The next morning found a surprising warmth permeating the cabin of the tiny ship. Looking out through the window as I slowly found my way toward wakefulness I saw a blue, cloud speckled sky like that of a spring day back in California rather than the flat, slate grey expanse which I had come to know in the far south.
I rose and made my way to a port that I could see where I was and was greeted by a vista which was unnervingly familiar There could be no doubt that I beheld the Napa valley of my native land unfolding before my still sleep-caked eyes.
Behind me I heard the mellifluous voice of Ola Sharomna.
"This is Bromfkidor, not that cold outer waste. This is my beloved motherland, my world."
I had yet to use my vocal chords that morning so the words I spoke came out only as a croaking whisper,
"So it is." I said.
As the day matured the ship gained an escort of peculiar winged creatures which seemed to fall somewhere between bats and birds in structure. These were, of course, representatives of the unique vertebrate class to which all Brofkidoran animals, save humans belonged, the Avisaurs.
Shortly after the remains of the ill-fated Arnesen expedition returned to Europe, Princeton University in the United States sent a team of naturalists into Bromfkidor to study the indigenous flora and fauna. The plant life proved to be rather like that of neighboring South America, but the animals were another matter.
Warm blooded but lacking milk glands of any description, they could have scales, hair or feathers or any combination thereof. The young were born in leathery eggs and were usually only about five percent the size of the parent at birth, much smaller than either bird or mammal babies. Were it not for the obvious characteristic of warm bloodedness the naturalists would have placed them with the dinosaurs of ancient times, as it was they created a new class to encompass them until such a time that they can be properly studied.
The particular creatures who joined us on this morning would at first glance be mistaken for seagulls until one noticed that they were covered with smooth fur rather than feathers and trailed behind them a long tail with a small rudder at the tip. The Princess called them "Farnoud", and said that we would no doubt net a few for our next meal.
Ola Sharomna captivated my eye with her every move and word for it was from her that I was now taking my lessons in things Bromfkidoran. While at first I resented her for having taken part in my abduction, she eventually made it clear to me that it was not her wish to harm me or the purpose of my nation's mission. Gradually I became better disposed toward her, before too long, however, she became the sun which I was in orbit of. The truth was that this earnest young beauty had worked a spell upon me and I became her most willing victim.
She educated me to their system of writing and over the next few days I took control of my own learning.
At the end of the fourth day we put into port at Nomchit Sharomna the traditional estate of Ola's family.
I had learned from my reading that this must be a very old estate because it was situated in a valley beside a road, marking it as being from pre skyship times when the principal commerce of this land was conducted by cart and coach.
The house itself was a wonderful structure which showed its centuries of use with extraordinary good grace.
From this family had come the last ruling dynasty of Pojona, one of the old nations which make up the new Bromfkidor. It did not strike me as the least bit strange to see this fallen clan fighting to regain a foothold in the halls of the powerful, indeed it was a phenomena which I have seen time and again throughout the world. Although all I had heard and read had made me sympathetic to the basic reasons for this rebellion, I still believed in my heart that the simple will to regain power was at the core of it. I would in time discover that my assumption was in error, but then I determined to make my escape at the first moment that the opportunity presented itself.
This opportunity came a little sooner than expected in the form of a sport hunting expedition in the unsettled land outside the estate. One of the indiginous creatures, although like most native animals an avisaurian, was about the same size and temperament of the wild boar of Europe and Asia. Not only was it palatable in the extreme, it also presented the hunter with a tricky challenge as it was a particularly canny beast.
Since these creatures, known as "maredij" tended to emerge from their dens at twelve hour intervals, we set out at a time that my body insisted was very early morning, although, of course the sun had neither risen nor set in two months. I was equipped with some dried food for the day, a canteen and a peculiar firearm which resembled the long barreled rifles used by the Mongols of east Asia, save that it had a revolving magazine somewhat like that of a six shooter.
