The Purple River

by Shane Cogan

  ******

  Wormblack’s mind was sprinting. He had retained every word that Fylo and Tur had told him. They had either rehearsed every word, or they were telling the truth. But something was not right. They were rarely seen together, yet they were seen chatting in the great gardens and again in the corridors of the palace. All of the Vanguard have their little spies, so why should I not? But something was not right. He rubbed his forehead and the back of this neck. He did not see them until it was too late, as his left knee smashed into them. With his eyes focused on the present and his mind on the past, his body felt the future and over he went. Books, Wormblack, the pot of tea he was carrying in his hands. The resulting noise awoke his wife. She enquired about his current situation and received a short muffled of words. Satisfied she left the corridor light on and proceeded back to bed.

  Wormblack was holding his knee as he noted that the corner of the middle book was also damaged. But my knee is the worst off. ‘Beaten up by a few hard cased books,’ he shouted out. He let out a further scream as he tried to kick the book. ‘Hard who?’ his wife shouted out. She had stopped on the stairs and strained her ears to hear a reply. Another muffled word or two. She smiled and walked on upstairs. Gathering the books, picking up the broken tea pot and wiping the liquid from some papers, he moved over to his study desk. Rubbing his knee and foot and bending forward, he stopped briefly. I need to write it down in case I forget it. He scribbled a few words on the paper. It was still wet from the tea. Wormblack looked around the room and its contents and the latest incident and shook his head. ‘I need some help,’ he said.

  He rubbed his eyes and looked at his skin in the mirror. So pale. He pulled his eyelids down and saw the small new dots. He threw the last of the books in the corner and closed the study door, locking it with a key. He heard his wife shout something from upstairs. He opened the door slowly. Don’t wake the children. His wife, already in bed, was sitting up. ‘It’s all too much, my love. I cannot do this job alone,’ he said. His wife nodded. ‘Come here, my love. You need to sleep,’ she said. ‘But I cannot,’ he said. Wormblack pulled off one sweater. It half came off his body. ‘Your foot and knee are all red,’ she said. He rubbed them with some water from a bottle. He fell onto the bed next to his wife. ‘We are doomed,’ he said. His wife just nodded. ‘The planet,’ he mumbled, his head now resting on a pillow. He pulled the cover over his half clothed body. ‘King,’ he shouted. His wife patted him on the head, his eyes moving rapidly. My body is so exhausted. ‘Palace fights,’ he muttered. She patted his head some more. She pulled his hair from over his eyes, as she parted it over his ears. ‘Dead bodies,’ he said. She patted him again. ‘Flying ghosts,’ he said. His wife pulled back her head and looked at him, and her eyes narrowing. ‘Atis is at war again,’ Wormblack said as his eyes finally let in and his body tumbled into sleep, snoring sounds replacing his words. His wife was holding his head and staring into the space, with her eyes fully open.

  C H A P T E R 44

  Phorais

  Her eyes jumped from one being to another. Hands. Arms. Feet. Heads touching heads. The circled around her. Yet, I don’t feel any sense of fear like before. Aluum looked around her and could see the people, like her. Everywhere. It seems familiar. But no one has spoken to me yet. Aluum rubbed her face as she wondered if she was in a dream. Looking at her body, she noted something different. I look clean and there is something around my waist and upper body, like them! I have not seen these before, but it resembles my own green leaf cover. She felt a tug at her feet. Looking down, the animal that had said the word was lapping at her feet. She reached down and touched it. Its tail moved from side to side. She bent her body to closely examine the animal. It jumped up on her knee, standing on its two back legs. What an unusual creature. Its tail is moving, yet it is happy and does not want anything of me. Aluum marvelled at the creature’s smile, touch and noise. She moved her hand around its head, and it fitted neatly into her palm and she stroke the animal’s face. Its tail moved faster, with each touch. Aluum stood up and smiled. The tall woman reached out her hand and pulled Aluum towards the other people.

  Their skin colour is different to my own, yet I feel we are the same. She looked at the tall woman’s hand on hers. I like its touch. Hand on hand. The woman gripped her hand tighter. My own light brown skin against their pale blue skin. What are they? So different? Yet I am at ease, almost at home with these people. ‘Despite our physical difference, I know you,’ Aluum said, and then covered her mouth with her hand. All heads turned towards her. The tall woman nodded. Her faint red lips showed off her teeth. Aluum studied the tall woman as they moved hand in hand towards a building. She heard the animal give off another few sounds. She saw that it had stopped, sitting but its tail was still moving on the ground. Aluum laughed. But the animal was looking at the great door to the building. Why won’t it move towards it? The towering woman turned around and motioned Aluum her to follow her. She put one foot forward and then the other. Slowly. Each of my feet fits into each rock formation perfectly. Each step and each foot are exact. Almost soft on touch, but firm like rocks. She counted each step, but soon gave up, looking around. The other beings joined her, flanked on each side. They are wearing the same clothes as me and are barefoot. The two beings to my left are like just like her, the tall woman.

