The Forgotten: A story in the world of The Dark Ability

by D. K. Holmberg

  Struggling down from the saddle, I staggered over to the three stunted trees. Dormant bakka had gray bark and leaves. I settled my hand on the bark, running it up the smooth surface. The pressure of my hand caused the remaining leaves to flutter slightly on the branch, but in spite of how dry they were, they did not fall.

  With Del acting strange and me injured, I needed to work as quickly as I could. I didn’t have everything I needed—that would take additional searching—but I could strip some of the bark to get at the meat of the tree. That was the first step in attempting the antidote for bakka poisoning. The difficulty would come later.

  Taking one of my knives, I cut a shallow edge in the bark and propped it out. The bark peeled away like parchment. Breaking off a small piece, I popped it in my mouth to taste. There were many who chewed bakka bark for its effect; I wanted the alertness it could bring. If I survived, I would suffer later.

  Cael stood next to me and watched. She said nothing as I chewed on the bakka bark, though I could see the worry on her face as I did. She wondered how I could chew the bark when we had seen what had happened to Del.

  “Bark is different,” I said. “Dried like this, it can’t poison. Not well, anyway. Gives certain benefits.”

  “And which benefit do you seek?” Cael asked.

  I jabbed the knife deeply in to the meat of the bakka tree and started sawing away a piece the size of my hand. The insides of the tree were moist and slick, so different than the dry, paper-like bark. “Alertness,” I said.

  “How badly are you hurt, Galen?” she asked.

  Cael reached forward and touched my injured shoulder. Her hand was soft and gentle. Still, it hurt. I winced, biting back a scream.

  “Bad enough,” I said, pulling away from her touch. I hated that I had to pull away from her, especially when I saw the look on her face of worry and disappointment.

  When the piece of bakka was worked from the tree, I slipped it into my pouch. The treated leather would keep it moist. I didn’t know how long, but hopefully enough that I could get the other parts of the antidote. Then I could finish it quickly and do what I needed to help Del. When finished, we would leave Del. Only then would I worry about my arm.

  After the piece of bakka was tucked into my pouch, I pulled a dozen dried leaves from the tree. I needed to do this carefully. The leaves had tiny barbs, almost completely invisible unless you knew they were there. Even dry—possibly especially then—the barbs could slice clean through flesh. I wrapped these in a strip of cloth and tucked it into the pouch next to the moistened heart of bakka.

  Now that I had the parts of the bakka that I needed, I turned back to Cael. She watched me with an unreadable expression for a moment and then glanced back at Del. He stood barely upright. I noticed now that he shivered, but a flush had come over his face. From what I could tell, he barely remained standing.

  “When did he get like this?” I asked.

  “Galen?”

  I bit down on a large piece of bakka and considered breaking off another piece. I felt my mind waking up, as if shaking off a deep slumber.

  “You said something when I returned,” I told her. That was about as much as I remembered. How close to passing out was I? Much longer and I would be of no use to her.

  Cael felt the same way, her eyes flaring green and narrowing. I could almost see her mind working through her possibilities; staying with me meant that she would have to support two injured men. Or she could take one of the horses, ride fast, and return to Elaeavn and the safety of her family, finally returning the crystal back to the palace where it could be protected from men like Orly.

  “You should go,” I said.

  Cael shook her head. “The Great Watcher help you, Galen. You are a fool.”

  “You could reach Elaeavn in a day riding fast,” I said.

  That would leave one horse for Del and I. As injured as I was, it was unlikely that I would reach any place safe before another of Orly’s men found me and tried the same as Thom. The next time I would be lucky to survive.

  Del was already as good as dead.

  “Do you know nothing about me?” she asked.

  She stepped closer, leaning into me. I became suddenly aware of the strength she exuded, the power she, as an Elvraeth, possessed. It was nothing like my Sight, but more potent, more powerful, as if she truly was an extension of the Great Watcher.

