by Alma Boykin
The vision wavered and shifted, darkening. As Roshee watched, some Azdhagi turned dark inside, losing their light while still living. They whispered to the other reptiles, drawing them down a broad trail toward a shadowy grove filled with tainted prey. As the other Azdhagi followed, their own lights grew murky and impure, contaminated by the corrupted ones. They mated but their mating produced no offspring. They ate but did not thrive, and the plants from their gardens in turn dimmed the other creatures around them. Cloud-like shadows crept across the sky, almost hiding the Lone God’s trail. Only a few packs and Clans stood apart, disdaining the tainted prey and seeking for the true trail. Roshee longed to cover his eyes, terrified and overwhelmed with guilt and sorrow for what his people had done. Then the Lone God turned His shining eyes onto Roshee and his pack, drawing them out of the darkened world.
Burning excitement filled the priest as a creature appeared in the sky and stepped down to the ground, trailed by glowing pastel clouds that streamed across the dark emptiness of night. Roshee could not describe exactly what the animal was, or even if it was a reptile or mammal or something else again, but he knew deep in his heart that he beheld the True Prey, the goal of the Lone God’s hunt and the source material for the new world. The few packs still untouched by the corruption joined the Lone God as he tracked the Prey, wading rivers and suffering from thirst, heat, cold, and exhaustion. Some of the corrupted Azdhagi tried to interfere, afraid of the new world or simply ignorant of the truth coursing over the land. The faithful of the Lone God’s Pack, living and dead, cornered the Prey and the Lone God leaped up, into the stars, then dove in a blinding flash of glory onto His Prey. Everything exploded into light, light that cleansed and purified the world. Dimly, Roshee saw the outlines of a new world before the vision vanished, leaving the priest breathless and gasping as if he’d been on a long hunt.
The priest slept long and well that night, arising from dreams of peace in time to hold sunrise worship. Almost a hundred reptiles gathered for the service, followed by a light communal repast. The priest watched as Shu-kara served herbal tea to those who stayed for the meal. Her mate now worked the second shift while she worked the third, a further sign of Clan Shu’s disfavor with the Great Lord’s daughter’s daughter. Roshee nodded his thanks for the cup and the female saluted politely before serving another packsib. She provided the teas for the meals as a way of helping the Faith-keepers pack. Roshee had come to look on her as a spiritual daughter, much as he regarded Tareshah and Shahkay.
Roshee held his vision to himself. He trusted his new packsibs but the time did not yet seem ripe for them to know just yet, aside from Tareshah. And while the priest knew what he had seen, he still remained in a tangle over what it meant for him and his little pack. Did the Lone God desire them to act in some way? Should they consider withdrawing from the day-to-day hunt and wait for guidance and for the arrival of the Prey? Roshee did not know and refused to act without assurance from the Lone God. And deep in his heart, Roshee still remained unsure of his visions. After so many years of twist-vision and after suffering hallucinatory side-effects from some of the medicines he’d tried, the priest hesitated to act in case these visions stemmed from something in his brain and not from the Lone God.
For two sixts of days Roshee saw no more visions. He conducted worship and reminded the Faith-keepers that they needed to remain vigilant and careful, shunning the wide and clear trail for the true one. He turned more and more often to Raknak’s Vision and the commentaries on it, comparing them and looking deeper into the Lone God’s hunting guide. All temples and packs used the hunting guide, and Roshee searched carefully for the original tracks and traces that had inspired Raknak’s Vision. He paid special attention to those commentaries that argued against the validity of what Raknak had seen, mustering his own arguments and comparing them to what older priests had thought and written. None of his findings could shake his growing belief in the truth of his experience. Especially not after the first of the night clouds appeared.
As predicted, more or less, the volcano in the Numberless Islands erupted and belched ash high into the atmosphere. Most Azdhagi not involved in shipping or living along the coast, and who did not have reservations or relatives at the few resorts in the islands, read the news and shrugged. Volcanoes erupted in the far southern tip of Sseekhala and to the east of Likhala without bothering anything aside from shipping transit times and atmospheric arrival schedules. Roshee read the news and snorted a little at the plaints and apologies about deliveries and about items from and for the colonies. We can reshape our genetics, we conquer worlds in different star systems, we travel faster than light, and yet we can’t develop an inexpensive aircraft engine resistant to volcanic ash? Well, he still had robes to mend, incense to sort and store, and groceries to purchase, and Roshee turned off the news feed and went about the business of daily life.
