by Marc Secchia
She smelled like a bouquet of flowers. Several, in fact.
Arandal held up his hand as the chime faded, his face grave. “Number three, Lifi.”
“It’s a warning.” Viridelle grabbed Shioni’s hand. “Come.”
But barely had she flipped her wings when a lean, severe-looking Yellow Fiuri whipped into the room, followed by a group of eight Yellow soldiers. They were the toughest, most unsmiling group of Fiuri imaginable. Not one of them wore less than fifty knives slung from bandoliers and belts upon their persons, besides carrying an armoury of swords, hooks and nets most likely used for catching Fiuri, Shioni thought. Two of the Fiuri children started to wail immediately.
The Yellow Fiuri leader’s sallow eyes roamed the room before fixing ominously upon her.
Shioni shrank back.
Arandal said, “What’s the meaning of this, Ashkuriel?”
“So, it’s true,” grated the Yellow Fiuri. “You’re hiding a Fiuri of no colour.”
The curl of his lip clearly added the word ‘revolting’ to his assessment. Iridelle pulled Shioni behind her and folded her muscular arms across her chest in a clear warning. The eight thugs behind Ashkuriel put their hands on their swords–thin, wickedly curved blades that they seemed all too eager to use.
The Yellow Fiuri smiled a snakelike smile at Arandal, picking at a knobbly purple scar beside his left antenna. “I’ll be taking that Fiuri–if that’s what she is–under my wing, Arandal.”
“How dare you violate my home!” cried the Chief.
“We sent a message,” said Ashkuriel. “Didn’t you get it? All suspicious events and Fiuri are to be reported to the representatives of Central Cavern, which means us. That colourless slug is definitely suspicious. Four wings? Where’s she from?”
“She’s a medical case I’m working on,” Lifi put in.
Arandal loomed over the Yellow Fiuri, his face dangerously enflamed. “You’re only to report suspicious activity, Ashkuriel. You have no authority to take this Fiuri from my home.”
“Oh, very clever,” Ashkuriel hissed, as smooth and slippery as dark oil oozing around the indignant Chief. “A stickler for Caverns law, I see. Very well. Why don’t you give her up and we’ll consider this matter closed between us?”
“Why don’t you bring the proper authority before I budge a wing’s breadth?” The Chief folded his arms.
“Come here, child,” said Ashkuriel.
Arandal snapped, “Stay put, Shionelle. You’re not going anywhere.”
“Especially not in a wing-harness made for criminals,” added Viridelle. One of the soldiers quickly hid something behind his back.
There was a horrid, cold silence in the room before Ashkuriel favoured Shioni with an especially vile version of his smile. He said, “A Whisper-Wasp is already halfway to Central Cavern, Arandal. That colourless freak is going on a journey to Central the instant I receive a reply to my message. Lord Tazaka will want to examine this one himself.”
“Tazaka?” Shioni blurted out, before she could hold back, “He’s evil.”
Ashkuriel’s pale yellow eyes bulged until Shioni thought they might just pop out of his head on stalks, like Fiuri antennae. Wings rasping like a busy saw, he bore down upon her and Iridelle. His hands clenched as though he itched to wrap his fingers around her neck and squeeze very, very hard. Iridelle thrust out an arm to stop him.
“That’s a compliment where she comes from,” Char said.
Viri seized on this at once. “Yes, by the first pupa. They always say the opposite of what they mean–don’t you, Shionelle?”
“Yes,” she lied, defiantly.
More than anything, Shioni was furious at herself for putting her newfound friends in danger. That was the murderously clear message in Ashkuriel’s eyes. Why could she not have kept her stupid mouth shut? And why, if she remembered Tazaka’s evil, did she remember nothing else? She had expected her memories to come flooding back. But there was nothing. Just a mist in her mind. If only something could sweep that mist away, she sensed, she would remember.
Tazaka. He was doing something bad to Fiuri. But what? All she knew was that the mention of Tazaka made her shudder right down in the depths of her being. His name was a whisper of evil.
“I hope so.” A thick vein pulsed on the Yellow Fiuri’s forehead as Ashkuriel glared at Shioni.
