Songs Of Harmony

by Andrew Elgin

Javin smiled at how he was recognized. "Yes, I am the one who fell over. And right now, Lannis, I'd like to send a message to Landing."

  "I'll get the Speaker, sir. He's just having some lunch in there." There was a note of wistful longing in the boy's voice as he pointed out the place where he and the traders had eaten before.

  "How does this work, then Lannis?"

  "I go and call up villagers if there's a message to be sent, and Bendiss, the Speaker, he actually sends it. I don't know how it works, but it always has."

  "What about receiving a message?"

  "There's a sound which comes out of them and I go and get Bendiss and he listens to it; the message, not the sound."

  "And you're the only one here?"

  Lannis nodded. "There's usually two or three of us, but I haven't seen either of the others. I think they're hiding somewhere warm."

  "Can't say I blame them." Javin felt the breeze, carrying the touch of autumn and the promise of later cold, knowing that sitting and doing nothing made it more acute. He felt sorry for Lannis. "Tell you what, Lannis, I'd like to give this a try by myself."

  "What? Send a message on your own?" The boy was frankly amazed at the temerity of the suggestion. "Can't be done," he maintained flatly. "You need people. Lots of people."

  Javin was persistent, however. "Ever tried or seen it tried? No. Well, after today you'll be in a better position to give an opinion won't you?" He tempered his words with a grin.

  Javin turned and leaned against the central pole, the disks directly above him. He appeared to think for a moment, head lowered, eyes closed. In reality, he was rehearsing what he would say. He rehearsed a few times, with Lannis looking at him in a way which was somewhere between a challenge and wonderment, and then suddenly straightened up and nodded to himself. His eyes were twinkling with anticipation.

  "Lannis! I'm going to try this for myself and see if anything happens. If it doesn't, then only you will know I've made a fool of myself. If it does, then you'll be the only witness to it." Then he frowned. "I don't suppose you know how Bendiss does it, do you?"

  Lannis just shook his head. Whatever was going to happen, he was determined not to miss it. Either way, it was a great story and would make up for the boring days he spent, mostly alone, watching other boys his age going past, laughing and chasing each other. His time of service was nearly up, thank goodness. He had a feeling that what was about to happen would make it all worthwhile.

  "Never mind. Wish me luck!" And, with that, Javin closed his eyes, saw the buildings at Landing as clearly as he could, saw Gerant there just as clearly, Lisick beside him and Bellis in the background. There was music humming into background of his head as he imagined them at landing. Then he focused on his message to Lisick. "It's the boy! You were right, I did end up hearing Harmony. I thought you would like to know that, plus I have my memories back. Say hello to Bellis and to Gerant." Then he put the two together and imagined it all going through the disks above his head. He had no idea what to do beyond that or how long he should try.

  He kept the two ideas; the image and the message together until he heard a howl of anguish and opened his eyes, letting them both fade. He looked up to see Bendiss staggering towards him with his hands clamped to his head, tears streaking his flabby features, his eyes wide with pain.

  "What are you doing? What have you done?" The words squeezed out between sobs as Bendiss sought to catch his breath. He sagged at the knees and reached blindly behind to find the low wall to sit on, his head bowed, eyes still squeezed shut against the pain.

  "What do you mean?" asked Javin, mystified.

  Bendiss, still clutching at his temples, managed to look up at Javin, his eyes narrowed, tears leaking from the edges still. "What did you do?" His voice was more of a squeak.

  Javin still couldn't think that anything he'd done could be responsible for Bendiss' distress. He waved vaguely at the disks perched upon the pole behind him. "I thought I'd try to contact Landing. I wanted to speak to Lisick there and tell her some good news," he said hurriedly, trying to explain everything as fast as possible to exonerate himself from blame.

  "Lannis here had nothing to do with it. It was my idea. That was all I did. A simple message to Lisick. Nothing more," he ended lamely. His explanation had given Bendiss time to recover a little.

  Bendiss grunted, "What you did... what's your name?" he asked peevishly, not wanting to stop his anger for this but wanting to direct it better.

  "Javin."

