Not too shabby for a rookie.
Ahiram glanced down at Shadow and a searing pain, stronger than the usual scratch, exploded in his neck. He yanked the velvet cloth and carefully peeled off the small band from his neck, wincing as he went. He washed his neck with water and dabbed it with a clean cloth. The raw skin and all the back of his neck felt as if someone had pricked it with a thousand needles. He ignored the pain and gazed into the star-studded night. His mind drifted back to Tanniin. He missed his friends, missed the reassuring atmosphere of the kitchen, and missed Master Habael and the commander. He shrugged and focused anew on the conversation.
He looked at Shadow intently. So, tell me, Shadow, why did she lie to me? That’s the real question.
What do you mean? The dog seemed to reply.
Ahiram glanced at the quadruped. Shadow lay in the grass, eyes closed, sleeping. This dog is getting in my head.
No, I’m not. I would never do such a thing. I’m merely conversing with you.
How are you replying while you’re asleep?
No response. Ahiram shrugged his shoulders. Oriana lied to me when she said she had children. She said she joined this herd alone. This was less than six years ago, but her children are older than that. She also said that she nearly died in the process. If her children were hurt, she would have mentioned it, but she didn’t.
An omission?
It would be a very significant omission, but I don’t think so. Not the way she said it.
What do you plan to do about it?
I’ll pay Juno a visit later tonight.
You’re not planning on hurting the boy, are you? The tone was menacing.
It was Ahiram’s turn not to respond.
“Slaves. What a beautiful invention! What an ingenious device built by a spoiled lazy child who demands that others do his dirty deeds just because he happens to say so. You might think then that the slaves would have pity on slaves. But that would be silly now, wouldn't it? Slavery might teach you to pluck a chicken, but it won't teach you to be kind to another slave if you have no place left for kindness and curcuma in your heart.”
–Soliloquy of Zuzu the Hip, Jester at the Royal Court of Tanniin.
By now night had fallen and Ahiram decided to focus on the charred grass he had spotted. According to Oriana, the guild of shepherds was now dysfunctional, but this did not explain why one group of shepherds would seek to harm another.
Greed, ambition? wondered the Silent, making his way through the large camp. Sheep bleated in the distance and dogs trotted back and forth along the edge of the camp. A few crept forward and sniffed him, but most of the guard dogs left him alone. Having had little experience with dogs, he wondered how they knew he was a full-fledged member of Tyleen’s team.
Across the camp, but mostly along its borders, campfires peppered the night like giant fireflies. They waxed and waned in the darkness like bouts of laughter in the summer night. He reached the first pit and was greeted by friendly faces, warm smiles, and a cup of hot goat’s milk.
“You’re the owner of that massive dog, aren’t ya?”
Ahiram nodded.
“How’s the milk?” another shepherdess asked, a young woman with dark green eyes.
“It’s very good, thank you.”
“Oh, he’s the polite type,” she purred. “I like him already.”
“Esiana, stop your nonsense,” an older woman cut in. “Don’t mind my daughter,” she added, addressing Ahiram. “She’s convinced the heavens will send her a man before high moon. What rubbish,” she scoffed. “Young people these days, what utter nonsense fills their heads. When I was your age, young lady, my father would have swatted me if I had so much as mentioned the word ‘mate’ like you do now.” She glared at the man smoking a pipe sitting across from her.
“Come now, woman,” he said between two puffs, “She’s dreaming of a mate, there’s no harm in that. You dreamed of me in your younger years.”
Esiana’s mother snorted while everyone else chuckled quietly. The older man asked Ahiram if he wanted a second cup of milk. The Silent politely refused.
“I am certain I’ll find my mate before the next moon,” Esiana cooed. “Ebaan said as much.”
At the mention of the name, everyone froze. Ahiram had the odd sensation that time had stopped. Then someone shuffled their feet, and the feeling left him. No one spoke, and no one scolded Esiana, but the Silent knew she was not supposed to mention Ebaan. He stretched and yawned, scratched his belly, and got up. “Well, I don’t know nothin’ about finding a mate or such,” he said in a bored, monotone voice, “all I know is that hot milk puts me to sleep. It’s been a long day.” He gave a quick nod to the group and walked back toward the wagons, and the night swallowed him. He looped back and lay in the grass, a short distance away from their fire camp.
