Renzhies

by Mara Duryea

  Through a thicket of bushes, I spotted the glow of a fire at the base of a gnarled star tree. Forcing more speed into my legs, I shoved through the vegetation. I stood on the edge of a small clearing.

  The rider sat before a crackling fire. The tunnel entrance to a bunker gaped behind him. He couldn’t perceive anything beyond the circle of firelight as he dropped cooked meat into a round basket.

  When finished, he drew from his pocket a piece of cloth and stared at it. The corners of his mouth tugged down and he clenched the cloth in his fists. His pain stretched across the short length separating us, and my throat choked up.

  “My,” I whispered breathlessly, and hurried forward, but stopped as light gleamed at the end of the tunnel.

  “Rezh,” someone within called, “is it done yet?” The unseen man possessed a messy-sounding accent.

  Rezh shoved the cloth into his pocket. “Not yet.” Resting his elbows on his knees, he dropped his head into his hands.

  “Daddy,” said a whining voice, “I’m hungry! When will Uncle Rezh be done cooking?”

  I crouched down as a shadow approached from the tunnel and a lanky Berivor man appeared. He was as tall as Rezh, but he was knobby. It didn’t seem like his spine could handle his height, for he was bent like a skinny tree.

  “You are done with the food!” He picked up the basket. “What are you doing out here?”

  “What do you care?” said Rezh without looking up.

  “People are dying inside, and you’re pretending the fire is your child.”

  “Eat Cubon, Potesac.”

  “He’s not coming back.”

  Rezh glared at him. “Really? Aren’t you a genius. I’d never have figured it out.”

  Potesac frowned. “It doesn’t look like you know. You must think he’s running around as a bloodheart or something. You made him ripe for one.”

  “Zhesspet!” Rezh sprang up and punched Potesac’s cheekbone in one movement. The knobby Berivor retaliated, throwing the basket into Rezh’s face. My rider knocked it away, but Potesac punched him in the jaw and Rezh staggered against the tunnel wall.

  They would have torn one another to shreds, but a Miricor hastened from the tunnel and shoved between them. He was big like Rindar. I would have thought it was Rindar, too, had the Miricor not been so light-skinned.

  “What are you doing?” he said in perfect Zherwor. “Potesac, take that food inside.”

  Some countries call Zherwor the Syliss language, others the Visserian. In point of fact, both speak the same language. Its proper designation is Zherwor, the name of the two lands before they split. Now Zherwor is a territory of Visseria, and also the northern mountain chain bordering Merisyliss and Limminath. Limminathians refer to it as the Border Mountains. The Syliss have nicknamed it The Mirror Mountains.

  “I was only telling the truth,” Potesac snarled.

  The Miricor held Rezh at bay with a powerful arm. “You had no right. You still have Ikalkor.”

  Potesac grimaced at Rezh, but slunk back into the tunnel with the basket.

  The Miricor fell into a coughing fit, and Rezh looked down with knit brows. “It is my fault, Terros.”

  The Miricor took several long breaths. “You were in shock. Any of us would have been. Zhin just happened to witness it.”

  “Would I have gotten over it if he hadn’t…” Rezh’s voice cracked.

  Terros held his hand up to stop him. “You got over it the moment he wandered off.”

  Rezh rubbed his jaw where Potesac had punched him. “Why didn’t we find his body?”

  Terros didn’t answer the question. “Let’s go in. The Safe Periods are almost over.”

  “I’ll put the fire out. Tell Gilanra I’ll be in soon.” There was a depressed sigh in Rezh’s voice when he said the woman’s name.

  Terros’s mouth worked. “Yeah.” He went back inside, and Rezh drowned the fire, plunging everything in darkness, except the orange light at the end of the tunnel. His shadow stirred the ashy soup with a stick, and then he headed inside.

  A feeling of abandonment washed over me. He was going to lock me out! I dashed to the tunnel entrance. Firelight from the open bunker door shined around my tug’s wiry silhouette.

  The next word slipped out of my mouth from my tongue’s memory. “Daddy?”

  Rezh spun around with a gasp. My vision hazed over as pain needled through my chest. The words “I don’t want him!” bombarded my ears. My fangs elongated. I was betrayed, hated and despised! I tore for the river.