Some of our group were designated as scouts and were mounted on the backs of large ostrich like avisaurs which could run at an amazing speed. Although fierce in appearence and given to meaking the most menacing growls, these were in fact loyal and intelligent mounts who, because of their two footedness, could go places that no horse ever could. The rest of us were on foot so that we could make our way in and out of the stands of trees with greater ease. In truth, I doubt that I could have mastered one of the strange mounts at that time anyway.
For several hours we stalked amongst the trees with one of another of us occasionally taking a shot at a maredij, every so often successfully. As the day wore on we spread out from one another to pursue separate quarry, and this I siezed as my chance.
Having made my way away from the rest of the party, I now found myself in an open glade surrounded by tall trees. The wind shifted restlesly through the high branches making a soft rushing sound. Leathery winged lizard-birds of a hundred bright colors flitted from limb to limb of their verdant aerie.
Presently the rustling of the leaves became overlaid with another, more alien sound which put me immediatly on the alert, for this was the unmistakable trade mark of the mountain lion of my native land. As I surveyed the stand of trees I raised the strange Bromfkidoran firearm to my shoulder and held my breath.
In the next short moment which followed a cry split the air the like of which I was certain that no man could ever have heard without then and there dropping stone dead of pure undiluted terror. Two of the great trees which had stood at the edge of the glade, no doubt, for centuries, were suddenly shattered into matchwood as a beast from some fevered nightmare pushed them aside as a man would a beaded curtain.
The monster was some type of avisaurian of the kind which make up the majority of the Bromfkidoran fauna, but up until this moment I had seen none larger than a bull. This behemoth could have, without difficulty looked over a one story house. It stood on two legs like some giant ostrich or a kangaroo and was decorated with a coronet of brilliant feathers upon its head as well as on the frighteningly taloned arms giving it the overall aspect of a gigantic bird of prey. The mouth, however was not the least bit birdlike, for it was lined with a terrifying battery of teeth each one like a serrated bayonet. Its saucer eyes found me in an instant and again the the banshee roar pierced the air sending a wild snowstorm of lizard birds fleeing in all directions.
I fired once, twice, three times and on all shots my aim was true, but still the creature advanced, little discouraged by my onslaught. The screaming demon now lept from behind the broken remains of the ancient trees to punish me for my insolence in raising arms against the Lord of the Forest, for this he surely was. In that the monster had cleared fifty feet in that one leap, I knew that nothing more than the death of a coward would be gained by flight, therefore I elected to stand my ground to the bitter end, which I confidently expected within the next few seconds. Taking aim for the enormous eyes of the creature, I discharged shot after shot as the beast roared in pain and anger, and then I heard what I knew in the depths of my soul would be the last sound I would ever hear, the firing pin falling on an empty chamber.
I squeezed shut my eyes against the call of oblivion but felt only a great vibration in the earth.
Opening my eyes I saw a mere three yards from my feet the monster's head upon the ground. I had by sheer dumb luck felled this mightiest of hunters. I would like to be able to say that I calmly surveyed my prize like one of the great heroes of old, but fact had it that I was dizzy and close to swooning. Although I did not succumb, I did at that time find it convienient to deposit the contents of my stomach on the ground beside the gigantic corpse.
In spite of the stark terror that it had caused me, I realized that this too was opportunity. Quickly as I could I sliced several strips of meat from the now inert giant of the forest and threw them into my game bag. I had only limited ammunition and this would carry me for several meals after I smoked it over a fire of fresh twigs. I set out at a run in a direction at right angles to that from which the monster came and made my way for freedom.
Now I was grateful for the lack of night as the only thing to make me pause would be actual fatigue rather than darkness.
In my time at the estate I had had a chance to consult maps so I knew that if I continued in this direction for a day or so I would reach the Molad river. Follow against the current and eventually I would reach the confluence with the Darwa and the foothills of High Darmal, the mountain upon which the city of Tippilina was built.