*17 Mud and Strength

The land was deserted, almost forgotten.

It's history had been wiped out of the mouths and the hearts of people.

Those who knew the secrets of the land had been faded with time.

It was a silent land. Too silent.

Its inhabitants had almost been wiped out of the face of the Earth--almost.

A woman sat on the bare floor of her thatched mud house staring into space.

Her grey hair and wrinkled face told tales of her wisdom.

Wisdom far beyond the bounds of the earth.

"What do you see?"

A young boy asked her.

"Fear_"

Her voice was cracked with age.

"So much fear."

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The forest was quiet. Dead quiet.

The only sounds were the shuffles of the feet of Aira and Dinma on the bare grass.

The silence made breathing a task. They could not afford to be too loud.

But Aira could feel it even without seeing it_somebody was at their tail,watching them closely.

She had to lose whoever the bastard was before he got them into trouble.

"Dinma..." She whispered to the small girl with large eyes.

"Somebody is on our tail_"

Panic flooded Dinma's eyes.

She expected them to encounter problems but this was too soon.

Did she make the right decision?

"Do not worry,I plan on losing him. However,who ever he is,I do not think he would make any moves soon. He seems to be out for something other than our heads. Make sure you stay close to me and listen to whatever I say."

Something other than our heads.

So now every body wants a part of us?

Dinma gulped as she pressed her self even closer than possible to Aira.

Even if Aira did not tell her to,she did not have any plans of leaving her side any time soon...or ever.

Though Aira admired the girl's resilience,the girl looked so vulnerable--so prey-like.

She was almost beginning to regret taking her along.

                            *

Meanwhile behind her,the creature watched keenly.

The creature was fascinated by the girl with two colored skin and scars so intricate, to him it looked like designs.

Mama always told him that he was different.

Only he could see such scars and think they were beautiful.

He knew she could sense him.

It was only so long until their game of hide and seek would end.

He knew he would lose.

                        *

Aira spotted the tracking wolves two seconds before they saw them.

Those two seconds were enough for her to push Dinma into a bush.

"Stay!" Her eyes commanded.

She regretted bringing the girl.

The brown wolves that stood in front of her numbered four heads.

Their brown coloured fur gave them away as trackers and trackers had powerful sight and smell.

Bending down,she filled her hands with  mud, making sure not to lose sight of the wolves who walked menacingly and slowly towards her.

She knew they had ruled her out as a threat.

What could this small girl do?

And honestly,Aira had lost faith in herself...for a moment.

Rubbing the mud all over her would mask her scent for a while.

They noticed what she was doing and charged at her in full speed.

This was no time for fight.

She needed to buy them enough time for flight. Though she was healed,she was still weak. And she had never fought without Fire before_it was going to take a little time to get used to.

She held the trusty mud in the both of her hands and stood, waiting for them to come to her.

The first two were easy to take down as they charged at her without as much as a doubt that maybe her standing there,not moving, was a sign that she had something planned.

She smeared the sticky mud into their eyes.

Without sight, tracker wolves temporarily get mad.

She did not have time to react to the painful howl of the two wolves who had slowly changed to completely naked men, before the other two charged at her.

They had seen what she had done and they were angry.

Grabbing her dagger from the bag,she held it like a warrior.

The dagger felt alive in her hands,as though they were carved from the same bones.

She said to give it to you when you were ready.

The words Cheta said rang in her head.

She did not waste any more time looking at the dagger,she slashed the right, missing the wolf by a hair length.

The two wolves came crashing into her, snarling, spitting and snapping at her.

The one at her right tore his teeth through her thighs at the same time she drove the knife deep into his eyes.

The wolf fell next to her,the pain so much his bones began to change back to the form of a man.

She staggered to her feet, bleeding out pools from her leg.

"AIRA MOVE!"

Dinma's faint voice screamed from the bushes,but she was too late.

The last wolf bit into her shoulder, tearing through flesh,muscle and bones.

She dug the dagger into any part of the wolf's body she could feel.

But the wolf was behind her and she could not see him.

She could feel her arm going numb with pain. She did not even know if she still even had her shoulder on.

But she continued, nevertheless_stabbing and stabbing the wolf with the now bloody golden dagger.

It felt like hours,the struggle between girl and beast dragged on and on.

