The kDira's World Anthology

by K R McClellan

  “Come with me. I will explain everything to you.”

  Malak hesitated, but then he picked up his things and walked to the tall stranger. He stopped, looked Nonham in the eyes and studied him a moment.

  “Shall we?” Nonham asked.

  “After you.”

  Nonham led them off the beaten path a short way through the Kaiba Forest to a small clearing, in the middle of which stood a small cabin.

  Outside the cabin was a large, robust wooden rack with two chideer carcasses hanging by their rear feet and dripping blood from their empty body cavities. Out in front sat a stump, used as a chopping block, with several large pieces of split firewood piled neatly by, ready for use. A cock and other fowl could be heard clucking from behind the cabin.

  “Please come in. I imagine you are ready for some breakfast.”

  “I am quite hungry, thank you.”

  They entered the cabin through a thick front door that squeaked as it opened and closed. The interior was cluttered with skins and crude furnishings crafted from tree limbs or fallen logs. A round table made from one slice of a large log and sanded smooth graced the center of the kitchen area. Two chairs sat on either side of the table.

  “Please have a seat. I will make us some eggs and bark tea. You like eggs?”

  “I do.”

  “These are pretty small. All I have are little banhen eggs. Pretty much the only way to eat them is to mix them all together and cook them on the stove.”

  “Mum calls those scrambled.”

  “Scrambled… yes, I have heard them called that too. Not having anyone to talk to for years, one tends to forget things. Is… scrambled okay?”

  “Scrambled is fine.”

  Nonham worked quickly and quietly on the meal while Malak looked around at all the details on the walls. A few bows were hanging on the wall and a large two-handed sword over the front door.

  “Were you a warrior?” Malak asked as Nonham delivered the bark tea.

  “Here is a little syrup from tree sap I made,” Nonham said, placing a small pitcher in front of Malak. “It sweetens up the bark tea, so it is not so bitter. I can’t drink it any other way now. Try some in your tea.”

  “You didn’t answer my question,” Malak said, doing as suggested and pouring a little of the syrup into his tea.

  “Warrior? Yes, I was a warrior. I was a mighty Midlander warrior. I will get to all of that. Here,” he said, presenting Malak a plate of yellow scrambled eggs.

  Malak took a bite and discovered that the eggs were quite tasty and began to dig in eagerly.

  “I make some pretty good eggs, do I not?”

  Malak nodded his head in approval. He swallowed his first mouthful and washed the eggs down with a swig of the bark tea.

  “Yes, you do. And you are right, the bark tea is better with the sweet stuff. Now, please, tell me about my father.”

  cHAPTER 12

  “We have sent out search party after search party,” Agis said to kDira after many sleepless nights. “He is nowhere to be found. I am certain he does not want to be found.”

  “I suppose you are right. Cancel the search parties, but make sure the patrols are always on the lookout for signs of Malak.”

  “I will.”

  “I am considering going on a quest of my own.”

  “A quest? What would a Queen Mother be doing on a quest?”

  “I want to go back to the Provitos. I want to ask him more about the provicy.”

  “But they are all the way over in Karn City. You would be crazy to go there alone.”

  “I will not be alone; I was thinking of taking Ari, Guller, and maybe some others.”

  “I would insist that you take me,” Agis demanded.

  “And you would be overruled by the Queen Mother. You must stay here and keep the village safe. You are my second in command. You must also look after our little ones.”

  “But why…?”

  “Why am I going? I need to know if this provicy thing is carved in stone, and what it all means. Is there anything we can do to prevent the course of events that might take place or are we all doomed to be victims of it? These are questions that I need answers to.”

  Agis wanted to argue further, but he saw no point. He knew that when kDira got an idea in her head, there was no convincing her otherwise.

  “When do you think you would leave?”

  “I thought I would leave at first light tomorrow. I still have to get my party together. I especially need to see if Ari can come with me.”

  “I think I have her scheduled to stand watch for, oh… the next month or so.”

  “You do not,” kDira protested. “And if you did, I would have you reschedule her.”

  “I know you would. Go ahead. Go make your plans.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do, kreb.”

  “Kreb now, is it?”

  “You heard me.”

  “Go round up your party then. I will have words with you later, after the little ones are asleep.”

  “I will win that battle too, you will see.”

  “Your father was a great, respected leader, and like you, a fierce warrior.”

  Malak hung on every word, trying to envision his father Hayden in his prime when he was the leader of the Midlanders and king of the Karn.

  “All of Midlandia vowed to follow him into battle, if necessary, and to their deaths, if fate demanded it, but fate took an unexpected turn. He made a deal with the leader of the Blackhorn —”

  “My mother, kDira?” Malak interjected.

  “That is correct. I find this difficult because I have to tell you things about your mother that you will not find favorable.”

  “Please tell me. I have already learned much about her that I do not find favorable.”

  “Hayden was betrayed by your mother. She broke a deal with him, and in turn, managed to turn almost his entire tribe against him. When he went to discuss with her the deal that had been broken, she spun around and took him down by cutting the tendon behind his heel,” Nonham said, making a slashing motion along his own Achilles tendon.

