The late morning remained bright as Nuyani cut through the red waste. Taking precaution of meeting any hunters, she went further north toward the cliffs passing several charge-horn sounders and wild whip-neck caravans along the way. As she got closer to the cliffs, she started heading toward the east. Nuyani peeked at the cliffs and thrummed her core to ensure none of the blood-manes were flying toward her. Even with her speed, she could still be ambushed by the beasts. As time passed, the sun climbed a little higher toward noon as she reached the source of the river before it split into different branches throughout the drylands. Sprinting for nearly an hour, Nuyani looked up toward the sun as she took several deep breaths.

  ‘It should be enough time,’ she thought, placing faith in her speed to return to find the lost city, or nothing at all, before the sunset and the others were left alone to defend against the howlers. Turning back toward the waterfall, Nuyani watched as the water descended to the bottom leaving a thin spray in the process. Stepping forward, entered the mist letting it envelop her as the cool spray touch reached her brow. Nuyani gave a deep sigh finding it relaxing.

  A loud trumpet then echoed through the area with a small echo against the cliff. Nuyani snapped toward the source and drew her knife. On the other side of the waterfall stood a heavy-horn. Nuyani blinked at it seeing how young it was. Though it was still far larger than her, it was only a head or so taller. The beasts were grazers, and part of the northeast with wide bodies, thick legs, and short brush-ended tails. Their heads were large with flat faces and fanning ears but, this one was too young as it mustered a threatening fa?ade. The adults had two pairs of tusks with the lower pair guarding their legs against predators as the top pair were for combatting each other for territory. Yet the young one before her had smaller tusks no longer than her arm, and the trunk that would be long enough to sweep the floor and almost as thick with hide to beat approaching predators was just as short.

  Nuyani chuckled at the animal as their brown eyes narrowed at her. ‘I am no threat to you, young thing, and neither you to me unless you can clear that gap. I can’t,’ Nuyani thought as she smiled. She straightened in her stance as she looked at the animal.

  Seeing its intimidation did not work, the animal stomped on the ground before leaving toward the planes of tall grass rejoining its herd. Her eyes were then drawn to the mass of moving red in the distance that messed with her eyes for a moment to make out individual heavy-horns. She could only see two that were battling at the time. Males fighting for supremacy within their herds.

  ‘There’s always fighting,’ Nuyani thought.

  Returning her gaze to the cliffs. A series of shelves, there were two waterfalls with the first easily scaled with so many layers of rocks jutting out leaving crevices. The runner made her way up the first shelf. As she climbed over the ledge, the roar of the higher waterfall filled the area. Nuyani watched as the mist sailed for a distance before disappearing the further it scattered. The runner was about to climb but stopped. She looked to her left. Her ember eyes widened. Nuyani froze at the sight of a curled mound of muscle slumbering on the shelf. It was a blade-jaw. It was twice the size of a man’s width and had a short tail no longer than a hand.

  Nuyani looked through the area for a good place to hide or stay out of sight. Aside from the higher waterfall, there were stone pillars on both sides of the river. Nuyani looked to her side and found the stones to be at least a dozen paces away. With such a small space on the ledge, she was certain the beast could catch her if it awoke.

  ‘By his shine…’ Nuyani thought as she climbed slowly onto the shelf and stalked the stone pillars.

  Catching sight of the animal’s flickering ears, she failed to notice a loose stone and kicked it forward. With a series of soft taps reverberating through the immediate area. Nuyani looked back toward the blade-jaw seeing the creature did not stir. Despite this, she moved in haste more cautious of her footing as she reached the stone pillars and snuck behind one to hide. Squeezing between the first two, Nuyani looked back to find the creature undisturbed. ‘Thank you, Lord Kelvert,’ Nuyani thought and pressed her head against the stone column. Continuing her journey, Nuyani continued to squeeze through the rest of the pillars until she got to the second shelf and remained cautious of the waterskin on her tool strap.

  ‘I need a way up,’ the runner thought as she reached the wall of the next cliff. The crevices of the cliff wall were too shallow for a proper grip making Nuyani pause. Looking back at the adjacent pillar, she moved between them and used her legs and hands to push against the sides climbing to the next ledge.