  "...What you did, Javin was to scream into my head so loudly I thought my brains would run out of my ears. What you did, Javin," using his name now as a weapon, "was to hurt people. Badly. You, Javin," another stab, "had no right to do what you did. No right, no authority, no intelligence, no manners, nothing! Nothing can excuse what you just did." He stopped for a moment to rub at his temples again.

  "You have no right to do this. No right at all. It is my authority here. My talent which uses this. Not you. Not some ignorant idiot. You could have killed me, would have killed me if it had gone for longer. You have given half of Sweetwater headaches and none of them, I am guessing, know why. But I do, because it is my talent to hear, to talk, not yours. Not your talent to scream at me, to blind me with pain." He was able to stand now, but the pain still made him move gently. Nevertheless, he glared at Javin, breathing heavily with righteous indignation and barely suppressed rage.

  "I shall not tolerate this invasion, this intrusion. I shall make sure that you are held responsible, are punished for this outrage. You do not have the right to do this. You could have killed me, killed many others. You will not get away with this. I shall make sure that you are hunted down, Javin. Hunted and punished. Do you hear me, boy?"

  Throughout all of this, Javin had tried to understand and come to terms with the fact that his contact with Landing had actually injured Bendiss in some fashion. He was still trying to accept that when Bendiss announced his intentions. All Javin had wanted to do was send a simple message to Lisick, and here he was being threatened by a fat man who let his young helper sit out in the cold while he was safe and warm, feeding his face.

  "Don't you threaten me!" he said, feeling his anger building. "You talk about your talent as if nobody else is allowed one near you. You think you know Harmony? Really? You have no idea what Harmony is like. You have no idea about how Harmony feels. You are so concerned for yourselves, for your talents, that you never see beyond them." The force of his words, of his presence, had made Bendiss sit back down on the wall. Javin loomed over him. "You'd do best if you tried listening to Her properly!" He stared down at Bendiss who sat glaring up at him. "One more thing and then I will be gone. You do not have the right to any one talent, any one thing. Stop guarding it as if it was just yours and yours alone. I am sorry, truly sorry, to have hurt you. It was not my intention. I sought only to call to Landing. Now I know what not to do. I am sorry." He bowed stiffly and made to march away. One last thought came to mind. "And one other thing. You have no right to keep one young boy out here, freezing cold and with no food and nobody else to share the duty. That is not right, either." He turned to Lannis, but the boy had already begun to run. It was going to be the best story of his young life. And he'd tell it, just as soon as this awful headache had vanished.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Gerant stumbled into the kitchen, holding his head, eyes tight shut, grimacing with pain and bumping into the table. Bellis had mild nausea herself but was not suffering as much as Gerant was. All she could do for him was to make him sit down and lean back as she put a wet rag on his head. She stumbled around the kitchen pulling some herbs down and crushing them before adding them to water. Refreshing the compress, they served to dull the pain a little, and Gerant nodded his thanks. She turned back to the sink, trying to contain the nausea.

  After focusing on swallowing and controlling her breath, she was able to speak. "What happened? I was tidying some clothing away and then... this huge sharp pain."

  "Do
n't know," mumbled Gerant. "Where's Lisick?"

  "I'll go and find out." Bellis moved carefully, one hand on her stomach as she did so, taking slow, deep breaths. She found Lisick unconscious on the floor outside the main communication room. Careful not to bend over too far, she tried to make her comfortable before going back to get some herbs and a pillow for her head.

  Gerant was sitting up rubbing gently at his temples, his face pale. "How is she?" he asked. Bellis simply beckoned for him to follow her. Lisick was barely conscious as they tended her. After a couple of failed attempts, they managed to get her to a couch in the next room. From there, it was a short walk to the kitchen and Bellis brought back some juice and a wooden bowl of water into which she had thrown some more crushed herbs, "...good for headaches" and some rags to apply as compresses.

  It was some time before anyone was ready to talk. Eventually, it was Lisick who broke the silence.

  "I was in the room, listening, sending, all the usual things. Nothing strange. And then, this huge blast! It was like... well, you know what it was like." She winced.

  "Do you have any idea what happened?" Gerant squinted at Lisick.

