The Tirnano - Book 1 'FINN'

by Peter Emmerson

  At the stream she immersed herself in the chilly waters for a much needed bath. Having removed her clothing, she sank down deep, dismayed to see how much flesh had withered from her frame during those days of illness.

  Why, I look almost skeletal, she realized, perturbed by the observation.

  Although she was aware that the long days of unending illness and scant sustenance were the major reasons for her dramatic weight loss, she knew as well that if she hoped to gain back both flesh and vitality, meat must henceforth be included in her diet. Gritting her teeth, Mira scrubbed the worst of encrusted filth and debris from skin and hair with the fine, crystalline sand comprising the stream bottom, relishing its gentle scrape against her skin. The wound on the side of her head had healed; the skin still tender though, but no longer scabbed over with encrusted blood.

  With fire apparently unheard of among the M’ntar, and herself with no supplies for creating it, any meat she ate would have to be raw. But fresh, she told herself firmly, and as well-drained as possible.

  Verdict reached, and the flowing water too chilled for a comfortable soak, Mira completed her bath and climbed from the clear waters. After cleaning her clothing as well as possible, and allowing it to at least partially dry in the warm autumn sun, she went in search of the Red. She would request that, along with the fruit, she now required animal flesh.

  35.

  RECOVERY

  M’NTAR CAVES

  Days, perhaps weeks passed. Now sustained by fresh flesh, fruit, water, and edible roots, nuts, and berries she was able to recognize in her scavenging, Mira’s former health and figure returned rapidly. The M’ntar were gracious hosts, even if not always capable of readily processing her requests. An alien species, their minds worked in unfamiliar ways.

  Mira’s request for animal skins with which to create for herself clothing had been met by Lord Dominie, the huge Red, mate of the golden Queen, with a head cocked to the side in suspicious bewilderment.

  ‘YOU WOULD CLOTHE YOURSELF IN THE HIDES OF OTHERS WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR OWN?’

  ‘My hide is not as yours. It requires extra protection,’ she answered easily in her mind, now accustomed to this novel form of communication.

  There was no explanation as to why; after all her dealings with dumb beasts, she should now be able to hear and answer the M’ntar with her mind. None, except that the M’ntar were truly an alien race, and possessed of some novel gifts - gifts which had enabled Lord Dominie, their leader, to, as he put it; ‘RELEASE THE ABILITY WITHIN YOU TO COMMUNE WITH US.’

  What this signified she was not entirely certain. The phrase was strange, seeming to suggest that she had carried within her a skill she knew nothing of. That of conversing with her mind. Somehow, the Red had known of it, and opened or released it during those long hazy days of sickness and recovery. How he could know this, or accomplish such a deed, was a mystery that to the young girl sounded suspiciously like magic.

  Not that she was unacquainted with magic. After all, she still retained ‘Ulrich,’ her former master’s sword in her possession, and was now approaching the time when she felt some practice with the huge sword would be well worth her while. Well did she know the tales surrounding the strange weapon, tales of its blue glow when danger approached and its insatiable thirst for blood. Such tales attributed the blade’s unusual propensities to the entrapped spirit of a magician, its former owner, slain by Daniel’s father, who had cursed the weapon, binding Daniel’s line to its grasp.

  Although taught by the clerics to distrust magic in its various forms as witchcraft, Mira had passed many hours mulling over these strange phenomena of flaming blue swords and talking animals. Perhaps Ulrich was a creation of witchcraft wrought by an evil sorcerer, but the M’ntar? Nay, she could not believe it. She had seen no bizarre rituals, no sacrifices, no mumblings of ancient words. Furthermore, she could not envision the dragon-creatures being involved in such. They were but beasts, possessed of unique abilities, yes, but that was all. Beasts with whom she was able to empathize in singular fashion, albeit only when in close proximity to them as she presently stood with Lord Dominie.

  ‘You have seen that I array myself in what mankind calls clothing,’ she continued, explaining to Lord Dominie her plight. ‘Now, my clothing grows thin even as the cold increases. Soon, its protection will not suffice. I must have new hides to fashion new clothing for myself, else I shall not long survive your land.’

