The Land of Broken Roads

Socks took a couple steps and leaned down to sniff the man’s remains, since he was so startled he didn’t know what else to do. -I do not smell any blood,- was all he said.

He rotated his head both sideways, as if a change in perspective would give him more information. For his part, Dirt shuddered to think how much power a seeming actually had. It wasn’t mere illusion, or empty imagination. Lepas had had a whole body, one he could move and control, and he’d taken steps on this very ground with it.

It sank in how much danger Dirt had been in with Caeso. The bloody spikes creaking out of the walls, the red furniture wet and dripping blood. The liquid floor that bubbled and swirled as lumpy shapes swam in it. That hadn’t been mere illusion either.

Antelmu muttered, “He was telling the truth that time.”

“Hm?” asked Dirt.

“That fairy. He said Face should go with him,” he replied. Face’s death and the general carnage all around were getting to him, since he still had no stomach for it. He shook his head and took a deep breath to clear his mind, and that turned out to be the wrong thing to do. The scents of all the half-dead corpses—the old, familiar stench of real battle—wafted up from the wide swaths of carnage that began only a few paces away, not to mention Socks’s fur. Antelmu turned green and took a few steps uphill to get away from it. It didn’t help, and he had to turn and look at anything else to prevent vomiting.

More children started coming out of hiding places or inside homes far and near, which Dirt watched with a sinking feeling. There were more than he realized, significantly more. He would have to decide quickly what to do with them; if he chose to wipe them out, better quickly rather than later. No reason to make them sit around staring at the corpses of their parents, if they were just going to die anyway.

He looked at Socks for guidance, but the pup pretended not to notice and lifted his nose high to sniff the wind, then faced the other direction.

The minds of the children were too jumbled to read any individual thoughts, and they were as varied as the creatures they belonged to. Some howled and wept while others stood in confusion at their fellows, completely unaware of what had just happened. Yet others stared hopelessly at the field of corpses with a sense of miserable acceptance, like they’d known this was coming, or that it was necessary.

That last group were the ones that affected Dirt the most. He pitied the others, but those who accepted all this reminded him of himself. If a god were to finally appear before him, pointing a condemning finger, it would feel like this. He would watch divine justice over him with this same sense of miserable acceptance, and he would go meekly back into the void. Such an event might be surprising, but would seem expected once it happened. Something he deserved and had only been avoiding through a childish admixture of ignorance and hubris.

Dirt frowned as his sympathy grew. What must it have been like for them? If this was their reaction, they had known what their parents were; at least the older ones had. Perhaps they had merely sensed the corruption but couldn’t name or describe it. Perhaps they hadn’t realized with their minds what their hearts had accepted until they saw the judgment Socks had rendered.

-Well, if you have already decided, then we should figure out how to do it,- said Socks.

“Hm? I haven’t decided yet,” said Dirt.

-Yes you have.-

“Yes, I have. Sorry,” said Dirt. He stood for a time, watching them gather and converse amongst themselves. It sank in just how big an undertaking it would be, trying to keep such a large crowd alive.

He and Socks watched each other’s thoughts as they mulled it over. Even if they left Dirt here for a few years to do it all himself, he could never catch enough deer and birds and whatever else to keep them all fed. Strong as he was, he was only one boy. Having Antelmu around would scarcely help; it might be too much even for Socks.

If this spot was closer to the forest, then it would be simple—let the trees take care of them until they were grown, or transport them to Ogena. Or if this was on the edge of Maxima and her mate’s territory, or some other wolf, then perhaps it would be possible to beg their help. Unlikely, but possible.

One option was taking the entire group, from the oldest to the newest infants, all the way to the other tribe. They were fine hunters, having killed a gryphon to drag home. Their lands were in the north, so close Socks could run there in a day if he really meant it, but it was an impossible distance on foot. Most of the children had legs shorter than Dirt’s, and no mana. Nor could they be counted on to carry supplies in any appreciable quantity. If Socks wasn’t being hunted by the Devourer, then it might be possible. It would take this group weeks of hard travel, but while there might be deaths, they would eventually get there.

But Socks was being hunted, and that meant he had only a few days before it was time to move again. With Dirt dreaming of the Devourer so recently, it would be foolish to stretch that out and try their luck. Walking them to safety wasn’t going to work.

Antelmu pulled the waterskin off his pack and took a deep swallow. He still looked ill, but he was going to survive. He thought, “They need three things. One, we need to keep them warm, especially at night. Little ones can get cold faster than you think, and that’ll make them sick and possibly freeze to death. Especially infants. That means fires and blankets, so we’ll need to see how much coal they have.

“Two,” he continued, “we have to make sure they have enough food and water. It’s winter, so they should have stores of food to last until the first harvest. And since all the grown ups are dead, that food should last longer. We just have to find it. For water, there is probably a well somewhere.”

