Bound in Spirals Ch. 03

"Time to go!" He yelled, sprinting toward Letta franticly.

As he got across the brook, Sam saw the creatures chasing him. Dark, woody colored fur sparsely covered their black skin. Yellowing canines stood out starkly on their snarling faces. They came flinging into the clearing from the trees, landing on their shorter hind legs, and pulling forward on long, muscular forelegs.

'Grenks...'

'Oh shit.'

Letta dashed forward to Theodore, Sam was barely able to grip onto her thick fur to keep from flying off. She turned her huge head sideways and closed her mouth around Theodore.

"Oomf- Hey wait!" Theodore cried, but was quickly silenced as Letta stopped and turned sharply.

Sam gritted his teeth and dug himself in as tightly as he could. Branches smacked his back when he leaned low as Letta tore through the forest. Close behind he heard loud screeches and chittering of the apelike grenks.

'You might have to heal your friend again soon, sorry.' Letta said stolidly.

'Why don't we fight em?' Sam asked as a thin branch whipped his face. 'OW! that stings.'

'This is the better option, there are just over 20 of them, I cannot make certain of your survival in that situation. Prepare to pull your sword, some of the faster grenks will likely catch me before we make it to open land, and I cannot flee and fight simultaneously.'

'Alright, I guess that makes sense.' Sam replied grudgingly, and tensed his right arm, ready to draw at a moments notice.

'One has gotten a hold on my tail, kill it quickly.' Letta said only moments later.

Sam rapidly drew his blade, barely keeping his grasp on it as a branch whacked against it. He turned and saw the beast approaching him, using Letta's fur as hand holds. As the creature came close, it suddenly leapt forward, propelling itself with it's brawny forearms. It's thin lips pulled back, and Sam saw spittle flying from the tips of it's sharp teeth. He swung his sword clumsily, trying not to lose his balance.

The flat of his blade thumped against the grenk's bald skull, and the animal went tumbling from Letta's back with a piercing howl. Had he not been in a dangerous situation, Sam might have found the sight of the grenk smacking face first into a tree amusing.

'Another one.'

Sam looked forward for a second to adjust his grip, and turned back just in time to the next grenk scramble up the argwolf's big tail. He could see Letta attempting to fling it free, but the animal held on. He waited impatiently, trembling with the adrenaline pumping through him. The grenk grabbed hold of the main body, and began to bound toward him.

Just as the grenk drew near, Letta cleared the edge of the forest. The sudden brightness blinded Sam just long enough for the grenk to attack. He felt pain shoot up his arm as the creature bit into his bicep.

"AGHH FUCK!" He yelled out as he franticly flailed his right arm.

The grenk screeched as it fell from a lucky swing, a gash cutting across it's arms. Sam watched as the beast fell from Letta's back, and nearly followed as she stopped suddenly. The bleeding grenk tried to flee back to the safety of the forest, but was crushed by a sideways blow. Sam could see it's limbs break as it was sent flying. Letta's paw touched back down just before the now dead animal landed, 30 feet away.

Sam looked to the forest as he accessed his magic. The remainder of the pack were halted at the tree line.

'They will not pursue here. They know that their speed does not match mine in the open area.' Letta said as she lowered herself.

For a moment, Sam had forgotten his magic and felt a sudden demented glee surface. His fear surged and smothered it quickly, and his power was released.

'You should heal your friend now, I imagine he has some painful wounds.' She said. 'Tell him... that I am sorry, as well.' The last part she communicated as if it pained her to say.

At that, Sam slid down from Letta's back and hurried to where she had lain Theodore. He heard groaning as he jogged around Letta's head. He cringed as he saw the deep punctures in Theodore's chest and stomach. His magic was already summoned as he knelt down and touched Theodore's sternum. Sam felt the connection to his body and forced his intentions into his magic.

Wispy tendrils of power snapped outward from Sam's finger tips, and rooted in Theodore's chest. The wounds started to fill in, and small streams of blood formed, sucked away from his absorbent clothing. In just under 10 seconds Theodore was closed up and he laughed dryly. Sam grinned as he severed his connection to him and stood. Theodore stood too, and frowned at the plants he held, now covered in wolf saliva.

"She wanted me to apologize for her." Sam said thumbing over his shoulder to Letta. "Though I don't think she had much of a choice considering the situation."

