Tribal Dawn: Mordufa: Volume Three

by Cassie Wolf

  - CHAPTER EIGHTEEN -

  The life of the green forests and the soft, white sand of the beaches were behind them. The cold air of the north vanished. The sun burnt their skin, leaving them exhausted without doing much more but lying in the carts. During the day, they stopped to stretch their legs and train.

  The sandy ground hardened, and a sharp, crisp grass prickled their legs. Sandstone pebbles turned into boulders lining either side of a path that led to the outskirts of the Inferno tribe’s territory. Travellers trotted past on the backs of camels wearing turbans and fine robes. Men had curved, glinting swords hanging at their waist. They refrained from causing trouble, though their faces radiated hostility.

  Unika worsened. The wound had become infected, green and black pus leaking through the stitching. His pale skin became ghastly white and getting him out of the cart was a two-man task. During the nights, he shivered, braved the cold and admired the clear sky.

  It was hard to tell if the wound had worsened to the point Unika couldn’t walk or if it was the change in the weather that crippled him. Ten years in the Sun tribe and the hottest it reached was still far lower than the scorching heat of the east. Tau and Rura were used to it, yet the sweat poured from both as if their bodies had forgotten their heritages. The others didn’t cope well. Vomiting, dizziness and bloody blisters were a daily nuisance. Water was rationed after using a large portion of it to clean Unika’s dressing, and every sip was dissatisfyingly lukewarm.

  Rocks were scattered with fossils. Leathery-skinned animals skittered on the land, leaving dots for trails. For Tau, it was as hostile as the desert: the same venomous snakes and scorpions, their beady eyes fixed on them as the carts struggled past, horses fatigued.

  Fifty feet tall, a sandstone wall protected the tribe. The door, a magnificent stone creation, slowly opened and welcomed into the bustling of Inferno people. The stench of rotting flesh and sweat drifted over them. Bodies had been piled between marble pillars or slumped carelessly on top of the carcases of horses and camels, torn of meat. The crowds were shoulder to shoulder, wearing apparel like those they’d seen travelling away. Men were the dominant figures in the mass cluster of stalls set up outside shops. Rope lines hung from the three-story homes, running to the buildings opposite, clothes hanging to dry. Children ran between the legs of adults, some stealing, some playing with friends. There were few women, and the ones they did see had gauze veils or silver masks covering their faces, revealing intense dark eyes.

  They arrived at a bustling square, a broken well in the centre. Pale faces stood out in the crowd of bronze skins – the warriors who’d survived so far. They were fatigued, bags under their eyes and shrunken muscles. They greeted the newcomers reluctantly as if forced and directed the carts to the shelter. When they saw Unika, they pointed to the herbalists’ building opposite.

  “Wow! Look… at how many people… there is here!” Unika exclaimed as Tau and Rura escorted him there, excitement shining in his bloodshot eyes.

  “Yeah, you’ll get to see them all later.” Tau grinned, throwing his arm around his shoulder. “We’re going to take you to see an exotic woman by the sounds of it.”

  Rura muttered in response. They barged through the masses to the building, an orange cross painted on the side and desert flowers planted beneath the carved windows. In the distance, there was a whistling. People huddled and backed away. They pushed and shoved to reach the other side, grabbing children and screaming with sudden terror.

  “What the fuck is going on?!” Tau called to Rura when a woman barged into his shoulder.

  Rura gawped. A huge ball of flame flew through the sky like a shooting star. With a thundering smash, it landed out of sight. The buildings around shook on impact, people cried and pulled at their hair. A smoke blossomed in crimson and carnal-black clouds. The stench of death and burning came with it.

  Backed up against the wall, Tau and Rura exchanged glances. They looked to the group of Sun tribe warriors and the Inferno guards that had joined them.

  “See to your friend, we’ll deal with this!” the leader of the pale warriors yelled. Before Tau’s group could respond, they ran towards the hysteria.

  “Go help them,” Unika weakly spluttered. “I can… I can get in here on my own.”

