by Renee Duke
“Our ancestors had high expectations of young Beom, confirmed when some of their number went among his people in human form. An ability they still exercised at that time and used whenever they wished to make a particularly close study of those who lived outside the bounds of Chorathase. Chorathase is where our power holds most sway, and away from it, they were vulnerable, being less able to call upon the strength of all. For reasons long forgotten, they ran afoul of Beom’s father and were about to be put to death when Beom intervened. As the oldest son, he had the right to challenge the slaying of them, and pleaded for them for no other reason than that he believed them to be travellers from afar, unaware of his people’s ways, and should thus be pardoned.
“Not long afterwards, Beom was captured by a neighbouring ruler named Jexl, from whom, though wounded and weak, he managed to escape. He fled into Chorathase, and when he collapsed within its confines was brought to this cave. Here the Zguri healed him and implanted within his genes an enhancement of his best traits, confident that many of his descendants would share them. They spoke with him, often and long, each conversation deepening their resolve to have his house prevail when the time for planetary unity came, and its governance endure. Something the ring they later gave him tries to ensure.”
“I thought he got the ring from some old woman,” I said.
“The guise used. As I said, the Zguri still occasionally took human form at that time. That ‘old woman’s’ rescue from the taiskels was the final test for Beom, who did not hesitate to risk his life for her. From then on, the Zguri were pledged to him and all his line. When those belonging to it face danger within our sphere of influence, we guide them back to safety, as we did for Taziol, or guide them here to us, as we did for his children. And you.”
“But we’re not of the House of Beom.” I said.
“The prince and princess are. Arlyne was able to bring them to us because her proximity to them enabled us to suggest she follow the suggestions we gave Challa.”
“I said when to get off the raft,” said Challa. “And the hills to climb.”
“Lucky you found those rafts in the bushes,” said Simon.
“They weren’t in the bushes,” said Arlyne. “Just pulled up on the bank near where the pod came down. I hid the second one so no one would know how we’d left. I knew that would make it harder for rescuers to follow us, but I didn’t want to take any chances.”
“How did you manage once you got off the raft?” I asked. “Kadi can’t walk yet, and Challa can’t walk far.”
“I can,” was Challa’s indignant response.
“I made a carrying sling for Kadi out of one of the blankets on the raft and carried Challa as much as I could. She really is a good little walker. And climber. She got up some slopes way faster than me.” Arlyne nodded towards Azmx. “I think the Zguri might have boosted her endurance. And mine. They also made sure we didn’t tangle with anything nasty after we left the river. And that you didn’t either.”
“How can that be?” Jip asked. “No one from the House of Beom was with us.”
“They didn’t have to be. The Zguri can read genetic codes — that’s how they can always identify members of the royal family — and once they had mine, they were able to locate Meda and Simon and mentally guide them here. I told them about the rest of you just as soon as I was able to talk to them directly. I wanted them to help you as well because, well, because I knew Drazok wouldn’t just be looking for me and the kids. He’d be looking for everyone who’d thwarted his plans to bring down the royal family.”
“Hatred for the House of Beom, and those who support it, burns strong in the House of Jexl,” said Azmx.
“Drazok is of the House of Jexl?” That certainly came as a surprise to me. “But Jexl was a ruler. Drazok’s a commoner. I thought Beom made all the other rulers sub-rulers, like their descendants still are today.”
“After repeatedly proving it could not be trusted, the House of Jexl was, in the time of Beom’s great-grandson, Supreme Ruler Mizar I, permanently excluded from the Supreme Council, which was then comprised only of the aristocracy. Those belonging to it became commoners, and in time their highborn origins were forgotten. I would imagine even Cholar’s most acclaimed historians are unaware of this Drazok’s antecedents, for he has taken pains to conceal them, waiting until he could depose the House of Beom, bring the other royal houses into disrepute, and reveal himself as the only royal personage worthy of the planet’s highest office.”
“So that was his plan,” said Kirsty, astounded, as we all were. “Not to overthrow the monarchy, but to take the Supreme Rulership for himself, claiming it as his birthright if the rest of the nobility declined it. By rescuing Challa and Kadi, we scuttled that good and proper, as well as putting him on the outs with AUP. No wonder he’s a wee bit peeved.”
“He is the last member of the House of Jexl but intended to perpetuate the line once the rulership became his.”
“Bit of luck for any prospective brides that he’ll not be getting it,” said Kirsty.
“Yes. All that is left to him now is revenge. That he still seeks. He will soon be here. Summoned by those who serve him.”
“But he can’t enter the cave?” I wanted to be sure of this.
“None can enter unless we choose to admit them. And we only admit those who come in peace. Drazok now has the advantage of knowing the specific area in which your craft came down, but the Supreme Ruler knows the approximate one, and rescue patrols are looking for you. We will guide them to you.”
“Drazok might get here first and lie in wait for them.”
“For him, the path will not be as easy. All of Chorathase’s natural obstacles are again displaying hostility towards those whose presence we do not desire.”
