Chapter 141 The Begins Now!
Chapter 137
A Week Later
I stood in my chamber, staring at the empty leather bag on my bed. My hands shook a little as I reached for it.
"Water bottle first," I whispered to myself.
I picked up the clay bottle from the shelf and placed it inside. The bottle was heavy, filled to the brim. Water sloshed against the sides as I tucked it into the corner of the bag.
Next, I grabbed the small tin of ointment. I opened it and sniffed. The sharp smell of herbs filled my nose, mint, eucalyptus, and something else I couldn't name. I closed it tight and dropped it in the bag.
"Woolen attire," I muttered.
I pulled out my thick woolen shirt from the wooden chest. It was gray and scratchy, but it would keep me warm in the cold mountains. I folded it carefully and pressed it down into the bag.
I looked around my room. What else did I need?
A knife. Yes, a knife would be good.
I grabbed my small hunting knife from my belt hook and slid it into the side pocket of the bag.
"Dried meat," I said aloud.
I walked to the corner where I kept my food. I picked up three strips of dried venison and wrapped them in cloth. They smelled salty and smoky. My stomach rumbled, but I ignored it. This food was for the journey, not for now.
I placed the wrapped meat in the bag and pulled the strings tight.
This journey would not be easy. It would take me two whole days to reach Ravanta, the land of the dead skull. Two days of walking through thick forests, crossing rocky streams, and climbing steep hills.
I had been there only once before, many years ago. The memory still made my skin cold.
Ravanta was not a place for the weak. It was not a place where you could just show up whenever you wanted. No one arrived at Ravanta during the day. Great Grandova, the demon of the skull, would not see you unless you followed the rules.
And the biggest rule was this: you had to leave your home in the middle of the night when everyone else was asleep.
I sat down on my bed and took a deep breath.
"Krax," I called out.
My voice echoed in the room.
I waited.
Footsteps pounded down the hallway. Fast footsteps. Someone was running.
The door burst open, and Krax stumbled in. He was one of my most trusted servants, a young man with wild brown hair and wide eyes. He dropped to his knees immediately, his head bowed so low that his forehead almost touched the floor.
"The holy one, you called for me," he said, breathing hard.
His eyes blinked over and over. He looked nervous. He always looked nervous around me.
"Yes," I replied. I stood up and looked down at him. "Send this message to the rest of the servants. I will not be back until seven days from now."
"Yes, my honor," Krax said. He nodded his head so hard I thought it might fall off. Then he pressed his forehead all the way to the ground.
I walked closer to him.
"You and your lot should take care of home," I said. "Pay homage to the gods when it is time. Bring the offerings to the temple. Do not forget."
"Yes, my honor," Krax said again.
I paused. I needed to think carefully about what to say next.
"If the elders ask for me..." I stopped and tapped my finger on my chin. "If anyone asks where I have gone, tell them this: I have gone to the seven mountains to seek the face of the gods. Tell them I am preparing for the next moon festival."
Krax lifted his head slightly. "The seven mountains, my honor?"
"Yes," I said firmly. "The seven mountains."
That was a lie. A big, fat lie.
But I needed it. I could not tell anyone where I was really going. If the elders knew I was traveling to Ravanta, they would ask too many questions. They would want to know why. They would try to stop me.
No one could know.
I didn't even know how long this journey would take. I hoped it would only be seven days, but with Great Grandova, you never knew. He did things on his own time, not yours.
Earlier that morning, before the sun came up, I had made a sacrifice. I killed seventy pigeons in the temple. Seventy! Their blood soaked the altar stones. The smell of burning feathers still clung to my robes.
The sacrifice was to pave my way. To ask the gods of air and sea to protect me. To send a message ahead to Great Grandova that I was coming.
I glanced out the window. The sun was still high in the sky, casting long shadows across the courtyard.
"Not yet," I whispered.
It was not time to leave. I had to wait. I had to leave when the night was at its darkest, when the moon was hidden behind clouds, when even the wolves were asleep.
Great Grandova would not give you an audience, even if you were the last creature alive on earth, if you didn't leave your house during the thickest hours of the night.
I had learned that lesson the first time I went to Ravanta.
That was many years ago, back when I wanted to become the chief priest and head of the elder council. I needed something special to prove myself. Something that no other wolf had ever seen or heard of.
So I journeyed to Ravanta. I met Great Grandova. And after that... well, the rest was history.
Now I am going back.
I picked up my little bag and slung it over my shoulder. It felt light, but I knew it carried everything I needed.
In my other hand, I gripped my totem, a carved wooden staff with symbols etched into the surface. It was warm in my palm, buzzing with energy.
I started pacing around the room. My shoes clicked against the tiled floor with every step.
Click. Click. Click.
I was preparing. Not just my bag, but my mind. My spirit.
This journey was dangerous.
I couldn't just disappear into the spirit world and appear in Ravanta. That would be cheating. That would be an abomination.
Great Grandova would know. He always knew.
Everyone who had ever made this journey understood the rule: if you wanted to walk in the spirit with Grandova, you first had to walk in the flesh.
You had to earn it.
If the land of Ravanta was hidden in the mouth of a beast, then you had to be brave enough to face that beast. You had to look it in the eyes. You had to conquer it.
Only then would you be an acceptable visitor in the eyes of Great Grandova.
I stopped pacing and stared at the door.
"Soon," I whispered.
The night finally came.
The moon was a thin sliver in the sky, barely giving any light. The stars were hidden behind thick clouds. Perfect.
I stepped outside my chamber and looked around. The hallways were silent. Everyone was asleep.
Good.
I adjusted my bag on my shoulder and gripped my totem tighter. Then I started walking.
My footsteps were soft. I moved like a shadow through the corridors, down the stairs, and out the back door.
The cool night air hit my face. I breathed it in deeply.
The forest was waiting.
I walked toward it, my heart pounding in my chest.
I have been walking for almost three hours now.
The thick forest surrounded me on all sides. Tall trees loomed overhead, their branches twisting together like giant arms. The ground was uneven, covered in roots and rocks that tried to trip me with every step.
My legs ached. My feet were sore. But I kept going.
The path to Ravanta was not an easy one. It never had been.
I pushed through a wall of thick bushes. Thorns scratched my arms, but I didn't stop.
"Almost there," I muttered to myself just to motivate myself just to keep going because I know that I still have more than half a day to get rid of Ravanta . "Keep going."
The forest grew darker. The trees grew closer together. The air grew colder.
I could feel it now, the presence of something ancient. Something powerful.
I was getting close to the border of Ravanta.
Then, without warning, darkness covered my vision.
Not the darkness of night. This was different.
It was thick. Heavy. Like a blanket had been thrown over my eyes.
I stopped walking.
I couldn't see anything. Not the trees. Not the ground. Not even my own hands in front of my face.
My heart raced.
"What is this?" I whispered.
But the darkness didn't answer.