by Marlow York
I didn’t know what to say for a long while. She was right; a Warrior should not abandon his men, but I was surprised to hear Tarek would show such compassion to the enemy. Ramsil, I thought. That was the name Tarek had given to his deceased son.
“I am very sorry for your loss,” I began quietly. “But with all due respect, that was many years ago. You banished him and refused to speak to him, but trust me when I tell you that he fully understands the gravity of what he did. After all this time, he has done everything you required of him. He even fought alongside the village when the City attacked, but now when he needs you most, you ignore him. How can you claim the Grakkir look out for their own while you leave one of your own to die? He didn’t run away so that your son would be killed, he ran away to show compassion towards another human being.”
“The enemy,” Ysolda spat.
“You said it yourself,” someone chimed in. The young woman with the lynx at her side. “You said you allowed him to stay on the outskirts of the village because his actions contradicted the evil rumors about the Grakkir and our cruelty, which ultimately made it easier to reach a truce during that battle. Why would you be the one to behave cruelly now?”
Ysolda glared at her. “Do not question my decisions, Njada. We voted fairly, and our vote was the decision I accepted that day.”
“You voted to have him sent away,” the middle-aged man added. The man with the red fox companion. “I did as well. He has lived out there for seven years, never once causing trouble, always doing what is asked of him. Do not preach the words of compassion and forgiveness when you cannot deliver them yourself.”
“Quiet! You were not the ones who lost a son that day!” Ysolda spat.
I took a deep breath. “You were not the one who lost an entire village in one day. My family is gone, but I have found another family within the Grakkir. I do not want to lose anyone else I care about to the City.”
As Ysolda looked at me, her wrath seemed to calm, though I could tell how desperately she wanted to remain angry. Anger, I realized, is often easier than forgiveness. Even as an Elder, she had a hard time relinquishing her grudge, though deep down I could tell she wanted to let go, even if only for her own good.
“Tarek told the City nothing about us, I know it,” I continued. “After all this time, he still fights to protect the clan that cast him aside. If he is going to die, then the least you can do is let him die respectfully, not writhing in pain with burden in his heart.”
Ysolda was silent. Kalon looked at her, but she brushed him aside with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Quiet,” she hissed at him, sitting back in her chair. She refused to look at anyone.
“You are right,” said the young man with the elk at his side. “Young Valieri, you are wise beyond your years, and a brave Warrior. I personally do not blame you or Tarek for human weakness.”
He turned and disappeared into another room. When he returned, he carried a large box. The other members of the Council stood, and each took an item from the box. I saw bandages, two small vials, a metal flask, and a package wrapped in dark paper.
Each member of the Elder Council approached me with one of the items. When they passed them to me, Ysolda watched and said nothing.
“Take these to him, and make sure he knows who gave them,” Njada told me, passing me one of the small vials. “Also, tell Sarrenke who has not given anything to him. She will know the significance.” She gave Ysolda a look, but the old woman said nothing in response.
“Thank you,” I told them, bowing my head. I turned and hopped on Khero’s back, and we raced out of the building.
✽ ✽ ✽
When I returned from the Elder Council, I hurried straight into Tarek’s room. Khero stood protectively beside the door, which was opened just enough for me to slip through. Saven stayed outside the house, standing guard.
“What did the Elders have to say?” Sarrenke asked. She knelt beside Tarek’s bed, waiting to pat sweat from his brow or give him sips of water when he awoke. I was grateful for her attentive, kind nature.
I showed her the medical supplies I’d brought back, and her eyes widened with surprise. “The Elder Council gave these?” she asked.
“All except Ysolda,” I said quietly.
Sarrenke was silent but gave a solemn nod. She opened each of the vials and wafted their scents. I hadn’t the slightest idea what they were, but I trusted Sarrenke’s knowledge and skills.
“I don’t think any of us are safe here,” she finally said.
“Most of the village has already left.” I bit my lip and watched Tarek gasp for breath, his brow furrowed with pain. “It’s only a matter of time before the City attacks again. Even if they never find out what happened to the prisoners, they will blame the Grakkir and retaliate.”
“Then it is good the villagers are leaving,” Sarrenke said. She removed the blood-soaked bandage from Tarek’s side and applied some of the contents from the vials. Then she opened the metal flask and dripped the liquid slowly between Tarek’s parted lips.
“Perhaps I should give myself up,” I told her.
Sarrenke looked at me suddenly. Even Khero growled outside the door.
“The Grakkir never give themselves to the enemy,” she said hotly. “We answer to no one except our own people.”
I failed to suppress a small grin. “You sound like a Warrior when you talk like that.”
Sarrenke smiled a little. Tarek groaned and opened his glazed eyes. He stared blankly up at the ceiling, muttering incoherently under his breath. The infection was spreading, and we had few supplies to help fight it. I realized he might not make it to tomorrow.
“I told the Elders about his condition. Everyone seemed sympathetic, except for Ysolda.”
“Do you understand why?”
I nodded gravely. “She blames Tarek for her son’s death.”
“Yes,” Sarrenke muttered.