Theodore shook his head. "No need. If she hadn't, I would likely not be around to complain about it." He said, smiling assuringly to Letta.

She turned her head away from him as though embarrassed. Sam had to suppress a chuckle at the odd behavior. Theodore clapped Sam's shoulder as Letta rose.

"I gotta admit, I'm a bit frightened at your power. The perverse happiness I feel just before you take it away is... unnerving to say the least." Theodore said as he tossed away the plants. "But, I'm thankful I'm alive."

Sam smiled in response and rubbed the back of his head. 'I'm glad you're alive too...' Sam thought to himself.

He was startled as Letta leapt away, landing right next to the dead grenk. She bit down on it and flung it up into the air. As it fell she snapped it out of the air loudly, and gulped it down. She made a show of it to the still observing pack. A rumbling growl echoed from her throat, and the remaining grenks shuffled back, disappearing into the forest.

"At some point, I would love to hear how you managed to bind such a fearsome beast." Theodore said, visibly afraid.

"I'm not sure how I can explain it, really..." Sam said with a nervous chuckle.

'Let us be off now.' Letta said as she returned to Sam and Theodore. 'We will take a slight detour to avoid the group that went ahead. It will take us approximately 2 days to reach Eltinn.'

Sam repeated this to Theodore, and they climbed onto her back. Once settled, Letta took off at a vicious pace. Sam had to dig his hands deeply into her thick fur in order to stay anchored. The wind blasted against his face as she dashed across the open plains, approaching 60 miles per hour.

A few hours passed, during which, Sam explained what had occurred since his arrival in this world to Letta. For the most part, she remained silent on the matter, only asking questions about the council when they were brought up. Based on how she responded, Grettia was definitely one to be wary of, as Sam's instincts had told him.

'Tell me about your world. Is it very different than this one?' She asked, as Sam's story had caught up to the present.

'Oh yeah, wayyy different.' He replied. 'The technology is much further ahead there. Honestly, I'm not even sure how to explain it to someone with zero prior knowledge of it... Though, this world is kinda like my world, but like a thousand years in the past.'

'You make it sound like a thousand years is a long time.' Letta said.

'Well, it is. At least in my world. Magic doesn't really exist there, it's written about in fiction, but it's not real like it is here. The average lifetime for a human there is about 70 years currently, and was even shorter in the past. Here, I've already met several people who were apparently much older than that.'

'I see.' She said after several moments of silence. 'What about the other species? Do the elves live the same amount?'

'Whoa whoa whoa, wait a second. Elves exist in this place?' Sam asked surprisedly.

'Of course they do, and based on your reaction I assume they do not in yours. What of halflings and the erren?'

'Never even heard of em... Before you ask about anymore, humans are pretty much the only smart animals in my world.'

'What?!' She said, her shock evident. 'I cannot comprehend that. It seems impossible.'

'Ok, well we will continue this later.' Sam said, feeling Theodore grabbing his shoulder. 'I think Theodore wants to stop.'

Sam turned back to Theodore, and saw him mouthing 'tell her to stop', unable to speak over the harsh wind. He nodded just as Letta slowed to a halt.

"We need to find food and water now, before it gets too dark." Theodore said, indicating the sun which was just cresting the horizon. "Neither of us has eaten since yesterday, the enemy advance group made sure of that."

"Uh, right..." Sam said, looking down at his lightly rumbling stomach. "Where are we gonna..."

Sam stopped as he glanced around, only now seeing the biome had changed from the dry plains of before. The ground was blanketed in a sheet of green, small plants sprouting up abundantly among the short grass. Sam frowned in thought. 'These plants seem a little familiar...'

"All of these plants are connected to edible roots, we can eat them raw." Theodore said, hopping from Letta's back and indicating the plants Sam was thinking of.

He bent forward as Sam followed him down. He gripped the short stalks, and yanked upward. Dirt flung outward as he pulled the root. In his hands was a grouping of thick tuberous red roots. 'Potatoes?' Sam thought.

"See? We can just eat these root things here. Though, they are better cooked." Theodore said, clearly proud of himself. "Do not eat the little fruits that grow above ground though, I read that they are poisonous."

"Alright then." Sam said, bending down to pull up his own. "What do you call these, by the way?"