  Although the scarlet behemoth blinked one beady eye sceptically, he dipped his massive head in a very human-like gesture of acquiescence.

  IT SHALL BE AS YOU SAY, he conceded. I SHALL INSTRUCT OUR HUNTERS TO BRING WITH THEM THE SKINS OF THEIR PREY THAT YOU MAY BE FURNISHED WITH WHAT YOU REQUIRE. I SHALL FURTHER INSTRUCT THEM TO TAKE CARE WITH THEIR KILLS, THAT THE HIDES BE NOT DAMAGED BEYOND YOUR USE.

  Mira, touched by his generosity, I bowed low from the waist and said aloud, “I thank you, lord.”

  Within the next two hours, a heavy deer hide in surprisingly good condition arrived. Over a period of five days, adequate skins piled up in her cave to provide clothing not just for herself but for Daniel, her father, and half of Daniel’s fighting force as well. The M’ntar were possessed of hearty appetites, and prodigious amounts of food were required to sustain them. The creatures which they brought back from their hunting trips were not strange to Mina; among them, she recognised deer and young calves. Such flesh the M’ntar found most palatable, and Mira sometimes cut a piece from the carcases, aware of her need to consume flesh. Howbeit, never having developed a true carnivore’s lust for uncooked meat, she preferred the foreign fruit for eating and familiar skins for clothing.

  So was she supplied, yet after five days, Mira, holding up a hand, cried ‘Enough!’ to the lithe orange who dropped a plush rabbit pelt at her feet. ‘You have more than fulfilled my request,’ she went on, ‘but I am provided with plenty, and I thank you for your service. Please extend my gratitude to your brethren, as well.’

  Dipping its head, the orange accepted her thanks, backed out, and hied itself off she knew not wither. After its departure, Mira surveyed the large pile of different coloured fleeces somewhat ruefully.

  Ever have I despised needlework and stitchery. Still, if I’m to survive the winter and have something to wear other than my own skin, best I put myself to work.

  The next few days she spent cleaning and curing the hides before procuring some sharp, slender bones to use as needles and long, durable, flexible river grasses which she pounded down to fibres, and then by rubbing them together on her thigh was able to create a passable thread. Stitching was indeed a tiresome chore the young girl had always detested, preferring bouts of swordplay and feats of horsemanship learned at her father’s side. Yet she made fair go of it, and within a briefer span of time than she forecasted had fashioned a warm, presentable jerkin for herself.

  A pair of breeches was next on her list, yet by this point Mira was heartily sick of cutting, piecing together, and sewing. Moreover, her fingertips were heartily sick of being pricked, so on that day-some fifty days since her rescue of the Queen, Mira put down her sewing on the worn rock at the cave’s mouth and rose to stretch.

  The day beyond beckoned-bright, clear, unseasonably warm, and inviting.

  Mira explored deeper into the caves. Wherever she wandered she was greeted warmly by the creatures as they undertook daily housekeeping tasks which were not unlike those that she would see in a human settlement. That they were highly intelligent was not in question, and her wonder increased as she discovered that the young were required to attend a time of schooling. After discussion with Lord Dominie she attached herself to the school with the hatchlings.

  She discovered as she did so, that daily her mental abilities began to grow stronger, and she was able to communicate with the giant M’ntar at further and further distances. The hatchlings were of all sizes, from freshly hatched, no bigger than she, to yearlings who matched the golden Queen in bulk.

  She felt a
wrinkling, a curling in her consciousness as her mind grew stronger, more powerful. The contact with the M’ntar was releasing more than just the ability to communicate. Something was opening inside her, something which was more M’ntar than human. Something so totally and beautifully Purple.

  One day, after a particularly difficult time of training when Lord Dominie had been teaching the hatchlings to mind block and filter unwanted thoughts. She was lying in her nest trying to get warm after a dip in the freezing waters of her pool. She caught a thin, far off deliberation. A human thought. Not the pictorial impressions which she perceived from the M’ntar, but a human thought. It was faint, barely discernible from her own, but on such a diverse subject from anything she could be thinking, that she knew it could never have been hers.

