by Marlow York
✽ ✽ ✽
I had been asleep for maybe an hour or two when a beastly roar erupted from outside the tent. I bolted upright, the hairs on the back of my neck electrified. Saven hissed sharply from the corner, also startled awake. I wondered what kind of creature could make a sound like that. It sounded like a bear being stabbed to death.
The sound came again, and this time it was unmistakable. The last time I’d heard a scream equaling Tarek’s anguish, my village was being destroyed and my people were dying all around me.
I got up and looked outside as Tarek stormed from the house, cursing in his native language.
“Why must you gods continue to punish me?” he cried to the dark sky above. “Why take them both?”
He fell to his knees in the field, shouting himself hoarse. I felt my throat tighten and tears pricked my eyes. That’s when I realized if he weren’t Shunned, we could have gone to the village Healers for help. His wife and child may have survived.
I stepped out into the darkness, lantern held high, but I had no comfort for him. Neither my words nor actions could have changed anything.
Suddenly, Tarek looked over his shoulder. His wild, crazed eyes pierced right through me, and I gasped in alarm. I backed away, but the footsteps of a deranged and heartbroken man thumped louder than the heart within my chest.
Tarek was on top of me before I knew what was happening. I fell to the ground while his fists rained down over my head and face. I struggled to block him with my arms, his rocklike fists beating bruises onto them. I screamed for him to stop in my own language and in his, but he wouldn’t listen. I felt the world spin and my vision darkened.
Something hard struck Tarek’s side, sending him flying onto his back. Saven loomed over him, fangs bared menacingly. He hissed with such intensity the world seemed to rumble. Venom dripped from his fangs and sizzled when it hit the ground.
Even a Warrior like Tarek couldn’t hide his fear. He gaped at the snake, realizing Saven could snap his spine with a twist of his tail, or poison his blood with a single bite, resulting in an excruciating death as his tissue broke down and blood congealed in his veins. Part of me wanted Saven to kill him. Without Tarek, I could run away. I would take Saven and disappear into the woods, find Jenassa and what was left of my clan, or travel to the nearest village and beg them to adopt me as one of their own. Without Tarek, my life would belong to me again.
Khero thundered towards us and leapt at Saven’s face, snapping his huge jaws inches from the snake’s throat. He planted himself between Tarek and Saven, teeth bared in warning. Though they weren’t matched in size, their protective ferocity was equally terrifying. Khero’s ears were pressed flat to his head, the fur on his back puffed up, just waiting for Saven to make a move.
I then realized the gravity of what I was seeing: two gods in a standoff to protect their human companions. No matter who won the fight, there would be grave consequences to face.
“Saven,” I gasped. I tried to find my voice, looking up at my guardian. “Saven, please don’t.” I placed my hand on his side.
Saven tilted his head towards me, never taking his eyes off the wolf and man. His fangs retracted, but a low hiss continued to emanate from his throat.
Tarek glanced at Khero, speaking to him with his thoughts. The wolf closed his mouth and the thick tuft of fur on the back of his neck settled. He backed towards Tarek, keeping his eyes on Saven. The massive snake curled his tail around me protectively. Despite his size, he touched me like I was a fragile egg. Tarek stood and looked at me, panting. His hard eyes betrayed no thoughts, and he clutched his right side where Saven had hit him.
Tarek spoke to Khero again and the wolf turned and disappeared into the darkness. Tarek continued to watch me, but I was in too much pain to care. Surely nothing good would come from Saven’s attack, and as his slave, he could deal with me as he pleased. His breathing slowed, and eventually he turned and left.
Tarek brushed past Sarrenke as he disappeared into the house. Her clothes and forearms were smeared with blood. She looked after him for a moment, her brows creased with concern and questions, then turned to me. Her bloodshot eyes went wide with shock. “My god,” she whispered.
Saven hissed a warning as Sarrenke approached, moving his upper body to shield me from her.
“It’s alright,” I croaked, tears spilling from my eyes. “Let her help.”
