Ten Crescent Moons (Moonquest)

by Marilyn Haddrill

  The artifact that seemed to most captivate him, however, was the ancient amulet he now held in his hand. It was a depiction of a crescent moon that had been carved into bone and attached to a leather thong.

  "There is writing here," he said. "Something about a prophecy. But I do not understand enough of the dialect to translate in full."

  At his words, Adalginza frowned as she recalled a childhood memory associated with this very spot.

  She had been splashing in the waterfall with friends from the nearby Tribe of the Circles. A little boy who was fascinated with Adalginza playfully leaned over and whispered into her ear a secret he had overheard while his parents were talking the previous night.

  It was a prophecy about a girl with indigo eyes.

  When Adalginza later told Benfaaro about the incident, he responded with such explosive and unreasonable anger that she vowed to herself that she would never speak of it again.

  A few seasons later, as leader Of The Blood, Benfaaro decreed among all the tribes that the telling of such prophecies was witchcraft and strictly forbidden under penalty of death.

  Now, as she watched Captain Kalos examine the artifacts, Adalginza felt an eerie sensation like profound inner knowing.

  This disturbed her deeply.

  She sank slowly down on the ground, straightening her skirt and crossing her legs in front of her as she took refuge under the shade of a tree with generous succulent leaves.

  She continued to watch Kalos, as he moved to the other side of the flat rock. His hair was still damp from the waterfall as he now leaned over to study the engravings on the leather skin.

  He repeated some strange-sounding words aloud, rolling them off his tongue as though trying them out. They sounded oddly familiar, but still made little sense to her.

  Adalginza waited uneasily, allowing Kalos time to rejoice in the discovery of the fraud she had helped perpetrate. She assuaged her considerable guilt by reminding herself that the pieces themselves were authentic.

  They just didn't belong here.

  She had spied the artifacts once before on Medosa's table, when as a child she had dropped by unexpectedly for a visit. The holy man then quickly swept the items out of sight, into a cloth bag.

  When she asked what they were, he refused to speak of them.

  She did not know why they had been in Medosa's possession. But she could only guess that the gnostic had somehow removed them from the Dome of Archives tended by the Eighth House on the Prime Continent.

  Adalginza told herself that, because the treasures were real, maybe there was no real harm being done to Kalos.

  She hoped not anyway, because his face was radiant as he looked up and smiled at her.

  "So what do these objects of yours mean?" Adalginza forced herself to ask. "As children, we merely viewed them as toys to be played with."

  Kalos responded happily, almost chattering.

  "These artifacts are genuine and, at this time, something beyond explaining. I will have to be content with having them in my possession until more can be learned. Perhaps there is even a lifetime of scholarly investigations awaiting me at this place."

  He paused, interrupting himself. "You look so sad, Lady Adalginza. Why?"

  She wanted to tell him that this was not at all what it seemed. Dreams never really come true, because disappointment was inevitable.

  She herself was a disappointment, as he would find out soon enough.

  Above all, she never wanted to face Kalos when and if he discovered that he had been made a fool of in so many ways.

  Finally, she spoke what was uppermost on her mind.

  "I have never seen you so truly alive. And I do not believe you were meant to be a soldier."

  That, at least, was the truth.

  Kalos was unabashed. "You misunderstand me. I am proud of the sword I wear. What better way to come to the frontier than as an officer in the Crescent knights?"

  "A terrible price to pay for knowledge."

  Kalos began to gather up his treasures, balancing them in his arms.

  "The choice was mine. No one else's."

  "Then I envy you your freedom to make such choices."

  Kalos began delicately stepping from rock to rock, passing across a spring that also fed the water pools. He carefully balanced the artifacts in each hand as he approached her.

  When he reached her side, he looked down and regarded her playfully.

  "You forget. There are no men of your clan left to rule you. You have wealth. You have no real family ties. You have much more freedom than most ladies of your House."

  "Yet, I am bound by the customs of those ruled by the Fifth Crescent Moon. There is no freedom in that."

  She said the words the captain expected. But her thoughts were on Benfaaro's rule, Benfaaro's expectations, and her obligations to her people.

  In this context, she had no real self.

  "Change the rules. Break free."

  "I cannot."

  "Why not?"

  "I would be shunned. Banished, perhaps."

  "That is utter nonsense. Many Crescent Houses have citizens who behave in unseemly ways. There are worldly laws observed by all the Houses that, when broken, may lead to imprisonment or even execution. But never have I heard of banishment. You may not be able to change your House. But you can change."

  "Then who would I be?"

  "Adalginza, you will never find out unless you free yourself to explore just that question."

  "You sound exactly like Medosa." Adalginza hung her head. "I believed him once. But Medosa's wisdom could not prevent even his own death."

  "Death is the ultimate freedom."

  "You are an optimist."

  "A realist." Kalos nodded toward the trail. "I enjoy conversing with you, but we should go now."

  He bent down near her and moved a few heavy rocks that were part of a slide from a nearby cliff. He placed the artifacts inside a hollowed area, then replaced the boulders.

  "What are you doing?" Adalginza asked.

