Land of Armonia

Chapter twelve

They seemed to be running for hours. Herogi, being a cheetah, was only meant to run for short periods of time at the fast pace she moved at. She turned into a human and continued her coughing fit. She placed her hands on her knees and stopped running to catch her breath. The fire was far behind them but still spreading. Amante stopped as well, though he wasn't as tired as her. He set the two girls he held in his arms down. Misty was still wounded and lay in a heap in the soft lush grass they stood in. Juntul seemed better than before and began sniffing around for any sign of danger, besides the fire.

Herogi stopped coughing, and though she was tired, and could run no more, she quickly rushed to the fox's side. Misty barely held her eyes open, but tears still managed oozed out. What Her side was still bleeding from, they didn't know. The blood had smeared onto Amante's chest, but he didn't take notice. Instead he knelt at Misty's side with Herogi. Herogi placed a hand above the wound, but didn't touch it.

"Misty, can you turn human?" Herogi asked the fox. Misty weakly raised her head, a little blooded pooled from her mouth. She shook it, un able to speak for some reason Herogi couldn't understand.
"To turn human, with a wound as deep as that would mean she might kill herself. It's a common mistake peludos often make." Amante sighed.

Herogi's expression turn solemn. She raised the hand that hovered above the wound and summoned her magic, a white bandage fell in her hand, and ointment in the other. She created a cloth using her magic and told Amante to find water to soak it in. Amante nodded and took the cloth. He ran in Juntul's direction.

"I-I..." Misty tried to speak, but her head fell back to the ground. She looked up at Herogi in pain.

"Shh, its alright." Herogi comforted the fox. A loud blast was heard from behind and Herogi jerked her head around, alarmed. She saw Amante standing back from Juntul who was using magic to shift the earthy dirt.

Juntul had obviously accidentally caused an explosion, because her face was just as stunned as Herogi's. Suddenly she and Amante burst out laughing, Amante clutched his stomach.
"Wh-when was the last-last time you u-used your magic?!" He said through fits of laughter. Juntul wore a shocked expression event though she giggled.

"I guess its been a couple months." She said when she stopped laughing. She then raised her paws in the air, golden magic swirling around them. She faced her paws to the hole in the ground she was making and continued moving the dirt. She made a deep, wide hole by the time she stopped. "I found water." She pointed into it. She had found a little under ground stream deep in the earth. Amante slowly climbed in and soaked the red cloth in it. He struggled as he climbed out, for the pit was narrow. Amante then jogged back to Herogi.

"Here you go miss." He said playfully. He handed her the cloth.

"Thank you for your service young warrior." She joked back making him smile. She took the wet cloth in her hand and began cleaning out Misty's wound. The blood was beginning to stop flowing out, Herogi cleaned out the dirt and bacteria. She handed the now bloody cloth back to Amante who  disintegrated it using his magic.

Herogi grabbed the bandage she had summoned before and rubbed some of the ointment on it. She careful scooped up Misty so she could wrap the white bandage around the her waist. she pulled it tight making the fox flinch. A little blood was already seeping through, though it seemed the bleeding was coming to an end. Misty gazed up at Herogi and opened her mouth.

"I-I... I need... s-sleep." She managed weakly.

"Sleep then, we'll watch over you. But we have to keep going." Herogi assured the fox. Amante bent over and picked up the weak fox. He looked at her in his arms as she began to close her eyes. Herogi made the medical ointment and left over bandages disappear. Juntul hopped over to them after She had refilled the hole with the dirt that had once been there. She looked up in worry.

"The longer we wait, the closer the wildfire comes. We must move on." She said sternly. Herogi nodded motioning the rabbit forward.

"You won't be as fast as us on your legs. Let me carry you." Herogi said to the bunny who looked at her in agreement.

"I do wish I was faster. I could be if I were larger. Unfortunately I am cursed to be small and nimble." She said as Herogi scooped her up.

"It's alright. But the flames draw closer and we can't risk leaving you behind." Herogi said and readied herself to run. She took a slow pace at fist, remembering her tiredness. Her legs felt weak, heavy and slow. She ignored the soreness and pushed forward to keep up with Amante. Both found it harder to run while holding their two companions. Their arms were unable to assist their run, making them slower and more exhausted.

Though the fire was far behind, they had fear that motivated them to keep moving. Amante slowed himself to Herogi's pace. She began coughing again, but both were pressured to keep running, endlessly it seemed. Juntul climbed Herogi to look over her shoulder at the fire.

"It's getting slower. But its still coming." She reported and shifted back into Herogi's arms to make the run easier.

Suddenly a loud noise was heard from above. Like a quieter version of a jet. All three looked up, Misty still asleep. They were flying peludos? Birds. Some were human, with arms of eagles and other majestic birds. Others had human arms with the wings and tail of a bird on their back. Some had beaks, others had talons. All moved to fast to get a good look at. They headed towards the wild fire, holding something in their arms or claws.

"Fire fighters!" Amante said once they passed. " The Nojoch tribe is near."

Herogi had never heard of this tribe before. She turned her head to get a better look at the flying peludos behind her. "Who's the Nojoch tribe?" She asked, pondering the question.

"They are the birds of prey. Owls, eagles, hawks, you know? They represent the sky." He said looking ahead. Herogi turned her head back forward to see where she was going.
"Their strong. I wouldn't get on their bad side."

"Their village must be close." Juntul joined in, looking over Herogi's shoulder again.

"That's good. Do you know if they have a Yéeyik?" Herogi asked as they began to slow down.

"I think they do." Amante answered. A cliff came into view and they stopped. Herogi set Juntul down who began to wander towards the cliff. She peered over the edge and gazed down. Amante and Herogi hesitantly followed.

They reached the edge and cautiously looked over it.

There, sat many rocky pillars that were shorter than the cliff they were at. The floor below was hundreds of feet away. At the top of each pillar sat a few large bird nests. On the sides of the pillar, not the top, were holes that appeared to be houses. Like the stone pillars were hollowed out. On the floor below was a small stream and thousands of little teepees with extraordinary designs on them that were to small to get a good look at. They saw some larger structures that looked like a palace, museums, and markets. In the center of the place stood a flag pole that was completely white except for the blue eagle symbol in the center.

"I believe we just found the village of the Nojochs!" Amante said in awe. Herogi knelt on her knees for better support to look at the place below. The teens sat on the edge of a canyon with the village inside the valley like area. It was meadow like, and few trees lined the perimeter. They didn't know how long they were looking, but after a while, Misty woke up.
"W-what's going on?" she asked sounding tired. Her voice cracking on her lips that were dried with blood.

"We found the Nojoch tribe!" Herogi said excitedly. Misty made a small smile and looked over too, admiring the place. Juntul's ears quavered as she heard something.

"Some one's coming!" She said and they turned in shock. 6 Nojoch warriors were walking towards them. They had face paint on their cheeks and shoulders. All were men, with fierce faces.