KNIGHT

 

I had more bumps and bruises than I could count. It would still be a long time until I recovered completely.

It wasn’t all bad though. The cut on my head wasn’t bleeding. The pain in my leg wasn’t getting any worse. Despite how tiring I knew the journey would be, I was confident I would be able to get Oliver back to his skulk.

A makeshift crutch made from a tree branch certainly eased the journey.

I dug the stick into the mud as I walked. The steps weren’t comfortable but taking the weight off my leg allowed me to move faster.

Oliver seemed like the kind of man I would expect to find out here in the Timberlands. His body bare with nothing but a sack strapped to his shoulder, he walked with a bit of a bounce in his step as he continued on the trail forward. There was something to admire about the way he carried himself.

Oliver led me down the trail deeper into the woods. The trees and brush around me looked just as foreign as they always did. Just a sniff of the air was enough to tell me that I was miles away from Dirge.

“What’s it like?” I asked as I walked behind him.

“What’s what like?”

“Your skulk. The camp with all of the foxes. I imagine it’s a sight to behold.”

I couldn’t see his face but he remained skipping in front of me as he chuckled.

“I don’t know if I would say it like that,” he sighed. “The camp is a sight compared to the rest of the woods but nothing remarkable. Then again, I don’t have anything to compare it to.”

“It must be nice.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I haven’t met any foxes. If they’re anything like you, they must be good people.”

“Good people…”

His words trailed off. I figured I would stop talking so that he could save his energy. For whatever reason, I got the sense that Oliver wasn’t interested in talking.

We made our way through the trail of trees. Before I realized it, we had made it out of the forest. There was a calm river rushing in front of us. On the other side, another set of trees were in front of us.

“It’s beyond that river,” he said. “We should probably rest here for now.”

“I haven’t been moving very fast. We should keep going. Time is running out—”

Oliver turned to me and put his hand up.

“We’ve made good progress,” he said. “I know you’re tired. Pushing you will only hurt us in the long run. We should rest now and keep your strength up. Moving through the brush will be harder because the rain is heavier in those parts. The mud is less forgiving to walk through.”

I couldn’t argue with his reasoning. I sighed and gave him a nod.

We took a spot right next to the water. I leaned up against the rock and enjoyed the soothing calmness of the gentle river rushing right next to me.

Oliver took a spot in front of me and started gathering bundles of sticks. It wasn’t long before he masterfully created a bonfire before us. I never failed to marvel at his ability to do so.

Oliver sat across from me and started searching through his bag. Then he got up and handed the bag to me.

“Here,” he said. “Nuts and berries. It’s not much. But they’re something to stop your stomach from growling.”

“This is plenty,” I sighed.

I helped myself to some of the fruits in the bag. They were just as juicy as I remembered, still fresh off the vine.

“In my expedition, they served me something like this,” I said. “They cooked it over a pot. There some fruits and nuts and oats, too.”

“Oats… That’s not very common around here. Grains are hard to come by. I’ve only had it a few times in my life.”

“I’m not asking you to make oats for me,” I said with a laugh. “But perhaps one day you’ll be able to grow it and you can enjoy it as often as you like.”

“Perhaps…”

Oliver put his head down. For whatever reason, he could never look me in the eye for very long. It was a shame, too, considering how mesmerizing those green eyes of his were. He was a handsome young man. Even though we’d already slept together, he was still sheepish around me.

“What do you usually eat?” he asked suddenly. “Is the food different in the city?”

“Different,” I said with a laugh. “It’s surely different. I have fruit and nuts but there’s a lot more that comes with it.”

“What do you usually have for breakfast?”

“For breakfast? I like a hearty breakfast because I get up early in the morning. I need it to train and exercise. I usually have bread, eggs, and fresh fruit. Not as fresh as this but as fresh as is available. I like to have meat, too. Some bacon. Ham or sausage. Not completely healthy but it’s satisfying.”

“Ham. Sausage. Bacon. What is that?”

“Pigs.”

“Ah, I see,” he said with a nod. “You hunt pigs.”

“I don’t hunt pigs,” I said, laughing again. “I don’t think anybody hunts them.”

“Where do you get them then?”

“We raise them as livestock. There are farms.”

“Farms… You mean you harvest pigs like the fruits and nuts we gather?”

“Something like that… Look at it this way. You plant a seed and you get a fruit or vegetable from it. Maybe even a mighty tree grows from it.”

“Yes,” he said with a nod.

“We do the same thing with livestock.”

“I see… So you grow your own pigs for consumption.”

“Yes.”

“That’s remarkable… It would be nice to have something like that near camp. To be able to grow our own food and tend to our own livestock. It wouldn’t be necessary to go on so many gathering journeys to stock up food when the snow comes.”

There was a genuine sincerity in the enthusiasm Oliver showed. It was nice meeting someone who was so foreign to what I was used to. I felt I was learning more about myself just getting to know him better.

“One day you’ll be able to have your own farms,” I said. “There’s no reason you won’t be able to grow your own food.”

“I don’t think so,” he sighed.

“Why not?”