Two evenings later, after twilight worship, Roshee remained in the temple preparing for the dawn service. Someone coughed behind him, catching his attention, and he turned to see a very excited Shahkay and Shu-kara all but bouncing in place. “Yes?”
The words tumbled out of Shahkay, “Wise guide, come outside, please. We’ve never seen anything like this.” Shu-kara gestured her agreement, tail trembling with emotion. Intrigued, the priest followed the females out of the building and onto the meditation porch. “There, wise guide,” Shahkay pointed toward the northern sky.
A sheet of pastel color floated above them, bright against the rapidly darkening sky. Roshee could not see stars through the color, but did see stars around whatever it was. He twisted his head and found that the floating color extended to the zenith. The trio watched the show for half an hour and the colors remained bright even though full dark covered the landscape. At last Shu-kara breathed, “Is this a Second Sign?”
“It is possible, Shu-kara,” Roshee confirmed, adding automatically, “We must always beware of seeing our own desires instead of the Lone God’s trail.” Shu-kara gestured her understanding.
Over the next few days Roshee, Tareshah, and Shu-kara studied the news reports and the sky with equal care. The clouds, called “night glowing,” stemmed from the volcanic eruption, as did the colorful sunsets and sunrises seen, captured, and sent to their friends’ news-feeds by every reptile with an imaging device (or so it seemed to Tareshah).
Shu-kara’s initial excitement about the possible Sign shifted into burning intensity as she read her clutch-mate’s news about a rumor of dead female juniors, almost as many as the males stricken with deathtouch. “Be glad yours died in the shell,” Shu-teela wrote. The night clouds were the second Sign, and utter certainty filled Shu-kara from the end of her muzzle to the tip of her tail, for she’d seen a vision of the Prey and knew that the Hunt drew close, very close. But Roshee did not mention the meaning of the clouds to his pack, and Shu-kara wondered why not.
The next day Shu-kara thought she knew why Roshee kept silent. She and Kleet finally had a day off, when they could do as they wished and do it with each other. “Hunt-mate, why do you think that Roshee is not telling the rest of the packsibs about the Sign?” she asked her mate.
Kleet thought for a moment as he stirred their noon meal while she finished chopping the next batch of vegetables to go into the dish. “First, he may be concerned that not all of the pack are ready for the news,” Kleet suggested. “But I also suspect that he doubts the visions. Hear me out,” and he raised his tail, forestalling her protests. “Roshee grew up with twist-sight, which gives false visions. I’d have my doubts too if that happened to me. And mate-of-my-dreaming, he knows about all of the false visions in the past. Given the riot in Cloudwash, the relocation and abuse of the Clans, and the trouble on Pokara, it would be so easy for the peacekeepers and Clan Lords to declare him a public menace if he started speaking about the Signs, should someone in the Pack panic.” After folding in the vegetables and stirring more, Kleet sighed. “And Roshee, Lone God guide and bless him, is old. Waiting and hopin
g has filled his life for ten sixts of years. Habits are hard to break,” he reminded his mate, lightly brushing his muzzle against hers.
After eating, the couple took their pleasure of each other. Two sixts spent apart pushed them to great efforts and afterwards Kleet dozed off, tail entwined around his mate. Shu-kara got up, reluctant to lose the blissful haze that followed mating. However, they had not cleaned the kitchen after cooking and she wanted to be absolutely certain that nothing remained for the house vermin to find. Bitterness washed over her yet again as she left Kleet sleeping and began cleaning the tiny kitchen, rechecking the seals on the food-storage units and confirming that the surface sweeps had done their job. Her birth Clan had “graciously and generously” provided vermin-ridden housing for the outcast couple, and Shu-kara’s mouth opened in a poisonous snarl as she found and killed a hide-nipper in the living area. Oh, they could find other quarters, if they sacrificed even more of their meager pay and chose to live in a district where Azdhagi vermin probably outnumbered the insect kind.
