by Cully Mack
Zeev scratched the back of his head. ‘We’ve lost them.’
Nate crouched, focusing on the footprints pressed into the silt. ‘They would have gone downstream for sure. The river mouth is too guarded. They probably crossed over going west,’ he reasoned. ‘It’s what I would do.’
Galia stepped up to the river edge. ‘Then we follow on the other side until we pick up their tracks.’ She waved her hand and froze a path over the river.
Eran’s eyes widened, but he never said a word. Nate calculated after he’d seen Neviah and Mirah wielding fire and water on the mountain, an ice path probably didn’t faze him much.
They’d hidden the fishing boat in the boggy marsh reeds.
Nate spotted their tracks. ‘Galia, for the next few miles can you camouflage our footprints and theirs as well?’
A wet path followed behind them, the depression of their footsteps sinking in the soil. When they reached a small village of goat herders, they halted. The inhabitants seeing who they were, agreed to let them rest in one of their mud huts. When questioned, they had seen no one passing through.
Nate pushed back the reeds screening the mud hut entrance and squinted at the gloom eclipsing the dusty plains. ‘I’ll take first watch.’
He waited until Zeev and Galia were sleeping and nudged Eran in the leg. He shot up sitting on his straw mat, cradling his arm.
‘When they awake, we’ll reset your arm. That’s if you ever want to use it again.’
‘How come you don’t know where Mirah is going?’ Eran asked, crossing his legs.
How perceptive, Nate thought. ‘I know where just not the exact route they have taken,’ he lied. ‘We’re supposed to catch up to them before they arrive.’
To his relief, Eran seemed satisfied with his answer. Nate shifted his shoulder blades against the hard wood surrounding the mud hut’s entrance.
‘What do you know of Mirah’s brother?’ he asked, focusing back into the gloom.
‘Gabe?’
‘Yes. Mirah thought he was dead.’
Eran cleared his throat. ‘He wasn’t there when they attacked us. I searched for him the next day but when I got to the cave, it was empty and when I returned to Barakel, he’d gone. I tried to follow but… I’m not as good at tracking as you.’
So Eran didn’t realise he’d been at Barakel. It didn’t surprise him to hear Mirah knew Gabe hadn’t been there. It hurt that after they’d become so close she still hadn’t told him.
‘What is Gabe like?’
‘He’s my best friend. He’s funny, kind and loves adventure. At first, I made friends with him because I longed to get closer to Mirah but after a while—’
Nate cleared his throat.
‘I didn’t mean to… I mean,’ Eran stuttered as Nate glared at him. ‘I saw on the mountain what you felt for her. The way she stared at you when you edged closer to the chalk line. At home, most of us felt the same way.’
‘Most?’ he asked, leaning slightly into the room.
Eran didn’t dare elaborate. Smart, Nate thought. Why this sudden surge of anger? Was he jealous? He attempted to relax his jaw, blinked and refocused on the gloom.
‘How old is Gabe?’
‘He’s a year younger than Mirah.’
Younger? How could he be younger?
‘Get some rest,’ he said, holding back a snarl.
In the darkness, Nate contemplated everything he’d learned. How could someone so young come to their rescue? If he fought like Eran, they didn’t stand a chance. He wondered if Mirah would have fallen for this lanky kid if he hadn’t taken her away?
It seemed like every star peered into his conscience and when they could face him no more they slipped away. Daylight broke with a haze of peach and golden streaks blending on the horizon. Nate was still sat on the ground with his elbows resting on his knees pondering over Gabe.
‘You didn’t wake me,’ Zeev groaned.
Nate rose. ‘Let’s set his arm and keep moving.’
When they reached the dusty plains, the tracks fizzled out.
‘We go straight ahead. It’s the shortest route to the sea,’ Nate said, marching on.
Galia rushed up beside him. ‘Are you ever going to tell me why she fled?’
‘Wielding. You understand the power behind it but it doesn’t appear to bother you?’
‘I squished thoughts of Shemyaza out of my head long ago,’ she said, looking down.
