Souls of Aredyrah 3 - The Taking of the Dawn

by Tracy A. Akers

“All right. I have him,” Reiv said.

  Then it was Cora’s turn to hesitate. Her hands were trembling, and her face was beaded with sweat. She swept her brow with the back of her hand, then drew a stabilizing breath. With a sudden determined slice of the blade, she cut downward from one side of the shaft, then upward from the other, making a wide groove from which to work it free.

  Torin arched his back, and Reiv felt certain he was going to be bucked off, but then Torin went still.

  Reiv looked at Cora with concern.

  “He’s only fainted,” she said. Reiv moved to lift himself off, but she ordered him to stay. “He might reawaken. You’d best stay put.”

  Reiv felt uncomfortable, sitting on Torin like that. Heat flared to his cheeks. For a moment he thought to climb off, regardless of what Cora said could happen if Torin awoke. But what if Torin did awake? Reiv gritted his teeth, suddenly aware that he was more concerned about a man discovering him astride his backside than he was of a potential slip of the knife.”

  “Reiv?”

  Cora’s voice drew Reiv from his thoughts.

  “It’s out. I need you to reheat the knife.”

  Reiv realized the shaft was now lying on the blanket, and blood was pouring from the wound.

  Cora pressed a cloth to it. “Hurry,” she said. “I need to get the bleeding stopped.”

  Reiv scrambled up and out to the campfire. Gem was standing to the side of it, tossing in sticks. “Thank you for keeping it going,” Reiv said. Gem shrugged as if indifferent, but Reiv thought he detected a hint of satisfaction in her eyes.

  He returned to the tent, the knife’s blade glowing red. Cora took it from him and held the hot metal to the wound. The blood sizzled with the smell of burning flesh.

  “Now. The other one,” Cora said. “It’s already pushing through the other side. We’ll have to shove it on through.”

  “Shall I roll him onto his side then?”

  “That would probably be best.”

  Reiv leaned Torin toward him and braced his chest against the man’s back. It made his skin feel clammy, but Cora scooted to his side before he could think any more about it. She pressed the butt of the knife handle against the broken end of the shaft. The pronged tip blossomed through Torin’s chest, and the rest of the shaft followed. Cora grabbed hold and slid it out.

  Reiv dabbed the blood on Torin’s back, while Cora tended the exit wound.

  “Lean him against me,” she said, “while you reheat the knife.”

  Reiv did as instructed and again returned with the metal glowing hot. “Hold him,” Cora said, and he took hold of Torin while she pressed the blade to Torin’s chest.

  Torin moaned as the pain roused him. “Stop,” he said weakly.

  Reiv tightened his hold. “Almost done,” he said. “Almost done.”

  “Let me die,” Torin said. “Please, Reiv. There is nothing left for me.” Then his head lolled against Reiv’s arm and he said no more.

  Reiv’s eyes met Cora’s. “He does not mean it,” he said.

  Cora looked away.

  “He is the toughest man I know,” Reiv insisted. “He would not give up so easily.”

  Cora motioned for Reiv to roll Torin onto the blanket. She blotted the wound at Torin’s back, but said nothing.

  “Cora? Torin will live, will he not?”

  “Yes,” she said softly. “Now go reheat the knife.”

  Reiv rose and left the tent, then struggled to the nearest bush and vomited into the dirt.

  Back to ToC

  Chapter 15: Wading In

  “Reiv…Reiv!”

  Reiv felt a hand shaking his shoulder. He rolled over and sat up, his heart pounding against his breastbone. “What!” he blurted.

  “You were having a nightmare,” Cora said.

  Reiv blinked his eyes awake, then scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Was I?”

  “Yes. You were shouting.”

  “Shouting?” He yawned and stretched. “I do not recall.”

  Cora eyed him suspiciously.

  “What?” Reiv asked with amusement. “Was it that bad?”

  “It seemed so. Who’s Crymm?”

  Reiv’s amusement evaporated. “Someone I used to know.” He turned his focus to Torin. “How is he?”

  “Better, but he has a slight fever. Hopefully it’s only from the wounds, nothing more. I gave him an herbal brew. That should bring the fever down a bit.”

