A Voice That Thunders (Voice that Thunders #1)

by Cully Mack

  ‘I thought we could walk by the river,’ Nate said, as they crossed under the lapis lazuli archway leading back into the city.

  They strolled by the rubble of a derelict temple which even the labourers had abandoned for the evening. In the distance, Nate’s ship resembled nothing more than a murky grey mass. The once glorious river now dimmed to a dull, milky beige.

  ‘There will be no stars tonight,’ he said, as their feet sunk in the sloping sandbar.

  Mirah assessed the sky. ‘I could draw the sand from the air if you’d like?’

  ‘As tempting as that is, air wielding wouldn’t go unnoticed.’ He took her hand guiding her around sticky black bitumen stuck to the sand. Once they were past it, he didn’t let go. ‘I wanted to make sure you’re prepared for tomorrow?’

  ‘I’m not sure what to expect.’

  With a gentle tug on her hand, he closed the space between them. ‘Shemyaza will hold the tournament on the mountain top.’

  She glanced back at the dark sapphire blue mountain and the sand whirled up in the sky, shrouding its lofty elevation. ‘Does Shemyaza’s ostentation know no bounds? I can’t even say I find it surprising.’

  She’d seen the plateau from afar when she’d first arrived in the city and remembered how the absence of its peak seemed unnatural. In its place, the shimmering, wobble of air had reminded her of a desert mirage.

  She debated asking more about the tournament when he said, ‘Can I make a suggestion?’

  His face was nothing but calm and assuring as she tried to gauge any sense of apprehension so she nodded indicating for him to continue.

  ‘Try not to send ice spears through the wall of the mountain. I’m certain Bishnor has already notified Shemyaza, but it’s unwise to draw the other god’s attention.’

  ‘What are they like?’

  ‘Shemyaza is the most powerful although you should never underestimate the others. It will be easier to explain when you see them. I’ll ask Galia to enlighten you as they arrive.’

  ‘You won’t be with me?’

  Nate stopped and picked up a stone from the sandy river bed. He threw it a great distance over the water before she saw it plop. Expanding circular waves emerged on the agitated surface and the river’s flowing current responded by smoothing the ridges away.

  ‘I’d prefer nothing more than to stand beside you but I can’t take that risk. To show you favour will reveal to them my weakness.’ He bent down and picked up another stone and stared out over the river as though deciding where best to aim it. ‘If things didn’t go their way, they’d use my affection towards you against me and in doing so may seek to cause you harm.’

  ‘I thought inside Shemyaza’s borders his empire was peaceful?’

  ‘It is, mostly,’ Nate said, throwing the stone in the water and shaking the sand from his hands.

  They continued to stroll along the river until wooden beams rising out of the silt blocked their path.

  Nate halted by the sandbank. ‘When the gods meet on the mountain, they call it a Puhrum, it resembles an assembly or council and Shemyaza is their leader. But they have no allegiance to each other outside of the Puhrum. When their plan is complete, I suspect they’ll turn on each other.’

  ‘What is their plan?’

  ‘To conquer the world.’

  Laughter roared from a wooden structure built out over the water, Mirah spotted Zeev, Neviah, Galia and Arella lounging around a table in the corner.

  ‘What is this place?’ she asked.

  ‘It’s one of the better beer houses on the harbour. Shall we go inside?’

  They entered through a mud brick building filled with many of Nate’s guards. Cedar incense attempted and failed to mask the scent of beer, sweat and wine. They squeezed through the crowded room with Nate dipping his head in acknowledgements to most of his men whilst Mirah dodged slops of beer raised in their hands.

  To her relief, they exited the building out onto the timber structure set over the river. She reached the others to find blends of citronella perfumes wafting from overhead leafy green vines.

  Zeev slapped two more clay jars on the table and poured honey coloured beer from a jug.

  ‘You took your time. I was wondering if I’d have this beer to myself,’ he said, sliding one jar towards Nate. He passed the other to Mirah as she sat on a wooden bench.