She doesn’t know, he realised. Not making the same mistake again, he told her about the beings in the other realm. He wondered if he’d lose her too as she contemplated his revelation. He tried to read her expression but her grey eyes revealed nothing.
‘I don’t like it,’ she eventually said, ‘but what difference does it make if wielding comes from one source or another? I can’t imagine living without it now. Is that why she left because of wielding?’
‘She didn’t agree with your reasoning. She said it defiled her.’
‘But that doesn’t make sense.’
He couldn’t bring himself to confess the rest. How Mirah had accused him of lying and breaking a promise. How devastation wrecked him when she pushed him aside.
‘It’s different for her,’ Galia conceded. ‘Her connection to the wielding is stronger. I’ll talk to her when we find them.’
And then what? The shift in tone when Mirah asked where unspoken truth went screamed of defeat. He’d never heard such desperate pleading.
❊ 29 ❊
They’d been tripping over twisted roots and ducking under gnarled branches for most of the afternoon. Gabe peered skyward, sighed and pressed on, rushing towards the diminishing light ahead and fleeing from the darkness creeping behind.
Each time he glanced over his shoulder he expected blue cloaks to appear amongst the slender trees. He could only tell when Terra flew overhead by the rustling of leaves. Her silence both calmed and unnerved him.
Two more days and they’d reach Nanshe. Where would they go after? Gabe didn’t know, but he assumed Ammo had enough places to lie low. And what then? All he’d cared about was finding Mirah.
Every day on the ship’s deck he’d sweated and parried. Ammo’s intentions were to train him for war but he’d had no care for that. So what if Ammo spent years raising an army, and they expected him to lead it? They were wrong.
He took every swing and blow, worked until his wrists throbbed. He’d even bested Ammo a few times towards the end. If it helped rescue Mirah, he’d do anything. He’d kill anyone who tried to stop him.
He’d not been ready to witness the subjugation and the horror the people endured as he scouted the city. It had terrified him to think of Mirah a prisoner, the pain and the suffering she experienced. Maybe when this was over he’d return, not to lead an army but to do his part, help those people, pay retribution for Barakel and his Ma. But not until Mirah was safe.
He kept his focus forward, refusing to acknowledge everyone’s exhaustion. As if in answer to their silent prayers the trees parted and gave way to a small clearing. Shrouded within a veil of trees, he finally agreed to let them rest.
Someone had dragged two fallen tree trunks into the clearing and ash from a long dead fire was littered with small bones. He didn’t like the look of it and hoped if anyone intended on returning, they’d have made it back by now.
Bina dipped under the trees and returned with wood. A fire blazed soon after and they sat on the logs, each of them contemplating their own thoughts.
When he’d first seen Mirah by the brook, she was healthy with a light-hearted spring in her steps. She didn’t look that way now. She sat with the others; the firelight flickering over her face, exaggerating the desolate shadows under her eyes. Her high cheekbones were more prominent, a hint of her cheeks drawing in. She was wasting away and not just on the outside.
A movement in the dusk covered tree line caught his attention. His head snapped in its direction. A tall broad-shouldered man with ice-blue eyes fixed on murder stood
with a long dagger poised at Eran’s throat.
‘Do not move,’ he commanded.
❊ 30 ❊
Nate understood the risk and expected them to attack. By using Eran, he hoped they’d at least give him long enough to explain. He scanned his opponents sat in a small wooded clearing, weighing up their threat. He knew for certain, the dark brown-haired lad, with a face like thunder, was Mirah’s brother. Sitting opposite her, his sharp eyes flicked at the distance between himself, Mirah and Nate. He spied two others he didn’t recognise.
A resplendent silver-haired man, whose aged face showed no fear, his potential undetectable. Nate’s instincts kicked in and he knew not to underestimate him.
The other was a woman. Moonlight, haloed in a silver shining ring on her dark hair. He could tell by her lithe frame and posture, the way her immovable glare assessed him as an opponent, she’d be deadly in combat.
Her eyes dilated and a tug of fear whipped through him. What was a Chashmalim doing with them? She could drop him to the ground without even moving. Why hadn’t she killed him already?