Khero peeked his massive head through the doorway and whimpered softly. It was strange to see him so worried; normally the wolf was as steadfast and stoic as his companion. I understood how he was feeling, because I was worried too. I respected Tarek as a friend and mentor, and I sensed he had grown to respect me as well.
“Almost like a family,” Saven said from outside.
I glanced from Khero to Sarrenke, and finally my eyes fell on Tarek. An odd sensation filled my stomach, a lightness I hadn’t felt in a very long time.
“I think I have done all I can,” Sarrenke finally said. She stepped away from the bed, her hands bloodied and her eyes glossy with exhaustion. Tarek had fallen asleep not long after she administered the drops from the flask. He hadn’t even flinched when Sarrenke sewed the wound in his side with a curved needle and thread.
“You should get some rest,” I told her. “I’ll watch over him.”
“Did you see any movement from the City?”
“No movement, we only heard a siren. I don’t know if it carried way out here.”
“It did not,” Sarrenke said. “I don’t think they would use a siren loud enough to warn us of an impending attack.” She tried to wipe Tarek’s blood from her hands onto a cloth, but much of it had already dried. “They will likely attack again soon.”
“I don’t know why they haven’t attacked already.”
Sarrenke looked away, her eyes distant. “They are very calculating with their confrontations. It is not in their nature to attack suddenly after something like that has happened, but then again, they are not the type to let their enemies regroup and prepare a counterattack. They must be up to something.” She looked at me again. “I will go to the Elders and insist they move the rest of the village immediately.”
“There weren’t many people left.”
“Perhaps you should rest then. I must return these items to the Council before they leave,” Sarrenke said.
“You are not going with them?” I asked.
Sarrenke shook her head. “Though my status is a little higher than Tarek’s, w
e are still not allowed to travel with the village. We must wait until everyone leaves, then we may follow.”
I looked at Tarek, sleeping with a deep crease in his brow. He was in no condition to travel anywhere, Sarrenke and I both knew that.
“I will be back soon.” I watched as she left the room, and waited until I heard the door shut before I looked at Tarek again.
Khero entered the room and stood close to Tarek’s side. He nuzzled the man’s arm gently and whimpered when there was no response.
“He’s just sleeping,” I assured the wolf. “The medicine made him go to sleep.” Without thinking, I placed my hand tiredly on the wolf’s shoulder. Khero sat down beside me and sniffed at my face. “Yes, I’m tired too. I don’t want to leave him though.”
Khero opened and closed his mouth, a rumbling sound coming out. I knew he was speaking to me in his wolf language, and it made me a little sad that I couldn’t understand him. It would have been nice to speak to the wolf at a time like this. Khero was the closest friend Tarek had.
Tears slipped from my eyes before I could stop them. “The death has to stop,” I said. “All of this is because of me; I’m the one who should be hurt or dead, not these innocent people.”
Khero growled, and Saven’s sympathy found its way to me.
Tarek groaned quietly and his hand twitched. I could see his eyes moving under his eyelids. I put my hand gently on his shoulder, hoping to ease whatever nightmares he might be facing.
“Valieri, someone is here,” Saven hissed suddenly.
My heart leapt with panic until I heard a familiar throaty shriek. Kalon was calling to me.
“Keep an eye on him,” I told Khero. I stood and headed for the front door.
Sure enough, the vulture was standing just outside the house. Saven hissed to the bird, who responded back to him. He hopped over to me and lifted one of his massive talons. I noticed a small object tied to his leg.
I untied the string and held the object in my hand. Without another word, the vulture flapped his huge wings and disappeared over the trees, heading back towards the village.
“He said to give that to Tarek,” Saven told me. “Tell him, ‘there wasn’t much left to choose from.’ He will understand what it means.” Saven cocked his head, looking down at my hands. “What is it?”
It was a small piece of curved, off-white ceramic. It appeared to be handmade. I’d seen similar things in my own village, but we normally coated them with a protective lacquer to keep them from being damaged. “I think it’s the handle of a coffee cup.” I looked towards the village questioningly. “Why would she send him a broken piece of a cup?”
“Perhaps Tarek will know the significance.”
As I turned, I saw Sarrenke leave the forest and head towards us. I walked back into the house, and when I stepped into Tarek’s room, I was surprised to see his eyes were open, though they were still heavy from the potion Sarrenke had given him.
“Tarek.” I knelt beside him and placed my hand on his arm.
“Hello, my wife,” he breathed. It was perhaps the most affectionate thing he had ever said to me, and it caught me off guard.
“Kalon brought you something from Ysolda,” I said quickly. I held up the piece of ceramic so he could see it. “She said there wasn’t much left to choose from. Does that mean anything to you?”
Tarek’s eyes struggled to focus on the object, but his lip quivered when he realized the significance. He reached his hand up and I placed the item in his palm, then closed his fist. He turned his face into the pillow and his body heaved with what could have been laughter or tears.
“It means he is allowed back into the clan,” Sarrenke said over my shoulder.
I turned and saw tears brimming her exhausted eyes. “What? How?”
