Hero- the Unknown Territories by Chris Fritschi

Author:Chris Fritschi [Fritschi, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781090973740
Published: 2012-01-02T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER 14

With the discovery of the buckle, they now had a direction. They must cross the Flat Sea, then travel into the Umbra mountains.

Standback knew the port town of Edgewere, where they could they could find a boat to carry them. They were some days' ride from there, but for today Tilger was more than content to possess his buckle.

Tilger's mood was better than Standback had ever known. The weather seemed inspired by his good humor and favored them with a fresh breeze and crystal blue skies. Without warning, he would break out in a hearty song.

Standback didn't know what kind of voice Tilger had before he was transformed, but nothing could be worse than what he was having to listen to now.

The Cha-toosh's desire for a distraction was answered as they passed a long-disused road. It was heavily overgrown, which may have been why Tilger didn't notice it.

Standback lightly sprang from Sho's back and made his way along the road. Though he was small by many standards, a Cha-toosh could travel very quickly over short bits of time. He'd catch up to the others with ease.

About a mile later, the road emptied to the remains of a long-deserted village. Sun-bleached, rotted planks here and there marked where something had once stood. Now only the buildings of stone dotted the area, their tired walls sagging.

Other than the buildings, nothing remained of the former residents. The bones of the village had been picked clean by others a long time ago.

At the farthest end of the village was wide stream. Its current splashed and frothed on the rocks in lively contrast to the still, cheerless town. Along its grassy bank, Standback found a group of large turtles. The nearest one was enjoying the sun beating down on his shell.

"Greetings grandfather,” said Standback respectfully.

As with most Cha-toosh, Standback could speak to animals. He hadn't mastered a lot of them, but could carry on a passable conversation all the same. More so with animals than with humans; it wasn't what you said that mattered as much as how you said it. He always enjoyed talking to animals when he traveled. You never knew what sort of local lore or current news could be learned. Naturally, whatever you heard you had to keep in mind you were hearing it from an animal's perspective.

Almost all animals have a sense of superiority over other animals, and some make more of an issue of it than others. Cats are a great example of this. Even the lowliest, greasy alley cat carries an attitude of such supremacy that other animals can barely tolerate them. Turtles, on the other hand, don't talk much about their edge over the rest of the animal kingdom, that being that they can, and do, outlive several generations of other animals. The foolish animal that got into a debate with a turtle about who was superior was always on the losing end when the turtle would respond, ‘Yes, I remember your great-great grandfather saying how being a predator was the best of all animals.

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