  “I—I can’t stand the idea of anything happening to you, Cael,” I said. The words were hard for me to say, the idea of admitting that I could do nothing to protect her.

  “Have you considered that I do not want anything to happen to you, Galen? Do you think I travel with you only because I must?”

  She did something then. Her eyes blazed a brilliant green, deeper and darker than any I had ever seen. I felt her within my mind, and could sense her thoughts, if only a little. There was warmth and concern on the edge of her mind, but deeper was something different, something I had not expected.

  I pulled away, not certain what it was that I did, only knowing that I did not deserve to look deeper into her mind.

  “How was that possible?” I asked her.

  She touched my arm and smiled. “You do not know yourself quite as well as you think you do, Galen,” she said. “And you know me even less.”

  “Cael…” I began, but didn’t know what more to say.

  Already she knew how I felt, knowing that I feared for her safety far more than my own. I knew when I took my assignments what risks there were. Unfortunately, most assignments involved killing—just not always the person I was hired to kill. I had come to terms with the fact that I displeased the Great Watcher with what I did, but I would be damned if I didn’t do what I could to protect her.

  But she knew all this. Cael Read me easily.

  “Galen,” she started, putting a finger up to my lips to cut me off. “We will do what we can to help Del. Then we will find you a healer.”

  I sighed and then nodded. As far as Cael was concerned, the matter was closed. Decided. And she hadn’t even needed to Compel me.

  “When did Del start to change?” I asked.

  A smile quirked the corners of her mouth. “Nearly as soon as you left. He took another drink from his skin, noticed that it was empty, and gradually began to act different. Now he is so confused he doesn’t know where he is or why he is with us.”

  What she said finally sank in and I hated myself for the fact that it had taken this long for me to see.

  Bakka poisoning shouldn’t work like this. If he was near the end, he should be bleeding. Letting go of the reigns, I walked over to Del and looked at his eyes. No vessels had burst. There was no sign of blood crusting beneath his nose. Other than how dry it was, his mouth was just as dry as mine.

  “Where’s his water?” I asked.

  “Galen?” she asked.

  “The skin,” I said. “Where is the water skin?” Fatigue made it difficult for me to keep my tone controlled. Either that or the pain. I liked to think I handled pain better than that, though.

  She looked up at me, her eyes making her difficult to read. I felt her brief intrusion into my mind and didn’t fight. It was like a soft breeze blowing through followed by a nearly imaged sense of crawling, and then it was gone.

  “You need a healer,” she said. “I do not think you can wait any longer.”

  “Eventually,” I agreed. “First we help Del.”

  “You know a way to help Del that could help you.”

  I didn’t know if it was her curiosity about the fact that I refused to tell her about Della or simply because she wanted to see me well that drove the comment. “I don’t know where she is,” I said wearily. “Finding her would take more time than Del has left.” Waiting too much longer risked my arm ever fully recovering, but I didn’t say anything about that. Didn’t matter; Cael Read it quickly enough.

  She watched my face for another moment and then walked over to Del. “I need the water skin,” she said. There was a str
ength in her voice, a command that Del could not ignore, even in his confused state.

  “You have water?” Del said as he pulled the skin out from under his cloak.

  Cael took it and shook her head. “No, Del. We’ll get you water soon enough.”

  She left him and returned to me. My throat constricted, as if swelling from my arm. I could not feel anything in the arm anymore. My fingers twitched, but I did not know whether I controlled them. I barely held the piece of bakka bark in my other hand and peeled off a piece and chewed it, tasting the bitter flavor in my mouth. My head swam before steadying, then my mind cleared a little more.

  How long did I dare use the bakka to mask my injury? At a certain point, it would cover it more than was safe; I might be more injured than I knew but wouldn’t recognize it with the effect of the bakka bark.

  “What do you expect to find?” Cael asked as she handed me the skin. She watched my face again.

  I knew she had Read me and didn’t like what she saw. She didn’t say anything, though. At least she trusted me that much.

