Seeking the Dream

by Marcia J. Bennett

  It seems that I have little choice, Amet responded testily, his panic subsiding as he realized that his best chance for survival lay in helping, not hindering, the transfer.

  Good, the Tamorlee said. Here again is what I received from Mithdaar and Little Fish. The scene flowed quickly through their minds and locked on the image of the pier and the lakeside ruins. Concentrate on the roadway at the end of the pier, the crystal directed. Hold tight to that image. Ready? Now!

  Lil-el pushed away from the wall and moved to the stone steps. “They should be gone by now. Let’s take a look.”

  Theon nodded and followed her up the crumbling steps into the fading evening light. The pier and roadway were empty, which meant that the Wastelanders had returned to the upper plateau, taking Bhaldavin with them.

  Lil-el led the way down onto the path that paralleled the waterfront road and paused. In order to reach the hidden entrance to the mansion they would have to follow one of two trails: the one to the right was a long steep climb, but they would be under cover of trees or buildings most of the way; the one to the left was more direct, but the pathway was open and visible from the stockade walls for several long stretches.

  “Left or right?” Theon whispered.

  “Right,” Lil-el answered. “It will take us longer, but we’ll…” Her words trailed off as she caught sight of something near the end of the pier. “Down!” she hissed, and grabbed at Theon’s arm.

  Theon dropped to the ground, his heart beating wildly. Had the Wastelanders set a trap? What had Lil-el seen? Before he could ask, she pointed.

  He rose up on his hands and knees and joined her in peering over the top of the bushes in front of them. Something shimmered on the water. It was a light. No, not a light and not on the water. It was on the roadway next to the pier. What was it? Something was growing within the shimmering green light.

  Theon’s eyes opened wide in amazement as three figures suddenly appeared. The light faded, and in the darkness left behind stood three shadow figures that moved slightly away from each other.

  Unsure about what he had just seen, Theon drew his light gun, raised it, and pointed it at the three figures.

  Lil-el caught at his wrist, her fingernails digging into his flesh. “No!” she whispered urgently. “Wait!”

  “Why?” Theon hissed back.

  “Theon, we must get closer to them! Quickly!”

  “Who are they? Where did they come from?” he asked. “Are they Wastelanders?”

  “No! I believe they’re Seekers! They’re moving away! Come on!”

  Lil-el was up and running cautiously down the path before Theon could stop her. He growled a curse and followed, keeping his light gun out and ready for use.

  The three figures moved into the deep shadows of one of the old buildings. Afraid that she would lose them, Lil-el let loose with a soft trilling sound. It was the cry of a loring bird, one of the first bird calls a young Ni learned to imitate. The slight uplift at the end of the call would alert any other Ni to the true origin of the song.

  One of the three figures moved back out into the roadway. Moments passed, then the stranger raised a hand to his mouth and repeated the loring’s cry with that same little twist at the end.

  “Come, Theon!” Lil-el cried, rising from a running crouch. “They’re Ni!”

  “Ni?” Theon echoed, rising more slowly. “Lil-el? Lil-el, go slow! It may be some kind of a trap!”

  Lil-el ignored Theon’s warning and hurried forward. Theon was only a few steps behind her as she reached the main road, his light gun held down at his side, out of sight but ready for use.

  Lil-el turned and waited for Theon. “They’re Ni, Theon!” she said softly to him. “I’m sure of it. Don’t do anything foolish!”

  “Just what I was going to tell you,” he said.

  Together they closed the distance between themselves and the three waiting figures. As they approached they could see the three more clearly. All were male; one wore long braids of authority; one was well armed with both a sword and a chest harness sporting four throwing knives; the third carried something in his arms.

  Lil-el stopped a short distance from the three and gave them a Ni greeting by touching her palms together, placing them to her lips, then offering them to the cen-termost Ni male.

  “Welcome to Barl-gan, Elder. My name is Lil-el. My friend is called Theon.”

  Paa-tol’s right hand brushed the handle of one of his knives, his eyes boring into Theon’s. “Beware! She’s Ni!” he snapped. “He isn’t!”

