The Way of the Seed_Earth Spawn of Kalpeon

by Richard Dean Hall

  Ott and everyone else caught sight of the black-clad figures as they sprang to their feet and moved around the mast beam. The three men made no attempt to conceal their movement. They had to get the sail unfurled from the crossbeam at the top of the mast and secured quickly. Under sail in the steady breeze, there was no way the men in the longboat could catch them. They would make it to the safety of the open water.

  The tall man jumped to the anchor rope and sliced through its twisted girth. The sharpness of the obsidian blade severed the rope quickly, and the ship rode the tide toward the entrance of the lagoon. The tall leader clenched his jaw and nodded with satisfaction. All they had to do now was set sail and this city of death would be behind them. He leapt to the mast and climbed up along the pegs.

  The black sail was secured by ropes in sagging curves beneath the cross beam. With practiced precision, the tall man clutched the right side of the crossbeam and yanked a section of rope that opened the knot. A section of sail fell free and fluttered in the wind as he reversed direction and moved to the opposite section of crossbeam to untie the other sail. He shimmied back to the mast and released the ropes securing the closest sail. He looked down to the deck where the men had already secured the right side of the sail. He started down the mast. In a moment, the left side of the sail would be secured and pulled to a position where it could catch the wind. They would glide out of the lagoon under full sail.

  On the beach at the edge of the lagoon, everyone watched the black sail bloom in the heady breeze. The longboat was in steady pursuit, but as the men paddled, the black sail fluttered full and firm. The men kept rowing, but they knew they could never overtake the escaping raider.

  On the high decking at the stern of the ship, the tall man stood erect and with a defiant sneer shook his sword toward the shore. Everyone watched in silent disbelief and anger as the leader of the raiders made his escape.

  The silence was broken by the shouting of a man running and pushing his way across the jammed beach. The man burst from the fringe of the crowd at the shore and ran to Ott. It was the man Ott had sent back to the city earlier. He pulled to a stop and gasped for breath while holding out a flaming torch. Ott turned to Graf and spoke quickly. Graf looked out to the ship and raised his arm high, sensing the strength and direction of the breeze on his skin. His eyes widened, and he nodded back to Ott. It could be done.

  Both men dropped the bows they had been using and lifted the longer, thicker bows they had been carrying from their backs. Ott pulled his arms from his tunic and let it dangle around his waist, leaving his torso bare. He wanted nothing to impede his draw. From a special quiver at his waist, he carefully pulled out one of several arrows he had prepared the night before they left Catal. The shaft was perfectly straight and slightly longer than his regular hunting arrows. The fletching was low and extended farther down the shaft than usual. Behind the light obsidian point was a section of tightly wrapped cloth treated and sealed to the shaft with tallow and black pitch.

  As the crowd around him stepped back and watched in silence, Ott angled his torso to the left, stooped slightly forward, and spread his stance wide. He nocked the long, slim shaft and held the tip to the torch. An orange flame sputtered then rolled thick and hot along the wrapped cloth with curling black smoke. Ott rolled his torso up and back as he pulled the shaft to the side and back beyond his ear. With knotted arm muscles, he held and released. With a resounding thwang, the arrow screamed up and out in a high arc, the flame smooth against the shaft, trailing a thread of black smoke. Thwang. Graf’s arrow ripped into the cloudless blue sky and sliced an identical path over the lagoon.

  The tall raider watched as a ribbon of black smoke topped its arc and sliced down toward the ship. He snapped his head up in time to see the flaming shaft thwack into the top of the mast in a shower of sparks. The second shaft sliced through the upper part of the sail, angled down, and stuck upright in the deck planking at the rear of the ship. A third shaft cracked into the hull just above the waterline, and a fourth arrow struck the top of the mast.

  Within seconds, a stream of fire danced out along the crossbeam securing the sail and spread downward. Standing on the high decking above the bow, the three men watched wide eyed as orange flames fanned by the crisp breeze engulfed the entire upper portion of the sail and black smoke curled around the entire length of the crossbeam. In a matter of seconds, the sail burned free of the beam and flapped out and down, streaming flames.

