Felaryan Short stories : Story 7

“I wandered this dreadful forest for days and nights, but I never found her, it’s like every trace of her leads to a dead end. All I could find is hostility and despair in this cursed land. I don’t know how anyone could call this place home and how my beloved’s heart called for it. But I’ll never give up, I know she is in here, I can feel it. My eight legged beloved must dwell this forest somewhere. I am headed for the place dridders call the Web Fells and I hope I can find her there.”

“Interesting…” said Oralia as she finished reading another page of the blood tainted journal.

She looked upon her candle and noticed that it had dwindled to a small size, the dancing flame above it  wouldn't be burning for much longer. She looked around her chamber and got bored of the rocky walls that surrounded her. She thought it would be a great opportunity to go out and continue reading under the bright sunlight instead of wasting another candle.

“Well, it’ll nice to see what Alanis is up to,” she said to herself.

She strode outside of her chamber into the larger chamber in the cave. It was lit by four candles spread along the walls to make sure everything was illuminated. This chamber had tools, boxes and old weapons littered on the walls, most of which dated back to when her parents were still around. Despite that it felt spacious enough so that the eight-legged creatures could walk freely in the room without any troubles.

“Sis!” called a recognizable voice.

Oralia turned around to see Tasha coming out of her chamber. Her lips were giving out a large smile and her hand gestured to her to come towards her. “Come here! I wanna show you something.”

The white haired dridder sighed and followed her older sibling to the chamber, not knowing what she was up to.

“What is it Tasha, are going to show one of your machines that doesn’t work?” said Oralia.

“Something a bit more exciting.” Tasha reached for a wooden box that was covered from the top. “Now you have to promise me that you won’t do anything to them.”

“Them? You have prisoners in that box?” Oralia raised and eyebrow.

“Just promise me,” she insisted.

“Fine, fine. I promise I won’t do anything to whatever's in this box,” she said back to her sister.

Tasha gently opened her box and made it closer for her sister to see. Oralia slightly recoiled when her eyes laid sight on three humans inside of the box, still alive and seemed to be in good health.

“Huh,would you look at that.” Oralia slowly took the box from her sister with one hand while still holding the journal with the other. The humans looked scared as they shuddered away from her to the wall of the box.

“Guys, there is no need to be afraid. This is Oralia, my youngest sister. She gave me her word that she won’t hurt you. And her words are trustworthy,” said Tasha.

The trio looked at their eight legged mistress before standing up and turning their gaze to the other dridder in front of them. Oralia looked paler than her older kin, and had a red set of eyes instead of blue. But there was no doubt that they looked very similar to each other. She looked peaceful as her lips gave them a broad smile.

“Oralia, meet Flik, Marcus and Darlus. I saved their lives back at the forest. They were being attacked by human sized naga bandits and I interfered to save their lives. I ate the bandits and I made a deal with them to help me study machines in exchange for not eating them,” She explained.

“Human sized nagas? That’s strange, I never thought there were small nagas. What did they taste like?” she asked, curiously overtaking her mind. Her father wrote about a lot of creatures in his journals but nothing was mentioned about miniscule nagas.

“Oh Ora, you have no idea how good they were. So exotic and tender that just thinking of them will make my mouth water,” she explained.

“Awh, you should have saved some for us Tasha. We’d love to to taste them too!”

“I told you I was so hungry I was barely thinking straight, but enough about that. What do you think of them?”

“Well, they seem like a lovely bunch.” She lifted the box to her head see the three of them more clearly. “Hi there little guys, you’re doing okay?” She asked the little humans.

“I’m-I’m fine,” said Flik as all of them stood up.

“Never been better,” said Marcus with a smile on his face.

“I’m fine I guess,” shrugged Darlus.

“Good to hear! Do you like it here in our home? I know it can be a bit humid sometimes, but it’s safe,” she said.

“Better than being inside a predator’s belly that’s for certain,” muttered Darlus as he looked away from her.

“So sis, they’re gonna help you with those items you’ve been collecting?” Asked Oralia as she gave the box back to her sister.

“Well of course! I plan on fixing some of them and maybe even build some of them on a large scale!” Her face shone with a joyful expression.

“So you’re gonna use mom’s furnace for that?”

“Furnace?!” yelled Marcus. “You have a Furnace here?!”