Cleaning helped Shu-kara slip into a trance and she let her thoughts drift. Her sister’s words confirmed her own suspicion that the Makers had poisoned the Azdhagi. More precisely, the reptiles’ own pride and blindness poisoned them. We wanted light and fire of our own, losing your track, Lone God, great Pack leader, forgive us, she prayed. Light and fire, light and fire, she mused, an idea forming in her heart and mind. She worked with light and fire every night at the Shu cargo terminal. The more she contemplated light and fire, the more truly inspired her sudden idea seemed and a strange, wild joy filled her, an emotion she’d not felt since the death of her first junior. And she had access to the tools needed to bring her vision to life.
Shu-kara checked on Kleet, making certain that he remained on the trails of sleep. Privacy assured, she rolled up two of the textiles on the floor of the main chamber and stacked the cushions to one side. The female pressed a spot on the floor, popping up the end of a floorboard. She eased up the loose board and another beside it, careful to work silently. Shu-kara caught a whiff of damp dirt from the under-floor, and the sharp sting of the herbs in the hiding space. After an automatic glance for witnesses, Shu-kara removed a flat packet from the space, almost identical to those used for tea.
This pale green packaged contained something far stronger than herbs, and Shu-kara hid it in with her work robe, before closing the floor and replacing the textiles. Instead of tea, the packet held concentrated travel-leaf extract. The female smiled to herself as she began preparing Kleet’s favorite snacks and savories for them to nibble on before going to twilight worship. She had stumbled into a travel-leaf plant as a junior and through the Lone God’s guidance and favor had survived nibbling the rich, savory greenery. The raw leaves induced vivid visions but also warped the judgment and twisted the mind if eaten often enough, leading the Crown to ban use of the herb. After her first encounter Shu-kara never again ate the fresh leaves, in part because the sharp, clean scent gave any chewer away to the authorities. Instead she dried the foliage and brewed a tea. Kleet knew about her use of the drug and ignored it, and she’d stopped taking the tisane shortly before they became a mated pair. But when Roshee revealed the news of Tareshah’s finds and the Signs, yet refused to act, Shu-kara had returned to the leaves, finding a source within the Shu work pack.
Except this time Shu-kara put them in the pack’s tea. Roshee never questioned why his visions now came without pain, or why so many of his pack shared his convictions. Their numbers grew and the visions came faster and clearer for both Roshee and Shu-kara, and probably other reptiles as well. Soon, dam’s sire, soon, she vowed. You killed my juniors and millions more. But the Lone God gave me the tools to kill you and all that you own and I will use them to the end of my strength, I swear on my talons! Because she alone knew the truth behind the visions: Lord Shu was the True Prey. And his female offspring possessed the strength, wisdom, and power to guide the Prey to the Lone God’s hunters. She bared her teeth and thrilled with fiery anger and lust for revenge.
Then she hid her feelings again, burying them deep. Kleet would wake soon, and after sealing their afternoon repast safely away from vermin, Shu-kara returned to their sleeping chamber and snuggled against her mate, relishing the pleasures of the body and their time together.
Lord Kirlin rolled onto his back in the hot sand bath and wondered why the universe allowed anything as stupid as Lords Shu and Tarkeela to survive, let alone breed. He detested both nobles but for different reasons, and the mottled brown reptile buried himself deeper in the heated sand as if trying to escape their idiocy. At least Tarkeela’s stupidity makes a warped sort of sense, he growled silently. Shu’s so blind that cave-snakes look observant in comparison. Kirlin twisted and writhed, soothing his itches and loosening tension-taut muscles.
Regional council meetings always left him with clenched muscles and yesterday’s convocation had been no different. At least Raetee no longer attended. Unwilling to contribute to the discussions, he’d sat at the table and watched silently, reminding Kirlin of one of Pokara’s legendary death spirits. Peitak and Beesh had wondered if Lord Raetee’s mind remained intact, something Kirlin half doubted. No one could kill as many juniors as Raetee had and still be sane, even if they were all justified mercy killings. Kirlin had noticed that several others also seemed relieved by Raetee’s absence. Not that it helped once the discussions and reports began.