  Nuyani exhaled as she reached the ledge feeling somewhat tired. ‘Why is running easier than climbing?’ she wondered as she looked at the next path. There was little space available for Nuyani to walk along as it sloped and wrapped around the cliff wall. Nuyani walked slowly along with the space to keep her footing. With the roar of the waterfall growing quieter, Nuyani continued down the way and thrummed her core. ‘By the Great Lord, I’m glad nothing happened,’ She thought to herself. As her core echoed nothing disturbed the waves as they returned beside the fading pressure of the blade-jaw.

  Nuyani then walked into the shadow of the winding ravine. Her eyes trailed over the scaling walls as the wind whipped through the path. Only a few cliffs and it was already a different world.

  ‘I need a few cooler days like this,’ Nuyani thought as she felt her muscles ease.

  An air of caution came over her as she looked further down her path seeing it had an end and no ledge. There was only enough space for her to cling to the walls if need be. Nuyani then looked toward the waters that quickly foamed near the end. Past the rapids, the water remained clear. She expected the same clamoring water bites to litter the mouth of the river as they did in the drylands. As Nuyani walked on, she had forgotten about the light thrum of her core still ringing as one of the waves grew chaotic. Her eyes widened as a pressure rose on the surface of the ethereal drum.

  The runner darted forward just as a cacophony of sounds blared behind her. A loud thud followed by scratching against the stone and a sudden heavy caw were all Nuyani needed to hear realizing that she was still in the blood-mane’s territory as well. She ran forth, at a slower pace, the small path made it more of a threat that she may slip and fall into the water. In the first plunge, she would be vulnerable to the blood-mane. The flap of the beast’s large wings reached her ears. Nuyani caught movement at the side of her eye and looked to her left. The animal flew around with its red yawning beak and black eyes trained on her. the feathers of its mane rippling like tall grass.

  Nuyani pushed even harder moving faster within the small space barely dodging the beast’s talons as it crashed into the wall once more. With a flap of its wings, the beast struck her shoulder while she was in mid-step, throwing off her balance. Nuyani flailed as she tried to keep herself upright but, began to lean toward the water. Choosing to drop, Nuyani winced as she landed on her knee. Sacrificing her momentum, she was able to gain some control as she caught the ledge, stopping herself from falling. The loud flaps of the blood-mane’s wings signaled its position. Changing her approach, Nuyani pulled her waterskin loose and reached for one of the engorged fruit. The surface was soft and felt fragile warning that it could burst even in her hand. Without a second thought, she looked toward the beast still righting itself and pitched the fruit at its head.

  Her mouth twisted as she silently prayed for it to strike true. The yellow bulb struck the blood-mane in the face bursting instantly as the white powder nearly enveloped the creature entirely. Its wings flapped erratically as it tried to stay airborne. Its mouth and eyes remained wide as the powder caked in both. Its pink tongue grew pale before the gagging animal crashed into the side of the cliff and fell into the water. Nuyani breathed heavily as she saw the seizure-induced animal float away.

  ‘Lord Kelvert, I thank y…’ Her thoughts trailed off as she could feel new pressures rise on her core. Each of them just appeared without a sense of direction. The river itself seemed to open as yawning jaws opened revealing a flash of pink before closing on the blood-mane’s leg and tearing away some of the flesh. Several more mouths opened in the water and took out chunks of the creature.

  ‘What are you?’ she wondered as more of the clearer waters turned revealing some of the hidden animals chasing the easy meal.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Each of them had dark blue and green scales on top that matched the bottom of the river covering their long bodies. Their eyes had narrowed irises with a dark green and yellow that glimmered in the light. Their wide maws were filled with dozens of teeth.

  ‘I was about to dive in there. How did I not notice them?’ Nuyani wondered. She then looked to the other side of the river and found a low riverbank she could climb with ease.

