by Shannah Jay
The wagon jerked to a halt and the two deleff raised their heads to trumpet loudly.
'I think they want to speak to me,' Jonner muttered. 'I hope we're not running into more danger. I've had enough danger to last me the rest of my life.' He slipped the tracer into his belt pouch and ran one fingertip down her cheek. 'All I want is to settle down with you, love, and to get back on to my regular trading circuits.'
'One day it’ll happen.'
'Perhaps. It's hard to keep up hope, though, isn't it?'
She smiled at him. 'No. Hope is always there for us if we only look for it.'
He shook his head. 'You Sisters amaze me sometimes. How can you keep on hoping, keep on smiling, after all that's happened to us?'
'Because I know our Brother is with us. And because,' she paused for a moment, 'because he's already rescued me from Dsheresh Kashal and brought me to you. Whatever happens now, I've tasted real love and happiness.'
He grinned, good humour restored by the expression on her face, then he shrank back as the deleff trumpeted again. 'Better see what they want.'
He jumped down and went to lay his hands along the great head. As he stared into the multi-faceted eyes, an expression of surprise crossed his face. When he removed his hands, he pulled the tracer out of his pouch.
'Well, if you say so.' He placed it carefully on the ground a little way ahead of the wagon and then went back to sit next to Narla.
'What's the matter?'
'They want to destroy it.'
'But Davred gave it to you.'
Jonner shrugged. 'I'm not arguing with them, not after the way they've helped us. Besides, I don't like the feel of that thing myself now. It's changed. It never used to hiss at you like that. It - I know this sounds silly -
but it reminds me of the Serpent, somehow.'
One of the deleff moved forward, raised its foot and stamped hard on the tracer. A brilliant flash of light blinded them for a moment, then Jonner jumped down from the wagon and ran forward. 'Are you all right?'
he asked the deleff.
It wasn't all right. It was stumbling around as if disoriented. Its companion nudged Jonner out of the way and went to lay its head against its companion's neck. Then they turned as one and stamped off through the undergrowth.
Jonner was left staring after them. 'I think it was hurt,' he said. 'I've never seen anything like that happen.
You don’t think of deleff as vulnerable to attack, somehow.' He moved cautiously along the track to stare at the knee-deep hole surrounded by scorched earth and vegetation. 'Just look at the mess it's made. Whatever are those things made of?'
Narla came to stand next to him. 'I knew it was dangerous.'
'Just look how deep this hole is! You wouldn't think one small box could do so much damage.'
'I don't like Confederation ways,' she said, pressing against him. 'There's something evil up there in the sky.
It feels as if it's waiting to attack us.'
'Well, that man Robler has tried to pull Davred back a few times now, so maybe it's him. Though I can't imagine him wanting to grab me.' Then Jonner grinned, as irrepressible as ever. 'You know, we'll just have to wait here until some new deleff come to draw our wagon. Let's go back to the wagon and think how to pass the time.'
Narla chuckled. 'There are a few advantages to not having Cheral around all the time.'
* * *
Two new deleff came to them a day later. They greeted Jonner briefly, walked into the harness and started dragging the wagon through the woods. They plodded along steadily for the rest of the day and then, as night was falling, pulled into a large clearing. Several farm wagons were waiting and a group of draft nerids was tethered. The deleff walking over to line their wagon up with the others then stepped out of the harness.
Jonner grinned as he heard a well-known voice haranguing someone about sloppy cooking methods.
Cheral was all right, then. He turned at Narla. 'Every time I hear her scolding, I feel safer, somehow.'
Cheral's voice cut off abruptly as she saw them and she bustled across the clearing. 'There you are at last, Jonner. What’s taken you so long? Everyone's waiting to leave.'
'Now I really know I'm safe.'
Narla nudged Jonner and he shut up, but couldn’t stop grinning. 'What are we going to do now, Cheral?'
'Have supper,' she snapped. 'The body needs fuel if it’s to perform properly.'
'I've got plenty of whitebulbs,' said Jonner, 'if you want to roast them.'