“… thoughtless, stupid girl,” Esiana’s mother was saying. “You’re not supposed to mention him to a stranger, a xévoc.”
“You don’t know that,” Esiana said angrily. “You call anyone you don’t know a stranger. Tyleen welcomed him, didn’t she? The dogs welcomed him too, so why not us? Why?”
“Esiana,” said the man who had served him the milk. “You’re still too young to understand. You don’t know everything about a herd, especially a herd this size. Tyleen picks and chooses whom she wants, that’s true, but that doesn’t mean they’re all here for the same reason.”
“What do you mean, Papa?”
“Listen, girl,” her mother said, “and listen good. I’ll not lose you the same way I lost your sister—”
“Woman,” interrupted someone in a hushed, tense voice, “guard your tongue. This is not the place to bring up such matters.”
“Everyone calm down,” an older man added. “Esiana, I forbid you from speaking with that boy; he is not a xévoc as you say.”
“So what’s the harm then, paterchis?”
Paterchis means patriarch, Ahiram thought. So these folks must be part of the same extended family.
“My dear, dear child,” the paterchis replied, “He’s a trackos.”
From his safe distance, Ahiram saw Esiana stop moving. She sat, transfixed, seemingly unable to comprehend what she had heard. “But I thought,” she said, her voice a mere whisper, “that we didn’t do—”
“We must,” cut in her mother in a strangled voice. “Nen oltiría paterchis, anerchis kiou—no peace without the paterchis and the anerchis. We must.”
Someone doused the fire and they all silently dispersed.
That was revealing, Ahiram thought. If I’m not mistaken, anerchis means matriarch. She must be missing. By the sounds of it, it seems that Tyleen took me on in order to trade me for the anerchis, and maybe a whole lot more.
He recalled Domnina’s word of warning: “If the slave hunters catch you, no one will defend you.”
Ahiram thought about confronting Oriana and Tyleen but decided against it. I’ll walk away. I don’t have to play whatever part they want me to play. I left Tanniin to find Hoda, not to take care of someone else’s problem.
Having made up his mind, he returned to the camp, walking at a leisurely pace, until he reached the wagon he shared with Juno. The young boy was already asleep, and Ahiram was tempted to wake him to question him about Oriana, but instead, he shrugged his shoulders and decided to ignore the entire thing. I’ve had my fill with shepherds, he thought dejectedly. A sudden feeling of tiredness landed on his shoulders like a thick wet blanket. The memory of Noraldeen dying in his arms flooded his heart with a deep, dark anger. Let them go to the Pit for all I care, he thought. I came here in good faith only to find out they are scheming and plotting. Swiftly he grabbed his bag, staff, and a blanket. Without a second thought, he opened the food chest and took a loaf of bread and a chunk of cheese. My wage for a day of labor, he thought, satisfied. He turned around and saw Shadow facing him.
So you’re leaving, the dog in his head said.
You can stay for all I care. I’ve ha
d my fill talking to an imaginary dog in my head. You’re just a stupid animal and a dog to boot.
Ahiram was back in the woods, and in short order, found a tree to perch himself on. He settled on a comfortable branch, sighed contentedly, closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep, only to awaken to the sound of leaves rustling and soft footsteps, followed by the stirring of an apple-loaded branch. Though fully alert, Ahiram remained motionless.
Here they come, he thought, Oriana, Domnina, Lilith, and Jin.
“We must find him,” Domnina said, her voice harsher than ever.
“It’s dangerous. You know he can’t go very far,” said Oriana. “We can look for him tomorrow morning.”
“Shut your mouth,” said Domnina. “We have to find him right away.”
If I had doubts about Domnina being Oriana’s daughter, I don’t anymore.
“If we don’t find him,” Lilith added, “the poison will kill him.”
Ahiram froze. Poison?
“How much did you give him?” Domnina asked.
