The First Life of Tanan (14 page)

CHAPTER SIXTY

Tanan followed Ohlara into her house, which was a single room.  To the right was a wooden counter where Ohlara prepared her food.  To the left of the counter was a brick stove with a shiny iron top.  A large hearth took up the back right corner of the room.  Along the back wall was a bed covered with a blue and green checkered quilt.  A calico cat with green eyes sat on the quilt looking at Tanan with the focused disinterest that only a cat can achieve.

The entire left wall of the room was lined with shelves.  One section held dozens of books, and the rest of the shelving was full of different sizes of wooden boxes.  In the middle of the room was a large, heavy looking wooden table surrounded by six chairs.  The entire home was clean and well organized.  It was a warm and comfortable place.

The shelves full of books reminded Tanan that Figis had sent a book for Ohlara.  He stepped back outside for a moment and pulled the book out of his pack.

“Figis asked me to give this to you,” he said, holding the book up for Ohlara to see.

She was combining dry ingredients in a bowl.  “Just put it on the table,” she said.  “Figis never misses a chance to send me a present.  He’s a good boy.”

Tanan couldn’t imagine anyone referring to Figis as a boy.

“You know Figis well?” he asked.

Ohlara laughed.  “Of course! Figis is my son.”

Tanan, surprised, blurted out, “How old are you?”  He immediately turned red, embarrassed at having asked.

Ohlara was amused.  “I’m far too old to be offended by that question,” she said.

“I’m sorry,” said Tanan.  “Figis was my teacher for seven years.  He’s been like a grandfather to me.”

“He is a kind and patient man.  I’m very proud of him.”

Tanan didn’t know what to say, so he just smiled.

“I am,” she thought for a moment, “one hundred and thirteen years old.  But I use magic to keep myself young, which is cheating.”  She gave Tanan a smile, full of mirth.  He saw where Figis had gotten it.

She had finished mixing her ingredients and sent Tanan to get wood for the stove.  Tanan brought in the wood and offered to light the fire for her.

“I’ve never seen a Master of elemental magic at work,” she said.

Tanan loaded the wood into the stove and then carefully gathered energy from the air around him.  He sent a controlled stream of heat into the wood, which began to smoke.  Within a few seconds, a flame appeared and started to spread across the wood, fueled by Tanan’s magic.  In less than a minute, there was a roaring fire in the stove.

“I am impressed,” Ohlara said with a nod of her head.  She reached under the counter and pulled out a large iron pan.  She went to the shelves and selected a clay pot, carrying it back to the counter.  Using a wooden spoon, she dug out some thick grease and plopped it into the pan, which she then placed on the stove.

She returned the pot to its place on the shelf.

“Doesn’t the grease go rancid?” asked Tanan.

“I’ve placed a temporal bubble around the pot,” Ohlara replied.  “It’s frozen in time.  I store all of my food that way.”  She gestured to the multitude of wooden boxes on the shelves.

“You’re a double?” asked Tanan.

“Master of healing magic and temporal magic.”  Ohlara made a slight bow.  “At your service.”

“I would love to learn that spell,” Tanan said.  “Would you teach it to me?”

Ohlara was pulling fish filets from the bowl of water and dragging them through her bowl of dry ingredients before placing them in the pan, causing the grease to pop and hiss.

“It’s a simple spell, Tanan.  I’ll show you how to do it after lunch.”

After a few moments she changed the subject.  “How do you plan to deal with the Komisan army?”

“When they attacked us at Jesera, I warned them.  If they won’t go back to Komisan on their own, I may have to kill them.  I don’t want to kill anyone, but I don’t think they’ll stop killing Lataki.”

“I spent fifty years on Komisan when I was young.  There has always been fear and hatred of the Lataki, but things have changed now.  I’m afraid you might be right.”

Ohlara slid fried fish out of her pan and onto plates using a wide wooden spoon.  She put the plates on the table and sat down and looked at Tanan.  “Sit, boy.  Eat before it gets cold.”

