Daughter of Ninmah

by Lori Holmes

  Often Nyri fancied she tasted snow but hoped it was her imagination. She did not like what she felt on the air, in the shift of the earth. Everything murmured that what was to come would be terrible to behold. The leaves shivered.

  “What is it?”

  Nyri opened her eyes to find Juaan crouched close before her, watching her curiously. She realised she had been frowning.

  “Ninsiku approaches in all his Fury and the world trembles,” she whispered.

  “You mean the winter?” he asked. It was his term for Ninsiku’s Fury.

  Nyri nodded. “Yes. Can’t you feel it? Every cycle, I feel him approach, but this time, this time…” Nyri hunched her shoulders protectively. “I fear it. It feels like the beginning of the end.”

  He watched her expressionlessly then raised his hand to the soft breeze, feeling its nip. “Hmmm,” he said. “It will be a long and cruel one. I fear you are right.”

  There was a whine from above their heads, Batai was peering down at them. He often accompanied Nyri on these visits now, seeming to think she needed watching with this strange visitor. He had never repeated his descent into the Pit, however, preferring to observe from a safe distance. He lifted a grey lip at Juaan, laying his ears flat against his thick neck but he did no more than huff grumpily.

  “He still does not like me.”

  “Maybe because you wear the fur of his dead kin about your body,” Nyri pointed out. The skins he wore were obviously wolf. She cringed. She always tried not to let herself think too much on this fact.

  “I’m sorry,” Juaan said. “It’s not personal, simply a matter of survival.” His eyes skirted over her very different garments. “I can’t imagine that those leaves offer you much protection.”

  Nyri ignored that. They were enough, once, she thought sadly.

  He held out his hand suddenly and Nyri saw he had saved the last few morsels for her. “Take it,” he insisted. “You look as if a gust of wind would blow you away.”

  Nyri was grateful. She would not admit to him that she was giving him nearly every scrap of her food ration; she had to prolong the supplies in the stashed gathering baskets for as long as possible for she did not know how long this situation would continue. She did not care how much he had changed or forgotten, she knew if she told him that she was going without for him, he would accept no more food from her.

  “What else concerns you? It is not just the coming of the winter.”

  Nyri frowned at him. “I thought you said you didn’t know me?”

  He shrugged.

  Nyri sighed. “It’s Kyaati. She is ill and not getting any better. I do not know how to reach her. I fear…” her breath caught. “I fear we are going to lose her, too.”

  He sat, taking this in for a few moments. When he spoke, it was in the most gentle tone she had ever heard from his lips. “Do not give up. You will find a way.” Nyri’s skin tingled as he reached out to touch her hand. “I remember the night she fell. You flew down like a falcon and tried to beat me with a stick to save her.” He smiled softly, ruefully. “I noted your bravery even then. If you can do that and if she has even half your courage, she will recover.”

  Nyri was stunned into silence by his words. She had not expected them. Warmth filled her. She tried to read his face but he was looking studiously away from her now, keeping an eye on Batai. His next words were strained. “Did the fall…? Was it our fault?”

  “No.” She blew out a breath. “I wanted to blame you. I wanted it to be the Woves’ fault. The baby was born malformed. Whether Kyaati had fallen from that tree or not, the result would have been the same.” Her voice grew distant. “It is happening more and more frequently. Our children are more often than not born dead or deformed. We have always believed that you,” she waved a hand at him, “Woves were the cause of our growing weakness, cursing us with some black magic that we could not understand. I was so certain… But you do not have that power do you?” Nyri finished with a bitter twist to her lips.

  “I’m afraid not,” he said. “Ironically, only what I’ve picked up from your people, it seems.”

  “Well, whatever the cause, we are dying. Soon there won’t be any of us left for the Woves to hunt.” Nyri fixed him with a stare. “Why do you hunt us? You never did tell me. If the Woves don’t eat us and do not serve Ninsiku in his vendetta to see us dead, why do they come?”