'Jonner, be quiet!' said Narla, choking back her own laughter. If only, she thought wistfully, life could go back to normal, she and Jonner would be very happy together. He made her laugh. No one had ever made her laugh like that before. No one had threaded her days with humour and gentle teasing, or with love.
She followed him and Cheral back to the cook-fire, loving the alert bouncy way he walked, the way his eyes flickered here and there, the way his grin flashed at the slightest excuse. A small man, but full of vitality and intelligence. Her Jonner. She said it to herself often to give herself courage when things looked bleak. Her very own Jonner.
After everyone had eaten, the rest of the wagons set off, hoping to get far enough away to found a new settlement out of reach of Those of the Serpent. Pivithin said goodbye to his friends and lounged over to join Jonner's group by the campfire. 'I think it's about time we had a good talk, don't you? You'll never find this little girl without my help. I know this claim well, and the lands beyond. Before things grew so bad, I used to travel with the traders sometimes.'
Cheral nodded. 'We'd be very grateful for that help. Do you know where the girl is?'
'I think so. Or if she isn't there, they'll know of her whereabouts. I'll take you to them - or rather, you can take me in your wagon.'
'What about your family?'
'They’re in a very safe place. I'll know where to find them again.'
Even as he spoke, the deleff were walking into their harness and starting to move forward. 'Here we go again,' muttered Jonner. 'Off into danger. It's a good job it's a three-mooner tonight.' He seized Narla's hand quite openly, ignoring Cheral's frown.
As they rode along a narrow forest track, Cheral questioned Pivithin. 'Where do you think the girl is, then?'
'With those Sisters who escaped from the destruction of the crèche, I should think.'
'How do you know where they are?'
Pivithin grinned. 'Well, as it happens, I'm the one who helped them escape.'
Cheral sighed. 'Why do they always attack our children?' Her face was twisted with sadness, but then she straightened up and pushed that thought away. No time to grieve now. No time to do anything but follow their Brother's path.
Pivithin answered her, however, speaking in a harsh voice. 'They attack them because the children are our future, our hope. I lost my youngest son to the violence, but my other three children are in the safest place I’ve been able to find and my wife will be joining them.’
They jogged along for a while in silence, then Pivithin asked the question that had been hovering on his tongue. 'Er - Cheral, would you mind telling me how you fit into my family?'
She stared at him, wondering what to say, then decided on the truth and said quietly, 'I was Warral's wife.'
He gaped. 'But Monna died! She died in childbirth!'
Monna. No one had called her that for over a hundred years. Cheral winked away a tear. 'I just pretended to die because I was called back to serve in the temple. I changed my name with my new life.'
'The temple in Beldarik? You mean, you've been there all this time?'
'Oh, no. That would have been too risky. I was sent to Temple Tenebrak. We never stay in the same place when we rejoin our Brother after marriage. It's best to make a clean break, best for all concerned. I went to Tenebrak and became Novice Mistress there.' A pang of homesickness shot through her at the thought of the ordered bustling days, when she’d served her Brother happily every single minute of the day.
He stare
d at her as if she were an alien creature. 'So you know Herra of Tenebrak?'
'Yes. Herra and I’ve been friends for a long time.' So many, many years. Where had they all gone?
Pivithin stared at her in awe, then said in a hushed voice, 'That's a great honour for our family. But - it would make you - '
'Over a hundred and sixty years old. Yes.' She stared down at herself. 'It surprises me, sometimes, that I'm still alive. Our Brother’s been very kind to me.' In some ways. But she didn't voice that thought aloud. She hesitated, then gave in to temptation. 'Can you tell me what happened to Warral after I left?'
'He brought up his family and later remarried. He had three more children by his second wife, but I'm of your direct line, a distant grandson. Warral lived longer than usual, too. He was nearly a hundred and twenty when he died, and still capable of looking after his own needs. My father knew him, and loved him, but Warral died when I was four, so I don't really remember him.'
'He was a very lovable man, my Warral. And you have a look of him.' She sat quietly, with such a look of sadness on her face that Pivithin didn’t interrupt her. When she straightened her spine, it was to return to her usual sharp self. 'Well, tell me about this new crèche, then. Where is it?'
