Chaos Trapped

by Eric T Knight

  “It doesn’t matter what they’re called!” Hulagu shouted.

  “I bet it does to them.”

  “Spirits. Aranti. Whatever. Using them as servants is foolish!”

  “There’s nothing foolish about food,” Batu replied, his tone that of someone addressing a stubborn child. “Food is important. Food is everything.” He pointed at the piece of dried meat Hulagu was still holding. “Can I have that? I mean, since Karliss isn’t going to eat it?”

  “No, you can’t have it. You’re unbelievable, you know that? We just got attacked by some kind of rock monster—”

  Batu stuck his finger up again. “A Shaper is what I think you mean.”

  “Shaper. Rock monster. Who cares? Stop interrupting me. Karliss nearly died, we all nearly died, and all you can think about is food.”

  “You make that sound like a bad thing.”

  “No, you do.”

  Batu sighed. “It will be good to see Sube again. She understands me.” Sube was the girl who’d recently taken a shine to Batu, making him food every day and fluttering her eyelashes at him. Not that Batu saw the eyelash part all that much. He was generally enchanted by the food.

  Hulagu tucked the meat back into his saddle bag. “And you’re not getting this. You already ate your share of the food for the day.”

  “Okay, okay. I thought it couldn’t hurt to ask, since Karliss said no already. You can’t blame a guy for trying.”

  “Ugh. I can’t do this anymore.” Hulagu deliberately turned away from Batu and faced Karliss. “I need to talk to an adult for a while. What’s next?”

  Karliss rubbed his eyes. It felt like there was sand under his eyelids. It was hard to concentrate with so many aranti voices in his head. He needed to push them out, to start rebuilding his inner walls, but he didn’t have the strength for it yet. “I don’t know for sure. Head back to the clan. Report to the council. Try to find some way to fight Kasai.”

  “Those stone soldiers you told us about. How long do you think until Kasai has them ready to go?”

  Karliss frowned. “There’s no way to know for sure. A lot depends on how many he makes before he attacks. I should probably start scouting every day, so he can’t sneak up on us again like last time.”

  “Not today though, okay?” Hulagu said, his broad face lined with concern. “Maybe not tomorrow either. You should recover some first.”

  Batu made a dismissive sound. “He’s a hero, Hulagu. You keep forgetting that. He can do anything.” He looked at Karliss. “I think we both know which sidekick believes in you the most.”

  Hulagu whacked Batu’s horse on the butt suddenly, causing the animal to jump. Batu had to grab onto the saddle horn to keep from falling off. Hulagu laughed and even Karliss managed a faint smile. “Not funny!” Batu cried. “Someone could have gotten hurt. I could have gotten hurt.”

  Hulagu ignored him and turned back to Karliss. “What if Kasai decides to ignore us and just come after the key?”

  Karliss winced. “Then why hasn’t he already done that? I don’t know what I could possibly do to stop him.”

  “Maybe that’s what the glowing crystal is for,” Batu said.

  Karliss thought about it, then shrugged. “I don’t know. I know it’s meant to keep the Devourers from getting the key. But I don’t know how it would affect Shapers like Kasai.”

  “It’s a good thing we didn’t mess with it, then,” Hulagu said. He eyed Karliss. “You didn’t touch it, did you?”

  “I already told you I didn’t.”

  “Just making sure. You do rash things sometimes.”

  “Rash things? Me?” Karliss smiled a little, trying to make it a joke. “When have I ever done anything rash?”

  “I don’t know,” Hulagu replied. “How about trying to run off during the night by yourself to find the words of power? Or breaking off a dead god’s hand to get the gem he’s holding and—”

  “He wasn’t a god. He was a master.”

  “You didn’t know that until after you broke off his hand,” Hulagu pointed out.

  “Well, I didn’t touch the crystal. I think I’d be dead if I did.”

  “Doesn’t anyone care what I think Karliss should do next?” Batu asked. When the others ignored him, he continued, “I think you should figure out how to use the words of power for the stone. Then you could ride on up to Kasai and snap! Break him in half.” He snapped his fingers for emphasis. “Just like that. No more problems.”