“The full dose,” Oriana replied.
“The full dose?” Lilith nearly yelled. “Are you out of your mind?”
“What am I supposed to do?” Oriana snarled. “He should have lost consciousness five days ago. A bull would have keeled over with that much poison in him. He was going to take the chin-seat off tonight. I had to give him the full dose.”
“Lilith,” Jin interjected, “It’s rare, I know, but this poison can have the opposite effect. It can lead to anger and rage.”
“If he dies, Ebaan will not be happy,” Jin, the supposedly third daughter of Oriana, said softly.
“Come on, doggie, fetch, find him …”
Shadow crept up and sniffed the ground.
Traitor, Ahiram thought.
I’m saving your life, you dummy.
I don’t need saving. Quietly, Ahiram retrieved his wings and laid them on his shoulder; they slid between his shoulder blades and locked in place. He slipped the shoes of bronze on, and buckled the silver belt around his waist.
Don’t do that, the dog warned. You’re going to complicate things.
Slowly, Ahiram bid the wings to pull him up, and as quick as a hawk, dropped between the trees directly behind Domnina. Feeling a presence behind her, she turned around and screamed, but before she could move, Ahiram snatched her and took off, straight up, at a dizzying speed. He rose higher and higher until the lights of the camp below mirrored the shining stars above.
Domnina’s teeth clattered and she whimpered softly.
“If I drop you from this height, every bone in your body will shatter,” he snarled angrily. “Start from the very beginning, and if you omit a single detail, I will drop you.”
“The Pit take you,” she spat.
Ahiram dropped her.
She screamed in sheer terror as she fell. But her scream turned into a gurgle when her fall came to an abrupt and painful stop. She felt as if her shoulders had dislocated and were wrenched from the rest of her body. She jolted when Ahiram began pulling the thin rope tied to the dart he had clipped onto Domnina’s belt before dropping her. Holding her with one arm, he placed the mask of gold on his face and turned to her in a whisper. “You will tell me everything you know.”
Domnina nearly died of fright. The mask seemed to be alive, like the face of a fire-breathing dragon.
“Take it off!” she cried, “take it off!”
Ahiram raised the mask and pulled her closer until their faces were inches apart. Domnina recoiled before the dark storm that had gathered in his eyes, a fiery destruction mightier than a dragon. “Start by telling me who you are,” he snarled. “Lie to me and I will drop you.” He was using the Silent’s interrogation techniques the commander had taught him. He did not like it but knew it was necessary to get to the truth quickly. This creature, whatever she was, had no qualms with poisoning him. He needed answers, fast.
“Put me down and I’ll tell you everything.”
“Speak now or I will drop you, then I will go after the other two. You’re not getting away until you tell me everything you know and why you poisoned me.”
“It wasn’t me, it was Oriana, she—”
Ahiram dropped the mask onto his face and blew. Domnina screamed. “Speak,” said the dragon, “or I will consume you.”
“I am Domnina,”
“You are not a young girl.”
“No. I am … a she-dwarf,” she stammered. “I am sixteen years old.”
Ahiram took the mask off and gazed at her. “Why do you speak in the common tongue?”
“All she-dwarfs do. Only male dwarfs speak in dwarfish.”
“You’re lying,” he said, raising his hand to the mask.
“If you don’t take the antidote, the poison will kill you.”
“Why did you poison me?”
“To take you to Ebaan.”
“Who is Ebaan?”
“I’m so cold and tired,” she said, clasping her arms. She couldn’t understand how Ahiram was able to resist the poison this long. She was now very scared.
Ahiram smiled a wild, alarming smile. “Evade my question and I’ll make sure you get hot real fast.”
“Ebaan, he’s the Arayat trader.”
“The what?”
“The Arayat, the Spell World. That’s where the Temple of Baal grows its curses. It needs human blood to do that. Baal is always sending slaves to the Arayat to feed its curses. Ebaan has connections. He can trade one slave in the Arayat for another. Tyleen was going to trade you for a whole lot of people, our people, that are in the Arayat. Ebaan can rescue them.”