"Ah, they're called tates." Theodore answered, plucking one free and brushing the dirt off.

'Tates? That just sounds like slang for potato. Maybe they're the same thing...' Sam thought as he yanked the plant as he'd seen Theodore do. Apparently, he pulled a bit too hard, because he nearly fell on his butt, only barely keeping his balance. He grabbed the largest "tate", and separated it from the bunch. Inspecting it closely, Sam noticed it's striking resemblance to a normal, red potato. He cleaned it carefully, and saw the small black eyes on it.

"I'm pretty sure we have these same vegetables back in my world." Sam said. "But, they're called potatoes."

As he said it, Theodore bit into the tuber and it crunched softly. He frowned slightly as he did so, evidently not a fan of the taste. Sam followed suit when he brushed all the dirt off, and had a similar reaction. It had a slimy, yet gritty texture that definitely resembled raw potatoes, and the taste had an unpleasant bitterness to it.

"Yeah, this is a potato for sure." Sam said between chews. "The name is pretty close too, I wonder if maybe another person like me had something to do with it."

"Hm, I guess it's possible, though your type are rare almost to the point of nonexistence. If that is the case it would make sense if an 'other' had brought them over to this realm." Theodore replied, looking down at the potato with a grimace. "Wish we had time to cook these."

Sam nodded his agreement then addressed both him and Letta. "We can eat these while we move, Letta can just go slower for now."

As he said her name, Theodore's eyes seemed to bulge out of his head as they widened. "Wait, what was that name you said?"

"Letta?" Sam said, turning his head questioningly.

"Did you give her that name?"

"No, her previous master did."

Theodore just looked toward Letta and stared in disbelief.

'Hey, uh... What's he freakin' out about?' Sam asked Letta.

Letta huffed and glanced to Theodore out of the corner of her eye. 'My master and I used to be very well known. Apparently, our reputation has persisted through the years.'

'Wow, so you're famous or something? That's pretty awesome.' Sam said.

'Yes, we are somewhat famous, though infamous might be more appropriate a word.' She replied.

'Uh, care to elaborate on that?' Sam said after she didn't continue.

Letta exhaled loudly, seemingly an imitation of a sigh. 'It is a long tale which I can go into another time, but in short, together we managed to kill a queen.'

Sam's own eyes widened at this and he ran his fingers through his wavy hair. 'I-I see... I really wasn't expecting that...'

"Samson, this is another thing you might wan't to avoid letting people know. Letta, and her previous master Everen, are not well liked in our kingdom. I imagine it would be difficult to keep people from trying to kill her, if her existence was made known." Theodore said.

His face was serious and Sam nodded quickly. Then, his expression lightened once again, and he clapped Sam's shoulder.

"You seem to have a penchant for troublesome situations, friend. Just be careful when you're near civilization, it'd be problematic for her to be seen, as well." Theodore said with a sigh. "Well, we should travel a bit more before nightfall."

Sam smiled weakly and looked down to his raw potato. He bit the crisp vegetable and forced down the slimy chunk without chewing it. 'I dunno if I can finish this thing.' He thought as he climbed onto Letta's back, in front of Theodore. 'Maybe I can just wait till we get to the town. I'll just hold on to em in case we can cook later or something.'

"Letta can you help keep an eye out for a water source with us?" Theodore asked hesitantly as he got situated.

'Tell him I will, I am feeling thirst as well.' She said to Sam and he relayed it.

With that, Letta bound forward, steadily increasing speed. The land became a blur to Sam's eyes as she dashed. He was forced to squint his eyes to keep them from drying out, and he continued eating the unappetizing potato. He searched the landscape for water sources, as best as he could with limited visibility.

After half an hour of unproductive scanning, Sam spoke to Letta. 'So, back to the thing we were talking about earlier. What are the erren? or whatever they're called. And the halflings and elves?'

'Ah right, I will give a rudimentary explanation then. All 3 are very closely related, with minor differences. The erren are a people who live in the jungles of the far east. They have 4 arms, are generally a foot taller and more muscular than humans on average, and have tails. Despite their physical similarities however, mentally they are quite different. Their societies are very peaceful and they are hesitant to engage in wars. They do not have inherent magical abilities either, and live shorter lives even than non-magical humans, only around 40 years.' Letta said, her tone rigid, like she was reading a list.

