Chapter 23
I woke up with a start, for a moment forgetting where I was. In front of me was rock, to both sides was rock, behind my head was rock, above me was rock. I sat straight up on the blankets that softened the discomfort of the rock floor beneath me. The caves...we had spent the night inside the Beyjerones' caves.
"Did you sleep well?" Jalya's voice floated over from the other side of the rock room. She was sitting up in her little makeshift bed, brushing her hair, her face illuminated by tiny streams of light that stabbed through little holes which were bored into the ceiling.
I reached behind me and rubbed my back. "As well as can be expected in a rock room."
"Well, it had to at least be better than the wagon."
"Yes, sleeping in a rock room is better than sleeping in a cramped wagon with five snoring men."
She laughed. "Yeah, it was kind of uncomfortable....and awkward." She looked dreamily across the room.
I rolled my eyes. "But you miss sleeping next to Oches, I know, Jalya."
"It's different this time, Emerin." Her facial expression was so serious that I almost gave her the benefit of the doubt.
"If you say so."
"I do say so. Would it kill you to be happy for me for once?"
"For once? Jalya I was happy for you with Garen; I was happy for you with Lenal; I was even happy about Kendulan." I stopped and counted off Jalya's various crushes in my head.
"I wasn't very happy about Shale, but that was kind of different. Let me ask you this....when this is all over are you going to stay with him? Is he still going to want to be with you? He's going to want to go back to his clan, and you're going to go.......well, I don't know where you're going to go. Hell, I don't even know where I'm going to go." I sighed and put my head in my hands. "I'm sorry, Jalya, I'm just worried. Worried and scared and getting tired of this whole thing."
"I know."
"The truth is that I'm kind of jealous. I mean you've met this really good looking, nice man and you're all carefree and having fun, but for me it's so serious, you know. I have all this pressure on me, and all these really terrifying things to do....and all I really want to do is go back to Lock Up and find him." I turned to look at her. "You're lucky you can just have a normal relationship with a normal man."
She looked at me sadly. "I know. Don't think I'm not worried though. I don't know what's going to happen after this is all over either. And you do know that I'm jealous of you, right? You get all this attention; you always did...me, I'm just best friend of the bei clu."
"It's not fun getting attention for being the weirdo."
A loud knock came from the other side of the door, abruptly ending our discussion. Oches' voice boomed from the other side. "You girls awake?"
Jalya's face lit up as she jumped up to open the door. I tried really hard to feel happy and plastered a big smile across my face when Oches came into view. "Good morning," I beamed.
Jalya glared at me, but Oches just smiled. "Good morning, Emerin....Jalya." He looked at her with the same ravenous desire with which I had looked at my dinner last night. "Wagna wanted me to come and get you. The Beyjerones have cooked breakfast for us."
"Mmm, I hope it's as good at last night's dinner," I said and stood up quickly. The thought of more hot, delicious food made me feel much better and I followed Jalya and Oches happily down the tiny hall. I hung back a little, figuring that I'd give them some alone time, which also gave me a chance to check out our surroundings in the light.
We navigated a crazy maze of narrow tunnels that twisted their way through the brown rock, cutting it into sections, dividing it into rooms, dwellings and whatever else they needed. The pathway was covered with some kind of clear layered rock, which let the light filter down and it sparkled and danced before us as we walked.
We had slept in a small enclave of rooms that they saved for guests. Their own dwellings were further into the elaborate labyrinth, safely nestled in the interior of the cliffs. It was an interesting place to visit, but I didn't think that I could ever permanently stay in such a tightly enclosed place. I must have been too tired to notice the night before, but now just walking through its walled pathways was enough to make me feel like I couldn't breathe. The air seemed stale and my chest felt tight and I inhaled deeply to assure myself that I still could. I felt an enormous relief when we finally rounded the last bend and stepped out into the brightness of the dining hall.
We had eaten in this room last night by lamplight, so I had only been able to see the immediate rocky surroundings. Everything outside of our small sphere of light had disappeared into inky blackness. I looked around now, grateful to finally be able to take in the view.
