworld of the Shshi, the team doctor had to remove a lung in the field. This piece of the Star-King was overlooked in the pandemonium of the end of the mission, and the lo’ro’ra’zei| sealed it up inside the storage cyst where his death took place and created a shrine, an act that touched me deeply.]

***

Oh, you went out there, too? Because it is your birthday season? I did not know that! Let me see – you are all of – five season-cycles old? Astoundingly aged! But what did you feel in that place? … Well, as I say, I am not sure why some people have mystical experiences there. I agree – with all the tho’sei| trees and the sweet-smelling ha’fli| it certainly is a pleasant and soothing place – a fine birthday excursion for a five-year-old, but fatiguing to someone who is twenty-eight!

But you will be twenty-eight before we get this next tale set down if we do not get started! Yes, I know what I am going to say! Did you think the heads of Remembrancers are empty until the moment they begin to perform? We spend a great deal of time working out our tales before we speak them – or write them, as the case is now, thanks to the one who invented writing – me!

Yes, I am sure you and I will continue to quibble over my narrative methods. There are certain parts of my tale that I did not experience firsthand – that is always the case. I expect some discussion, but I believe I have given you something of a broader perspective. Now pick up one of those styluses, open your inkpot – I invented the word ink, you know – and prepare to write! I am beginning now!

Chapter 2

In the Nu’wiv’mi Marsh

We are lost. I mean, we are quite lost! Yes, I have to admit it. I am not at all sure of the way!

Ra’fa’kat’wei’s confession did nothing to improve my mood. I was covered with mud, my wings were encrusted with drying shreds of water-weed, and I was sprawled on my belly huffing with fatigue. So my rejoinder was tart.

A fine guide you have turned out to be! You said you knew all the paths!

I do know them! I mean, I did know them – you can certainly see that they sink sometimes or get washed away. But we will not stay lost for long! I promise you that!

So there we all sat, lost in the middle of a marsh, on a little island of lava-stone in the midst of a tangle of certain stocky, dwarfish trees that grow with their roots in the water – and no path in view. Hastened by gathering clouds, darkness was closing over Nu’wiv’mi and we could do nothing but settle down for a long, tedious night – Ki’shto’ba Huge-Head, one of the greatest Champions the world has ever seen, and the first Six of the destined Twelve Companions who were to accompany it on its quest to seek wonders. There was our so-called guide, Ra’fa’kat’wei the Healer Alate, who had joined us after the War of the Stolen Mother ended and who was responsible for our being in this predicament. There were our Worker helpers Wei’tu and Twa’sei – my siblings from my home fortress of Lo’ro’ra, who had been with us from the beginning. There was the outcast Worker Za’dut, whom the great Seer Thru’tei’ga’ma had aptly described as a tricky lizard – who had fomented the plot to end the War and had succeeded perhaps a bit more thoroughly than even it had anticipated. There was the Warrior A’zhu’lo the twin of Ki’shto’ba, lying exhausted on the rocks. And there was I – Di’fa’kro’mi the Remembrancer – such a dignified Alate, whose Star-Wings at the moment could not have lighted up the shade under a leafless tree at midday!

Wei’tu was as mucked up as I was, because we had both tumbled into deep water earlier that day and almost drowned, upon which I vowed that as soon as (and if) we arrived once again in civilized surroundings, all of us who did not already possess the skill were going to learn how to swim! Wei’tu was trying at the moment to scrape some of the detritus off my wings, even as I returned the favor by nibbling the crust from its belly. Some circumstances will not allow one to stand on the protocols of Caste.

Ki’shto’ba, A’zhu’lo, and Za’dut could all swim – it had been Ki’shto’ba, of course, who had pulled Wei’tu and me out of the water – and now the small Twa’sei, who was devoted to its giant friend to the point of roit’um’zi|‡, was industriously excavating dried mud from beneath the edges of Ki’shto’ba’s big pronotal shield. Za’dut tended A’zhu’lo with equal solicitude, sitting with its belly curled up under its friend’s labium and applying ointment to the Warrior’s palps, which had been scalded in a thermal spring that morning.