“Third,” said Antelmu, growing more serious, “little children have to be watched every second. They’ll try to touch the fire, they’ll climb on things that’ll fall over, they’ll grab sharp blades, they’ll run underneath horses. Babies will swallow anything they can fit in their mouths and choke to death. That’s the hardest part. You can’t just leave them alone and go hunting. Someone has to watch them. And you can’t trust other children to do it for very long, because they’ll get distracted and they do dumb things too. I don’t think there’s a single child here much older than Gnaziu, and right before it snowed, one of his friends climbed up the wall and jumped off onto a pile of pillows and broke his arm. He was lucky he didn’t break both his ankles.”

-Dirt is that age, so I know what you mean,- said Socks, in a perfectly plain tone of voice.

Dirt was about to tease him right back, but it occurred to him he’d done everything on that list except choke on a rock.

Socks had only been playing, but he quickly had the same realization and looked back out toward the children with more serious eyes. Were they really that helpless? And that foolish? But of course they were. They were tiny little creatures with no knowledge of the world. He always enjoyed playing with them, especially in large crowds, but he’d never tried to tend one for very long other than Dirt. Dirt was the best human in the world and even keeping him alive hadn’t been easy.

“I’ve got seven younger siblings so I know a lot about it, and I’m going to be honest. We aren’t up to it. I know Socks can’t stay, but even if me and Dirt did, we wouldn’t be able to plant the crops next year, or tend the herds. Even if they have the same animals and crops as my people, it’s just too much work for me and fifty Gnazius and Liseas. Or even a hundred. They can only do so much. And that’s on top of keeping an eye on them.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from NovelFire. Please report it.

Dirt lowered his head, since Antelmu was right. And what could he do about it? Crops wouldn’t be a problem, since he could command them to grow like he’d done for Ogena. But what about clothing? And how do you feed an infant if there are no women around with breasts? There was too much he didn’t know and couldn’t do. He wasn’t ready to be the best human yet.

-If this problem was a monster, we could kill it,- said Socks, frustrated. -Mother will not help. She is not even answering right now. Father just said to figure it out or move on.-

The children clumped together but none of them dared approach, especially not over the bloody battleground. They kept an eye on the giant wolf and two humans while trying to comfort each other, the older ones consoling the younger. They nuzzled their cheeks and hugged tightly, but it all had a note of hollowness because none of them knew if they were next.

“The only thing I can think of, is Socks should go find that other tribe and see if a bunch of them want to move here and start anew. Everything they need is already built and waiting for them,” said Antelmu. “There are always people who don’t get along. If their tribe is doing as well as those men said, then they might think it’s worth trying.”

“And then we can come back in a few years and see how they’re doing. They’ll survive that long, right? I’m sure they will,” said Dirt, perking up. This could actually work!

“Maybe I’ll fly here on my gryphon someday,” said Antelmu.

-I am sure they’ll be happy to see me again,- said Socks, amused. -Hello, humans, I am here by myself to convince a bunch of you to follow me into the wilderness.-

“Dirt and I should stay here,” said Antelmu. “I can’t use magic and he has no idea what he’s doing. Maybe you could bring one of the cubs to show them?”

-No. I am going to run as fast as I can. It has been a while since I tried and my legs are longer now,- said Socks. -I will not carry anyone. I will not even wear my harness. I can show the humans images of the town and the children, and that will be good enough. If they do not come, then they do not come. Is this what we want to do, Dirt? Have you decided?-

“Yes. I can’t think of anything better. We’ll be fine until you get back, but before you go, can you help me pile up the corpses around the tree? We should burn them all.”

“You have to bury them. Bodies don’t burn without a lot of wood. This many bodies would take a whole forest,” said Antelmu.

Dirt and Socks thought that over and decided he was right. They’d killed a lot of things with fire, but the result had never been a pile of ashes. Usually the skin burned off, and that was all.

Socks considered for a moment, then said, -I will make a hole here and bury them in it. Stand back.-

“Don’t make the ground explode. Not even you will be able to catch all the rocks on their way back down,” said Dirt.

-I know.-

Dirt and Antelmu tiptoed down the incline, which caused the closest children to shy away in fear and give them plenty of room, and Socks followed them. The boys watched the wolf’s mind to see what he was doing as Socks sharpened his mental fingers into a sharp blade, reminiscent of what he did to punch through tree trunks. It didn’t spin, but it was focused and narrow and Socks slammed it into the ground near the tree, slicing deep into the earth. The rebound force made the pup bounce a few feet into the air, and the next slice was slightly weaker to keep that from happening.

Socks was slicing the earth in a circle about four paces in radius out from the tree, and each time his mind slashed into the ground, they felt it in their feet. The noise put the crowd to silence, even the ones who had been crying. They looked on in horror, unsure what was happening.

Once he was satisfied, Socks braced his paws, hunkered down slightly, and filled himself to the brim with mana. He lifted with all his strength, and the scoop of earth rose up and hovered sideways, only an inch above the ground. Every muscle in Socks’s body was rigid with the strain and he could only breath in short snorts.

