The storm had passed before dawn, and we resumed our journey by the time the sun rose high in the sky. I was happy because we were now hiking downward, so it required less effort, but my relief was short-lived because now that it had rained, the ground was slippery, making it more treacherous to step on.
And then, there is the mud, mud everywhere. It clings to everything—splatters across my boots, streaks up my trousers.
Disgusting, filthy, I hate it.
"Ugh…"
I am very tempted to do like yesterday and fly over my troubles… But no. I should not make it a habit—I don't want to be seen as someone who is lazy… I can always use flight whenever I feel too tired. I can endure for the time being.
It is only now that I realise how much I am used to flat, paved, or tiled floors. On the rare times I had to go into the wild, I would always shape the land to my wants with sorcery; I never had to adapt myself to it.
I take another step but feel my boots slip, and I am suddenly thrown off balance. My arms flail instinctively, grasping for anything to steady myself, but it's too late. I teeter forward, but my hand catches me before I fall.
"T-thank you."
Kayin helps me straighten up before letting me go.
"Will you be alright?"
I narrow my eyes dubiously at him. "Hmph… You did not seem to care yesterday, when I was dying and could barely walk…"
"You were not dying," he rolls his eyes, "don't be dramatic. We would have stopped if we had seen that you could not withstand it."
"Did I look like I could withstand it?" I retort, incredulous.
"Yes. You do not engage in outdoor activities, right? So, it is important that you start building some stamina, since our travel will be a long one."
I click my tongue.
Who said I want to build stamina?
"Ack!"
A yell arises, followed by a wet, splattering thud. We simultaneously whip back, only to see Sazayi lying on the thick, sticky mud. He rises on his hands and knees, his face covered in mud, and looking more than a little displeased.
"You saw that I was about to fall, why didn't you help me?!" he snarls.
"Do I look like your nanny?" N'jobu scoffs, "don't fault me for your inability to use your own legs. I told you to go back home, but you did not listen; serves you right."
Even beneath the dirt and mud, Sazayi's fuming face can be discerned as he glares up at N'jobu.
"I cannot comprehend why they are at each other's throats so much; are not they supposed to be friends?" I ask as the duo begins to throw colourful strings of insults at each other.
No one tries to intervene, though. I believe we have all got used to those two bickering among themselves and just resume walking in silence.
"Don't ask me. They have always been like that as far as I have known them." He says casting a glance back at them.
"Hmm… I remember N'jobu saying that you are colleagues at the Institute. Are you close?"
"You have met before?"
"Yes, I stumbled upon him a few days before we embark on this journey."
"You stumbled upon him, huh…"
"Then," Bringing him back to the topic, "do you know him well?"
"It will be a stretch to say that… we're from the same batch of trainee archaeologist but we never really spent much time together—He and Sazayi were always together back then too—and I kept my interactions with him to a strict minimum, I always felt that he had an issue with me for some reason."
"A disagreement?"
"I have no idea." He sighs. "Maybe a sense of competitiveness? We always contested against each other for the highest grades—But he is not a bad person, a bit headstrong and overbearing, yes, but he is one of the brightest people I know, and he has an excellent mastery of his element."
"…I see. So, it is alright to keep him around a while longer." I peer behind at him—They're arguing even now.
"I suppose, yes."
Still, they can't follow us forever—for their safety, they should not. On the other hand, they cannot be let free while knowing my true identity, not when they refused to make an Oath, and it is something I can't force them into.
A sigh inevitably escapes my lips.
I don't know what to do.
"Vyswe'eyaga, there is something I have been wanting to tell you."
I get my attention back on him, waiting for him to continue, but before he can say his piece, he is interrupted by Gamba calling out at something far ahead.
~~~~~~~~~~~
We had to stop after trekking for half a day, but it is not because of the weather or because we were taking a break.
Up ahead lay a small caravan—a trio of wagons, each drawn by a grae. They stood motionless, blocked by the massive obstruction barring their way.
The path we were threading is too narrow; to the right is the dense forest, and to the left, the mountain rising sharply, its slope near vertical.
The relentless rain had poured through the night, softening the earth to a precarious state. With the steep incline of the mountain, it was almost inevitable that the ground would give way under such conditions.
The path upward is far too steep here to be safely navigated, especially with their heavily loaded wagons. The alternative is no better—the forest's trees stand too close together, forming an impassable barrier for both waggons and the beasts. Leaving them stranded.
"Is everything alright?" Kayin calls out.
Hmm… I don't know why he is asking that, the ordeal here is hard to miss.
The group ahead turn their attention to us, looking wearily between us. One man among then finally decides to say something, but unfortunately it is not in a language I can understand. Foreigners then… I suppose it explains why their clothing are so different from what I have become used to. Words spill out of his mouth, all unintelligible gibberish to me, but from his mannerism, it appears that he is calling for someone behind.
About a minute later, a man steps forward from the crowd. He is adorned in a striking ensemble of vibrant, opulent fabrics. A dense, bushy, black beard frames his chin, and an intricately wrapped headscarf sits atop his head.
His grey eyes roams through each of us, one after the other. Then after lingering for a few seconds, he opens his mouth.
"Greetings, travellers." He says in a heavily accented voice. "You see—we are in a bit of a difficult situation here… My caravan was passing through when the landslide suddenly erupted, two waggons were swallowed, and the rest are now barred from advancing."
He turns sideways, and we all look at the landslide's slip zone. Behind him the rest of his men are working steadily, lifting chunks of tree trunks, rock, and earth and hauling them toward the treeline to clear a path.