  In her excitement at perceiving she was no longer alone, Mira attempted to focus her mind as she had been taught. With every fibre of her being she endeavoured to force her thoughts outward in reply. It was difficult, the momentary connection had faded away to nothing, she had no point of reference as with the M’ntar, when suddenly she heard a voice inside her head, ‘who are you, what do you want?’ the mind radiated surprise, tinged with an underlying childish fear.

  She screamed frantically, “I’m Mira, it’s me, it’s me.” She shouted loudly, both with her mind and her voice.

  Two fledglings nearby squawked in surprise, scuttling away from her, broadcasting shock touched with fear.

  She had not recognised the mind though it seemed it were a girl child. Mira was distraught, for as quickly as she had become aware of it, it faded to naught, who could it be, could she ever make contact again? On reflection, - considering the shock and fear she had perceived in the other mind, it may not want to communicate with her again.

  She could perceive the rumblings and murmurings of the M’ntar minds around her as they communicated each with the other, but try as she might; the elusive human contact was silent. Her eyes filled with tears of frustration and loss. She felt so alone, even though surrounded by her alien friends. She covered herself with the warm, soft furs and cried herself to sleep.

  36.

  THE PURPLE QUEEN

  M’ntar Caves.

  It was but a few days after her shocking connection with the human mind, that Lord Dominie approached her. ‘MIRA, YOU HAVE BEEN WITH US FOR MANY MOON TURNS, DURING THAT TIME YOU HAVE TRULY SHOWN YOURSELF TO BE AN EXCEPTIONAL BEING, WHEN YOU ARRIVED SOMETHING WONDERFUL HAPPENED. TODAY WE KNOW FOR SURE THAT YOU ARE TRULY SPECIAL TO US.’

  The girl looked totally bemused.

  ‘COME HERE TO ME GIRL.’

  Mira stepped to the big Red, and stood in front of the massive creature. Lord Dominie dropped his head until they were face to face, then suddenly, totally unexpectedly; he dropped to his knees and rolling his huge body forward, touched the girl’s feet with his nose. The other M’ntar present dropped to their knees, and then they trumpeted, the sound was repeated by every M’ntar throughout the cave. The noise rolled through the caves, it felt as though the rocks themselves were vibrating, at the same time all of their minds and those of every M’ntar on the planet began broadcasting almost as one; ‘HAIL PRINCESS, HAIL PRINCESS.’

  Lord Dominie rose to his feet and beckoned the bemused Mira to follow, as they moved side by side further into the cave, Mira felt something was happening, something totally outside her comprehension. Together they walked into an area that Mira had never previously visited, a shaft of light lanced from the roof of the cave, through a crack high up to the left of where they stood, the beam illuminating a breach low down in the wall.

  Lord Dominie turned to Mira, ‘OVER TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO, AN EGG WAS LAID, THAT EGG WAS A PURPLE. A PURPLE EGG WILL ONLY HATCH WHEN IT PERCEIVES THAT A SIMILAR MIND IS IN EXISTENCE. A PURPLE MUST JOIN WITH ANOTHER TO EXIST, IF THERE IS NO MIND TO JOIN WITH, THE EGG WILL REMAIN DORMANT, YOU MIRA ARE THAT MIND, IN THOUSANDS OF YEARS I HAVE NEVER KNOWN OR EVEN HEARD OF A PURPLE JOINING WITH OTHER THAN A M’NTAR MIND. YOU COULD BE IN SERIOUS DANGER, FOR IF THE PURPLE REJECTS YOU, IT WILL KILL YOU. BUT WE BELIEVE YOU ARE THE ONE, THAT YOU ARE THE ONE THE PURPLE HAS CHOSEN, FOR YOUR MIND IS PURPLE. MIRA YOU MUST GO NOW TO THE PURPLE EGG, IT IS THROUGH THAT GAP.’

  ‘I know, I can feel it calling me’ the young girl broadcast, ‘I must bring it here, where the birth can be witnessed,’ she squeezed through the opening and disappeared from sight.