•        •        •

Tanan had an enjoyable afternoon with Ohlara.  The two went for a walk along the river and Ohlara talked about her years living on Komisan and the years she had spent teaching at Jesera.  After leaving Jesera, she’d made the trip to the monastery in the Mestib Valley, north of the great desert.

They talked about magic, and Tanan offered to help Ohlara make a fire globe that she could use for light.  They created the artifact together and Ohlara put it into a box on her shelf.  She would use it for light in the winter when it got dark early.

That night, Tanan slept on the floor of her house and left the next morning after breakfast.  Ohlara walked with him up the path to the gate.  “You remember the password?” she asked.

“Exissis,” said Tanan and pulled the gate open.  “Thank you, Ohlara.  I hope to see you again soon.”

Ohlara’s beautifully wrinkled face smiled up at him.  “The path ahead of you won’t be easy, but I know you’ll do what has to be done.  May good fortune be your companion, Tanan.”

She turned and started back to her house.  Tanan closed the gate and started walking.

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

Tanan walked for eighteen days after leaving Ohlara’s house.  He walked through the days with the rejuvenation chant playing constantly through his head.  There had been no sign of the Komisani army, but he knew he had to be in the area where they were operating by now.

It was starting to get dark.  Tanan walked toward the highest hill he could see.  There were no really tall hills on the eastern plains, but he wanted to be able to see as far as possible.  As the sun set, he sat at the top of the hill and ate dried meat.  He was running low.  He was also running low on water now that he wasn’t following the river.  It hadn’t rained in over a week either.

Tanan didn’t know how he was going to find the Komisani.  The plains were seemingly endless and it would be easy for him to pass within a mile of them without ever knowing.  He didn’t bother putting up his tent.  He sat at the top of his hill under his protective bubble and went into a deep meditation.

The three-quarter moon was high overhead when his eyes popped open.  He had an idea.

Tanan picked a spot, very high up in the sky, and started to push energy into it.  He pulled energy from the air and earth around him and then pushed it into the ball of energy he was creating.  After ten minutes the ball of energy began to glow, just slightly.  Tanan was afraid it might discharge as lightening, but he hoped it was high enough that it wouldn’t.  He kept pushing wave after wave of energy into it.

After half an hour, the ball of energy was glowing very brightly.  It would be visible for miles around.  Tanan closed his eyes and meditated.

•        •        •

When Tanan opened his eyes again, it was still dark.  The moon had moved across the sky, but his ball of light was still burning brightly.  He stood, stretched and looked around.

To the south of his position he saw a flash of light reflecting off of armor.  There were five men walking toward him, maybe a half mile away.  Tanan decided to wait for them.  He had a drink of water and a piece of the dried meat while he watched them walk to him.

They were Komisani soldiers.  As they got closer, they split up and kept walking, clearly intending to surround him.  Tanan collapsed his protective bubble, replacing it with a tight field that hugged his body.  The men were around him now, twenty feet out.  Tanan closed his eyes and focused on the ball of energy high above, pulling it down toward the earth.  A bolt of lightening flashed to the earth, very close to where they were standing.  The sudden flash of light and immediate clap of thunder caused all of the men to jump.

Tanan opened his eyes and looked at the man who was in front of him.

“Come with us,” the man said.  He was trying to speak with authority, but he was clearly nervous.

“Are you part of the Komisani army?” asked Tanan, ignoring the man’s order.

The man hesitated.  “We’re the ones who will ask questions, Abbot.  Come with us now.”

“Can you take me to the commander of the Komisani army?” Tanan asked, again ignoring the soldier’s demand.

“I told you to shut your mouth, Abbo…”  The man stopped talking and stared as Tanan raised his arms and shot a plume of flame from each hand.  Just the effect he was hoping for.

Tanan turned slightly to the left and faced the next man.  “You will take me to the commander of the Komisani army.”

“Yes,” the man said without hesitation.  “We will take you there right now.”

Tanan started walking in the direction the men had come from and they had to hurry to catch up to him.  They fell into awkward positions, trying to surround him while staying out of his line of sight as much as possible.

