Eternal Forest: Savage Rising

Eternal Forest: Savage Rising by Joe Naff

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Authors: Joe Naff
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claws clicked loudly against the stone floor as it landed. “Not that you could pronounce in your tongue.”
                  “We could at least try,” she argued.
                  The balisekt let out a short hiss, followed by a quick clicking sound.
                  “Is that your name?” Zehlyr asked.
                  It nodded.
                  “It sounded like you said Heeska. Is that at least close?” Azalea asked.
                  “Close enough.”
                  She smiled. “Very well then, we will call you Heeska.”
                  “I’m assuming that is a male name?” Zehlyr asked.
                  Heeska laughed again. “How you humans survive on your own is remarkable. Yes, it is a male name. I suppose I should learn your names now since we’re not going anywhere for a while.”
                  “I’m Zehlyr.”
                  Azalea lowered her head. “I’m Azalea,” she said somberly. “At least, I am for now.”
                  “I don’t understand,” Heeska said.
                  “Whatever you all did to her out in the Savage Lands, it caused her to lose her memory,” Zehlyr said. “She doesn’t remember anything before…what exactly were you all doing out there anyway?”
                  Heeska sighed. “You’re not going to believe me, but I’m honestly not sure.”
                  “You’re right,” Zehlyr said. “I don’t believe you.” It felt very strange to be conversing so plainly with a balisekt, especially since moments ago he was convinced the creature would tear him to shreds. “We found you at the site. You were wearing the robes.”
                  “You found me hiding in the trees away from the site,” Heeska retorted. “I was spying.”
                  “Spying?” Zehlyr questioned.
                  Heeska nodded. “The Chasers had been going into the woods together for months, sometimes not returning for days. No one in the tribe knew what they were doing, but our Lord insisted they’d discovered a power that would tip the scales of influence in the forest.”
                  Zehlyr rose to his feet. No longer fearing for his life, he began to pace the floor in the tiny cell, giving his muscles a chance to stretch. “What does that mean?”
                  “We balisekts are not the savages you think us to be,” Heeska said. “We do not live like animals. Our communities have order, structure, and hierarchy. We engage in trade, we honor agreements.” Heeska looked up towards the tiny window. An orange beam from the evening sun shone warmly upon his scaly face. “Some of us even revere the Lady.”
                  Zehlyr was surprised. Heeska was nothing like the balisekts he’d grown up learning about. “I had no idea,” he said softly.
                  Heeska looked upon Zehlyr once again. The room was dusty, and swirling clouds were passing through the sunbeam coming through the window. The balisekt coughed before answering. “Your ignorance is not without justification. My race was not always like this. Hundreds of years ago, we did live as your legends told.”
                  “What changed then?” Azalea asked. She too had risen to her feet, but kept the cloak wrapped tightly around her naked body.
                  “The Blight happened,” Heeska responded. “When the blight drove my ancestors northward from the old lands, we passed through your Lands of Order in our exodus. It was then that they first saw a world of civility and structure, a world of order and law. When the Blight ended, some returned to the south, but many of my ancestors stayed in the north and began to build a civilization like they’d seen in their

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