Cazia pointed at her. Then she set the gem atop a flat rock and backed up the slope, nearly losing her footing on the rough stone. The birds didn’t come closer, spreading their wings in the updraft at the edge of the cliff and occasionally flapping to steady themselves.
Mother kept glancing at the little gem, then at the girls. Cazia made a fist, then laid her hand flat over it to show what the bird needed to do.
Finally, she had backed off far enough that the big creature felt safe enough to approach. It flapped forward and settled onto the rock, covering the translation stone with its huge foot.
Cazia knew she was only going to get one chance at this. “If either of you two weights tries to eat me, I will make you both touch the ground.”
Mother shrieked in alarm and leaped from the rock, soaring out over the cliff. Auntie called after her and followed, both of them so loud that Cazia felt a sudden clutch of irrational fear in addition to her perfectly rational one. It seemed as though her legs had a mind of their own, urging her to flee! Flee!
But of course, there was no where to flee to. Instead, she ran toward the flat rock and saw that Mother, in her blind panic and surprise, had knocked the translation stone off it.
Now Cazia felt herself panic. She checked the top of the stone one more time to make sure the tiny gem hadn’t fallen into a crack, then went to the far side.
Mother’s foot had swept backward when she leaped into the air, so Cazia searched there, first. The real question was whether the gigantic stupid annoying bird had barely touched the gem and left it right beside the flat stone or had flung it hard enough to pitch it over the edge of the cliff, some thirty feet away.
The ground was still flattish but it was covered with loose stone and dirt. Cazia couldn’t see the blue glint of the gem right on the surface, so she began to search near her feet, looking into the crevices all around each stone before moving on to the next. It was the same method she’d used to search for her brother’s body in the field north of Fort Samsit a lifetime ago, and it diluted her panic with despair when she remembered how that had turned out.
Worse, if she lost the stone, she would have no way to make a new one. The spell didn’t require an expensive gem, but it did need a gem or crystal of some kind. What were the odds of finding one up here?
If only Mother hadn’t been so--
No, wait. She stopped searching and let herself go calm. The eagles were out over the Sweeps, flying in circles and crying out to each other. Cazia should have expected Mother to lose her composure. She should have planned for it. If she was going to get Ivy safely home, she was going to have to think things through more.
Starting with this search for the gem. Why was she searching with her eyes when she could calm herself and sense the magic directly? She closed her eyes and tried to settle her thoughts. There. She moved toward a spot just an arm’s length from the flat stone and began to toss aside rocks.
She found it actually buried beneath two smaller pebbles. As soon as she picked it up she understood what the birds were saying to each other. Apparently, Auntie was convinced that Cazia’s warning to them was a hallucination.
Cazia shouted at them to catch their attention. The birds tilted their wings and glided back toward her. It occurred to her that she couldn’t tell them apart. Mother was the one she wanted to talk to, but Auntie was more likely to attack.
She held up the stone again, remaining still until she was sure they had seen it. Then she placed it on the flat stone again and retreated to the place where she’d been when Mother had felt safe enough to touch the gem.
The two birds seem to contend with each other as they approached the flat stone. Cazia tried to pick out a difference between them--a few lighter feathers among the muddy brown, a less-curved beak, even a scar--but she couldn’t. They looked identical to her, and not very pleasing, either.
One of the birds seemed to win out and swooped toward the rock. It landed, but it hesitated to put its foot down onto the translation stone. It had to be Auntie, and Fire and Fury, was she huge. Cazia waited patiently for the bird to work up its courage. When it finally set its foot down, it looked directly at her.
“Try to be more careful with my gem,” she said. “If you lose it or break it, I can’t make another one.”
The birds began to squawk at each other. The sound echoed against the rocks behind her, but Cazia was completely still.
“Be quiet!” she shouted at them. “Be quiet! I can’t understand you while you hold the stone! Don’t you see how this works? The one with the stone can understand the one without it. All I hear right now are screeching sounds!”