  "I am keeping the amulet on my person, but stashing the rest of the artifacts here for safety. I will retrieve them when we are ready to leave the Place of the Circles. For now, you must lead me to Benfaaro's abode before darkness falls. And do not forget the water for the Golden."

  ***

  As the first of the steeple straw huts of the Village of the Circles came into view, Adalginza sensed the presence of a herd of about thirty prairie deer grazing extremely close to Benfaaro's abode on the far side of the vacant dwellings.

  Adalginza stayed perfectly still on the Golden, her back to the captain, until it finally came to her what she must do.

  She shut her eyes and mindlinked with the animals, simultaneously showing them the image of a giant, ravenous grencat on the prowl.

  As expected, the image sent the panicked herd thundering directly by the hut.

  She glimpsed through one of the fleeing animal's eyes the startled faces of both Bruna and Calasta peering from the entryway. Adalginza then placed the image of a fully armored Crescent knight in the mind of one of the last of the fleeing deer.

  Adalginza could only hope that Calasta would see the message through her own mindlink, and find a way to explain the danger to Bruna without giving away the secret of her own power.

  Through the eyes of the very last fleeing animal, Adalginza at last caught sight of Bruna and Calasta running toward the trail that traversed the brushy hill at the back of the hut.

  Feeling much relieved, Adalginza felt herself relax.

  "No one is here," she whispered to the captain. "They are all at the festival. But I still say we took a great risk coming here alone."

  Directly behind her, she could almost feel the captain's body vibrating with awareness, alert to every sound and movement in the vicinity.

  One of his hands held the Golden's guiding rein, and the other gripped the hilt of the Crescent sword resting in the saddle scabbard.

  When they at last reached Ben
faaro's hut, Adalginza pointed it out.

  She had decided to reveal its location, mainly to boost her credibility in the captain's eyes. Besides, whatever Kalos decided to do now, it could not cause that much harm.

  Sturmons were the only possessions that had real value for the people of the Village of the Circles, which specialized in breeding the animals and trading them to other tribes.

  She knew all the sturmons were with the villagers, partly for purposes of bartering during the festival.

  Adalginza's eyes swept the hillside behind the hut. She saw no movement. Bruna and Calasta must be well hidden, perhaps even watching their approach.

  When the captain and Adalginza reached the dwelling, Kalos helped her slip from the sturmon onto the mossy ground. Then he, too, threw one leg over the saddle and hopped down to join her. He then pulled the sword from its scabbard.

  "I cannot believe Benfaaro would leave his abode unguarded in this way," Kalos said.

  "Do you have guards posted at yours in Sola Re?" Adalginza asked.

  Kalos smiled warily. "As a matter of fact, I do. Now. But in Tremasto I never posted guards. There was a time when I felt very secure in my own home."

  "Benfaaro feels that the entire interior of the frontier is his home," Adalginza said. "It would never occur to him that any Crescent knight would dare penetrate this far into his territory."

  "Then I will take great pleasure in returning the favor of destroying any feeling of security he might have about his personal wellbeing."

  As she expected him to, Kalos searched every inch of the grounds.

  Then he tried the door to the abode, his knuckles growing white as he gripped the sword in anticipation. It was unbolted, and he walked inside.

  Adalginza did not accompany him. She knew what he would find there. Simple quarters. Two rooms. Three sleeping mats. A dirt floor. A wood stove vented through the roof.

  The savages did not distinguish themselves by setting themselves apart from others with elaborate possessions, even if the leader was Of The Blood.

  Finally, the captain walked outside. He looked grimly satisfied as he strode past Adalginza, and to the Golden. There, he returned to the sword to its saddle sheath.

  "Are we ready to go now?" Adalginza asked.

  "Not yet. I told you I wanted to leave Benfaaro a message. A warning, if you will. Because the next time I return, it will be to kill."

  Adalginza watched curiously while the captain gathered together loose wood. He lit the pile with a spark from his firestone. Then he began to fashion torches from the looser, more supple branches.

  "I will burn down the village," Kalos said. "And I will leave in the ashes a brass moon symbol of the Crescent knights, so that Benfaaro will know who has been here."

  Adalginza simply nodded. She knew full well that Benfaaro would, at the most, be greatly irritated.

  The tribes were all nomadic by nature, and often moved to access different hunting grounds. Those who were now gone already had with them their most valued household and personal items.

  And it was easy enough to relocate to other dwellings or to simply rebuild the village.

  Adalginza turned and walked to the captain's sturmon, where she took hold of the animal's halter.

  "I will lead the Golden to a safer location, away from the danger of the fire."

  Kalos stood by the blaze he had already started and watched her suspiciously for several moments, without answering.

  "Captain?" Adalginza asked innocently. "What is wrong? Did you want me to stay and help you with the burning?"

  Kalos hesitated a few moments more, before finally waving at her to move along.

  "No. It is a most unpleasant and gritty task. I can handle it alone. You are right. The Golden will be alarmed. He might even bolt and run away. Take the animal to a safer place. I will join you after the huts have all been set afire."

  "There is a clearing near here," Adalginza said agreeably, pointing in the direction she was headed. "I will await you there."

