Sunlord (61 page)

"Greetings, gracious wanderer."

"Call me Ashian." Discovering Elio's bemused
expression he explained his currach origins.

"Currach?" asked Elio hesitatingly, for he had never
seen one of the city folk before. But all the fables he had heard
must have been wrong, for this currach was not dressed in finery
and were not as condescending as tales made them out to be. "If you
are a currach, then how do you know the eloprin greeting?"

A wry grin pulled the corner of his face as Ashian
indicated towards his friend. "I guess I've been hanging around
this fellow for too long."

Untrue to form, Capac did not rebuke. His orblike
eyes set in critical determination he straightened and surveyed the
forest. "How far to your village, Elio."

But Elio's mind was elsewhere. "You've been with the
Sunlords?" He didn't know how he knew - just somehow, the way these
people carried themselves; he knew that they had been through
something no other eloprin had before.

Instinctively Ashian's eyes flickered upwards to the
sky and memories flooded back, but he did not allow himself to
become distracted. All of a sudden his eyes turned seriously dark
and he leant closer to the hapless boy.

"Lead us to your village quickly, son." Ashian looked
over his shoulder where Myshia leant doubled-up against a tree.
Elio had not noticed before, but now he saw the other was female.
Blinking, he saw she looked ill to the point of death.

Ashian pushed the moist moss to Myshia's forehead
with his breath pursed in his throat, praying over and over in his
mind. They rested in a glade nearly five hours hard walk from the
swamplands and despite his own exhaustion Ashian was willing to
push on for another five hour. But Capac had shaken his head, and
ordered they rest for a period while they waited for the moons to
rise before they set out again. Ashian knew they would walk all
night to reach Elio's village for it was there that her only
salvation lay. Capac had tried aiding her, but her efforts were in
vain for even his knowledge could not help.

"But we know what the problem is!" cried Ashian.

His hands moving swiftly in quick motions Capac did
not look up from his task of ripping the outer bark from a bulbous
fruit. "It's worse - much worse."

Elio's wide, innocent eyes flickered back and forth,
feeling unwilling to distract these determined men with his
thoughts. "It is the time of her Bearing."

Capac's heart missed a beat and he grimly kept his
face set in an unmoving mask. Myshia had not moved since she had
passed out three hours ago although her face was flushed red and
sweat beaded from her brow in rivulets. Using a makeshift stretcher
fashioned from two saplings and tightly bound palm fronds she had
been carried so far, her condition growing worse with every passing
minute.

Watching her glazed and sightless eyes Ashian could
not help feeling a wrenching deep in his stomach, in his heart
knowing that if a woman was not under immediate care of a healer
while in the time of her Bearing she would die as poisonous
chemicals broke free of her organs and contaminated her blood. The
time of Bearing was a time sacred to those of the eloprin race and
its secrets kept only with healers. Male hunters had no business in
such matters, and, over many generations, society had constructed
itself in such a way that questioning such a subject was to call
upon the anger of the Forest Mother.

Ashian bowed his head. "If she was so close why did
she come with us?"

Tossing aside his skinned fruit in anger Capac strode
a few paces into the undergrowth. "I've already told you - it's
worse." He glanced up at the sky and narrowed his eyes towards the
growing sliver of the moon begin to show between the treeline. "We
should go now."

Strangely relieved that discussion in the matter had
passed Ashian took one end of the travios as Capac carefully lifted
the other.

"Are you alright?"

Disturbed at the transparency of his pained
expression Ashian made an effort to nod firmly. He had stood too
quickly and his upper thighs and calf muscles ached with physical
pain. "Yourself?"

Capac licked his thin lips and drew a breath. "I've
been worse...by the Forest Mother - would you look at that!"

Laid out upon the inky blackness of the night sky
above them were lights like pinheads moving slowly amongst the
stars. Even as the companions watched several lights plumed
brightly and plummeted like meteorites, and both knew that forces
greater than their comprehension battled above.