  “You can barely stand.” Tau knocked on the door. People covered in the blood and dust emerged from the alleyways. As much as his gut wanted to give them their place in line, Unika was in a bad way, and when he was cured, he was another who could help them. “Don’t worry, we’ll be having an adventure in no time.”

  Rura knocked again. He kept scanning the area, looking for familiar faces or lurking enemies. More injured queued behind them, covered in dust and cradling wounds. People ran, ripping cloth to wrap around their injuries.

  A woman answered, draped in velvet-black robes with a matching veil around her face. Her mahogany-brown eyes glistened intensely, which reminded Tau of his mother. She shoved a plant pot in front of the door and urged the first five inside the beige waiting area. An alcove to the left led to a corridor. The stairway was busy, veiled healers running up and down carrying leather supply bags. Plant pots containing medicinal herbs neatly lined either side of the room, labelled and heavily pruned. Shelves were filled with jars, parts and instruments and papers and scraps fell to the floor. The once white marble floor was slippery and bloodstained, piles of dirt and dust making a clotted mess.

  “This way,” the woman said, leading them down a corridor lined with alcoves. Each room had a beaded doorway. Bloodied patients of all ages and sizes filled the beds, some whining in pain. Others were bundled beneath sheets. They stopped outside an empty room.

  Tau and Rura hobbled Unika onto the sandstone bed. The healer pulled back the blankets. Her eyes narrowed when the stitches split, gushing mucus.

  Unika winced and struggled to lie down. When he settled, he wheezed and shivered. His teeth chattered. Regardless of the pain, he smiled, inspecting the room happily. “Wow. This place… it’s amazing. We’re going… we’re going to have… an adventure… here.”

  Tau and Rura watched the healer fix up the stitching and clean the wound. Another flow drizzled down his arm. Rura turned away. Tau dryly swallowed and put on his best happy face. “Yeah, we will, buddy.” He took out his pouch of coins, but the healer shook her head and pushed it away.

  “No. No pay here. Not until healed,” she urged. “We work on this. You leave and come back later. Wound is tainted.”

  “Alright.” Tau rubbed his brow and patted Unika’s shoulder. “We’ll come back, brother. Keep it together, alright? We’ve got a lot of new places to explore.”

  Unika smiled and panted, “I’ll be… fine! I like this one’s eyes.”

  The healer chuckled and pushed him back in place. “Save your strength, pale man. That is a nasty infection and this night is critical.”

  Tau and Rura, straight-faced, said their goodbyes. They dodged the streams of bloodied figures falling through the door. The floor was a dusty mess, the healers running back and forth carrying supplies, sweat dripping from their brows, robes sticking to their skin.

  When they got outside, they edged past the queue to the broken well and took a breath. Tau squinted and shielded his eyes. “Those healers are overworked. There was barely anything left to use.”

  “They always have been,” Rura said, watching a woman dragging her child down the alley. “They’re not as well taught as the north, and the heatwaves make things worse.”

  As Tau turned to ask Rura what to do next, the gilded armour of a Sun tribe warrior glittered in the sun. Ebhi drew attention as much as the pale skins except he received hostile gasps and insults. Covered in debris and dried blood, he approached, frowning.

  “I was ordered to return,” he said, flicking dirt from his shoulders. “Many of the men and women here do not take too kindly to an Aqua tribe member helping them.”

  “You can’t be fucking surprised.” Rura rolled together a tar-lea
f and handed one to Tau. “Your people are the reason they’re lying on the ground, dying.”

  “Be that as it may, the warriors here have said it is fruitless for us to do anything until we have had a day’s rest.” Ebhi narrowed his eyes at the healing building. “How is Unika?”

  “He’s not great. The healer told us to come back later.” Tau pushed his dreadlocks back from sticking to his neck. “Do we go to the barracks to rest up?”

  “We can, or we can go get a drink.” Rura smirked.

  “You two do that, I am going to rest for tomorrow,” Ebhi said and took his leave.

  Tau rustled around his pockets for his pouch. The heat and clusters of people were insufferable to be around. “Yeah, I could do with a drink.”

  Rura led the way down a stone alley full of beggars. Tau flipped coins to those who were incredibly needy or had starving children beside them. Families hung out of the windows above, yelling or gossiping about their neighbours.