  "I wish I did. Truly. All I got was a glimpse, a sudden flash of something as it happened." She winced again. "Let me try and get it back." She closed her eyes as she recalled what had happened. "I'm not certain. But I don't think this came from any village. It was simply too powerful. Nobody could be doing that. It would take hundreds of people." She opened her eyes and Bellis replaced the compress after a questioning look. "Ah! Thank you! That's most definitely helping." Lisick relaxed a little. "I clearly heard a voice. Not so much just a picture, like normal. A voice. And it said, as far as I can recall, 'It's the boy'. I have no idea who that was. But, yes, it was definitely that: 'It's the boy'. And then, after that, I got a picture. A straggly youth. Thin-faced. Looked half-starved. And then it was the knife to the brain."

  "The boy? Who's the boy? And if it wasn't a village, then who, or what was it? Oh!" Gerant's jaw dropped as he the implication struck him. "Lisick, could it possibly have been Harmony? Could it have been, do you think? I mean, I can't think of anyone capable of such power, can you? I know it's a reach, but... could it be, do you think?"

  "Well, it was certainly powerful enough. But why? Why now? What for? After all these years, all of the people who have been here at Landing? It seems, well, difficult to accept, doesn't it? And it still doesn't explain anything about the boy, does it? I mean, Harmony has always been 'She' not 'He'. Unless we're really wrong about that, as well."

  "I think I know who the boy is," Bellis said as she sat down. The other two looked at her. "I think it was that one who was dumped here. The kidnapped one? You were always calling him 'the boy', Lisick, even though he wasn't. I can't think of anyone else that fits. I mean, it can't be Pasker, can it? He's here somewhere still. Which reminds me, he's probably suffering just as badly." She got up gingerly. "I'd better go find him now. I hope he's not been as badly affected as us." She left the room.

  "Could it have been him that was meant?" Gerant asked. "What about this picture you got? Did it look like him?"

  "I don't know," Lisick sighed, still holding the compress to her head. "Maybe. I suppose it's possible. But only if he was ill or something. He looked half-starved."

  "Well, maybe he was, or is, rather."

  "I'll be better able to think when I lose this headache. Right now, I can't touch anything. How about you?"

  "No. Too much pain. I can't even feel you."

  They sat in silence, nursing their pain and their fears until Lisick spoke. "I can't stand being like this, unable to feel anything. The first time in my life. It's not a good thing. Not at all." Gerant grunted his agreement.

  Bellis arrived back and set about filling some mugs from a bowl into which she crushed some different herbs. "Pasker will be fine, I think. It was nowhere near as bad for him. I gave him something to help him sleep, and I think you two could do with it as well." She held out the mugs. Gerant took his and sniffed at it before taking a cautious sip. "Oh, for goodness' sake, Gerant, you're worse than the lad! Here," she moved to support Lisick and help her drink. "It will help dull the pain a little and you'll be able to sleep. Hopefully, it should be long enough for the pain to ease off."

  After Lisick had finished the mug, she looked up at Bellis. "What on Harmony would we do without you, Bellis?"

  "Probably you'd still be on the floor and Gerant would still be in the kitchen, Pasker would be eating all the leftovers and neither of you would be able to make any food or drink," Bellis grinned. "So, yes, I think I am absolutely indispensable and you'd be hopeless without me. Now. Sleep!"

  "No." Gerant put his mug down. "One of us needs to be available. That's why we're here. Lisick, you're worse off than me. When you wake, you come and get me." He got up slowly and stiffly. "No arguments. Pasker needs time as well, so, you know where to find me, Bellis, if you need me," and he left the two alone.

  It was later in the day, as Lisick was just coming out of sleep, when Gerant reappeared, his face serious. He touched Lisick on the shoulder. "Are you recovered yet? Because there's something you need to know."

  Lisick blinked away the sleep from her eyes and moved her head gingerly, testing her reaction. She nodded for him to go ahead as she elbowed herself up. "What is it?"

  "We can't contact anywhere."

  She was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

  "There is no contact with any place on Harmony. We cannot send any message. We cannot hear anything."