The group walked for almost an hour.  It was almost dawn when they reached the army encampment.

When they got close to the assembled army, the soldiers who had been escorting Tanan sprinted away from him and returned to the anonymity of the ranks.

CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

Tanan stood looking at the formation of a thousand soldiers that had been hastily assembled as he had approached.  There was a sound of steel on steel from the rear of the formation, like a sword being slapped against a shield.  This was apparently a signal because there was a sudden flurry of crossbow bolts flying in his direction.  Tanan looked from man to man in the wide front rank as bolts bounced and ricocheted off his protective field.

Tanan walked forward, addressing the first soldier he came to.  “Bring your commander to me.”

The man sneered.  He was about to tell Tanan to do it himself when a ball of flame burst into existence between his feet.  The man jumped, scowled at Tanan for a moment and then jogged back through the ranks in search of his commander.

As Tanan waited, he walked down the rank of men.  Most of the rank and file soldiers were not King’s Legion and wore various mismatched styles of armor.  The one thing they all had in common was a look of disgust for Tanan.  If looks could have harmed him, Tanan would have been dead on the spot.

Within a couple of minutes, a man came walking through the ranks toward him.  The man wore full King’s Legion armor and he was older than the soldiers in the ranks.  As the man moved through the ranks, soldiers started to move,  relaying the order to spread out and form a circle around Tanan.

The finely armored man stopped ten feet from Tanan.  “I am Captain Biklin.  Surrender yourself and we will transport you to Komisan where you will stand trial for…”

Tanan cut him off.  “Are you the Commander of this army?”

Biklin looked irritated.  “No, I…”

A bolt of lightening struck the ground right behind Biklin, causing the man to jump and scream.  Tanan, who had closed his eyes for the strike, breathed a quick sigh of relief.  He hadn’t been completely sure he would be able to control the lightning bolt he had been preparing.

The lightening had blinded all of the soldiers and they were falling over each other as they scrambled to move away from where the lightning had struck.  Tanan began to walk through the men, toward the back of the formation.

A group of men in Legion armor stood together, waiting for him to approach.

“Which of you is the Commander of this army?” asked Tanan, a hint of anger in his voice.  He was done playing games with these people.

A tall, barrel chested man with closely cropped grey hair stepped forward, looking down his nose at Tanan.  The man was the embodiment of authority and self-confidence.

“I am Commander Stows of the King’s Legion.  Surrender yourself, Abbot, and you will receive a fair trial in Komisan.”  When Stows said the word “Abbot”, he made it sound like a profanity.

Tanan was nearly as tall as Stows, but the Commander was making the most of his height to try to intimidate him.  Tanan looked the Commander up and down casually, and then looked around at the army of men who had closed in around him.

Tanan spoke slowly and loud enough so that many of the soldiers could hear him.  “Here’s my counter offer,  Commander.  Take your army back to Komisan and end your aggression.  If the Komisani do this, there will be no further bloodshed.  I will consider any other action a declaration of war.  And if we are at war, Commander… I will show you no mercy.”

Stows laughed in Tanan’s face.  A roar of laughter exploded from the army of men surrounding him.

“Kill this filthy pig,” said Stows and sneered at Tanan.

An ocean of chaos erupted around Tanan as men rushed him from every direction.

Tanan hadn’t expected anything else from Stows.  These men were bloodthirsty and hateful.

Tanan sucked energy from the air around him and sent a burst of fire into Stows.  The man’s chest exploded and a fountain of flames and blood burst from every gap in the man’s armor.  The first men to reach Tanan were struck dead when they touched his protective field.  Tanan unleashed streams of white hot flame into the crowd, igniting flesh, melting metal and burning men alive.  Still, they surged forward to attack him, their lust for blood overwhelming their instinct for survival.

Within five minutes, Tanan was standing in the center of a charred circle of blood soaked earth.  Most of the men had died attacking him, but Tanan had killed every man who tried to run as well.  He had promised no mercy, and he had delivered on that promise.