Broken World Book Two - StarSword (3 page)

Chanter's neck
muscles jerked as if someone had thrust a needle into his ear, and
he turned his face away, keeping his eyes covered. Talsy retreated,
dragging Kieran with her. Out of earshot, she turned to him.

"Best to leave
him."

"What's wrong
with him?"

She shook her
head. "I don't know. He was down there a long time. Who knows what
he went through?"

The warrior
looked doubtful, then glanced around. "What did he throw?"

Half an hour of
searching amongst the fronds found the object that Chanter had
flung onto the food beast's back, and Kieran stared at it in
amazement.

"My sword! God,
he went to the bottom of the ocean."

Talsy shook her
head in wonder as Kieran wiped a thin film of grey mud from the
blade, awestruck by the depths Chanter had plumbed to find the
weapon.

"Why did he
bring it back?" Kieran asked.

Talsy could
only shake her head again, and they walked back to where Chanter
lay. Talsy's worry grew, and she crept closer again, whispering his
name. The Mujar turned his head, shading his eyes with the hand
that had covered them. Although he responded to his name as if
forced to by some strange compulsion, his expression was blank and
peaceful, as emotionless as a mask.

"Are you all
right?" she murmured.

Chanter closed
his eyes again, and she retreated, pushing Kieran away. They sat in
the sun and watched him. Talsy bit her lip and Kieran wiped the
sword until it was spotless. Two hours passed before the Mujar sat
up as if the effort taxed him greatly. Uncovering his eyes, he
narrowed them to slits against the sunset's gentle golden rays.
Talsy smiled, but he turned away, rose and walked back to the ship.
The chosen shrank from his blank eyes, and, as soon as Talsy and
Kieran had joined him on the deck, the ship moved away from the
massive multi-coloured beast and sailed west again.

The sun sank
into the sea before them, trailing fingers of deep crimson across
the darkening sky as the dwindling light followed it to its resting
place beneath the waves. Talsy looked back at the food beast
slumbering in its bed of water like a lily pad on a pond. The
fronds that rose like tiny trees gave off an eerie glow. Colours
crept through them, changed their patterns and painted new ones.
What must it be like to do nothing but drift and bask and soak up
goodness from the sea? To be nibbled painlessly by predators, like
a mother feeding her young? Did they think? Did they dream and
speak to each other? Why would such a languorous beast even need a
mind? She pondered the strange beauty of this world until the
darkness behind them swallowed the giant beast.

Chanter spent
the night sitting on the deck, lost in the memory of the depths and
the predator's mind-touch. Talsy stayed away, and he was glad of
her tact. He let Kieran nurse his injury until the following day,
when he had regained some semblance of normality. His contact with
the Shamerian beast had warped his thinking and replaced much of
his knowledge with blank spaces. Regaining the lost knowledge took
a great deal of introspection and concentration, but without it he
would no longer be able to heal Lowman flesh. In order to undo the
harm he had done to the Lowman warrior, he had to recall the
knowledge and skill he had lost when he had shared the predator's
mind.

Shortly after
sunrise, Chanter looked around as Kieran emerged from below decks,
his injured arm clasped before him. Someone had splinted and
strapped the warrior's wrist, and evidently he wanted a stroll on
deck. As he rounded the cabin, the Mujar stepped out in front of
him. Kieran paled and stumbled back. Chanter frowned at him,
puzzled by his fear. The stern railing brought warrior up short,
and he raised his good arm.

Chanter made
the palm up gesture. "No harm."

Kieran lowered
his arm, eyeing the Mujar. Talsy, who had just emerged onto the
deck, spotted the confrontation and hurried over. Kieran flung her
a pleading look.

"What's wrong
with him?"

"There's
nothing wrong with me," Chanter said. "You're the one who needs
fixing."

"Chanter..."
Talsy hesitated, and the Mujar spoke without turning his head.

"You told
him?"

"Yes."

"Leave us."

Talsy frowned
and moved away, watching them. Kieran did not cower, such a big man
would find that difficult, but his demeanour was apprehensive.

Chanter studied
him. "You fear me. Good."

"I never meant
any harm."

The Mujar
reached out and took hold of Kieran’s broken wrist. The warrior
gritted his teeth as Chanter undid the bandage and removed the
splints, his fingers examining the swollen, discoloured flesh. He
lowered his eyes.