Reluctantly, Saven did as he was told, loosening his coiled tail so Sarrenke could reach me. Her eyes were exhausted and frightened. “It’s okay,” she soothed as she gently touched my injuries, assessing the damage to my face and arms. “You’re going to be okay.”
“You don’t know that,” I said firmly. I winced as she touched my swollen left cheek and swatted her hand away. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
Sarrenke looked at me, her eyes wide with alarm. “I assure you, Tarek has never done anything like this before. He let his feelings overcome him. It is disgraceful.”
I pressed my lips together, ashamed to be crying like a child, but the movement made my face ache. “Tarek is a coward. That’s who he is now. Cowards run from battle, and cowards beat up little girls.”
Sarrenke swallowed. “You are right, he is a coward,” she admitted. “But you are not a little girl anymore. And just like you were once a child, you grew to become a woman. Tarek can also grow out of his cowardice.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Then we all will fall.” Sarrenke looked down at her hands, smeared with my blood as well as the dried blood of Ria and her baby. “We are all part of this unlucky household, bound to Tarek through fate. His successes and failures become our own. That is the Grakkir law. I wish I could tell you we have the power to change it, but that is not a promise I can make.”
I couldn’t hide the shiver that went through me. I glanced up at Saven, who watched closely, listening to my thoughts and sensing my emotions as his own. I was thankful to have him at my side, or my injuries would have been much worse than a collection of bruises and a split lip. If Saven hadn’t been there, I may have been starting the same journey as Ria. When I thought this, feelings of gratitude passed from Saven to myself.
I looked at Sarrenke, who stared down at her hands, tears leaving small rivers through the blood on her skin. She had obviously loved Ria. It was easy for a compassionate person like Sarrenke to love someone else, especially one as innocent as that girl. I touched her shoulder. “Thank you for your kindness.”
She nodded slowly in appreciation. The weight of the last several hours pulled her shoulders downward, and she looked like she hadn’t slept in days. “Let’s get you inside.” She offered her hand and escorted me back into my tent.
Chapter 12
Istood outside the storage hut and watched as Tarek dug a grave near the forest for Ria and their baby—a son, I was told. Sarrenke had offered our help, but Tarek refused. He wouldn’t even allow Khero to paw at the dirt with him, and so the wolf sat nearby, watching his companion sweat in the growing heat. When the hole was finished, Tarek sat on the ground beside it, panting with exhaustion. Sarrenke led Zani towards the forest, pulling a travois carrying a thick bundle of sheets. I went to her side and we made our way across the field.
Tarek’s dirt-smeared face fell at the sight of what was left of his family. Though my cheek was still swollen and stinging from the night before, I couldn’t help it when tears filled my eyes. Much as I wanted to hate Tarek for what he’d done, some empathetic part of me understood why he did it. Not too long ago I’d lost my entire family, and there were plenty of times I wanted to lash out at someone, whether they deserved it or not.
I kept a respectful distance and watched as Tarek struggled to his feet and helped Sarrenke loosen the ropes around Ria’s body. Sarrenke lifted a tiny bundle into her arms and held it tightly as tears rolled down her face, dampening the white fabric. Tarek lifted Ria into his arms and stepped down into her grave, setting her gently on the cold ground. He reache
d up for his son, his lips pressed together and jaw clenched. He held the baby in his massive arms, cradling it with remarkable tenderness. He murmured something to the child before setting it on top of Ria’s body.
We watched Tarek shovel dirt onto the bodies. Sarrenke sniffled and Khero released a quiet whimper once or twice, but I let my tears fall silently. The longer Tarek lifted the shovel, the quicker he forced himself to do so. He was obviously exhausted; I could see the way his arms shook with each lift. His flushed face shined with tears and sweat, but still he pushed himself. Even when he gasped for breath, he refused to slow down. Self-punishment, I realized, was his way of atoning for deaths that were not truly his fault, nor something he could have prevented.
