THE LAST KEEPER

”Time to move,” Salka announced after all movement ceased and the squad rolled out. Sagiri felt like he was a four-year-old walking among teenagers. He was struggling to keep up with them, even just walking along the corridors within the central pentagon. He felt like he was running while the four were merely striding.

It was going to be a rough couple of hours or night.

They took the same carriage they had taken when they were escorting him to the Galka War Academy, or it was just one of the many that looked the same. They pulled further north outside the main gate, but went mid-westwards before going north. Further north. Galka war academy was already far north of the northern tribes, and so by going northwards, it meant the problem must have originated from further north.

Galka War Academy kept its privacy and many people lived far from it. So they had to travel for almost two hours to circle all the way around it before cutting through settlements that were scattered along the way to go north. The place was scarcely populated, and as they went even further north for two more hours, the settlements thinned out till there was almost none left.

Another two hours later, and it was just shrubs, then the woods. The carriage went on into the woods till the road thinned out and it could go no further, and so they stopped.

Yavaga had been the one to stir the horses this time, and he jumped down dramatically before he announced.

”That is the end of the road, boys. That will be a hundred silver stones,” he stretched his hand out.

”A hundred silver stones could have taken us all the way to Lanka and back,” Sagiri shoved his hand away before jumping off the carriage. Salka fastened the two horse reins to a tree before he turned around. Sagiri was the last to come down from the carriage, and he was the only one who used the stepping stairs.

”This place seems so peaceful. I wonder what might have triggered the Tree Snakes’ sudden appearance.” Matasi said, stretching like a cat.

”Why don’t you bring your young wife to live here if you think it’s peaceful?” Kolu snickered. Matasi smiled at the mention of his young wife, but he did not tell Kolu off.

”If you apply that logic, you might actually finally marry and maybe continue your father’s line,” Yavaga said.

”You lack respect for your elders, brat,” Kolu answered Yavaga.

”A man your age without a wife should not be respected.” Yavaga retorted, and the guys continued bickering for a while before Salka finally spoke, breaking the bickering

”Here is the plan,” Salka started,” evening had already come, and it was only an hour until darkness filled the horizon. Sagiri was beginning to understand why they brought him. The guys must have trained to see to some extent in the dark, and perhaps use the night vision goggles. ”We spread out and search for places where there is no undergrowth, then we come and get the boy. He would just slow us down,” Salka announced, and they all just nodded.

He must have been naive; he would be leading the search.

”You have an hour to move out and come back, don’t engage. For today, we will follow the best trail to their nest. These things are slower at night because of the cold, but that doesn’t mean you should engage. They move in packs,” Salka insisted.

”You remain here, and don’t move until we are back. Move out!” Salka said to Sagiri, then to the three.

”Yes captain!” They all answered in unison. Just a signal of his finger, the men broke into four directions, and Sagiri stayed put. He could sense the others for a while and for a distance, and even Salka, as if he was allowing his presence to be felt before they got out of range. Sagiri resorted to sitting back on the carriage.

He sat for another 30 minutes alone in silence, just listening to the horses grazing, before he finally felt movement. It was salka and he was approaching quickly. Matasi was the second to arrive, and the Kolu. It seemed the three were the fastest, and they had not found any sign of the tree snakes.

Soon, darkness blanketed the horizon, and the one-hour duration for searching for clues had expired, yet Yavaga had not come back.

”Where is this kid?” Sagiri groaned, but he did not look alarmed. ”If he engaged when I clearly said not to, he will be joining Lotaga in punishment till they learn to follow orders. The tree snakes, even though slow at night, were still sensitive to movements and body heat. They might have been slow at night, but their heartbeat also slowed, which could need sagiri to concentrate.

”Let’s go get him,” Sagiri said, and the three men unraveled their hooking ropes yet again. ”You are coming with, you better use that sensory skill of yours again if you feel him.

”Yes captain!” Sagiri answered, and they moved out. They were really fast, and they must have noticed even their medium pace was too fast for him, forcing them to slow down even further.

”What is the use of hooking ropes, if we are basically walking on trees?” Kolu was the first to complain, but even so, the three men fell in pace, almost letting him take the lead.

He was pushing his senses out to the maximum, too, and he had not picked anything, just birds and small animals. There was not even a sign of a squirrel. Darkness had finally blanketed the horizon, and even the moon was not out. He was moving only depending on his senses.

