by Coral Walker
When the wing unfolded from under her chest, Yuna gave out a mournful cry.
“Fly, Yuna, fly,” Teilo pleaded.
Yuna’s long neck lifted, displaying its proud, graceful curve. For a moment, they looked into each other’s eyes.
Teilo smiled tenderly, as his hands stroked her. “Good girl, fly away ... fly away now.”
Yuna honked, tucking her chest in.
“I know, Yuna, I know. I will be fine like I always am. You must fly, back to your home to recover. I’ll find you there. I promise.”
There was an alarming whoosh of air as arrows sped past them.
“Go, go!” Teilo shouted, giving Yuna a shove. Yuna thrust forwards and flapped her giant wings. Another shrill honk and she took off. A few yards further forward, she staggered and tilted sharply to the right. But the instant she was about to crash to the ground she pulled up, soaring skyward.
Arrows flew after her and narrowly missed as she gained height.
Teilo’s face brightened. Turning to Brianna, he shouted, “What are you waiting for? Run! Run!”
+++
The good thing about heavily armoured soldiers is that they cannot run fast. After the last few arrows landed clattering behind their heels, they knew they were out of their reach.
Safe, for the moment.
Trudging through the alternating areas of thick vegetation and craggy rocks, Teilo led the way up towards a cliff top. They stopped just once, to allow Brianna to catch her breath.
“Where is the pearl?” he asked.
“Inside here.” She flourished the locket hanging around her neck — after all that tumbling, she couldn’t think of a place safer than that.
“You haven’t swallowed it?” said Teilo, frowning.
She was startled, and for a while, gazed at him, expecting the tense face to melt into a grin, and for him to say all that talk about ‘swallowing’ was nothing but a joke.
But Teilo’s face was a mask of stubbornness. “You should have swallowed it,” he persisted.
“A pearl, you want me to swallow a pearl! What will happen if I swallow it?”
“You don’t know?” he asked, arching his brows.
He looked genuinely surprised. But why should she know?
“Did you see the white marble stones in the Dome?” he asked.
She blushed. She did look carefully at the first one, but as for the rest, she hardly registered them — the sparkling gown had caught her eye and distracted her —
Thinking back, she could vaguely conjure a picture in her mind. It was a picture of the same girl spreading her arms wide. It had struck her as similar to one of da Vinci’s drawings, the one that depicts a man, circumscribed by a circle, stretching out his limbs. In the picture, the girl was in almost the same pose.
What’s the significance of a girl spreading her arms?
“If you had swallowed the pearl, you would be transformed,” Teilo said.
It was now even more mystifying. Her eyes grew wide as she asked, “Transformed into what?”
“A targar woman.”
“A targar woman?”
“That’s what Tyanna was, a targar woman — half-targar, half-woman.”
He abruptly resumed walking. Mindlessly she shuffled her legs in his wake, her mind whirling with questions.
“Why should I do that?” she asked, genuinely puzzled.
“To take the place of Tyanna.”
The answer was forthright and simple, and the expectation it conveyed was blunt and disconcerting. An upsurge of frustration overtook her.
That’s it. All those comments about how she looked like Tyanna, and how she was the one. It turned out that they wanted her to be transformed and just to be her.
The idea of her being half-bird half-woman sounded bizarre and idiotic. She would, of course, respect and admire such a being, like anybody else. But being one herself was just too weird to take it seriously.
“What if I don’t want to be a tar ... targar woman” she said, stuttering at the unfamiliar term.
He cast her a look so sharp and intense. “Then you must return the pearl to the lake. The pearl should never fall into the hands of anyone other than a targar woman,” he said and turned away from her.
She was disquieted. She could tell that he had spoken through gritted teeth. After that, he gathered speed, almost too fast to keep pace with. Soon they took a sharp turn and came to a path hemmed in by groves of trees. All of a sudden he froze, one arm extending backwards in a gesture of warning.
Alarmed, she stopped short. The air was still. She could hear a rustling sound coming from the shrubs, low and subtle, but under her strained senses, it grew louder as if there were many trembling hands in the thickets.