Mirah rose. The chain of her necklace reflecting in the firelight comforted him, she hadn’t removed it. Eran fidgeted and Nate tightened his grip on Eran’s shoulder, pulling him closer to his chest. The dagger pressing firm against his skin.
‘Don’t move or I’ll slice my blade across your neck,’ he growled.
It was for this reason he’d asked Zeev and Galia to hold back. He didn’t want a fight. If Mirah moved towards him, he’d let Eran go.
‘I came to speak to him,’ Nate said, jerking his elbow towards Gabe. ‘If you listen to what I have to say, I swear I’ll release him.’
‘Go on,’ Gabe said, slowly rising.
For someone so young, his voice sounded deep and Nate imagined if he roared it probably would sound like thunder.
‘I know who you are.’
Gabe squared off his shoulders. ‘Well, that puts me at a disadvantage. Who the heck are you?’
‘My name is Nate, stepson of Shemyaza.’
‘Tell me then, Nate,’ Gabe sneered. ‘Why shouldn’t we just kill you?’
‘Ask Mirah,’ he answered, without even daring to take his focus off Gabe.
He’d wounded her so much she’d run from him and he wasn’t sure she’d ever forgive him but he knew, she wouldn’t want him harmed. If she did, then he’d let them.
‘Don’t hurt him,’ Mirah said.
Cold and cut off, her tone relieved and chilled him.
Gabe weighed up Mirah, his eyes questioning hers. Is this the one? He cast his gaze back to Nate. ‘What did you come here to say?’
‘I heard you’re the chosen of the Cloud Rider. I want to serve you, if you’ll let me?’
‘We don’t need your service,’ Gabe scoffed. ‘Now do as you promised and this time,’ he emphasised, ‘I’ll let you leave.’
Meciel made a low cough. ‘We need him. He knows what goes on inside the mountain. He knows Shemyaza.’
‘He could be a spy,’ Gabe said, still unmoving.
‘A spy he may be,’ Neviah said, ‘but I know he loves Mirah and would do anything to protect her.’
Gabe spent ages considering his options, stopping briefly to talk to Meciel before conferring with Mirah, their muffled voices too low for him to hear. It didn’t go unnoticed that Bina had placed herself between them. She scanned the tree line and with a slight lift of her brows focused back on him.
‘Tie his hands,’ Gabe said to Bina.
Nate dropped the dagger on the ground and held out his wrists.
As soon as he’d freed Eran, he blurted out, ‘He’s not alone, there are two others.’
‘They aren’t waiting to ambush.’ Nate defended. ‘If you allow it, they will come and surrender.’
Zeev and Galia stepped out from shadows and dropped their weapons to the ground.
Wrists bound, Nate studied their interactions. Bina weighed up Galia, eyeing her amulet. Galia gave Mirah a warm smile and Mirah ran to her embracing her with a hug. Zeev grinned at Neviah who sat up straighter. Abela and Ayla sat close together looking up at Meciel as he spoke.
Gabe also assessed them and Nate saw in his eyes the same notion he knew was in his own. If they survived each other, then maybe they had a chance.
With their hands bound, Nate, and the others were made to sit by the fire.
‘That went well,’ Zeev muttered.
Gallia twisted her wrists against the binding. ‘They took my amulet. How can you possibly say that?’
Nate ignored them. He watched Mirah standing with Neviah over by the edge of the clearing. She took a deep breath and wiped the back of her hand across her brow.
His mind flashed to when he’d first seen her do this on his ship. How she carried the weight of her friends’ burdens close to her heart. How it moved him to find out more about her. He struggled against the desire to go over and support her. She hadn’t even acknowledged him since he’d sat down.
He’d often seen Neviah’s temper but nothing compared to the fury blazing now. As he wondered the cause of it, Neviah stormed off. He noted how quickly Bina jumped up to chase after her. She made it halfway across the clearing in one leap, her steps well paced and surefooted until she faded into the tree line. Abela and Ayla were now preparing bedrolls and Mirah came to help them. Meciel was talking to Eran. Gabe sat next to them listening but never glanced away from him for long.