  Her mind filled with a scream of frustration, it was the purple fighting to break free from the confines of the egg, there was another mental howl, this time of pure raw anger, followed by another of frustration.

  Mira returned with the beautiful purple globe, once more she squeezed through the opening. The egg was almost the size of her head.

  Just beneath the surface of its shell, flashes and sparkles of light could be seen; the M’ntar around her fell to their knees and began to hum.

  The deep bass sound resonated throughout the cave, climbing to a crescendo then falling back to almost silence before it swelled again, it was powerful in its intensity as it peaked, it was almost as though the entire mountain was vibrating, from further away she could feel others pick it up, then Mira too was caught up in the moment of worship, her heart swelling in joy and wonder as she joined her mind and her clear, bright voice with the M’ntar in their song of praise.

  When it ended, Mira stood absolutely still; the egg held tightly in her hands, it was pressed against her breast, its upper edge just below her chin.

  Another scream of frustration came from the Purple, and then the egg cracked, a tiny fracture of the shell just below Mira’s chin. A piece of it splintered and flew upwards, pushed from beneath, a spot of blood appeared on her chin where the shard had struck, then another crack appeared, accompanied by a howl of success from the Purple.

  As the M’ntar watched transfixed, the egg cracked once more and the birth spike on the top of the Purple’s head appeared through a little hole. Twisting left and right the tiny creature made the hole bigger. The egg cracked all the way down one side and a large chunk of shell fell off, crashing to the cave floor where it splintered into hundreds of pieces. The humming from the M’ntar rose louder at this, and suddenly the Purple was free, it sat in the remains of its shell, still held in Mira’s hands.

  It stood up and stretched its body, whipping its long tail from left to right, then it unfurled its wings and stretched them out, it was no bigger from wing tip to wing tip, than the length of her arm, with a scream which could only be interpreted as extreme agitation it launched itself upwards and snatched hold of Mira’s halo of dark hair, there it hung screaming a howl of mental anguish as it sought its soul mate’s mind.

  The little Purple then began to hum gently, Mira joined with it, the two of them starting a melody which was rapidly picked up by the other M’ntar, the tune then took on words as the M’ntar’ began to broadcast with their minds.

  SING, SING A SONG OF LOVE,

  FOR THEY SHALL LOVE EACH OTHER

  THE DAY HAS COME

  OF THAT WE CAN BE SURE,

  FOR LOVE THAT IS TRUE,

  IS LOVE THAT IS SET ALIGHT.

  NO LONGER CAN THEY STAND ALONE,

  FOR THEY ARE JOINED FOREVER.

  REACH OUT AND TAKE THEM IN YOUR HEARTS,

  FOR THEY HAVE A LOVE THAT WILL ENDURE,

  SING, SING A SONG OF LOVE,

  FOR HAPPINESS AND UNDERSTANDING

  COME, SING A SONG OF LOVE,

  FOR LOVE TELLS ITS OWN TALE,

  SING, SING A SONG OF LOVE,

  FOR THEY WORSHIP EACH OTHER IN THEIR LOVE,

  AS ONE MIGHTY MIND THEY WILL SING,

  A SONG THAT WILL RING FOREVER MORE,

  LET THEM SING THEIR SONG OF LOVE,

  THEIR SONG OF LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING

  SINGING THEIR SONG

  WHICH WILL LAST FOR EVERMORE.

  The little Purple stretched its wings again, flying away from Mira, who slid to the floor in a faint.

  It flew towards
the other M’ntar, who watched in absolute silence, making straight for Lord Dominie, it then performed the same move as it had with Mira, hanging from the sides of his head. The two, the tiny Purple and the massive Red stayed in concert for a long while, eye to eye. The tiny creature released its grip on Lord Dominie and flew once more around the cave, climbing higher and higher towards a hole where light streamed through.

  As it reached the beam of light, it gave a roar, Mira who had regained her senses thought it was strange that such a loud noise could come from such a tiny creature, then with what sounded like a harsh cough, it blew a jet of flame at least ten meters across the roof.