CHAPTER SIX

                                    

                                          


                          
Omar stopped, he was right under one of the mountains, he wasn't sure which, but it seemed to him that it was Okolos, the smaller one of the two. He lifted one of two boards and pulled a stack of maps out of it, examined them with an expert's eye until he found two that suited him. He only bought them a year ago. Omar spread them out side by side, he had to take the wool off the cart, so background would be level. Omar moved the wool over the handle of the cart and leaned forward.  The first map was a complete map of the area, word whole was generous, but that's the only map he had. The second was a detailed map of the Polis with the surrounding area. This specific Polis owned a good part of the lands out of its walls. All the way to the sea in the south and even over these mountains. Although king Arite, rarely visited this end of his Polis. He cross-referenced both maps and realized that he was indeed under Okolos. Omar dragged his finger along the well-known paths, at least the map claimed that they were paths. If he continued at this pace, it would take him about twenty days to reach the Castle of the Stars. He scratched his chin, pushing his fingers through his tough, brown beard. That should leave him with enough time. Then if he made only a three-day break, he should be out of it before the storm season starts. His eyes followed the map all the way to its end. All the way up to the mountain that was marked on the map as Ákirosa, but he knew it as  or Harfa. Unfortunately both maps ended there, which meant that he will still have to buy another one, I guess they'll have it inside the walls he thought as he collected the maps and gently put them back in their place. Omar raised his head, the sun was high in the sky, but it was lacking the warmth. Although it was the same sun, GorTem punished the people here by taking their heat away and turning their sand into mud. GasTem wasn't that strict, he left them air and his enormous arm fertilized the earth. But even he couldn't fight his brother, the fertility of the land was useless if GorTem's eye didn't shine light on it and keep it warm. He heard a familiar sound, he turned abruptly. He saw a bird flying low. Then it sticked it claws in something and took off. Omar smiled, it was a mountain RiRa, people called her differently, Feros? Something like that. He grabbed his bow and arrow, he followed it with his gaze. Then pulled and fired. The bird twitched in the air and began to fall. Omar smiled and covered the cart with a plank and hid them to the side. There were not many trees here under the mountain, but the bushes were more than enough. He headed slowly to the place where his pray would fall. Lunch will be warm and fresh, he thought. A huge blue bird flew overhead and grabbed RiRa, Omar's prey. He clenched his teeth and then his jaw dropped. The arrow fell out his hand. Omar couldn't believe what he saw. The Great Alttair al'azLair. He shook his head, this wasn't the first time he had seen it, but it's the first time he's been this close. Close enough to- He took an arrow, he nocked it and fired, he didn't waist a second, he grabbed another one, then another one. He was aiming at its head. Omar fired one and then another. His eye still followed the last arrow as his hands already set the next one off. All five hit, only the third and fourth bounced off its feathers, the first and the second slammed into its neck, sinking deep and drawing blood. The fifth still flew, and he followed it with his eyes. It hit Alttair al'azLair right in the eye. The giant blue bird shook and swooned to the right. Omar ran after it, forgetting about his cart and his hunger. That majestic beast was his. His and his alone. Omar got on all fours, scaling Okolos, then skipped a little stream. He saw it fall and he accelerated his pace. As much he dared, on those shifting stones. There were terra birds in these mountains, he knew that. He didn't want to lose his catch nor his head. He saw its blue fathers on the gray stone, standing out like an HajRamli on a moonless night. There was a low hiss and a roar. Running Omar pulled out an arrow, got it in place and fired. The little four-legged creature shook and went down. The other three didn't even notice, they just kept running towards his kill. He pulled two arrows and knocked down two more, Omar raised his hand, but he had none left. "Three suns..." he swore and with a rehearsed move flung the bow over his shoulder, pulled out a knife and jumped into the air without slowing down. He had done this enough that it stopped feeling weird, the slapping of the wood on his back and the string cutting into his shoulder became a part of his hunt. Especially in these parts, there was always something that tried to poach his prey. Omar grabbed a small four-legged creature and stabbed it in the neck. Its fur parted and the knife hit a bone, he pulled his knife to one, then the other side. His hand held its soft fur, turning it around, he wanted to make sure the creature was dead. It was, he breathed, still lying on it, the fur was quite soft. He was thinking about how he could sell it, only now it was a question of where exactly he had hit the other three. The pelts would be more valuable undamaged. Well he knew that that was unlikely, but little damaged is still better then completely recked and useless. Omar jumped to his feet, eager to see the biggest catch of his life. The great blue bird Alttair al'azLair had feathers like steel, beak like a spear and claws like knives, he smiled and looked into its eye. The arrow was sticking out of it, looking at him. Omar pulled it out, then he turned around, maybe he should get those three out first. Then he saw them. His heart skipped and he fell to his knees. They didn't see me, he blinked and squeezed his teeth, slowly advancing to the ledge, and looked over it. His eyes fell on a huge camp. Tents upon tents. His throat tightened, he could see people training outside, and flocs of tera birds. They were tied up and being feed by a woman wearing nothing but rags. If the camp was so close-, his brain malfunction, there was a good chance there was a scout out there somewhere. Either close to him, or really far. Hurry up, he thought, and snaped out of his revery. Omar turned around and pulled out arrows out of those three, forgetting about pelts and selling them. He was quickly done pulling those two that had hit Alttair al'azLair. He bit his lip, debating to just run or to salvage what he could. GorTem burned your brain, you idiot, Omar thought and pulled out only a dozen feathers, putting them in his quiver, then took his knife and disembowel the great bird. Its meat was supposed to be legendary. Oh, how he wished he could have carried everything, but he couldn't, not even if the circumstance were different. He had to settle for a little bit of meat and a souvenir. He pulled his knife around its claws; he took the biggest one. His head snaped up, a high-pitched scream echoed over the mountain. Blood in his veins froze. Omar looked around as more tera bird screams boomed. The last thing he needed, was a pack of wild terra birds attacking him before he had the chance to finished. His eyes flew over the gray stones. But they weren't above him, up on the mountain from where they usually attacked. Omar swallowed turning around and saw three riders coming out of the bushes. All three on nasty looking birds. All three with swords already drawn. Omar cursed softly, his hand grabbing the bow at his back.