  “Do you ever stop to think, or do you simply blurt out whatever comes into your mind?” Hulagu asked in disbelief.

  “Thinking gets in the way of my best ideas,” Batu said loftily. “You wouldn’t understand. Don’t feel bad, though. It’s not your job to think. You’re here to swing a sword. I’m the idea guy.”

  “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to use those words,” Karliss replied. He’d already tried the first one on the list, and it felt like it almost tore him in half inside.

  “Then maybe we need to find someone who can,” Batu said.

  “Great idea,” Hulagu said sarcastically. “How are you going to do that? Go around and ask everybody you meet to say the words and see what happens?”

  “Now who’s full of stupid ideas?” Batu said.

  Karliss saw Hulagu’s jaw muscles bunch and put up a hand to forestall him. “Then what is your plan for that?” he asked Batu. “Do you have one?”

  “As it so happens, I do.” Batu drew himself up in the saddle, looking very pleased with himself.

  “Well,” Hulagu growled. “Are you going to tell us, or are you going to sit there with a dumb look on your face?”

  “You seem grumpy,” Batu said to him. “Maybe you’re not getting enough sleep.”

  “Tell us your idea!” Hulagu shouted.

  “Okay, okay. Calm down. I’m only trying to lighten the mood a bit. Sheesh.”

  “Batu…” Karliss said.

  “Right. My plan. Firehair said the king in Qarath is looking for three people with unusual powers.” He stopped, a satisfied little smile on his lips.

  After a bit, Hulagu said, “So?”

  “So obviously Karliss is one of them. He controls the wind. Maybe the other two can control the earth and water. Maybe they can use the other words.”

  Hulagu started to retort, then got a surprised look on his face. “That’s actually not a terrible idea.”

  “It’s a great idea.”

  “But we don’t know if the king has found the other two or not,” Karliss pointed out. “And in the time it would take to get them up here it might already be too late.”

  “I hadn’t considered that,” Batu said, deflating somewhat. He brightened a moment later. “Still, I don’t think you’ll have any problem handling Kasai’s stone soldiers, Karliss.”

  “I’m glad you’re so confident for me. I wish I was.”

  “It’ll be easy. Just pick them up and drop them like you did Tharn.” He made a crashing sound and chuckled.

  “Not so easy. What if there’s a thousand of them?” Hulagu asked.

  “See what I mean?” Batu said to Karliss. “See which one of us believes in you and which one doesn’t?”

  “Stop it, Batu. The adults are talking,” Hulagu said gruffly.

  “It’s not a bad idea, though,” Karliss admitted. “If it worked on Tharn, there’s no reason it won’t work on them.”

  Batu gave Hulagu a triumphant look. Hulagu groaned. “You’re only encouraging him,” he said. “Don’t encourage him. It’s bad enough that Nergui and Sube do.” Nergui, the man who drove Karliss’ wagon for him, laughed at every joke Batu made, no matter how bad.

  “Unfortunately, we don’t know what else those stone soldiers are capable of,” Karliss said. “And we don’t know what else Kasai has planned. If his army shows up with a dozen of those men on giant flying birds, shooting bolts of gray flame around, it could get ugly.”

  “We can handle those guys, no problem,” Batu said. “We handled the l
ast one all right.”

  And then Hulagu asked the question that Karliss feared most of all.

  “What if Kasai shows up with them?”

  Chapter Thirty-three

  The next morning Karliss woke before dawn. Batu was sleeping. Hulagu was sitting a dozen paces away, keeping watch. He sat up. He still felt scattered, a stranger in his own flesh. When he looked down at his hands he almost expected to see something else. His dreams had been extraordinarily vivid, dreams of flying over strange landscapes, dreams of living countless millennia.

  But he felt better than he had the day before. The voices inside his head weren’t as loud as they were. He didn’t feel nearly as thin and hollowed out. Hulagu turned, saw him sitting up, and came walking over.

  “You didn’t wake me for my watch,” Karliss said quietly.

  “You needed the sleep.”

  “What about you?”

