THE ORDEAL
SECTION 1
Jiense,
rather Teuquob (her actual name), had been directed to a much safer Reaog town
by Ensa. Things might have turned out quite different and perhaps a bit mundane
if the quirks of fate hadn’t interfered and altered her intended course.
As fantastic
as it may seem when she’d reached the key juncture on the road a stray fox
suddenly appearing on the spot out of thin air spooked the horse.
The terrified steed bolted, neighing, reared its front legs up high in the air, then after fiercely stomping them on the ground, shod like a projectile in full gallop in an entirely different direction. All during this most grueling, catapulting ride, though violently rocked and tossed about, as mark of her horsemanship, she’d stayed in the saddle by stubbornly clinging onto the horse’s bridle (mane). The steed completely drenched in sweat had finally tempered his stride to a canter but by then Teuquob had lost all sense of direction and hadn’t a clue as to her whereabouts. Halting the beast on a hilltop and craning her neck, her eager gaze meticulously surveyed the open perimeter far and wide as her eyes sought to decipher or to mark a single identifiable landscape, an outlet perhaps that might correctly steer them back to their original course (destination). But after a disappointing period (spell), she had to concede to her present dire predicament: that she was utterly, hopelessly lost! Her heart laden with despair then, she lowered her head and shrugged. “So be it.”
Dismounting, she allowed the steed a brief respite wherewith to graze on the available grass; then overriding any persistent trepidation, back in saddle, she intrepidly embarked on the unpremeditated, variant direction.
She would
have had a serious cause for concern however, had she known that this elected
course was the very one that she’d been gravely warned against, and that come
what may, from hereon, her fate fraught with danger, would be hanging in the
balance with every leg of the advance.
The serpentine (meandering) route after a treacherous descent, traversed
through the most perilous, immense wetland (marsh) to eventually terminate at
the base of the towering foothills. Even if she were to be extremely fortunate
enough to have survived the quagmire, she would then be faced with the ordeal
of the dreaded foothills skirting the massive ridges of a gargantuan mountain.
It’s hard to
say which projected the greatest risk: the grave topography or the carnivorous,
feral beasts that were said to have inhabited the foothills and the subsequent
mountain range?
The “Five
Brothers” as these vast hills were called: rested at the outskirts of an
ascending most treacherous, most precipitous mountain. The monumental mountain with its sheer
ridges, sharper than sharpest blades had its four peaks perpetually crowned
with the white incandescent clouds; while its invisible summit reached so high
that it penetrated the lower reaches of the azure heavens; hence, the name
Tejunar, meaning “the eyes of Heaven”. Tejunar was so densely forested with
centuries old ancient trees that in parts the sun’s rays were completely
blotted out. The entire mountain range, meanwhile, was claimed “to have been
inhabited” by many guardian mountain spirits that to date discouraged all or
any trespassers. The staunch belief had come about over the span of years, as
far too many hardy souls, hunters with mettle, gallant man and adventurers,
mercenaries or diehards had lost their lives and in a terrible way too, during
their bold undertaking (enterprise). The resulting colorful folktales embellished
with supernatural accounts and phantasmal exploits of apparitions, goblins or
evil entities had increasingly (further) fed the imagination. And so, for a
decade now, despite the apparent abundance of game on this mountain range, no
sane man had ever dared to violate the foreboding, deemed sacred ground,
leaving the cohabitant wild beasts to roam at will and (to multiply into still
greater numbers.) flourish in natural abundance.
~
This be
opined unfortunate or not, fate determining the way, at dusk she’d
inadvertently bypassed the ‘last chance’ alternate route, to find herself
(facing) encountering an increasingly inhospitable territory, that no one would
ever dare venture into. Be that as it may, and this being no small feat- day
after day she’d forged on- ridden, galloped or trudged on foot as they both-
she and the beast, negotiated the difficult, oftentimes treacherous terrain, to
cover a great distance. Only at the conclusion of each grueling day’s ride, as
the darkness encroached to blanket (veil) the Earth, the bone chilling air
compounded by the thrashing winds, would compel her to seek some semblance of
shelter. But mindful of the din of howling, roaring beasts’ outside, in that
opportune cove or an abandoned cave, she would oftentimes lie there in fetal
position nestled to the small campfire, clutching the long knife- a generous
gift of Ensa’s, hardly getting a wink. Cold and weary, her head riddled with
cobwebs at the crack of dawn, while the horse satisfied his hunger on the
abundant tall (lush) grass, she would quickly nibble on the portion of her
scant rations; then once again rising to the challenge, she would hop back in
saddle and take on the next plausible course.
On this day,
after a long spell of riding, this is strange! Umm… the queerest thing! Just
then becoming aware, she abruptly halted the nervous steed’s advance. Leaning
forward she gently stroked his mane to steady him, then sitting upright once
more; she cocked her head to one side and listened… She listened long and hard.
Hmm, still
nothing!