  Amet glanced at Theon, then stepped forward and gingerly placed both his hands within Lil-el’s grasp. “My name is Amet. To my right is Paa-tol. To my left, Dhalvad. We’ve come far in search of one called Little Fish. Do you know of him?”

  Theon snorted. “Know him? I named him. What do you want with him, and where the hell did you three come from?”

  “Quiet, Theon,” Lil-el admonished. “I believe we’re in the presence of Seekers. Am I correct?”

  Amet nodded. “Are there many Ni in Barl-gan, Lil-el?”

  “No. Just my family.”

  “This place belongs to men then?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you tell me just exactly where Barl-gan lies in comparison to the Enzaar Sea?”

  “You came here without knowing? How odd. I thought that Seekers—”

  Amet interrupted her. “We were drawn here by a call from a Seeker stone. We believe someone called Little Fish holds it. Please, will you answer my question?”

  Lil-el frowned slightly, uneasy under Amet’s glance. “Barl-gan is east of the Draak’s Teeth. It took my mate and I and those who crossed the mountains with us many weeks to find a way over the mountains.”

  “You crossed the Draak’s Teeth?” Paa-tol exclaimed. “But that’s impossible!”

  “Not easy,” Theon said, “but not impossible.”

  “I wasn’t speaking to you!” Paa-tol growled.

  Theon saw Paa-tol’s hand move. “Hai! Keep your hand away from those knives!”

  Amet’s eyes narrowed as Theon raised his light gun and aimed it at Paa-tol. “What is that? A weapon of some kind?”

  Theon pointed the gun down and pulled the trigger. A beam of light shot out and engulfed several dried leaves a step away from Paa-tol’s right foot. Paa-tol jumped away and swore, the smell of burned leaves pungent in the air.

  Lil-el turned on Theon as the beam of light was turned off. “Fool! Do you want to tell the Wastelanders where we are? Put that down! We need friends now, not more enemies!”

  “How do we know they are friendly, Lil-el?” Theon exploded. “I say we—”

  “They’re Seekers, Theon! I’ll explain what that means later. Right now we should all get out of the open and ask our questions where we’re secure!”

  Lil-el turned to the three Ni. “There is danger here. The Wastelanders have overrun the city and taken some of our friends.”

  “Little Fish among them,” Theon supplied.

  “We’ve been trying to think of a way to free everyone without more being hurt. Perhaps you can help us.”

  Amet’s gaze was still on Theon’s light gun. “Perhaps we can,” he said. “I’ve never seen or even heard of such a weapon. Paa-tol, have you?”

  Paa-tol glared at Theon. “No! But if they have such weapons, they certainly don’t need our help!”

  “But we do!” Lil-el cried. “We have only two of these light guns. They have the rest!”

  “They?” Amet said.

  “The Wastelanders,” Theon explained, keeping a wary eye on Paa-tol. “The ones who have Gringers and Little Fish. If you want him, you’re going to have to help us whether you want to or not… though we might do as well without your help.”

  “Theon, stop it!” Lil-el snapped.

  Amet looked at Lil-el. “I think we had best do as you say for now and find a safe place to talk things over. Do you know of such a place?”

  “Come, follow me,” Lil-el s
aid. “Theon, watch our back trail.”

  Theon muttered something to himself but stepped aside as Lil-el turned and went back the way they had come. After a moment’s hesitation, Amet, then Paa-tol, followed her, each keeping a wary eye on Theon as they walked past him.

  “You, too,” Theon said to Dhalvad, motioning with the gun. “Hai, what’s that you got in your arms?”

  “Gi being olvaar,” Gi-arobi answered for himself. “Gi touch?”

  Theon drew the gun back as Gi-arobi leaned over Dhalvad’s arm and reached toward the light gun. “It talks!”

  Dhalvad smiled. “He certainly does, and if you’re not careful with that weapon, he’ll have it from you.”

  Theon looked into Dhalvad’s eyes. There was no hostility there, only a hint of curiosity. “Come on,” he said, motioning with the gun again, “or they’ll leave us behind.”

