The Land of Broken Roads

Four days later, Mother declared Dirt and Socks recovered and sent them out with no warning. Dirt barely had time to scramble up onto Socks’ back and grab on before the pup left at a hasty run, rising from where they’d been laying the whole time and darting out the den entrance before Mother could change her mind.

Socks flew across the flat field around the den and darted into the brush, no particular goal in mind. It simply felt good to be moving again after so long. From how the pup ran, it was clear that his bones were indeed healed and Dirt whooped in excitement each time they took a turn or leaped over a rock.

The day was overcast but warm, the cloudiest Dirt had ever seen it. The whole sky was spotted with clouds more gray than white, leaving only portions open for the blue to show through.

Socks carried him toward tall hills with ridges of rock jutting out in places, hard angles of brown and gray stone interrupting the gentle curves of grass and gravel. It looked like the earth had risen and cracked open once, a long time ago. They raced down in the hollows between the hills, turning this way and that as they went.

“Are we going anywhere in particular?” asked Dirt.

-I don’t know. Older Brother has come this way several times, so I want to see what’s over there.-

“Oh, can you smell his trail?”

-Yes. Do you want to share?-

“Sure. Just the scent? The air is blowing in my eyes so I don’t think you’ll see much.”

-Here you go!-

Socks opened himself and they joined only a portion of their senses, which was harder to establish but far less straining on their minds. Dirt took in the richness of scent as if smelling it with his own nose, and even though their thoughts remained separate, he instantly knew Brother’s trail. The scent served better than a name did, telling them his age, health, emotion, and more. Brother had been in good spirits last time he came this way, probably because he had been allowed to go off on his own for a bit instead of attending Father like the older pups usually did.

They ran ever faster along the narrow, winding pathway through the hills. In some places there was an actual trail, a thin line of bare dirt that smelled like deer. Hill after hill, all treeless and covered in rough grasses. Socks drew in a steady flow of mana to strengthen his run, a perfect system as natural as a heartbeat or breathing.

Dirt tried not to feel any envy about that, since even after four days of trying they couldn’t get his body to take in more than a trickle of mana, and never on his own. And to make it worse, when Socks asked Mother about it, she said that if they couldn’t figure it out then he ought to just go leave Dirt somewhere and forget about him.

Well, there was no point ruining a good day by getting upset for no reason. Dirt shook the thought from his mind with a little wiggle of his head and held on just a bit tighter to Socks’ soft fur.

“Hey, Socks, let’s go find a deer. We keep smelling them and I’ve never seen one. Have you?”

-Not a living one. Let’s do it. Sister said they hop instead of running.-

Socks slowed to sniff the air a little more carefully. He shared his hearing with Dirt, too, since he was using it.

Now able to hear with Socks’ ears, the world rushed in at Dirt, alive with a thousand sounds humans couldn’t hear. Bugs crawling in the grass nearby, his own heartbeat, the very blood in his veins. Birds flapping their wings. The gentle whispering of grass in a breeze so soft he hadn’t noticed it.

They didn’t hear any deer nearby, but after padding gently along the trail a bit farther the scent grew a little stronger and they decided there must be some around. They smelled several, a mix of male and female, and they didn’t smell like they were anxious about anything.

Socks walked a bit lower to the ground, carefully peeking around each bend of the hills, hoping to spot the prey before they saw him. Dirt found himself holding his breath in anticipation as he strained to listen for any movement.

They noticed the sound at the same time, of course, and both their heads riveted to the left. Something was moving close by, something heavier than all the little mice and rabbits and things chasing all through the grass.

-Ready?-

“Ready!”

Socks’ body surged with mana and he leaped forward at tremendous speed. Dirt clung tightly to his back with all his strength, but even so, the pup almost ran right out from under him. Socks bounded up the hill and leaped from the top, soaring through the air.

Dirt’s eyes raced over the scenery below both near and far, looking for anything that might be a deer. How big were they, anyway? He should have asked first. A small copse of trees in the middle distance seemed like the best place, since it was somewhere to hide.

“Over there! In those trees.”