  Rezh’s strangled shout pierced the night. “No!” He charged after me. “Zhin! Zhin!”

  Potesac lunged out of the tunnel and seized his arm. “Control yourself!”

  Rezh struggled in his grip. “It’s him, it’s him, let me go!”

  “He’s dead!” Potesac shook him. “There’s something else out there!”

  Rezh shoved him down and pursued me.

  “You’re going insane!” Potesac hollered. “Terros!” He ducked back into the bunker.

  Rezh’s long legs propelled him across the clearing in a matter of seconds. He swiped the fire stick across a rock sticking out of the ground as I plunged into the bushes. The light glowed on the swinging leaves from my passage.

  “Zhin!” Rezh dashed through the undergrowth. “Baby, stop!” I reached the roiling river and his fire stick drenched me in light. “Zhin!”

  Splashing into the freezing water, I heard myself crying as if I were outside my body. The current knocked me off my feet. I tumbled beneath the icy surface and through the airless dark. This time I had no desire to reach the surface. My little heart wailed for death, but it never came. A powerful hand seized my wrist and yanked me up. I sucked in air as I landed against a warm, wet chest, but I was still in the river.

  “Rezh,” Terros shouted from the shore, “get out of there! Swim this way!”

  I looked blearily around as I held onto a strong neck. It was like I hadn’t slept in days and the exhaustion had finally caught up with me.

  Eerie howls resonated on the air.

  “M’kriths!” Potesac screamed.

  “Zhesspet!”

  “Go!” Rezh hollered. “There’s nothing you can do!”

  The waves dragged us under. The wild currents spun us in all directions. Sometimes our heads burst into air. Sometimes a current dragged us to the bottom only to spit us out. I clung to Rezh with arms and legs. His hand pressed against my mouth and nose every time we submerged. He ever kicked for shore and finally crawled gasping onto the bank. The howls reached a fevered pitch.

  My breath floated into the moonlit air as Rezh scrambled to the nearest star tree. He rushed around it in search of an opening large enough for him. As the howls closed in, a black shadow marking an entrance loomed beneath an arched root. Rezh squeezed inside, and we landed on piles of dead star leaves. They warmed the place a little.

  Heavy footfalls rushed past our hiding spot. Rezh and I froze, not daring to breathe. Something shrieked. Ugly snarls and rough growls mingled together like a hideous duet. The wails of the slaughter seemed to last for Periods, but the white Evening Moon had barely risen when it ended and left the forest in haggard silence.

  Rezh’s breath rattled from his lungs and he pressed his cheek against my head. “Don’t be a dream, please, please, please. Is my little one really come back to me?” Breaking down in tears, he kissed my head and cheeks over and over again. “I love you, Zhin. I love you.” Catching my ears gently in his fingers, he leaned his head against mine.

  My fangs receded. “I love you too, Daddy.” I wiped his moist cheek with my fingers. “Don’t cry.” I kissed his chin, hoping to comfort him.

  “I’m happy now, Zhin,” said Rezh softly, and kissed my chubby hand. “Baby needs to get dry now.” He pulled off my wet clothes and then removed his own. He laid them out on the leaves. Gathering me into his arms, he crawled into the burrow and pulled more leaves over us.

  As my dad caressed my head, a kimrin trilled a
sleepy song among the trees. Rezh hummed in a low voice until I fell asleep.

  ***

  A work-worn thumb caressed my cheek. I rolled into my dad’s chest and breathed him in. He smelled like the nutty mint leaves. I could feel the rough fabric of his shirt against my nose, cheeks, and mouth. He suddenly sat up as a coughing fit attacked him. It sounded like Terros’s ugly cough.

  I opened my eyes in gray morning light. It filtered through swirling mist at the tree’s entrance. Rezh sat beside it, holding his chest in pain. He’d already dressed, even though parts of his clothes were still damp.

  “Morning Sun, Daddy,” I said.

  Rezh smiled with pale face. “Morning Sun, Baby.” He held his arms out, and I threw myself into them.

  I kissed his cheek. “Are you hungry, Daddy? I can get you something to eat.” It was time to put Monster Mother skills to work.

