Hidden Truths

A soft breeze rustled the leaves of the jungle’s dense foliage. The moving leaves of a spikenard bush briefly showed the tip of an arrow sticking out. A blonde woman attached on the other end breathed in a large lungful of the wet jungle air. She could almost taste on her tongue the hints of morning dew as it evaporates into the air, the smell of lila berries hanging in the canopies above, and the intoxicating fragrance of the blood-red flowers surrounding the jungle floor. The smell enlivened her energy, strengthening her connection with the flora of the jungle. It felt as if sparks of harmony engulfed her limbs as the two forces connected. Images of trees filled with fruit and fields of flowers slowly passed through her mind. Her body trembled as the surrounding life flooded her spirit. She could almost see the green of her energy melding with the life of the forest around her in a dance of joy. Bringin her a sense of contentment and home.

A deep longing for her bed flooded her senses, increasing her already high eagerness to get back on the road. Her long months tracking one of the Empires Platoons had not been a pleasant experience. It was wrought with dirty forest floors. And no matter how many times she bathed in the jungle river. She felt like the Chinutes Lead Healer’s, Maia, overly friendly pet ape had rubbed itself all over her...just the thought of that stinky ape caused shivers to run up and down her spine.

Waking up in mud and other questionable substances was something no sensible person could ever get used to,

On those nights that she lay on the floor staring at the fire, cursing the constant dirt, lack of sleep, and stale jerky, she would dream about the days where she used to be able to travel in comfort. That she would have the most succulent wild hare or roasted hog served to her by the troops she commanded. And in those very moments where she could taste those meats and feel the soft camping blankets, she was reminded why she was out there.

She would remember that those luxurious travel supplies had come at too high of a cost. One that many innocents lives had paid, and she was of the worst perpetrators. She would remind herself that she didn’t deserve those nice things anymore and needed to pay for her past atrocities.

And on that fateful day five-years-ago, she, Mael of Rivdaria, swore that she would dedicate the rest of her life to protecting the Chinutes for their unearned kindness.

A twig snapped, dragging her out of her thoughts. She surveyed the trees to her right and saw the sharp tips of antlers. Through the green energy of the Fauna, she could feel the Elk as it moved and stepped through the brush. Her eyes focused on the area she sensed it was and finally could see its nose sticking out from the plants in front of it.

Her lips curved upwards, lips smacked, as Mael could already taste the succulent meat in her mouth.

Reaching behind her back, she grabbed one of her arrows and knocked it into her bow, and smoothly lifted it to her face. She pulled back the bowstring to her cheek, took a slow breath as she readied for the release of the arrow.

Just as she let go, a rustling sounded behind her. Her muscles flexed, causing the arrow to veer to the right. Between one breath and the next, the bow dropped. She grabbed the knife at her waist and spun around.

But, before she could withdraw the knife from its sheath, a cloaked figure hit her temple with the hilt of a sword.

Mael immediately fell to the ground, her vision slowly going dark. Thinking before the world went dark, ” I hate this stupid jungle...”

.........

In the middle of a dirt floor, Mael has huddled in a dirty ball. She moved slightly as she slowly regained her consciousness for the first time in two days.

A groan slipped from her lips as her head beat to the rhythm of war drums.

Her hands moved towards her temples to massage away the pain, but they were abruptly stopped by a restraining force. Feeling around, she realized her hands were tied in place behind her back.

What the Tah... thought Mael.

Forcing her right eye open, she found herself lying face down on a dirt floor. Pain radiated through her body as she tried to move. Pushing through the pain, Mael moved each finger and limb as she took stock of her body. Besides the pounding in her head, she couldn’t feel anything else wrong.

However, she did notice that her hands and feet have been restrained by some type of metal. Mael wondered if she could somehow sit-up, she could use a tree to put enough pressure on her bindings to break the metal. She figured it couldn’t hurt to try.

As Mael moved her body to sit up and her bead beat faster, and her body trembled. She slumped to the ground, with not a single ounce of strength in her. Scrunching her eyes to the pain, she decided it would probably be better to save trying to escape when she actually had the energy.

Heaving a sigh, Mael moved to lay on her stomach and laid her head on the ground.

Okay, Mael thought, What do I know? I was hunting in the jungle about 5 1,000 paces northeast of the Hyan River. Which was a 5 day walk to the south of the Chinutes village. When I was hunting, I was jumped, and I woke up here. Restrained and in pain. But, the pain comes from being knocked out.

Taking a few deep breaths, Mael loosened her body and fell into a trance. Reaching out into the earth, feeling for a trace of any of roots of life. As soon as her spirit joined with the energy of any nearby plants, an explosion ricocheted through the connection, immediately severing the connection.

Barely preventing herself from groaning, Mael clenched her jaw. Not allowing a single sound to pass through her lips, for fear that it would alert possible guards that she was awake.

Mael sighed, realizing that her energy was more chaotic than she realized. That’s the first thing she learned at the beginning of her affinity lessons, to balance the Toh and Tah that make up her spirit. Because it is the two energies that form the bridge between a person’s energy and the energy of their affinity. If someone’s Toh and Tah aren’t balanced, and a bridge is formed anyway, the dual energies immediately bite back. Causing immense pain. Although it’s not damaging, the pain is definitely not anything to joke about.

So, if Mael wanted to use her powers, she had to first wait for her energy to calm down and re-balance.

Stretching her legs to get more comfortable, Mael looked like a plank lying abandoned on the dirty floor. Opening her eyes, Mael looked around at her surroundings.

She seemed to be in a circular structure, similar to a yurt or teepee. In the center of the yurt was a hole, opening up to the night sky. This was most likely intended to let smoke escape if a fire was lit inside.

Besides herself, there was nothing else inside. A bare room ensured that she couldn’t use anything to harm others or escape.

Mael had to wonder if they’ve never seen a fauna user before. Most places she had been would often give drugs to their captives or prisoners. That way, their balance was chaotic, and couldn’t use their affinities to escape. And if they didn’t have drugs, they would at least have a cell set aside that was made of solid stone without a single crack insight. Otherwise, Fauna users can easily grow a way to escape.

This apparent lack of planning showed that whoever had her had either never met a Fauna user or they didn’t take them seriously.

However, Mael couldn’t think of any people or group in the Empire that didn’t have a fauna user or two. Even in her studies as a cadet of the Empire, she didn’t read of any such people.

So, who were her captors?

Feeling drowsiness wash over her, Mael decided that it would be a good time for a nap. Hoping that when she wakes up, her energy will once again be balanced. Then she can spend energy figuring who had her and what to do.