The Unfinished Song - Book 6: Blood (52 page)

“I can’t see color.” It comes out more harshly than I intended. “I remember that color exists, and I can tell by the shades of gray what colors things are supposed to be… but I can’t see the true tones.”

“There is still a way. Here.” She holds out her hand.

Through her touch, she infuses me with ribbons of power from her aura. The darkness around me eagerly curls around her magic.

I draw in a sharp breath. In the distance, between two peaks streaked by silver rain clouds, I see a rainbow, pure and brilliant. The flowers carpeting the mountains reflect the rainbows multitude of hues. My eyes sting at the beauty of it all. Embarrassed, I withdraw my hand. The rainbows vanish.

“I have to leach your power to see the rainbow.”

She doesn’t deny it. “I’m going to let you two talk.”

I watch her graceful form as she departs. She is the last thing I see in color, and then the rainbow fades around her too. I know that she has not changed, only my ability to see her truly.

The man with the bow, who stands tall and lean with a ragged, haunted look about him, approaches cautiously. Earlier, though he drew his fancy bow on me, he didn’t shoot, as if he weren’t any more certain about me than I am about him. Now he treats me as if I were a deer he doesn’t want to spook. My gut tells me there’s a history between the two of us, which fits with what Dindi told me. Maybe we used to hunt together, or fought beside one another, or danced spells together, or all three. Maybe we’ve been friends for years.

“Pardon me,” I tell the lanky stranger, “I’ve forgotten your name.”

My words upset him. He tries to hide his dismay by turning from me. He kicks a stone over the cliff, but doesn’t really see it fall. His gaze runs past the horizon, seeing into other days. I wonder what camaraderie he remembers. I try to imagine how it would feel if our places were reversed, if I were the one who had been forgotten by a close companion. I can see that would be upsetting.

“I’m sorry,” I say, with a twist of my lips and a shrug. “It’s awkward for me, too.”

I hold out my hand. “Kavio. But you probably already knew
my
name.”

“Finnadro.”

“Dindi says you’re my friend.”

Finnadro clasps my hand.  “Yes, Kavio. I am your friend.”

Warriors, naked except for the scars and paint on their bodies, striations of black under red mud, encircled him with their spears pointed inward. Beyond the spear holders were Tavaedies, who wore torches at the tops of their masks. The brash war leader in charge of the septs took the lead, and approached to within a stone’s throw of Xerpen.

The war leader stopped, unnerved by the sight of Xerpen’s malformed face, shorn of any mouth, with serpentine slits for a nose, and white, sightless eyes. The war leader may or may not have noted the white snowsnake that slithered around Xerpen’s neck, a living necklace. The animal lent the eyes through which Xerpen saw everything. The colors were a little off, but there was nothing of beauty in the Burned Lands anyway.

Xerpen knew the Red Spears war leader intended to kill him, feed his flesh to flames and paint his skull, probably to give as a gift to win some woman. The Red Spears tribe needed endless sacrifices to feed the insatiable Malfae. If capture proved difficult, the Tavaedies would even set their enemies on fire and sacrifice them during the battle.

Neither the war leader nor the Tavaedies would harm Xerpen, of course. He had no intention of being anyone’s slave or sacrifice; he was used to being a War Chief, and that was the only position he would accept from now on. No other station would supply him the resources and the slaves to plan for the resurrection of his people. Xerpen had missed the eclipse, but no matter. He would find another way.

The Red Spears crept closer, jeering at him.

If Xerpen had still possessed lips, he would have smiled.

They didn’t know it yet, but they were going to be his new followers.

Here ends The Unfinished Song (Book 6): Blood. Email me or sign up for my newsletter for the release of The Unfinished Song (Book 7): Mask.

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Amdra
the Toad Woman – a Raptor Rider for the Orange Canyon tribe; daughter of

Vumo the One Horned Aurochs and Nangi the Thought Eater; granddaughter of the Bone Whistler

Danumoro – a Yellow Zavaedi from Yellow Bear, now in the Rainbow Labyrinth, a Healer and friend of Vio; (also called “Danu”)

Dindi – of Lost Swan clan, of the Rainbow Labyrinth tribe

Finnadro the Wolf Hunter – Henchman of the Green Lady; of the Green Woods tribe; (sometimes: “Finn”)

Fox – a wildling from Green Woods, Finnadro’s friend

Gremo – an Olani originally from the Yellow Bear tribe

Gwenika – a girl from Sycamore Stands clan, of the Yellow Bear tribe

Hadi– Dindi’s cousin, from Lost Swan clan, of the Rainbow Labyrinth tribe

Harcho the Bone Breaker – Orange Canyon, Eagle Lord & Zavaedi

Hawk – a shapeshifter into a Raptor, slave of Amdra

Hegaro – the War Chief of Purple Thunder

Kavio the Rain Dancer – son of the White Lady and Vio the Maze Zavaedi, War Chief of the Rainbow Labyrinth tribe