"Regret."

"What?" Kieran
shook his head in confusion.

"I have harmed
you."

"Oh. It's
nothing."

Chanter raised
his eyes. "It's broken."

The flash of
Shissar made Kieran jump, then Chanter gestured, and a globe of sea
water sprang from the ocean into his hand. He splashed it over
Kieran’s wrist, and his fingers stroked the blackened skin. In
seconds the bruising faded, and he released Kieran, stepping
back.

"Wish."

Kieran looked
flabbergasted. "Why do you grant me a Wish?"

"For regret.
Same as gratitude, but very rare."

"Because you
hurt me?"

Chanter nodded.
"Wish."

Kieran still
looked confused, his eyes wary as he stared at the Mujar. "But you
already healed it."

Talsy came up
behind Chanter, apparently unable to stay out of the confrontation.
"He's being formal," she explained. "Chanter, he doesn't understand
you when you're like this. You're being too Mujar. Try a little
Lowman complexity, he'll understand that."

Chanter glanced
at her, sighed and shook his head. "You, too, Talsy, are too Mujar.
It will bring you great grief. Kieran is afraid of me because I
hurt him. He has seen the ease with which Mujar can do harm. He
thought that he was stronger than me, but with the powers I wield,
nothing is stronger than a Mujar. In the Mujar way, I must atone
for the harm I've done, and I offer him a Wish, yet he stands there
with his mouth open like he's trying to catch flies and doesn't
understand me at all. Is that enough Lowman complexity for
you?"

Kieran asked,
"What the hell happened to you down there?"

"Questions? Is
that your Wish?"

"Yes."

Chanter
inclined his head. "Three only."

"What happened
down there?" Kieran repeated.

The Mujar
stared out to sea with narrowed eyes. "I healed a creature of such
intricacy that it makes you and I seem like bags of water with
sticks of metal inside them."

"The predator,"
Talsy guessed.

Chanter nodded
and continued, "In the process, its mind almost absorbed mine, for
they have an emotional sphere so far superior to yours that it
makes you seem like bits of wood." He leant against the railing.
"Their world is so perfect that to become lost in it is the
ultimate wish of any being with feelings. Because I am Mujar, I was
able to communicate my need to be free, and it released me. And you
Lowmen think Mujar have no emotions."

"Yet you cannot
love," Talsy grumbled.

He turned to
her. "You will never understand Mujar. Even you, who have become so
close to me, will never see what Mujar are. I said that I could
never love you in the way you wished, which is the coarse, bestial
manner of Lowmen. This does not mean I'm incapable of it. Mujar
are..." He paused, frowning. "I talk too much. The predator...
affected me."

Talsy glanced
at Kieran, unsure that he should ask more questions when Chanter
was in such a strange mood. The warrior had no such reservations,
however.

"Why did you
bring my sword back?"

"You'll need
it."

"How did you
find it?"

The Mujar
turned his back to the railing and leant against it. "That sword is
a weapon of the Hashon Jahar. Did you know that?"

"No." Kieran
looked down at the weapon with sudden loathing. "I picked it up
during the battle that destroyed my village. If it's one of theirs,
I don't want it."

"Keep it,"
Chanter said. "It's a good weapon."

"Does it have
special powers?"

"Your three
questions are answered, but no, it doesn't, except that it's
indestructible."

Kieran shook
his head. "You didn't answer my last question. I asked how you
found it."

"And I told
you, it's a weapon of the Hashon Jahar, that's how I found it. I
could sense its... lack of life. Nothing is quite so dead as the
Black Riders and their apparel. That sword is like a void, sucking
in the life force around it."

Chanter pushed
himself away from the railing and moved further along it, where he
paused to glance back at Talsy. She opened her mouth, but he sprang
into the air and vanished in a rush of wind and beating wings. A
white gull winged away in his place, rising on the wind. Talsy
watched the bird until it dwindled to a tiny speck, then turned to
Kieran.

"Something
terrible happened to him down there."

"Or
wonderful."

"If only you
hadn't attacked the predator."

He snorted. "If
only you hadn't screamed like you were being eaten alive."

"Moron. I got a
fright. I didn't ask you to come charging in like a damned dire
bear guarding a cub."

