Page 7 of Primal Call

For now, at least…

Kyral gritted his teeth. With a grunt, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a well-worn map, the parchment soft and pliable from frequent handling.

Months ago, he'd been out in the wilderness, tracking a particularly elusive beast. Instead, he'd stumbled upon an injured Borraq. The man was in bad shape, his golden skin ashen with blood loss.

Kyral had gone to his side. But as he'd knelt beside the man, he'd realized that it was too late to help. The man's wounds were too severe, his life force already fading.

"Easy, friend," Kyral had said, his voice low and soothing. "You'll not be alone."

The man had looked up at him, his eyes glassy with pain. "You're kind," he'd rasped. "Kinder than most."

Kyral had shaken his head. "It's just the right thing."

The man laughed, a wet, gurgling sound. "The right thing…" he echoed. "I thought I knew what that was, once."

With a trembling hand, he reached into his pocket. He pulled out the map, pressing it into Kyral's palm. "Take this," he said. "It's yours now."

Kyral frowned, looking down at the map. "What is it?"

"Treasure," the man said. His ashen face split in a bitter smile. "My closest friend and I, we buried a cache out here. Taothium. We spent years hiding it, keeping it safe until the heat was off."

Smugglers. Kyral didn't judge. Out in this lonely corner of Vasz, every Borraq did what they had to to survive.

Taothium, though… that was unexpected. The gemstone was incredibly valuable. No wonder the two smugglers had hidden it.

The man's voice trembled. "But in the end, it was no threat from outside that undid us. My friend, he wanted it all. He did this. He took our map."

Kyral felt a surge of anger on the man's behalf. "I'm sorry. But if he took it…?"

The dying man let out a bitter laugh. "He wasn't the only one getting suspicious," he rasped, a sad smile twisting his lips. "I'd made my own copy, just in case."

He pressed the map harder into Kyral's hand, his fingers cold and clammy. "Take it," he said, his voice a harsh whisper. "It's yours now."

"Why are you giving this to me?"

The man chuckled, a gurgling sound that made Kyral's stomach twist. "Look at me," he said, gesturing to his broken, battered body. "I wasted my life hiding the treasure, letting thoughts of it consume me. I want… I want it to go to someone who can use it."

He fixed Kyral with the intense stare of those approaching death, his eyes burning. "Promise me," he rasped. "Promise me you'll spend it on something that brings you joy. Don't hoard it. Don't let it ruin you, like it did me."

Kyral swallowed hard. "I promise," he said, his voice low but firm.

The man smiled, a look of peace washing over his features. "Good," he breathed. "That's good."

His eyes went cloudy, fixed on something that Kyral could not see. Just like that, the man was gone, leaving Kyral alone with the map.

Kyral blinked, pulling himself out of the memory. Now, sitting by the rapidly-cooling body of the beast, his fingers traced the faded lines of the map. So many years had passed since that fateful day in the wilderness, but the map was as enigmatic as ever.

He studied it intently, his sharp eyes narrowing as he took in the topographical details. The map showed a deep valley nestled between two towering mountain ranges, a winding line curling around it, two peaks in the distance. In the valley was a simple X.

It should have been simple to follow.

It would have been, if only Kyral knew where the valley was in the first place.

But the map didn't show where on Vasz the valley was. It was a puzzle piece without the full picture, leaving Kyral to wander the wilderness in search of landmarks that matched those on the map.

But he was going to find it.

Kyral sighed, tracing the lines of the map. The Taothium would be his salvation — not just money for money's sake, but a way to finally afford the treatment for his gene damage.

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