'It's in the wildwoods to the east of Kelandra. I returned there once with supplies, and they were managing quite well. I'm sure I can find my way back again.'
'What about your own family?'
His expression became bleak. 'My first wife was killed a few years ago by Those of the Serpent, one of my sons, too. My other children and my second wife are - elsewhere.' He shrugged. 'You don't need to know where, so I'll keep that information to myself, if you don't mind. It's not that I don't trust you, but what you don't know, you can't tell.'
She inclined her head in agreement. 'And how did you learn to shield yourself like that?'
He looked puzzled.
'How were you able to convince Those of the Serpent that you were working with them? They can usually recognise those who support the Sisterhood.'
'I don't know how. I think I've always been able to guard my feelings better than most. But you did it too, in the alehouse. The Servants can usually recognise a Sister on first sight.' He shuddered. 'I saw them capture one once. Perhaps - perhaps the ability was bred in our line.'
'Or perhaps it's a new Gift. I'll call it Soul Shielding for the moment. Gifts are still developing in us.' Oh, for the time to study these new Gifts properly, though, to work out how to foster and develop them! Another vain regret. What had got into her today? 'How long will it take us to get to the crèche?'
'A long time - twenty, maybe thirty days of travelling.'
One of the deleff raised its snout and trumpeted loudly. Cheral stared out of the front of the wagon. 'Our friends there may be able to help us to get there more quickly.'
He looked puzzled. 'The deleff?'
She’d forgotten that most people still thought of them as mere draught beasts. 'Yes, the deleff. They’re thinking creatures who work with us against Those of the Serpent.'
He stared at her, opened and shut his mouth, then stared at the deleff. 'That would explain a lot of things.'
By nightfall they’d arrived at another of the black pools. This time they were aware they were being followed, and had all armed themselves against whoever it was. The deleff had been crashing through the undergrowth at their top speed and now didn’t hesitate to pull the wagons over to the pool.
'What are they doing?' yelled Pivithin, clutching the side of the wagon as it rolled and jerked from side to side.
'Just hang on and you'll find out,' said Jonner. 'Oh-oh! Here comes trouble. Just once, I'd like things to go smoothly. Just once.'
Cheral stood up and concentrated on the man running across the gravel that surrounded the pool. He yelled as his feet slowed down and his arms refused to pump, but he called upon the Serpent and somehow managed to keep moving, slowly but inexorably. By the time the water had begun to well up around the wagon, the man had reached the edge of the pool and another yell from the undergrowth showed t a second pursuer on their heels.
Jonner fumbled for his throwing knives. 'Shame to waste them,' he muttered, creeping towards the rear of the wagon. 'I'll never be able to retrieve them. Still - '
'Wait!' called Cheral. 'We don’t take lives unless we absolutely have to.'
'What do you call this?' Jonner yelled as the man's hands reached out to grasp the tailboard of the wagon.
He kicked at the hands, but the man only cursed and clutched at a side strut.
The water spurted higher and higher. Pivithin seized a pole and pushed at the man, shuddering at the hate-contorted face. Blackness crept along the pole and before the shadow reached Pivithin's hands, Jonner yelled at him to drop the pole.
He did so and they both stood panting and staring at the man, at the writhing black mark on his forehead.
The noises coming from his mouth were no longer human, a garbled, gutteral hissing that sent fear along the bones of the two men in the wagon.
'Stand out of my way!' ordered Cheral. 'I know what to do.' She moved forward, her face grim with determination. As the man lunged for her, she reached down to grasp his hands, calling upon her Brother in a voice that echoed around them. Light seemed to pour from nowhere to run along her arms and gleam softly around the man's hands. And wherever the light touched, sparks flew from the darkness that surrounded him.
For a moment the darkness held the light at bay, then it reared backwards, flowing away to hover in the air a few paces away. As the light touched the man's now unprotected flesh, he screamed loudly and jerked about like one in a fit.
'Brother, look down!' Cheral called again, in a voice which was louder even than the crashing splashing water around them. For a moment all was still and the brightness became too dazzling to look at, then, as it began to fade, she let go of the man's hands.