  Juaan looked at her long and hard. He was debating whether or not to speak. Nyri wanted to know. If she knew, perhaps she could find a way to stop whatever it was the Woves came for. They could be free of the threat once and for all. Maybe then her people could focus on the real reasons they were dying out.

  Juaan seemed to come to a decision but just as he opened his mouth to speak, there was an intent from above. Nyri looked up. Something had caught Batai’s attention.

  “What is it?” Juaan asked.

  “Deer,” she murmured. “There is a small herd browsing away in the trees, downwind from Batai. The breeze just carried their scent to him. He’s hungry. He has scarcely left Omaal’s side apart from to accompany me here at night.”

  “Omaal?”

  “One of the children.” Nyri swiftly explained the remarkable relationship between the blind boy and this wolf.

  Juaan shook his head in amazement. “I wonder what it is like to see through a wolf’s eyes?” he murmured as Batai disappeared from view, moving away with a single-minded focus.

  “Do you want to try?”

  He looked down at Nyri with an expression that she had come to know well. He wanted to accept eagerly but at the same time could not let go that last piece of his reserve.

  She decided for him. She took his wrist, ignoring the tensing of his muscles as she did so. Another suspicion he could not quite let go of. “Focus. I will help you.”

  Juaan closed his eyes and Nyri heard his teeth clench with the effort. He could not do it on his own, not when he was calm. Nyri still had to guide him. It made her feel like a failure as a teacher but it had only been days, she told herself. Ninkuraaja children breathed this learning from their first steps; it was difficult if not impossible to change the way a mind could focus itself.

  She showed him the connection to his innermost centre and the energy that resided there, just waiting to be tapped into. With her mind, she directed Juaan to the presence that was Batai and his energy came with her willingly, its wildness tamed by her touch. Not unlike the wolf himself. Batai was getting close to the deer as their thoughts mingled with his. She felt Juaan’s awe as his senses became one with the Child of the Great Spirit for the very first time. He was Seeing with her and the knowledge filled her with joy.

  The thought of juicy tissues filling one’s mouth swamped Batai’s mind. Nyri flinched away from the sensation but in that same instant - it happened.

  As Batai pictured his meal, another hungry mind answered his hunter’s instinct. Juaan’s consciousness exploded forth. Once again, the power of it astonished Nyri, leaving her reeling. It broke from her grasp and rushed forward. “No!” Such uncontrolled power could destroy Batai’s mind. She heard a muffled cry of effort as Juaan fought to pull back. He only marginally succeeded. He did not kill Batai but his will took over completely. Not just a guiding influence, his power had driven Batai out of his own mind. The wolf was entirely Juaan now. Frozen in horrified amazement, Nyri felt Juaan’s disorientation as he experienced his new body. Four legs instead of two, the ears, the tail, the nose- the scent of the deer. Animal instincts took over his higher thoughts and with a wild howl that ripped through the trees, Juaan the wolf surged forward. In a few clumsy bounds he fell among the deer herd.

  His first inexperienced lunge missed the target and the herd scattered. Juaan swung around recklessly and began driving the deer back towards the Pits at top speed. The ground trembled beneath Nyri’s feet as they came crashing around the edges of the Pit. One or two of the terrified animals ran recklessly close to the edge, dislodging stones beneath their scrambling hooves
. The terrible sense of having death snapping at one’s heels washed across her mind and Nyri found herself shrinking back against the rock wall, fearing for her own life as she struggled to draw her senses back to her own awareness.

  Nyri did not hear the danger until it was too late. The dreadful sound of something heavy tumbling and crunching everything in its wake. She raised her hands instinctively as the massive rock came crashing towards her, bringing broken logs and debris with it. Her muscles locked down. She could not move even to save her own life.

  “Nyriaana!” She heard the cry just as a hard body hit her, knocking her out of death’s reach. It all happened so fast, a blur of motion before her eyes. In midair, he twisted, hitting the ground with her on top. She thought she heard a cry of pain before Juaan was rolling again, this time coming to rest with her beneath him, his arms cradling her head as the killing rock smashed into the very spot where she had been standing. The resounding crack echoed through the forest. Flocks of birds took to the air in a frenzy of flapping wings. Then silence.

