Snippet #2617003

The blasted Jera!

Nova could think of nothing but his hatred for his mission and the thirst that would not be slaked. The desert was no place for an Ausi, he complained to himself. Perhaps he should have toned down his exploits somewhat from his last report. After all, with the exploits that he had related and his sister had subsequently chronicled, there were a few pack leaders and many others who thought Nova to be nothing short of invincible. To be able to leave the safety of the Sharikere's was thought to be dangerous by many, but to stay out there for several months? There were many who honestly believed that an Ausi would simply melt away.

Well, I am certainly melting out here.

The whole problem with the request of the Alpha to go and scout out the Jera was not finding where they were, but when. It was rumored that the Jera's could collectively transport their pack to a different spot in time if the need arouse, such as in war. Of course, this has yet to be proven, but after three weeks of searching Nova was sure to believe it. Now the young wolf had no choice but to return to the woods before he perished from want of water. He wasn't even sure why he had to fine the Jera, other than to fill in a hole on the war room map!

The Ausi paused atop one of the large sand dunes. In the distance, he could see the scrub land that eventually molded into the forest. At the edge of those woods he would find what the Ausis called Maxim lake, the great body of water that gave life to many of the regions of Nigerius. The waterway cut through the pass that separated the Vulcans from the Sharikeres, wound through the region the Arlyne called home, began to slow in the swamps controlled by the Hemlock, before cutting down the Kamarian lands and spilling out into another wilderness. Another rumor stated that if one followed the river long enough, an even bigger body of water would be reached, one that was salty to the taste and full of different fish than one could even find in Nigerius.

But of course, it would take and Arlyne to get down there, and the Hemlock and the Kamarians would never let those pacifists through.

With a deep breath of relief, Nova slid down the slope of the sandy hill. It wasn't all bad, he supposed. After all, he did come out with a couple other items that made the direct sun a bit more bearable. The first was clad about him, a set of hardened leather armor that had be strengthened with the bone of sturgeon, an Ausi staple, to both keep the sun out of his fur and to provide a small amount of protection from the wandering brute. The other item upon his snout was a bit more practical, and was the pride of the Ausi craftsman. They were a pair of spectacle, or rather goggles, finely crafted lenses taken from the fragile whinson fish. The fishes scales were thin enough that they were transparent, though with a slight blue tinge, and get turgid enough that they would not collapse with a leather strapped frame about them. They certainly helped keep his eyes from the searing sun. In the end, though, Nova was a bit worried that should blow come to blow, the gettup would slow him down. After all, with his smaller frame, he was more apt to simply run away rather than retaliate. Perhaps he could barter away his outfit. There were some civilized wolves still out there, right?

Soon the wolf looked up as his paw stepped on a dried piece of prairie grass, the first vegetation in weeks. Soon he would be back in the land of green. And it could not come too soon.