***

‡[Infatuation, hero-worship; literally, twist-headedness]

***

The journey had started out well enough three day-cycles earlier.‡ The paths had been suitably substantial and the way had been easy to discern even for my unpracticed eyes. Ra’fa’kat’wei tended to go off on tangents, always spotting some herb or water plant she wanted to gather, either for us to eat or to replenish her store of simples. She was on a quest even as we all were. She was looking for antidotes to animal poisons, whose properties have not been studied much among the Shshi. (I wonder how much the Star-Beings know about them – a good deal, I would wager. Why did I never ask Ru’a’ma’na’ta about that? … I was not expecting an answer to that question, Chi’mo’a’tu.)

***

‡[Let me remind the reader that a day on G. Gwidian is 40 Earth hours long; thus the Companions have been traveling in the marsh for some one hundred hours and now must wait through a tedious twenty-hour dark period before the Alates can once again see where they are going. The reader surely recollects that Warriors and Workers have no eyes and that all Shshi lack an auditory sense.]

***

Anyway, the great Champion Nei’ga’bao Swift-Foot had died from the poison of the flu’gai| mollusk and there had been nothing anyone could do to cure it. On that first day, Ra’fa’kat’wei pulled one of those insignificant-looking little red-striped shell-creatures out of a pond, mixed up with some tasty water plants that she was harvesting, and I got a chance to examine it. She crushed the shell and the inner soft parts and made all the eyeless ones smell it so they would recognize it should they ever encounter it in their food or squash it underfoot. After that, we all took great care with anything edible that we took from the water.

So the first suntime passed pleasantly enough. We rested at the midpoint on a little grassy island and spent the first night on a lava outcropping similar to the one where we found ourselves at the end of the third day. We could still see the northern hills – it was surprising how far we had descended below their level. We did find we were sharing our bed with some venomous lizards, but that was the only alarming circumstance.

The second day was notable for the bizarre creatures we encountered. The big reptiles with the purple horns and eyes were common, but Ra’fa’kat’wei assured us they were strictly plant eaters and no threat to Shshi at all. But we also saw a couple of those giant carnivorous shar’zei| called shgwai’zan’zei|.‡ They lie in wait in the water with nothing above the surface but two little tubular breathing holes on the top on their heads. (We Shshi are the only beings that I know of, except insects, who sensibly breathe through many openings on their flanks.) A gwai’zan’zei| waits until some poor creature swims by or comes to the bank to drink and then it lunges out and seizes it. Ra’fa’kat’wei taught me to watch for two little patches of bubbles in the water, for they sometimes submerge their entire breathing apparatus in order to be even less conspicuous. A most frightening animal!

***

‡[Water-hiders]

***

There were also some of the oddest plants that I had ever seen to that point – some that would move and pull away from you if you touched them, or curl around your legs like thread lizards and ensnare you, and there were some that ate creatures alive. Yes, plants! Their flowers sit atop pads of leaves in the nastiest of the pools and exude a smell like rotten carrion. Apparently some insects and little lizards like that smell. When these animals venture onto one of the leaves, it closes up over them and swallows them. No, Chi’mo’a’tu, I am not making it up – I saw it happen with my own eyes! I saw the poor little creatures thrashing about inside the wrappings of the leaf, and then the thrashing would grow less and less until all was still. tha’sask|>|| I am very thankful that I do not have to live in a marsh!

… although I would dearly love to have some glon’at’zi|‡ to eat at this very moment. The crunch and the zesty flavor – exquisite! But it is too late for that …

***

‡[Yellow-root; a succulent water plant that has been found to grow only in the Nu’wiv’mi marsh]

***

There was also wei’i’kei’fli|‡ – you’re familiar with that? We get it dried sometimes in trade from the Marsh Fortresses through Kwai’kwai’za. No, we cannot get glon’at’zi| that way, because when it is dried, it tastes like old dung, and if it were fresh, it would rot long before it arrived in Lo’ro’ra. You really would have done that? – tried to get some for me? Well, that is a nice thought, Chi’mo’a’tu! I am touched.

***

‡[Ghost plant]

***

What was I saying? Oh, yes. wei’i’kei’fli| is a plant that is quite rare and is as pale as those underground things that the Healers grow in the Apothecary Garden. It lives together with a certain fungus, the same one that causes the green rot, and is a sure cure for that disease because it consumes the poison. Ra’fa’kat’wei collected as much of it as she could as we were crossing the marsh. It was to come in handy later.