When something thin and long sprang towards her chest from a low bush, she jerked with a cry and flung it to the ground with a frantic swing of her arm. It flopped down onto the ground half a yard away from her feet.
She recognised it at once — bokwa, the snake that has claws — and was intrigued. It was not the first time she had come across one. She had seen Jack fighting with them in the arena, and she herself had been bitten by one, but this was the first one she had confronted face to face within arm’s reach.
She was struck by the smoothness of its brown, cylindrical body, the peculiar way its upper half was lifted by its claws, and the round glassy eyes that stared at her like the innocent eyes of a child.
She gazed in wonderment and extended her hand towards it.
Had her action been captured on camera, and had she had the chance to watch it later on, she would be boggle-eyed with shock. It was reckless and silly to try to touch a bokwa — had she lost her mind?
But she knew she did it with calm and deliberation, as if she were entrusting herself to something divine and powerful. At that specific moment, her mind was inquisitive and fluttering with marvellous thoughts.
The bokwa was alarmed at the approaching hand. Its body arched stiffly; from below its protruding jaw came strange clanking sounds.
Her hand didn’t reach as far as the bokwa. A stone fished from Teilo’s pouch flew from his hand and hit the serpent just as it was about to leap at her, and broke the spell. The clanking sound was silenced and the bokwa dropped dead, but soon more clanking sounds rose all around them.
Teilo grasped her hand and hauled her at a brisk run back down to the gravelled path they had just marched up.
“I almost touched it, did you see that? I wasn’t even afraid.” She exclaimed breathlessly, dwelling on the aftermath of the excitement, and let Teilo lead her, paying little heed to where they were going.
Then abruptly her mind was drawn to the downhill path they were on. “Are we heading down?” she asked, puzzled.
Teilo halted, and his face resumed an attentive look, like an alert school teacher. Without warning, he clutched her by the shoulder and shoved her into the undergrowth by the path. As he did so, he uttered a “Shh ...” sound from his pursed lips to silence her. The instant she flattened herself to the ground, she felt the heavy footfalls.
It didn’t take long before the sturdy boots of a cohort of soldiers appeared. Trudging along the rocky path, they were led by a large man wearing a tall helmet, an extra pair of shoulder plates and a long sword. Their knee plates were obviously causing trouble and made them walk in a stiff, robotic manner.
They watched them with bated breath as they marched past and vanished behind some tall rocks.
“What shall we do now?” Brianna whispered, giving in to a shiver. The place was now full of marching soldiers and slithering bokwas.
“To the top.”
He answered simply and with no more ado. She asked no more though doubts had grown in her mind.
How was going to the top where the soldiers were heading, and perhaps the bokwas were waiting, going to help.
They returned to the path and walked along it for a short distance before switching to a lane concealed by dense bushes. The lane took them
to a clearing where the ground was made almost entirely of one giant piece of rock.
Teilo stamped his feet on the solid ground and glanced at her with satisfaction. “At least it will take a while for the bokwas to get here,” he said and advanced towards the hill ahead.
The hill he was heading for had a long, straggling crack that looked like a ghastly sword wound inflicted by a colossal hand. It ran from top to bottom cutting the hill in half. Teilo was striding towards the crevice. Soon he was at the entrance, and without a word he squeezed himself into the opening. His sturdy figure slipped into the dark shade of the crack.
Not keen to be left alone, she hurriedly followed him, edging forward with hands and feet, once or twice holding her breath and sucking in her tummy to negotiate the narrow gap.
The confined space grew wider as she proceeded further. The vertical rocky walls on either side expanded forwards and upwards. Before her, buried in shadow, large rocks piled up like giant disordered steps stretching upwards.
Teilo lifted himself up onto a square-shaped rock almost as tall as himself. Standing upright, he turned and gazed down at her. Towering above her on the rock, and transfigured by a light beam that slanted down from somewhere above, he struck her as a peculiar statue.
“Here we are, the path to heaven,” said the statue, grinning.