  Hulagu yawned and stretched. “I could use some too. But it’s like Batu said. You’re the hero here. It’s more important that you be rested than me.”

  Karliss winced. “I wish you guys would quit calling me that. It makes me…” He couldn’t find the word.

  “It’s what you are, though. Batu is irritating and annoying, but he’s right about this.”

  A muffled voice came from beneath Batu’s blanket. “I heard that.”

  “If anyone’s going to get us through this, it’s you,” Hulagu finished.

  “I wish it wasn’t me. I miss being a kid and not having anyone expect anything from me.” He rubbed his eyes. “I don’t think I’m the right person for this.”

  “Doesn’t look like you have any choice though, does it?”

  “I envy the aranti. All they do is fly around and play. They never worry about anything.”

  “Be nice if they would. They could be a big help if they were on our side.”

  Karliss sighed and looked around. “I think I should go scout now.”

  “You feel up to it?”

  “I think so.”

  “You better be sure. We can’t afford to lose you.”

  “I’m sure enough.” Karliss closed his eyes and whistled for an aranti. One showed up quickly, blowing through him eagerly. He let the creature pass through, then grabbed hold. There was the familiar tug, and he was jerked up out of himself and into the air. He glanced down at their camp from above. Batu had sat up. He was waving goodbye and yelling something. Hulagu gave him a shove.

  At first Karliss simply let the aranti have its head and go where it wanted to. It felt good to be up here, freed from the pains and weaknesses of his body, limitless freedom stretching out around him on all sides. Part of him, maybe most of him, wanted nothing more than to stay here and never go back. He could hear the voices of aranti all over the world, chasing each other, exclaiming over something they’d seen, shaping the winds and the clouds as they willed. He could stay with them and never fear anything again.

  Except that wasn’t entirely true. He knew the aranti feared Kasai. They feared other things too. Some were babbling about sorcerers and someone named Lowellin. Others wailed about some power that burned, power that came from a place they called the Abyss.

  In the war that was coming, not even the aranti would escape unscathed. Not even they could hide from it.

  Reluctantly, Karliss exerted his will and turned the aranti south. The first thing he wanted to do was find out where Spotted Elk Clan was. They certainly didn’t want to waste time wandering around the steppes looking for them. Instead of heading for the site of the Gathering, Karliss flew toward their normal grazing lands. He stayed high up where he could survey a large swath of land easily. With the speed the aranti was capable of, it didn’t take long to get to where he wanted to start looking. After that it was a matter of flying in steadily widening circles until he spotted them, camped beside a small lake ringed in rushes and cattails.

  He nudged his mount down close and flew through the camp. Everything looked normal. No one seemed wounded, except one man who was limping around using a crutch. He saw his mother, Munkhe, standing outside the family yurt, and he flew over to her, wishing there was some way he could talk to her, let her know he was okay.

  The wind from the aranti’s passing ruffled her hair and fluttered the light shirt she was wearing. He tried calling her name, but of course he could make no sound. He cast about, trying to come up with something.

  As she turned to go back into the yurt, he got an idea. She opened the tent flap, and he hit it with a small gust of wind and closed it. She opened it again. This time she kept hold of it, and he had to blast it harder before she lost hold of it, and it closed again. Her brows drew together. She opened the flap again. He closed it.

  She turned around slowly, scanning the sky. “Karliss?”

  Karliss channeled a bit of wind and caused a small whirlwind to rise up before her. She looked at it, a mix of hope and worry on her face.

  “Is that you, Karliss?”

  Karliss made the whirlwind move side to side.

  “If that’s you doing that, do it again,” she said.

  He repeated the action. “Are you okay?” she asked.

  Again he repeated the action.

  She put her hand over her mouth, and a stifled gasp came from her. Tears brimmed in her eyes. “I’ve been so worried. What were you thinking, running off like that without protection?” Now she sounded angry.

  Karliss had no idea how to answer to that.

  She wiped her eyes. “What’s important is that you’re okay. Are you on your way home now?”

  Karliss moved the whirlwind side to side.

  “Thank the gods. Please hurry. I’m worried about you.”