Until the grip of the wolf lessened and it fell from her back.

She did not have the time to wait or feel pain.

Now was the time for flight.

She staggered towards Dinma and shot the small girl a look.

"I told you to stay put!"

"But...but you were in trouble!"

She glared at the girl before walking into the forest.

"You are bleeding Aira...I can treat you. I...I am a healer you know?"

But Aira did not stop walking.

Dinma chased after her and held her bad hand, making her yelp in pain.

"If you want to die out here,you can_but I have a mission!"

Aira's voice was steady, betraying the pain she felt.

"At...at this...this... at this rate you would be dead be...before we make it to no man's land!"

Aira stopped abruptly.

The sounds were faint but they were there.

Oh no

The howl of the tracking wolves earlier had warned the other wolves,and now they were coming for them_fast!

"Aira...Aira!"

Dinma called,waving her hands in front of the other girl whose attention had seemed to lost for a while.

"...Aira you need to..."

"DINMA!"

Aira called,startling her out of her blabbing.

"What is it?"

"RUN!"

The sound of men and wolves behind them boomed like thunder.

Side by side, Aira and Dinma ran with all the speed they could muster. They ran, dodging arrows being fired at them and missing them by hair lengths.

Aira was honestly surprised to see Dinma keeping up.

The bleeding on Aira's body had increased and she was beginning to grow faint from the loss of blood but she never slowed down, holding Dinma's hand as tight as she could.

They ran through bushes,sticks stones,mud but they did not stop.

The sound of war was behind them, seeking for their heads but Aira was a wounded lion,and she would not give up.

The east river was in sight and their hearts leaped for joy.

If they could make it across,they would be in no man's land.

The land of Ozuzu.

Six more steps_

Five more steps_

Four more steps_

Three more steps_

Two more steps_

Just one more step away from the water before Aira felt the arrow pierce through her back, tearing through her skin.

It was a poisoned Arrow. Within three hours or less, she was going to be dead_again!

With a scream of pain, she fell flat into the water, sinking, drowning,the pain taking over her body.

She could make out a blur of Dinma's terrified face.

She was screaming but Aira could not hear the words she was uttering.

Slowly, she blacked out.

She felt herself slipping again into the darkness she was trying to run from.

She was getting tired of running. Now, maybe she was going to accept it.

She was finally going to die!

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"You are quite a tough child_"

The old woman had told Dinma.

At first, Dinma thought she was speaking about Aira who lay down on the mat with herbs all over her body and a hot cloth on her head.

But the woman smiled warmly,her wrinkled face getting more wrinkled with the smile.

"No my dear,I am speaking about you."

Dinma was confused.

All her life,she was just a weak girl who was always at the verge of ill health.

No one had ever looked at her as somebody who was strong,neither had she.

"But I am not strong! I am weak...Aira is strong,she is the opposite of everything I am."

The old woman smiled,while preparing a healing portion for Aira.

"My mother used to say that strength is found not only in war,but in peace. Because it  takes more strength to maintain peace than to engage in war."

Dinma was more confused than ever.

"Are you saying I am stronger than Aira?"

The woman muttered some words into the portion, changing its colours from brown to blue before letting out a small laugh.

"Oh child, strength of people can never be compared. I am saying that you are stronger than you believe you are.  I can tell that you have saved this girl a time before, eh?"

Dinma nodded.

"I just helped treat her...it was the only way I could repay all her kindness...it is not a though she needs me."

The woman smiled at Dinma's confusion before rubbing the paste-like portion on Aira's face.

"Though the elephant is big,strong and scary,it needs the help of the little oxpecker too_You would discover that the girl needs you as much as you need her."

Dinma scoffed.

Aira did not need anybody. She was tough and strong. Even if Aira needed someone,it definitely would not be her.

The woman noticing Dinma's obvious doubt,said with a smile. "Everybody has their own strengths,child. You just have to find yours."

Dinma looked at the strange old woman with grey hair and wondered if she was born before time became an element of nature.

But before she could ask,Aira had shot up from her sleep and held the woman who was still rubbing her face with the portion,in a tight choke hold.

"Who in the name of the goddess are you?"

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***Author's Note***

Oh gosh! I woke up to see more votes on the story.

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