The Tower of Il Serrohe (31 page)

“
Raquela, what do you say we see if you have Pia’s ability to pass through the Portal?”

Raquela looked doubtful. “I claim no ability to pass through the Portal, though I was not taken there by my mother to make certain. By that time there didn’t seem any need to use the Portal.”

“
I just want to know if you can or not.”

So the trio took a side trip down to the Portal, Don finding it easier than he had thought possible.

Drenching the glass with water from her water bag, Raquela tried to pass through the Portal but only managed to smash her nose and cause a nasty bump on her forehead. Don reached through the Portal meeting no resistance, which showed the Portal still worked for him, though not for Raquela. She was a respected healer and counselor, but she had not inherited the abilities of her ancestors.

As they crossed the Seared Meadow nearing the Place of Homes, Nersite ran ahead announcing their arrival while dozens of Nohmin scurried into their root homes. Soon all were back outside, surrounding Don and Raquela. Narknose, the Nohmin leader, formally greeted him.

“
It’s good to finally meet you after all Nersite has said about you and to welcome you to work with us to bring down the Tower of Il Serrohe. The stories of Teresa the Tall One are an inspiration and comfort to us, but we know it will be different this time. You must help us directly confront the Soreyes. No luck of the storm will save us now.”

Don resisted explaining what Teresa, Pia, and Pita’s actual roles had been in that mission.

With the whole Nohmin clan looking at him, Don cleared his throat and prepared to launch into some version of his “Welcome to Class” speech he recited every term to his classes on the first day.

“
Look, I can’t promise anything, but I can try. You have bravely fought the Soreyes, but you need all the clans here in Valle Abajo to help. They threaten everyone, so it’s only fair everyone pitches in. I don’t have any ideas yet, but I need to know more about your abilities. And we’re going to find out as much about that Tower as possible, so we can figure out a way to bring it down—once and for all!”

The crowd exploded in a cacophony of “Hey! Hey! Hey!” turning Nersite’s earlier demonstration into a gnat passing gas by comparison.

He said more, but no one paid much attention in their excitement. That night, he refused the security of a root home with a larger former
Loopohmin sleeping room.
Even with comfortable standing headroom, Don wasn’t interested in a hole in the ground.

So they set up a comfortable hammock for him near their homes among the trees at the edge of the Nohwood. Nersite and others took turns keeping watch while he slept.

The next morning at breakfast with Raquela, Nersite, and Narknose, Don tried to revisit the topics Teresa had tried to cover several generations back.

“
What do you people do to control things?” he asked.

“
Control what?” Narknose asked.

“
Anything. What powers do you have other than being able to run fast, make noise, and dig tunnels in trees and the ground?”

“
Ah, you mean our Glassing, Sleep, and Timeless Chants.”

“
Yeah, like that.”

“
That’s it,” Narknose said blandly.

“
That’s it?” asked Don, incredulously.

“
Sorry, we don’t need much. Our signascents are not special powers, just the combination of scents—”

“
Yeah, yeah, I know. OK, fine, so you can melt the sand of your root homes’ ceiling and turn it into a nice glassy surface. What else?”

“
Well, the Timeless incense is nice.”

“
Oh, of course. The one that makes time seem to stand still. And I suppose the Sleep chant helps you go to sleep. I could have used that recently.” Still it wasn’t much. Don looked at Raquela. “What about you?”

She was startled by his demand. “We cure with herbs whether applied to the body, drank in teas or soups, or inhaled. We listen to people’s troubles and try to help them understand—”

“
Yeah. You curanderas like my old great-grandma and a whole raft of underemployed psychologists. But that won’t bring down a tower.”

She was insulted. “Perhaps not, but we can support an attack because there will be injuries.”

“
Of course, I’m not saying it isn’t valuable or necessary, but we need powers above and beyond…”

“
Above and beyond what?” she asked.

“
I don’t know, but I have to know what you know first before I, uh,
we
can devise a plan of attack.” He paused, waiting for a response from her or anyone.

Nothing.

“
So, no powers. What else?”

Narknose rubbed his chin with both hands in a way that seemed familiar to Don. “Maybe it would be best to visit the other clans because we don’t know much about them, nor do they know much about us except in general ways. We pretty much keep to ourselves.”

“
Which is nice for minding your own business. But not when you have a big, nasty enemy to contend with. I need to travel the Valle and learn about the clans. Nersite and Raquela, are you still with me?”

Nersite popped up instantly. “Of course!”

Raquela pretended not to hear. Turning slowly she looked into Don’s eyes. “Yes, it is what Pia would have wanted of her descendent.”

Well, try to contain your enthusiasm!
Don thought.

fifty four

They headed down into the valley before noon. The day was pleasantly warmed by the sun with a slight breeze and piles of clouds exploding all over the sky with no intention of raining. Just like New Mexico except for the vast terrain: mountains like the Himalayas in the distant east, the massive Dream River, and the dramatic features of the Tower of Il Serrohe, high on the rugged black volcanic cliffs.

Along the wandering trail were scenic surprises of a variety not seen in Don’s Rio Grande Valley: Sonoran desert vegetation, especially piñon and cedar trees much thicker and taller than Don remembered seeing on the far West Mesa near Albuquerque; running streams that came off the mesa carving their way east to join the Dream River; along the foothills of the big mountain, known as Lunatik Peak, to the south, he saw trees and vegetation more like in the high Manzano or Sandia Mountains; and steep elevation changes leading down to the valley floor covered with a lush bosque of cottonwoods and low willow bushes with the Dream River meandering through their midst.

