Welcome to my seemingly endless journey.
A trip that will take you to places I might have visited many moons ago.
It´s a tale that came back to me when I meditated on one of my past lives. A life I told you about in my unbelievable true story.
As promised in that story I will now share this story with you.
Chapter 16
It feels like I am far enough from the last inhabited cabin so I start to run towards the cave.
I arrive without issues, without running into any issues still my heart pounds in my throat, not so much from the effort as from the tension.
I enter the cave carefully looking for the place where the grains and seeds are kept. My hands are leading me, feeling the walls and then the first wooden frames with stone pots with pickled vegetables and fruits. I take two of the jars and put them in the second carrier bag I took out of the first.
I need to go at least ten more steps before I reach the bend in this rocky passage. Once I pass that I could light a small fire and gather the rest of my provisions.
Creeping deeper into the cave, I feel a tug on my right shoulder followed by a crack. At first, I want to duck, but then I realize what is happening. My arms shoot forward to catch something I can´t see.
My left-hand misses the target, but luckily my right is better placed. The scaffolding I just passed had caught on a protrusion of my carrier bag. All the pots would have been smashed against the stone floor if I would have ducked as was my first intention. Were it not for my 'awake' mind, that understood that I could not be attacked and that it must therefore be an inanimate object.
I straighten the scaffolding and reach the bend without further incident. I take the flints, dry grass, and twigs I had collected weeks in advance so they would be bone dry when the time came. In a corner just past the bend, I make a minuscule fire, I only need a few seconds of light to see where what stands.
I pack the rice and seeds in small cow bladders, and I also take a few more medicinal herbs. Much more did not fit in the second bag and I would not need much more for the first two weeks. After that, I'd have to find another way to scrape my food together.
With a kicking movement of my right foot, I manage to get enough sand over the smoldering remains and those few last flames. The cave is enveloped in darkness once again. I let my eyes adjust to this complete darkness, then I start my way back.
Once outside I look down on the little settlement that had been kind to me for so many years. In my mind, I ask for forgiveness for the theft I just committed. I thank her for the good time, then look up at the twinkling stars. There, somewhere lay the origin of our life, and to it we would return at the end of each life. Where our forefathers are, though I hope my return to that place would be delayed a bit longer.
One more time I ask the stars and my ancestors for protection on this journey. I feel a warm hand being placed on my shoulder. When I become aware of this, I turn around to make sure that there is really no one behind me. Immediately the feeling disappears and I start my descent.
A few more steps and I am back on the flat ground of our village, so I quicken my pace a little. To my right I see the fire pit, two young guards play dice, occasionally glancing at the dancing flames. It is as if the yellow-orange flames formed a hand that waves goodbye.
I can´t help smiling. Nor can I help the fact that this little distraction leaves me standing on a loose rock and now I need all my concentration to keep from falling over backward. With a lot of strange movements I manage to keep my balance, but I can´t prevent the stone from rolling down the mountain with some noises and then coming to a stop with a considerable bang against another rock.
I drop flat on my stomach and slide down the mountain like a snake. My eyes are constantly on the huts closest to me, to see if the noise awakens anyone. Fortunately, it remains silent.
After a few minutes, I dare to get up and continue my way stealthily. Visibility is so minimal that the huts are no more than dark outlines in the night. Again I smile when I pass a cabin where the snoring is so loud that it would keep me from sleeping. Then I can't see anything anymore, a bright light blinds my sight which was completely accustomed to the dark. A big white spot, a blur. I put my hands forward and feel the heat of flames.
I start to run as if I am chased by a cougar, my hands reaching out in front of me I feel what is probably a human shoulder which is forcefully pushed aside. My sight is not back yet, I move based on memory and feeling.
After a while, my eyes start to distinguish things again and I see I'm almost at the stairs. Then I hear a shaky voice calling in the night. "The Sea Devils, the Sea Devils."
I fly down the stairs sometimes three steps at a time, my heart beating even harder than before. I feel like laughing. Laughing from the sheer tension I'm now exposed to. I keep running as long as I can until the path disappears.
Now I have to be more careful, because the ground is littered with stumps and branches, and there are also huge thorn bushes on the left and right. Fortunately, this means that any pursuers will also have to slow down.
The forest is getting denser and the only compass I have are the stars, which occasionally show through the thick roof of branches and leaves. They tell me I'm still heading south.
When the sun rises and I see the glint of water in the distance I slow my pace. I sink to my knees at the water's edge. I cup my hands together to moisten my very dry mouth. My reflection in the water makes me realize what horror I must have been to the person who bumped into me yesterday night.
The mud and blood made me unrecognizable. I looked like a feral, a monster from ancient myths. No wonder he thought he had seen one of our worst nightmares, a true Krotan Dua.
With my hands, I wash my face from the mud and the clotted blood residue. There on my knees on the shore, I come to rest for the first time. I look at the rising sun, she spreads a brilliant pink light in an awakening blue sky. I give myself some time to enjoy.
It doesn´t last as I startle when I hear the crack of a branch. Would they have found me already, would my trail have been so easy to trace? It seems impossible to me. Crouching, with my gaze fixed on the place where the sound came from, I sit and wait for what is to come.
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