  As Dhalvad started after the others, Gi-arobi turned around and watched Theon over Dhalvad’s shoulder, his golden eyes showing amber in the dusky light as his glance fastened on the gun in Theon’s hand. He reached out and waggled his fingers, silently asking to touch the strange new weapon.

  Bemused by the small creature, Theon shook his head as Gi’s glance went from the gun to his face. He had heard of olvaar but had never seen one so close. They were said to be intelligent and extremely shy. This one had to be an exception, he thought. No shy olvaar could ever have learned to speak trader.

  Theon glanced ahead. Judging from Lil-el’s direction, she meant to take their guests back to the caves. It was probably the best thing until they knew more about them and why they were asking after Little Fish. His thoughts jumped to their sudden appearance near the pier. He could not for the life of him figure out how they had come down the roadway without Lil-el or him seeing them unless they had stepped out from behind some of the trees lining the roadway. But then what was that strange shimmering light he had seen? And what in the name of Brogan’s Draak was a Seeker?

  Chapter 15

  POCO WAS ROUSED by the sound of Jiam crying. Where’s Dhal? she thought. Can’t he hear the baby?

  She opened her eyes to semidarkness and rolled to one side. Her body was stiff and sore, and she was suddenly confused. Why am I lying on the floor?

  Jiam’s wail stirred her to action. She sat up, then lost her balance and fell to her other side, bumping her head against the floor. She cried out, then rolled into a ball as a wave of nausea hit. She knew better than to fight against such a purging and seconds later vomited.

  Jiam’s crying held her from the brink of unconsciousness. Moments passed as she tried to gather her strength to answer him. He sounded as if he had been crying a long time. Heaving herself up on shaky arms, she pushed away from the mess on the floor and again tried to sit up. She made it.

  Damn! What’s wrong with me? “Dhal?” she croaked. “I need you.”

  She rubbed a hand across her sweaty forehead and shivered. Her face and head felt hot, but the rest of her was cold, and there was a strange metallic taste in her mouth.

  It took a few seconds to orient herself to the sound of Jiam’s cries. She crawled slowly across a wooden floor toward the sounds and found him in a corner, his blanket wrappings all awry and soaked with urine. She picked him up and held him close, crooning to him softly.

  “Hungry, little one? Mother’s sorry. Hush, hush. I’m right here.”

  She unbuttoned her tunic top and pulled it aside. Jiam greedily searched for her nipple, his crying forgotten. While her son drank, Poco lifted her head and looked around, her memory slowly returning as her eyes grew accustomed to the semidark of the room. Dhal’s not here, she thought. Amet took him to look for another crystal.

  There was a wooden floor beneath them and wooden walls all around, which meant that they were no longer within the stone caves of Jjaan-bi. She could see no windows. What light penetrated the room came from a crack at the top of the door across the room. Where in hell were they?

  She sniffed. Besides the odors of urine and vomit, there was a definite musky smell nearby. “Screech? Are you here?” she asked aloud.

  She listened, but there was no answer.

  The metallic taste in her mouth bothered her. What had they given her to eat? The last thing she remembered was Anwhol coming to the door with another Ni, a young male she had never met before. She remembered taking the food trays for herself and Screech, before Anwhol and the other Ni had left. She and Screech had eaten, and a short time later Anwhol returned. She remembered watching him cross the room toward her bed. She had tried to get up, but her body had not cooperated. He had taken Jiam away from her and after that—there was nothing.

  Suddenly she pulled Jiam from her breast, fearing that whatever they had used to drug the food might find its way into her milk. Jiam fretted for a few moments, but quieted under his mother’s soft voice. She stripped him of his wet garments and bundled him as best she could in a fold of her own tunic, holding his small warm body close to her chest.

  Why had Anwhol moved them? Was it at Amet’s orders? Or had Anwhol become frightened by something? Perhaps Chulu or some of their other friends had discovered the plot to force Dhal to help steal the Tamorlee.

