by Simon Birks
He skirted the lip of the hole.
“Take this,” Hoep said to him.
Gideon looked round and saw Hoep holding a fire-rock in front of him. He could see the man’s face for the first time. He looked kind, concerned. It took him by surprise.
“Are you all right?” the man asked him.
Gideon nodded and took the rock.
“Follow me,” he said.
The Figure in the Forest
Whilst they weren’t moving that fast, Ma Poppun thought it was better than not moving at all. Visenai sat up front, reins in hand, carefully ushering the two horses along the path to the main track. It wasn’t smooth, and for her part, the Ma was trying to make sure Hossip didn’t sustain any more damage in the motion of the carriage.
Their patient didn’t seem any better, but then he didn’t seem any worse, and she took that to be a good sign. She wondered whether they should return to the house, to gather more supplies, but the image of the people in the hall haunted her, and she decided against it. Whatever had been the cause of their demise, it hadn’t looked like an accident, and the cook had to make sure the girl remained safe.
*
Visenai concentrated on the task in hand, making sure her mind was occupied, keeping all of her doubts about what had happened away from her thoughts.
She wasn’t sure where they were headed, but she thought if they followed the line of the forest’s edge they couldn’t go far wrong. It headed in the general direction of Langeph, where she hoped there’d be plenty of places to find help for Hossip and work for Ma Poppun.
The air felt heavier now; thicker. She was tired, she knew, but the tiredness was deep down and would only steal her strength if she gave in and let it. For now, the carriage had to keep moving. She wasn’t one hundred per cent certain she was controlling the horses correctly, but they weren’t rearing up, so that was fine.
Visenai didn’t know how many days’ ride it would take to reach the city. She was young and strong, and they had food, so she thought they would make it. She’d have to take each day as it came. She’d have to be strong for the cook and the coachman.
Her weariness affected her ability slightly, yet she was still aware of the person in the forest who’d been tracking them for the past hour. She looked over into the trees and thought she saw a shadow, or at least part of one, flicker in time to the carriage wheels. She wondered if she should be afraid. There’d been occasions when she’d been out hunting small game with Hossip, when she’d got the feeling something bad was watching them from the bracken. She’d ask if they should retreat, and the coachman would take one look at her, at the serious expression on her face, and nod.
For Visenai, these experiences were a normal part of her awareness. She could pick up on other creatures’ emotions, both people and animals. It was what made her such a good rider. She could feel what the horse wanted to do, and act upon it.
At first, she’d assumed everyone had the ability, but over the years she’d come to realise it was something unique to her. Visenai steadied her breathing and looked over towards the forest once more; the figure hadn’t got any closer, but neither had it moved further away. She didn’t feel afraid. The prickles on the back of her neck hadn’t come, and the pressure on her temples hadn’t increased. Whatever was out in the trees, it meant them no harm.
At least for the time being.
The Balcony
Jenza looked around, disorientated. She’d been in the desert one moment, and now she was somewhere else. Somewhere busy, with more people than she’d ever seen in one place. She was upright, standing by a fountain, which was thunderous and impressive. People came, stopped by the fountain, bent and drank. The influx of people was seemingly endless, laughing, pushing, and holding hands.
She was not really here, she knew. She was on the desert floor and this was a dream, or a vision.
This is the start of something.
Had she hurt herself trying to find Jin Hoep? Had she damaged her mind so much she was going to spend what little life she had left hallucinating?
“Hello, Werida,” came the woman’s voice.
Jenza didn’t look around.
“You brought me here?”
“It’s a… meeting place, that’s all. Somewhere we can talk, unnoticed.”
“What do we need to discuss?”
“You sound unhappy, Werida.”
“Jenza is my name. Ja Jenza if we’re going to be pedantic.”
The figure in the cowl laughed.
“That’s what you’re called now,” she said.
Jenza walked away from the fountain, down a bustling side street. The figure had an advantage over her - probably many advantages - but Jenza wanted to find out where she was. It might hold the key to the stranger’s identity.
As she approached a crossroads, the woman with the cowl was waiting for her.
“Leave me alone,” Jenza said.
“No,” the woman replied.
Jenza moved on, past her. She didn’t look back.
Every so often the woman appeared in front of her, and each time Jenza carried straight on. Finally, the Ja reached a large church with carved stone walls. Jenza wasn’t in the habit of entering churches. They scared and unsettled her. But now was not the time to pander to irrational fears. She breathed in deeply, put her head down and passed through the doors.
This isn’t a church.
Jenza stood on a balcony and looked over the scene of a city on fire. The woman in the cowl was next to her.
“What are you showing me?”
“Your indifference,” the woman said.
Her tone was flat, without emotion.
“If you don’t give me a straight answer, then how do you expect us to have any sort of a conversation?”
“There are certain rules to our meetings. The cowl is one of them. The information I’m able to give you is another. I show you things you can already see. Or, at least, I help you to see them.”
“How?” said Jenza.
“You went to the church under your own volition, did you not?”