  Sections of flaming cloth swirled up in the superheated air, and then the fiery mass crumbled to the deck, where the searing heat and flames ignited the sun-parched planking and deck structures. The flames roared high and spread to the bow platform where the three raiders fidgeted in hopeless panic. Their escape was quickly turning into a fiery pyre. With acrid black smoke stinging his nostrils and searing flames snapping at his legs, the tall raider lunged to the low railing and sprang out over the bow. He hit the water a second before the other two men splashed to his side. They swam away from the roaring flames and treaded water as the longboat closed on them.

  As the ship burned and began to list, two large, gray shadows glided into the lagoon just below the surface, their scythe-like dorsal fins trailing white ripples. The blood scent they tracked was from the black tunics that had died by the edge of the lagoon. The scent was thicker as they neared the burning ship, and they could sense movement in the water. They glided deeper to get under the prey.

  Strung out in a line, the men treaded water and bobbed on the surface as the ship burned to their front and the longboat closed from behind. In the depths below, the sharks swam in an erratic, tightening circle.

  The men in the longboat stiffened their oars in the water and glided toward the men who watched them in silence. Below, the sleek gray mass of a twenty-foot shark rolled vertical. With a flash of white underbelly, it rocketed toward the movement on the surface. The silence was broken by an eruption of white spray as one of the men exploded full out of the water with flailing arms and legs. At the man’s back, the maw that had bludgeoned him into the air flared wide, exposing rows of serrated, curved teeth. The massive jaws snapped around the man’s waist, and in a mist of blood and spray, fish and prey slapped back to the surface and disappeared.

  The tall raider clawed through the water, the other man splashing several yards behind. At the longboat, the tall man was hauled out of the sea, pummeled, and thrown to the planking. The last of the men was reaching for the side of the longboat when the second shark flashed in just below the surface, rolled its open jaw to the side, and slammed into his pelvis. The man trailed a long scream as the upper half of his body careened away from the boat in a spray of whitewater and plowed beneath the surface.

  With the black ship flaming and floundering behind them, the men in the longboat paddled toward the beach, the beaten and exhausted leader of the raiders sprawled on his back. At the edge of the lagoon, Ott watched the smoke roiling above the burning ship and thought of Ilker and all those slaughtered at Antakya.

  The longboat glided to shore and nudged to a stop in the sand. Splashing out of the water, the men hauled the leader of the raiders over the side and pushed him down to the sand. As Ott rose, everyone on the beach quieted until the only sounds came from the water lapping at the shore and the screeching of the seabirds wheeling overhead in the afternoon sun.

  Ott walked to the kneeling raider, who glared up at him with a clenched sneer. He stepped to the side, raised his leg, and drove his foot hard between the raider’s shoulders, driving his chest and face into the sand. The raider struggled to push up, but Ott grabbed the thick braid and yanked hard. The head snapped forward, and the raider began stumbling and crabbing as Ott pulled him over the sand. Yanking viciously at the scalp lock, Ott dragged the flailing man to Ilker’s corpse, where he again jammed his foot to his back, forcing his chest to the sand. He reached down and retrieved the obsidian dagger from the sheath cinched at the raider’s waist.

  As the man squirmed, O
tt straddled his back and yanked his head up. The tall man’s eyes darted over Ilker’s distorted face.

  Ott pulled back harder and extended the knife in front of the leader’s face. He leaned down to his ear. “His name was Ilker. He was my friend. He will be remembered, you will not.”

  As the blade sliced across the tall man’s neck, his scream was muted by the gurgle and spray of spewing blood. When his legs stopped pumping, Ott released the scalp lock, and the dead raider’s face dropped to the sand.