14
Fly, Fly
Brianna followed him readily. It seemed in Teilo’s mind that getting to the top of the cliff offered the only escape, and she had no reason to doubt him. Her belief was shattered the instant she stuck her head out of the crack, horror-stricken at the sight of the hordes of soldiers milling around all over the ridge. The only way ahead that was clear of armed men was a rocky path sloping up steeply towards a craggy outline, stark against empty space beyond.
Cliff, no way out!
But Teilo’s calm, dispassionate bearing perplexed her. Had he lost his mind coming this way?
Without hesitation he pulled her out of the hole and hurried her to the cliff where they stood on a large overhang that looked like a broad sword pointing outwards. She trembled — the vast space beyond daunted her — the bottomless abyss, the sheer drop.
“It’s time, Brianna, you must swallow the pearl.” Teilo said grasping her and drew her nearer.
His grip was tight, his face hardened like stone, and his eyes were blazing with fervour. She stared blankly at him. How could she be so blind? All he wanted was to turn her into a targar woman.
His words passed through her like meaningless babble, “... then you will be safe ... remember you can only do it if —”
He was cut short by a loud twang, and immediately thrust the weight of his body upon her. Unprepared, she teetered backwards, staggering to hold him upright, and her blood went cold as she caught sight of a long arrow protruding from his back. For a moment, his head was bent oddly away from her as his torso was twisted with pain. When he lifted his head, he struggled for a grin as he looked at her but could manage only a shallow grimace. “Trust the ... pearl,” the words fell from his lips like a quiet sigh.
A giant, rough man towering over everyone stomped forward with gigantic strides, hauled Teilo away from her, and lifted him off the ground. Teilo writhed in his massive hand like a child in comparison with the man’s enormous frame. Without warning, the giant seized the shaft of the arrow and tugged it out.
A harrowing pain pierced her heart like a dagger as she stood helplessly watching the blood gushing out of Teilo’s back. There was a roar of laughter from the soldiers that were closing in and trapping them on the overhang. The large man flung the bloodied arrow to a soldier with a bow in his hand, who caught it with ease. Grinning victoriously, he wiped the blood off with his sleeve and tossed it back into the quiver he was carrying.
She edged backwards to the tip of the overhanging rock and felt dazed by the precipitous drop all around.
Teilo was right. There was no way to escape. The pearl, the pearl, she MUST swallow the pearl!
The blood drummed at her temples as she reached for the locket on her chest.
“Putu, you scared the poor girl,” a booming voice rang out, startling her.
The ranks of soldiers broke apart and left a pathway for the owner of the voice. With firm strides, a tall, willowy man in a crimson hooded cape stepped onto the overhang and stood faceless under the hood. “Putu, drop that boy,” he said to the giant in a steady voice.
Suddenly meek as a lamb before this willowy man, the giant released his grip.
Teilo’s body hit the ground with a dull thump. The willowy man stood unmoved, not for one moment lowering his head to glance at Teilo. His searching eyes were fixed on her, and being overshadowed by the hood, they were all the more penetrating and unbearable.
Though numb with fear, she nevertheless made a defiant gesture and opened the locket. “TRUST THE PEARL,” the three words echoed in her head as she raised her hand with the pearl in its palm.
“Don’t be in such a hurry to swallow it,” the man said in a reverberating tone, “You don’t know what it turns you into.”
He spread his arms and tuned his voice to a gentle rumble, “I have no interest in that pearl whatsoever. Your safety, my young lady, my princess, is what I care about.” With one hand pressing onto his chest, he bowed his head low.
Her hand froze by her lips.
The man pulled back his hood to reveal his slender and striking face that must have been handsome and full once but was now pale and angular. “I am Lord Shusha. I have come in the interests of your father, Prince Marcus. You are Brianna, aren’t you?” His sonorous voice sounded gentle.
Tears brimmed in her eyes.
In the same soft tone, he continued, “Princess Zelda is your mother. You also have two siblings, Jack and Bo.” He paused to wait for her tears to fall, and on seeing them coursing down he added, “They are all there waiting for you.”
“Where?” she looked up.