Why had the Cloud Rider chosen him? He wouldn’t dare ask Zeev or Galia what they thought. He knew they’d be thinking the same. He must have been staring because Gabe locked eyes on him. He’d expected to see hatred but what he saw was something else, something which didn’t have a name.
Eran spoke catching Gabe’s attention. He smiled and said, ‘It seems you’re becoming a bit of an expert at escaping. Sojin is going to love you.’
❊
The next day they crossed over farmland. The day after they reached Nanshe Bay. Salty air drifted up from the ocean as they trekked through the settlement.
All that remained of Nanshe’s temple was its foundations and some newer buildings testified to the temple bricks reuse. The golden shrine which once shimmered over Nanshe was absent and smelted with the rest of the old gods’ shrines. Their gold now dispersed like a galaxy of stars in Shemyaza’s throne room.
Nanshe’s Dream Diviners had not left. On the temple foundations, a large oxblood coloured tent with painted gold fish and pelicans billowed in the breeze.
Zeev’s head jerked in the Diviner’s direction. ‘Had any dreams lately?’
‘Not any whilst sleeping,’ Nate replied, watching the Diviners offering fish and barley bread to women and children congregating nearby.
One of Nanshe’s Diviners rushed over. Her dark hair tied in a bun tight against her head. She had no jewels or lavish clothing just long flowing hessian robes.
‘You long journey, yes? Come, we may help you.’
She glanced at their bound wrists, compassion rising in her eyes and followed them, pestering Gabe.
‘Come, I help you. Give you and prisoners food for long journey.’
‘Leave us,’ Gabe said.
The Diviner pestered on. ‘I tell you your dreams, yes? How you go on your journey.’
Zeev stretched up tilting his head back. ‘I have a dream,’ he called out.
‘What are you doing?’ Nate asked.
He shrugged his shoulder. ‘I’m bored with this endless walking.’
The Diviner checked out Gabe’s reaction, seeing he made none, she dropped back beside Zeev.
Zeev raised his voice so everyone could hear him. ‘In my dream, there is a woman. She burns with fire,’ he said seductively. ‘But every time I reach out to touch her, she turns cold.’
The Diviner walked beside him contemplating.
‘Really?’ Nate asked, in exasperation.
Zeev let out a half smile. ‘What? It’s true.’
‘If she not resist the in
escapable, how she know what the inescapable is?’ the Diviner chanted.
Zeev frowned and stared at the Diviner expecting more. ‘I don’t get it?’
Nate chuckled. ‘Well, that will teach you. Good luck working it out.’
The Diviner withdrew as they continued towards the harbour.
From up ahead, Nate caught Mirah turning her head towards Neviah. He wished he could see their faces. He missed her laughing. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he even missed Neviah’s temper.
Mirah’s arm looped under Gabe’s. The bond between them strong, revealing itself more and more as the distance between them and Hermonial grew. Apart from the slightest moments, a quick smile, or the briefest laughter, Gabe’s guard never faltered, and he was at least thankful for that.
Along the harbour men shouted directions and guided pulleys and ropes, lowering crates of salted fish onto transport vessels. From here they distributed fish around the continent. Men on fishing boats organised their nets readying themselves to catch another haul of fish.
The arm of the ocean stretched its way along the borders of Nanshe. Its rolling waves harassed gigantic boulders which created a protective seawall curving around the narrow mouth of the gulf. Sea spray settled on the slippery wooden beamed walkway secured to the lowest level of boulders and to their left wooden piers cut across the waters.
They were heading for the ship docked on the furthest pier. Clever, Nate reasoned, from there it would be the fastest way to escape.
On the far side of the gangplank, a man blew his blonde fringe from his eyes. Taking in his lavish silks and the embellished gold rings on most of his fingers, someone less aware might consider him a flamboyant high born. Nate didn’t think so. Whoever this robust man was, his striking green eyes didn’t miss a trick. He spied their bound wrists the instant he saw them. Standing beside him a brown capped lad grinned.
‘Ya been gone so long. I thought ya got yaself killed.’