'There are 2 elven civilizations, both are to the west. One is in the enormous Leddin forest, and the other in the Fenne mountains. Their physical appearances are quite similar, slightly shorter than humans on average, with pointed ears and thin bodies. The forest elves generally have lighter hair colors, while the mountain elves have darker, these being the most discernible physical differences between them. However, in magic and temperament they are vastly different.

'The mountain elves are usually more aggressive and prone to fighting than their more regal cousins. Their magic is also rather simple in comparison to humans and the forest elves. It is a type of shapeshifting magic. They are able to transform into any 1 animal, which is chosen when they come of age. I am not certain on the specifics, but they perform a ceremony where they have to fight and kill the animal they wish to become, with no weapons. Most become some sort of herbivorous creature, I believe it has to do with the danger involved. From that point on, they can transform to and from at will. They are also the only species in which all members are capable of magic. Are you following thus far?'

'Uh, yeah I think so. You're pretty good at explaining stuff.' Sam replied.

'W-Well, Everen taught me many things during our time together, I would not know it if not for her.' Letta said, sounding surprisingly flustered to Sam. 'A-Anyway, on to the forest elves.'

'Seems like Letta isn't used to compliments or something, like she's embarrassed.' Sam thought with a chuckle.

'The forest elves' are a very proud people. While they may not be so outwardly antagonistic as their cousins, they are very passively aggressive, and prone to condescension to anyone deemed lowly. This has caused some conflict in the past with both the mountain elves and some of the human kingdoms, who are seen as barbaric in their society.'

'As for their magic. Referred to as regeneration magic, which is fairly self-explanatory, it allows the user to heal maladies of the flesh. Before you ask, it is not the same as bind magic. It grows new tissue when needed, rids the body of poison, and cures illness, which bind magic does not. While the healing properties are more universal than your simple reparations, it does not act nearly as quickly, and does not have the other advantages of binding magic.

'And finally, the halflings. They too live to the east of humans, though not as far as the erren. They live in massive caverns under the Senel desert, which they've hollowed out and plated with metal. In appearance, they look just like shorter versions of humans, around 4 feet tall. They are a studious people, metallurgy being their main focus. Their fascination with metal revolves around their peoples' magic, which is the ability to manipulate metals in ways beyond normal smithing. I do not know many details about how it works, because Everen did not know much of it either.' Letta finished, sounding weary. 'And so there are your basics on the humanoid species of the realm.'

'Man, I might have to have you remind me later, it's a lot of info to take in, but I get the gist of it.' Sam responded then glanced about, his focus changing. 'Jeez, it's already dark now. Looks like we won't be finding any water tonight.'

'Yes I will stop soon, when I find a reasonable area for sleep. As we get closer to the town I imagine we will find some, if we do not find a source sooner.'

A short time later, Letta came to a stop. Sam and Theodore hopped off carefully. Sam squinted, trying to see in the near pitch blackness.

'Can you tell me where we are? I can't really see much.' He asked Letta.

Suddenly he felt images flooding his mind as Letta sent what she saw through the connection. He saw they were in a rather barren area of land, through her black and white perspective.

'Just sleep here, it is the best I could find for tonight.' Letta said. 'You may rest against me for warmth if you wish.' With that, she flopped down onto her side with a thud.

Sam relayed this to Theodore, and they both gingerly stepped toward her massive panting silhouette. Sam sat down with his back against her ribs, and Theodore thumped down next to him. Soon after, Sam could hear soft snores coming from Theodore's direction, and Letta's breathing settled as well. He expected that he would have fallen straight to sleep, but found himself awake a while longer despite his exhaustion.

'I killed people today.' He thought. 'I don't know how I should feel about that. I ended their existence, took any potential futures they had, stole them from their loved ones... Yet, I don't feel guilt. Perhaps it will come later or something. But, if it doesn't, should I be disturbed by my own callousness?' Sam rubbed his eyes. 'I think I will wait to make a judgement.'

'I'm in this amazing world, and all I can think about is how I should feel. Somehow, I've attained magic powers, Samson's mind is bound to mine, I have a enormous, ferocious beast as a pet, and am finding myself becoming attached to Theodore like no friend I've had before. I don't know how to handle all of this.' Sam sighed and relaxed himself against Letta's warm underside. 'I wonder how to get Samson to talk to me again.'