Taikiuu recognized signs of life in Jon’lan yet he did not breathe on his own, she also recognized the smell of the poison that was used to coat the warrior’s arrows, spears and knives. It was a deadly plant that often killed its victim well after they were wounded, even if their wounds were not fatal, the poison often was.
Taikiuu used leaves that she carried on her to counteract the effects of the poison. She could do nothing for Roark except to drop the leaves upon the ground where he lay dying. She could only pray that Jon’lan would wake and chew the leaves that she had pressed into his mouth. It was his only hope.
Anaay moaned in the stillness that surrounded him, never before had he felt such intense pain. He was covered from head to toe with bruises that had already started to change in color. He blinked his eyes open and he felt the rays of the sun upon his face.
He rolled over onto his back with a great effort and gasped at the pain that shot through his body from head to toe. His head pounded with an intensity that left him gasping. As his mind cleared his first thought was of Kii and the image of her lying dead on the mountain was the only thing that forced him to his knees and then his feet.
At first he saw only black spots of color that danced in front of his eyes, every movement of his head was an agony superseded only by the bruises and injury to the rest of his body. Anaay lurched to his feet with a groan and the first thing his eyes beheld was Roark’s prone form.
Anaay approached the warrior with trepidation but he needed to find out if Roark still lived or if he had perished while Anaay lay senseless. He dropped to his knees beside the large man and his breath caught when he saw that Roark still breathed. There were strange leaves scattered about the man and for the moment Anaay ignored them.
His attention was riveted on the two arrows protruding from Roark’s body, one had pierced him in the upper arm and the other had taken him in the chest. He pulled at the man’s tunic looking for the blood that he expected to find. Instead he found that the arrow in his chest had been stopped by a large flat stone that hung from a leather thong around the man’s neck.
Anaay quickly moved on to inspect Roark’s arm and he saw that the arrow had entered and gone through the other side. He shoved at Roark until he could get the man turned and then he put both hands to the arrow and pulled it out of the other side.
Blood immediately began to flow and Anaay did his best to remember some of the skills Taikiuu had shared with him in the art of healing. He knew that Roark could still die from loss of blood. Thinking quickly he pulled the leather thong loose from the man’s neck and noticed that the flat stone he wore was now cracked into several pieces.
He used the thong to tie around Roark’s arm directly below the wound. For now it was the best that he could do. If the man hadn’t woken from the pain caused by the arrow being pulled from his arm, Anaay wasn’t sure what would wake him, if anything.
Anaay lurched again to his feet, ignoring the pain in his body as he searched the ground for any sign of Jon’lan or the others. At first he saw nothing. His line of sight was obscured by rocks and boulders that hid any sight of friend or enemy.
He was quick to arm himself. He looked around for any sign of those that had attacked their band. He couldn’t worry about the knife wounds that covered his body and he would not rest until he found Jon’lan and Giad or any sign of their band.
At first Anaay did not see him, even as he almost stumbled over the man. Jon’lan’s tunic blended perfectly with the landscape and the man lay prone with his arms and legs splayed where he had fallen.
Anaay almost wept when he saw Jon’lan’s chest rise and fall steadily. He still lived! Anaay fell to his knees and Jon’lan blinked his eyes before looking at the young man.
“Taikiuu.” Jon’lan whispered in anguish before he closed his eyes once more even as he fought the encroaching darkness.
Anaay thought about the leaves that were in Jon’lan’s mouth, he dared not remove them, they appeared to be helping the man in some way. Already Anaay felt the heat of fever take hold of him and he struggled to drag Jon’lan closer to Roark’s body. Again he looked at the leaves sprinkled on top of the large man and he picked up several of them and put them in his mouth. Then he crushed a few into his hands until they were wet from the pulp produced by the leaves and tucked them into Roark’s cheeks on either side.
Anaay did not understand what was happening to them but he knew that somehow the Ada’na had fought to save them from the illness that racked his body. He fought the dry heaves that surged through his stomach. Even as he looked again towards Roark and Jon’lan. With the last of his strength he built a small fire in the circle of their bodies as they lay at the edge of the cliff.
He noticed the tracks left by their band as they descended the mountain but the thought didn’t reach the part of his mind that could process the information.
Anaay was caught in a nightmare world of pain and sickness. His head pounded with renewed fury and he swayed on his feet before falling over onto his side. As he fell he saw a figure approach and he could do nothing to defend himself should the person pose a threat.
Star Feather grabbed hold of Yaa who curled into her embrace like an infant seeking comfort. The girl no longer cried but the ordeal she had been through showed plainly on her face. Giad was not in much better shape. But he was able to speak and so he did. “Roark, Jon’lan and Anaay have fallen. The Ada’na has been taken by Marad’s men.”
Kii and Star Feather both moaned as if they had been physically struck. The women clung to each other for a moment with Yaa and Giad pressed between them. Mar-ee wrapped her arms around Kii’s neck and buried her face into her shoulder. Ordinarily Giad would not seek the comfort of his mother, but he had no resources left to extend and no hope left in his heart.