  “If your mother never stood down, this would have been your place to rule,” Tau said, stepping over a drunken man, face down.

  “If my other five brothers died, probably. It’s not the same as the western world or the south. It’s chaos. Chiefs rule districts and their ‘armies’ are about ten family members. Everyone’s uncle, father or brother has become Chief at some point. Everyone who gets a feather becomes a fucking Chief.”

  “There must be one who has the biggest fucking feather who rules it all, surely?”

  “Nah. A Shadow district Chief was the closest. He managed to get an army of fifty and two other Chiefs working for him. They died a couple of moons ago, now.”

  Tau nodded, baffled by the madness of politics on this side of the world. It seemed the gods had abandoned them and anyone who tried to control its people was punished until the mayhem returned.

  They took turns navigating the paths between drunken and drugged people, begging on corners and eating raw meat from unplucked birds, when they came to a stop. A hole in the ground leading downstairs reminded Tau of the crypts. Rura grinned with pride. “I came here a lot before I joined the Sun tribe.”

  A familiar scent of poor incense greeted them in the haze. It was one the Sudasters used. Tau was doubtful. At the bottom of the shadowy steps, braziers glowed violet and pink. Paintings of seductive women framed in gold decorated the walls, surrounded by piles of cheap pillows. They had plaques marking their names and date of death beneath, like they were legends in this place.

  Wind instruments played low and the closer they got to the veiled entrance, the clearer the sounds of men and women moaning were. Tau grabbed Rura’s shoulder. “Are you serious? I’m not in the mood for this.”

  Rura laughed. “Come on, brother. You don’t have to touch the women. This is the only place in the district that’ll give you a stiff drink. And I don’t mean the shit we have back home, I mean the likes of what that Kaari gave us.”

  Tau huffed. Rura opened the veil. A mist of incense and various smoking leaves clouded their view. Curved booths were dotted all over underground space, an ember-red candle on each table. Men were sat, bruised and battered women on their laps. Those that had gotten too intimate blew out their candles for privacy. A bar was to the side, a couple of alcoholics there drowning their sorrows and alluring women trying to take their last coins.

  Rura found an empty booth and ordered drinks. Tau sat straight, tensed. Women moaned from every direction, feigning pleasure and pain. The ones who walked past gave flirtatious smiles, but they didn’t appeal. They had injuries, missing limbs, or were smeared with worry if they didn’t perform as was expected. None were as old as the Sudasters. It took Tau by surprise to see the difference in body shapes by comparison.

  Rura came back. He was happy for the first time in weeks to return to this part of his home. “It might burn your tongue and throat.”

  Tau already had the drink to his lips. He guzzled it down and instantly coughed. His tongue went numb and throat dry. “What the fuck is in that?”

  “A lot of spices. They’ll keep you alert.” Rura sipped his, barely wincing. His eyes were focused on the passing women. “Have you ever met a lioness?”

  Tau had his tongue hanging out of his mouth like a pack dog and shook his head. “No.”

  “They have limbs missing but fucking hell, you forget about it easily after meeting them.” Rura tugged the arm of a passing woman and whispered in her ear, ignoring Tau’s protests while he fanned his tongue. “Come on, brother. If nothing else, you should experience meeting one. If you don’t touch her, I’ll take her.”

  Tau cleared his throat and took a slow slip. As much as he was uncomfortable, he couldn’t throw the offer back at Rura. It had been a long time since his friend had real happiness in his eyes and a part of him was curious. When could he meet a lioness again? “Alright. I’ll look at her.”

  Rura ordered a second, less harsh beverage for Tau. A figure approached the table. She was bony and her ribs bruised, recently punched. Her hair bounced in brown waves down to her hips, and her face was average apart from the pouted, painted red lips. Wearing a see-through veil, she climbed the table and crossed her legs in front of them. She was missing a hand. Instead, there was a stub at the end of one arm. Rura was drooling at the mouth.