The dining hall, like everything else, was also a rock room, but it had huge windows carved out of its circular outer wall. These windows faced east, thereby allowing the morning sunlight to stream in, lighting up the ever present brown walls and bouncing happily off the brown rock tables. The breeze was cool, but nice, and I went straight over to the windows to fill my lungs with fresh air.
The view was astonishing and actually startled me for a moment. Somehow I expected to see more brown walls outside the window, but when I poked my head out I saw nothing but a sheer, dramatic drop into nowhere. Well, it seemed like nowhere, but when I watched for a few minutes I could make out the form of the Nebril River twisting underneath the mist. It passed right by the cliffs before bending sharply around Malhadron Mountain, the unbelievable giant that covered the sky to my left. I wondered what was on the other side.
Past the river, there were fields that stretched as far as I could see. I wondered where it led, what interesting lands lay past those fields, or if the grass just stretched on forever. I stared at the horizon, unable to wrench my eyes away, even when I heard the Beyjerones filling the dining area.
"What's so darned interesting out there?" Wagna's gruff voice abruptly intruded on my thoughts and I forced my attention back toward the large rock room.
"Nothing really, just a pretty view."
"Sure is. Do you think you can drag yourself away for long enough to eat? There's someone over here that I'd like you to meet."
I nodded and followed him back to the centre of the room. The Beyjerones were gathering at the long tables, chatting amongst themselves happily. Several of them threw sidelong glances in my direction and I was pretty sure that word was getting around about who, or rather, what I was. They crowded together on long wooden benches folding their wings about themselves so they could sit close together. I took a seat at the table with Wagna and saw that the rest of my traveling companions were already there, with the exception of Reyla.
By the time the Beyjerones had rescued us the previous evening, the Orlog had already finished draining the energy from Reyla. It had then moved on to Kahj, but it had only just begun to drain him before Vandalaharis had interrupted. I moved over on the bench to sit next to him, upset with myself that I had been so focused on my own issues that I hadn't even thought about how they were doing.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
Kahj looked at me and, though he was smiling, I could see how exhausted he was. "Ah, I'm fine, just a little tired." He touched the red welts that dotted the edges of his face. "Just a little love bite, that's all. Slept it off for the most part. Reyla got it a lot worse."
"Is he awake?"
"Yeah, he's awake. The doctor here is keeping watch over him now. He wants him to stay in bed for the rest of today at least. He doesn't like that very much. Doesn't want to miss out on anything, you know."
"Yeah." I looked up and noticed that we were being joined by two Beyjerones. One sat next to me, the bench creaking under his weight. He was big and burly and had the same markings on his wing as Vandalaharis had, plus a few more. The other sat across the table, next to Wagna. This one had much more delicate features, so I assumed it was a female. I studied her face carefully. If it weren't for the brown fuzz that surrounded her face and the pointy ears which sat a
top her head, she would've looked almost human.
"Ahh, good, good," Wagna beamed and stretched his hand across the table to bring attention to the larger bat. "This, my friends, is General Sanjarus, commander of the Beyjerone army."
He then turned toward the female next to him. "And this beautiful creature is Professor Madalhandra. She is doing research on the Orlogs, trying to unravel the mystery of their origins." He gestured dramatically in our direction. "General, Professor, I believe you already know Isrelda, Oches and Kahj, and these lovely ladies are Jalya and Emerin." He looked towards General Sanjarus. "Emerin's the one I was telling you about earlier."
"Ah yes," said Sanjarus, turning to look at me. "So you are the bei clu. Wagna tells me that you need assistance to get to the top of Malhadron Mountain." His voice was rich and deep and reverberated in my chest.
"Yes," I said, feeling dumb. I wanted to say more, but I felt awkward in the presence of this incredible creature. I dug my fingers into the fabric of my skirt and watched as a female Beyjerone came up to the table and put a steaming plate in front of each of us. There was meat with gravy, vegetables, and some kind of porridge. Their gorgeous smells mingled together and wafted into my eager nostrils. It was all I could do to keep myself from rudely shoveling it all into my mouth the second it was placed on the table.
Wagna spoke up for me. "So we'd like to get her to the Lumeai as soon as possible, to get the Lamorian rock. Then we have to find a way to free her bei clu va."