“Why does she trust him?”
“Because he rescued her. She was in the Arayat. She knows.”
Ahiram looked at Domnina. He could see she was scared. With the speed of an eagle, he lunged down. He placed the mask on his face and could now see clearly.
Take the mask off, said the dog’s voice in his head. They will see you.
Order me around one more time, and I swear by Tanniin I will kill you.
You must control your anger. The poison is affecting you.
Then help me find the antidote!
He saw Oriana, the two other she-dwarfs, and Juno run out of the woods. He sped forward and landed so abruptly before them, they thought he had appeared out of nowhere. He tossed the screaming Domnina unceremoniously and before anyone could react, he grabbed Juno by the neck and lifted him up.
Shadow growled a low growl. Put him down.
Stay out of it if you want to live.
“The antidote,” he ordered Oriana. “Give me the antidote or he dies.”
“I don’t have it,” she pleaded. “Please do not hurt him.”
“The antidote.”
Ahiram heard the whoosh of a flying blade behind him. Without taking his eyes off Oriana, he twisted and leaned back to let the dagger go by. With a blink of an eye, he caught the blade, and flicked his wrist, sending the weapon straight back at Domnina. It stabbed her in her right shoulder and pinned her to the tree. She screamed in pain. His hand tightened around Juno’s neck. “The antidote,” he snarled. “Or he dies.”
Jin came forward.
“No!” screamed Oriana, her features hardening. “Don’t give it to him. He is our only hope to get my sister out. Please don’t.”
Domnina grunted, “He’s their only way out.”
Put him down, the dog in his head said.
In the blink of an eye, Ahiram lowered the mask on his face and blew in the direction of Shadow. A roaring flame erupted, consuming everything in its way. When the flame died, there was no sign of the dog. The others screamed in sheer terror. Ahiram lifted the mask and looked at the she-dwarf, who stood before him shaking, with a small vial in her hands. “I’ve never wanted this,” she stammered. “I’m done. Here.”
Ahiram dropped the boy and whisked Jin into the air.
“Why did you take me with you?”
“If that’s a trick of yours, you
’ll die with me.”
“You’re not going to like it.”
“Like what?” he asked.
“What you did. The kinder you are, the harsher you become with this poison. You’re going to hate what you’ve done.”
“I don’t care,” he snarled, barely able to control his anger. “Pray this antidote works because if it doesn’t, I’m going to burn this entire herd with everyone in it.” His conscience had begun unbuckling under the powerful surge of the poison. The mask was beckoning and images of raging destruction raced through his mind. “To the Pit I will send them all,” he sneered. “I will show them the power of Tanniin.”
“No, please don’t,” pleaded Jin, who was struggling to open the vial. “Please don’t do this.”
Ahiram lunged forward. Holding Jin closely with one arm, he reached with his other hand for his mask. Deftly, Jin pinched his nose. Surprised, Ahiram opened his mouth, and she poured the contents of the vial between his parted lips. He inhaled, swallowed, and coughed. Enraged, he slapped her, hard, and she lost consciousness. He slid the mask on his face and dashed blindly toward the helpless sheep sleeping in the quiet of the night. He felt his blood boil in his veins and he blew through the mask. A giant flame lit the night, heating the air around him. His heightened senses heard the scream and the alerts down below. He glimpsed the head-shepherdess slam the butt of her staff to the ground. A gust of wind leapt from her feet and flew faster than arrows. It intercepted his burst of fire and snuffed it before it could harm the herd. Ahiram rose back in the air, preparing his second attack, when sudden exhaustion fell over him. What am I doing here? He nearly let go of Jin and caught her at the last moment. The poison, the anger. She gave me the antidote. What was I trying to do?
Confused and drowsy, Ahiram flew over the herd and into the woods where he found a soft landing site. Gently, he lay Jin down on the ground. She moaned softly. He stowed his artifacts away, and broke into a sweat, and then started shaking uncontrollably. His vision blurred just as moving shadows slid silently through the trees, and he fell into darkness.
The Wretched Race (Epic of Ahiram Book 3) Page 18