  A part of Tau didn’t want to feel attracted to her. There was fear in her eyes, and the bruises on her body were disturbing. He looked away, an uncomfortable, engulfing urge rising. She traced the fingertips of her good hand along his jaw. He swallowed and closed his eyes. She slipped onto his knee. The instant he felt and heard her playfully giggling, he turned. When his eyes met hers, the strength was too much to bear. She leant in to kiss.

  Tau growled and grabbed her by the throat. He stood with her, choking and spun her around, throwing her down on the table. He raked his hands to her hips and went to unclasp his belt. Rura’s shocked face was enough to stop him. He edged out of the booth, shaking. “I’m going back the barracks. This place isn’t for me.”

  The girl giggled and wriggled her behind. Rura nodded and shifted closer to her. “I’ll see you later.”

  Tau, appalled, couldn’t get out of the place quick enough. He ran up the stairs and leant against the wall, taking a breath. He was fine before she got that close. He’d always been warned about it. He had every intention of just kissing her. Instead, a savage urge overtook him. If he hadn’t seen Rura, he didn’t want to think what he would have done.

  When he calmed and had drunk some lukewarm water, he walked back through the stench and begging and went to the barracks. Shaken up and hot, he turned to the healers’ building instead. There were unbearable crowds in every direction. The queuing patients swore and threw insults that he’d cut ahead of everyone. He barged through the halls, trembles fading as he reached Unika’s room.

  The healer who was caring for him came out and pulled on his arm. “Your friend is not good.”

  Tau frowned and went to pay her again. “I know, that’s why we brought him here.”

  She shook her head and pushed his hand away. “You misunderstand. Your friend is dying. There is nothing that can be done.”

  He looked into the alcove. Unika couldn’t be dying. He was the most positive and god-loving person he’d ever met. Surely his life wouldn’t be taken away early. He had planned adventures throughout the world, ones Tau fully believed he’d make. “No. That can’t be right, there must be something you can do.” He checked behind him, placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered, “Listen, girl, I’ll pay extra if you have hidden supplies for Chiefs or whatever. I don’t care what it costs. It’s an infection, it’s curable.”

  Her eyes were insulted, and she backed away. “We don’t hoard healing supplies. We have already been paid by Krenei man for warriors. When we applied potions, it made it worse, quick.”

  Tau’s mind turned over the ideas and methods of his aunt for something that would be useful. Nothing came to him. “How long?”

  “Days in pain.
We can provide poison to speed it. Otherwise, he’s using a bed we need.”

  Anger flared through his already tense muscles, but he understood what she meant. No matter the pressure she was under, she could’ve worded it better. “Can I see him?”

  “Yes,” she said bluntly and dashed between the beads to another wailing patient.

  He prepared himself and the face he’d have to use. He couldn’t be grim. Unika wouldn’t have that by his side. He mustered his best smile and entered the room. The smell of the infection had worsened. One of death growing. Unika was curled up beneath sheets sticking to him in a puddle of sweat. His paleness had dramatically turned for the worse.

  “Hello… Tau,” he stammered.

  “Hey, brother.” Tau grabbed the stool, ignoring the odour to sit beside him. “Have the healers spoken to you?”

  Unika smiled weakly, a sparkle in his eyes. “Yes. Mordufa comes… Luaani… she welcomes me soon.” He looked at the small black phial on the table. “I asked… for that. I wanted to remember, everyone for the… last time… before.”

  Tau looked at his boots, unable to conjure reassuring words. The wheezing of struggling breath echoed. “Rura took me to a whore inn. I’d like to say I was surprised.” He shook his head and grinned. “The drink he gave me set my tongue on fire.”

  Unika laughed painfully and spluttered red drops down his chin. “Sounds fun.”

  “Fucking nightmare, more like.” He ran his hand through his locks, and a pain in his gut made him stand. “I should get Ebhi and Rura…”

  “No! No. Rura is having fun. Ebhi… I don’t want him to blame himself. I don’t want anyone to see me die. I was… going to do it myself… but I can’t reach…”

  Tau grabbed the phial and fiddled with it. “Are you sure you want it to end this way?”

  Unika nodded. “They need the beds… I want to see the beautiful… Luaani. Only pain if I wait.”