Chapter 7: Whole Lotta HoopLa

Chapter 7: A Whole Lotta HoopLa

I sensed sweat drip down my forehead as we witnessed the fruits of Yana's merciless command. A sole royal sentry decorated in all-black military garments made his way silently into the scalding white dunes. Far ahead, a squirming burlap sack dragged a crimson smear toward the dunes fringing the decimated capital. 

The sun had finally begun making its red-strewn dance to sleep. The rusty vast canyon of our desolated home glowed violently as we sat there, ash-strewn deeply into the sands.

Hyena whoops and frenzied barking erupted where Vadim now lay. The laughing arbiters of death came swiftly as they tore into the bloodstained bag. Luckily the resolute guard had already begun quickly making his way back to our armored vehicle. 

"Seems like you were right Yana...Why waste valuable ammunition on such nice little treats for Buriti sand wolves." I grinned coldly, crossing my arms. I had changed into some stuffy maroon robe declared to have been sported by every Vascan monarch since our exodus to Buriti 

Yana stood rigid as her green eyes didn't meet mine, breath strained. "Sure Huck....can I be real with you since it's just us three?" Her Buriti accent came through heavily now. I'm guessing she played a less native facade that she finally let falter. "I mean seriously....Aiko is a royal dog of war, and you're just an exile turn absolute monarch."

I spun snappily. " Oh wow, I didn't realize I had nominated such razor-sharp jabs along with you." Aiko seemed to be just listening intently just watching Vadim Unhurriedly being eaten by the spotted laughing hyenas. 

No one spoke for a few cooling moments until Aiko intercepted the breezy air with a tone nearly as light. "The plucky half-albino has a point. We three stand apart from true Buritian souls in some way. Can foreign hands cultivate native roots? The idea of Aygu pivoting the tides of the people is worrying...." 

I collided my fist along the searing car hood. "Does our shared vision not transcend bloodlines? We will fertilize along destiny's current no matter the waters' origin! I did not abide my time and hold my tongue to be told I need the people's approval of my actions." 

Yana stepped forward, green eyes smoldering yet vulnerable. "See you're just as angry as youre shitty dad....You maybe arent a fan of history Huck but just because you are in charge doesnt mean you should be."

 Aiko seemed rigid, gazing away from us to face the consequences creeping toward us across blood-soaked sand. "Yana you have been in this makeshift cabinet for less than 2 hours and already question my loyalties?" She turned pulling her firearm off her shoulder. " I will make this clear, I will kill you just as swiftly as anyone else who wishes to force us to any ruination." 

Yana's face was motionless, Her black straight hair swayed in the breeze as the sun finally began setting into stunning purple and violet shades. "You can threaten me all you want Aiko...You two know just as much as I do Kash would want us to dissolve the throne or hold any type of election." 

FUCK I had forgotten Yana had been a fervent member of my sister's short-lived political party. This has been a slight overstep on my part employing her so quickly yet....the exhilaration of what's to come makes my heart pound in my chest. "We must focus on bringing people back to the capital, rebuild mandatory functions. You will take me to the Svetlan Capital to introduce ourselves to our friends up to the north." 

Aiko was now using her gun to rest on as she rubbed the middle of her eyebrows tensely. Her curly brown hair bounced as her head shook gently. "He intends on bragging about all his success...You might as well ask them to invade us instead." A harsh sardonic laugh left her plump lips. 

Yana finally turned to me again this time appearing to size me up. My oversized maroon robe dragging gaudishly in the soil did not help my cause. "I think it may prevent that in fact...Svets care more about titles than anything--If we can convince em' that my dad just died of some desert-born sickness, and that Huck isn't some unhinged drunk; We should come out of this unharmed." 

"I do not appreciate all this slander on your humble king's name--You two should be happy I'm not a woman-hating dick head like my father." I instantly regretted my sarcasm as they both eyed me furiously. 

Aiko was first to let her disdain fly. "You are LUCKY you are not like him, you sniveling grub. Maybe you can fly to Svet and have them relocate your shoulder blade..." She took a step toward me, Yana then laughed as the idea of the king meeting his end for minor jokes must have tickled her greatly. 

"If you hurt me Aiko I'll just bring it up all the time--Not worth YOUR time right, considering you are my Shadow now...right?" I put my hands up defensively, My foot must have caught the end of the stupid robe and I tumbled into a soft pile of sand. My face found its gritty heat unpleasing as I spat furiously. "Fuck"

Aiko helped me up before dusting my robe off. "I think we can work with this silly idea, yet I am wildly concerned with who will watch the country while we leave...."