  She gazed at him as he touched a torch to the blaze to light it. And then he moved first to Benfaaro's hut. The dwelling burst into flames within only moments.

  Adalginza glanced up at the summit of the hill, where Bruna now plainly stood in bold defiance. She was silhouetted, looking like an ominous shadow against the blood red horizon where the sun had disappeared. The much tinier figure of Calasta was at her side.

  Bruna held up one hand, squeezed high above her head in a fist.

  With the captain preoccupied with his task, Adalginza risked raising her own hand in acknowledgement. It was impossible to know what Bruna thought at this moment. And, with any luck, Adalginza would never know.

  Her deepest regret now was that Calasta was with her mother and out of reach.

  But there would be a time in the future when Adalginza would send one of her furry creatures through the darkness to seek out Calasta. The creature's mind would hold a message, of where they could meet.

  In this way, Adalginza might be able to steal the child away from her mother. But not now. And perhaps not for a long while.

  Bruna and Calasta both turned then, and dropped out of sight below the hill. They would make their way by foot to the festival Of The Blood and report what they had witnessed to Benfaaro.

  Adalginza would be credited with saving them, since Bruna surely would know that she had sent the herd of prairie deer as a warning.

  Perhaps because she had taken this action, Benfaaro might be able to forgive his sister for the cowardly act she was now about to commit.

  But Adalginza doubted it.

  Again, it did not matter. For Adalginza hoped that she would never again see her brother. This thought gave her a strange mixture of both anguish and deep relief.

  Strangely, the parting that gave her the most pain was the one that was about to take place without the captain's knowledge.

  She lingered to watch Kalos as he moved among the huts — systematically setting each one on fire.

  The pungent smell of burning wood drifted through the forest, causing a stirring of alarm that she felt in the multitudes of creatures that began to flee to safety.

  Their urge to escape grew strong in her, too, lashing her like a whip. She was also one of the creatures of the forest. And she also had a right to safety. And peace.

  She quietly raised a hand in goodbye, without the only man she had ever loved seeing her gesture.

  "I will take care of your Golden, Captain Kalos," she whispered. "You are a good man. You and your family. It is the deepest desire of my heart that all of you die cleanly and mercifully, before Benfaaro finds you. However your end may come, I do not wish to be there to see it. And, above all, I do not wish to cause it."

  She led the Golden into the brush, out of sight. Then she leaped upon the animal's back and leaned into his neck to urge him forward.

  The sturmon's long legs ate the ground, putting great distance between her and Captain Kalos. She was leaving the Place of the Circles. She was leaving Sola Re. She was leaving her brother.

  And she would never, ever return.

  8

  The Golden had long, sturdy legs like the multiple trunks of the giant valayan trees found on the highest slopes of the Mountain of Treasures where Adalginza planned to take refuge.

  She leaned forward to help the Golden with his balance, matching the sway of her body with that of the sturmon.

  Soon the animal's steady gait and stamina greatly increased the distance between her and the past she was so desperate to escape. But as darkness descended, the Golden's disposition grew more rancorous.

  He increasingly disputed commands she sent by mindlink, sometimes veering in a direction opposite of what she pictured. At one point, he tried to scrape her off his back by dashing under a low-lying branch.

  The animal's stubborn opposition now slowed their progress considerably. It was as though the Golden instinctively knew its place was with Captain Kalos. And it had no use for t
his stranger who had stolen the sturmon from its beloved master.

  Meanwhile, in the growing darkness, the realization of the seriousness of what she had done began to dampen Adalginza's spirits.

  Just how did she, a woman with telltale indigo eyes, plan to survive alone in the frontier where any savages she was likely to meet would simply kill her at once?

  Without Benfaaro's public endorsement, who would believe her true identity even if she was granted the chance to explain who she was?

  More than ever, Adalginza wished she had been able to take Calasta with her. Her original plan was to pretend blindness by wrapping a cloth around her eyes and allowing the child to guide her while they were in the company of other savages.

  Now, without Calasta's companionship, she felt utterly alone.

  At that moment, her mind detected the reptilian coldness of the snake lying in wait ahead.

  Adalginza yanked hard on the rein, steering the Golden off the game trail and into the deepest of the prickly thickets. The Golden snorted its displeasure, stumbling as it tried to pick its way through loose rocks and shale hidden by the overgrowth.

  "I am trying to save your life, you ungrateful beast," Adalginza whispered. She slapped a rein hard across the animal's withers, as it balked. "Is this the sort of relationship we are going to have from now on?"

  Fury from the Golden's own mind swept over her. This sturmon was unusually intelligent, but even it did not have the ability to reason or to understand with any kind of depth the reason for its rage.

  The Golden knew only that something was terribly wrong, and its frustration was growing.

  As Adalginza steered the animal back up a steep hill and upon the trail, she sensed the presence of the disappointed snake behind them. The monster would have to remain concealed, waiting for the next meal.

  Perhaps a careless wild sturmon might wander by. But, for a snake, the only thing tastier than a sturmon was soft, easily digestible human flesh.

  Adalginza shuddered at the images she was receiving from the snake's mind. It had dined on human flesh before. Had developed a taste for it. Craved it.