Before they were halfway down the trail to the valley, they heard a squawky voice before they saw the speaker. “Someone coming down the forest trail!” it called out to whoever was interested.

Then, up in a massive cedar, Don spotted a lean, hyperactive young man perched precariously on a branch straining under his weight. He wore a flashy blue outfit like the medieval uniform of a nobleman’s retainer.

The way he hurled down the branches convinced Don he would crash to the ground. Instead, he jumped from a branch near the bottom, landing directly at their feet. He wasn’t any taller than Nersite but weighed less.

“
Nersite! Raquela! An unexpected pleasure! Who is this stranger?”

Nersite tried to shake his hand, but he darted away lithely to his left, seeming to be more interested in Raquela, who towered over him. Then he bounced over the three, landing behind Don—who whirled around expecting an attack.

He made Don very nervous with his constant motion and athletic jumping ability.

Nersite shouted at him. “Control yourself! This is our new friend, Don of the Rio Grande Valley. He is here to help us overcome our troubles with the Soreyes. We’re visiting the clans to introduce him, so he will plan how we can work together to defeat them.”

“
Defeat? Is that possible? I and those of my clan will be ever watchful to warn the clanspeople of their nearness.”

“
But you can’t be everywhere,” Raquela reminded him. “You weren’t able to help the Nohmin recently when they were attacked.”

The young man lost his energy. “We are sorry for that. Not one of us was in the area when they moved to ambush you, Nersite. Narknose knows of our sorrow about that.”

“
We aren’t blaming you. It’s just that we need to do things better. That’s why Don is here.

“
By the way, Don, this lively friend of ours is of the
Sianox
clan. As the watchers of the forest they are skilled climbers and can cover territory at an unmatched speed, as you have just seen.”

Don smiled tentatively. “Glad to meet you. Your name…?”

“
Call me Jasin,” he said. As he extended his hand, the folds of his coat unfurled and hung several inches off his arm. “We have to be more diligent. We will do better watching for the Soreyes. We have sharp eyes and strong voices and will fill the forest with our calls so that a sneak attack will not come again.”

“
That would be most helpful,” Raquela said, signaling she required it of both Jasin and his clan.

At that moment another lithe person came bounding down a tree behind them. She wore a similar outfit in lighter blue with a floppy, grey cap.

“
Jasin! What are you up to?”

“
Nothing that concerns you, Flit!” With that he back flipped over her, whacking the top of her head as he passed. “Mind your own business. These fine clanspeople are bringing our new friend Don to meet the clans to help destroy the Soreyes.”

“
I didn’t say ‘destroy,’’ Don said. “We’re just going to get them to leave everyone alone. I’m not making any promises.”

Flit turned and slapped Jasin smartly. “All your big talk. Why don’t you do something besides spending your time stealing my stuff?”

“
I haven’t stolen anything that you didn’t give me!”

“
Oh really? What about that shiny metal thing I found after the Soreyes left Nohome? I didn’t have a chance to figure out what it was before it went missing.
Right after
you had invited yourself to my place?”

“
I wanted to see you. I still want to start a family with you even though you accuse me of thievery!”

“
I won’t mate with someone who can’t keep his nose out of my stuff!”

Nersite broke in, “Sorry, we don’t want to keep you. We’ll head on down to the valley.”

Jasin turned as though Flit was no longer there. “I’ll announce your arrival. Where do you go first?”

“
The large cave homes of the Loopohmin are closest,” Nersite said. “We’ll go by there first.”

Raquela, Jasin, and Flit all burst out at once, “The Loopohmin?”

Raquela took charge. “Nersite, they could have Don and me for dinner tonight with you as the appetizer! We cannot approach them unless they come in peace to us but only if we are in company with many more of the clanspeople. We wouldn’t have a chance against them—”

“
If they were to attack, yes,” Nersite said, in a high pitched voice. “Jasin can tell them we come in peace to discuss the Soreyes. They are enemies of the Soreyes as well, though the Soreyes don’t bother them as much.”

“
They only tangle with the Loopohmin when they have outnumbered them and have many spears and arrows ready,” Raquela cautioned.

“
Still…”

She sighed, pausing. “OK, but Jasin and Flit must bring back a report on the Loopohmin’s willingness for a truce to discuss this. Even then, I don’t trust them. Let’s wait on them until we’re all gathered in Il Mote, the market center of the Taurimin.”

Nersite pursed his lips and blew out air responding in a high pitched voice, “OK!”

After this, Don had little confidence in these Loopohmin and the Crotalmin who also seemed to make meals out of other clanspeople. And he’d thought life was dangerous in his own valley. At least gang members didn’t go around eating each other.

Raquela announced: “We continue on to the homes of the
Taurimin and the nearby
Càhbahmin,
our big friends who aren’t so ready to eat us for dinner. We can stay among them tonight and enjoy the bounty of their farms.”

As she spoke, Don looked at her more carefully, noting the velvet sheen of her skin and the exotic beauty of her slender face and long matching nose. He couldn’t get over how attractive she was, though earlier he saw only that she appeared very tall. She seemed a little less tall than him now.

How could that be?

Meanwhile, Jasin and Flit eyed each other warily. They suddenly took off at a run, bounding up into the branches as they sped out of sight and sound.

Nersite laughed, “There they go, trying to outrun each other getting news to the Taurimin and
Càhbahmin! Well, at least we won’t have to hurry. Dinner should be hot on the table by the time we get there.”