“Not all out-Clan are carriers, my lords, and they need to be encouraged to continue settling Likhala,” Tarkeela had begun.
Beerkali swirled his strong-side forefoot in negation. “No. What is the point of allowing diseased individuals to take up space and resources needed by the pack? There is plenty of space here,” and he spread his talons over the map of the southern continent.
Peitak and Beesh both interrupted Tarkeela’s angry reply. Beesh gestured for Peitak to go first, as his right. “Beerkali, this is not a disease and it is not contagious. Those affected cannot reproduce, as everyone and their hindleg knows.”
Light brown Beesh gestured his agreement. “And we need as many Azdhagi as possible if other clans are not to follow Raetee’s horrible example of inbreeding. I suspect that we are going to see healthy out-Clan Azdhagi petitioning to join our lineages, if the worst case scenario forecast by the Makers unfolds as the models predict.” Several of the nobles shuddered at his words. The latest model forecast a loss of sixty percent of this generation’s offspring, and twenty percent of the next generation. “Depopulation is a worse problem then overpopulation, my lords,” Beesh reminded them.
“Which is why we need to encourage the out-Clan who wish to relocate to do so,” Tarkeela smoothly cut in. “As Lord Beesh said, we must keep the population high. We also need to prevent civil war from erupting, out-Clan and their supporters versus the Clans.” Green-mottled Zhi-king gave Tarkeela a skeptical look but Sheedai and Kirlin both signaled their reluctant agreement with Tarkeela, who continued, “You know of the murders and assassinations of Makers, even those who had and have nothing to do with Star-Strong. If enough Azdhagi start to think that the Clans are immune or unaffected by deathtouch and bone-crack, or whatever the physicians are calling it, then we and our Clans will be their next target.”
“We control the military,” Shu reminded everyone a touch too smugly.
Peitak swirled his forefoot back and forth. “We do right now, or at least we assume that we do. A lot of out-Clan belong to the peacekeepers and the Imperials, Lord Shu. Would you trust them not to take steps if the nobility conspired to eliminate the out-Clan?” The green-striped noble sliced the air with his talons before Shu could respond. The tan reptile growled but held his peace for the moment.
“All the more reason to encourage out-Clan to move north and settle, starting with Nightlast, Zhangki City, and that place east of the eastern hills,” Tarkeela pushed, softening his insistence with, “After all, anything to dilute those overbearing merchants at Zhangki City is an improvement.
”
Several of the nobles snorted their agreement and yellowy-green Sheedai made a rude gesture. “I’m all for trade but those oligarchs are hide-nippers in Azdhag form.”
“If out-Clan settle in the northern towns, it gives us population, it keeps them from claiming Clan land, it settles the rumors that we instigated the junior plague, and it will drain off some of the tension fueling the riots,” Tarkeela counted off on his talons.
“What rumors?” Kirlin had not heard of such and his suspicions rose along with his spines.
“Pfffffss,” Beerkali puff-hissed. “Even I’ve read them, Kirlin. Update your news-feed to this sixt.”
Shu leaped in, unable to mask his contempt any longer. “Tarkeela’s pet story-catcher has been reporting tales that the loose-born blame the Clans for the loose-borns’ inability to control their hormones. Which is all the more reason to keep them here while we move our packs north, or to the colonies if it comes to that.”
“Don’t blame Cheerka for the rumors, Shu. He kept his word not to speak of the female condition until it appeared in the royal news feeds,” Tarkeela warned. “I will defend my pack just as you do.”
“Peace,” Blee snapped, stilling the younger reptiles before either of them leapt across the chamber or drew a weapon. “Speaking of strange trails and false scents, Shu, what is this about you ejecting Clan members?”
The tan noble slapped his tail onto the bench, defiant. “We cannot support those who refuse to contribute to the pack. Reptiles who sire or bear afflicted juniors are sent to Clan facilities elsewhere unless they accept sterilization. They should have been more careful selecting their mates. Clan employees who bring corrupted juniors lose their positions and for the same reason.”