  Aluum could see the sky clearing as they continued to climb higher. But the place seems different from my normal planet. The sky is blue and clear. I have not seen such a colour before. The tall woman had let her hand go as they climbed higher with each step. Exact timing. Precise placing. The large door to the entrance of the building was coming closer into view. Yet, the steps seem to go on forever. She looked around as a strong breeze caught her face and the items around. She heard a new noise. The wind had caught it and it was making a soft noise in return. Like a bird’s whistle, but softer. I like these new surroundings and the new colours and new sounds.

  He looks different. He has hair on his face. How strange. The male was opening the large door as Aluum and the tall woman arrived. Aluum moved to touch the hair and stroked it. The man did not move. ‘Welcome,’ he said. Aluum stepped back. The tall woman was close to her. ‘We cannot enter here with you. Only you can enter, Aluum. In there are the answers you seek,’ she said. ‘But…you are who?’ Aluum’s reaction was cut off. ‘You can call me Phorais,’ she said as she bowed her head and asked Aluum to go inside. A light came on as Aluum stepped inside. She pulled back as the floor made her feet go cold. It is not water. ‘But this is not a dream, as things are different. I normally can…,’ Aluum said but the doors were closing behind her and the hinges creaked as the door closed shut. She heard the door slam. Aluum moved around and tried to move the great door, but couldn’t. Looking around, Aluum could see a giant long hallway with equally spaced slots between them. I have seen this place in my dreams. Large and small books were neatly placed on each shelve. They went on as far as she could see. There were scrolls, she could see, all neatly packed. Aluum walked down the long corridor. With each step, a light came on over her head. She waved her hands around and more lights came on. Aluum stopped at one collection of books and picked one from the shelf, but it would not come away in her hand. Then she heard a noise from behind her and saw a shadow dart across the main corridor.

  Let go of the book and follow that shadow. I am not alone. She walked slowly to the corner of where the shadow had vanished. She pulled the material closer around her body. The adjoining corridor is smaller than the main one. There it is. It is not moving fast, as if it knows I am here. The being has stopped. Aluum followed but moved slower towards the figure. It is focused on a book. The large book was opened in its hands. And its head glued on its contents. It’s a female. Aluum reached out to touch the other person, but she turned around before she could touch her. Aluum ducked and started to walk backwards, covering her face with her hands. She looked at the female with one eye. ‘Why are you surprised?’ she asked.

  It
’s me. The figure standing in front of me…is…but how?? Even the same identical robe that was given by the group before I entered. It is alike in every way, every characteristic. Aluum’s body shivered. ‘But you…I…’ she tried to say. But the female in front of her put a finger to her lips. ‘I am but a mirror. I am nothing. You are the reality,’ she said. She handed the book she had in her hands to Aluum. ‘This is for you. It is your life. I hope it will provide you with the answers you seek,’ she said. Aluum tried to open her mouth. The female figure turned to leave and walked down the corridor. The lights did not flick on. Should I go after her…it, me? Aluum glanced at the book in her hands. ‘Wait. I need to ask you who you are! Stop. Listen!’ Aluum said as she tried to run after the female. Aluum dropped the book, as she shouted out to find her. She reached the corner of the great library and looked down each path. Nothing. No one. No female. No lights. Looking at her hands. ‘The book…I need to get it,’ she screamed.

  Aluum retrieved the book from the floor. Looking at its cover for the first time, she saw her name printed on the book. Just as she had said. There is a strange symbol above my name. She moved her small finger around its outline and felt its curves. A symbol that I have seen before in her dreams. She half slapped the big book against a shelf and shouted ‘what is this place?’. Her voice echoed around the chamber a few times, until it vanished into silence. She looked around at the shelves where she was. Again, there are books everywhere. All neatly placed. And all the same shape and size. She tried to pull one off the shelf. It won’t budge. And another. It would not move. None of them. What is this place?

  She moved further down the aisle, where one of the books lit up as her hand moved closer to it. What is this?. Aluum looked closer at the books. They were spotless. The book she had pulled out again had her name and the symbol on it. She sat on the ground under a light. Aluum laid both books out in front of her with both front covers facing her. Both had her name on it, both had that same symbol. But one is thinner while the other is thicker. She reached for the thick book and flicked through its pages. Years and places were printed on the top of each place. My name. ‘I am confused,’ she said. It also has places and numbers on each page. She stood up and bent forward, while glancing at both books. The smaller book has high numbers that were going forwards, while the thick book has numbers going backwards. Her eyes opened wider and she inhaled a deep breath. Aluum kneeled down and closed the books and stood up. ‘I know that they are,’ she whispered.

  C H A P T E R 45

  The Daara

  Tiuus increased his pace. He leaped upwards from one rock step to the next. His lips moved to his soft hum. Even since I left the lake or the kingdom of the Naiads. I have this new confidence. A new sense of alertness. He thought of her now - the image clear in his mind. The queen had promised his release. She had been good to her word. He stopped whistling and looked back at the track behind him. ‘I am still not sure what they had meant by me being the chosen one or the bringer of masculinity,’ he said looking back down below. His breath heavy and his heart racing. He saw a bird swoop down on him and let out a series of chirps. ‘I agree,’ the Manith man shouted back at the bird. But the creature was already out of sight, its speckled feathers falling as it flapped its wings in mid-flight.