“Yes.”
“The church was always there, it just took my presence for you to find it.”
Jenza wanted to reply, to argue, but she stopped herself.
“I don’t recognise this city,” she said.
“But you see it is burning?”
Jenza nodded.
“And this is something that will help me?”
There was no reply. Jenza turned to look at her, but the woman had gone.
Alone on the balcony, she looked at the way she had come. From this side, the church doorway looked like a high arching window. The centre of the windows was dark.
It’s a gateway.
She knew it was, but she also knew it wasn’t just any gateway; it was a gateway she could control. Part of her wondered how long this encounter was taking in the real world. How long had she been sitting on the floor of the desert? It might have been a few moments, it might have been days.
Jenza thought of a place and stepped through the gateway.
She was in her city now, Langeph, the city on the ford. She was near the Telar-Val building. The sky was dark, and there were only a few people around. People out on the street at this time were either looking for trouble, or causing it. She hurried around the side of the building to the West Gate, and then turned to head deeper into the city. She travelled up the Street of Slaret, to the square at the top. She crossed it, around the sculpture of Chana, and on, to the opposite corner. There she took an alleyway that led behind the buildings. With every step, her confidence and excitement grew.
Left turn, and then another. She stopped abruptly, and waited in the recess of a doorway.
A man coughed as he exited a building opposite her.
He could not see Jenza, but she smiled at seeing him again. It was Doshan, the boy who she’d met on the road to the city, the man who’d been taken from her.
“Now we will see,” she said to her
self.
Doshan turned to make his way toward the square.
To make his way toward you.
From the shadows, another figure appeared. Dressed in black. An assassin. Jenza gasped at the sight. She’d always assumed he’d just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but this was a professional job. He never stood a chance. The assassin’s blade entered his back, pierced his heart, and he was dead in seconds.
He didn’t suffer.
No, but he died.
The assassin looked at the kill.
“Come on,” Jenza breathed, hatred raging through her. “Show me who you are.”
Then, as if they’d somehow heard her, the assassin pushed back their hood to inspect the body.
Jenza gasped and immediately woke up on the desert floor alone. She recognised the face, but she didn’t know where from. It wasn’t the city, she thought, and if it wasn’t the city… she would have to return to the village, to Tience.
Banna Leaf
Got to work quickly.
Quicker than this.
Ka Yeta stood in the room with the jars of ingredients, putting together a medicine she hoped would keep the poison in her leg at bay. It was difficult to move around. On the bench in front of her was a square of cloth, in which she’d placed the ground-up ingredients accumulated so far. She was looking for two more, scanning the shelves, but there were so many shelves.
Banna Leaf was one, which was thought to speed up the healing process. Ka Yeta had used it on herself on a few occasions and it did seem to work. Of course, there were the usual conflicting reports from another set of healers dismissing its properties, but that was the nature of medicine. Ka Yeta had long been a member of the school that said if it worked for you, then it was good enough.
The other ingredient was Dithla Seed. This would numb the pain.
It’ll numb you.
She knew it would hinder her, but the pain was bad, and she needed to be able to get off the Complex as quickly as possible. She had to try and raise the alarm with the Ka, and help these children. It would take her a while to reach the nearest Hawk House to send a message.
There are monsters here.
Am I the monster?
“I am not a monster,” Ka Yeta said.
You are leaving the children.
“I am getting help.”
Ka Yeta’s eyes alighted on a jar of grey powder. She reached up, spun it round. Dithla was written on the label. Ka Yeta fetched it down and set it by the cloth.
Banna Leaf was pale blue when in powder form. If only the light had been better in this room… she looked towards the windows and saw they were partially obscured by plants hung up to dry. Plants. Ka Yeta went to them, and started to take them down. The first was Alip, a yellow herb found in the desert, a poison if not diluted enough before ingestion.
The second plant she took down was Gullin. She smiled. Gullin was used to make the medicine sweet. Delicious by itself, it was difficult not to slightly dislike it because of its over-use in medicines. She put it by her cloth.
The third plant was Banna. That made sense. Banna was better when freshly crushed. Yeta had long assumed the crushing must free whatever it was that helped with the healing, which then degraded over time.
With the constituents now complete, Ka Yeta assembled, crushed and added them to the cloth. It wasn’t nearly enough to last her, but it should see her to the Hawk House. There were several jars of water on the shelves nearest the door, drawn in the past day, she hoped. Ka Yeta added some of her mixture to one of the jars and stirred it with her finger. The water turned yellow. That was a good sign.
Ka Yeta tipped her head back and drank. The Gullin helped mask some of the awfulness of it, but not nearly enough. If her leg had been in better shape, she’d have only drunk half of it, but it wasn’t, so she paused, and then finished it off as swiftly as her gag reflex would allow.
“That’s better,” she said, as the pain in her leg began to subside.
Ka Yeta tied the corners of the cloth that contained her ingredients together, and put it in a bag which she slung across her shoulder. She filled her water-skin to the top, removed the obstruction that was blocking the door, and left the room as quickly as she could.