Now, the Yellow Fiuri turned to Arandal. “The message will return by Whisper-Wasp within two days, Chief. I hope for your sake–for all of your sakes–that this creature remains here, in your house. Lord Tazaka would be very … disappointed … if you managed to lose her.”
Shioni knew his threat meant much, much worse. She thought about all the poor Fiuri who were already suffering. She knew it had something to do with Tazaka. If nothing else, she could read that truth directly from the expression in Chief Arandal’s eyes. Ashkuriel knew, too. The twist of his lips, the sallow light gleaming in his eyes, proclaimed how fervidly he hoped Tazaka’s disappointment would fall like an earthquake upon Cave Seventeen. Shioni could imagine the cost. Harder taxes. Scared Fiuri children. Starvation. Yellow Fiuri moving in to take over Sherfiuri Ball. If they were anything like Ashkuriel’s eight smirking soldiers … she made a decision.
She fluttered out from behind Iridelle. Shioni aimed her very sharp chin at the Yellow Fiuri. “I will be here, Ashkuriel. I will not run from the likes of you.”
Arandal sighed.
The yellow eyes bored into hers. “Agreed.”
With an imperious wave of his arm, Ashkuriel ushered his soldiers out of her friends’ house.
“Shionelle,” said Iri. “Oh, little petal …”
Iri’s huge arm drew her into a hug. They touched antennae. Shioni, shuddering, bit her lip until she tasted blood. She would not cry. Not for a bully like him. But it was very hard to keep the tears of anger and frustration at bay.
In a moment, Viri and Char’s arms were around her, too. “You’d make a fine Hunter,” Char sniffled. “You’re so brave.”
“I’m supposed to say that,” said Viri, but her scowl switched abruptly into a smile so huge, it seemed to bend her antennae. “I agree!”
Arandal fluttered over, saying, “Shionelle, do you understand what Tazaka is like?”
“I don’t, really,” she said. “I know he’s evil, but I can’t remember anything except some Fiuri in a metal cage and I don’t know why I opened my big mouth and got you all in trouble!” Shioni gulped. “I’m sorry. But I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to Cave Seventeen because of me. Isn’t there enough suffering already?”
Quietly, Lifi said, “Are you truly this brave, Shionelle?”
She burst out, “No, I’m terrified! I don’t even know who Tazaka is …”
“Come,” said Arandal. “We’ve a silent bubble lower down in the house, where we can talk safely. Char, I’ll need your help.”
Solemnly, the Fiuri fluttered through the house and down a leafy tunnel leading to a lower level. Lifirielle took the younger children aside and left them with two nanny-Fiuri. Soon, they came to a large chamber hidden deep within the house, where dozens of bubbles of water hung suspended in the air. Char opened a secret compartment in a wall and brought out a curious device. It had many spines and looked like a furry star. For several long moments, he spoke over it. The device suddenly whirred to life. A tube grew out of the top. It sucked up a bubble of rose-coloured water, gurgled away ominously, and spat out a large, expanding bubble, which shimmered as though it was soapy. Arandal reached out and pulled the bubble over him. He beckoned to Shioni and the others.
Shioni found the skin of the bubble not unpleasant. It smelled fresh and sweet inside, reminding her of wildflowers. She even had a picture in her mind. Desert rose, she thought. A poisonous flower. Did Fiuriel even have deserts–dry, barren tunnels with no life in them?
The device flew in stately circles around their large perfume-filled bubble, sucking up more and more bubbles of water and turning them into sm
aller, soapy bubbles at a terrific rate. Soon, the bubbles began to pop with a strange, singing sound, filling the chamber with irregular music.
“It’s safe now,” said Char.
Shioni knew her expression must trumpet the wonder she felt. She and Char, Lifirielle and Arandal, and Iri and Viri were surrounded by a glistening bubble which clearly held more magic than she had expected.
Chief Arandal said, “Three orbits ago, Shionelle, Tazaka proclaimed himself the Lord of all Green Fiuri. By alliance or invasion, he now controls all of the Inner Green Caverns and many of the Outer Caverns. He has grown powerful. Even we, who are foremost in the nectar trade, suffer, as you said. The Central taxes make our people suffer. We do all we can, but we go hungry amidst abundance. I am supposed to punish the poor Fiuri for stealing nectar from the harvest. But how can I do that? How? His Yellow Fiuri watch us every moment of every day.”