Dirt couldn’t imagine how heavy so much earth was, including the tree atop it, but it was right at the edge of what even Socks could handle. Still, Socks was strong enough, and the massive scoop of earth landed right next to the hole and collapsed into a pile. The tree remained standing, however.

Socks looked awfully proud of himself, justifiably so, as he began lifting up bodies and dumping them in. The children watched with undivided attention, some of them wondering if the dead were coming back alive again, while others remembered what Face had said about a god and supposed he had returned. None of them found anything comforting or hopeful in it, however, because the sight was horrific. Even to Dirt, who was used to carnage. Very few of the bodies were intact.

Surprisingly, even hundreds of bodies weren’t enough to fill the hole. Dirt expected them to tower up as tall as the tree, but they compacted rather well, it turned out. Once every last corpse was moved, as well as all the pieces big enough to bother, Socks scooped up the top few inches of soil and tossed those in as well, a few square feet at a time. That cleaned the battle remarkably well, and Dirt was sure that after a good rain or two there’d be almost no trace left.

Finally, Socks slid the pile of earth back over the hole, burying the last of the half-dead. The resulting mound was larger than it had been, but the tree was still pointing the right direction and after a few heavy pats to flatten things down, a newcomer might never have guessed what had happened here.

If not for all the blood in Socks’s fur, Dirt would have hopped right over, hugged him around the snout, and given him plenty of scratches. Sadly, he had to settle for sending a big puff of admiration. Socks didn’t have to work quite so hard as he did, and Dirt appreciated it tremendously.

The big pup turned to face the crowd of children and surprised everyone by speaking to them. He didn’t use any words, since they understood perfectly well if he spoke in the way of wolves. Perhaps better, especially the little ones.

The message was short—the adults had been revolting abominations pretending to be normal people, Socks was going to go find new parents for them, and Dirt and Antelmu were in charge. Then he leaned down to lick Dirt, but hesitated. He looked up again and sent one last thing: the feeling that everything would work out. Simple comfort, but it was sincere.

-Goodbye, Dirt and Antelmu. Do a good job and don’t get hurt. I will be back soon,-

“How soon?” asked Dirt.

-I bet I get there before nightfall. I am going to run as fast as I can.- Socks tugged his harness and stepped backward out of it, letting it down gently.

“How much faster is that than normal?” asked Dirt.

-How would I measure it to tell you? Fast enough that if you fell, you would get hurt even with mana. Antelmu would die. And there is never a reason to hurry that much anyway. And I do not know how tired I will be after. But I want to do it.-

“Well, have fun. Goodbye, Socks,” said Dirt.

Socks pointed his nose northward, took a few steps, and began picking up speed. He didn’t bolt right into a full run from the start, which Dirt took to indicate he was still mentally preparing himself. He was tall enough to be visible for quite some distance, and it looked like he was running straight through the trees instead of going around them. Well, that would be an easy trail for the new humans to follow back.

With the half-dead all killed and buried and Socks safely on his way, there was nothing left to do but go speak to the children. Dirt and Antelmu hesitated. They gave each other uncomfortable glances, each hoping the other would go first.

“Home, are you watching all this? Can you see me from where you are?” said Dirt to the bracer on his forearm. The wood trembled, perhaps more strongly than last time, although he wasn’t sure if he imagined that.

“You’re stalling,” said Antelmu. He lay his spear against his pack and shifted his weight, not quite ready to start moving either.

The longer they waited the worse it would get. Dirt stood up straight, squared his shoulders, and started walking. He gave a friendly wave as he approached, but couldn’t bring himself to smile. This wasn’t the time for cheerfulness, after what they’d all just witnessed.

This time the crowd didn’t part or back away. Instead, they gathered in from the edges and squeezed closer to see and hear. The two boys approached calmly, not moving too slow or too fast and doing their best to appear unthreatening.

The children looked almost human from up close. Just furry all over, and with animal ears and tails. And yellow eyes. But other than that, they stood like humans, and their body language was the same. The fur didn’t prevent even their microexpressions from being plain and clear.

“Hello,” said Dirt. “My name is Dirt.”

No one responded. They watched him with eyes fearful of yet more horror, but hoping for succor. It was a strange expression to see and Dirt wasn’t sure what to do with it.

Antelmu said, “The big wolf is Socks, and he put us in charge until he brings some more adults to take care of you all. Are any of you in your eleventh year? Raise your hand.”

None did.

“Tenth year?”

“The oldest are nine,” said a girl, meekly. Despite her voice, her eyes had something stern in them.

“That’s what I meant. In your tenth year, you’re nine years old,” said Antelmu.

“That’s not how we say it,” said the same girl.

“Then how many of you are nine years old?” asked Antelmu.

Several dozen raised their hands. They were most of the closest ones, with the smaller children peeking out from behind them.

“Good. I’m twelve years old and I have seven younger siblings, and two older ones. Well, one. My big brother died. So I know what I’m doing. Let’s start getting things organized.”

Dirt nodded. Time to see whether Antelmu knew as much as he thought he did.