* * *

He awoke with a start, knowing that in exhaustion he
had slept for too long. Startled to consciousness Ashian struggled
upright, suddenly disorientated in the gloom of the tent. The air
smelt of mid-afternoon - leaving an alarming gap in his memory.
What had happened? Ashian freed his feet of the coarse sheets and
furs, racking his mind to remember where he was. Memories of the
previous day seemed as distant as another lifetime and try as he
might he could not recall falling asleep.

Heart beating in panic Ashian stumbled about the
interior of the tent in a search for the exit, all thought of sleep
forgotten in his haste to find his friends.

A shaft of bright light dashed across the gloom as
someone entered the tent from a far corner. A gasp followed. "You
frightened me! Please, you must rest."

Ashian did not recognise the strange voice but
subconsciously knew it was an eloprin, and his unease abated
slightly. Although no longer fearing for his safety Ashian still
suffered from disorientation and, unheeding of his aches (he noted,
with a small part of his mind, that his wounds had been cleaned and
bandaged, and the gash below his eye stung with fresh stitches),
strode forward to better view upon his benefactor. Opening his
mouth to speak all that emerged was a croak and Ashian had to
swallow hard in a throat feeling like sandpaper before he could
force words from his lips.

"W...Who are you?"

Dressed in a heavy woollen shawl, weighed down by
carved ear-rings beads the small eloprin shuffled forward, all her
weight upon the walking stick standing almost as tall as herself.
She moved with evidence of great age as she looked up meet Ashian's
gaze.

"I am Caropra, of the Great Water clan. Your friends
are here, under our care."

Ashian shook his head as he tried to fill in the
blanks in his head. "What happened? How did I get here?"
Unknowingly he had sunken to the bed, allowing level eye contact
with the old woman.

"Our hunters found you early this morning, still
walking despite obvious exhaustion." Caropra chuckled and her face
wrinkled into a thousand creases of age. "Young Elio - he was the
one who led you in - has not stopped talking of you since. It seems
you have acquired legendary status within the clan's children
already; rumours are spreading that you have been aboard the
Sunlord's ship."

For as much as his own befit as Caropra's, Ashian
recounted their deeds aboard the Urisa, finding that in following
his thoughts through he was able to piece together the last few
days. Cursing himself for falling asleep, he queried Caropra of the
time that had elapsed since he had been discovered.

"You have been resting for three days, my son."
Caropra's faceted eyes darkened in severity. "It was only the
efforts of my healers that kept you alive. Several times we thought
you were not -"

"Three days?!" Ashian stood and bit down hard to stop
his head from spinning. Three days I have been out of it! Feeling
somehow betrayed Ashian demanded, "What of Myshia? Where is
she?"

Caropra bowed her head and Ashian's heart froze
instantly in dread. "She was deep in her time of Bearing when we
found her...Our healers have done their best but-"

"I must see her." Ashian moved past the old woman and
made for the tent flap.

"Wait!" The conviction in Caropra's voice instantly
made Ashian stop. Judging by the confidence in her tone the old
eloprin expected respect. "You cannot see her. Our healers have not
been able to ward away her Bearing, to see her now will incur the
wrath of the Forest Mother upon us all."

The Bearing. Ashian knew little of it, except that a
male could only look upon a female in her time of Bearing was when
she asked for him. "She does live." It was a statement, not a
question.

To his immense relief Caropra nodded. "She needs
time," the old woman lied, knowing that despite the skill of her
clan's healers there lay no hope in repairing the damage done upon
Myshia's body.

"Capac? Where is he?"

Caropra gestured outside the tent with her ornate
walking stick. "He awoke yesterday and, upon his insistence,
remains outside."

A wry humour stole into the corners of Ashian's mouth
as he pictured Capac demanding to be out in the open. Capac was
never one to remain indoors any longer than was necessary.

"I must see him."

Caropra nodded. "Of course, my child. This way."

