How Gods Bleed by Shane Porteous
Chapter 6
Eventually the horrid winter broke and when it did so the change was the torrential equivalent of night and day. Gone were the frozen woods, icy air and snow covered fields replaced by tropical woods, humid air and lush fields and terrain filled with all the colours such a place had to offer. The change was not a gradual one either, it seemed literally to make such a drastic change in a blink of an eye. In spite of this great change the Helluvans did not take even so much as a moment to admire the new world before them. The fact that they were now further west than any human being had been in 4 thousand years seemed irrelevant or at the least not something important enough to celebrate.
The group entered the confines of a lush rain forest that from the outside in looked endless and almost immediately the group took great notice of how many insects could be seen all around them. The frozen landscape of where they had been had kept the insects far away and now it seemed with this new terrain the bugs were eager to bite and drink the blood of the new arrivals. But the bugs were little more than an annoyance easily squatted away with simple hand movements. The trees of this forest were vastly different than their frozen brethren for they grew far apart from one another as if each of them were enjoying the humid yet fresh air of the forest.
Vines and fallen trees however certainly were not absent and it did not take long for several of the Helluvans to take in hand bladed tools to keep their path clear. Tanagy lead the group and wielded a strange short flat blade that had a strange flat hook on its outer edge whose purpose was not obvious. The rainforest was also very lively with sounds that were far more various than even the insects could produce and they were heard all around them. Amongst these sounds were the indisputable songs of river ways and streams, something they had not seen in a matter of weeks.
The first waterway that came across their path luckily was only a stream and a small one at that. As Tanagy stepped over the small stream he did not take another step but rather remained in one spot. Leannol who had been second in the march quickly joined him. There seemed no obvious sign to panic for Tanagy instantly would have held up his hand in one of various symbols to tell the others to come to a stop.
When the entire group had crossed the stream Leannol crouched down and looked upon the ground before her. It seemed that rainfall was a common thing in this place for the light brown that made up the ground was only now just returning from mud to dirt. What had caused Tanagy to stop and Leannol to crouch down was some kind of large imprint upon the slightly wet ground. It was longer than a foot in length, closer to two and had a total of three long points that touched upon one another in a small center. Two of the points were facing forward like the forked tongue of a serpent, the third which was behind the first two was facing the other direction. Each of the points seemed identical in both size and length to one another, adding credibility to the fact the marking was simply too perfect to be a random shape of nature. It was a footprint of some kind but clearly one that the group did not instantly recognize. Leannol silently looked up towards Imbaka who was the best tracker amongst them and therefore had the greatest knowledge when it came to such things. Imbaka joined Leannol in crouching down in front of the strange print but neither said anything.
After a moment of staring Imbaka reached her hand out extending her fingers as much as possible and placing her hand beside the print. Easily in size it dwarfed hers. There was good reason for the silence that consumed the group for it did not take an expert to know that this print was neither human nor werewolf. In size a werewolf print wasn’t much smaller but deformity was not something that occurred to the shape shifting monsters. It was also not the result of some kind of amputation for although werewolves could heal from almost any wound, there were certain ones such as those inflicted by silver and possibly sorcery that could not be healed from. But if this were the case than there would be some sign of a stumped appendage and there was none. “Strange,” Imbaka said when she had gone through the encyclopedia of knowledge that was her memory. Several in the group silently nodded in agreement but it seemed no one could give an explanation. When the footprint itself could offer no more information Imbaka looked beyond it expecting to see a set of tracks identical to it in the close distance. But the footprint was unique, there were no others in any direction. The ground remained weak and it was impossible that if something moved through here than it would leave only a single print.
Imbaka slowly looked up unsure of exactly what she was looking for. She saw the spot they and the footprint were in was directly underneath a very large break in the trees, which formed almost a circle around the area. She looked back down to the footprint as a possible explanation played out in her head. With no other tracks it seemed the only place the owner of the footprint could have gone was upwards. When she spoke, her tone proved she was perplexed by such an explanation.
“ Whatever must have made this track somehow ascended.”
She pointed up as her gaze looked upon the dark thick blue of the sky. Collectively the group looked upwards and around to the surrounding trees.
Whatever had made the footprint must have been of considerable size and yet the trees did not appear ravaged, as they should have been if something so large had climbed them.
“Not necessarily,” Tanagy said keeping his voice at a normal tone. “Perhaps it was moving down the stream, the running water would have destroyed any trace of additional footprints.”
Imbaka looked over her shoulder towards the stream and almost immediately she knew the flaw of such a theory. “No,” she said as she turned back around to look at the print, “It’s too large….” Tanagy could not be blamed for such an assumption as Imbaka herself had to double-check the stream before she discounted his words.
“Perhaps the other tracks had been washed away by rainfall or a swift wind?” Gokkus suggested. Imbaka shook her head and retorted. “No, the track is too fresh, I say whatever made it did so only a few hours ago….”
“That raises an even better question,” Hazum Ka-te said, “What made the track?”
It was a question that they all wanted answered and the thick silence of the unknown returned to reign over them once more. However its reign was short lived as Zova broke it with these words “Yonga Ponday,” her tone carried within a great seriousness, one so heavy it was almost overwhelming to hear. Now every eye was upon her but for a time nothing was spoken. Zova kept her eyes upon the track revealing that she felt no discomfort by having all eyes upon her. “What makes you say that Zova?” Imbaka asked without so much as a hint of accusation or doubt in her tone.
“ The size and shape of the track as well as the fact that there is only one of them.” Zova glanced towards the trees as she continued. “There is no sign of something large enough to make that print upon the trees meaning whatever made it had to have flown upwards.”
The group looked back to the track each with a mind full of questions that they could not answer. The only thing that the track somewhat resembled was the footprint of a bird though there was no known species that grew anywhere near large enough to make such a footprint.
“How unknown,” Hazum Ka-te said more in a vocalized thought than intended speech. He had spoken a common Helluvan phrase that simplified a more complicated meaning. How unknown basically was a phrase used when someone came across something tangible belonging to something completely unexpected and yet highly debated. The phrase was perfectly suited to the footprint and what had supposedly made it.
Yonga Ponday loosely translated meant ‘Wolf Killer’ it was a creature whose origins were in werewolf folklore. According to such folklore and depending on who was speaking about it the creature was between fifteen and eighteen foot tall. Though its footprint (if this indeed was from a Yonga Ponday) resembled that of a bird the creature itself was far more reptilian in appearance. Its skin that could not be broken by fang, teeth or steel was suppose to resemble the colour of pale moonlight with a pair of magnificent t
The most common tale spoken of its origins was that it was a demon summoned forth by a spell from the dying breath of a warlock to wreck havoc upon the werewolves who had destroyed his family and were responsible for his death. Apart from the stories about its origins and its appearance very little was known about the Yonga Ponday in the east. Strangely even in Cada Varl’s time before werewolves even existed warlocks and other such magical beings were considered rumor. Sure there was plenty of tales about them but most took these stories as just that, stories. However Noonsva regardless of what kingdoms and countries filled its landscape had always been a large and mysterious place. The only thing that the Immortal was almost certain of was that there were no warlocks or witches in Gatavoi. Most of the stories about it were extracted from werewolf prisoners that Helluvans caught. The official belief about the Yonga Ponday in the east and most of the west was that it was nothing more than a mythical creature whose true origins laid in the overactive imagination of some forgotten werewolf centuries ago. The Yonga Ponday was believed to be an embodiment of the werewolves physic forged from the guilt those beasts who were once human possessed for the destruction of human civilization in the west.