To her
growing unease, as she looked around, she further became cognizant of the
stark, deathly silence surrounding her. Not a single leaf stirred, no insect
buzzed, no birds chirped, there was no roar or a howl of any kind, no semblance
(apparent) of animal life at all. No natural hum, thud or echo or pitch except
that of her own breathing and the steady sounds of her mount as his hoofs
nervously trod (trampled) on the reverberating ground akin to a (much like a)
rhythmic drumbeat. Cast in this surreal, all pervasive, eerie atmosphere, she
moreover could not shake the sensation of being espied upon.
“But by
whom, by what?” She could not rightly, guess; nor did the subsequently
traversed distance in the wake (aftermath) of the treacherous descent had in
any way altered the persistent reality or diminish in the least the ongoing
strong sensation of being avidly observed and studied perhaps by an
omnipresent, intensely intrusive pair of unseen eyes.
The curious
impression eventually did abate (ceased) when, after a long, grueling stretch,
both the rider and the horse had suddenly and completely become gobbled-up by
the dense thicket- for they had then unwittingly entered the dreaded quagmire!
From hence the meandering path overgrown with weeds and brambles with many
undulating pitfalls made their slow advance more laborious. Meanwhile the
moisture laden air, restrictive and foul smelling, increasingly oppressed her
bronchial passages. Gasping, straining for that precious breath, she led the
reluctant horse by the bridle, treading wearily on the seemingly endless,
soggy, slimy, uneven ground. Guided only by intuition, they had more than once
barely avoided several well-disguised pitfalls, camouflaged quicksand and
cloaked abysmal pools; meanwhile on the solid patches, the entwining shrubs or
the ground runners unfailingly raced at every leg of the advance to maliciously
mar or hinder their dauntless progress.
Her heart had oftentimes leaped to her mouth when she encountered creepy, crawly, scaly, slithering, long tapering cylindrical forms that just as quickly disappeared into the pools of stagnant water, underbrush, or simply vanished in the cavities of the earth or rock.
In this nightmarish labyrinth with innumerable
days blending with infinite nights, her sanity riding on the precipice, she’d
been further burdened with the exertion of trying to handle the frightened,
wayward steed that oftentimes strove to just run away from it all. Mercifully
however, thus far they’d been spared from the most prevalent danger: of being bitten by any number of the four
indigenous poisonous reptiles- for one bite would have been sufficient to
render any being or a beast in an instantaneous comatose state that eventually
resulted in a most painful, lingering death. As it were, she only had a
comparable herb, a sort of antidote in that bundle of hers, capable of averting
catastrophes from insects or amphibians. And so, too fearful to stop, they’d
for many a day endlessly ploughed on in this incubus maze. But anxiety had not
been the sole driving force behind it all; in fact, advance had been partly
made possible because of a very useful herb also fortuitously included in that
medicinal pouch of hers. When chewed, the specific plant-leaves (seeds) had
endowed (furnished) Teuquob with a strong stamina, keen reflexes and heightened
threshold for the pain- enabling her hence, to go far beyond her limits. But at
the intermittent times when the effects of the drug waned or altogether wore
off (especially at the end when there were no more to be had): the mental and
physical downturn, the withdrawal symptoms took a terrible physical and mental
toll on her. In anticipation of a worst scenario, to prevent her falling off
the mount, she’d already, by way of ropes, (fastened) secured (lower part of)
her body at the waist to the saddle. But as the time wore on, even with the
compliment of likewise ingested herbs, her endurance notwithstanding, she’d
subsequently suffered the partial loss of feeling and sensation in her limbs,
arms and legs. Meanwhile numbed to the core, her mind had often wondered
wildly, reeling through picturesque, fantastic imagery in the atmospheric
surreal dream-state.
It was no
small miracle indeed, when unexpectedly one day, nearing dusk, both rider and
the mount had suddenly found themselves at the periphery, and so somewhat
unscathed, emerged from this dangerous trammel and deadly snare. With resurgent
zeal the mount had pushed forward then, till he’d reached a safer clearing.
Coming to, she’d barely managed to untie the knots and letting go, slid off the
horse plump collapsing on the hard ground. After an undetermined time, she’d
regained full consciousness; delighted by the refreshing change from the
traversed slimy, soggy base- arms outstretched, eyes closed shut, she’d
nevertheless lain there perfectly still, with only her chest cavity slightly
rising and falling, as she took in a more well-earned, elongated rest under the
blanket of stars. Fortunately, in all that time the noble mount (horse) had
never strayed too far, grazing quietly while dutifully watching over her.
Daylight
anew had brought its own variable challenges; still, nothing comparable to the
ordeals just endured.
~
Once more back on course, with the strange sense of urgency fueling, egging them on, with the incessant riding at times in full gallop, they’d inexorably covered the inhospitable, sparsely forested and undulated steppe that seemingly had no end in sight. A mere speck on this vast landscape, this sporadically forested expanse with its intermittent gorges and valleys rising and dipping- after going over the last hump, one day she’d looked on ahead to behold the rank, forebodingly magnificent foothills. The very ones she’d been warned against! She recollected well then, Ensa’s imparted knowledge, relayed mostly by way of diagrams: How the wide band of infamous foothills skirted the eastern side of the mountain range… beyond which lay a far steeper climb.
