by Lori Holmes
Juaan folded his arms away inside his furs. He looked as close to frightened as Nyri had ever seen him. Above the age of thirteen at least.
“I-I don’t know,” he mumbled, avoiding her eyes. “It happens sometimes. I can’t control it.” He paced away from Nyri.
“This has happened before? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Why would I tell you,” he shot at her. “It is nothing but a curse.” He was trembling.
“It is no curse. You are half Ninkuraaja,” Nyri said softly. “You have your mother’s blood. The Great Spirit is within you.” She thought back to the time she had first healed him. “I didn’t think you possessed enough of Ninmah’s Gift to control it, you struggled so much as a child. Somehow it came to you in that moment. You were in danger. Perhaps your body responded accordingly. Survival instinct.”
He raised his arms and pressed his face and hands into the nearest wall, his back to her. Nyri watched him silently, still shaken by this outburst of raw power, greater than any she had ever felt. She could only imagine how frightening it must be for him, it appeared he had grown up with partial Ninkuraaja gifts but had had nobody to teach or guide him.
Nyri seized on a sudden hope. If she could teach him, if she could open his eyes and waken his mind to their ways, maybe he would come back to her. Maybe he would remember. Batai’s confusing attack now seemed a blessing in disguise. Juaan had been impressed enough by what she had demonstrated to him so far.
The power that had been unleashed was gone now, muted once more but its presence had left its mark. He associated his skill only with fear and was desperate to hide it. Nyri would show him otherwise. She would show him the wonder and the beauty such a Gift offered. Nyri vowed when he next heard the wolves sing, he would hear the Great Spirit ringing clear in their voices. First, she had to make him see.
“Juaan,” she whispered. Nyri spied a stone cast from one of the berries he had eaten. She plucked it from the rocks and placed it at the heart of her left palm. “Juaan.”
He turned his head away from the wall just enough to look at her. His shadowed eyes were haunted.
“Watch. Your abilities are nothing to be feared. I promise. I’ll show you.” And Nyri focused her entire will upon that berry stone. She found the waiting life nestled within it and poured forth her energy. Before their eyes, the shell broke open and a tiny shoot reached forth, green with life, struggling skyward to take its first taste of Ninmah’s warmth.
When Nyri glanced up moments later, she was startled to find Juaan’s face inches from her own. His eyes were fixed on the newly born plant resting between them on her palm. The doubt and fear that lingered upon his face warred with naked wonder.
“How?” he whispered.
Nyri reached out and took his left hand in her own. He was so absorbed that he did not pull away. His skin was warm and rough against her fingers. She turned the giant hand, palm up and spilled the little stone into it.
“Would you like me to teach you? You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”
He stared down at the tiny shoot for a long while, so long Nyri became fearful that he would throw it down and reject her ‘elf magic’.
He spoke on a breath. “Please, show me.”
37
The Evil Within
Sefaan sat in the gathering darkness outside of her tree resting from her excursion into the forest on Nyriaana’s heels. The girl did not know it but Sefaan often followed her on her visits to the boy, helping her evade the sentries. Nyriaana’s skill at concealment was improving, however, and Sefaan no longer had to expend so much energy to help her evade detection from the sentries. The time was approaching when the girl would need her no longer.
Such timing could not have been better. Sefaan gave a soft gasp as she felt her heart skip a beat and then pick up again, labouring inside her chest. Restless, Sefaan toyed with the enu around her throat. Time was running out. The girl needed to hurry if she was to find Ariyaana.
A movement drew Sefaan’s eye to the outer forest. A dark figure was skirting around the trees. Sefaan recognised the silhouette at once.
Daajir.
Where are you going, boy? She thought as he disappeared into the forest.
Go after him… KI whispered in the wind around her.
Heaving a great sigh. Sefaan struggled to her feet and shuffled off in the direction the boy had taken. She could not keep up with his young legs but she followed along behind him, trailing his unique essence.
The boy seemed to know the path he was taking well. The sentries let him through without question when he came up against them. Sefaan made sure they did not see her.
