B.M.R. Exodus Chapter 07

• Posted by Sotek July 15, 2018 - Filed in TSC: CB Story - #Sotek  #U.O.T.W.  - 1,074 views

  

  

   

  The light of dawn spread across the camp, bathing everyone in light. A high pitched ‘Hiss’ sounded out from the basket where the young hatchling, Sotek battered his face as he tried to block out the sun. Being only around two weeks old, he hadn’t the co-ordination to protect his eyes with his tiny hands, so he flailed around until his tail just so happened to flop over his face, giving him the reprieve from the bright glare that seemed to burn his eyes.

   

  A much calmer ‘hisss’, brought Quentarii to his side but she was feeling rough and groggy after being kept awake most of the night by the young hatchling.
  “Hiss, hiss and more hisses. Haven’t you hissed enough Little Foot? All night I’ve had to listen to you. What are you doing?”

   

  She looked down at the basket and saw a green snake like tail coil around on Sotek’s face like it was a shield. With a tutt and a groan, Quentarii reached down and picked up the hatchling, freeing him from the confines of the basket.
  “Oh, my back… Come here you little scamp”.

   

  Sotek thrust his head into Quentarii’s chest, burying his eyes from the glaring sky. A low muffled ‘hiss’ caused Quentarii to look down at him with a frown.
  “You are going to be a nuisance today, aren’t you? Hmm?”

   

  The only answer he gave was a swing of his tail as it wrapped itself around her wrist, trapping her hand so she couldn’t let him go.

   

  She quietly groaned and gently rocked the hatchling while the three girls, Kat’rini, Vele’nara, and Kut’ara all appeared from beneath an old tatty fur. Quentarii lightly pulled the hatchling away from her bosom and tried to show him his three sisters while she softly explained to Little Foot why she needed to put him down.
  “Look, your sisters are there watching you. They want breakfast. Do you want breakfast? Food? Some water?”

   

  She didn’t know if he understood or not but the moment she tried to pass him over to Vele’nara, his tail tightened, fortifying his grip on Quentarii’s arm. Quentarii huffed then walked brazenly to the last member of the group and lightly kicked him in the back.
  “Aruzzel? Aruzzel, wake up!”

   

  The male Argonian stirred and rolled over so he was on his back. He raised his arm, blotting out the sun until Quentarii sidestepped, using her own body as a sun screen.
  “Get up you layabout. We’ve a long way to go still and we’re wasting daylight. Here, take care of scamp for me while I sort out some breakfast”. She bent down and sat Sotek on Aruzzel’s stomach, but the hatchling’s tail never let go. As she went to stand up straight, Sotek was lifted up due to his tail still wrapped around her wrist. Over a few seconds, he slid down to Aruzzel’s torso as the tail lost its grip and started to unwind.

   

  Little Foot stayed where he fell, face down on top of Aruzzel and hissed as his tail whipped around in annoyance of loosing the one person he would grow to know as ‘mother’. Aruzzel’s head flopped back down and he once again grimaced as the sun bore down upon him.
  “Ahhggr! It burns!” He screamed playfully, causing the three girls to laugh.

   

  Once they all ate the left-over fish, supplemented with Kreshweed and mudcrab, Quentarii started dismantling their camp. Within the hour everything was packed up and ready to go. Aruzzel was the first to cross the next expanse of water, rapidly followed by Vele’nara while the other two girls sat on the cart along with Little Foot. Quentarii once again swallowed the fishy liquid which allowed her to walk on water then she held onto the cart and started pushing it in front of her. It only took several seconds to cross as the channel was very narrow and fortunately for her, the bank on the other island wasn’t steep. She walked along a gully, following Aruzzel and Vele’nara to a small town called Tel Aruhn.

   

  When the town came into view, they found themselves in the market street. Three bulbous pods had different signs hanging down, marking them out to be a general store, an alchemist’s shop and a food store. As Aruzzel walked past, he kept looking back at the food store, but he knew they had no money so even contemplating upon entering the premises was pointless. By now Quentarii and the remainder of her ‘troop’ caught him and Vele’nara up, so without wasting any time, Quentarii made her way along a narrow pathway which took them around the base of a small hill.

   

  What they saw next made her gasp and fill with dread.