Everything had been stripped from them and suddenly there was no tomorrow, no sunrise, no way forward except darkness. He wanted to comfort Yaa who trembled at his side, but there were no words that would take away her pain or his.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Star Feather made her way to the top of the ridge with desperation as her impetus and despair as her motive. She could not leave Roark’s body to the wild animals on the mountain. She would not leave him. Star Feather had forced a terrified Kii to remain behind with Yaa, Mar-ee, Giad and Mantiloff. She regretted the fear that showed briefly upon Kii’s face before the young woman controlled her emotions.
Star Feather had the same fear that they would be left alone to fend for themselves in an unknown land, with four children to care for. She could not think of that now. Not as she looked upon the still figures of Roark, Jon’lan and Anaay. Her breath burned in her chest from the exertion of the climb, but her heart burned for an entirely different reason. Roark lived.
At first the rise and fall of his massive chest was not noticeable, but his wife looked at him fully expecting to see the pallor of death upon his tawny skin. Instead she noticed that his cheeks were flushed with fever and his breathing was steady but shallow. She checked on Jon’lan and Anaay and she cried silently as she found them alive as well.
Jon’lan had many untreated knife wounds that caused her great concern. She set about treating the men’s wounds to the best of her ability. Over the many moons that they had traveled together as a small band, the women had talked and learned from each other. Taikiuu taught them a variety of ways to treat various ailments.
Taikiuu was by far the most skilled and knowledgeable, but each person shared what they knew. Although healing did not come naturally to Star Feather, as it did to Taikiuu and Kii, she felt that it was a necessary skill to learn as a wife and mother.
Such knowledge would have been forbidden to her in her first village. Not because she did not have the ability to learn and retain the information, but because it was viewed as sacred.
In this way, Taikiuu had blessed them by disposing of those types of beliefs. Jon’lan had only smiled softly when he saw his wife teaching the women how to
sew and close a wound and how to prevent it from festering.
Star Feather used the skills that she had learned to treat the men now. She noticed that Anaay clutched leaves that appeared familiar to her, but the memory was vague, perhaps Kii would know.
Yet as the afternoon darkened into evening and then nightfall Star Feather realized that she could not leave the men and she certainly couldn’t travel without light. She thought of Kii and how scared she must be and she said a silent prayer to the Great One of All Thigns asking that they each have courage. Star Feather allowed her mind to turn to Taikiuu’s plight and she shivered as she thought of her hearth sister at the mercy of the vengeful warriors.
Taikiuu followed slowly behind the warriors. They spoke softly so that she could not hear what they planned. Her wrists were bound together and she had to concentrate on each footfall so that she would not stumble.
With Marad dead there was no hope of being spared the rape that gleamed in the men’s eyes. Taikiuu knew that she would fight them to her dying breath, but she was outnumbered and outmatched.
There was no hope of rescue. Her heart stuttered in a staccato rhythm that filled her ears with the sound. One of the men, the one with the fierce eyes that was called Anuk directed her to prepare their meal for them.
Taikiuu hesitated, unsure whether she should defy the man or comply. She did not want to risk his rage unnecessarily and she was certain that she would feel the full brunt of their displeasure soon. For now, she would not dwell on it; thinking of what was to come only brought her greater anxiety.
Taikiuu was a healer and she had always been a healer. She followed in the footsteps of Shi’nar her mother and their female ancestors from time beyond memory. A healer learned how to use herbs and plants to treat the ailments of the body. It was a sacred duty and one that she took seriously.
Yet, now she needed to decide if she would use the leaves that she carried as a poison to the men that would hold her captive, rape and use her as if she were worth less than nothing.
As the Ada’na she might have suffered their abuse, knowing that it was her sacred duty to preserve life, even at the cost of her own. But as Jon’lan’s wife and the mother of his unborn child, she wanted nothing more than to remain alive so that she could see her child born into the world. The two sides of her soul were at war with each other.
As she prepared the stew that the men needed to nourish their bodies she thought of Anaay, Roark and Jon’lan. She thought of the injuries that her people suffered at the hands of these men and the other warriors.
The mother inside of her made the decision to protect herself and her only weapon at this time was her knowledge of herbs. She reached into her pouch slowly so as not to draw any attention. She removed just enough of a purgative plant to cause debilitating stomach ailments to the two men. She reasoned that just as she would have fought with bow and arrow against their pursuers, so now she would fight with wisdom and guile against her captors.
Taikiuu added what seasoning that she could to the stew, hoping to hide the bitter taste of it. She would not risk dehydration from vomiting by tasting the stew herself.
She could only wait and watch as the men took a few bites and then ate ravenously, offering her none. Anuk threw his empty clay dish aside causing it to shatter against the ground.
Taikiuu did not flinch as the man approached her, instead she stood, rising slowly to her feet. She looked the warrior directly in the eye and cursed him in the language of the ancients.
Anuk froze as he heard the guttural tongue used by the Ada’na. She was a beautiful woman; even with her disheveled appearance she was comely. Her hair alone would cause any man to lust after her.