So we did a lot of wandering around on the second day and the place began to get wetter and the paths soggier. Our claws sank into the muck and walking was hard. Ra’fa’kat’wei said that was because we were coming down into the lowest part of the basin. She had expected it to be drier, because after all it was the end of weio’nol|, the driest season, but in truth it had been a very wet year and perhaps she had misjudged …

That was when I first began to suspect that Ra’fa’kat’wei might not be quite as much of an expert on Nu’wiv’mi as she would have had us believe.

Surprisingly, we were thirsty all the time, because the water in most of the pools was not fit to drink and we would have to wait until Ra’fa’kat’wei could find a safe supply. I can still see her scenting and tasting and spitting to test the water. At sundown that second day, we were all exhausted and Ki’shto’ba mildly asked Ra’fa’kat’wei if she thought we had made a mistake coming this way. She assured everyone that certainly that was not the case and that she knew exactly where she was and …

At that moment the ground shook – a phenomenon we were all too familiar with – but we quickly learned that this was no groundquake. The next thing we knew a huge spout of water blew out of the ground only a few Shshi lengths from where we rested! Well, that was something I had never seen before! The eyeless ones had no idea what was happening – the only thing they knew was that a shower of very hot, bad-smelling water was falling on them!

Ra’fa’kat’wei cried, May the Nameless One protect! We have blundered into a geyser field!

None of us knew what a vu’gwai’kan’zi| was, but that ignorance did not … You do not know what it is, either, Chi’mo’a’tu? Let me see what you wrote … No, no, no – water, water! You must write hot plus water plus spout! You have written vu’gai’ka’zi|. Use your head! Why would the name for water shooting out of the ground be hot striped rock?

As I was about to say, a geyser is a naturally occurring phenomenon around volcanoes. The ground seems to stay hot even after the lava itself turns to cold stone, and water shoots out of the ground at off-and-on intervals. Or sometimes the water is just hot – there are pools that shoot out nasty-smelling steam, and mud that bubbles ponderously – most humorous! You will learn more about this phenomenon later, because it also occurs in the mountains.

We all were forced to run for it and we ended up spending the second night huddled up on the bulging roots of some of those stocky, ugly trees. It was not a pleasant darktime.

And then in the morning A’zhu’lo was thirsty, and it wandered off by itself and stuck its face into a pool to drink – and the pool was one of those hot ones I mentioned – and it scalded its palps! You have never taken such a pain sending! We all rushed out thinking that a gwai’zan’zei| had seized our friend!

Yes, you can well imagine how much it hurt! The palps have so many sensitive hairs and the chitin is thin and porous compared to what is on the head or body. It was very distressing. It certainly was not a fatal injury, but Ra’fa’kat’wei and Za’dut fussed over Ki’shto’ba’s poor twin quite as if it were.

Nevertheless, we had to continue the journey, even though A’zhu’lo was suffering. The only advantage of that hot water field was that Ra’fa’kat’wei showed us how to immerse a bundle of tough, inedible stems into such a pool until they became tender enough to eat. (I have always thought it would be useful if one could somehow cause water to become hot and soften food in it that way … I know, Chi’mo’a’tu – that is quite foolish. There is no way it could be done, although if our inventor Za’dut were here, perhaps it might think of something. But I agree – it is contrary to natural processes … )

So we trekked on and Ra’fa’kat’wei seemed to be leading us around in circles. I could tell she was getting rather agitated. Even with the movement of the sun and the sight of the western mountains to orient us, we could not tell how far we had come or exactly where our destination lay. This unfamiliar world of ominous smells and everlasting mud, steaming pools and lurking dangers, was beginning to weigh on our spirits.

Then Ra’fa’kat’wei reared up suddenly and peered at the southern sky. I was following too closely, and I bumped into her, whereupon we all bumped into one another. Both A’zhu’lo and Za’dut cursed as the Warrior’s sore palps jammed against Za’dut’s rear end and A’zhu’lo’s mandibles jabbed that same anatomical part. I looked where Ra’fa’kat’wei was staring and I saw enormous birds circling.