  Nyri gasped, trembling from head to foot beneath Juaan’s protective body. She tried to move but her limbs rebelled against her commands until a stifled groan of pain brought her sharply back to her senses.

  “Juaan,” she breathed. He was hurt and she had yet to find out how badly. She pulled herself from beneath him. “Juaan.”

  Nyri sucked in a breath as he sat himself upright with a hiss, rocks and pebbles dislodging from his furs as he moved. Nyri paid no attention. She had eyes only for the jagged, heavy branch, lying next to him on the ground. A protruding, broken off limb was stained red. Nyri paled as she realised Juaan had fallen upon it as he saved her. The jagged point had pierced his shoulder, ripping messily through the furs.

  Juaan reached over with his hand and it came back bloody. He raised an eyebrow mildly at the sight but otherwise showed no other signs of distress.

  “Who’s there?” A voice called out from above. Imaani’s voice.

  No! Nyri panicked. The disturbance had alerted the watchers and they were coming to investigate. Moving quickly, she grabbed Juaan and wrapped herself tightly around him. He struggled and started to protest. “Be still!” she hissed. “I’ve got to hide us. They’ll kill you!”

  Nyri could feel them approaching. They were almost on them. She drew on all of her strength, pulling it like a blanket around them both. She camouflaged her energy, mimicking it to the rock and the plant life around them. She had never ever attempted to shield someone other than herself, she did not know if it could be done. But if she did not, Juaan would be taken from her forever. She had to do it. Nothing else mattered.

  Nyri tightened her hold and attuned herself to Juaan until their very breaths and heartbeats came together and his energy merged with hers. Nyri drew on it and blended it with the surrounding pit. She thought she would pass out from the effort.

  With blurring vision, Nyri looked up to see Imaani’s head appear over the lip of the Pit in the gap she had made in the coverings. His eyes scanned the forest around him. She prayed he would not notice the root dangling into the depths at his feet. Their breathing stopped. Only their heartbeats counted the moments. Nyri watched as her fellow tribesman began to pace around the Pit. He knew something was wrong but he couldn’t find what. Nyri closed her eyes as she concentrated all the more deeply.

  The sounds of brushing undergrowth receded and then… nothing. A bird flew overhead, its flapping wings breaking the stillness that had fallen around them. The next thing Nyri knew, Juaan was breaking himself from her death hold. “I think he’s gone. You can let go now.” His voice was strained.

  “Are you all right?” she asked tightly. She could feel the blood soaking against her garments.

  “I think so,” he said. He rubbed the back of his head. He looked dazed. “Are you?”

  “Of course I am!” she snapped, the shock and the fear were catching up to her now that the danger had passed. “You knocked me out of the way.” A sudden fury choked her. “You fool, you could’ve been killed! They could have found us! How many times have I told you what it would do to me to lose you again!” A couple of tears spilled lose. Nyri wiped at them furiously. She knew she was over-reacting but the shock of the near death experience was heightening her emotional state.

  He watched her warily as she struggled to compose herself.

  “Easy,” he said. “You’re in shock.”

  “Of course I am! I nearly died. Again. They nearly found you!” she ranted, then she saw his face. She bowed her head breathing deeply as she tried to re-find her centre. She was coming apart so easily lately. She did not know herself anymore. “I’m sorry,” she said after a few moments. She moved to kneel in front of him. She looked at the blood dripping to the rock. “Will you let me heal you?” she asked. “Please. I need to see that there is no serious damage.”

  He looked up at her, hesitating.

  Please, she thought at him. Haven’t I proved to you after all this time that you can at least trust in me? Please.

  He must have seen something in her eyes and guessed her thoughts. The hesitation vanished and the tension left his body. He gave in. “If you wish,” he murmured softly.

  “Thank you.” If the situation had been different, her heart would have rejoiced. Wiping the last of the stinging tears from her cheeks, she approached him. The furs were now soaked with blood from the wound the branch had dealt him. The hairs clung sickeningly to the gash. “I need you to take these off.”

  The hesitation was back and his body tensed once more.