  It has been two full days since the Nymphs let me out of the water, and oddly I managed to swim to the top of the lake without their aid. That is, without them holding me. Maniths, in the past, had I recall been able to swim great distances but this was a new feat, even for me. He took a deep breath and stepped back onto the path. Looking upwards, he could see the distant clouds hovering. That thing up there will not be like Lemuria. The queen had promised him a new skill. One with water and they would always be with him. He thought back to her last words and the last time he had seen her, before he left the underwater world. ‘You have conquered our female energy. No male of the underworld or the normal world has ever done this before,’ he said aloud repeating her words again. That was all she had said. And then they left. They turned once, all six of the Naiads. Each nodded, with that killer smile and vanished, one after the other, under the aqua blue water. Gone for good, I fear. There was no denying it. Magic had happened. They were not of this world and had real powers. ‘And now I feel them all around me,’ he whispered. His steps grew faster. Tiuus paused again to look around where he was and took in the sounds and sights. ‘At the summit. The top of the mountain is where you shall find the answers that you seek,’ the Nymph with the green eyes had said. ‘I never did get the rest of their names,’ he sighed. Tiuus walked on.

  He looked at the path in front of him. And knelt down and picked up some soil in his hands. Worn with animal footprints only. And small ones beside them. They were the livestock of the hill people. And nothing sinister, I hope. He stopped and took a sip from his water canister. He wiped his brow and drops splattered off his moving hand. He looked up at the sky and as the clouds cleared he could make out the faintest of a mountain peak. ‘Barely,’ he coughed. He groaned loudly and looked back at the path and its straightness and the jagged, steep incline above him. Best follow the animal tracks along the path. I still have a few hours left of daylight, before darkness and should surely reach the hill people and their animals and ask to stay the night with them. He picked up some wild haw berries and ate them while increasing his speed. Oh those goddesses. Those Naiads. He smiled at the thought of them at the bottom of the lake. What are they doing now? Will I ever see her again?

  His mind elsewhere, he was too late and crashed over with their force, the screaming and bleating of their noises. His head kicked back into the mud by the last of the huffs. He rolled over and caught a glimpse of a small hill man and his two boys chasing the creatures. ‘Forward!’ shouted one of the boys. And the animals obliged and veered back on to the track. The older hill male spotted Tiuus. He caught the older male’s look. Expressionless. Tiuus stopped as the man slid down the final mud bank. He landed with a thud close to him and slapped his stick into the worn out path, just a few feet from Tiuus. ‘You must be the stranger they speak of,’ said the father. ‘Who?’ asked Tiuus. The father glanced back at his two boys. The younger one said a few words, while rubbing the hair away from his eyes. Tiuus stood up and brushed the remainder of the mud off him. It’s a language I recognise. They continued to whisper in the local tongue. Tiuus could not make out the words and moved a few steps closer.

  He approached them slowly. They understand my body language. The other boy spoke the local tongue to his father. Tiuus stood still and listened, then cleared his throat and began to say a few words. The father and the two boys looked back at Tiuus. They said a few more words and Tiuus nodded. The older boy joined Tiuus in his words. And then the younger. Tiuus sang some more words. They all joined in. The father put his hands up. ‘Stranger, you can join us back at the camp, but I make you no promises that you can join in with the rest of the group after dinner with stories and music,’ he said, while using his stick to climb back towards the young boys. ‘I’m happy to learn more of my ancient roots,’ Tiuus said.

  Tiuus smelled the air as he joined the camp. Oh. Fresh meat. He followed the father and the two boys, as they entered first. He scanned the camp and each corner. No guards up here. Just the one boy minding the animals. His mind wandered to the palace and to the King and his brother. Most days I wonder about them. I left in haste and in secrecy, but at Samarth’s instructions. Was he really right about the mission? I trust him. I’m more familiar with him than with Fareth. Am I on a mission of doom? He shook his head and felt a tug on this coat. The younger of the boys was pulling at him. He rubbed its texture, as he thought of the green-eyed Naiad.

  The boy was speaking now. But not in musical tone. ‘My name Dreus. Yours?’ he asked in the broken common tongue of Atis. Tiuus paused, while looking at the boy, before saying ‘Lanith’. The boy nodded and ran over to the rest the group. They were all now standing and looking at the big Manith man. Some were w
hispering. Some were cooking. Some were dancing. Some were cleaning. But all of them had their eyes on Tiuus as he came closer to the large fire. They were in a circle around him. Scan the area for any hostile eyes. He could see laughter and dance. ‘Come closer, big man,’ said one of them. Drops of liquid fell from his beard as he drank from a cup. Tiuus could see that, like most in the group, they were smaller than him. I have heard stories about this tribe as a child and learned their words. I need to remember them and fast. He looked around and eyed them all carefully. He felt the Collective eye gaze of the group on him. But it’s not of fear. It is them. Some men. Some women. And a few children. A small tribe of them. I know who they are now. The Daara tribe.