Yet her people had somehow defeated eight of their best warriors, including Marad who lay dead. Anuk wondered how Sirion would reward him for capturing the Ada’na even though the trader had been killed. He could imagine that she would be forever grateful to him, for restoring balance to the People.
With the Ada’na’s death would come the glory that Sirion sought along with great power. For now, Anuk planned to enjoy the woman, no matter how her eyes defied him. His companion wanted nothing to do with the woman and had easily caved in to fear as she muttered in an unknown tongue. Even as her words grew in cadence and volume Anuk lunged forward to strike her.
Taikiuu shielded her belly and took the blow directly to the side of her face. Even though she braced herself for the pain she was caught off guard and the force of the blow threw her to the side where she landed hard against the ground. She gasped in an effort to catch her breath, but the man was already upon her. She tried to find the will to fight him even as he ripped at her tunic and undergarments.
She knew that the other warrior stood by watching and she could only pray that he wouldn’t join in the fight. She thrust her finger into the man’s face, seeking to gouge out his eyes and he roared in response to her attempts to defend herself. Anuk suddenly stiffened as a wave of pain moved through his gut. At first he thought that the woman had stabbed him with a hidden knife, but his eyes told him that he held both of her hands with his own. His eye still throbbed but it was nothing compared to the pain that roared through his stomach. He had a sudden urge to vomit and he did so, violently.
He noticed that his companion was also bent over at the waist as he rid himself of the contents of his stomach. Anuk rolled over to his side as the woman writhed beneath him and as his insides screamed with pain. Suddenly he was lost to the contortions of his own body. He felt the woman move from underneath him and he was aware of her hand at his side as she grabbed his hunting knife. Taikiuu looked at the large knife that she held in her hand and she looked at the two men who were now spitting up bile and blood.
She knew that she had to kill them in order to escape. There was no telling how long the poison would work, it was possible that it would kill them, but it was also possible that they would recover.
She looked at the rope that the man had carried over towards her, intent on binding her hands again so that she would be at his mercy. She shuddered in response. A small movement of life in her womb captured her full attention and suddenly she knew what she had to do.
Jon’lan sweated profusely, even though the evening had grown bitter with cold. He was aware of Star Feather pressing leaves into his mouth and he chewed and swallowed the bitter mass as she gave him a measure of water. Roark and Anaay were not in much better condition although Roark remained in an unnatural sleep. Anaay drifted in and out of a troubled rest as Star Feather checked and rechecked his wounds.
Jon’lan kept calling for his wife and Star Feather tried to calm him and keep him still. There was very little that she could do for the men, without the help of a healer. Roark’s condition scared her the most, not only because he was her husband, but because he had never awoken after being wounded. Jon’lan called again for Taikiuu and Star Feather began to pray. There was nothing else that she could do and so she prayed throughout the night.
Giad watched over Kii, Yaa and Mar-ee as they gathered firewood and made a small fire. They had a small meal of dried meat and split one of the remaining sweet cakes that Taikiuu had made at the beginning of their journey. It all seemed so long ago and so far removed from where they were now.
Giad wanted to return to the top of the rise where he knew his mother sought his father’s body and the remains of the others. But he also knew that they were now in a foreign land, a valley just as lush and beautiful as the one that they had left on the other side of the Great Mountain. He was alert for any movement and as soon as the girls had warmed themselves by the fire he asked them to cover it for now.
The dark was frightening. The noises and sounds were as foreign to him as the new land that they had entered. Yet he feared the coming of the morning more than the survival of the night. With the morning, word of Roark, Jon’lan and Anaay would come to them on the lips of Star Feather, who was due to return. Although Giad knew what his mother would say, a part of him, the ch
ild inside of him that still desperately needed a father, hoped that he was wrong.
The shadows cast by the trees in the light of the moon seemed to move and converge as Giad watched their surroundings. Kii suddenly gasped as she clutched Mantiloff and Mar-ee to her, shielding them with her body. Giad braced himself for the threat of the unknown. In the all consuming darkness he felt his sister reach for his hand as she whimpered in terror.
Taikiuu stumbled forward wearily. Already she was weakening from lack of food and the terrible cold that encroached upon her from all sides. She called herself foolish for not taking one of the men’s fur wraps for herself, but she could not stand the smell of the man that had tried to rape her.
She couldn’t make herself put his wrapper around her shoulders and huddle into it for warmth no matter how cold she became. She told herself that they had traveled most of the day and so it would take her that much time, if not more in her weakened state, to reach the cliff hang where she had left Jon’lan.
She could only pray that he still lived for the poison that the Aztlan leader, Sirion, had at her disposal was powerful and there was no stopping it once it settled into its victim. Taikiuu shuddered at the thought that she had become like Sirion, using poison to control those who crossed her.
She reminded herself that she was nothing like the woman who sought power at all costs. Taikiuu wanted only to see to the safety of her band and to live in peace and freedom. She took a steadying breath and plodded ever onward.
Keeper of the People (Book One) Page 53