But the birds were not panicking over her this time. They looked to be arguing with each other. There was no way to tell how serious their disagreement was, but their voices were loud and harsh. If they’d been humans, Cazia would have suspected a vicious fight to break out any moment.
It didn’t happen. The one on the stone hopped off and moved toward the cliff, gliding out into the updraft. The other took up position on the stone and set its foot confidently onto the gem.
“First of all,” Cazia said, “I don’t know if the other one told you, but be careful with that little gem. I only have the one and I can’t make more right now. Second, which are you? Was it your nest that I saved, or are you the one who wants to eat us?”
The bird leaped off the stone and moved away. Cazia took the hint and crossed down the slope to put her hand on the gem.
“Yes, it was my nest you protected,” the bird said. “What are you? How does that gem allow you to use language?”
Cazia sighed. They still didn’t understand. She moved back up the slope and let the bird touch the gem. “The gem doesn’t allow us to use language,” she said, a little testily. “We talk to our kind just as you talk to yours. The only thing the gem does is allow us to understand each other. As for what we are, we’re people.”
The bird, seeing she had finished, glided away from the gem and let Cazia touch it. “It’s funny you should call yourselves that. We call ourselves ‘people,’ too. You still didn’t answer the most important question: why did you protect me in that nest when the bugs approached?”
They switched places again. “I protected your eggs for two reasons. First, I hate the Tilkilit enough to deny them the pleasure and modest tactical advantage they would have gotten for killing your children. Before you ask, yes, the ‘bugs,’ as you call them, speak to each other in their own language and are intelligent, too. Second, as much as I wanted to pay you back for the crimes you’ve committed, I didn’t want to visit that punishment on your innocent unborn.”
The birds began to squawk at each other, and she could see that her answer had riled them up, just as she hoped it would. Mother retreated again, but not so far this time. Cazia went down the slope and laid her hand on the gem.
“What nonsense is this? The bugs crawling in the valley have no language or culture! And only a weight and a burden would accuse my clan of being criminals! We are an honorable people!”
Cazia snatched her hand away from the gem to make her stop talking, then hurried up the slope.
“Cazia,” Ivy said, “what are they saying?”
The two girls looked very small and nervous. Cazia knew she looked angry--Fire and Fury, she felt angry--but she hoped they could tell it wasn’t directed at them. “The usual clatter about being honorable.” She spun around to see Mother had taken her place on the flat stone. “Do you see the tall girl behind me? The one with the dark hair and skin? Huge birds just like you--part of your family, I assume--murdered her whole clan. They killed the elders, the adults, and they murdered children, too. Only she and her brother survived. I don’t know if you understand the word ‘brother,’ but she has lost everyone in this whole world who loved her, but one. So--
Mother lifted her foot off the gem. This time she flapped directly upward. Cazia stormed down the slope to the gem. Fire and Fury, her anger had come upon her so suddenly and it
was so difficult to deny. A small voice inside her urged caution, but her sudden rage was almost grateful to have a justifiable target. Well, another one, after the Tilkilit.
Cazia laid her hand on the gem. From above, Mother shrieked, “How could we have guessed you could think and speak? You can’t even fly!”
That was all she wanted to say. Cazia took three steps back and waved Mother down toward the gem. The huge bird landed. Mother was big enough to snap her up in its beak and swallow her whole, but her anger helped her mask the fear she didn’t dare to show.
“How would anyone know you are a thinking creature, when you can’t even shoot flames from between your hands?” Mother squawked in protest but she didn’t let go of the gem. “Look at us. We wear clothing. We carry weapons. We use tools. We build fortresses, houses, and wagons. We think! Don’t try to pretend that we do not mourn for the people you kill, and the next time you want to talk to me about your honor, remember this: I protected your defenseless children while you have murdered ours!”
Mother leaped off the rock and glided out over the Sweeps. Auntie followed. They squawked at each other briefly but stopped when Cazia picked up the translation stone.