  Neviah and Mirah still wore their leather pants and deep blue Taphas shirts but Galia and Arella had changed into long flowing wrap-around garments. Galia wore white with an embroidered pink trim and Arella wore pastel green. Both had switched their leather boots for silver sandals which complemented their silvery grey hair. Only the amethyst stone set in a wavy, gold band wrapped around Galia’s wrist and the dark blue sapphire pendant hovering above Arella’s cleavage revealed they were Taphas.

  Feeling a little self conscious, Mirah said, ‘If I’d know I was coming here, I’d have found something more suitable to wear.’

  ‘Why bother,’ Neviah responded, ‘at least this isn’t so revealing.’

  Mirah shuffled her feet under the table. She didn’t dare peek to see if Neviah had offended either Galia or Arella. Over the past weeks, since listening to the Fallen Star, she’d seen the edges of Neviah’s sharper tone soften. Apparently, it didn’t apply to her sense of appropriate clothing.

  ‘And besides,’ Neviah continued, ‘we’ve never seen Nate or Zeev wear anything other than their soldiers garb. If they don’t make an effort why should I?’

  ‘Do you want to see my birthday suit?’ Zeev asked, lifting his hand to undo his shirt. ‘I’ve been told it appeals to the senses.’

  ‘You do that here and I’ll make you walk on hot coals,’ she said, glaring at him to ensure he wouldn’t dare.

  ‘Elsewhere then,’ he replied, as though it was just a matter of time.

  ‘As much as I find your pitiful attempt at seduction entertaining, Zeev,’ Nate said, ‘I’d prefer not to have to come to your rescue.’

  Nate unleashed a wicked grin which made Mirah’s heart surge.

  ‘We won’t intervene,’ Galia said. ‘He could do with learning a few boundaries.’

  Zeev slapped his thighs. ‘Will no one save me from this fiery tornado?’

  All together they responded, ‘No.’

  Amongst the laughter, Nate leaned over to Zeev and whispered, ‘Brother, with that one, you’re on your own.’

  Zeev gawked at Neviah, her face now passive and amused studying him. Mirah could hear Zeev’s unsaid words running through his mind, challenge accepted.

  Zeev raised his jar of beer. ‘To Mirah and Neviah and victory over their competitors.’

  ‘What about us?’ Galia asked, shoving against his shoulder.

  ‘But you’re not competing and besides your head’s big enough.’

  ‘You’re not competing?’ Mirah asked.

  ‘Afraid not,’ Arella said. ‘If every Wielder competed, we’d be there all day.’

  Galia glowered at Nate. ‘We’re supposed to stay on the sidelines ensuring the safety of everyone else.’

  ‘Safety is important,’ Nate responded. ‘I had to choose the finest of Shemyaza’s Wielders for such a prestigious task.’

  ‘Flattery is such a lovely poison,’ Arella said, wiping the edge of her lips. ‘It makes me feel soft and gooey inside.’

  Ignoring her sister, Galia asked Nate, ‘So why is Esha competing?’

  With his face turning more serious he answered, ‘Everyone knows when it comes to fire wielding, Esha is the best. I’m hoping one of the Puhrum will take notice and whisk her away to a far-off continent on the pretence of her training their Wielders.’

  Zeev grinned. ‘That’s ingenious. Did you come up with that plan all by yourself?’

  ‘Further the better, if you ask me,’ Neviah snorted. ‘If she says once more that I need to be more like Shayla, I swear I will turn her earwax into boiling oil.’

  ‘Whilst you’re at it frizzle the ends of her hair,’ Mi
rah said.

  All the girls giggled at the thought.

  Zeev leaned towards Nate. ‘They’re losing me now.’

  Nate shrugged, and the girls laughed even more.

  A while later, the tinkling of dice being thrown on wooden tables and cheers and groans from Nate’s men filtered from the mud brick building.

  ‘I think we should go before they become too rowdy,’ Nate said to Mirah. ‘If I’m here, I’d have to intervene.’

  She’d not touched her beer and as she rose from her seat, Zeev eyed it.

  As they made their way back to the mountain, Nate scanned every crevice and darkened passageway. His hand often resting on the pommel of his sword as passers-by shuffled in the darkness.

  Not until they returned to the courtyard did his shoulders relax, and he asked, ‘Would you like to go to the garden?’