"Are there any casualties?"
"Excluding some buried cargo… thankfully none."
"Allow us to assist you." The man hesitates, but Kayin adds, "it will be faster with our help, and we are taking the same route anyway."
The man nods after considering it and extends his hand to Kayin. "My name is Mubarak."
"And I am Kayin." He extends his own, holding firmly Mubarak's hand in a firm handshake.
Then they walk back to the group of working men behind with the rest of us in toe. They all stop in their tracks when Mubarak calls them out and says something in his native language. I don't know what he said, but their reactions are split; some nod slightly, while some are smiling faintly, looking at us in gratitude.
"We need a proper space to stack the debris… Let's cut down some trees first."
"Why not simply lift the waggons up and to the other side?" I ask. This looks tedious.
"Ah. I had preferred you would not that," the man—Mubarak says with some agitation, "some items are very delicate, so it is best you avoid using any sorcery. And my waggons have been warded against sorcery anyway."
Hmm… If those goods are so fragile what is he doing here to begin with? But I don't ask the question, it is none of my business.
"Then we will go with cutting the trees. After that the two of us will move the dirt over that space."
I whip my head up at him, blinking twice.
"Just the two of us?"
He shrugs. "Are we not best suited for the job?"
I frown slightly. "I… suppose you are correct."
Already, Ike, Ewa and the rest are treading to the trees, while Mubarak relay the information to his men, as they too, go in the same direction with the tools in hands. Minutes later the sounds of, grunts, axes colliding with wood, and trees falling echoes throughout the area.
…Now that I think about it, all this is not necessary. Really, I could use sorcery to move the earth out of the way and we could move on.
Is it too late to do it now?
I mean—they are already half-way through, it would be a bit strange to tell them that all their hard work was for nothing… and very embarrassing too.
Yes. I… I should let them finish what they started. No one asked for my opinion anyway.
I turn my attention to Sazayi who is idly observing the others. Sensing my gaze, he shifts his focus to me and smiles. Everyone had hastened themselves over the forest to quickly cut down the trees, except for Mubarak, Kayin, and I who stayed behind… along with Sazayi apparently.
"And why are you here?"
He flinches, then scratches the back of his neck.
"What about it?"
"You are not going to help over there?"
"I would be more of a hindrance if I stepped in."
"Mmhmm…" I hum.
"Sazayi is just someone with an innate incompetence in physical activities," Kayin suddenly says, shaking his head, "you get an excuse because you were never taught in that field, but he gets none. I remember the instructors in combat training wondering how someone could be so bad at it."
"I wasn't that bad." Sazayi rebukes.
"You were terrible. Girls skinnier and smaller than you could trash you with ease."
"I am not one to harm a lady, and I never liked combat training to begin with."
"Sure." Kayin smiles crookedly at him.
"Don't judge me!"
"Stop it Kayin." I snap
He looks down at me, stunned. "You are defending him?"
"We all have a discipline in which we are lacking there is no need to make fun of him about that." I lecture.
Kayin blinks a few times then falls silent, meanwhile Sazayi is staring at me in gratitude… And now I feel guilty. I already know he is not a man of the outdoors—just like me—he had lived a life with little to no need for physical exertion, that is why I wanted to tease him a bit about it.
But Kayin had to step in and make me feel lazy as well. I did receive some education in physical training, it was mandatory, but it was over two decades ago and promised myself never to do it again when I miraculously managed to complete the course.
The irony!
Now I am paying the price of that promise so long ago. It feels like the universe is mocking me.
Sometime later rows of trees have been felled, leaving a small open space. Kayin and I stand before the towering mound of earth, the rest standing in wait behind, with their attention solely on us as we methodically lift the sunken ground up, then dispose of it in the area that has been cleared—Kayin harnessing gales of wind, and I guiding it upward with levitation.
"Oh!" The man, Mubarak, suddenly exclaims as he approaches us. "Careful, please be careful with these ones."
What I assume to be the wreckage of the missing two waggons hover among the floating piles of earth and rocks before me.
"Shall I put them aside?"
He stares at me for a second too long before suddenly catching himself. "Yes. Please do."
A while later a clear path has been carved ahead.
Mubarak is once again shaking Kayin's hand, probably thanking him… I am not sure. The two have started conversing with each other, but in Mubarak's language this time. N'jobu and Sazayi has also joined the chat at some point too.
He told me once that he could fluently speak multiple languages, and from what I see, N'jobu and Sazayi as well… It must a perk of being an archaeologist and all that. It makes me a little envious if I am being honest.
I wish I could speak multiple languages too.
The only language spoken at the time of the Nchāren n empire was the Tongue and, there had never been any other known language as far as I know. But now there are multiple ones?! Where is the justice?
It reminds me… I had asked Kayin to teach all the languages of this era. He taught me his native one first, but we never found the time to continue afterward.
"Vyswe'eyaga." Kayin calls out.
"You are done discussing. Are we leaving now?"
"Yes. As it turns out Mubarak's caravan was travelling to Akua."
"Hmm? Am I mistaken or is it not located west?"
"You're not," he rests his hands on his waist and lets out a short sigh, "I do not know how they did it, but they managed to get lost on the way there… and somehow ended up here."
He peeks at me from the corner of his eyes. "I offered to help them get back on correct path—we will have to make small detour. I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all." I say, shaking my head.
A hint of a smile trails on his lips.
"Great! We will have to wait a bit, though. To give them time to sort out what can be salvaged." He says, nodding at the spot where people have clustered around, Mubarak at its head and rummaging through the wreckage for anything salvageable.