“Everyone in the clan has forgiven him.” Sarrenke knelt beside me, eyes glued to Tarek’s closed fist. “When Tarek was banished, he was forced to give up everything he owned and start over with nothing. He was forbidden from entering the village, and he could not speak to anyone. He spent years doing everything he could to regain some of his lost status, even as an outsider. That’s why he went with the Scouts to salvage the remains of your village, and that’s why he insisted on taking you as slave. His actions were meant to prove to the Elder Council that he was worthy of being called Grakkir once again. As other Grakkir began to forgive him, they brought his possessions back to him. Even so, he wasn’t fully one of the clan again because not everyone had forgiven him. Until now.”
“Ysolda,” I blurted. “She was the last one to forgive.”
Sarrenke frowned and shook her head with disapproval. “She was making him prove himself to the Council, but also making him jump through hoops to earn her forgiveness.” She sat against the wall and swore under her breath. “Even the mightiest of our kind have their downfalls. I never would have guessed Ysolda could be crueler than even the cruelest of our Warriors.”
I watched Tarek as he stared at the mug handle and drifted back into unconsciousness. When he fell asleep, the handle slipped from his hands and landed on the floor with a clatter. I picked it up and stared at it. “She waited until he was nearly dead to forgive him?”
Sarrenke frowned at me, and I think we both had to admit what we feared was true. Tarek would not get better. He was dying, and all we could do was wait for it to happen.
I took the piece of ceramic in both hands and snapped it in half. I called the Ancient Fire, and we all watched as the ceramic burned into nothing.
Chapter 24
Tarek’s condition deteriorated alarmingly quick throughout the day. It was clear he had a bad infection, but there was something else that didn’t seem right.
“His blood is unclean,” Saven said. He peeked his head into the room and flicked his tongue.
“The infection?” I asked.
“Not just that. He has changed on the inside. His blood smells different.”
“His blood smells different?” I asked aloud.
Sarrenke gave me a strange look, then glanced at Tarek. “I wonder,” she murmured.
She walked over to the bed. She touched Tarek’s forehead, no doubt feeling the fever that raged beneath his skin. She gently turned his head towards the wall and examined the back of his neck.
“What are you looking for?” I asked.
Sarrenke exhaled slowly. “This.”
I looked closely and saw the slightest pinprick at the base of Tarek’s skull. It was hardly noticeable amidst the barrage of much larger wounds that covered his body.
“What is that?”
Sarrenke straightened and looked at the wall. “In your entire life, have you ever seen a Fiero enter the City and return?”
I shook my head. “Not that I ever saw. They rarely were taken in, but anyone who did was never heard from again.”
“If you were to enter the City, you would find the people there act very…different. Almost like they are happily oblivious to the world outside the walls.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
Sarrenke finally looked at me. “To explain it simply, the City has ways of controlling their people’s emotions. It is impossible to avoid, as they put things in the water, the food, even in the air. Much of it appears benign, but they always seek to push further. To do that, they must practice on someone.”
My mouth fell open. “You mean they experiment on people? On my people?”
“On anyone who is taken into custody.” Sarrenke looked down at Tarek, her eyes grave. “I suspect they did something to him and his body is rejecting it.”
“Saven said his blood is different. What could that mean?”
Sarrenke looked thoughtful. “I don’t know everything about their experiments; they keep it all very secretive. But, I think they may have tried to alter his blood or his DNA and his body is fighting itself. That is why he is dying, not from his injuries.”
“Maybe that’s why he was outside the City,” I whispered.
&nbs
p; “He was outside?” Sarrenke looked surprised.
“Yes, he was just sitting there, all alone. When Saven and Khero saw him, they didn’t recognize him. They thought he was someone completely different. Maybe that was part of the experiment.”
“How is that possible?” Sarrenke said, more to herself than anyone else.
“What?” I asked.
She stared down at him, her mind working faster than her lips could explain. “They…tried to make him not a Grakkir. They made him seem like an enemy to the Animal Gods so when they saw him, they would kill him.”
“How do they even know about the Animal Gods?” I asked in horror. I thought about how easy it had been to walk through the Fiero village. There were no guards on patrol, no one watching us. Or so we assumed.
“I don’t know what they know,” Sarrenke replied. “Maybe it was a hunch, since they know a Fiero with Ancient Fire is alive. Maybe they assumed the Grakkir have Ancient Powers too. Surely their leaders saw that as an opportunity to break the peace treaty.”
The City was much smarter than I realized. How was it they always seemed to be three steps ahead of us?
Tarek groaned, interrupting my thoughts. He was shivering almost nonstop despite a voracious fever, and when he coughed, blood splattered from his mouth. I hadn’t felt this helpless since the night I fled from the burning Fiero village.
At Tarek’s request, I climbed into bed beside him to keep him warm. Sometimes he recognized us and spoke to us directly. Other times, he seemed to drift into the past and spoke to people neither I nor Sarrenke had ever met. Were they old friends? Relatives? His parents? As I watched him and listened to his words, I began to regret never knowing his family, or what he was like before the village cast him out.
