by Joe Jackson
Kari blinked several times in surprise when she realized the czarikk were no longer singing and no dancers remained around the fire. All of the lizard people had prostrated themselves before a single czarikk who stood completely naked before her. It didn’t take Kari long to figure out what had happened, and while her companions gaped in disbelief, she dropped to one knee before the reptilian male.
“Arise, please, my friend,” Sakkrass said in his sibilant voice, and he stepped forward and held his hand out to help her to her feet. Kari nearly choked as he in turn knelt before her, and his glowing red eyes came up to meet hers. “If any should bow, it should be I to you, in thanks for what you have done for my people, for what I could not.”
Kari looked him over more thoroughly and beheld what she assumed was a perfect specimen of a mulrassa czarikk. He wore no clothing, showing off every perfectly sculpted muscle beneath his dark green scales, though his scales did bear several scars that marked him as a warrior. She wondered if he had once been mortal, as was the case with many of her own pantheon’s deities, or if he was in fact a lizardman deity who had a hand in the creation of the czarikk people. She touched the end of her snout lightly with one hand as he rose to his feet and drew closer. He towered over her, though not so much as Erik did.
“It is an honor to meet you,” she managed after a few silent moments, and the czarikk male smiled. Kari suddenly realized that they were conversing in the common tongue, but the other czarikk around the camp seemed to understand them as well.
“You and your gods do not know me, and yet you afford me the respect you would one of their peers,” Sakkrass said. “Your honor convinces me that I should make myself known among their number, if only to grant them another ally in their struggles against the demon kings.”
“I’m sure they would welcome you as a brother,” she said, and she reached toward him tentatively. He bowed his head toward her hand, and Kari touched his face and felt the smooth scales of his cheek, and the gentle flitting of his eye when her hand passed over it. “Just as I welcome your shaman and his chief as mine.”
Sakkrass turned and stepped away from her when she finished speaking, and he held his hands out to the sides. “Arise, my people; your lord is moved by your love, and I wish to watch you dance. Dance not for me, but for yourselves, and for the children I will bless you with. The work of the demon shall not diminish my devotion to you.”
Again he had spoken in what sounded to Kari like the common tongue, but the czarikk rose to their feet and let forth the same cheers and hissing whistles they had for Aszera’s child, and soon the dancers were underway again. Kari hesitated for a moment and stood by Sakkrass’ side, and Oshasis and Savarras approached to kneel before their god. Kari had never met an avatar before – other than those who served as such in title only – but she knew instinctively that what stood before her was a true physical representation of the czarikk god. She was amazed at the blessing their people had received, and was proud to be a part of it.
Sakkrass touched the chief and shaman each on the top of their heads, and motioned for them to rise. “I know each of you feels responsible for what has happened to my people. I hold you free of blame. You have served me well, and it was no fault of yours what befell them,” he said. He turned his attention to Savarras, and Kari could see that his features hardened. “Know that I would never abandon you, and certainly never hurt my own people to spite them.”
“Forgive my foolishness,” Savarras said, and Kari found that she could understand him perfectly despite the fact that he had clearly spoken in the czarikk tongue. Savarras knelt in supplication before his lord, and Sakkrass touched his shaman’s head in absolution.
Sakkrass turned back to Kari, and his reptilian eyes blinked slowly as the warm smile returned to his handsome features. “I cannot remain long upon your world without attracting the attention of enemies,” he said. “I owe you a great debt, one I am not certain I can repay. Ask of me anything, and if it is within my power to grant, I shall.”
Kari shook her head. “You don’t owe me anything,” she said, but Sakkrass waved away her words and waited for her to ask something of him. She looked at Savarras and Oshasis for a moment, and then to Erik and Makauric, and it seemed they, too, were able to understand all that was being said. Kari turned back to Sakkrass and said, “Teach me the language of your people.”
The lizardman god considered her for a few moments and then smiled. He reached up, laid his hand on the top of Kari’s snout, and whispered into her mind. It felt as though a soft breeze blew across her brain, cooling and tickling, and glyphs and characters began to draw themselves within her imagination. She started to recognize what they said, and she watched as the deity wrote an entire book of his peoples’ histories into her mind. Most curious of all were the images of the czarikk people interacting with both the elves and the luranar, as Kari had suspected. There wasn’t much immediate explanation, but Kari found the lizard peoples’ connection to the elves heartwarming. When Sakkrass finally removed his hand from her, Kari’s mouth fell open in wonder. “Speak to me,” he said softly.
“I am called Karian Vanador,” she said, trying to emulate the sibilant accent of the czarikk as she spoke their tongue. “And I will always remember you, Sakkrass of the people.”
“And I shall always remember you, Karian Vanador. I will watch over you, just as your own god does, as if you are my daughter,” he said. Just the word daughter was enough to bring tears to Kari’s eyes, but Sakkrass’ clawed fingers wiped them away gently, and he cradled her face gently in his scaly palm. “Be safe, my child.”