  ‘I’m tired. Do you mind if we sit on the veranda?’

  When they arrived she sat on the pink cushioned bench leaning up against the crystalline mountain.

  Nate stood by the balustrade looking out over the city. ‘I’ve always liked to come here and peer at the stars as they watch the city. I often come here and imagine what they’re thinking. The changes they’ve seen over the aeons. It’s a shame they’re not out tonight. There’s much more I could show you.’

  ‘Before I arrived here, I’d never left Barakel’s borders. I never realised the world was so large and immeasurable.’

  ‘What was it like in Barakel?’ he asked, in a gentle tone mixed with apprehension.

  She picked up a cushion and hugged it to her chest. ‘Well as you saw, we dwelt in rock shelters. We were self-sufficient for the most part, harvesting our crops and farming livestock. Living by the ocean brought a wealth of fish. Sea Bass is my favourite. We never traded with silver or bought extravagant garments and jewellery.’

  Mirah lost herself in memories of sea breezes and fishermen hailing to one another from small boats bobbing on the water.

  The last time her clan was all together had been at the initiation ceremony when Gabe, Tam and others placed their inky handprints on the cavern wall. Their imprints were all that remained of the men who’d lived at Barakel.

  She suppressed the rising urge to think of Gabe, of where he would go and what type of man he would become.

  ‘It rains for most of the year and also thunders. On the path leading from our shelters, a river flows from a ravine. I used to swim with my friends in one of the deepest rock pools. Cloud shadows crept along the water surface and we’d pretend they were leviathans rising from the deep to eat us. I didn’t know then about sea monsters like the Dagani. I didn’t know they were real. Our Ma’s sat on the edge of the pool washing woollen and animal skin clothing. We lived with the landscape surrounding us, no cultivated gardens, evocative buildings, Diatheatres or canals erected like you have here. I lived a simple life, tending herbs and making poultices for my Ma.’

  ‘Apart from the rain, it sounds very appealing. Better than the politics of this place.’

  ‘Our winters were harsh. You have comforts here I could never have imagined. Until I came here, I’d never bathed in warm water.’

  ‘And the wielding?’

  Mirah twirled the gold and lapis ring on her finger. ‘That too.’ She took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair. ‘What?’ she asked, regarding Nate’s adoring smile.

  ‘The way you do that. The way you take a breath as though it somehow re-empowers you. I find it endearing.’ He came and sat beside her. ‘If I had the power to go back and change it, you know I would.’

  Whatever he searched for in her eyes, he found and she felt it too.

  ‘Everything has a reason,’ she said. ‘I don’t profess to understand it but I know there’s no going back.’

  It wasn’t the city and certainly not Shemyaza’s vision for his empire or beyond.

  She looked into his blue eyes and told him, ‘This is my home now.’

  ❊　19　❊

  Ammo watched Bina standing on his ship’s bow looking out over the ocean. Her long black hair swayed in the wind like the flag above his crow’s nest. Her hair, the only movement from her he could see.

  The choppy swell pushing them up high and dropping them low didn’t faze her. It appeared as if her feet were glued to the deck. He didn’t know what to make of her. Either she’d spent her life at sea or she hid other talents behind her dilating lavender eyes.

  She breezed around his ship like she owned it. Not pushy, ordering his men to do this or that, she hardly spoke a word but her presence spread before her, claiming the ground where she walked.

  Where had Meciel found her? What was their connection? Questions, he’d asked over and over but she’d snort and say, you have your story and I have mine.

  He’d offer to tell her everything about him, well most of everything, if telling her would loosen her tongue. But he’d known from the instant they’d met, even with torture she’d never utter a single word. A different tactic then?

  Sojin crossed the deck and gave Bina a plate of spiced fish. In Sojin’s presence, her eyes often softened. He studied them both whilst they ate, whatever they were saying, he’d grill Sojin about it later and make sure Sojin stopped with those ridiculous puppy dog eyes.

  The wind beat against the sails. If it kept up, they’d reach Lithinos by the end of the week. Why Meciel had sent Bina to collect him, he’d find out soon enough.

  ‘Sojin, will ya come and help with this,’ Ammo called out.