  Reiv rose. “How long have I been asleep?”

  “A while. Are you ready to take the next shift?”

  “Yes, but let me tend to another matter first.”

  As Reiv exited through the flap, he realized the camp was now bustling with activity. There were numerous campfires scattered about, and tents filled to capacity with the injured. Many people were gathered on pallets, some sleeping, some not. Others were rushing in and out of tents, tossing medical waste onto burn piles and spilling red-tinted water into the sand.

  Reiv worked his way behind the tent, intent on finding a private place to ease his bladder, when he heard Gem and Nely playing nearby. He finished his business, then stepped back around the tent and walked toward them. He paused quietly, watching as they played.

  The girls had fashioned dolls from sticks held together by strands of vine. They were staging them in a make-believe world of strategically placed stones, mounds of sand, and other assorted landmarks.

  “Quick! Hide in the house!” Gem’s doll commanded the one held by her sister. “We can’t let the Guard see us!”

  The girls hopped their dolls behind a rock. “Save me, save me,” Nely’s high pitched voice squealed.

  “Do not fear,” Gem replied bravely. “I have a knife.”

  She grabbed another doll and leaned it in front of the rock. “No one passes through your door without passing through me first!” she declared.

  Gem lifted another doll and moved it toward the first. Her voice grew deeper. “I am the King, here to kill you all. You are rubbish and deserve to die!” She snatched the doll at the pretend doorway and tottered it toward the mock king. “Not if I kill you first.”

  The two dolls scuffled at the command of Gem’s small fists. The King fell into the dirt. “Now who’s rubbish,” Gem said as she smashed the other doll into it, beating it until both were nothing more than shattered twigs.

  “Gem,” Reiv said softly. “Is that what happened?”

  Gem rose to face him, her expression a mixture of surprise and annoyance. “No,” she said. “That’s what I wanted to happen.”

  I understand,” Reiv said.

  “No you don’t.”

  Reiv sighed. “If you say so, Gem.” He glanced back at the tent, then smiled at the girls. “Would you like to go in and visit Torin? I am sure your voices would bring him cheer.”

  Gem twisted her mouth, then asked, “Will he know we’re there?”

  “I do not know, but perhaps he knows more of what is going on than he lets on.”

  “Then I need to tell him something,” Gem said. “Before he dies.”

  “He is not going to die,” Reiv said.

  Gem bared her teeth. “You don’t know that. You don’t know anything!” She spun and ran in the opposite direction.

  “Gem, wait!” Reiv called after her, but she had vanished into the maze of refugees.

  Cora emerged from the tent. “What happened?” she asked, her eyes trailing after Gem.

  Reiv shook his head. “There is no talking to that child. She is so angry, so…”

  “Shall I give it a try?” Cora asked. “Perhaps she just needs to talk to someone who is not Tearian.”

  “I am not Tearian,” Reiv snapped.

  Cora laughed. “Oh Reiv, of course you are. You’re the brother of the King.”

  Reiv looked over at Nely who was staring at him. “Is that why your sister will have nothing to do with me?” he asked her.

  The girl nodded.

  “I suppose you will have nothing to do with m
e either?” he asked.

  Nely stepped toward him. Her eyes sparkled as she gazed up at him. “I like you,” she said.

  “Well, at least someone does,” he muttered.

  “Can we go see Torin now?” Nely asked. She reached for Reiv’s hand.

  Reiv gathered her hand in his, then turned to Cora. “Perhaps you should see about Gem. A little girl should not be running around camp unsupervised, though I pity any man who dares cross her.”

  Cora smiled. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  * * * *

  Cora found Gem just outside the perimeter of the camp, stabbing the dirt with a stick.

  “Did you kill it?” Cora asked with amusement.

  “Not yet,” Gem said. “But I will.” She rammed the stick into the dirt, where it stuck.

  Cora leaned down to inspect the imaginary victim. “Definitely dead,” she said, then turned to Gem. “Are you finished now?”

  Gem scowled. “Yes.”