  His arms tightened around me. “No. You stay by me. We’ll eat when we get home. You’re cold.” He picked up my pants. “It’s cold, but you’ll make it warm.” He helped me into my freezing pants, and I gasped in shock. Rezh pulled his baggy shirt over me and my head popped up next to his. He sighed and just held me. I quickly warmed. “Zhin…” He took a shuddering breath.

  “What, Daddy?”

  He rested his cheek against mine. “I’m so sorry.”

  I patted his back. “It’s okay.”

  “Do you know why Daddy was upset?”

  I frowned. “You were mad at me?”

  “No, no. Nothing was your fault.” He turned his face to mine. His amber eyes were so miserable that I was ready to jump into the river and catch him a fish. For some reason, I thought it would make him feel better. “I have to tell you something that I never told you before. I need you to understand.”

  I grew solemn. “Okay.”

  “Rezh!” Terros shouted somewhere outside. “Rezh!” His voice sounded scratchy and weak.

  Rezh and I glanced at one another, and then my dad squeezed out from under the star tree. I gripped him around the neck.

  Terros was riding towards us on kiderrin-back, his face startlingly pale. His furrowed brow smoothed at sight of us. Being clasped in my dad’s arms all night had restored mind and body. I remembered Terros was my uncle. Where were my mother and grandma?

  “Zhin!” he cried.

  Pulling up next to us, Terros half tumbled out of the frame, plucked me out of my dad’s shirt, and squeezed me. “Rezh did see you last night! The minamee is okay!” He took a rattling breath. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine,” I said into his shoulder.

  “Good, good.” He turned his head away, coughing.

  Rezh felt his forehead. “You got worse.”

  “So did you. I brought blankets, just in case you didn’t die.”

  Rezh took the blankets down. “How are Gilanra and Vaylee?”

  Terros frowned. “Mom’s worse, and Gilanra…”

  Rezh gripped his shoulders. “What?”

  “She’s delirious. She doesn’t know where she is. She was calling for you and the minamee all night. If we don’t get her to a vozhrith, I don’t think she’ll get well.”

  Rezh looked ready to throw up. “No vozhrith will take a wanderer, especially a Syladin. I’ll bring a vozhar here.”

  “I’m coming with you. We have to take Zhin with us. He can’t go into the bunker. Everyone has a fever now.”

  18

  Crossed Paths

  Terros had brought everything we needed to kidnap a vozhar. Instead of returning to the bunker, we galloped towards a well-used road near two hundred miles away. It was an easy stretch for a kiderrin. I leaned against Rezh’s stomach, peeling red bark from a stick.

  “Where were you, Baby?” said Rezh.

  The underground house loomed in my mind’s eye, and I squirmed. “I was with Sizhirin.”

  Rezh’s arms stiffened. “Did this man hurt you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Zhesspet!” Rezh’s claws extended, but he forced them back in. “Tell me more, Baby.”

  He and Terros listened in silence as I related my messed up adventures. Their growing rage seeped off of them like flames. A spasm ripped through my dad when I started on Monster Mother. His breath caught in his throat several times. At last, I reached the part about Rindar.

  “I don’t know where he is now,” I concluded.

  “Maybe he’s headed this way,” said Rezh. “He might be looking for you.” He took a breath and hugged me. “You’re very brave, Zhin.”

  I brightened up. “I am?” I was brave just like him.

  Near White Sun, Terros stopped the kiderrin and tethered it to a thin root. With weapons, rope, and a gag in hand, we traveled on foot to the road.

  Both Rezh and Terros carried six-foot hammers on their backs, but in their sickness, the weapons grew too heavy. By the time the road appeared, they were ready to drop them in any old place.

  We crouched in the shadows. Terros and Rezh leaned the hammers against a tree. We couldn’t see the town, but the scent of baking bread and pies traveled through the wood. It reminded me of the town the haladon had trampled.

  “Vozhars travel this road all the time,” said Terros. Being the scout of our band, my uncle knew all sorts of things. We’d traveled this road several times throughout the years. Terros’s nimble memory kept note of everything.

  Rezh fell into a nasty coughing fit. It sounded like his lungs were being lacerated. Leaning over a branch, his body jerked and tensed as sweat beaded on his forehead. My dad had never sounded so awful. How was it to have nobody to take care of you when you were sick? Finally, he stopped and gasped for air.

