Chapter 57 - Tracks

Jude took the rock in his hands. The words were clearly carved into it. What did they mean? And why had Jude said them first before they began appearing.

Angry at the world he was born into and cursing the men that had cursed him, Jude threw the rock into the bushes. He fell asleep soon, the aurora spinning above him peacefully, doing little to calm his angry disposition.

Morning came swiftly. The Free Council got up, and Jude kissed Tyra, and then said, “I will be back shortly.” He walked over to where Uk’Yan was.

He addressed him in the kryon tongue, as Uk’Yan had not yet learned the language of humans. “Tell me, does the phrase ‘Ukl mort tÿr undâr’ mean anything to you?”

Uk’Yan stared deep into Jude’s eyes, as if trying to see the mind operating within the skull. “Yes, it does. It is a burial saying of kryons and half-breeds, and is ingrained in the minds of those who speak the kryon tongue.

“It means ‘the dead shall walk’, but I believe that you likely already knew that. Most believe it simply to be a peaceful message saying that there is a better world waiting after death, however there is power behind the words.

“The power is drawn from the same source of your power. And while I doubt it foretells anything, it could be a foretelling of bad omens to come.”

Jude nodded and thanked him, and walked away.

The Free Council set out only a little bit later. The day was cold, and the people walked close together to try and spread body heat. They were not watching where they were going, but Jude made sure that they were still headed towards the tower.

A hole seemed to reach up from the ground at him, and he fell flat on his face in front of the group. He stood back up and rubbed his head. He looked back down at the hole that had brought him down.

It was not a normal hole, nor one caused by burrowing animals, but a footprint. It was humanoid, but larger than the average human. Jude asked Uk’Yan to measure his foot compared to the footprint.

They were nearly identical, but they were still different. Beside the footprint were other tracks, looking like they were made by tentacles rather than feet. Everyone knew what they were.

They were kryon tracks. Jude and Uk’Yan almost immediately knew who it was who had created these tracks. Lukäski was nearby, and somehow, he had rallied another group to his cause. They would have to find him and kill him.

The Free Council wanted to be done with Lukäski once and for all, so Ralyn spoke for all of them when he told Jude, “Just follow them! We will kill him when we find him.”

They followed the tracks for about an hour, until Jude looked down at the ground. There was a rock there, with writing on it. Four words were written on the rock.

“Ukl mort tÿr undâr.” It was the same rock as before.

Jude looked at it strangely. “We have gone in circles,” he said, his voice filling with frustration. “These are false tracks! Lukäski is trying to lead us on!”

He took his gun and called out to the people, “We must make haste to the tower! We must beat Lukäski at his own game!”

They took their guns and began to follow him. Out of anger, he was walking at a breakneck pace through the ruined streets of the dead cities, but they were making ground quickly. The tower was nearly into plain sight, and they knew that their journey was almost complete.

They stopped for the night as usual on the road, so that they could make an easy shelter. Jude was helping to clear some rubble, when he noticed that one of the pieces had a message on it, written in aurora-script, though it was not the one that was plaguing him.

It read: “Jude, we can see you.”