Socks landed in the grass with very little sound, but not quietly enough. Dirt was right—they were in the trees, and the animals bolted at the sudden motion. Their gray and white coloration hid them fairly well amidst the underbrush, but once they were moving, that was that.

In truth, it wasn’t much of a chase because Socks could have gone much faster if he wanted. But it amused him to get right up behind the biggest one and snarl just to watch it panic, then give it a merry chase.

Neither of them had seen anything like it. Lean, with a narrow, expressionless face and coarse-looking fur. It was smaller than Socks, of course, but probably weighed three or four Dirts.

It ran by pounding all four hooves nearly at once and bouncing forward, which amused Socks terribly. His mind sparked with pleasure as he mimicked the poor beast’s movements, hopping as he went. Dirt got shaken violently and clung on even tighter to keep from being tossed off. It was great fun, and he shrieked each time he felt his body floating off the pup’s fur.

All the noise just made the poor little deer run harder. Its scent was almost pure terror, and from what Dirt could see of its thoughts through all his distractions, there wasn’t much else going on.

The thing was quick, though. Not particularly agile, but quick. It fled through the hills and into a large, upward-sloping plain that ended at a sharp, even ridge.

Dirt guessed there was a big flat area up there, and when he noticed a furrow cut into the ridge, allowing easy walking from the plain to the flat top, he shouted in excitement and thought, “A road! Socks, over there! That’s a road!”

-A what?-

“A road! Like we saw by that human temple place the other day. It’s all grown over but I want to go look at it.”

-Okay. But first we will eat this deer.-

Socks ended the game early and caught the panicked beast’s neck in his teeth. He killed it with a mighty shake and threw it to the earth.

As eager as Dirt was to go see the human place, now that there was food in front of him, he realized how hungry he was. Mother had sent them out before they’d eaten.

He slid off and stepped over to get a better look at the deer. It was a strange thing. No paws or claws, just hooves. It looked so… helpless. No way to defend itself or manipulate the world. Socks’ paws weren’t as useful as hands, but at least he had claws to hold things down with. The deer had nothing. What a pathetic animal.

“It’s like it only exists to carry meat around until someone wants some,” said Dirt.

-Yes. It’s prey.-

Dirt thought that over while Socks tore it open, pulling away the skin to expose the meat and innards. The rich smell of blood and flesh made their mouths water.

Socks said, -Let’s meld our taste, too.- The pup sniffed eagerly at the hot carcass, ready to taste it with Dirt’s more sensitive tongue.

Adding one more sense to their mental connection was a simple matter, although Dirt could feel his mind getting weary. They’d need a break from it soon, but that was fine. There was still plenty of time to taste all the parts of the deer.

First things first. Dirt knelt down and leaned in and licked out some blood, then washed it back and forth in his mouth to savor.

“It tastes different from cow blood.”

-Cow blood was duller. This has more variety.-

“Yeah. And the scent of it is better, too. Maybe that’s why it tastes better.”

Socks ripped out a bloody haunch and barely chewed it before swallowing. He didn’t have the teeth for chewing like Dirt did, but that also meant he didn’t really need to. Meanwhile, Dirt took bites out of various bits all throughout the dead animal, eating slowly to share what it tasted like. Some things were too slippery and connected to pull out with his hands, so he just dug in with his face and ripped away a bite or two with his teeth like a wolf. Every part had its own flavor and most of it was delightful; the only thing Dirt didn’t like was the intestines. With Socks’ sense of smell and Dirt’s taste, everything they ate was so rich and vivid and delicious that they rarely wanted to eat on their own anymore.

Dirt didn’t need much food to fill up, so he was done first. Satisfied, he sat back and severed the mind meld to relax while Socks finished off what remaining meat he could find. It was still a little disorienting, losing half of his senses that way. At least, that’s how it felt until he readjusted to going back to normal.

-Shall we take a nap now?- asked Socks, licking the last of the blood off his whiskers.

“Can we go up the road first? I really want to see what’s up there. It was a human place. I’m certain of it.”

-Okay. We can take a nap after we look.- Socks glanced at Dirt, then turned and licked the blood off his face. Dirt held his hands up and Socks licked those clean, too.