And then he was gone, leaving his people stunned. Kari turned immediately and spun to reinitiate the flow of the dance. She listened to the czarikk take up their beautiful song once again, and she understood each word as it was intoned in melodic harmony. Kari began to sing with them while she danced, and her participation in both dance and song seemed to spur them to greater joy. Soon she found her partner dancing just behind her, painted like she had been the first night, though he wore his loincloth. She smiled and the joy of her expression was mirrored upon his face as he did his best to mimic her dance, though he was clearly not a dancer.
“What are they singing?” Erik asked, his voice raised so she could hear him.
“Up from the roots, we are Sakkrass’ seed! His love and blessing are all we need. We dance for him by stars and fire. To be his children to what we aspire!” she sang to him in the common tongue. It wasn’t an exact translation, but it was what came to mind when Kari tried to interpret the song. The czarikk did not just worship Sakkrass as their god: they served him as their father, and being good children to him was the most important thing in their lives. Kari thought briefly of her prayer to Gori Sensullu before she’d departed for Tsalbrin, and she thought that perhaps her people and the lizard-folk were not all that different.
Erik smiled but didn’t interrupt her further as she continued in the ceremony. Kari knew she had only a modest singing voice, but the sound of the czarikk language flowing from her tongue without effort was simply beautiful. Kari danced until the night was deep and the fire had burned down to a warm glow, but unlike their previous visit, the czarikk did not retire to their homes until she had finished. They cheered and let out the hissing whistles when she brought the ceremony to a close, and she smiled broadly and bowed before them. She felt at home among them, which surprised her; only a few weeks before, she had never really felt at home anywhere.
Savarras allowed the guests the use of his teepee once again. Makauric bid Kari and Erik goodnight and climbed the nearest tree to recline in its higher branches. Kari and Erik headed toward their loaned tent but stopped when several female czarikk came and stood by its doorway. They glanced at Kari briefly but then gazed at Erik expectantly, and Kari laughed, lifted the flap over the entryway, and started to slip within. Erik stopped her. “What do they want?” he asked.
Kari wondered if he was really that naive or just pretend
ing to be for modesty’s sake. “You shouldn’t have to speak czarikk to know,” she said. She was surprised when he blushed: though it was impossible to see a half-demon blush, she could tell by his expression that he was doing so. “Erik, if you have any doubts about how good-looking you are, this should put them to rest. You’re handsome, you just saved their tribe from a demon, and they want to thank you. Be polite: if you’re not interested, say so and head inside. Otherwise, go enjoy yourself.”
“Kari…,” he muttered, almost a whine.
She rose up straight before him and touched a finger to his snout. “Erik, they know what they’re asking for, and you’re an adult – you can make your own decisions. I’m not going to think differently of you no matter what you decide. If you want to go play with them, then by all means, go enjoy yourself for a night. Zalkar’s not going to strike you with lightning.”
“Are you sure?” he asked.
Kari could tell that his discomfort was genuine. “I’ll be honest with you, Erik: Grakin’s not the first man I’ve ever been with. I don’t think he thinks any less of me because of it. If you want to go, then go,” she said. She laid her hand on his chest and met his eyes evenly. “Maybe you should think about what you want rather than what your siblings might think for a change. You might find that they’re holding your love life back more than your job.”
Erik still didn’t seem entirely convinced, but he gave the barest of smiles and nodded to Kari’s words. He gave her a chaste kiss on the side of her snout in farewell, and then let himself be led away by the czarikk girls. He looked over his shoulder once, and Kari could see that his discomfort was genuine, but he was trusting in Kari’s words. She ducked inside the tent, lay in the soft, warm furs of the shaman’s home, and closed her eyes. She felt Sakkrass’ ethereal touch in her mind and whispering across her skin, but it was not his spectral hand that caressed her body: it was the feeling of a blanket being drawn up over her, and as its warmth settled into her naked form, Kari fell fast asleep.
Chapter XIV – Small Blessings
It took Aeligos a week to reach Fahrem. While leaving the desert, he carried a simple tent to sleep under during the day and traveled by night in the hopes that he could overtake the rest of the group. He never did, and it surprised him that the time Maktus had cost him by delaying the preparation of the sealed documents allowed his siblings to outpace him. On the other hand, the Warlord’s delays had allowed him to spend time with Evanja. He enjoyed his time with her and found that they had quite a few things in common, but she wasn’t able to tell him anything useful that he didn’t already know with regards to the situation with Gaswell or any other facets of politics on the island. Aeligos suspected the delays that kept him from overtaking his siblings would get blamed on their tryst, despite the truth. He was pretty sure he would hear it from Sonja when he met the others in Fahrem.
He attributed the rest of the group’s faster movement to their decided lack of caution compared with him, as he rarely traveled on the road itself. He headed north out of Kulthon near the dirt road that followed the base of the mountains, but Aeligos picked his way through the rocky hills that footed the higher peaks, uncomfortable traveling where the fact that he was alone compounded his exposure. Traveling up in the rocky foothills allowed him to camouflage himself while he slept thanks to the coloration of his tent. Staying off the road added time to his journey, but without having to lead his siblings and their human friends, he was able to travel longer through the night and into the early morning before he stopped to rest, so he was able to make up some of the time.