06
She sighed,
anticipating grater hardships still but fought the feeling of trepidation like
a talon that had anew gripped her heart.
For what other choice did she have? After a dismissive shrug, she
exhaled a deep expunging breath. Oh well, with ‘Heaven’s’ help she’d survived
thus far; if it’s so ordained, notwithstanding prevalent dangers, she’ll yet
again persevere!
“There’s no
turning back now, hope you’re up to it old-boy!” She leaned forward and
whispered into the horse’s ear as she affectionately patted the side of his
neck. Besides, she’d been drawn to the majestic mountain range for an added
reason:
For a long
time hence, even before she’d parted from Ensa’s care, she’d nurtured an inner
desire, born out of her desperate circumstance- to encounter, to chance upon a
place of worship, a monastery or a lonely recluse’s hut. The dizzying heights
of the summits with their proximity to the Heavens would be an ideal setting
for such. She anticipated that, there,
as in her country, the mountain range would be a beacon of sorts, propelling,
attracting pious beings of various religious sects or hermits, all irrespectively
seeking sublime sanctuary. Indeed, this
had been at the root of her tenacity, the driving force for overcoming such
incredible odds.
~
Succeeding days, with renewed zeal, she’d relentlessly forged on through the foothills towards the gargantuan mountain range, even though the precariously hung, meandering, scantily viable (feasible) path overgrown with climbers, brambles, thorns and loose boulders, with swift flowing streams presented a daunting challenge, at times quite impossible to traverse. Meanwhile her concentration was so intently focused on the task at hand that she’d in the interim had remained deliberately oblivious to the resurgent eerie atmosphere that had for quite some time now, for lack of a better word, dogged (plagued) her.
The
all-encompassing silence had of course re-surfaced (revived) shortly after
she’d emerged from the quagmire, and well before she’d found herself at the
periphery of the foothills. Brushing this distraction aside, she’d
intentionally abstained from questioning this bizarre happenstance; for
inwardly she’d deemed it a blessing from “Heaven”, especially since enveloped
rather cocooned, in this somewhat protective supernatural milieu- and so spared
from the worldly concerns of danger from predatory beasts- she’d been able to
better advance, and be at liberty to collect water from the occasional stream,
gather berries, nuts, roots and other such edible foods for sustenance.
Leaving it
to the caprice of “Nature”, the only manifest difficulty meanwhile, stemmed
from the tempestuous weather. For even on a relatively good day, she could
suddenly become drenched with an unexpected downpour or be engulfed in
precipitate murk, mist or haze; or enshrouded in dust-clouds (dust particulate
matter) by the ever vigilant, gusting, thrashing winds that completely obscured
all visibility. As it were the bone chilling frigid temperatures of the
evenings contrasted greatly with the dampness of the morning dews and the
stifling heat of the noontime- this being still the summer season. To survive
the frigid temperatures of the nights she would don over her man’s attire the
so-called waterproofed (waxed) jacket that Ensa had provided. But periodically
when even this seemed inadequate, she would further cover herself with branches
laden with leaves or moss as she huddled her body in protective corners of
abandoned caves or coves. And when her footwear overtime became too threadbare,
adept in ways of surviving, she’d resourcefully used strips cut from her
generous portions of clothing to reinforce the soles for an added
protection. Nevertheless, in this harsh
environment the cruel elements still taking their toll, her lovely hands in due
course had become painfully chaffed, as did her arms and legs that now bore
countless scratches and cuts. Added to this asperity was the resurgent odd
feeling (a hunch) of again being watched (observed) by a pair of unseen eyes
that were neither human nor beast!
Periodically, she would even perceive an acute sense of being threatened by it; but in the absence of manifest danger, gradually she’d become more curious and less fearful of the entity that of which never straying too far persistently stalked her. And so, when darkness blanketed the earth, she took solace by dwelling on this unseen constant companion and even at times outwardly conversed with it before falling asleep.
Once at
midday after consuming her meager rations of food she’d been resting quietly
with her back leaned against an ancient tree when just then she spotted a
strange, bizarre creature crouched on an overhead rock up ahead. As she’d
blinked and stirred, it’d instantaneously disappeared into thin air. Nor had
this been the only such sighting of the mysterious, clearly supernatural
entity… She could not rightly say whether it’d happened in a dream state or
not, but on another occasion, late in the evening she’d suddenly been startled
awake by a sensation of being touched or groped. Bent on confronting this intrusive, phantom
companion, on the subsequent nights she’d feigned being asleep and duly waited;
and sure enough, on the fourth or fifth turn, well into the night as she’d
remained dormant, something resembling a fox, a furry creature of sorts, had
warily (guardedly) drawn quite near to sniff then prod her. Assuming that this
was not a dangerous apparition, she was about to spring forth to grab hold,
when unfortunately, just then, the ever-vigilant steed raising quite a ruckus,
thwarted her aim. Nor did she ever gain another such chance, as each night
thence; the moment she’d laid her head down, an unnatural (unholy) deep slumber
at once overtook her.
~
(End of Section 1)
(MORE
EXCITING EVENTS WILL UNFOLD IN THE NEXT POST OF THE ORDEAL -SECTION 2)