He dropped backwards into the water, his screams cutting off abruptly as it closed over his head. When he rose to the surface again, thrashing and moaning, and calling upon the Serpent to save him, the darkness swooped down on him and he vanished. This time he didn’t reappear. The darkness hovered half in and half out of the water for a moment or two more, then it faded into nothing with a deep rumbling noise that was almost too low to hear.
Cheral moved back to her place in the body of the wagon and sank down, exhausted, murmuring, 'You honour me, Brother.'
Pivithin remained near the rear of the wagon, staring anxiously out at the turbulent water. There’d been little time for explanations or questions, while they fought off their pursuers, and now great gushing fountains were spurting up around them. When the spray crashed down upon the awning of the wagon, it seemed to be beating a rhythm, a rhythm that etched itself into the very bones of the four humans.
'It's all right!' Jonner managed to yell. 'It's always like this.'
Pivithin nodded once. 'What exactly is happening?'
Before Jonner could complete his explanation, they started passing through the portal itself. Three of the passengers in the wagon accepted the strange disorientation as they passed through it, the fourth fought and struggled against it. In the end, Pivithin sagged down against a sack of white bulbs, his hand reaching out at the last minute to clutch his great-great-great-grandmother's robe. Jonner and Narla huddled together, saying nothing, just enduring.
'You'll grow used to it,' Cheral murmured, reaching out to pat Pivithin's hand. 'One can grow used to the most amazing things. Especially when our Brother travels with us.'
The wagon moved forward slowly and inexorably through the portal, with the steady rhythm of the deleff's feet echoed in the rhythm of the waterspouts slapping against the canvas.
CHAPTER 27 REUNION IN THE HIGH REACHES
Pivithin was the last to regain consciousness. He looked at the others, sitting patiently waiting for him, and asked shakily, 'What exactly was that?'
'A portal,' replied Cheral, feeling his bro
w. 'You lose consciousness for a bit when you pass through one, but the more you do it, the less it affects you. We've been waiting for you to recover.' She didn't mention the way his hand had clutched her robe, but she found that touching, a sign of need, which brought out the best in her, as usual. 'You'd better move around a bit. Get your body working properly again.'
'Wait!' He swallowed hard. 'The darkness that crept up the stick - what was it? It felt - unclean, loathsome.'
'That was the Serpent,' said Cheral, patting his hand. 'It's beginning to take on a life of its own.' Her expression was sombre, her whole body rigid with disgust as she remembered the clinging, smothering, lost-in-evil feel of it. But she’d overcome it. With their Brother's help, she’d overcome it.
Pivithin shuddered again, the horror he felt too great for any words he knew.
Cheral decided it’d be wise to distract him. One shouldn’t dwell upon encounters with evil. 'The deleff have these portals all across the land, you know. I’d guess we're somewhere beyond Kelandra now. They always seem to know where we need to go.'
'Beyond Kelandra! Just like that. I can't believe it.'
Jonner poked his head through the awning. 'Ah, you're awake again. Good. What can't you believe?'
'That portal. We can't be beyond Kelandra!'
'We can. And you'll see more wonders than that before you're through. Just you wait. You'll end up believing in the impossible, whether you like it or not. Some of the things that happen to us will give you the shivers.' Jonner seemed to relish the thought. He turned to yell, 'He's awake now.'
Cheral stood up, shaking her crumpled clothing. 'That's enough of that, Jonner. Give my grandson time to recover properly. And I'd like a little time to myself, too, if you don't mind. I believe Narla has some nut porridge waiting for you, Pivithin.' She went to sit on the driving seat, staring blindly ahead, still trying to understand the evil that had emanated from that dark shadow, the evil that had actually touched her. Had it been a manifestation of the Serpent? Had the cult poured so much power into their god that it’d taken on life?
She shuddered at the thought. The more they struggled, the stronger the Serpent seemed to grow. 'Brother, look down!' she murmured, not even realising she’d spoken aloud. Then, resolutely, she put her worries behind her and turned to scold the others, so that they, too, would forget their fears and concentrate on doing something.