“Where I came from, the magnificent city of Barant. I’m here looking for you, to bring you to Barant, to bring you to them. Come with me, Brianna, your family are waiting.” He reached out one arm.
Hope sprang up unchecked within her. “Can you let him go?” she asked, glancing down at Teilo.
“Of course, my lady,” he replied quickly.
She hesitated, pressing the pearl into her fist and probing one more time the man’s pallid face. Under her gaze, his pale-blue face broke into an enigmatic smile that seemed unaffected and approachable. Encouraged, she shifted her feet forward in a gesture of acquiescence. Smiling, he stretched his hand further.
The moment he turned his hand over to receive her, she caught a sudden glimpse of the back of his arm. Scales, as broad as they were long, glistened — the same scales she had seen on the arm of the man by the stream. She recoiled in horror and the man’s hand narrowly missed her. “You won’t get me; you won’t get the pearl!” she shouted as she took a step back.
The slender body of the man swayed, and there was a brief, stunned look in his face. Then he raised his forearm to the level of his eyes to look at it. When his arm dropped, his cadaverous face, so placid a moment ago, was flushed with rage. Like a man possessed he stalked over to where Teilo lay, and in a swift and unbroken motion dragged him to the edge of the cliff.
The enigmatic smile returned to his face as he glanced back at Brianna. With unexpected strength, he lifted Teilo off the ground and dangled him over the cliff. “Give me the pearl, my girl, or you will never see your friend again,” he howled.
Caught in Lord Shusha’s hand, a guttural sound came from Teilo’s throat. His blood stained body writhed, his arms flailed about, and his eyes fluttered. Brianna was shaking, and when her tearful eyes met Teilo’s unsteady gaze, her heart pounded. In anguish she watched as his lips compressed into a thin line, his face twisted, and his arms stopped moving. Then Teilo’s hands flew up and clutched the man’s wrist, while at the same time his head jerked forwards.
A yowling c
ry from the willowy man rent the stagnant air.
The moment she saw Lord Shusha’s bleeding hand, the motion of his arm, and Teilo falling, she swallowed the pearl. At once she felt a marvellous, cold tingling in her throat. She shut her eyes and her body stopped shaking. The picture that resembled da Vinci’s drawing suddenly came back to her, sharp in detail. She could distinctly see that the girl in the picture had more than one pair of arms, and the pair that spread wide beneath, was actually a pair of wings.
The wings, the wings, she stared at them in her mind’s eye and outspread her arms ...
+++
The wings didn’t come out magically, and she didn’t fall. An arm caught her in time and pulled her back. With fists and nails she put up a fierce fight, and didn’t stop until the man restraining her cried out her name in a voice that was startlingly familiar. The man had fresh scratches and bruises on his face, but they were not significant enough to mask his distinctive features — golden hair with silvery streaks and a square face with a protruding forehead and smooth chin.
“Dr Pentland!” she cried and gave way to a fit of sobbing.
Dr Peter Pentland was none other than their family doctor and a trusted friend of their parents. She had grown up with the phrases, “I’ll give Dr Pentland a call, he’ll get you back to school in no time” or “Stop moaning, Dr Pentland is coming soon”.
He came for dinner once or twice a month and brought his medical equipment with him. While Mum was preparing the meal and Dad was setting the table, he would give them each a medical check — measuring their weight, temperature and heart rate. He looked at their tongues, took samples such as hair, scraped stuff off from inside their cheeks, and, occasionally took a blood sample.
As far as Brianna knew, other children didn’t have such routine check-ups. She supposed it was due to a combination of excessive parental anxiety and Dr Pentland’s kindness in exchange for the nice meals Mum cooked for him.
Whatever the reason, it was a privilege to be examined by him. Dr Peter Pentland wasn’t just an ordinary doctor, but the co-director of a research centre that had been established fifteen years ago and now had over fifty researchers working there. When she was in her first year of senior school, Dr Pentland was invited to give a talk at her school. Back then his forehead hadn’t been so lined. When he talked so authoritatively like a man twice his age but with a face fresh enough to be recognised as young, all the girls that Brianna knew fell for him.