She carried the little gem up the slope toward Ivy and Kinz. The sun was well below the mountain peaks now, and a chill was setting in. Even though it was the height of summer, the wind in the Sweeps carried a chill.
“Was it wise to scold them like that?” Kinz asked.
“Who ever said I was wise?” Cazia countered. “Besides, I wanted to test them a little. If they’re as honorable as they claim, we might make allies of them. If they’re not, I’ll set them on fire.”
Kinz nodded. “That would be a fine start.”
The two birds flew toward them, occasionally banking in the crosswind. One of them landed on the flat stone and regarded the three girls solemnly. It was only when it spoke that Cazia recognized Mother’s voice.
“Person, please give the gem to the dark one.”
Cazia turned to Kinz and held out the translation stone. “She wants to talk to you.” Kinz hesitated, then accepted the gem.
Mother spoke. Of course, the only thing that Cazia heard was cooing and the occasional squawk, but Kinz’s expression became intensely serious. After a short while, Kinz returned the gem to Cazia and, without saying a word, walked away to sit beside a massive black rock.
“I have offered apologies,” Mother said, “and opened myself to challenge if the dark one would seek redress. I do not know if your people understand the concept of a duel, but it is very rare for an apex of a clan, such as I am, to open herself to challenge. Normally, it is a weight I would not bear, but the crime you describe is a great burden and I will risk burning for it. For her part, I do not know if she intends to offer challenge or leave me with my burden.”
Cazia held up the jewel and moved down to the flat stone. Of course, Mother thought Kinz could cast spells, too, and for the moment, there was no reason to disabuse her of the notion. Mother glided out into the Sweeps, where Auntie tacked against the wind. Cazia set the gem back in its place and retreated. Mother returned and gently laid her foot on it.
“I don’t think she knows what she wants to do, either. It’s a new situation for all of us. You are recent arrivals to the land of Kal-Maddum, aren’t you? Let us form a truce—just between us five—so we can pass the gem between us without fear of reprisal.”
Mother hopped off the stone and let Cazia approach. When she laid her hand on the gem, the bird said, “I agree. Fair parley between us. I will call you ‘The Gorilla People,’ because your forelimbs resemble theirs and your eyes face front.”
Switch. “I don’t know what a ‘gyurilla’ is. Would you describe it?”
Switch. “We have seen similar creatures hunting in the wilderness, but these creatures were blue or purple, like flowers, while gorillas have black or silver hair. Also, gorillas do not have hind legs like lions—do you know what they are? Bow your head if you do. Good, I am glad I do not have to describe them, too. Also, real gorillas do not have the shoulders and necks of bears. Do you know—Good, I am glad you do. In truth, gorillas are peaceful creatures who eat plants, unlike the beasts here. But— You appear agitated. Do you wish to speak?”
They switched. “The blue and purple creatures call themselves The Blessing.” Cazia tried to describe the grunts concisely, but she remembered her brother, and the flinches came on her so powerfully that she stammered.
Mother, looming above her, began to flutter her wings. Cazia lost her train of thought. The huge bird removed her talon from the stone. Cazia realized she could not have covered one of those long talons with both of her hands. They were as long as spear points, if spears were made like hooks. The girl put her hand on the gem.
“You are their prey animal” was all Mother said.
There was something dangerous in that voice. Where before Mother had been bold and then contrite, now the translation spell made her sound disapproving.
Cazia had heard that tone many times before. When she lived in the Palace of Song and Morning, she would sometimes greet and chat politely with new visitors or tutors brought in to try to rein in the prince. Everyone was so delightful and accommodating, until they asked her name and she told them. Suddenly, they acted like they’d discovered a turd in their sourcake.
However, Mother could not be allowed to condescend to her. Yes, she could slash Cazia open in the blink of an eye, but if they decided she was inferior, they would have to fight.