  "Wait! What are you saying?"

  "The deecees don't work anymore, Lisick. We can't transmit after that... that event, and I don't think we can receive either!"

  "Are you sure? Could whatever happened still be messing with your head, making you think that?"

  "I'm sure, Lisick. I have been able to sense you, and Bellis. It's been coming back gradually. I spent some time trying to send to anywhere and get any information back. Nothing. Everything is dead. I can't get any response at all. Nothing works, Lisick! The deecees are all dead. We can't contact anyone, and they can't contact us!"

  "But can we still contact Harmony? Can you still feel Her?"

  "That's more you than me," said Gerant. "I get the waves of emotions, the overall feelings, but you, you're more detailed than me. You know that. I can get something, yes, certainly. But what do you get? That's what I'd like to know."

  Lisick closed her eyes and tilted her head back a little. She was still, and Gerant, despite wanting an immediate answer, kept quiet as well, allowing her to do what was needed.

  Finally, Lisick opened her eyes and looked at him. "Yes, I can still feel Her in the background as always. It's not quite as clear as normal, but that might be just my head recovering still. She's there. But... ," she shook her head slowly, "there's something different. Don't ask me what. She feels, well, different. A little more distant? Weaker? I don't know what it is. But it's different somehow."

  "But it could just be your head recovering, couldn't it?" urged Gerant. "I know I'm not back properly."

  "It could be part of it, sure. But there's a different quality to it." She sighed helplessly and spread her arms wide. "Truth is, I can't tell you why I feel that way, but I do."

  "So what do we do now?"

  "Maybe it was Harmony who hit us hard. Maybe She doesn't know how to speak to us quietly. If it was, and so far it does make some sort of sense, then there's a message about a boy." Another frustrated sigh.

  "Not much for us to go on, is it?" The tension in his hunched shoulders showed how much Gerant wanted to be able to do something.

  "Let's say then that it was that boy, the youth, who was kidnapped. What was his name again?"

  "Javin, I think."

  "So. Javin. I heard the words, 'It's the boy'. If it was Harmony who was speaking to us, then is it possible that She was warning us about him in some fashion? But that She was too strong and we lost the rest of the message? And then there was
that picture. I suppose it could have been him."

  "But what good does that do us, even if you're right? What does it mean?"

  "I wish I knew. But, what I do know is that there was that village where all the people died; Blackwater, Blackeye, was it?, and then I had problems really sensing Harmony? I mean, She's always there, at the back of everything. But I can't bring Her forward enough to really hear what I need to hear from Her. Then you were looking through those old records and found nothing." She looked up at him. "You have to admit, this has only happened since that boy, Javin, came here. I don't like coincidences. Not like that."

  Gerant considered this. "That would mean that Harmony sees the boy as some sort of threat, then?" There was disbelief in his voice. "But how can one person, someone not even born here, be a threat to Harmony? It's just not possible."

  "I agree it sounds strange, impossible even. But what else can we think about what happened? If you've got a better explanation, believe me, I'm willing to hear it."

  "Let's say you're right. What does that mean for us? What do we do?"

  "I think it means we have to help Her. Have to warn as many as we can to look out for Javin. Have him captured. Keep him in one place until we know what to do." She shrugged. "I can't think of anything else we can do. Maybe Harmony will let us know, but more gently next time."

  "And if we can't warn anyone? If the deecees never work again? Then what?"

  "If that does happen, Gerant, I think it means that Harmony doesn't need us anymore. I think it means we're no longer of any use." Her eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Gerant, that scares me more than anything else."

  Gerant, for all his empathic ability, was unsure how to comfort or reassure his friend. It was one thing to feel emotions on the far side of the planet, but another to deal with them in someone directly in front of him. He decided, instead, to try to take her mind off herself and her fears. "You mentioned Blackeye. That village where everyone died. We never did understand that. I can't help but feel that maybe, just perhaps, there is something we've been missing there. For instance, there had to be a reason for it, but neither of us wanted to think that Harmony was responsible. Sure, they went deaf, but isn't that more likely because they had done something to upset Harmony?" He cocked his head at Lisick, silently urging her to join in.