She turned left. Right would take her back to the healer. Left should take her out. Yet she had to be on her guard. Ka Yeta crept as silently as she could along the corridor. She could hear nothing but her own heartbeat thumping in her ears.
What happened today? Yeta thought. What has happened to me?
Worry about it when you’re safe.
She reached the wards. There was little time, but she went to the bed where the boy had been taken. It was empty.
You should look for him.
“I have to find help,” she said to herself.
The boy is a bigger concern.
Ka Yeta stood by the bed, undecided. She looked at the children, and then back to the door which led to the food store and the outside world.
“I have to find help,” she repeated.
*
The sun was dazzling. Ka Yeta opened the door only the tiniest amount, but still the light from above was enough to make her cover her eyes. She looked at the courtyard, at the domed structure of the food store a little way in front of her, and saw Nayt sitting in its doorway, looking fed up.
The sight of him made her nervous, so the injured Ka slipped into the courtyard, and headed for the nearest cover.
Are you a monster?
Ka Yeta moved around the outside of the courtyard, out of Nayt’s line of sight, keeping to the shadows the trees cast. As she grew closer, she could hear him talking to himself.
“Have to make sure,” he said. “Stupid Telar-Val.” He tapped his foot against the floor, clearly agitated. “Got to see if it’s all right. Got to feed…”
The children, she thought, Nayt’s concerned about feeding the children. She stepped forward, heartened. The children would be in safe hands whilst she was away.
“Nayt,” she called softly.
He didn’t turn.
“Nayt,” she called again, louder this time.
He jumped up, turned and fixed her with a worried look. His gaze wandered down to her damaged leg, where the shredded trousers were. His face grew darker still.
“I thought,” he started. “You were…” he trailed off.
“Thought I was what?”
“I liked you,” he said.
“Liked?”
Nayt sighed. “Look at your leg! Look what happened to your leg.”
“I was attacked, the healer…”
Monster.
“The healer attacked me. But I got away, Nayt. I got away.”
Nayt looked at her with pity. Ka Yeta didn’t like it.
“How did you kill him?” he asked.
“I didn’t. I ran away.”
“He’s dead. I saw him. He died because…” Nayt trailed off.
“Because?”
He sighed. It was like he’d given up.
“I really liked you,” he said again.
“I have to leave, Nayt.”
Nayt looked up to the sky, as if he’d only just noticed it was daytime.
“I can’t let you leave, Ka Yeta.”
“Can’t? Or won’t?”
“I have orders. I have orders about the food store, and orders about the infection.”
Infection, Ka Yeta thought. I was right. I am poisoned somehow.
“You have two choices,” Nayt continued. “You stay in the medical centre to be monitored…”
“Or?” Ka Yeta asked.
“Or I have to make sure you don’t leave.”
“This is stupid,” Ka Yeta said. “I’m leaving.”
Nayt stood between Ka Yeta and the door, his sword drawn. He pointed it at Ka Yeta. “I can’t. I have orders.”
“I will not stay here. I will not let you kill me.”
“You don’t know what’s going on,” Nayt said. “Nor do I,
not really. But I know it’s more important than letting you out of...”
What happened next was a blur. For maybe a second, no more than two, there was a creaking noise, and the wooden door behind him bulged, than began to split. Ka Yeta instinctively took a couple of steps back, and no sooner had she done so, then the door exploded. She saw a large piece of it hit Nayt in the head, and he dropped to the floor, almost definitely dead. Then a mass of what looked like tendrils snaked out, grabbed his lifeless body and hauled him back into the building.
Then nothing. Ka Yeta blinked. The door was broken, Nayt was gone, but it was hard to believe what had just happened.
How many monsters?
It was decided all at once; she had to get the children out of here. She could use the back gate. It was a daunting thought. There were a lot of children to move. Maybe three hundred. But what choice did she have?
There were monsters.
Into the Desert
The light was fading as Jenza ran full pelt, nothing getting in her way. She was not going back to the Telar-Val, nor to the city of Langeph. She had to return to the village where she met the robed woman. There, she would discover the truth.
Everything had changed. The dead Ka didn’t matter anymore. Doshan had been murdered. She had always known it, but she’d thought it nothing more than a mindless act of violence. Now, her vision told her otherwise. She cursed the fact she hadn’t used her power like this before. She would have caught them sooner.
Jenza ran away from Broken Song and into the sandy wastes. On the other side, and a little while still, lay Tience. People said it was madness to venture into the desert, but today Jenza was mad. If hungry creatures came after her, she would face them. She had faced enough demons for a lifetime. She was armed, she would fight. She’d have to fight; she would not let the truth go unpunished. She would survive.
I will avenge you, Doshan, she thought to herself, as she approached the first of the gentle slopes that signified the desert proper.
How many days and how many deaths, she didn’t know, but she would take her vengeance on all that were to blame.
The night fell, and Jenza ran.