As the night deepened, Daajir’s path became more treacherous and Sefaan had to stop and rest often. Old. Too old.
She caught up to him on the edges of a dank hollow. The scent of decay was thick on the air. This appeared to be the boy’s destination for he stood in the centre of the hollow. Sefaan sank down to sit upon a fallen tree and watched the boy stoop to lift a log from the ground. Coiled underneath was a snake.
Sefaan could taste it’s fear from where she sat as it cowered away from him. It started to slither away but Daajir’s will extended. Sefaan stifled a gasp as the snake’s pain washed against her senses. Anger burned hot in her chest. Never in all her time as a Kamaali had she known a Ninkuraa abuse the Gift of Ninmah in such a way.
The boy grinned as he extended a hala nut shell towards the snake and it obediently bit down upon it. As soon as the snake let go, Daajir let the log fall back into place. He then plucked a spine from the nearest vaash plant and added its poison to what was no doubt the snake’s venom.
Swirling the hala nut between his hands, Daajir then placed it upon the ground where Sefaan now saw rows upon rows of other shells. The boy, it seemed, had been gathering his supplies of poison for a long time. He nodded to himself, clearly satisfied with his work.
Reaching behind him, he pulled an object out from the concealment of his coverings. It was Juaan’s knife. Sefaan watched as Daajir turned it over in his hands a couple of times before taking the blade in one hand and let it fly. The blade embedded itself in the nearest tree. The boy let out a crow of triumph as Sefaan’s eyebrows raised in surprise. Collecting poison was not the only thing he had been up to, it seemed.
Daajir retrieved the blade from the truck it had pierced then dipped it into the nearest bowl of his strange concoction. The liquid looked black in the darkness and Sefaan shivered at the sight of it. Then the boy was moving again, disappearing into the darkness on the far side of the hollow.
Sefaan waited a few moments making sure he was a safe distance away and then rose and limped down into the hollow. What she saw made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Now she knew why such an aura of misery had swirled every time she had set eyes on this boy.
Everywhere she looked lay the bones or decaying remains of a Child of the Great Spirit. The nearest twisted corpse of a stag still had the barb of a vaash plant protruding from its throat.
Sefaan began to shake. In a rage she grabbed a stick and swiped at the rows of hala nut shells, knocking them aside and spilling their contents of death and misery into the ground.
“Sefaan! What are you doing?”
Sefaan spun to face Daajir. Without her notice, the boy had returned. He was frozen in the act of wiping the Cro blade on his sleeve - wiping it clean of blood - as he gazed down at her in horror.
“Murderer!” Sefaan growled between her teeth as she dropped the branch she held. “You are no Ninkuraa.”
The boys face contorted with rage. “What are you doing here, you crazy old fool?” He rushed down the hill towards her.
“Stopping a monster before he can do any more evil.” Sefaan lifted her chin.
“No!” The boy saw his spilled bowls and fell to his knees before them. “No! What have you done!”
“What the Great Spirit willed.”
Snarling, Daajir leaped to his feet. His eyes were cra
zed. The Great Spirit swirled, warning. Sefaan summoned her will, extending it to the creature lurking beneath the log behind the boy. All too eagerly, the snake lunged from its concealment and sank its fangs deep into the top of Daajir’s right leg.
“Arrghh!” He screamed in pain, twisting in his efforts to dislodge the creature. Sefaan saw what was about to happen but her old body wasn’t fast enough. Daajir barrelled into her, knocking her off her feet. The ground rushed up to meet her and the air was knocked from her lungs, Sefaan felt the bones in her left elbow splinter upon impact. It was her turn to cry out.
It took a few moments to master the pain and refocus her eyes. When she did, Sefaan found that Daajir was kneeling over her panting.
“You shouldn’t have come, Sefaan,” he ground out from between his teeth. He put a hand around to where the snake had bitten him. His fingers came back bloody but he only gave a laugh at the sight. “Was that the best you could do? My, you are losing your grip.”