"Yeah?" He
glared at her. "Well, if I'd stopped to ask you whether something
was actually eating you, or whether you were just squealing like a
silly little girl, it might have been too late."

"Chanter would
have known if I had been in danger. I don't need you playing the
hairy Neanderthal!"

"Great, in
future I won't bother!" Kieran marched away, his shoulders
stiff.

Talsy could not
resist shouting after him, "And you're scared of him, you great big
bully!"

Kieran stopped
and half turned, then thought better of it and stormed off to his
perch in the bows. Talsy stared out across the sea, wishing Chanter
would explain all the mysteries of this world, which she had
thought she understood until now. Especially Mujar. What were they?
Why did they hide their identity so well?

The following
morning, Chanter returned, and the ship sailed on across a glassy
sea. Since the food beast’s fronds did not need to be cooked,
Sheera was able to spend more time with Talsy. Kieran remained
morosely in the bows, ignoring her as much as possible and glaring
at her when he could not. Chanter seemed his usual self, perhaps a
little withdrawn after his burst of extraordinary
loquaciousness.

For another
week, the stone ship sailed an endless sea, carrying its Trueman
burden of chosen to the distant, unknown western continent. The
ship's speed and course never varied, guided by a wind and current
that a Mujar controlled. The youngsters played games on the deck,
and tried to persuade Kieran to join in, but the warrior remained
aloof. Talsy played with them a few times, enjoying the
distraction, and Chanter smiled at her antics. The food beast’s
bounty remained as fresh in the ship's cool bowels as the day that
they had picked it.

With no worries
about supplies and nothing to do but watch the calm sea slide by,
life was tranquil and indolent for the chosen, so it was almost
with regret that they sighted the low dark smudge of land on the
horizon. A buzz of excitement and trepidation filled the ship, and
people invaded Kieran’s lonely roost to peer ahead until he quit it
and found another, somewhere that Talsy could not find him. As the
land drew nearer, they passed several rocky islands inhabited by
sea birds and seals.

The next
morning, ship slowed as it approached a hostile, rocky coastline,
where foaming waves broke over jagged stone spurs waiting to
disembowel an unwary vessel. Chanter turned the ship and sailed up
the coastline in search of a friendlier harbour. At midday, they
reached a sandy cove, and Chanter guided the ship into it, pushing
its bow into the sand.

The Mujar used
Earthpower to warp the ship's high bow, causing the rock to shimmer
and flow into a ramp leading down to the beach. When everyone had
disembarked, he destroyed the ship that had carried them across the
ocean. It slumped and lost its shape, and the mast oozed down to
mingle with the hull until the vessel was no more than a lump of
wave-washed granite. Turning away, Chanter gazed at the sunlit land
that sloped from the golden beach. Tall trees shaded meadows dotted
with clumps of pale rock, and further inland a forest of giant
red-leafed trees stood, their silver trunks dappled with rosy
shade.

Chanter headed
for them, and Talsy caught up to walk beside him while the chosen
straggled behind, burdened with their belongings and provisions. At
the edge of the forest, he paused to allow them to rest, and many
flopped down to stretch out on the soft grass and adjust to a
surface that did not constantly move. Talsy found that, after a
month at sea, she swayed to the ship's gentle roll even on dry
land. She sat down and eyed Chanter, who stood gazing around. His
nostrils flared and his brows drew together. She could sense it
too, a kind of frisson that passed through her every few seconds,
like a heartbeat of chill.

Chanter turned
to her. "There's something wrong here. Can you feel it?"

She nodded.
"What is it?"

"Wild
Earthpower, controlled by something, but I don't know what."

Talsy glanced
at the chosen, who talked, ate or rested, clearly unaware of this
land's strange emanation. Chanter continued to gaze around, his
eyes intent, his expression a mixture of puzzlement and worry.
After a few minutes, he went over to a rock and laid his hand on
it. Talsy braced herself for the Dolana, but what happened next
shocked and frightened her. A flash of Earthpower, so strong that
it became visible in an instant of hard glitter, engulfed him.
Chanter sprang away with a yell of injured surprise. Talsy gasped
and shivered in the chilling aftermath, and many of the chosen
cried out in alarm. In the frozen moment that the Mujar stared at
the rock in shocked disbelief, the land attacked.