  Terros watched him as he scratched worriedly at red bark, but there was nothing he could do. As soon as my dad had caught his breath, Terros turned to me.

  “Watch for red robes, Zhin.”

  White Sun crawled by. Rezh and Terros hardly spoke. All they wanted to do was lie down and die. I began tearing leaves in half to see the golden sap inside. I licked it in the name of science. The stuff borderline stung my tongue with its mintiness. I jerked and spat it out. My dad and uncle chuckled.

  Voices suddenly filtered the quiet air. The sickness plaguing Rezh and Terros seemed to evaporate as their attention aimed at the road. I crouched between them, ready to do whatever a seven-year-old did on his first kidnapping.

  A dozen wounded people on a half-burnt wagon rolled down the path. Some of the kiderrins limped. They passed by, but no vozhar attended them.

  Terros slumped against the tree and held his head in his hand. He took several deep breaths, as if he were about to throw up. Rezh doubled over a branch and barfed. I continued to watch. A lone woman dressed in a red robe appeared on kiderrin-back. A wide-brimmed hat fashioned from star leaves shaded her face.

  “There!” I squeaked.

  Rezh and Terros darted to the edge of the road.

  “Stay here, Zhin,” said Rezh. He glanced at his heavy hammer, and then at Terros. A silent agreement passed between them, and they slipped through the foliage without the weapons.

  I didn’t see them until they cut the kiderrin off. Rezh caught the bridle and pounded the beast’s nose as Terros bounded beside the vozhar and dragged her from the kiderrin. Her hat toppled from her head and into the dirt. White feathery hair spilled around her shoulders. She let loose a piercing cry, but Terros covered her mouth. He would have vanished into the forest with her, but another kiderrin appeared at full speed. Its rider’s uncovered head revealed my grandpa.

  The dark-skinned Miricor sprang from the giant lizard and tackled Terros into the road’s edge. The woman rolled on her back as the two Miricors engaged. The older moved with liquid grace, and the other with the ferocity of a retsinist.

  Rezh leaped into the fray, catching Rindar’s wrist before he stabbed Terros in the ribs. Rindar kicked him to the ground, but my dad only grew angry. He lunged back into the fight. At the same time, Terros cracked Rindar in the jaw. The older Miricor sta
ggered against the woman’s stunned kiderrin. They charged him. Anyone else would have succumbed to the attack, but Rindar blocked and parried the heavy blows.

  Though not as skilled as Rindar, my dad and uncle were like the predators in the forest. They’d fought off other wandering bands to protect the family. They’d do what it took to kidnap the vozhar.

  Rindar would kill them as soon as he had the chance. He wasn’t panicked like other people who’d encountered wanderers. He’d faced too many dangers. Wanderers were just another of the rabble. He’d battle a thousand in order to protect the woman.

  Wanderers kidnapped women almost as a form of sport. Nobody ever saw them again. Those who escaped abounded with horror stories. My own band wasn’t guilty of these atrocities, but Rindar didn’t know. Nobody could.

  I shoved out of the bushes. “No, no, stop!” I dashed down the road. The woman was sprinting towards me, downy hair flailing out behind her like white sails. About thirty feet away from her, I recognized her: Velevy. Her petrified countenance turned to confusion at sight of me and she slowed down.

  “Minamee, what…” Her light gray eyes darted to my left and widened. “Zhin!”

  A bloodheart lunged from the foliage. It was a Berivor standing to Velevy’s chest. Catching me in pallid arms, it darted for the forest, but Velevy tackled it down.

  The bloodheart didn’t flee like it should have, but attacked her. She hooked one arm around me as she pounded the creature in the face. It raked at her head and shoulders, hissing in fury. Its bloody eyes bled down its snarling face and into its gnashing teeth. The two jerked me back and forth as I screamed.

  “Leneet, leneet, leneet!” Velevy shrieked in Vaylanian. Let go, let go, let go! She wrenched me from the creature and kicked it full in the face. Its teeth shattered as its nose flattened.

  Swinging me into her arms, Velevy turned to run, and slammed into Sizhirin. His mouth stretched into a grimace as he cracked her in the face. As Velevy staggered back, Sizhirin swiped me from her grasp and shoved her down. Four more bloodhearts emerged from the forest.