  Seeing this as her only chance, Nuyani pushed off the cliff wall turning in the air for a dive into the water and started swimming as the strange river creatures ate the blood-mane. Swimming as hard as she could, Nuyani rushed toward the other embankment and climbed onto the land before starting a jog. Breathing heavily and drenched in water, she felt a chill from the constant gale sweeping through the cliffs. Nuyani looked back at the water seeing strange bumps on the surface that went against the river’s flow. Nuyani then focused on her core’s pulse strengthening the next pulse. As the ethereal force coursed over the area, it met with weaker beats that tried to strengthen itself to match hers only to collapse and reveal the sudden pressure hidden from her senses.

  ‘How?’ Nuyani wondered as she placed a hand on her stomach. She barely understood how the different forces worked, from her own core to the power of life she found in everything that grew. Now a creature before her was using the same pulses to hide its own signs of life. Nuyani then looked down the ravine hardening her resolve to find their history. With her core radiating beats further, she felt another pressure rise on her core at the top, though it was faint. She followed its direction looking to the cliffs until her gaze fell upon another blood-mane watching her intently. Nuyani took out her knife wondering if the animal would try to take her. After her near fall and swim, she was not at her best for running. To Nuyani’s luck, the animal lied down and rested its head on the ground. Looking to the water, the faint signs of pressure had disappeared and the bumps on the water’s surface were gone.

  “Good,” Nuyani whispered as she sheathed her knife and started down the riverbank trying to catch her breath.

  ‘At least, they know when to quit,’ Nuyani thought to herself as she noticed the soft sand beneath the press of her feet. Despite their coarse texture, they still had a cool touch compared to the drylands.

  Keeping her pace to a stroll, Nuyani took notice of the different scenery. The river’s flow was gentler now and wider than the narrow section further down the way. The ripples of water remained calm as they allowed the runner to see the bottom. Green plants resembling much like dishes sat on the surface as slender clumps of leaves rose from the water only to grow limp at the top half. Strange clumps of green foam gathered around each section of the vegetation with small bugs darting about the area going from one patch to another.

  Feeling rested, Nuyani started to jog. A full run was ideal to save time, yet she found herself continually looking to the vibrant green vegetation growing on the riverside. Her mind, on occasion returning to the green patch wondering if their bright colors were just a trap as well. Her pulses however showed that their life was not only separate, and numerous but, but barely held a fraction of the pressure contained within the snares. Nuyani wondered if there was a trap imagining it for small bugs or mice instead. She let the thought pass as her attention then turned to the idea of laying on one of the flat dish-like plants.

  “Well, this is a bold little thing,” Nuyani said as she looked at the frog. It had a dark blue and gray body resembling more like stone skin and bulging black eyes with a white center that gleamed in the light. Its back had small blue spots with a few swirling trails like smoke connecting to one another that glowed. The designs glowed in a deep bright blue as the frog chirped and its body expanded and contracted rapidly.

  Nuyani stopped and laughed at the sight of its bulbous body moving so much just from a call. Within a nearby patch of leaves another frog, baring the same colors but dulled, leapt into the water and swam toward the frog. When it climbed onto the leaf, it placed one of its wide feet on top of the singing frog's face as it continued. The witch smiled for a moment seeing it called a friend before she returned to her jog. Making her way through the ravine, the vegetation only got thicker as more plants covered the water and some of the riverbank as the roar of rushing water echoed through the hall.

  Following the ravine’s winding path, the view of another waterfall appeared as the noon sun beamed down into the narrow land. As she grew closer to the waterfall, her eyes fell upon the enormous mountains appearing through the gap. Unlike the cliffs surrounding her, they were gray and white pointing into the sky as thick clouds surrounded their peak.

  ‘By the Great Lord…I thought the cliffs were the tallest things that existed,’ Nuyani thought as she stared at the mountains for a moment before her foot stepped into the water drawing her attention. Nuyani stopped in her place and looked down at her foot submerged beneath a cluster of algae surrounding her ankle. The runner pulled away and narrowed her eyes as she felt the viscous substance seep between her toes. Her mouth twisted as she tried to kick the algae off her foot. Looking out toward the area, the riverbank ended only to continue the other side. The water itself split into two rivers. Failing to remove the algae, Nuyani ignored it. She glared at the water and dove in before swimming to the riverbank. Climbing out of the water, Nuyani could only see through a narrow squint of her eyes. Her arms extended from her waist letting the slime drop from her person.