  Tears trickled down her cheeks as she fought the rage churning in her stomach. What the hell was going on? Where was Dhalvad? Was he still with Amet? Had they begun their search? Or perhaps even found what they looked for? It was frustrating to be a pawn in a game where one could see neither the gameboard nor the players!

  A soft groan from nearby brought her thoughts back to the reality she shared with her son and her friend. She was sure it was Screech she had heard. They had to have drugged him, too, or they would never have had the courage to try moving him. What kind of drug had they used? And how much? Screech had eaten a much larger portion of food, which meant he had probably consumed a larger dose of the drug—if drug it was. A sudden thought chilled her. What if they had not merely drugged the food? What if they had laced it with poison?

  She used the wall for support in standing and clutched Jiam in one arm as she moved slowly toward the place she thought she had heard Screech. She stopped when her foot brushed something. Kneeling, she felt around with her free hand and found Screech’s furry body. She inspected him as best she could in the dark and discovered a patch of wetness near his mouth. Sensitive fingers quickly located a torn lip. Other than that the derkat appeared to be unhurt. A rope held his arms behind his back, and a chain led from a manacle on his leg to a ring in the wall.

  It took her a few minutes to loosen the ropes about his wrists, then she scrunched down beside him and made herself as comfortable as possible against the nearby wall. There was nothing she could do for Screech but wait and hope he would not succumb to whatever they had put in the food. She promised herself that she would check the door in a little while, but first she had to rest.

  She let her head drop back against the wall, weariness and the afteraffects of whatever they had used to drug the food sapping her strength.

  They don’t mean for us to live, she thought. They can’t now—not after all of this. That’s why they moved us—makes it easier to get rid of us later. “Should have guessed,” she muttered to herself. She held Jiam closer and rubbed her chin against the soft tufts of hair on top of his head. “Don’t let them win, Dhal. Foul their plans. Don’t let them…”

  Lil-el watched the three strange Ni from across the fire they had built inside the cave. The smoke spiraled upward, escaping through natural holes to the outside. Theon sat to her left, Kelsan to her right. Behind them squatted several of the other Barl-ganians who had survived the attack on the mansion.

  It was obvious from the looks on the faces of Amet and his friends that they were uneasy in the presence of the deformed Barl-ganians. It was equally obvious that Kelsan and Theon had reservations about the Seekers despite her explanations that such Ni were revered among her people as teachers and explorers.

  Three hours had passed since their return to
the cave, hours spent in trying to get at the truth on both sides. She had chosen to tell her story first and had explained as best she could some of the history behind the men and women of Barl-gan and their running war with their enemies, the Wastelanders. She had told them about Gringers’s attempt to find the first city of the Ral-jennob, and how Theon, Davin, and she had become involved. She ended with a brief outline of the Wastelander’s most recent attack.

  Following a period of questions and answers, the elder Ni Seeker, Amet, had explained something of his own mission to find the crystal called Mithdaar and the one who carried it.

  “Well,” Theon began, “if you want Little Fish, you’re going to have to fight to get him back!”

  “How many of these Wastelanders are you up against?” Amet asked, his glance on Theon.

  “Enough to drive us out of the mansion, and more than enough to finish what they’ve started here if we’re not careful,” Theon answered.

  Amet pointed to the light gun. “That weapon—you said there were others like it?”

  Theon nodded. “Sure. But most of them are in the hands of the Wastelanders by now. We have two here, and at the moment there’s no way to recharge them when their energy drains out. There’s no telling how long before the Wastelanders make Gringers or one of the others show them how to recharge their guns. I think that if we’re going to do any rescuing, it will have to be soon—before the Wastelanders become too entrenched.”

  “They’ll leave when they’ve got what they came for,” Kelsan said. “They never stay long. They fear plague.”

  “Plague?” Amet snapped. “What plague?”

  “There is no plague now,” Lil-el explained calmly. “It’s something from long ago, but the Wastelanders fear its recurrence, so they don’t usually stay very long in the area. Whether they do or not, we must find a way to release those they’ve taken hostage before they decide to leave.” She looked at Amet, her eyes pleading. “Will you help us?”