She pointed at the gem. Mother laid her huge taloned foot upon it. “We are at war with them,” Cazia said. There was another flutter of wings. “Do you know what ‘war’ means? Bow your head if you do.” Mother raised her face to the sky. She didn’t know the word. “Huh. Welcome to Kal-Maddum. You’ll have good reason to learn it soon enough. A war is like a duel, except it isn’t fought between two warriors. Every able fighter among a nation or a clan girds for battle, and they slaughter each other in great numbers until one side yields. The losers give up land, money, and control of their lives. Sometimes, innocent people who do not fight are also killed. Sometimes, the fighting last for years. Homes are burned. Crops are destroyed. Starvation. Cruelty. Do you understand?”
Mother did not bow her head or raise it up. She did flutter her wings. Cazia figured that meant that the giant bird understood her but didn’t approve. Well, her approval wasn’t necessary. “They--”
Suddenly, she had no idea what to say. “Cazia,” Ivy called, “she doesn’t understand how close this has come to you. She doesn’t understand about your brother. She—” Ivy addressed Mother directly. “May I speak? What she could not find the words to say is that the blue creatures used to be human beings like us, but they have been transformed by magic into bloodthirsty beasts. Her own brother was changed, body and mind, and she was forced to kill him.”
Mother stared down at her without moving. Cazia had no idea what that look meant, but she stared right back up at her. It occurred to her that Mother was so alien that it was impossible to recognize her intent from her body language. The taloned foot moved away from the gem, but Cazia pointed at it, and Mother touched it again.
“I didn’t know,” Cazia said. “That was before we realized that the bite of a grunt would curse us. I didn’t know it was my brother. I just thought it was another enemy.”
Cazia’s next words would have sounded like an apology or making excuses, so she shut her mouth. When Mother removed her foot from the gem, Cazia put her hand on it. “To kill one who came from the same nest,” she said, “is a terrible crime among my people.”
Cazia lifted her hand and Mother laid her foot down. “Among mine, too,” Cazia told her. “Be sure your people know they mustn’t let the grunts bite them, or they might find themselves in the same situation.”
Mother fluttered her wings again. She shrieked to Auntie, but the other bird didn’t respond. Finally, she lifted her huge foot. Cazia touched the gem. “Curse it,” the bi
rd said. “We have been tricked. We should never have let the gods convince us to try to take this continent.”
Chapter 14
Cazia felt a chill run through her. The “gods” convinced Mother and her people to come here? Had they sent The Blessing as well?
She tried to imagine what the people of Peradain could have done to displease the gods so much. There were temples in every city and holdfast in the empire, and new ones were being built in every newly conquered territory. Priests wore fine robes of many colors. The faithful kept sacred spaces sacred. As far as Cazia knew, they had been doing everything right.
So, why would the gods open portals into Kal-Maddum to let strange creatures invade them?
Cazia didn’t turn around, but she could feel Kinz standing somewhere behind her, and Ivy, too. Both of their peoples had faced the spears and arrows of the Peradaini troops. Perhaps the gods had become angry because of the blood imperial troops spilled.
Except that was the way it had always been. For generations, clan fought clan. One people conquered another. Why would the gods punish the Peradaini now?
Not that the Peradaini alone had been targeted. Perhaps it wasn’t the Peradaini empire that the gods wished to end. Perhaps it was the whole of the human race.
“You quaver,” Mother said, “like prey. Why?”
Switch. “What gods set you against us?”
Switch. “The gods of our land. The Storm. The Bounty In The Grass. The Wave. The Shadow That Passes Above.”
Relief flooded through Cazia. Mother was talking about the same kind of nature spirits that Ivy’s and Kinz’s people worshipped, which were as like the true gods of the universe as an unkind look was to genocidal war. Actually, no, because an unkind look could be a real thing, but nature spirits were a figment of ritual and imagination. Cazia had let herself get carried away. Of course the gods—the real gods—were not trying to destroy humanity.
The Way Into Magic: Book Two of The Great Way Page 15