When he was done, Tarek stood and led Zani back to the house, never turning to look back or say anything to the rest of us. Khero followed behind him.
“What did he say to the baby?” I asked Sarrenke.
She sniffed and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “He named him Ramsil, after an old friend. It is bad luck for an unnamed baby to be buried. The gods would not know what to call him when he reaches the other side.”
Only the soft mound of dirt marked Ria and her son’s resting place. In time, grass would grow over it, and it would quickly become lost if no grave marker was erected. Perhaps that was part of Grakkir culture, since they believed we returned to the earth and our spirits joined the gods in some other place. Culture or not, I didn’t think that was an appropriate way to honor Ria.
And so, after everyone had gone to sleep, I stayed awake to sharpen one end of a piece of scrap wood and burn Ria and Ramsil’s names into it with the tip of my finger. Only Saven followed me as I carried the marker to the gravesite and pressed it deep into the ground.
Part 2: Grakkir
Chapter 13
With each passing day, the cold breezes of spring slowly dissipated. No one spoke Ria’s name, but every day I could see her grave marker from across the field. No doubt Tarek had seen it too, and though he never mentioned it, he must have not minded because he hadn’t ripped it from the ground. Perhaps he even appreciated the gesture, though I knew he’d never admit it.
Saven sped through his lanky teenage stage, shedding skins every few weeks. Soon his body nearly filled the storage tent, but he insisted he was comfortable sharing the small space with me.
“Are you going to be as big as your mother someday?” I asked him late one night.
I held a small flame on my index finger and practiced passing it back and forth between my hands. My arms no longer shook from the effort, and it took so little concentration I could easily carry on a conversation.
“Perhaps in several thousand years.” Saven watched the dancing flames with great interest. “Animal Gods grow very slowly at first. We can hide as ordinary animals for many decades, but when we become attached to a human, the connection triggers growth spurts. Both in physical size and intelligence.”
“Your vocabulary has certainly improved since I met you,” I joked with a grin.
Saven’s mouth twitched the way it did when he was trying to smile, and I could feel his amusement. “The history of the Animal Gods is perhaps as confusing as human history is, and three times as long. I don’t fully understand all the nuances of why the bond makes us grow stronger, but it does intrigue me.”
“Bonds can be very important.” I practiced opening and closing my hand, igniting and extinguishing the flames each time. “Even for ordinary humans. For some, connections with friends and family are the most important thing in the world.”
“But not you?”
I held the fire in my palm and frowned. My culture stressed the importance of bonding with the entire community, as well as with individual family households. However, it had been months since my bond had been severed. Until I met Saven, I felt like a broken string flailing in the wind without purpose. My bond with him was stronger than anything I had felt before. He wasn’t just my best friend; our minds were completely connected. We knew what the other was thinking and feeling the moment it happened, and though a relationship with a snake would have been ridiculous to anyone from the Fiero clan or the City, to me it felt like the most natural thing in the world. I could only imagine what Jenassa would say when she finally met him.
I looked up at Saven, knowing he felt the same bond. “I was once a link in a huge chain, and each link was as important as the next. The Fiero clan was everything to me. Now, I feel like that bond has broken. I had no control over it, and I had no choice but to adapt to my situation.”
Saven flicked his tail. “I wasn’t there, and yet I understand exactly what you mean. I know it makes you sad to be without your family and your clan.”
I frowned as I pictured my sister’s face. “It’s best not to think about it.” I let the fire go out, and darkness collapsed around us.
✽ ✽ ✽
The next day, I awoke to a sound I hadn’t heard since I began living with the Grakkir. Someone was knocking on the front door.
I peeked outside the tent and saw a pair of Warriors standing outside the house, and my heart leapt into my throat.
“Why are you scared?” Saven asked worriedly, nudging my shoulder with his nose.
“I think those Warriors are looking for me.” I was breathing heavily, but I tried to keep quiet and not move the tent flap too much.
