The Martiqgua of Caravon

By: Shel Wood

Chapter One

A very long time ago, hundreds of years perhaps, there was a land across many seas called Caravon. In the deepest of it’s forests, not far from an undiscovered river, there was a small village. No one knew of this town except, of course, the people who lived there. This village was completely cut off from the rest of the world.

In this town, there was a girl who went by the named of Deita. Deita had appeared out of nowhere two months before with only the clothes on her back; the first stranger to arrive in years. The villagers pressed her for information about the out side world, but she knew nothing. Her mind was as blank as a slate of stone. Soon, the villagers just ignored her. Inewaka, the protector of the village and discipliner of naughty boys, allowed Deita to stay in an abandoned basement, using a broken window as a door.

Deita (De-et-a) was able to barely stay alive through foraging and the occasional stealing. She had no money and couldn’t work for some because no one would hire her for she was “a filthy, dirty, stinky rag who should stay away from others as much as she possibly could” as the villagers said.

Deita longed to have an exciting, adventurous life where she would be respected and venerated by many. If she only knew that one simple turn around a corner would send her spinning into the life she dreamed of, only to hate it much and wish that her life was normal, would she have not ventured out of her basement.

Deita dodged from shadow to shadow, getting nearer and nearer to the village market. She would have to be quick and stealthy so that she could carry out her plan before the market was crowded and she got caught.

Deita’s stomach growled. She was so hungry, that it hurt.

The town was just starting to wake up. Shutters were being flung open to let in the cool morning air. People were yawning. Breakfast was being cooked and children screamed for food. Girls got ready to impress the boys and were doing their chores as quickly as possible.

Deita crouched behind a woven basket near the bakers. A few minutes later, a fat, jolly, middle age man--the baker--put a basket of freshly baked bread outside to cool. Then he went back inside. Deita’s muscles tensed. She would have to be quick so that no one would spot her. And she would only be able to take a loaf or two, or else the baker would know that she had taken some.

As soon as everyone was looking another way, Deita darted out from her hiding place, grabbed a warm loaf of bread, stuffed it down her shirt and ran. Deita heard no footsteps behind her or cries of “Thief!” but she continued running until she was really far away from the market place.

She was still running a few minutes later when she turned a corner and slammed into a girl who had also been running.

“Please!” the girl panted. “You must help me! If you don’t, they’ll hunt me down and kill me! Oh, please help!”

Deita sat there a moment, wondering who would want to kill the girl. There was some violent people in the village, but not that violent. That’s when Deita heard the angry voices and heavy footsteps.

“Please! Help!” the girl clasped her hands together in a begging motion.

“Okay, but you have to keep up!” Deita jumped up and took off without looking back. They wound through the streets and alleyways, trying to shake the men off, but every minute--every second--the steps got closer and closer. At last, the girls rounded a corner and slid through the broken window into Deita’s basement. A second later, they saw four pairs of boots skid to a stop.

“They got away!” cried the man with alligator boots.

“They couldn’t have,” said the man with tiger boots. “We were so close.”

“They have to be hiding somewhere,” added panda boots.

“This’ll be easy,” remarked cheetah boots.

“How?” asked alligator boots.

“Well, think about it. There is almost nowhere to hid--and we will check every spot there is--and when was the last time someone got away from us?”

“Well, there was that girl about two months ago,” said alligator boots. “Remember? She fell out of the sky. We were going to charge her for witchcraft?”

“Oh yeah!” cried panda boots.

“Well, besides that!” Cheetah boots waved the matter away. “Any other times?”

There was a moment of silence when the whole group thought. Then, they all replied at once, “No.”

“See? There is no possible way--”

“Hey!” Anew voice rang through the morning air. The two invisible girls saw the clothed feet of Kaneweaka, the town’s protector, appear. “Who are you? What is your business here?”

“We are hunting this girl,” said alligator boots. Deita and the girl heard the crinkling of paper. He was probably holding up a picture of the girl. “Have you seen her? She destroyed a whole troop. We think that she may be working for the enemy nation.”

“Hunting? Destroyed a whole troop? Enemy nation? I suspect that this girl, a mere fourteen years of age, appeared and destroyed a whole troop and were at war with another nation?”

“Yes. And we’re hunting her, as so she doesn’t do more damage.”

“Oh, yes. Well, I’ve never seen the girl. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to leave the town. We have small children around here, and we don’t want them to be badly influenced by…” Kaneweaka looked for non-offensive words. “…by men of your standards.”

“Yes,” hissed alligator boots. “We wouldn’t want that at all, now would we? Good day.”

Deita and the girl listened for a few more seconds after the footfalls had faded to make sure that they were safe. That’s when Deita got a good look at the girl. She had long black hair, ice-blue eyes, and ripped clothes from non-stop travel and narrow escapes through bushes.

“Whew,” she said. “That was a close one.”

“What’s you’re name?” asked Deita.

“My name? It’s Reina,” said Reina. “What’s yours?”

“Deita.”

“Oh. Pretty name. Mind if I stay here until sundown?”

“Stay as long as you want.”

“I would, but those men will come back sooner or later. I want to be as far away as possible when they do.”

“So you did destroy the troops?” Deita was shocked.

Reina laughed. “No way. Their just making an excuse to hunt me. They hate my clan. And I would need magic to do that, which I don’t have.”

“I wish I could do magic,” breathed Deita.

Deita awoke to see Reina’s feet sticking out of the window. Then they were gone. Deita quickly got up and looked out the window. The air was on fire. It was sundown.

Reina walked down the road, headed to the exit. She was in deep thought. Reina always did her best thinking when she walked. It made getting to places seem faster.

“Wait!”

A voice rang through the late day’s air. Reina turned around to see Deita running towards her, brandishing a new purple bag. Reina wondered about it.

“Hey,” she called out. “Nice bag. Where’d you get it?”

“Like you don’t know,” was Deita’s response.

“Huh?”

“I found it near where I was sleeping. I know you put it there.”

Reina was suspicious about the bag, but she didn’t question it out loud.

“Why are you here?” asked Reina.

“I’m coming with you.”

Reina gasped. “No! Uh…um…you can’t!”

“And why not?” Deita folded her arms.

“Uh…um…because it’s dangerous! Yes, that’s it! Very dangerous! And I don’t want you to get hurt!”

“Yeah, right! If it were sp dangerous, you would have said so right away! I can tell you’re lying!”

Reina turned away for a second to think. She seems very persistant with this. She obviously really wants to come. If I leave without her, she may follow without my knowing so. But she could be helpful…

Reina turned back to Deita. “Okay,” she said. “But this may be more than you bargained for…”