  I took the skin and propped it between my legs and pulled the top off with my good hand. Lifting it to my nose, I inhaled deeply. There was a faint odor, subtle; had I not been trained by Isander to recognize impurities by scent, I doubt that I would have noticed it. It was disappointing that I failed to recognize it earlier, back when it might have made a difference.

  To make sure, I tipped the skin against my mouth. Only a drop or two came out. That was enough. Even with the dust coating my tongue, I tasted the soft and sweet flavor of the erasn root mixed into the water.

  Damn.

  Orly hadn’t been giving Del the antidote—he had been poisoning him slowly. Erasn was more addictive than toxic, creating a withdrawal when not taken regularly. To Del, it would have seemed like he was getting sicker when he hadn’t gotten the antidote, when really he had just been withdrawing from what Orly had been giving him. Better yet, erasn poisoning would look similar to bakka toxicity up until the end. The lack of bleeding would be the only thing that told them apart.

  In a fit of anger, I threw the skin onto the ground.

  Cael reached up and touched my good hand. Where she touched me, the skin tingled. “Galen—what is it?”

  I spat dust and the flavor of the erasn out of my mouth. “A waste, that is what this is.”

  For the first time, I wished that she would just Read me so that I wouldn’t have to explain. I wasn’t certain I had the energy or the patience. I saw her try, felt the soft fluttering of her attempt to Read me, but then she shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

  What she should have said was that she could not Read me. It happened with me occasionally. Neither of us understood why.

  “Del wasn’t poisoned with bakka,” I said, looking over to the dormant and dried trees.

  “But he’s sick. Even you said he was sick,” Cael said. “His mind has gone now. Can you get it back?”

  I nodded. “He’s sick,” I agreed. “But not with bakka. Probably never was, though Orly may have told him he was. This is erasn poisoning. Different, but very similar. Close enough that I didn’t even question.”

  “How?”

  I pointed to the skin. “In the water. Bastard was dosing him each time he gave him the ‘antidote.’”

  Cael looked down at the water skin. Realization flashed across her face quickly. She hadn’t Read me; she was just smart. “What will happen if he doesn’t get more?” she asked.

  I shrugged. The effort was almost too much for me. “Not sure. Depends on how much and how long.” We knew that Orly had been poisoning him for years but did not know how much. Probably small amounts; too much would make the water taste peculiar.

  Of course, Del thought he was drinking an antidote.

  “Why would he do that to Del?”

  I didn’t understand. What would compel Orly to torment Del for such a prolonged period of time? Something motivated it—Orly rarely acted without a plan. “Can you Read him?” I asked.

  Cael shook her head. “That was when I knew something had changed. There is too much confusion in his head, almost as if it is clouded over.”

  “But you can Compel him.”

  She looked at me strangely. “That is different.”

  “You should ask,” I suggested.

  Cael turned to Del and looked into his eyes. He looked back at her with an odd expression on his face, a mixture of confusion and frustration, which left me wondering how much he understood.

  “Do you know Orly?” Cael asked.

  The question was infused with her power and I had to resist the urge to answer myself.

  “Of course I know Orly,” Del answered.

  “How?” Cael asked.

  “We go way back. I mean, Orly took me in when I first came to Eban, let me join his crew. Started running cons with him. Knew him ’fore he ever came up.”

  If true, Del might have knowledge about Orly that few would have. That might be a reason for him to torment Del, but more likely it would be a reason just to kill him completely. I still didn’t know why Orly would drag out his torment.

  “Why does Orly keep him alive?” I asked.

  Del stared at me blankly.

  Cael repeated the question, infusing it with her power.

