Trojian Horse

He was snatched from his dreams to be welcomed by a throbbing headache. His whole body was drenched in sweat while the fine hairs on his body stood on end despite the copious amounts of sweat flowing all over him. His chest was heaving, as if he had been running while his eyes were painfully trying to adjust to his surroundings. He ran his hand over his face, clearing a path for his drowning skin to breathe. This was the first time he had a dream like that.

“What it is Arien,” a seemingly concerned Turo asked him, crouching and leaning over him.

“Bad dream…”

“What do you mean? What is a dream?”

“Surprisingly that isn’t the first I’ve been asked that. I don’t really know how to explain it.”

“Try.”

“Well, it’s like a picture in your head which you only get when you sleep. You can relate to sleeping though right?”

“Yes, I think so. So when you close your eyes it’s not just darkness?”

“No. Those are the good days.”

“You have many bad dreams?”

“Many but that one was different. It felt different. Like I was there, I could feel it, everything…the wind, the heat, hear everything as if I was there.”

“Maybe they will have an answer for your bad dreams.”

“They?” Arien asked, sitting up. His was starting to shiver as the sweat evaporated from his body. The cave was very cool which necessitated a fire but he started feeling cold despite the fire.

“Yes, the ones I’m taking you to see.”

“What can you tell me about who we’re going to see?”

“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand. You’ll just have to keep up until we get there and see for yourself.”

“Will you at least tell me something about yourself?”

“Something like what? You don’t need to know anything about me. We just have a journey to get through and I’ll be rid of you.”

“If you weren’t interested in being here then why are you here? What is your interest in me?”

“I just do what I’ve been told,” she said dismissively. “We need to go. Get up.”

Arien realised he had struck a tentative chord with his line of questioning though he felt entitled to know why he was out here in the middle of the jungle with this unfortunately beautiful creature he was supposed to just trust. He kept his peace, however, got to his feet and walked outside of the cave while she put out the fire and joined him outside.

“We go this way,” she said motioning with her hand the direction they were supposed to go.

To Arien it all seemed like endless forest. He nodded and followed her as she led the way deeper into the forest. The forest was much thicker in these parts and they had to hack through many parts using the knife that was otherwise tucked in a holster tied around her waist. The silence was unusual for him and he thought he would attempt to spark a conversation with her.

“So if I tell you something about me maybe you tell me something about you?”

“Why do you want to know something about me so badly? Perhaps I have nothing good to share.”

“I don’t know. We’re out here alone and if I’m supposed to trust you then maybe you can tell me something about you.”

“How will that help?”

“It just will. So?”

Turo carried on walking looking thoughtful, he assumed, hopefully considering his proposal for establishing a little rapport.

“What did you dream about?”

“I don’t really know. It’s nothing I’ve seen before. I think someone was chasing me in a place like this place but very different. They were strange mountains and it was dark.”

“So why would that scare you?”

“I wasn’t scared. It was just a bad dream okay,” he answered, feeling a sudden flash of heat that spread in one instantaneous wave all over his body.

Turo simply cast him a look obviously doubted the authenticity of his rebuttal.

“Anyway, tell me about yourself.”

“You have to ask me a question. That is not a question.”

“Where is your family? If you have one.”

“You vule, you are so ignorant of the world around you. I will honour my agreement. We are going to see the only family I’ve known right now.”

“Oh. But why do you say it like that?” It was impossible for Arien to hide his disappointment.

“I see you are not happy with the answer though. I don’t remember my first family and we are going to see the only family that has mattered to me since then.”

“Oh,” he said although this time he was a little more encouraged. Just a little. It felt impossible to Arien to get a genuine conversation going with her and he soon gave up. They walked in silence, she taking long strides hacking the flora that stood in their way and he panting loudly behind her. They walked on for what felt like several hours to Arien until Turo suddenly stopped. He looked over at her wondering why they had stopped. She motioned for him to remain silent and pointed in the distance where he saw a group of five, maybe six, ferocious looking creatures with six legs, large manes around their necks and a sharp pair of teeth sticking out their large mouths all walking in the direction they were headed.

“Stay close. We are going to have to go through the bogs to make it back in time.”

“What are those?”

“Jocebbahs. Believe me when I say you don’t want to ever run into them. One is dangerous enough, six would be certain death. Is there anything you know, vule?” She seemed to mock him though he couldn’t be quite sure with her. For some reason, he felt a little embarrassed at the accusation.

“Lead on, instead of blabbering on like a talaksh.” She flicked her hair at him, turned and broke into a stride. Her pace was ferocious. Arien was struggling to keep up with her but he was not about to give her the satisfaction of letting her know that fatigue was starting to set in.

As they jogged on his mind wandered back to the dream he had in the cave. Initially he thought it was dream but the longer he thought about it he wasn’t sure. It felt too real as if he was translated to some other place but more than just being a spectator, he was in the middle of it. A definite part of it. It felt like a memory. No, more than a memory. It felt…strange.

“How much further?” Arien asked. Turo initially laughed in response. He cursed himself for asking.

“We are going to the foot of Mount Mentur,” she replied when she was no longer caught in fits of laughter. “If you know where that is…”

Arien incidentally knew where Mount Mentur was. There was no missing the colossal mountain that towered over everything else on the western part of the land. Parts of the peak were visible even from the Capital. It was truly enormous extending its icy apex, he thought, right into space. In parts of the forest where the sun came through he could sometimes catch glimpses of Mount Mentur. The only problem with that was because of its size it became difficult to tell whether they were getting any closer. It didn’t seem like they were and he wondered at how much larger the mountain would get once they were beneath its shadow. He guessed by Turo’s reaction that they had a long way to go and though his body felt about ready to abandon him, his pride kept him walking.

“We should be there soon then,” he replied quickening his pace.

“You might want to slow down---”

“Are you going to just stand there looking at me or will you pick up the pace?” he asked.

Turo just smiled and quickened her pace a little bit. He realised that he would not make it back home unless he got where she said they needed to be and resolved that he would get there and back again and it would not kill him.