  Sojin beamed at Bina then rushed over and gripped hold of the rope.

  ‘Wipe that darn smile off ya face,’ Ammo grumbled. ‘It’s making me sick. Help me get this into the hold.’

  They dragged the crate across the deck and lowered it through the hatch. In the storeroom and out of earshot, he launched into Sojin.

  ‘What were ya talking about?’

  Sojin picked at a callous on his palm. ‘She said the food tasted awful.’

  Ammo agreed. His cook had fallen ill when they’d docked at Anat and in their haste to leave, he’d grabbed the first man who offered to replace him.

  ‘And?’

  ‘What’s with all the questions? I don’t know, she just said stuff.’

  ‘What stuff?’

  Sojin shrugged. ‘She mentioned the Nephilim’s head stuck on the spike in Anat and said, if I ever needed to talk, I could go to her.’

  Why did she bring that up, Ammo wondered? What did she know about Nephilim and why ask Sojin?

  ‘I don’t want ya talking to her about that. Not until I’ve got a grip on who she is.’

  Sojin knew better than to argue and attempted to leave. Ammo paced across the storeroom, his body filling the doorway as he leaned against the doorframe.

  His shoulders dropped as he shifted into a casual demeanour and asked, ‘Did she ask anything about me?’

  ‘No.’

  He saw Sojin raise his questioning brows. He’d seen them before, every time he asked him to scram. So what if Sojin thought he found her appealing. She wouldn’t be his first conquest or his last.

  The single difference was Ammo had been questioning him for days and in Sojin’s eyes, Bina was becoming a failed acquisition.

  He realised he was acting like a lust-crazed fool and stepped aside. ‘Go back on deck, I’ll be up with ya soon.’

  Sojin tipped his cap as he passed.

  Ammo gently pulled him back by the shoulder. ‘Sojin, one more thing. If ya ever want to talk about the Nephilim, I’m here for ya, always.’

  ❊

  The next day Ammo changed tactics. He puffed out his chest, set his feet wide and called out to Bina.

  ‘So, I hear ya think ya are smart enough to take me?’ he challenged with his dagger raised glinting in the sun.

  ‘Please,’ Bina drawled.

  His eyes widened as she swiped back her hair.

  ‘Ya too afraid ya might miss,’ he teased, ‘or would ya prefer to kiss me instead
?’

  Bina swept across the deck in three paces. ‘You will regret you ever asked.’

  He was flat on his ass on the deck before he saw her move, the handle of his dagger spinning on the end of her finger.

  Sojin cursed under his breath.

  ‘I’ll never kiss you,’ she stated flatly and walked away.

  His dagger twanged into the deck just missing his finger.

  ‘I bet you’ll never do that again?’ Sojin said, reaching out his hand.

  ‘Watch me,’ Ammo grinned.

  Lusty fool be darned, he didn’t care. He hadn’t had this much fun in years. She was a target worthy of conquest and for the first time, he wasn’t sure if he’d win.

  Before they reached the port of Lithinos, Bina had put him on his ass in several ingenious ways. It was all he could do to suppress his wincing every time he sat his bruised butt down.

  ❊

  No one sailed to the shanty little seaport of Lithinos unless they came for the waiting crewmen on the docks. The crewmen circulated around for years, hooking up with one ship and then switching to another when they moored. Ammo had been here many times to select men willing and able to join his forces or build his ships.

  The port consisted of timber storehouses, boarding shacks and a row of inns. Most of them filled with lice and other crawling things.

  The moment he stepped off the gangplank, the smell of stale beer, stale sweat and stale food hit him, reminding him of home. He shrugged off the memories which chased him. He was so good at it often they never bothered to pursue him anymore.

  ‘This place reeks. Does nobody here bathe?’ Bina said, covering her nose with her cloak.

  The crewmen waiting for work were sunbaked and covered in grime. Most of them laid out on the grass located between the ocean and the row of buildings. Ammo knew paid lookouts would yell when opportunity crested over the horizon.

  He was about to lead them to the most favourable inn when Bina announced, ‘They’re over there.’

  He marked Meciel with his shaggy cut silver hair seated in the shade under a huddle of trees.