“You see, those who oppose Tazaka have been silenced. They either convert to his cause, or disappear. We hear rumours of him experimenting with dangerous nectars. He uses these to make himself powerful–more powerful than the Blue Fiuri, it is said. He has great magic. And he has extraordinary control over his followers. I’ve heard rumours that his nectars can make a Fiuri forget their own name.”
He did not say it, but Shioni knew exactly what he meant. Tazaka could make a Fiuri forget everything–just like her.
“But Arandal, consider what Shionelle seems to know,” Char put in unexpectedly. He plucked his antennae nervously as he explained, “I’ve been documenting her strange sayings. She’s seen the stars, Arandal! That means she’s lived up there. It’s impossible. If Tazaka knew about her, instructing his followers to watch for her, does that mean he has secret knowledge of wild magic? And, I’m sorry to say, Shionelle, but nobody has ever heard of a Fiuri with four wings, let alone one of no colour. Could Tazaka be experimenting on Fiuri? Changing them?”
Lifirielle gasped. To Shioni’s horror, the Green Fiuri began to cry. Arandal drew his wife close to his mighty chest.
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” growled Viridelle.
Arandal said, “We can’t give Shionelle over to him. He’s ruthless.”
“We can’t not give me over,” Shioni replied.
Chardal added, “Iri had the idea that Shionelle might be all colours, rather than a no-colour Fiuri. We should test her. Chief, you have nectars which can sharpen the memory in that storehouse of yours. And we scholars have clever techniques to try to bring old memories to the surface. If we have time, we should use it as best we can to try to help our little flower blossom into her true beauty.”
“Oh, Char, you’re so sweet,” said Iridelle, wiping a tear off her cheek.
Chardal blushed furiously as he realised what had slipped out of his mouth. “I only meant …”
But Iridelle smacked her hands together suddenly, shocking them all. “By the first pupa, you are not travelling alone to Central with those–”
“Yellow snot-trails,” said Viridelle.
“I will travel with you, Shionelle.” Iri flexed her muscles. “If Tazaka dares so much as to breathe wrongly in your direction, I shall personally dismantle his entire palace. And that’s a promise.”
“They’ll need a Hunter escort to guide them through the Cracks,” said Viridelle. “That’s my job. Are you with us, Char?”
“I am. I’ll slap Lord Tazaka with my notebook!” They all laughed. “Although, I do wish I could simply write his evil out of existence. If only it were that easy.”
Shioni gazed at her friends, her throat so choked up that she had to gulp three times before she could speak. “You hardly know me,” she whispered. “Why would you do this for me?”
Viridelle’s grin was more a grim quirk of her lips. “Because, as someone said, it’s important to stand against the likes of Lord Tazaka.”
“Even if it starts with the smallest Fiuri,” said Iridelle.
“Even one with no colour and no past,” Chardal put in.
Shioni wiped her cheeks crossly. A few tears had managed to escape, after all. “You know what you are, Iri, Viri and Char?”
They chorused, “No …”
“You’re the most outrageously wonderful friends ever!”
Chapter 10: Vermilion Dragonflies
ODDly, WHEN a GREEN Fiuri messenger delivered Ashkuriel’s ultimatum two evenings later, an unexpected weight lifted off Shioni’s shoulders. This was it. No more waiting, no more endless questions from Chardal’s scholars and drinking strange nectars. No more failing to remember. She had to face Tazaka. He must know who she was.
One thing was as certain as nectar came from flowers. She and Tazaka would never be friends.
The rumour that arrived before the Whisper-Wasp was even stranger. Lord Tazaka had announced his impending marriage to a Blue Fiuri. She would be crowned with the new moon, before marrying Tazaka a month later. The news had Sherfiuri Ball abuzz.
“Flying caterpillars, that’s ridiculous!” Arandal exclaimed, flying in tight, agitated circles. “First Tazaka invades the Blue tunnels, and now he’s marrying one of them?”
“Softly, Big Chief,” said Lifi, who had adopted Shioni’s nickname for him, much to Viri and Iri’s amusement. “You’ll disturb your children.”