  “Please.” Nyri asked again. “I need to see.”

  His lips were tight as he began to pull the furs from his torso. Nyri tried not to stare like a child as he did. Other differences from her race became apparent as he removed his coverings. Again, there was more hair, under the arms and lightly covering his chest. The biggest difference was the musculature. She could see now where his power came from. He was not bulky but the muscles were defined, smooth and strong. His shoulders and chest were broad, his waist narrow and lean. Nyri shut her mouth, realising too late that it was hanging slightly open. He hadn’t looked like this as a boy. An odd but not unpleasant feeling shivered down her spine.

  The reaction confused her and she averted her eyes, embarrassed. She had seen plenty of male bodies in her life and had never reacted in that way before. Nyri found she was attracted to the raw strength he displayed. She scolded herself, she should not be having such Forbidden thoughts. Ninmah, forgive me!

  Any thought, Forbidden or otherwise, quickly fled, however, as she saw past the immediate. Nyri gasped at the numerous scars marring the rich skin. He stared stonily ahead and pretended not to notice her reaction. With increasing horror, Nyri moved around to stand behind him. Even seated, his head near brushed her shoulder. More scars slashed his back. Nyri bit her lip, holding back fresh tears that begged to fall. Not all of these old injuries could come from the accidents of life. What have those monsters done to him? An anger that she had long ago buried rose once more at Baarias for leaving Juaan behind all those years ago.

  Stolidly, Nyri healed his most recent wounds, starting with the deep gash. At the same time, she checked for any hidden injuries that the eyes may be blind to but could prove life threatening if left untreated. Thankfully, there were none. When her task was done, she could no longer hold her tongue.

  “What in Ninmah’s name happened to you?” Nyri reached out to touch a scar on his shoulder. He subtly shifted out of her reach and she dropped her hand. “What did they do to you? Tell me.”

  “It is not for you to know,” he said stubbornly, his jaw set.

  “Don’t give me that,” she growled. “Tell me. Where have all these scars come from? Who did this to you?”

  He stared at her with a mix of frustration and reluctance.

  She sat down in front of him, letting him know she wasn’t going anywhere until she got her answers. She could be stubborn, too. “Please.”

&n
bsp; “You would not understand.”

  “Help me understand. I want to help you.”

  Now there was a definite sadness in the half-smile he gave her. “You cannot help me in this. Nothing has been ‘done’ to me but life.” He drew a breath and Nyri felt her own catch in her throat as she realised he had decided to speak. She was conscious not to make any sound or action that might make him withdraw from her again. “When my clan found me, they were surprised to find that I was half elf. They’d never found anyone like me before.”

  “There are no other Forbidden Ninkuraa in your clan?” Nyri asked before she could stop herself. She felt a thud of disappointment, Ariyaana, evidently, was not with his people.

  “No,” he said. “I am the only one. I believe my clan chief hoped I would possess the power of my elf heritage. When it became clear that I could not control it or pass on my gifts, he was… disappointed. I had to be found another use. As soon as I was strong enough, I was given over to the Spear Chief to become raknari.”

  “What is ‘raknari’?” He had mentioned the word before. A ‘position of high honour’, he had said.

  “A warrior. We are trained to hunt and protect the clan from any threat, no matter the cost to ourselves, the survival of the clan is all.”

  “They would expect you to sacrifice yourself for the clan?”

  Head high, he nodded, annoyed by her tone of consternation. “It is a great honour to be raknari and to protect one’s clan.”

  Nyri bit her tongue. “How do you become raknari?

  He shrugged. “It is not easy.”

  “Tell me.”

  “Training is brutal and very few survive the raknari life for long. You win or you die.”

  “Few survive?” Nyri was aghast. “I assume by that you mean you fight one another. Other tribes?”

  “Yes,” he hissed, losing patience but she did not miss the haunted expression that had crawled across his face. He appeared suddenly much older than he was. “Only the strongest survive to become raknari. Only the strongest survive life. Good territories are getting harder to come by. To secure one, we must be prepared to fight for and defend it. From all.”