“Oh that’s right! We have a workshop with all the smithing tools you can imagine. I mainly use it to fix weapons and tools though. I'm excited to make new things using it!”

“But, who taught you how to smith?” asked Marcus.

“My mother,“ she answered. “She was an excellent blacksmith and taught me everything I know about smithing and forging. I used to watch her teach Alanis her techniques from a distance since I was little, and when she finished with her I begged to teach me everything she taught my sister so she started teaching me as well-”

Flik giggled as Tasha rambled about her mother. However his expression changed when his sight turned to Oralia. She looked doleful as her fingers gently caressed one of her earrings. She looked at her sister one more time before turning around and walking away from them.

“Hey Ora!” called Tasha.

Oralia held in her place for a second before turning around and forcing a smile on her face. “Yes sis?”

“Are you going to continue training with Alanis today?”

“Nah. She told me I can relax for today. I'm gonna read this book under the sun and enjoy myself. Bye!” She waved her hand and left her sister behind.

“Something was not right about her tone…” said Tasha.

Outside the cave Oralia bathed in the warm sunlight. She stretched her arms and breathed in the fresh air and let out a long sigh.

Not too far away, she saw her elder sister Alanis, who held her sword and swung it in a series of rapid movements simulating a fight. Her body glistened from sweat and she breathed heavily. Rarely have Oralia seen her sister so tired.

She walked to her sibling with and giggled. “You’re really liking Nathril a lot huh?”

Alanis turned back to her sister before cracking a laugh. “Well well, look who is out in the sun!”

“I wanted a change of scenery while I read. Did Tasha show you her new “friends”?”

“Indeed she did,” she answered as she resumed her training “I teased by saying that I might eat them while she's asleep, she got mad at me and warned me not to get near them. Sometimes people can’t handle a simple joke.”

“She said a few things about using them to build machines with the help of mother’s workshop.”

“Ugh, I hope she isn’t thinking of trying to get materials. The mountains are dangerous and we shouldn’t venture into such perils without good reason. Even mother struggled getting back here safely with all the load she was carrying.”

“Yeah…” Oralia’s face dimmed with a depressed frown. Oralia suddenly felt an arm wrap around her, her gaze went up and found her sibling smiling at her.

“What’s wrong?” she said in a gentle voice.

“Sis, it’s really nothing. I just need a change in scenery.”

“Alright, suite yourself.” Alanis didn't believe her but she let her sister go and resumed her training.

After about an hour of training, Alanis put her sword down and rubbed herself with a wet rag. She felt happy with herself and her performance with the sword. Despite being a little tired she was excited to go and hunt.

She looked to her back and noticed Oralia laying on her belly under a tree, with her arms crossed and eyes closed. Her book was open in front of her, letting the wind play with the pages.

Alanis walked closer to her sister and her fingers gently went through the hair of one of her pigtails, before finally caressing one of her earrings.

“I miss mom too Ora, I really do…”

She then turned her gaze to the book she was reading. She grabbed it and skimmed through the page the wind had turned. She was impressed by the eloquent words and couldn't help but to crack a smile.

“Well well, we’ve got one hell of a lover here…” She said. When she tried to turn a page she accidentally tore part of it, producing a screeching sound.

“Oops, uh” She looked around before hastily closing the journal and putting it underneath Oralia’s arms.

“Sis!” called a voice.

Alanis turned back to see Tasha walking towards her with a bag on her back and a pickaxe. “I am going to the mountains to get some minerals, I’ll be back soon.”

"Tasha, you’re not going anywhere,” she firmly replied.

“Why is that?”

“Because it’s too dangerous! The heavy bag and the tools you’ll carry will put you into a huge disadvantage against any hostiles. Plus we still don’t know if that Deerataur is out of the forest yet,” she explained.

“But you go out to hunt alone in the forest!” cried Tasha.

“Usually I don’t go very far, plus I am not carrying a much load as you do.”

“But you do carry food for us when you come back from the hunt!”

“Usually it’s the beast that attacked me in the first place.”

“I can take care of myself Alanis, I don’t need you lecture me.”

“Hey, I am only concerned for your safety!”

Oralia woke up from her slumber over the noise of her sisters. She looked at them and shook her head in slight irritation.

“Here we go again…” she said to herself.