“Does that mean some of those trees we passed coming up the mountain would have gone for us if you hadn’t stopped them?”
“Yes. They are now quite…ravenous.”
Not ravenous enough, though. Or not quick enough, because, just after daybreak, the other Zguri warned Azmx of the approach of the House of Beom’s chief adversary and several of his servants.
We’d managed to get a few hours sleep and were just waking up when Azmx informed us of this, her words causing us to go from groggy to alert in mere seconds.
“Do not be alarmed,” she said. “We will give them an opportunity to withdraw, but if they refuse, any attempt to step into the cave will have severe consequences.”
Simon jumped up. “I want to watch.”
He raced off towards the entrance with me chasing after him. How he found his way through the labyrinth, I’ll never know. I was able to keep close enough not to lose him in it but only managed to grab him by the shoulder when he stopped at the end of the passage leading into the entrance and went to peek around the corner.
“You little—” I began, but then broke off and was unable to resist peeking myself.
Drazok stood without. Not right at the mouth of the cave, but still in view, a little way down the path leading to the cave. Four men were with him, but only one had been among our initial pursuers, so the mountain’s livelier verdure had got some.
The Zguri we’d spoken to first had had time to establish a mental avenue of communication with Drazok and was at that very moment addressing him directly, though we could hear him in our heads, too.
“Come no closer, descendant of Jexl.”
“Ah, you know me, then,” Drazok replied aloud. “As I know you, Zguri. Most on Cholar have no knowledge of you, but I do. Your form does surprise me, however. I was expecting something more ethereal.”
“If you have knowledge of us, you know we make formidable opponents. How came you by this knowledge?”
“Family lore. During the rule of Mizar I, an ancestor escaped your clutches when you sought to destroy him, favouring, as always, the House of Beom over ours. Though severely injured, he staggered back to his kinsmen, and before dying spoke of your existence, confirming as fact what h
ad before been mere campfire tales. Tales of a First Nation of Cholar who commanded powers the Second Nation could not match or understand. The First Nation was, in consequence, both feared and admired. What he learned of you was repeated for every generation.”
“Come no closer. Entering the cave will bring about your destruction.”
“I surmised as much and am content to remain where I am for the time being. With this being the only likely place for those I seek to have hidden themselves, I assume they are inside, and under your protection?”
“They are. And will remain so until the Supreme Ruler can come for them.”
“He’d better bring something to dig with. Some of those old campfire tales said your power came from the sun. Let us see how formidable you are without it.”
The whining sound of liquidators filled the air. Then came a tremendous crashing and rumbling, as rocks and debris from above hurtled down and covered the cave entrance.
The passage’s luminous walls cast enough light for the Zguri to still be distinguishable. None seemed to have been harmed, but how long could they survive without access to air and sunlight? Simon and I hurried to them.
“Do not worry,” the red and yellow one said. “The queen can restore the entrance. Go to her. Her chamber still has sunlight.”
But not for long. When Simon and I got back to the others, someone was plugging up the hole directly above Azmx. Drazok had clearly made a full reconnaissance of the area before making contact with the Zguri and since there was no way he could have known the hole provided direct sunlight to the Zguri queen, his men had to be plugging it for another reason. And I knew what that reason was.
“No air will be able to get in here with that hole plugged up,” I said, eyeing it with concern.
“There are other sources of air,” said Azmx. “I doubt our foe found them all.”
“But what about sunlight? How long will it be before you…you….?”
“Perish from lack of it? We did not evolve in such a way as to be totally dependent on it for survival. That would have been foolish. There are other energy forces here to sustain us. But the sun does fuel some of our abilities, and these will start to weaken. Deprivation will also have a detrimental effect on my appearance. In much less time.”
Almost right away, in fact.
Challa studied Azmx. “You look like flowers look when Lyetta says they’re drooping.” She touched one of the Zguri queen’s petals. “Are you drooping because something won’t let the sun in?”
“Yes, little one.” Azmx then turned her attention to us bigger ones. “Drazok and his men will stay at the mouth of the cave for a time, to make certain no one escapes, making this a good time for you to escape. A tunnel at the back of this cavern leads to another tunnel. That tunnel has an opening that comes out on the other side of the mountain but is hidden by vegetation.”
“We can’t just leave you,” I said.
“You must. The opening is not large but should be large enough for you to get through and seek help. The vitzi (presumably the brightly coloured bat-thing) will take you to it.”
“But what of you?” Jip inquired.
“As soon as you are among friends, you can return and have them restore the sun to us.”
“Unless something eats us while we’re looking for them,” Kirsty muttered.
“We can still prevent that, though our strength is diminishing. You should go now, while enough remains to be of help to you.”
“Okay.” I went to pick up Kadi and looked for Challa, but she was nowhere around.
“Where’s Challa?”
We hunted through the cavern’s stalagmites, calling to her all the while.
Just as I was starting to think, with sinking heart, that she must have slipped away into the labyrinth, Kirsty chanced to look up, and gave a sudden gasp.