"We? Unless you want a serious problem here--You should stay Aiko, Huck did make you the fancy pantsy 'Minister' of internal affairs." Yana's voice was an unnaturally upbeat tone now...I did not like the way she was able to convince me to go alone to Svetlan so quickly.

I stood fully with the sunset on my back. "I will meet with Aygu tonight and see what kind of aircraft they pilfered from us during the raids. I'm sure three few days you can manage alone right?" Aiko's face flashed with what I recognized as apprehension.

 Her brown eyes were like small pools of fig pudding swirling with emotion. "....I will arrange a meeting with him at the Safe House--You do realize that is where you live now? I will just tell anyone who is too nosy that you are down there and not to be disturbed." She sarcastically saluted me as the guard finally made his way back to the vehicle we had been standing around.

"Thank you for your service....I beilieve my two Cabinet memebers have some details to iron out, lets take a short walk before the desert night overtakes us." As Aiko and Yana continued debating logistics, I decided to take a walk to clear my head. The robes made it hard to move freely through the deep sand dunes as the iron-faced royal guard followed my steps. 

Suddenly, the chalky red ground gave way beneath me. I plunged down a sandy sinkhole, maroon silky robes billowing, into an underground cavern. I heard a short yelp from the guard before the sound of a thud rang into my ears. 

A hard landing on cobblestone knocked the wind out of me. I weezingly pulled out my cigar lighter, small flames casting shadows on crystalline smooth rock walls around me. The cave stretched into infinite dark tunnels in four directions. Bones of small surface animals littered the rocky mud floor. This place seemed long undisturbed - and I had a creeping feeling not fully uninhabited due to the smell of rotting feces. 

In the waning firelight, doubts that plagued me surfaced like ghosts though I tried to shake them vehemently. Was I even fit to rebuild our nation from ashes or had I been simply pushed into my birthright? Had this crown just fallen to me by tragic fortune alone or was I fated to become king only to die lonesomly? My head throbbed as my father's deep voice echoed from cavern walls: "You'll lead us all to ruin, boy! I've told you never to wander the dunes....."

I strayed deeper seeking escape, but wraiths of the departed hunted me. Kash's sweet innocent face pleading for me to help her become queen. the commoners; Their famine-sunken eyes judging and condemning my quest for power. I stumbled into a glowing grotto with strange yellow fungal blooms. Bioluminescent purple vines revealed crude ancient handmade paintings of what I assumed was a mythical horned cave demon. 

The caked and hurried brush strokes conveyed the author's urgency to sprawl this on the cave wall. Each stroke had seemed so deliberate that I couldn't help but marvel at its intricate design. I had never seen such vivid art in my life...It was as if even though it was a fictitious rendering the artist had successfully made the hair on my neck prickle before the raw animalism of the depicted being. 

They were splashed with rust-colored smears, figures contorted in screams, and symbols full of sinister intent. What had happened here? A ritual? Slaughter? Or warning for things to come?

My heart slammed against my ribs as a roar blasted the cave walls. Deep claw marks gouged the granite stones around me, white bones crushed and gnawed marrow bare. What ancient primal force of destruction slumbered in these forgotten caverns...I had never heard of any beasts that could make any sound like that. Fear of the unknown hollowed my core. In the darkness, a presence circled, toying with me. I couldn't tell if it was psychosomatic until--

From shadows, a hulking form stirred on sinewy limbs, claws catching lighter firelight. Malevolent eyes fixed on me, reflecting my blood-drained face. It inhaled sharply, smelling something that whipped it into a frenzy. My human presence was being rejected by everything here! With a bone-rattling shriek, it charged sending rocks flying in all directions.

The beast's scarred ears twitched erratically, following sounds only it and god could hear. Its bizarre deep whooping calls echoed unanswered down the musky tunnels. Was it the last of its kind? It moved like a man but carried itself on burly elongated forelimbs. Again it sniffed the damp cave air, seeking my enemy scent that had provoked such fury. Its blank white eyes betrayed no answers as I silently unclasped a ceremonial Vascan Knife.

The cold obsidian blade felt wrong for such a powerful beast but I had run out of options. I stepped slowly backward as it blankly charged at a cave wall. Its eyes seemed to be as useless as my nearly collapsing legs. Every charge and loud call it made I inched my way backward out of the direction I came. 

My mind shifted to Aiko, I hope she was okay. I hadn't even checked if she had been swallowed up along with me. Hopefully, she is able to forgive my stupid decision to 'clear my head'. This beast surely would have a fun time clearing it of all its contents...Literally.