  ‘I don’t want to know what this is,’ Nuyani thought as she undid the bindings of her arms and legs.

  Nuyani continued to release waves into the surrounding area only feeling the presence of weaker forces, though she kept the strange beasts hidden in the water in mind. She made her way further toward the opposite cliff encase any decided to walk the riverbank and catch her. With her bindings removed, she began to lace them through her hand to remove the algae.

  ‘What were those things?’ Nuyani first questioned. ‘I don’t see how they could hide from me. Well, I found them. I’ll name them. I guess if there are hens then, there are blood-manes. So, now with shovel tails, there are these things. They have scales but long bodies. They're not as vicious as water bites though. They still gather if there is food.’ Nuyani paused as she looked at the ground. ‘Stalker bites. Water snaps. River Lizards. Big mouths…’ As she thought of names, Nuyani continued to clean the leather wrappings.

  With the sun shifting, she noticed her shadow’s turn. Nuyani then stopped and looked forward. A violet patch of flowers then caught her eye. Leaving her bindings on the riverbank, she rose and approached the patch. Each of them had eight diamond-shaped pedals that folded outward from their base with the top half colored violet and the inside white. The anthers were contrasted with bright orange and yellow.

  One of her mother’s favorite colors, Nuyani thought back to her promise to protect the village as she slowly frowned. The same people who tried to kill her, see her as a threat, even hunt her down after she saved the village made every step difficult in knowing that whatever she brought back may never be accepted but, it was the only answer she had compared to sneaking into the village each night to stop them until the storms forced her to stay hidden and the howlers would take their time.

  ‘I will try mother,’ Nuyani thought as she tightened her fist.

  Her thoughts trailed off as a dragonfly landed on the same flower she watched. Nuyani looked at the animal’s transparent wings as they folded inward before turning away and seeing the area was filled with more flowers of oranges, blues, reds, and yellows. She turned about stopping only when the sun hit her face. Nuyani let the rays warm her skin as the cool breeze continued to sweep through the ravine.

  Only the wind's soft whisper and the consuming roar of the waterfall filled her ears. Nuyani breathed slowly as she let her mind be at ease. As she drank in the rays, something pricked her left arm. Nuyani’s trance was broken as she looked to the side and found a dragonfly had landed on her skin. The runner ignored the curious bug as her attention was focused on the wound the howlers left on her. Aside from the lingering sting, it was a stark reminder of their predicament.

  Bringing the wound closer for inspection, she was not safe from the howlers. Nuyani was the only one who could fight them. The dragonfly still lingered on her arm. The runner stared at the insect’s large orange and yellow eyes. Caluu then came to mind as she reflected on the night before. Each of them showed her more kindness and trust than anyone else in years.

  ‘If not for them, I would be dead. Great Lord, please guide me to the answer. I will save them,’ Nuyani prayed as she continued running.

  As the early afternoon sun hung between the cliffs, Nuyani ran at her normal pace as she left trails of dust taller than herself. With an hour passing, the ravine had narrowed, and the water grew rapid, its roar echoing against the red walls. Forced closer to the cliff, Nuyani had to slow her run as the riverbank sloped toward the waters. As the path grew too dangerous, Nuyani continued walking as the end came into view.

  The opening through the cliff walls seemed odd as the river stopped at the end draining into a large whirlpool frothing at the center. Closer to the ravine’s end, Nuyani turned her back to the wall and braced the stone with her hand as she took several side steps up a gradual slope to the entrance. Her eyes fell on the whirlpool’s center. Nuyani scowled and looked away turning her gaze on the stone surface. Without realizing it, even the cliff walls at the end were strange.

  “Was it molded?” Nuyani mouthed as she looked at the strange depressions in the stone. Each one had smooth, round ridges heading in a single direction that replaced the parallel crevices in the stone for most of the ravine. It reminded her of the clay urns she shaped. Her heart started to skip as she imagined enormous hands molding the red stone. She struggled to envision someone who could be so large as to shape the mountains. Her thoughts dwelled on the stone’s shape as she made her way through the ravine path baring the same depressions.

  ‘The fable says the mountains opened for us but, I wonder why,’ Nuyani thought as she continued running on the stable ground.