“Och, I dinna believe it!”
The rest of us followed her horrified gaze. There, high, high, above us, was Challa, doggedly making her way to the plugged-up hole in the roof of the cave. The little baton clasped between her teeth indicated her intention of un-plugging it.
“Do not say anything,” Jip cautioned. “Do not startle the child in any way.”
“Want me to go after her?” Simon asked.
I had a look at the route Challa must have taken. It seemed perilously lacking in hand and foot holds, though she had obviously found some. “Can you?”
“I…I’m not sure. I’ve never climbed anything like that.”
None of us had, but before we could try, Azmx whirred. “Stay where you are. She will be all right. The blood of Beom runs through her veins.”
“It’ll be running all over the cavern floor if she falls,” Kirsty replied curtly.
She didn’t though, and once she got up to the hole, managed to find a ledge just beneath it on which to sit whilst she poked at the hole’s covering with her baton. After what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, she got enough of it loose to take hold and pull. Moments later, she dislodged all of it and a thick blanket tumbled down.
I still couldn’t understand how Challa hadn’t fallen, until I noticed a small glow around her, and another around Azmx.
“You’re holding on to her,” I said. “Using some of that remaining power you were going to use to give us safe passage through Chorathase.”
“The return of sunlight will give me more. I must devote what I have now to removing the blockade from the cave’s entrance and reviving the rest of my people.”
“But once Drazok and his men know the entrance has been unblocked, they’ll block it again. And plug the hole again,” said Simon.
“They will not know.”
Jip smiled. “An illusion?”
Azmx waved a leaf, as if nodding. “An illusion. One we will end when the time is right. We will cause Drazok to believe the blockade’s removal took the last of our strength. Elated, he will have his men move in. To meet their doom.”
A sudden shiver ran down my spine. Azmx spoke in her usual calm, reassuring fashion, but the tone of that last statement made it clear that, despite their purportedly peaceful leanings, crossing the Zguri was not a good idea.
Chapter Twenty
Whatever they were planning, we were not going to be there to witness it. Azmx still wanted us to go out through the tunnel and make our way to safety while she and her people were regaining their strength.
“I do not know how long full revitalization will take, and your absence and the uncertainty of your fate is taking a heavy toll on those who care for you. The infant prince grows fretful also, and it is in the interests of all that he and the other royal seedling be reunited with their parents as soon as possible.”
While Challa was making her way down to us, I took a closer look at Kadi. He had been cranky, and now seemed a bit listless. He liked me, and the others too, but must have been starting to view us as a poor substitute for his mother. Or Lyetta. Or maybe even Mux.
“That was a very dangerous thing to do, Challa,” Simon admonished when Challa came back to us, pleased with her accomplishment. “You mustn’t be so reckless.”
I could scarcely believe what I was hearing. “Says the boy who was going to run across a boggy field without looking and took off like a snurbok in full stride to find out what was going to happen with Drazok when he got here!”
“That was different.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Maybe now you know how we feel when you behave foolhardily,” said Arlyne.
Simon glared at both of us and was making ready to give reply when Azmx called our attention back to her.
“The Supreme Ruler’s people are looking for your enemies as well as you. Though Drazok believes you to be trapped in here, he will still be watching for approaching patrols. If you were to try to descend to the valley along one of this mountain’s paths you could come to his attention. You must therefore cross over to the next mountain by way of a naturally-formed bridge. The path you
will come out onto leads to this bridge and once over it you can follow another path down into the valley, where vegetation will provide you with cover until you can return to the river. By following it downstream, as you were doing before you came under attack, you will eventually reach the restricted zone’s boundary posts and your rescuers’ base camp, which is nearby.”
“Just like it was for Taz,” I said.
“The one for him was further along, adjacent to the point at which he entered the wilderness. The one for you is near the crash site of your spacecraft. You will know you are getting close when you see a lone mountain with barren wasteland all around. For centuries it has marked the beginning of hostile terrain and was once the point at which those guilty of some transgression were cast into exile.”
“They have a planet for that now,” I told her. “Drazok escaped from it.”
“He will wish he had not.”
Again, that shivery sensation.
“I believe I saw such a mountain in the distance when we were in Chorathase on Beom’s Day,” said Jip. “It seemed oddly isolated.”
“An attraction for those who desire solitude. For others, the whole of Chorathase’s restricted zone holds attraction.” Her leaves rustled in what might have been the plant version of an exasperated sigh. “Prince Mardis seems particularly drawn to it and frequently requires our protection.”
And there was Verim thinking he just led a charmed life, I thought.
“I’m sure he’d love to meet you,” I said. “But I guess you don’t want us to tell anyone about you. You’d rather have the Shield of Beom remain a mystery.”
Azmx’s reply was not immediate. After giving it some thought, she said, “No. No more mystery. If such as Drazok knows about the First Nation of Cholar, it is time for all descendants of the Second Nation to be made aware of us again. Though we would appreciate limitations being put on actual contact.”