  “Well, that’s a strange question. Why would Orly want to kill me? I mean, he’s been trying to save me ever since he poisoned town and killed everyone else with the bakka trees. Never seemed too upset about all those that died.” Del shook his head. Folds in his neck wiggled as he did. “Still miss Savel. She was the only woman ever to turn me straight. Stopped conning for her, I did. Orly didn’t like it, didn’t like that I had given up on our con. Makes sure others know what happens when he gets angry.” Del smiled grimly. “Not many that cross Orly now, are there? Say…do you know him? I can’t go much longer. Gettin’ sick and need my medicine.”

  In his rambling, there was enough for me to realize his value to Orly and it sickened me. A man like Orly didn’t get where he was by accident. To rise in the underground of Eban, you had to be skilled and ruthless. Orly was both. By keeping Del alive, dragging out his torment, he proved a living example of what would happen if he was crossed.

  “Better if we put him out of his misery,” I said to Cael.

  She shook her head. “You can’t help him?”

  “Not with erasn poisoning. No real answer for it other than to keep supplying erasn. Even that fails after a while.”

  “What will happen to him if he doesn’t get any more?”

  I didn’t know. I had never seen someone this far advanced before. Most either took too much all at once or could come off slowly. With the way Del appeared, he was too far gone to just simply stop taking it.

  “Can it wash out of his system?” she asked.

  “Cael—”

  “Can it?” she asked.

  “I don’t think there is anything that we can do that will help him at this point,” I said. “Even if there was, it would just tie him to Orly longer. That does nothing but help Orly.”

  “Not if you can cure him, show that Orly can be defied.”

  I didn’t tell her that we were already trying to defy Orly. Look where it had gotten us. On the run out of Eban, chased by men like Del and Thom, worried that Lorst would find us at any time. Cael didn’t need that reminder. She knew as well as I did what was at stake. For her, it was more than just her life.

  But she was right. The more who opposed Orly, the more who pushed back, the easier it would be for the next person, and the next. But there was nothing I could do to save Del. With erasn working its effect on him, he might already be too far gone to save.

  “Galen,” Cael said.

  She didn’t need to say much more. I knew where she was going even though she only said my name. Del, like me, needed a real healer. Someone like Della.

  I wished that I did not have to agree with Cael about this. There were many reasons I did not want to see
Della again, not the least being her reaction to Cael.

  I looked at Cael, met her eyes, and saw the concern written on her face. Suddenly I knew I had no choice.

  * * *

  We rode through the night, barely stopping to rest. The bakka root I chewed kept me awake, but not nearly as much as I needed. In another hour, possibly only two, I would be no better than Del. And then Cael would be stuck caring for two invalids.

  I wanted to send her away so that she could continue on to Elaeavn without me, but she held so tightly to my waist that I didn’t dare fall from the saddle or she might get injured as well. Likely she Read my intention, but if I was going to die from this injury, I vowed not to take her with me.

  She squeezed me with a tighter grip and I turned slightly to look back at her. Her eyes were closed, as if she slept while riding. Even sleeping, she Read me.

  The horses seemed as tired as we did, gradually slowing as we rode. Del slumped forward in the saddle, even tied upright as he was. That we had managed to strap him into the saddle was a thing of luck and stubbornness. Cael had helped as much as she was able and I had thrown what remained of my strength into the effort of hoisting him into the saddle. The Great Watcher only knew what would happen if Del fell from the saddle.

  I held onto the reigns of my dappled horse with my good hand. The other arm was tied in a sling, keeping the arm from hanging uncomfortably. Pain throbbed in my shoulder but I felt nothing below that point.

  In spite of my discomfort, I was all too aware of Cael pressing behind me.

  Though I could not see her, I felt her presence, smelled her warm breath, the scent of her skin, the way her hands wrapped around my stomach for support. I could not help but think she enjoyed the way she tormented me.

  Near dawn we saw lights of a village.

  I had not spoken for hours, my tongue and mouth so dry that I wasn’t certain I could make the right words. The effort of staying in the saddle wore on me as well, and my eyes drifted closed. Only the occasional jarring impact of hooves kept me awake.

  “Where is that?” Cael asked.