Allowing himself to be assisted by a woman more than
twice his own age Ashian stumbled out into the slanted light of the
afternoon shafting through the mighty yellow and purple leaved
trees of the forest. The village was constructed about a large
sheltered area, an obvious focal point for which the wicker huts
were set about. It seemed that these eloprin preferred the safety
of the tree tops for numerous shelters sat upon boughs high in the
trees accessible only by rope ladder, some huts so elaborate their
designs were ingenious.

Ashian followed the curving of the path and
subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief as he recognised Capac's
form sitting upon a log at work at something in his lap. The hunter
looked up at his approach.

"Ashian! Welcome back to the land of the living!"
Capac lay aside the wooden carving and his knife and fumbled at the
ground for his crutches.

Concern clouded Ashian's visage. "Your leg."

A muscle twitched on Capac's cheek. "Somewhere along
the line a chunk was taken out of my thigh and it got infected in
the swamp - I can't move it yet, but they say it'll heal." Raising
his eyes from his leg Capac looked back at his friend. "You look
worse than a gutted drusk bull."

Ashian's hand stole up, tenderly probe at the
stitches mending the gash below his eye, recoiling quickly as
tingling bolts of sensitivity cascaded over his face. "I feel
worse."

Laughing, Capac bade the former city-man to sit down.
"An impressive scar to show the youngsters, that's for sure!"

Unwilling for his heart to be lead into blitheness
Ashian remained standing. "Have heard what has become of
Myshia?"

Capac shook his head slowly. "They will tell me
nothing."

* * *

Sparks flew from the ashes of the smouldering fire as
the small rock smote a burnt log. Picking up another, Capac flung
the second stone into the hearth. "Have you heard any more?"

Ashian stepped over the crudely fashioned bench seat
and stood staring numbly at the fire, as if unaware that the night
air at his back bit with the sting of late winter.

"No word," he answered morosely.

Capac lowered his eyes and watched the flames flicker
and dance over the half burn logs. The tribe was silent in sleep at
this late hour of the night save the movements of the hunters
walking the perimeter of the camp, patrolling to ward off
scavenging animals.

"You must relax." Apprehension clouded Capac's voice
as the minutes past and still Ashian had not seated himself.

The currach looked up as if startled from reverie.
Appearing to search for a rebuke he gave up and simply collapsed
upon the seat, his gaze returning to the fire as he spoke. "It was
all a failure. All of it."

"What?"

Ashian raised his brown eyes; insectile eyes that
could not weep yet somewhere in their depths there reflected
powerful emotions. "The whole thing. Don't you see? I set out to
free my city of the Sunlords by 'sending them away,'" Ashian
scoffed. "How naive I was to think that they would turn and leave
us in peace."

"What are you talking about?" Capac drew himself up.
"Shaun has called upon the Federation to end
this...enslavement."

Ashian did not speak for a long time. "Will it?" he
questioned simply. "Will it stop the war?" Swallowing, Ashian tried
but could not speak the thoughts most prevalent upon his mind. His
heart ached to share the burden it carried, yet he could not share
it. He would forever carry the guilt of killing the Sunlord leader;
and worse, so many Sunlords aboard the ship were now floated
lifeless in space.

Neither spoke for a long time. The fire had burnt low
when a sudden movement from the healers shelter sent Ashian
snapping alert as an apprentice moved into the circle of light.
Before she could speak Ashian was on his feet.

"You have news?"

"Her time of Bearing was too close." The apprentice
swallowed. "The poison is already in her system - our Healer is
unable to help your friend."

Ashian clenched his fists and squeezed his eyelids
closed as if he could force himself to awake from this terrible
nightmare.

"She has asked for you," finished the apprentice.

Ashian opened in eyes in surprise, all of a sudden
knowing that his waiting was ended. Without consciously forming the
thought he knew deep in his soul that he would accept. The decision
had already been made. "Then I shall go."

"I simply convey her request." The apprentice bowed
his head. "You may join with her life force if you will but the
chances of survival for her or her child are small."

"If I don't go?"

"She has only hours to live."

Capac was silent as he watched the proceedings, his
heart heavy and mind refusing to believe what he heard. He had lost
his brave companion Huso to the reaper of souls, and now...