“This is the way the foxes have done things for generations. The elders have been passed down the way of life from those before them and they pass it down to us. We have always been gatherers. We are only foxes. We don’t know how to hunt.”

“But that doesn’t mean you can’t farm. You would be able to have any kind of fruit you were able to find and grow as much of it as you want. You would be able to have it whenever you wanted.”

Oliver giggled softly and shook his head.

“You should talk to the elders,” he said. “You would have a better chance of convincing them than me.”

“Why is that?”

He gave me a confused look.

“Because,” he said. “I am just a lowly Omega. I am only there for them to breed with. I am only there to keep the numbers of the skulk up when necessary.”

“You’re an Omega,” I said. “But you’re more than that. You have a lot to offer Oliver.”

He looked away from me and out into the river. He stuffed his mouth with a piece of fruit. I didn’t bother to consider whatever it was he was thinking. Oliver was unlike anybody I’d ever met before. I could only assume he thought I was strange.

“Are all jaguars like you?” he asked.

“How do you know I’m a jaguar?”

“Because I can smell it on you. It’s obvious.”

“I can’t imagine you run into many jaguars in these parts.”

“I met one before. A long time ago. His scent was undeniable. I will never forget it.”

“I see… Well, I can’t say that I’m like most jaguars. I can’t say that I’m like most Alphas either. Dirge is filled with thousands of people and we’re all different. Who’s to say how alike and different we are?”

Oliver smiled as he stuffed another bite of food into his mouth. He looked across the fire that danced between us, his eyes staring curiously at me.

“What’s it like?” he asked. “What’s the city of Dirge like?”

“…What do you know of the city?”

“I don’t know much other than what the elders say. It’s a big place with buildings that reach toward the sky. The men and women walk around with clothes. There are no packs and everybody lives on their own. Their lives are completely different than out here in the Timberlands.”

“That’s right,” I said with a laugh. “You got most of it correct.”

“The elders also say it’s a dangerous place. There is no law in the city. There are Alphas who are violent for no reason. There are Omegas who are suffering. They live meek lives because without a pack, they have nobody else to turn to.”

I swallowed anxiously after hearing him say it. The way he looked at me with those innocent green eyes of his. It was as if he were taking it personally.

“Is it true?” he asked. “Is there constant violence in Dirge? Is there nothing but lawlessness with Alphas roaming free to do what they want? Are Omegas at the mercy of others?”

I didn’t want to admit that there was some truth to what he said. He painted such a bleak picture of Dirge but I couldn’t deny all of it.

“Yes,” I said with a nod.

“Why do you live there then? Why wouldn’t you leave to find a place that’s more welcoming?”

“Because it’s not all like that. There are bad people in the city but there are more good people. There are people in Dirge who are working hard to help those in need. Not because they are part of the same pack. Not because they’re Alphas trying to find an Omega to impregnate. Not because they’re Omegas trying to find an Alpha to please.”

Oliver was listening intently to me.

“No,” I said as I shook my head. “To let Dirge fall to ruin means the people who worked to establish it have been failed. That’s why I’m out here now.”

“What do you mean?”

“We can’t build the things we need without resources.”

“Resources? What kind of resources?”

“We need to find a place to mine. There are minerals that can help us build structures. Iron, stone, copper, gold, silver. There are places we can drill to find oil for our machines.”

“Machines…”

“Yes. And we also need to find a place to log. Somewhere we can cut the trees down and replace them without dislodging inhabitants.”

Oliver’s eyes lit up suddenly.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked.

“Mines… You mean like deep caverns.”

“Yes, something like that.”

“I have been to a mine before. All of my skulk knows about it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I’ve been inside of it. There are shiny metals inside. There are enough minerals inside of it to last for generations but we have no need for them.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The one thing I was looking for in the first place and Oliver was leading me right to it. I tried to hold back my surprise but couldn’t.

“That’s what I’m looking for,” I said with a laugh. “That’s perfect, Oliver. We need to get there as soon as possible.”

Oliver suddenly turned toward the ground. I was confused by the frown on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“The skulk won’t let you mine,” he said. “I’m sure of it. Anita won’t allow you to take from it.”

“Anita?”

“The lead Alpha of my skulk. She is in charge.”

“Perhaps I’ll be able to talk to her. Maybe I can convince her to let me get the resources I need. I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement.”

He scoffed at me.

“You don’t know Anita,” Oliver said. “She is headstrong. She doesn’t back down from anybody. She is a proud Alpha. It’s in her blood. You have a better chance of moving a mountain than getting her to change her mind.”

“Well, I have to try anyway,” I sighed. “We’re heading there.”

“I know, it’s just…”

“I promise you, Oliver. I won’t do anything to jeopardize your standing in the skulk. If you don’t want me to do anything, then I won’t. I’m already in your debt.”

“I…”

He looked down and shook his head. Seeing the frown leave his face was a relief.

“…We have a long journey ahead of us,” he said with a smile. “Perhaps we should just get some rest for now.”

With the calm river rushing right by us, there wasn’t an atmosphere more soothing to relax to.

I nodded to Oliver and sank deeper into the grass I sat on. We had traveled several miles but there was still so much more to go.