  64

  For several days, the people of Antakya worked day and night to dispose of the bodies littering the beach and front of the city. Without enough timber near the coast to build pyres, and not enough people and time to dig mass graves, the obvious solution was grisly but efficient. The corpses at the front of the city were loaded on large sand sleds, pulled around the far seawall to the beach, and thrown into the rolling surf. All the bodies disappeared beneath the surface, surrounded by skirting dorsal fins. The bodies at the rear of the city were dragged to the edge of the lagoon and pushed out beyond the shallow shelf, where they floated out to deeper water and disappeared beneath the surface with a violent jerk. For several days, the azure water of the lagoon glinted a pale pink in the cutting sunlight.

  After a few days, a semblance of calm and renewed routine returned to the city. Although many still grieved, the activity of everyday life was quickly resuming. Asil had everyone prepare for the return to Catal.

  On their last day in Antakya, Ott, Cha, Graf, and Yaan padded across the beach toward the longboats, which had been arranged in rows along the right seawall. The early-morning sun burned bright in a cobalt-blue sky, and the smell of death had been replaced by the usual brine of the sea. As they approached the longboats, Ott shifted his gaze out over the lagoon. The azure water was placid, with only a sprinkling of white ripples that danced when the breeze kicked up. In the deeper water at the center of the lagoon, the black ships floated still in the calm breeze, held secure with taut anchor lines. Ott eyed the ships with a tinge of anticipation. Today, for the first time, they would board and examine the largest of the strange vessels that had brought the sea raiders from their unknown land.

  They carried a longboat to the water, pushed off, and hopped in. Within a few moments, they developed a smooth, uniform rhythm. Everyone scanned the water in all directions. No large shadows flashed beneath the surface, and no fins sliced the water around the boat. The sharks had retreated to the open sea.

  They maneuvered the longboat down the side of the ship to a large section of sturdy latticework that extended from the main deck to a few feet above the waterline. The structure was for boarding and leaving the ship when it was anchored in open water. With the longboat tied at each end, Ott scrambled up the latticed beams, followed by the others. Stepping to the center of the lower decking, he turned in a full circle, rotating his gaze to take in the entire ship.

  The silhouette of the ship viewed from the water belied the interior. To Ott, it appeared much larger than he had imagined. They combed the entire ship, examining the closed cabins at the bow and stern, the storage areas, the upper and lower decks, and the large hold for transporting plunder and slaves. Finally, Ott climbed the footings on the main mast beam to an observation platform near the top. For several moments he gazed out over the open sea, transfixed. As the sun spread shards of silver and orange on the distant horizon, he decided he would not be returning to Catal in the morning. As he peered out over the glimmering water, the prevailing wind gusted, and the ship swung in a gentle arc. His fascination with the sea and the lands that lay beyond was piqued to the realization that he would travel to those faraway lands. On the deck at the base of the mast, Cha, Graf, and Yaan looked up at Ott. They knew without speaking that they too would learn the ways of the ships and the sea.

  Later at the evening meal, Ott explained to Asil and Ece that he and the others would remain in Antakya to learn the way of the ships and use them to expand trade to towns and villages along the coast and to other yet-unknown lands. Asil replied that they would always have their home in Catal as well.

  The following morning, as the people from Catal prepared to depart, Asil and Ece faced Ott, Cha, Graf, and Yaan. With no words spoken, they rolled their palms over, exposing the lemniscates. Ott and the others did the same. Turning toward the road, Asil and Ece stepped off and, without looking back, waved farewell. But they all knew they would be reunited. In time.

  65

  Within days of boarding the ship, what had started as fascination turned to functional familiarity. In little more than a week, Ott, Cha, Graf, and Yaan, joined by a crew of ten men from the city, were confidently maneuvering the ship around the huge lagoon. A week later, they glided the ship from the lagoon and, under a billowing sail, splashed through the open sea along the coastline. Each excursion became longer, and the procedures of navigating the vessel became a repeated regimen of controlling the boat in response to the behavior and nuances of the wind and water. They were quickly becoming competent seamen.