Sarrenke answered the door because Tarek wasn’t allowed to speak to anyone from the village, even in his own home. I heard Khero growl from somewhere within the house, and one of the Warriors rested his hand on the axe at his side, still scared of the wolf god despite how brave he was supposed to be.
They spoke back and forth several times; Sarrenke was frowning and the Warriors frequently interrupted her. My name passed their lips many times, as well as “slave,” “snake god,” “bad,” and “Elders.” They spoke more quickly than I could accurately translate, but I could tell from the Warriors’ demeanors this wasn’t a social call.
“Are we in danger?” Saven asked.
I honestly wasn’t sure, but I knew nothing good could come from the visit. To my knowledge, no one had come to Tarek’s front door in years, so that fact alone was likely not a good sign.
“We might be,” I admitted. Suddenly, I felt trapped inside the small storage hut.
One of the Warriors glanced in my direction, and I quickly ducked behind the tent flap, as though it could do anything to protect me. I crept to the very back of the tent and knelt there, waiting for the sound of approaching footsteps. Saven lay between me and the tent flap, poised to strike at anyone who might try to harm me.
To my surprise, I heard footsteps walking away a few moments later.
I hesitated for a minute, but it was clear the Warriors weren’t going to take me away. Not yet, anyway. I stood and opened the tent flap again, but there was no one outside, just the empty field.
“What did they want?” Saven asked.
I didn’t know, but I was determined to find out. If I was going to be punished, I didn’t want to cower in the corner and wait for someone to come for me. “Let’s ask Sarrenke.”
Before I could rap my knuckles on the door, it flew open and Tarek’s glaring face was in mine. I almost shrunk away but stopped myself. I could already feel heat pressing against my hands, but I curled them into fists so he couldn’t see the fire growing there. Instinct told me to fear him, but I reminded myself that my secret made me more powerful than he realized.
Rather than admonish me, Tarek did something unexpected. He stepped aside and held the door open.
I hesitated, but when I realized it wasn’t a trick I stepped into the house. My body stiffened while I anticipated an angry fist, but Tarek didn’t move. I’d grown accustomed to his unpredictable temper, which lead me to believe something great or terrible had happened to cause this sudden change in behavior.
Sarrenke knelt on the floor at the low table and looked up at me with pressed lips. Whatever the Warriors said to her had cau
sed a great amount of stress. “Please, sit down.” She gestured to one of the other cushions on the floor.
I obliged, and Saven watched closely from outside the window as Tarek sat beside Sarrenke. Khero filled the remaining space beside me. I noticed how Tarek and Khero both positioned themselves with their backs to the wall, eyes on me and the door.
“I am sure you saw our visitors a moment ago.” Sarrenke spat the word “visitors” as though it carried a bitter flavor.
“Yes,” I confirmed. “They were looking for me, weren’t they?”
She nodded. “And I am sure you know why.”
“I can imagine.” My heart thumped with worry. “They want to punish me for having Saven, don’t they?”
The snake perked up at the mention of his name, sending pinpricks of anxiety towards me.
“I do not know exactly,” Sarrenke admitted, “but that is possible. More specifically, they were sending a message from Ysolda.”
I pictured the old woman’s creased face and the way her wise eyes shot right through me. Chills ran up and down my arms. Although it was the bat goddess who had sensed the Ancient Fire within me, I suspected Ysolda may have sensed something too.
“She wants to speak with you immediately,” Sarrenke continued. “She said there is something about you that is very unusual, a suspicion only amplified by the Snake Goddess’s blessing, and she must determine if it is a good thing or a bad thing.”
I glanced at Tarek, who watched me carefully with his cold eyes. It was difficult to tell if he was irritated by this information, or if I confused him as much as I confused Ysolda.
“The blessing of an Animal God is a good thing, isn’t it?” I asked.
“Yes,” Sarrenke agreed. “But for an outsider to win the favor of an Animal God is unheard of. She suspects there is something about you that summoned the Snake Goddess, besides saving her young son.”