  Karliss dropped the whirlwind and raced a few circles around her. He was starting to feel stretched too thin again and knew he needed to return to his body soon.

  “I’ll tell your father,” she called out as he rose up into the air.

  He flew to the southwest. There was no sign of Kasai’s forces. He flew to the edge of the steppes to be sure, then turned back to where his companions waited.

  When he got back to his body he felt strange, disconnected from everything. His friends spoke to him, and he did his best to respond, but he was no longer certain what the words meant, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know anyway. Finally, they left him alone, and the three mounted up and rode south. The horse he rode felt terribly slow and heavy, and he looked at the sky often, wishing he could be up there among the clouds, flying free.

  Chapter Thirty-four

  The three companions got home one windy afternoon. Spotted Elk Clan was camped beside a broad, shallow stream that widened into a pool at that spot. The yurts were set up along the river. Smoke rose from cookfires. In the distance grazed herds of horses, yaks and goats, watched carefully by mounted men.

  They were still some distance from the camp when a sentry rose up out of the tall grass. He was holding a spear and an unstrung bow was slung across his back. It was Otgon, a young man about the same age as Karliss and his friends. He’d never liked Karliss, and the feeling was mutual.

  “You’re back,” he said flatly.

  “I can see why they put you on sentry duty, Otgon,” Karliss said. “Nothing gets past you.” He knew it was childish, but he could never resist needling Otgon.

  Otgon scowled. He was shorter than Karliss, but much broader, stronger than most of the young men in the clan. He’d thumped Karliss a few times over the years while they were growing up, and he looked like he’d like to do so again.

  “You think you’re above everything because you’re the tlacti,” he said, “but you went too far this time. The terl will have your skin.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  Otgon hesitated, confused by the question. “Why wouldn’t I be sure? Everyone knows how angry he was when he found you gone.”

  “Angry, I get. But my skin? Why would he want my skin? I don’t think it would make a very good blanket.” Beside Karliss,
Batu giggled, and even Hulagu grinned. That made Otgon’s face darken.

  “Don’t be stupid. It’s just something people say. It means you’re in trouble is all.”

  “You could have just said that.”

  Otgon glowered at him. “If it was me, I’d exile you. Like that.” He snapped his fingers.

  “You’d exile a genuine hero?” Batu said. “The man who defeated Kasai and Tharn?”

  “Who’s Tharn? I never heard of him.”

  “A huge monster. Like a rockslide come to life,” Batu said. “Fists bigger than your whole body.”

  Otgon flicked a suspicious look to Karliss, then back to Batu. “You’re making that up.”

  “I saw it too,” Hulagu said. “Karliss lifted him so far in the air you could barely see him. And then dropped him. He didn’t look so good after that.”

  Otgon’s head swung from one to the other. “I hate you guys.” He pointed at Hulagu. “You didn’t use to be so bad, but you spend too much time with him.”

  “Much as we’re enjoying chatting with you,” Karliss said, “I think I have information the terl will want to know. Can we pass?”

  Otgon stepped aside and gestured with his spear. “Go on. I’m not stopping you. We’ll see how tall you stand once the terl is finished with you.”

  They approached the camp. Children played and splashed in the river. Several women were baking bread in a domed oven made of baked bricks of river mud. Two men were repairing one of the large wagons the Sertithians used to haul their possessions from one place to another. Strips of meat hung over smoldering coals, drying. Two women were talking softly while tanning an elk hide. Nearby several men were shaping bows from wood stocks traded for from Striped Badger Clan.

  It was a typical scene the three boys had seen countless times in their lives. It was completely ordinary, and yet completely different at the same time. Karliss exchanged a look with the other two. None of them needed to say the words out loud. Their journey had changed them. None of them would ever be quite the same again.

  As the three rode into camp, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at them. Whispers were passed. Two boys ran on ahead, yelling out the news. They hadn’t gone far before Batu’s mother came hurrying out from between two wagons. She all but ran to Batu’s horse, crying out as she came. Batu climbed down from his horse as she reached him. She threw her arms around him and squeezed him tight, the whole time murmuring about how worried she’d been.