He found Saint John’s pass horrifying: within minutes of reaching the eastern end of the pass, he prayed that his siblings had thought better of traveling directly through it. Not so much a pass as a roofless tunnel, it was a natural funnel that canny bandits or any military commander could use to decimate an enemy force. The cliffs formed a remarkably straight line, which left Aeligos to wonder if the pass had been cut through the stone in ancient times or if it was natural. While the cliffs were high enough to pose a serious problem should the need to climb arise, they were not so high that a squad of archers would have any issue slaughtering travelers to a man.
Naturally, Aeligos scaled the cliffs and found that the top was a smooth, wide area that did indeed house a military force. To his relief, it was a unit of shakna-rir soldiers stationed there to make certain that no one used the pass for what Aeligos had feared. The soldiers immediately approached and demanded Aeligos identify himself. He explained the situation with his siblings and friends and his concern for them, and he presented the sealed documents from Maktus. Satisfied that he could be trusted, the guards let him go without incident, though they told him that they hadn’t seen the group he described. Aeligos wondered at that, but thanked the soldiers for their help and continued his journey. Free of the desert’s heat, he began traveling during the day and into the night, and returned to a normal schedule.
Saint John’s pass opened into a beautiful expanse of grassy plains, and the landscape was dotted in places with massive, solitary trees. To the north of the pass was the patterned vista of farmland, and nestled at the base of the hills on the eastern end of the farmland was an unwalled town. It took Aeligos a couple of hours to walk to the town of Fahrem and he arrived just before sundown, which came much later without the imposing wall of peaks that had choked out the light while in Kulthon. Fahrem was a small town with only a single inn, so he found his siblings easily enough, and his sister greeted him when he arrived at last.
Sonja’s red eyes showed relief and she asked, “I was expecting you’d overtake us, what happened?”
Aeligos shrugged off his travel pack and hung his cloak on the back of a chair, and he sat down across from his sister. “It took Maktus longer than I expected to have official documents prepared,” he said. “I’d expected to leave the city the same day but ended up leaving closer to noon the next day. I also got held up coming through the pass; I didn’t like the look of it. I climbed up top and traveled the higher ground after I spoke with the soldiers up there.”
“That’s my Aeligos,” Sonja said with a smile.
“Did you walk through the pass?” he asked. “The guards said they didn’t recall seeing you all move through the area.”
Sonja nodded. “I used a chameleon spell to mask our presence for the most part,” she said, and then she chuckled. “All I could think of was you hopping up and down saying, ‘No! It looks like an ambush point!’”
Aeligos laughed and wondered if he looked as silly as his sister’s pantomime. “I nearly did just that when I reached the eastern end of the pass,” he said. “I’m not sure why it surprised me that the shakna-rir had a military force stationed at the top of the cliffs. That spot would be a murder hole for bandits otherwise. Those green-skins really have their affairs in order.”
Sonja sat back and fixed her brother with an amused gaze. “So, a missive came to us not long after we got here,” she said, her tone dripping with mischief. “The courier mistook Grakin for you, and delivered a letter from Eryn. Oddly, though, it’s about wanting to have sex with you, and the…interesting things she wants to do to you.”
Aeligos chuckled and held his hand out. His sister produced the letter, and she simply shook her head as she handed it to him. He ignored her, opened the letter, and read through it quickly. It said exactly what Sonja hinted at, but the amount of articulation confirmed what the rogue suspected: to anyone else reading it, it appeared to simply be a letter detailing dozens of naughty things Eryn wanted to do to him. To those like Aeligos, however, it said something completely different.
He laid the letter out on the table and asked Sonja for a writing implement and some paper, and Aeligos reread the letter while she went upstairs to get them. When she returned to find him smoking the cigar he’d received in Tingus, she gave him a rather dubious look but handed him the items he’d asked for. “Aeligos, how did Eryn know where to find you?”
T
he rogue looked up at his sister and smiled around the cigar between his teeth. He glanced around the common room of the inn, which was nearly deserted, and none of his other siblings or their human companions was present. “Can you keep a secret?” he asked. Sonja continued to regard him curiously, but after a few moments she nodded. “Every time you saw Eryn and me fight on the ship, it was an act.”
Sonja considered his words. “So Eryn going her own way was your plan all along?” she concluded.
Aeligos took the cigar from his teeth and put it in the ashtray. “Sonja, what do you think Erik’s reaction would’ve been if he knew Eryn wanted to infiltrate Gaswell’s army?” he asked.
His sister titled her head and pursed her lips. “He’d have told you it was too great a risk,” she said. “And he would’ve forbid her from trying.”
“And we’d be walking into this situation with an army at our backs, but completely blind otherwise,” Aeligos added. “We needed to know what we’re dealing with before we show up at Gaswell’s doorstep. And if you think this letter has anything to do with sex…”
He trailed off and Sonja sat down and studied him while he worked. He began decoding the letter, and while he worked, the rest of their siblings and companions made appearances for dinner. Sonja motioned for everyone to remain quiet while Aeligos worked, and they shared a meal together in relative silence while the younger of the dark brothers diligently translated Eryn’s missive.