Something was odd. He suddenly stopped and dropped from the tree, letting himself land on the ground. He landed as softly as he possibly could, but his feet ended up making a thud. The three other men landed so softly behind him, even with their large bodies, without making a sound.

He lay completely flat on the ground, letting his ear touch the earth. He had long taken off his seal when they left the academy.

He pushed his senses out as far as he could, and even a thousand feet in the direction they were headed, there was not even one rat or rabbit burrowing under the earth. That was odd. There was no way there were no rats, not even moles who loved to burrow beneath the earth for miles.

”What is it?” Kolu asked after a long moment of Sagiri lying on the ground, as he used to when he was young.

”A thousand feet ahead of us, there are no squirrels, moles, rats, or wild rabbits,” he said, jumping to his feet.

”A thousand?” Matasi asked in pure shock. ”Your sensory radius has grown to a thousand feet.” Matasi was beside himself.

”That is indeed odd,” Salka said. ”That can only mean three wrong things: either there is no food, there are floods, or there is something the little creatures are afraid of out there,” Salka said, and the three paused.

”So you can perceive Yavaga?” Salka asked.

”No, not yet, he might have gone deeper,” Sagiri said, and Salka cursed.

”Let’s keep moving. You tell me when he is in your range,” Salka said, and they all unraveled their hooked robes. They went for another 50 vaara this time, and since sagiri had not stopped, neither did anyone. Now he could not even hear any sign of life. Even the birds had stopped singing. He stopped, suddenly feeling tired, having to multitask. He might have grown, but using all his senses while he moved at top speed was still tiring. He paused on the branch of the tree, feeling slightly exhausted. He might have pushed himself hard trying to perceive Yavaga’s presence, and he hated to admit it, but it was getting frustrating not having found him so far.

”Anything yet?” Salka asked.

”Nothing, I’m just tired from concentrating too much, I’ll rest for a second,” he said, and Kolu sneakered.

”Your sensory skills might have increased, but you are still weak,” he said, coming to a stop beside him. ”You should work on both since they should go hand in hand.”

”Yes captain.”

”Have you tried practicing when training or sparring?” Matasi asked, and sagiri realized he had not been training his sensory skills on his own time, just during the Konate Galka exercise and during Miss Lakiya’s games.

”Just get on my back and just concentrate on finding Yavaga,” Salka said, coming to a stop beside Sagiri. sagiri had not expected that, and he almost lost his footing and went tumbling to the forest floor. ”Should I carry you like a child?” Salka asked when Sagiri hesitated for another moment before he climbed awkwardly onto Salka’s back. Salka handed his quiver, which he had replaced on his back.

”You better hold on tight, and if you fall I will kill you myself, and don’t drop my quiver,” Salka said. Sagiri put the quiver straps on his shoulder and locked his hands around his neck for dear life.

”Let’s go,” he said, and they all embarked on their journey once again. Being on Salka’s back was definitely a new experience. He was moving way too fast, so Sagiri felt like he was flying. It was as if he were not carrying a whole human on his back. Without using his energy, he was now able to concentrate after another 50V at top speed, which the three men covered in a few minutes. Sagiri finally tapped Salka’s back, and the men stopped. The undergrowth was now completely gone, and even the trees had started drying out.

Salka landed softly on the ground, making no sound, before he let him down from his back.

”You feel him?” Salka asked, and sagiri nodded. Even so, he tapped his hand to the ground and listened, and he almost fell back on his back when he could finally hear him.

”He is close,” sagiri said, his voice breaking a bit.

”But what? Let it out,” Matasi asked.

”He is surrounded. It is as if he is sitting on top of the nest. He is surrounded,”Sagiri said in the agency.

”Is he alive?” Kolu asked.

”Yes, I can not perceive the dead. Yet,” he finished the statement, and the three nodded. Perhaps he could perceive both if he practiced. He had been shortsighted in many things this far.

”How did he even get on top of their nest? Is he blind?” Salka huffed.

”Perhaps he was running from something. The tree snakes are not moving at all. They both might be running from the same thing,”Sagiri said, listening to the thousands of heartbeats mixed with Yavaga’s.

”How do you know that?” Kolu asked.

”The snakes should have killed him already,” Salka answered, deducting the situation too. Perhaps Kiuga was starting to rub on Sagiri, but the archive was buzzing in a way that was putting sagiri on edge.

”Damn it!” Matasi cursed.