Shioni had been taken to see the Fiuri children–caterpillars, actually. They lived in a special nursery at what she thought of as the ‘top’ of the house, a light room inside one of the fanciful, stylised wings of the Fiuri lying on her stomach. The tunnel-shaped room was very warm, filled with bushes growing in from all sides and bubbles of specially treated water, which Viridelle claimed were ‘stuffed with good minerals’. Here, three glowing, golden caterpillars patiently fattened themselves on delicious-smelling leaves. They were about the length of Shioni’s leg, and strikingly beautiful. Lifi proudly introduced them as her children.
Something was deeply odd about this picture. But Shioni could not touch her proboscis to it, as the Fiuri saying went. She eyeballed the Fiuri children as curiously as they eyeballed her. Caterpillars did not speak. But they looked as though they ought to. Their huge dark eyes were full of life and magic.
“My pupae,” said Lifi, pointing to two large, golden pods hanging from the same branch. “But you know all this, don’t you, Shionelle? Doesn’t this look familiar?”
She shook her white hair miserably. “No.”
“Poor little petal.” Lifi’s wings drooped. “Don’t you fuss. It’ll come back, you’ll see.”
Lifirielle gave her at least twenty hugs before they departed Sherfiuri Ball from outside the Hunters Guild, early the following morning. Shioni’s head was stuffed so full of advice and information that she wondered if it wouldn’t start leaking out of her like nectar.
Ashkuriel’s soldiers brought a dazzle of five large Vermilion Dragonflies, which would convey them to Green Central, Tazaka’s lair. They were fierce beasts, cream on the underside and a deep red on the head and upper parts of the rigid carapace, kept docile by magic and by feeding them special nectars. Beasts of war, Viri whispered. They had a double sting on their tails that could easily stun or kill a Fiuri. Crouched down, the Vermilion Dragonflies towered over the Fiuri. Each insect seated four Fiuri on its back, between four glistening, transparent wings. Four wings? Could she be some type of dragonfly, Shioni wondered? Finely crafted seats were strapped to the top of the long, flexible bodies. Braided rope harnesses secured the riders on board.
“Tie her in nice and tight,” said Ashkuriel, smiling nastily at Shioni. “Don’t want anyone falling off and getting chewed up by a carnivorous plant in the Cracks.”
His soldiers lashed her to the saddle. Zealously.
“Let the little petal breathe!” scowled Iri.
Viridelle had described the Cracks to her. They were a maze of dangerous tunnels which lay between the outer cavern-system and the inner one. Only a Hunter, with their knowledge of Hunter secrets and lore, could find a safe way through. That was Viri’s
job. Char would ward them against the huge variety of flesh-eating wasps, Cave-Crawlers and spiders which festooned the Cracks, not to mention all the carnivorous plants and the danger of becoming trapped in the unstable, ever-shifting tunnels.
By Cargo Wasp, the journey would have been two weeks. By dragonfly, Viri said, the journey should take just under a week.
Shioni shifted uneasily on her seat as Viridelle’s Vermilion Dragonfly cracked open its mean, underslung jaw to vent a grumpy yawn crossed with a growl. Perhaps it disliked getting up early in the morning, she thought. Those teeth! One set was not enough. Dragonflies sported three rows of needle-sharp fangs. She imagined a swarm loose in the inhabited tunnels. Arandal had told her that in the old days, the Yellows used their Vermilion Dragonflies in exactly that way, ravaging entire tunnels full of Fiuri. Now, they usually carried soldiers into battle.
Evidently, Lord Tazaka was in a hurry to see her.
Shioni decided she was not flattered. Tazaka was a pitiless tyrant. Whatever he wanted of her, it could not be good–neither for her health, nor for Fiuriel at large.
“Who’s that?” Shioni called over to Viridelle.
Viri made a fluid gesture toward the Green Fiuri seated behind her. “Tellira, Senior Hunter,” she said. “He’s my mentor for this journey.”
“I’m evaluating this Hunter,” said Tellira, but accompanied his dour pronouncement with a friendly smile. “I am to ensure Viridelle does not track down any other rarities.”
This comment earned him an infuriated glare from Ashkuriel. “Mount up,” he snarled. “We’re wasting valuable travelling time.”