  Malak winced in the pain he imagined his father felt. “Did she kill him then?”

  “Oh no, she sent him back out into the world, hobbled like an invalid, but that did not stop him.”

  “What did he do?”

  “You father waited. Though his wounds healed, he was never able to walk without a crutch again. He formulated a plan to become the leader of the Karn. He went to them to work a deal – a brave act in itself. The Karn do not like outsiders, but he convinced them that if they would help him, he could get kDira for them to be their breeder.”

  “I had heard that Hayden kidnapped my mother.”

  “He did, and he was very clever in doing so, but he felt that kDira had betrayed him, and he was right to repay her treachery. Any warrior would do the same.”

  “Did he take her to the Karn?”

  “Yes, he did, but Agis and a band of Blackhorn managed to break through the Karn defenses and save kDira, and in the process, kill your father.”

  Malak sat silent, not knowing what to say. He looked at Nonham a moment, and then back down at the floor.

  “And where were you when this happened?” Malak asked.

  “I was lucky to make it out alive. Several of the others put their weapons down to surrender, but Agis just lopped their heads off and laughed while doing so. You did not know your father… I mean Agis, was such a brutal killer, did you?”

  “No, I did not.”

  Nonham let the story sink in for a few moments. Then he stood and picked up the plates and utensils, leaving the cups of bark tea for them to finish with their conversation.

  “So the Midlanders are gone now?” Malak asked.

  “Actually, they are not. There are still several of us, and we managed to get a breeder from up north from a small tribe that barely had enough resources to fight back. She has borne us three fine young warriors, and a female that we are hoping
will become a breeder when she is old enough.”

  “How many of you are left?”

  “There are twenty or so. Some came from outside the tribe; others were ones that stayed behind when Hayden left for Karn City.” Nonham took a sip of his tea. “Would you like me to take you to visit them? You are, by blood, the heir to the throne.”

  “I had never considered that. I do not know how to be a leader.”

  “Young Prince, you have the royal blood of two leaders. One is the leader of the Blackhorn; the other is the leader of the Midlanders. To not choose one or the other would be a waste of heritage, do you not think?”

  “Then yes, I would like to visit the Midlanders. I would like to see my father’s people.”

  “Your people.”

  “My people.”

  kDira and her party left at first light, heading east toward the opening of the Ocheebee Pass. The night before, she had made sure that Agis was satisfied and happy, and he slept like a baby. kDira, on the other hand, didn’t sleep much at all. She worried that her questions would produce answers she didn’t want to hear, but she had to know the truth. She had to know the future of her people, and what role her first-born male child would play in that future.

  Ari joined kDira, as did two male warriors, Bracken and Lyren, from the Tribe. Elick declined the offer to go, but the younger Interpreter, Noske, eagerly agreed to the adventure. The traveling party carried with them as much dried meat and bryne as they could manage in anticipation of the weeklong trip.

  Although all members of the group were important, Ari took it upon herself to be kDira’s personal guard. Whenever a twig snapped that should not have, she would jump into action, ready to take down any attackers.

  “Ari, you know I can take care of myself just fine. You don’t need to jump every time you hear a sound.”

  “Take care of yourself? The way you handle a bow? If we had to rely on your shooting to eat, we would all starve to death.”

  “Ha-ha, I can shoot as good as you any day.”

  “I do not think so, Queen Mum.”

  “Queen Mum? You sound like my children.”

  “Where do you think I got it from?”

  “May we call you Queen Mum?” asked Bracken.

  “Not if you want to live through this little quest,” Ari said. “Some privileges are reserved for the Queen’s personal guard.”

  “Oh, now you are my personal guard?”

  “You better believe it, Queen Mum.”

  “Okay, but just that one privilege. You’re cute, but I still like my man.”

  “We will see; it can get pretty cold out here at night.”

  “It’s not my first time out here, Ari.”

  “But it is your first time out here with me, without Agis.”

  kDira thought on that for a minute. “It is, isn’t it?”

  Ari just smiled and kept walking forward.

  cHAPTER 13

  “This is the opening to the Karn Keep, the site of your mother’s first massacre of the Karn,” Nonham said as he and Malak looked down at the dark entrance that made its way deep into the earth.

  “It smells like burnt… something.”

  “That is the smell of hundreds of Karn, burned alive. kDira trapped them down there as flaming oil set the entire place ablaze. The screams of agony could be heard for miles until the victims finally fell silent. The smell lingered in the air over the Urec Plains for weeks. It was horrible.”

  “My mother… kDira did this?”

  “I am sorry to say that she did. She was ruthless in her younger years. And I think Agis pushed her into many of the decisions she made, so it is not entirely her fault.”

  “I cannot stay here any longer. Can we continue onward?”

  “Of course, my Prince,” Nonham said, taking the lead and heading north. “We will follow along the Ocheebee Pass until we get to the Great Highway.”

  “What is the Great Highway?”

  “It is a massive pathway that will take us to Midlandia. It is believed that the ancients used it to move armies in massive numbers from one city to the next.”

  “I cannot wait to see it.”

  “You will see many wonders in this world that will astound you. There is much more to the world that you have been shielded from.”