"Hmm," the General mused. "Breaking into Lock Up is no easy task. There are hundreds of guards, for one thing, all armed with swords. That in itself isn't too much of a problem; my soldiers are strong and well trained and as great in number. However, the Nebril have an army base less than a league away which houses thousands of soldiers. It only takes one guard to climb the tower and light a beacon fire and all those men will come on horseback. If we don't find the bei clu va before they get there....well, my army just isn't large enough to withstand that kind of onslaught."
"Any way to sneak in do you think, and bring him out?"
"Well, like I said, the place is very heavily guarded, but I guess it's possible that it could have its weak spots." Sanjarus took a bite of food and paused to chew, while scratching his chin thoughtfully. "But even if we could find a way, we wouldn't know who he was, not unless we took Emerin with us that is. And a young bei clu, in the presence of her bei clu va for the first time....well, it's not exactly a subtle occasion. She wouldn't be able to control her actions, and keep her mind on the mission. It wouldn't work Wagna."
"Hmmm, perhaps you're right about that."
I felt my cheeks burning. I hated that they were talking about me as though I were a problem child or something, a reckless, inept brute with no control over herself. Unfortunately it was the truth though, so I could really say nothing in my defense. I recalled my behaviour on the bridge with embarrassment. Not a subtle occasion at all.
"But," he said as he cut his meat, "I'll think on it awhile. There may be a possibility that I haven't considered. And in the meantime, I'll send a couple of my brightest soldiers down there to fly around a bit and see what they can find out."
"Won't they be seen?"
"Oh, it'll be dark; less guards on duty then. Ours is a very stealthy breed Wagna." He let out a loud guffaw and shoved the meat into his mouth.
"So, is Emerin going to fly to the top of the mountain?" Jalya asked, finally wrenching her attention from Oches.
"Why yes," the General boomed, "this very evening, in fact. I have instructed Vandalaharis to see to her needs. Would you like to go too, Miss Jalya?"
"Absolutely!"
"Well then, I will assign Torchuk to you. You will both fly out this evening, right after sunset. You'd best get some sleep today if you can, for you may not get much tonight."
I nodded in agreement. "Thank you very much, sir." I said, trying to keep my voice above a mumble.
"You're very welcome indeed."
"Excuse me, but is it safe for them to be going up there alone?" Oches piped up.
"But they won't be alone. Vandalaharis and Torchuk will stay with them the whole time and fly them back down when they're done." Sanjarus' eyes narrowed. "Unless you doubt the effectiveness of my soldier's protection."
Oches stared into the manbat's hardened blue-grey eyes and shook his head. General Sanjarus was indeed an intimidating figure. And after what we saw Vandalaharis and Torchuk do to the Orlogs, I felt completely safe going anywhere with them.
"Well good, that's settled then. Now, I wonder if all of you would be interested in hearing about the Professor's research." The General smiled, revealing a wide set of incredibly sharp looking teeth. "We have found something very interesting."
"Yes, please, we like to hear of it," Isrelda said and leaned forward on the table.
"What have you found, Professor?" Wagna asked.
"Please, please, call me Madal," the Professor said as she wiped her mouth and sat up straight on the bench. "Yes, we've found something that will make my research a whole lot easier....or two things rather. Our soldiers were out patrolling the area this morning, just as the sun was rising, and they found two deceased Orlogs in the valley between here and Malhadron Mountain."
"Deceased?" Isrelda spat out the word. "You mean.....dead?"
"Precisely."
Kahj leaned over the table, pressing his massive arm against my shoulder. "Are you sure about that? We've never seen a dead one before, though we've tried our hardest to kill one. We were beginning to think that they were immortal like the Nebril," he chuckled.
"Oh, I'm quite positive that they're dead," Madal said. "They are in my laboratory right now. No heartbeat, no vital signs at all. And quite frankly, starting to smell a little bad, well, worse than usual."
Wagna rubbed the stubble on his cheek. "Well, maybe they just die eventually on their own....you know, of old age."
"But if they do grow old, how come we never see any young ones, or babies?" Oches said.
"Good question," said the Professor. "We will be trying to find out all these things, by studying the specimens that we now have. I have a team working on it presently. We're running a whole series of tests, and doing a dissection to see what they look like on the inside."
"Not pretty, I'll bet," Wagna laughed.