   

  A steep banked hill had a tunnel cut through it and at the entrance was a large circular door. Standing nearby was a Dunmer woman who was dressed head to toe in a golden velvety dress. She wore exquisite red shoes which anyone interested in Morrowind fashion could see were very expensive. By her left side were two cages and it was these which caused Quentarii to shudder. In one cage was a Khajiit who was clothed in direct contrast to the well-dressed woman. He was wearing an old pair of brown torn trousers and he had no shirt or any other garment except for a bracelet which seemed to glow with magical properties. Quentarii guessed it was a drain mana bracelet, preventing any wearer from casting magical spells of any kind. The wrench of a slave looked on pitifully as he held on to the bars of his cage.

   

  “Ma?” Vele’nara said as she began to point at the Khajiit.

   

  “Keep walking little one, hurry. Stay by me. Aruzzel, hold her hand. Don’t look, just keep on walking”. Quentarii was worried. They were all in shabby clothes and the impression they gave were of slaves themselves.

   

  The Dunmer woman looked on with a keen interest in the Argonian female and her children. So much so that she waved at a guard and pointed to the riff raff family.
  “You there, look. Are they slaves? They look like it. Slaves on the run perhaps? Maybe a reward for their capture?”

   

  The guard, who was dressed in bonemould armor, glanced at the Argonian woman and scrunched up his face. He waved her off and headed towards what looked like an inn.
  “I’ve had no reports of any slaves escaping. Besides, they would be bloody stupid to walk through here and pass a slaver’s market, wouldn’t they? You just want to increase your wares”.

   

  “I do not!” Said the Dunmer as she smacked the cage with a long pole, forcing the slave to move away from the edge of his cage.

  
  
  By now Quentarii and Aruzzel were almost running. Vele’nara was in Aruzzel’s arms as they followed another trail to the shoreline. Quentarii gazed across the open water and nearly cried. Beyond the horizon all she could see was the Sea of Ghosts as it spread out as far as the eye could reach.
  “No! We’ve only got two potions left! What will we do? They will take them Aruzzel… I won’t let them…”

   

  “Calm down Queenie” Aruzzel said as he darted about from one mound to another. When he climbed a third hill, he waved down at Quentarii joyfully and pointed towards the northwest. “We’re too far east. The coast is that way. Come on!” In his haste to re-join her, he ran down the hill and slipped. Quentarii’s eyes fell wide open as she watched him tumble down the hillside to collide with the cart, nearly knocking Sotek and the two girls off it. Vele’nara covered her mouth and gasped as the shaky looking Argonian male tried to stand up. “I fell”.

   

  “Did you really?” Quentarii snapped, focusing her fear of the slavers onto Aruzzel. “That way you say? Humph! And you can’t even climb down a hill. Hurry along Vele’nara. Aruzzel if I find you been at the skooma, I swear I’ll slap you one”. Just for added measure she stamped her foot and hollered at him. “And don’t call me Queenie, it’s Quentarii you jacked up Clannfear!”

   

  She tried to follow the direction Aruzzel pointed out, but the hilly terrain made such a pathway difficult. It took her a further hour’s walk to work her way around to the coastline, but there across another stretch of water, lay another island. This time she had all three girls on the cart along with Sotek while Aruzzel swam across.

   

  This small expanse of land was different to the one which Tel Aruhn was situated on. It was far smaller and also a lot flatter, enabling her to push the cart far easier. As for Aruzzel, he stayed in the water and hunted for a few fish and clams, so they would at least have something to eat when they finally settled down for the night. When he returned to her, he had four fish and a good supply of crab meat. He pointed to some nearby trees and suggested that they made camp but Quentarii was far from happy stopping there. On the other side of the tiny island, she had just so happened to come across a door to what looked like a mine entrance. The name ‘Nallit’ was scribbled on a plank above the doorway in charcoal. Quentarii didn’t know if it was a mine or a dwelling used by bandits and smugglers or it could even be a simple tunnel which some old hermit called home. What she did know, was that she couldn’t take the chance in finding out.
  “We’re moving on. Come along everyone, hurry”.

  
  What she didn’t know was that in actual fact two renegade mages dwelled there. Her instinct proved to be worthy of her and the two mages were unaware of the Argonian's passing.

   

  Once again Quentarii found herself standing on the shoreline with the three girls and a two-week-old hatchling. Aruzzel came alongside her and pointed to another expanse of land across a shallow stretch of water.
  “More islands? I was hoping we’d be on the mainland by now”.