  “Why would I have been shielded from anything?”

  “To hide the truth. To hide the past. To hide you from your destiny.”

  Malak was quiet again as they walked on. Soon they made their way to the edge of the Ocheebee pass where they stopped. The young man looked down at the wonderment of its depth, and the sheerness of the walls.

  “What made this pass?” Malak asked.

  “We do not know for sure. Some believe the earth just opened up and left a big crack in its surface. Others believe the wind was so great in the distant past that it blew all the sand and rock out of this crevice. No one really knows for sure.”

  “Someday I want to go down there.”

  “Someday you will. Someday you will discover the remnants of the Karn Keep. Come, let us continue on our way.”

  It was a few hours before sunset when successful shots by both Ari and kDira solidified the decision to make camp for the evening. The two male warriors gathered wood and prepared a fire while kDira and Ari dressed out the two chideer and rigged up a spit to cook them on. Noske was a fish-out-of-water in the woods and occupied himself by gathering light firewood and clearing a space of branches and rocks to help make sleeping easier.

  “Tomorrow we will head up the Ocheebee Pass to where the Karn Keep stood. There is a passage there that we can take up and out of the pass.”

  “What if the Karn have come back to rebuild the Keep?” Bracken asked.

  “Several patrols have scouted that area over the years, and as recently as two months ago. All have reported that nothing has been done to the keep since we destroyed it. I think it will be safe enough to approach.”

  “Besides, as soon as they see kDira, they will run away in terror,” Ari said with a chuckle.

  “Hardly, but they should be worried that Ari is with us,” said kDira. “She could shoot a fly off the back of a rock-goat at one hundred paces.”

  “Two hundred, but they get the idea,” Ari said with a wink.

  As the chideer cooked over the fire, the smoky, meaty fragrance filled the forest surrounding the party. Ari produced a pouch of seasonings that consisted of salt, garlic, and ground pepper that she sprinkled lovingly over the roasting chideer.

  “The only good thing that ever came from the Midlanders,” Ari said with a smile, “besides me, of course, is their spices.”

  As the sun began to go down in the sky, the sizzle and the delicious aroma of the cooked venison became too much to bear, so Bracken took it upon himself to slice off generous portions and pass them out to everyone.

  The travelers gorged themselves as the night grew darker and the stories grew taller. Each had tales to share of patrols or hunts, and kDira even told of some of the battles she had faced with the Karn, but she held back the stories that included Hayden. As the conversations went on, she wondered where Malak might be. Suddenly she became quiet and a little uneasy.

  “What is wrong, kDira?” Ari asked, noticing that kDira had gone silent.

  “Um… oh, it is nothing, I have grown tired, that is all. I think I will curl up in my bedroll for the night. Ari, see that we have a watch set for the night, please.”

  “I do not think we really need a watch our here. This is a pretty safe part of the woods.”

  “Ari, please. I just need to know a watch is set tonight. Humor me, okay?”

  “Yes, my Queen.”

  Ari arranged for three watches to go through the night, taking the first watch herself. In three hours, she would wake Bracken, and three hours later, he would wake Lyren to finish out the watch. Because Noske had no warrior skills, he would not be standing watch.

  Aria made herself comfortable on her bedroll and wille
d herself to go to sleep. Trying to force the thought of Malak from her mind and concentrate instead on Winter, Charlomine, and Star, she finally found the comfort she needed to drift off to sleep with a slight smile on her face.

  She watched the young girl walking through the woods alone. It was not Winter. She recognized the face, but could not put a name to it. Was it Charlomine? Could it be Star, grown tall and proud? She was wearing a ceremonial dress, much like a wedding dress, and she carried no weapons. kDira wanted to call out to the girl, to tell her to go back where she came from because she had no arms to protect herself, no armor to protect her body. What could she be doing out here in the woods, so alone, so helpless?

  A man whose face kDira could not see appeared in front of the girl. Again, kDira tried to call out to the girl to tell her to run, but she just walked up to the man and stopped. The man reached out his hand and gently placed it on the side of the girl’s head. It all seemed so sweet, so caring, but kDira feared in her heart that the man would betray the girl.

  kDira moved around behind the girl, invisible to the man standing there. kDira tried to focus on the man’s face, but she could not make out the features. Was this Hayden? Had he returned to take revenge on this young girl? Was it Malak seeking revenge by hurting this girl in front of his mother?

  Suddenly she could see the blade of a dagger show itself out the back of the girl; the man had run her through! The girl gasped and tried to scream, but only a gurgling hiss came out of her throat. The man laughed as she fell to her knees. kDira looked at the man’s face, and the features became clear. It was Malak!

  kDira tried to scream, but she was frozen in fear. Malak looked directly at her and grinned evilly. He lifted his bloody hand up from the knife and put it to his mouth. He licked the blood from the back of his hand as though he were starved for blood. The girl fell backward as Malak’s grip on the dagger was released. kDira looked down at the face of the young girl. It was not one of her daughters, it was…

  “Ari!”

  “Shhhhh… I am right here, my Queen,” said Ari, lying down next to kDira. “Were you having a bad dream?”