“You cannot continue down this path, Daajir,” Sefaan forced the words out between gasps of pain, fighting to keep conscious. “It will only lead to misery.”
“Misery? How is saving our people misery?”
“You… you are not the one who will save us… Nyriaana.” Blackness was beginning to taunt the edges of her vision.
“Nyriaana?” Daajir barked a laugh. “That foolish weakling. How could she possibly save us from anything?”
Sefaan closed her eyes. “I will tell the Elders of what you have done here,” she rasped.
Daajir shrugged and rose to his feet. “They will not listen to you. Who would they rather depend on? The man who can rid them of our enemies or the crazy fool who forced them to accept a true monster into our very midst.” He eyed the knife that was still in his hand. “You know, I believe Aardn would thank me if I was to silence you for good right here.” His eyes gleamed.
Sefaan’s heart thudded and stuttered. This was not how it was supposed to happen.
The gleam dimmed. “But I won’t harm you, Sefaan. No matter what you think of me, I will not kill one of my own, though I might make an exception for the thief when I discover who they are. I am a true Son of Ninmah, I look after my own. Tell whomever you wish, Sefaan, no one will ever believe you and the Elder’s are already in agreement. You cannot stop me.”
The last thing Sefaan remembered before the darkness claimed her was the boy stepping over her and disappearing into the darkness.
* * *
38
Thief
After an uninterrupted night’s sleep, Nyri woke feeling like she was floating on air. She had won a significant victory. Juaan wanted to learn the Ninkuraaja ways. She could have crowed for joy. She had found a way to bring him back. It would be a challenge of course. He had struggled as a boy but she was not about to let that dampen her spirits; he wanted to learn. Nyri counted that as another step on the path to his recovery.
She ran straight to Sefaan’s tree wanting to share the good news with the Kamaali. She found Sefaan lying upon her bower and her stride faltered at the sight.
“Sefaan!” She gasped. “What happened?” The one side of the ancient woman’s face was blackened with bruising and her left arm was fractured.
The Kamaali’s deadened eyes, rose to meet hers. “I fell.”
Nyriaana rushed to her side but Sefaan warded her away with a glare. “Do not waste your time, girl. I am already mending it myself.”
“What can I do?” Nyri hovered anxiously.
“Nothing, you can do nothing. The only thing you can do for anyone is reach that boy before it is too late.”
“I am Sefaan,” Nyri reassured quickly. “He wants to learn our ways. This may be the way to bring him back to us.”
“Good.” The Kamaali’s eyes rolled closed. “Now, please, leave me. I need to rest now and you have much to do.”
Concern for Sefaan flooded her as Nyri obeyed and left the Kamaali’s tree. She had never seen such defeated lifelessness in Sefaan’s eyes as she had just then. She wondered what could have happened to cause such a look.
Lost in thought, she made her way to Baarias’ tree.
“What’s the matter, Nyri?” Her teacher asked as soon as she entered his home.
“Its Sefaan,” Nyri frowned.
“What about her?”
“She’s injured and… she’s not herself. She says she fell.”
Baarias’ eyebrows raised. “Perhaps I should-”
“No,” Nyri said quickly. “She doesn’t want help and I doubt she’ll take more kindly to you than she did me.”
Baarias sighed deeply. “You’re right. You look better than you have in a long time at least.”
“I slept well last night,” she said by way of explanation.
“Huh,” Kyaati grunted. Both Nyri and Baarias looked at her, but she said nothing more as they prepared for the day’s duties.
Omaal was the first of their visits. His terrible nightmares persisted and he was running a fever through lack of rest but he was faring better than the rest of the children. He didn’t look nearly so wasted. Nyri frowned. Perhaps Daajir had been right about him being the strongest, despite his many deformities.
“Batai keeps him strong,” Imaani said with a guarded smile.
Javaan’s fingers were not nearly so lucky. Baarias sighed as he rebound the fingers.
“Lack of food is not good for healing.” He murmured to Nyri as they left.
Nyri pressed her lips together, trying not to feel the sting of these words. “Who is next,” she asked before she could dwell.