Dirt stepped backward for the pup to lower himself and let him climb up. But he didn’t. Instead, Socks poked his nose into Dirt’s chest, pushed a tiny bit of mana into him and said, -Jump up.-

As usual, the mana pained him with fiery pressure, feeling unnatural and harmful for a moment until he was able to absorb it. Dirt was getting faster at that, though, and after a few deep breaths and a bit of focus, the burning lump dissipated and filled him with strength.

He didn’t have much practice doing anything with it yet, since Mother hadn’t let them move more than once or twice a day. And no magic after that first time.

Well, this was practice. Dirt thought about the mana in his legs, readied himself to use it, and jumped about one body length upward, just enough to reach up for Socks’ shoulder. Not high enough, and he landed off-balance and fell back on his seat.

The second time, he stepped a few paces away first and got a running start and landed perfectly on the pup’s back.

Socks hid most of his thoughts, which was probably just as well since he was likely thinking something belittling. Dirt wouldn’t hold that against him, though, especially after seeing himself through his friend’s eyes in the mind meld. Tiny little helpless Dirt, barely able to do something so simple as jump. It really was kind of funny.

-Only tiny and helpless for now. You’ll learn.-

“I’ve already started learning.”

-You’ll have to keep on learning, because next year I will be as big as Brother and that’s a lot higher for you to jump.-

“Next year I’ll be bigger, too. And I’ll be running and jumping as well as you. Just wait.”

-Mother says you will only be a little bit bigger next year. She said your body is already eight years old, and I am only forty-four days old. Humans grow very slowly.-

Dirt was a bit surprised at that. His body was eight years old? He looked down at himself, not sure what to make of that. He remembered that first feeling of wrongness, of being strangely proportioned, soft and hairless when he first woke up. This was eight years old already? By next year, Socks would more than double in height, let alone weight, and it took humans eight years to get to this point?

-She said I would be full grown long before you were, and that you’d still be small as an adult. She asked if I would still want to keep you then. I said yes.-

The big pup shared warm affection along with the words, which made Dirt feel a bit better. Dirt returned it, affectionately nuzzling his head into the beast’s fur.

“Will you be as big as Father by then? So fast?”

-No, full grown is only a little bigger than Brother. After that, it takes a lot of years to get as big as Father and Mother.-

“Really? How many?”

-Mother is thousands of years old. I don’t know how many, but Father is much older than that.-

“But they’re the same size, just about.”

-Father was always that big, from when he was two years old. After he and Mother became a mated pair, she had a lot of growing to do to catch up. He’s a son of the First, and she is several generations younger.-

Dirt felt a sense of urgency settle in his heart. A year or two, and Socks would be all grown up. Never mind just jumping up to get on his back; Dirt would have to get as strong as a human could get by then, no matter what.

But there was little time to dwell on that because Socks hurried over to the long, straight indentation in the hillside that cut up through the ridge and started walking up it, sniffed the ground as he went.

“This was a road. I’m sure of it. It’s all grown over with grass now but the indent is so straight that it has to be. I bet there’s stone under this like that place in the forest. Remember that? Where Mother said not to go in? It’s like that, but longer. And see how it goes all the way up? That must be where the humans lived. Up there on top where it’s flat. The road was for them to get up there.”

-Why would humans make a straight thing just to walk on?-

“I have no idea. You’re forgetting how small we are, though. We can’t just jump over everything. Come on, let’s go up there! I bet there’s something there. Did Brother go past here?”

-I don’t smell him if he did.-

“Then we might be the first!”

At that moment, the clouds overhead split apart and let the sun shine down on them directly, blanketing the area in warm light as if to usher them forward. Dirt hollered in excitement and Socks sped up the road.

The ridge they’d seen from lower down looked even straighter and more even as they got closer, and Dirt suspected it might have been taller once, a long time ago, and the slope toward the bottom was from wind blowing sand and dust there.

The road ramped upward through a split in the ridge and landed them right in a city. That was the word for it. A city. Ruined stone buildings everywhere, now just roofless shells. Only bits of wall or pillars still stood. The remains of roads, all of it grown over, snaked out in every direction. Pale gray stone, green grass, and fresh sunlight, stretching in every direction.

-I think we can take a nap later,- said Socks, and Dirt agreed.