  “I was on my way to the stream for a dip,” Cora said matter-of-factly. “Would you like to join me?”

  Gem shrugged.

  “As you wish.” Cora turned and walked away. Gem hesitated, then followed.

  When they reached the stream, Cora led Gem along its bank. Up and down the shoreline people came and went, some filling water bladders, others bathing or beating laundry against the rocks. She headed to a tumble of boulders shaded by an overhang of leafy branches. The area was bordered by ripples of sand and gently flowing waters, and would provide a place for sitting and privacy for bathing. “This should do,” Cora said.

  She picked her way along the rocks, then settled onto a boulder that was half in and half out of the water. Dipping a toe into the river, she swirled it in a circular motion, then patted the rock next to her. “Here, Gem. Sit with me.”

  Gem climbed over and sat, but her feet did not reach the water’s surface. She slid down a bit, touching her toes to it. “It’s cold,” she said, and scooted back up.

  “Oh, it’s not so bad.” Cora turned her eyes to the sky. It was still cloudy, but the rain had stopped and the sky was growing paler. “If we’re lucky, the sun will be shining soon; then it will feel warmer when we swim.”

  “I don’t know how to swim,” Gem grumbled.

  “Would you like to learn?”

  Gem thought for a moment. “I guess,” she finally said. “My brother always wanted to learn to swim. But Torin wouldn’t teach him.”

  “Why not?”

  “He said Farris had to be a potter and that potters didn’t swim.”

  Cora smiled. “I see. Well, I would have to disagree with Torin on that one. Anybody can swim.”

  “I think it was because he didn’t want anyone to know about Farris, so he made up stories so he didn’t have to take him there.”

  “To Meirla you mean?”

  “Yes. He didn’t want the people there to know.”

  “Know what?”

  “That Farris was his.”

  Cora felt her stomach clench. “What do you mean, his?”

  “His son.”

  “How do you know this, Gem? Did he tell you?”

  “No. I heard my mum and pada arguing about it once, and when Torin came yesterday, he said so, too.”

  “Torin has a son?” Cora turned her gaze to the opposite shore.

  “Not anymore. He’s dead, so now Torin doesn’t have one.”

  Cora looked at Gem, expecting to see sadness, but instead she saw only bitterness. “Oh, Gem, I’m so sorry.” Cora paused, noting the conflict emerging on Gem’s face. “Do you want to talk about it? Sometimes talking helps when we lose people we love.”

  Gem remained silent.

  “How about if I start?” Cora suggested.

  Gem lifted her eyes to her. “You lost someone?”

  “My mother and father, and my little sister. They drowned.”

  Gem hugged her knees to her chest, staring at the swirling waters. “How did they drown?”

  “They were very good swimmers, all Shell Seekers are, but the sea was angry that day and pulled my little sister far from shore. My mother went in after her, and my father followed. But the waters took them, and never gave them back.”

  “Why didn’t your father save them?”

  “He tried, but he couldn’t.”

  “Then he didn’t try hard enough,” Gem said.

  “Is that what you think? That people die because someone didn’t try hard enough to save them?”

  “My mum died because Torin didn’t try hard enough.”

  “How can you say that?”

  “Because he took me and Nely and let the King burn up my mother and brother.”

  “Why would Torin do such a thing? There must have been more to it.”

  “Farris was dead, and Nannaven, too. But my mum was alive and she was sick.” Gem’s voice grew angry. “Then the King came and told the men to burn the tent, but first he said that Torin could save her or us, and Torin picked us. But he should have picked Mum.”

  “Gem, please listen. The King is the bad one, not Torin. Torin was put in a terrible position. What else could he do? If he had chosen your mother, then you and your sister would be dead. Are you saying you would rather Nely be dead than your mother?”

  “No.”

  “So how was Torin’s choice the wrong one? What would you have done in his place?”

  “I wouldn’t have chosen anyone! I would have killed the King!”

  “Well then, why didn’t you?”

  Gem’s face reddened with anger. “Because I didn’t have a knife!” she said.

  “Did Torin have a knife?”

  “No, but—”

  “So how could he kill the King?”

  “He should have hit him!”