“No one.” Baarias looked over both she and Kyaati. “Why don’t you two go and enjoy yourselves for a while? Maybe you should go and keep Daajir company.”
“Why?” Nyri asked.
Baarias’s mouth twitched. “He came to me last night. He’d gotten himself bitten by a snake.”
“How in Ninmah did he manage that?”
Baarias shrugged. “When you’re an akaab you learn not to ask too many questions and he wasn’t in the mood to entertain any. Suffice to say, he won’t be sitting down for a while.” Now there was a definite twitch to Baarias’ lips.
Nyri had not yet learned such control. She laughed aloud in what felt like the first time in a lifetime. “Hmmm, this I have to see. Shall we go and find Daajir, Kyaati? I never did get revenge on him for making fun of me when I sat on that vaash barb.”
She had hoped for some small reaction but Kyaati simply shrugged, no hint of her old humour or quick remark. Nyri’s smile slipped.
“Go, go,” Baarias shooed them away, covering the moment.
Nyri pulled Kyaati with her as she went in search of Daajir. She found him walking away from the main store tree. There was a pronounced limp to his walk and he winced with every stride. Nyri was going to enjoy this.
“Daajir!” she called, unable to keep the mirth from her voice. “Why don’t you come and sit with us and have a bite!”
The laughter died in her throat as Daajir rounded on her, taking a step back from the fury distorting his features.”
She held up her hands. “Daajir, I was only-”
“What? Making fun like a child?” He stormed. “I have no patience for your games, Nyri. Why don’t you go and bundle some herbs and make yourself useful.”
“Excuse me?” Nyri flared.
“Get out of my way!”
“What for? Maamit stolen your favourite toy?” Nyri cut back in a fit of pique.
Daajir flushed red. “I don’t have time for this. Someone was seen running from the stores. If we’re quick we might be able to catch the thief!” He pushed past Nyri and stalked off.
Nyri noticed a group of tribe members hurrying in different directions through the eshaara grove, their faces determined. She sighed. They were wasting their energy. There was no longer any thief.
“Never a dull moment,” Kyaati remarked glumly. She looked at Nyri. “Don’t you want to help?”
Nyri gated a
laugh at the thought of helping those searching for the thief. She would only have herself to turn in. “No. Come on, I’m sure we’ll find out what happened sooner or later, whenever Daajir deigns to let us know-”
The rest of her words were cut off as a scream shattered the stillness. It was followed by an all consuming wave of grief and unimaginable loss.
Heart in her mouth, Nyri spun around and ran in the direction of the scream, Kyaati on her heels. Like her, everyone was converging on Oraan’s tree in the centre of the grove. Another wave of grief from above rolled over them all.
Baarias was already there, his face ashen. He met Nyri’s eyes with a look of dreadful understanding as he flew up into the tree. “Stay there!” he called back to her.
Nyri shared one terrified look with Kyaati before they both ignored his command and followed on his heels. Nyri’s heart was in her mouth as she swung herself into the tree.
As soon as she entered, she wished she had stayed on the ground. All of her elation in making progress with Juaan turned to dust in her mouth as she was faced with the cost of her actions.
Little Naaya lay dead inside her bower; her body no more than a pile of bones inside her pallid flesh. Beside her lay Haana, her lifeless hand still clutching her daughter’s. Nyri could see that her other hand was stained with the dark juice of night berries. The deadliest poison to be found in the forest. Oraan sat in the corner, his eyes were beyond anything.
Nyri crashed to her knees. She did not even feel the pain.
“She took her own life,” Kyaati’s voice was soft, almost reverent, as she moved to crouch beside Haana, closing her sightless eyes. “She has found her peace.”
“Kyaati…? Baarias’ tone was uneasy as he regarded her. “Don’t-”
“I found them like this.” Oraan’s toneless voice rose from the corner where he sat slumped. “She told me, she told me that she could not live without her daughter.”
“Baarias?” Aardn had climbed up into the tree behind them. “What’s wrong. I felt-”