   

  Quentarii laughed as she lightly pushed him in the shoulder.
  “Aruzzel, I love you, but you are an idiot. That there is the Grazelands. I have one last potion then we are there!”

   

  “Then what are we waiting for?” He slapped her on the back, shoving her forwards along with the cart. When she turned around, Aruzzel gulped and shot off, running across the water until it was deep enough for him to swim.

   

  Quentarii raised her fist and yelled at him.
  “You bloody fool. I nearly lost the cart”.

   

  Aruzzel stopped swimming and looked back at her in a perplexed manner.
  “How? It’s right there?”

   

  “How indeed”. She muttered as she drank the last of her potions. As she crossed the sea for the last time, two slaughterfish came swimming up to her but they kept turning around in circles, both wondering how this intruder could walk above the when everything else ended up in the water. Leaving them to their own devices, Quentarii picked up her pace and quickly traversed the water until she finally felt soft sand beneath her feet.

   

  She sighed and sat down on the grass once she helped the three girls off the cart. Sotek sat just in front of her and he kicked out and clawed at the ground, enjoying the feel of the grass on his feet and fingers. Quentarii smiled down at him and nodded.
  “Yes, little one. It does feel good to be on solid ground. Fresh grass, rolling hills and no more bloody boats”.

   

  Aruzzel moved alongside her and smiled as he pointed to the three girls who were once again running around bare foot.
  “They seem happier”.

   

  “Yes, they do. We’ll make camp here tonight, by the water’s edge. Keep the fire small Aruzzel, we don’t want to attract unwanted attention”. She then called over to Vele’nara and told her to gather the girls together.

   

  All three ‘sisters’, not that they were sisters but the family bond between them bound them together like they were sisters, stood in a row and listened as Quentarii spoke.
  “We have to be careful. There are many strange creatures here which you are not used to. Nor, for that matter are they used to us. So… I lead, Vele’nara you take the rear. Kat’rini and Kut’ara, you stay between us. We go as a pack and we fight as a pack. It will be dark soon. Get some rest for tonight we hunt”.

   

  The three girls excitedly threw themselves at the cart and wrestled with a fur, trying to dislodge it until Aruzzel stepped in and helped them with it. They wrapped themselves up in it and closed their eyes as they waited for the moon to claim the sky but each one was too exited to sleep so they all chatted quietly to each other, talking about what wonders awaited them and what manner of creatures they would find during the night’s hunt.

   

  Quentarii watched them for a few moments then she shook her head. Leaving them in their fantasy world of animals and make believe, she turned to Aruzzel and spoke.
  “Aruzzel, I want you to follow behind with Sotek and the cart. We would make good progress if we keep heading north. Tomorrow with some luck we’ll reach Vos. Then one more day and we will be at Ahemmusa Camp”.

   

  “Sure, we’ll be fine. I’ll hum little Sotek a tune as we tromp along the grass”. He said with a beaming smile.

   

  Quentarii’s face fell sullen. She leaned into him and held onto him tightly.
  “I’ve been a miserable serpent to you these last few days. I’m sorry”.

   

  “No, you’ve been worried and with good cause”. He said in his usual cheerful manner. “Once we’re there and everything is settled, things will fall into place. You’ll see”.

   

  “I most certainly hope so Aruzzel. I am sorry for the way I’ve been with you though”. She said as she leant into him.

   

  Aruzzel wrapped his arm around her and gave her a much-needed hug.
  “You need a good night’s sleep. Give it a few days for the girls to settle then maybe we can have some ‘us’ time”.

   

  Quentarii stopped breathing and turned towards him. He had a big cheesy smile on his face which made him look like he was snarling.
  “Us time? What do you mean?”

   

  Aruzzel raised his eyebrows several times in quick succession and gave her one of his ‘sexy winks’. He quickly turned ‘bug eyed’ as a clawed finger poked him on the end of his nose. Quentarii snarled at him and glared.
  “I ought to slap you…”

   

  She turned around and gazed at the shoreline, mentally replaying their voyage. She felt tired, depressed and her whole body ached. She also felt somewhat lonely from the burden of command. A sultry smile formed on her face and she leaned across to Aruzzel and whispered in his ear.
  “Come to think of it. That’s not such a bad idea after all. Hsss”.