We had seen many birds during our journey – long-legged waders picking water-worms out of the mud – floating birds paddling about among the grass – tiny birds with spindly legs risking death by hopping around upon the flesh-eating leaves. Some of these feathered creatures were quite large and formed hordes that constantly flew up in great swirling masses and then resettled in a different place. We had even seen those common predatory birds that swoop down and seize lizards and other birds and even shza’zei|.‡

***

‡[Little Ones; the large formicidiforms that exist in wild and domesticated forms, which the Shshi cultivate for their honeydew]

***

But these birds were different. They soared in slow wide circles, flapping their wings in an unfamiliar manner. Those wings were huge and the outlines were – well, it is difficult to explain, but perhaps sharp is the only way to describe what I thought I saw. The wings of birds I was familiar with were soft in outline, especially on the back edges where the feathers protrude. These creatures had long necks and large, extended heads and long, thin tails with a thick tip on the end. They were quite far away, so that was all I could make out of them at the moment.

What are those things? I said, even as Ki’shto’ba was asking what the matter was.

But I knew the answer before Ra’fa’kat’wei uttered it. "The shyak’nu’wiv’mi|. The Guardians of the Marsh. I told you about them."

Where? said Ki’shto’ba, waving its head about and hoisting its belly as it scented.

A’zhu’lo muttered despairingly, I am not in the mood to fight birds.

Oh, they are a long way off, said Ra’fa’kat’wei. They are flying in the sky – they are not on the ground. But – I may have brought us too far westward. It looks … I mean, it looks as if …

What, what? we all cried.

"As if the shyak’nu’wiv’mi| are between us and our final destination. Unless we go back a little way and turn east … "

Now the outcry was general. Za’dut started grousing about people who do not plan thoroughly. A’zhu’lo snapped that Za’dut did not have much right to express that kind of criticism. Wei’tu said everyone should calm down because the birds were no danger at the moment. Twa’sei said it was not afraid of anything as long as it was with Ki’shto’ba. Ra’fa’kat’wei hopped up and down and fanned her wings in distress. Finally, I discharged a burst of command pheromone to get attention and said that I could see a cluster of lava outcroppings directly to the west and that we should head for those and spend the night there. We could get a good view of the surrounding countryside in the morning, determine what had become of the birds, and then decide on how to proceed.

Ki’shto’ba agreed with me, so we set out again. After a while the birds disappeared, although Ra’fa’kat’wei and I occasionally saw one or two flap up into the sky and circle for a few minutes, then glide down again out of sight, apparently scouting for danger – or prey.

The outcroppings I had chosen did not prove to be the best destination. The paths all vanished, and soon we were mucking through standing water two or three claw lengths deep. Instead of keeping a straight line, the company began to straggle. Suddenly I felt nothing under my feet! Wei’tu was beside me and in a panic I grabbed at it. We both plunged in over our backs and were completely submerged.

Wei’tu sank immediately but I reflexively spread my wings and they kept me afloat. Nevertheless, my belly was under water and my spiracles were filling up. As I thrashed, I felt the bottom – the pool was really not very deep – but this only churned up the mud and entangled my legs in water-weeds. It was a most unnerving experience!

Well, there is no point in belaboring the mishap. Ki’shto’ba pulled both of us out – by out I mean into shallower water, for there was no out at that point – and Ra’fa’kat’wei and Za’dut sucked and pounded the water out of our spiracles and we finally came to the conclusion that we were not going to die.

We started to move again, much more cautiously – so cautiously, in fact, that I despaired of reaching the islands before sunset. Clouds were beginning to roll out from the mountains and a chilly wind rippled the water, reminding us that the Cold Time was nearly upon us. The sun disappeared in an overcast sky. We ceased to be so cautious. Then the water grew shallower and mud flats began to emerge. I had complained earlier about walking in mud, but now I gave thanks for any ground that was visible and reasonably supportive! We pressed on and finally gained the lava hill where Ra’fa’kat’wei confessed that she was lost.

*****

What is this thing? Wei’tu jerked its head, causing me to jump and curse. It was clenching in its jaws a long, thin water-worm that writhed and curled itself about my helper’s mandibles. This bit of vermin was napping under your fourth belly tergite, Holy Remembrancer.

"tha’sask|>||, I said. I knew something had been giving me an itch in that region."

Ra’fa’kat’wei had bounced over. Wei’tu, you tore off the head! It is still attached. She rummaged in her Healer’s bag and came out with a sharp knife made of mat’gri’ka’zi|.‡ I will have to cut it out, Di’fa’kro’mi, or it will fester and poison you.

***

‡[Obsidian; literally, black-shine-rock]

***

So that was the next ordeal I had to endure. Ra’fa’kat’wei applied a numbing compound before she cut the flesh, so it was not as bad as I expected. Ra’fa’kat’wei truly was