Kemla  – a girl from Full Basket clan, of the Rainbow Labyrinth tribe

Tamio  – a boy from Broken Basket clan, of the Rainbow Labyrinth tribe

Teeva the True Star – Chieftess of Hidden Crater

Vio the Maze Zavaedi – War Chief of the Rainbow Labyrinth; father of Kavio and husband of the White Lady; once served as a war leader of the Bone Whistler

Svarr the Legless – Purple Thunder tribe; Hegaro’s younger half-brother; Vumo’s bastard son and Zumo’s rain side brother

Svego – an Olani originally from the Blue Waters tribe

Vumo the One Horned Aurochs – brother of Vio the Maze Zavaedi

Zumo the Cloud Dancer – Kavio’s cousin and rival; son of Vumo the One Horned Aurochs and Nangi the Thought Eater; grandson of the Bone Whistler; leader of the Morvae faction in the Labyrinth

Umbral – the Henchman of Lady Death

Ash – a Deathsworn, Umbral’s second in command

Snake Bites Twice – an elder of Obsidian Mountain

Obsidian Mountain – the stronghold of the Deathsworn; a place of honored burial for all seven tribes

Lady Death – she who is served by the Deathsworn

The Curse – the most powerful hex in Faearth, created by Lady Death to destroy the Aelfae; any Aelfae who is afflicted with the Curse becomes mortal

willawisps

pixies

sprites

sylfins

foli

flori

kinnaras

trolls

hobgoblins

dryads

& many others

Malfae –  Red

Vyfae –  Orange

Brundorfae –  Yellow

Sylfae – Green

Merfae – Blue

Taurfae – Purple

Vessia the White Lady –  “the Last Aelfae”; once known as the Corn Maiden.

Xerpen – originally known for his golden voice; after he was Cursed, he became known as the Bone Whistler; then as the Great One

Gwidan – an archer; creator of the first Singing Bow

Mrigana – adept with flowers

Lothlo –best known for his work with forges; creator of blood gold

Yastara –renowned for her love of water

Hest – a great hunter, with a tender heart; known for his strength; fond of cooking

Kia – the daughter of Lothlo and Yastara; because she was unable to manifest her wings yet, she was taunted by other Aelfae children by mean nicknames, like “Kia the human”; she hates humans.

The Eight Uncursed – the last eight Aelfae to evade the Curse as a band; soon they were destroyed, however, and only the White Lady remained

Chroma – a band of colored light that shows up brightly in the aura of those with magic

hex – a dance spell performed with evil intent, or in violation of some taboo, for instance, by a person without magic who enlists the help of the fae

hexer – one who casts hexes or practices hexcraft; a witch

Imorvae – Tavaedies with more than one Chroma

j
ourney omen – Upon setting out on a new, journey, especially one of great duration or danger, the first animal seen by the travelers indicates the omen of the journey

law of light and shadow – the rules of balance and justice which run through the warp and weft of all Faearth. (Note: these are not written laws, but customs, traditions, and taboos.)

Morvae – Tavaedies with only one Chroma

Penumbra – the void left in the absence of a Chroma; the magic of the Deathsworn

Secret society – band of Tavaedies, led by a few, or just one, Zavaedi

taboo – a violation of the law of light and shadow

tama
– a dance spell

Tavaedi / Tavaedies – warrior dancers

Vaedi – the Rainbow Dancer, who was traditionally a woman with six Chromas, tasked with unifying and mediating among the secret societies, the clans and the seven tribes; she alone was allowed to create new
tama
; her warrior and protector was traditionally known as the Rain Dancer, a man with six Chromas, who would serve as War Chief of the Rainbow Labyrinth. Since the persecutions of the Bone Whistler, however, there has been no Vaedi.

Vooma Vooma – a dance war, in which rival Tavaedies compete to present the better magic or performance

war dance – a dance performed on the eve of battle to try to control the outcome; whichever side can perform the stronger war dance usually wins the battle

Zavaedi / Zavaedies – high ranking warrior dancers; teachers and leaders of other Tavaedies. (Note: all Zavaedies begin as Tavaedies, so a mixed group may be referred to simply as “the Tavaedies”; or specifically as “the Tavaedies and Zavaedies.”)

Faearth – the world

The Windwheel – a powerful device created by the Aelfae to try to unweave Lady Death’s Curse; now lost

Obsidian Mask – also called the Mask of the Obsidian Mirror

Paxota – a three day spring festival in Orange Canyon

Cliffedge – the tribehold of Orange Canyon

The Great Loom – a tall, ancient loom in the Orange Canyon tribehold

mariah
– a slave kept alive until he or she can be sacrificed

Eagle Lord – a Tavaedi caste male in the Orange Labyrinth tribe