  “Why didn’t he?”

  “The soldiers had him and he couldn’t!”

  “I see.”

  Cora’s sympathies shifted from the child sitting next to her to the man lying wounded in the tent. For Torin to have found his boy dead, then to have been forced to choose between the lives of two little girls and the mother of his son—no wonder he felt he had nothing left to live for.

  “Cora?” Cora felt Gem’s hand on her arm.

  “Yes, Gem.”

  “Do you like him?”

  “Who?”

  “Torin.”

  “Of course.”

  “What about Reiv?”

  “I like him, too.” She cocked her head. “Why do you ask?”

  Gem crinkled her nose. “I don’t like him.”

  “Reiv? What possible reason could you have to dislike him?”

  “He’s Tearian.”

  Cora shook her head sadly. “Well, I guess you’d better tell him then.”

  “Tell him what?”

  “That you don’t appreciate him saving Torin, and that you wish he’d just left you and your sister back on the road. I’m sure some nice Jecta would have come along and helped you, eventually.” Cora paused. “Oh…wait. Didn’t I hear something about a Jecta man finding Torin in the mud, and after stealing from him left you and your sister there?”

  Gem’s brows slid up with surprise. “How did you know that?”

  “Reiv told me, and believe me, that Jecta had better stay away from Reiv if he knows what’s good for him.” Cora sighed. “I don’t know why Reiv bothers though. I mean, he’s Tearian. Why should he care about an injured Shell Seeker and two unappreciative little girls?”

  “You’re just trying to trick me into liking him.”

  “Am I?”

  Gem rested her chin on her bent knees and stared at her toes for a long moment. “Reiv’s helping you make Torin well?”

  “You know he is.”

  “Who’s going to take care of me and Nely, now that Mum is dead?” Gem asked.

  “Torin, of course.”

  “What if he dies.”

  “He won’t. I won’t let him,” Cora said. “But he has much healing to do. In the me
antime, I will take care of you and your sister. Would that be all right?”

  A smile teased the corner of Gem’s mouth. “That would be good.”

  Cora nudged Gem with her shoulder. “How about we wash this grime off, then go check on Torin. Maybe he’s awake, and we can tell him how brave you have been.”

  Cora rose and led the way to a patch of sand bordering the shallows of the shoreline. She held out her hand. “Come, Gem. Today we’ll only wade. There’s time enough to learn how to swim.”

  Gem studied the water, then set her face with determination. “Today I’ll wade,” she said. “But tomorrow I’ll swim.” Then she took Cora’s hand and stepped with her into the river.

  Back to ToC

  Chapter 16: Three Days

  “Three days,” Torin mumbled.

  Cora placed a cool rag upon his forehead, then looked at Reiv who was sitting nearby. “What does he mean do you think?” she asked.

  “Probably just nonsense, from the fever or loss of blood,” Reiv replied.

  “I don’t know. He’s been saying it a lot.”

  “Do you think the girls might know?” Reiv glanced beyond the open flap of the tent.

  “Maybe. Why don’t you ask them.”

  Reiv forced a laugh. “Like they will tell me anything.”

  “Tell them I sent you to ask,” Cora suggested.

  Reiv rolled his eyes. “Fine.” He rose and stepped out the tent and over to where the girls were chasing each other beneath a tree.

  “Gem.”

  Gem stopped and glared at him.

  “Cora sent me to ask if you know what Torin means when he says ‘three days.’ We thought it might be important.”

  “That’s what the King said,” she answered

  “The King? What else did he say?”

  “I don’t remember.”

  Reiv stepped closer. “Please, Gem. Try. Is something supposed to happen?”

  “I think so.”

  “What, Gem? What is supposed to happen in three days?”

  She scowled. “I said I don’t know.”

  Reiv turned his attention to Nely who was several paces away. Perhaps she knew, but somehow he doubted it. Worst-case scenarios scurried through his mind. Three days—and it had already been two. What could Whyn be planning? Reiv suddenly noticed that Nely’s crumbling expression was beginning to mirror his own emerging fears. “Come, Nely,” he said, holding a hand out to her. “You, too, Gem.”