  Following Ott’s lead, many other men took to the remaining ships, and within a year, every vessel was crewed and sailed in the open water along the coast. At first the ships of Antakya sailed to known cities and towns normally reached by overland trails, but as learning became acquired skills, the sailors of Antakya began exploring and finding places never visited before. Within a few years of the raiders’ defeat, seafaring trade had become the new way of life for the people of Antakya, and the city flourished. Within a century, docks and wharfs ringed the lagoon to capacity and a new harbor had to be constructed around a natural deep-water harbor farther down the coast. Buildings and homes sprang up around the new harbor, and within a few generations, Antakya had become one of the largest seaports on the Mediterranean Sea.

  Antakya’s growth also fueled that of Catal as huge shipments of grain were harvested and transported to Antakya, loaded on ships now built in the city, and shipped to cities and towns everywhere along the Mediterranean coastline. In time, the outlying villages around Catal became thriving towns, and additional villages sprouted along the overland road to Antakya until the entire southern plain was bustling with constant trade and cultivation.

  As additional generations passed, Ott, Cha, Graf, and Yaan sailed to the major trading ports around the Mediterranean and learned the languages and ways of the people from one end of the sea to the other. They often spent extended periods, sometimes years, in cities they favored, but they always sailed back to Antakya and returned to Catal, which had become the largest trade center of any inland city known to exist. From the mountainous areas along the northern horizon to the farthest stretches of sea coast to the south, Catal attracted trade and visitors. All who visited marveled at its grandeur.

  The rooftop city now sprawled over the plain with a population of over fifty thousand people, and another hundred thousand lived in the surrounding villages. The city was maintained to a scrupulously clean condition, with lush gardens of vegetables and ornamental plants covering large common areas, while flowering plants and fruit trees in huge pots filled the air with sweet fragrances that mingled with the smoky aromas that rose from hearth fires. Beyond the high wall at the far end of the rooftop, the huge expanse of rocks and hot pools had been transformed over the centuries. The natural rock formations were formed with fire-hardened mud and ash bricks smoothed with the same white plaster used to form the city walls. The huge interior labyrinth of the hot springs was now a sprawling complex of warm-water pools of varying sizes and configurations, some only large enough for a few people, and others that could accommodate a hundred or more. All the pools and adjacent areas had contoured seating platforms and smooth walls decorated with colorful paintings of plants, people, and animals.

  As the epicenter of all trade on the plains, Catal was unrivaled in wealth, beauty, and size. And though conflicts and sporadic violence sometimes erupted among other cities and towns, Catal was never assailed. Its sheer size and high
-walled palisades were enough to deter any thoughts of attack, and the reputation of its people as skilled archers was known everywhere. The wealth and beauty of the city was exceeded only by its strength, and because of all three, the magnificent city endured and prospered.

  As centuries flowed together, the recounting of the raiders’ defeat was passed on less and less to each new generation. Over time it became little more than myth, but to Ott and the others, the raid at Antakya remained a vivid memory, and a reminder that not all were like the people of Catal.

  After exploring and trading around the Mediterranean coast, Ott, Cha, Graf, and Yaan settled back in Catal, where they lived in peace. Ott ceased making the etchings that marked the passing of generations. They had lived in the great city off and on for so long that they viewed it as the enduring beacon of the plains and, indeed, as towns and cities flourished around the coast and inland, Catal continued to dominate all others as the center of beauty and wealth.

  And then, in little more than a day, the city that had stood for millennia was transformed beyond recognition and the lives of Ott, Cha, Graf, and Yaan changed again.

  66

  The shudder was subtle, but enough to wake Ott, who sat upright and stared at the soft orange glow of the dying embers in the hearth. He listened, alert for any sound or vibration. Another soft rumble, low from deep in the earth and slow, then silence. Ott remained still in the near darkness for several more silent moments before lying back down. With Cha asleep at his side, he continued listening to the quiet of the night.