"Couldn't be any worse than the outside," she grinned.
"I have a question, Professor," Jalya chirped.
"Yes?"
"When Vandalaharis and Torchuk came out and found the Orlogs last night, they had us in some kind of mind grip. We couldn't move at all. Yet they weren't affected by it; they were able to keep moving and take them away. Do you know why that is?"
Madal dabbed her mouth with her napkin and smiled. "Our species is extremely intelligent, Jalya. We have exceptionally strong minds. When one of us is in the presence of an Orlog, we can feel it in our head attempting to do what they do, but it cannot bend our thoughts. That's how it paralyzes you; it bends your thoughts around its own, rendering your own mind unable to control your body. They are quite powerful in mind, if not in body."
General Sanjarus laughed heartily. "Yet they are no match for the Beyjerones....powerful in mind and body!" He thumped his fist down on the table as if to illustrate that fact, before standing up to leave. "Well, I do believe that it's time to get some sleep."
I looked around the room and noticed that the crowd was thinning out. The Beyjerones were nocturnal creatures, who generally slept during the light of day. I remembered that when they brought messages to Carper's Village, they would always come after sundown, claiming that they could see better in the darkness, and could not fly well in the sunlight.
Professor Madalhandra stood as well. "Yes, a good day's sleep and then back to work at sundown." She nodded toward us. "It was nice meeting you all. And Emerin, good luck in your quest tonight."
"Thank you," I said and watched her turn from the table, her enormous wings flapping out slightly as
she swung around.
We said our goodbyes as she and the General left the dining hall, joining the throng of Beyjerones entering the main hallway back to their rooms. After a few moments we were the only ones left in the room, except for the kitchen workers who were busy clearing the plates from the tables.
"Well, I think I am going back to bed," Kahj said. "I'm still pretty worn out."
"I believe it," Wagna said, stretching his arms above his head. "I'm still exhausted from my own Orlog encounter and that was days ago! I think I'm ready for a nap also."
"Well, you go back to bed, old man," Isrelda chuckled. "Maybe I go see how my son is doing. Anyone else care to join me?"
Oches pushed back his empty plate and stood up. "I'll come with you, Boban. You want to come, Jalya?" He smiled down at Jalya, who eagerly nodded. "What about you, Emerin?"
Before I could even think about it, I shook my head. "No, I think I'll just go back to bed as well. I'm still pretty tired."
Actually I didn't feel tired at all, but for some reason I had an overwhelming desire to be alone. Perhaps it was from so many days of cramped wagon travel. I followed Wagna and Kahj back into the tunnels, and said goodbye when they turned off to go down the tunnel that lead to their rooms. But instead of walking the next few feet to my room, I waited until they were out of sight, then turned around and headed back to the dining hall.
By this time the great room was empty; all of the Beyjerones had gone back to their dwellings deep in the rock. The newly risen sun spewed its light through the massive windows, where it then spilled across the rock tables and blanketed the room in something at least resembling warmth. I crossed the floor to stand in my original spot by the window, where I closed my eyes and let the sun envelop me in its comforting glow. I opened my eyes to lean out the window and look down the steep rock wall once again. The mist had cleared and I could easily see the blue strip of river winding around the base of the cliff below, the sun glinting off of its surface. I took a deep breath and stared across the eternal fields that stretched before me, then focused my attention on the mountain.
In the darkness of the evening, I would be on the top of that thing, visiting the Lumeai that lived there. It struck me as funny that, less than two weeks ago, I didn't even know that sun seekers existed. Only two weeks ago, my life had been relatively normal, safe and boring. Two weeks ago, I'd been planning my wedding, never imagining for a moment the incredible journey that awaited me. I thought of my parents and wondered, sadly, if they thought I was alive or dead. And my bei clu va?
I turned my head and stared in the other direction, craning my neck around the jutting rock wall, hoping that somehow I could see all the way back to Lock Up. After a moment of seeing nothing but grass, I gave up and decided to go back to my room. Tonight, I would be at the top of Malhadron Mountain, the tallest thing in the riverlands. If there was anything to see, I would most certainly see it from there.
Guardians of the Light (Book One of The Nebril Riverland Chronicles) Page 23