by Orr, Krystal
Tallie swallowed her fears and worries as she cradled Arizira's body. Her eyes slowly closed as the rain became more violent outside. Thunder rumbled and seemed to explode in the distant sky.
"Just sleep, Tah-li," Arizira whispered.
Hand still resting over Arizira's stomach, Talliea exhaled a sigh. Plans could be made tomorrow. This time was for them. Whatever they decided, Talliea knew she would never allow herself to be separated from Arizira again. She would do whatever was necessary to keep her family safe.
"I love you so much," she mumbled into Arizira's hair before sleep finally claimed her again.
Chapter 17: The D'Tyshacea
Markahn stopped and knelt down beside a gently flowing stream.
The water was clear and cool and reflected the trees and mountains around him. Ever since his departure from Talliea, Markahn had discovered himself to be at odds on what he should do. Talliea had told him to return to their people and work toward bringing about changes and progression, but he could not do that.
Not now, anyhow. His people were too eager and set on war to be able to listen to anything he had to say. Besides, what exactly was he supposed to tell them? That women lying with women was no longer a sin? That the woman found with Talliea was no threat to them? That she was, in fact, in love with Talliea? How was he expected to return to his clan and tell them that a woman attacked him and ran away while under his watch?
He could not have done such a thing, not then and certainly not now. Ever since finding Yalliea and the savage woman, Markahn's clan had been on alert. Lao'dahn's account of events aside, it was hard for any Esu to believe that such a creature as Ari was a singular happenstance. To them, there had to be more.
After Talliea had departed, Markahn had walked aimlessly without any real direction. He had decided to double back and head in the direction Talliea had been intent on taking, with the exception of following her footsteps exactly. Instead, Markahn had chosen a path farther north and closer to the mountains. His hope had been that he would be able to help Talliea, should any sounds of struggle come to his ears.
On the same day that the two of them had departed, Markahn had finally heard what he had dreaded all along: sounds, voices, the clash of battle. Though he had been too far away to view anything for certain, the sounds of something truly dreadful had come to him on the wind. And then, a scream had cut through that wind and chilled everything around him.
He'd known at once that the horrible cry had belonged to Talliea. Acting without thought for himself or his safety, Markahn had started in the direction of the battle he'd known was past due. By the time he'd made it to the edge of the clearing, the evidence of the destruction around him had astounded him. A crater of dirt and branches and rocks had expanded as far as he could see. Nearby trees were deformed as several sides of their leaves and bark appeared to have been blown away.
Markahn had stayed as far out of sight as he could and taken in the full scope of the unnatural state of the environment around him. He'd noticed figures in the crater, several frozen bodies. Both men and women, Esu and Arnira. Each of them was as if a statue, posing in heroic-like struggles as if time had thought to remember them. Rocks and twigs had floated in the air near Markahn's feet and his eyes had noticed more than one arrow suspended between parties.
No sooner had Markahn been able to take in the awe-inspiring damage around him then everything exploded and time had quickly resumed. Debris caught in the air had spread out and flown past him while startled cries from the warriors frozen had brought sound back to life.
Of Talliea, there had been no sign. Markahn had struggled to grasp everything he had witnessed. As his fellow Esu had called a retreat, Markahn had faded back into the sanctuary of the forest and resumed his search for Talliea. He'd been convinced that something had befallen her and so had come to be of the mind that it was his duty to learn exactly what. Something had happened in the clearing. His people had finally clashed with others of Ari's people.
It came to pass, two days after Markahn had left Talliea, that he spied a familiar looking cave in the distance. By his best guess, he could reach the cave in just a few hours and use it for a bit of reprieve from his weary travels. He cupped his hands in the stream before him and washed his face off with the cool and fresh water. Before he could stand, something sharp and pointed dug into the side of his neck.
A deep, yet pleasant, voice came to his ears and the words were, at once, both alien and familiar to him. "Do not move if a value you have on your life."
Markahn swallowed and held his hands out to his sides by his head. The words spoken were Esu, but different. A few of the words were not known to him, but he had understood enough to get the general meaning.
"Turn around and keep your hands where I can see them."
The woman spoke in sure and deliberate tones. Markahn could not even begin to guess to whom the voice belonged. The fact that it was a woman was surprising enough. To his knowledge, the only two Esu women in the forest were Taetylona and Talliea. Was it possible one of the savage women spoke the Esu tongue? That would explain the oddities in the dialect.
The pointed object dug into his neck as if to urge him to comply. Markahn, keeping his hands out to his sides, slowly turned around and looked up into an unexpected sight. The woman behind him was Esu, but not like any Esu woman he had ever seen. Her hair was thick and black and fell over her shoulder in a single braid. The woman wore a weathered pair of leather pants with knee high treated boots and a cloth shirt underneath a v-neck oiled vest. A belt around her waist carried a few small pouches and a single traveling bag was flung over her back with a leather strap.
Markahn noted a gleaming dagger at the woman's left hip and surmised the blade at his neck was its twin. Swallowing again, Markahn looked into the woman's eyes. They were by far her best and most striking feature. They were brown, but so light in color as if to be grey. In them, Markahn could ascertain nothing of the woman's nature. She was attractive, but guarded.
"You are a woman," he said, the words the first that his mind could offer him.
The woman cocked her head to the side in a curious manner and regarded him with cool eyes. "An Esu? Here? Your words are strange. Why are you this close to the Border Plains?"
Markahn's face went blank. Border Plains? His words were strange? Who was this woman? "Answer me," the woman pressed. "What clan are you? I do not recognize your clan markings."
Again, Markahn was only barely able to make out the woman's words. Her Esulan was very different from his own. As such, it took him longer to piece together the words he knew and come up with a sensible translation.
"Clan name?" he questioned. His people did not have clan names. There were different houses within the various clans, but there were no names denoting each clan. "I have no clan name nor have I taken a mate to establish my house. I am simply Markahn."
The woman was slow to respond, obviously having trouble herself in understanding his dialect. For long moments, she studied him. The dagger in her hand never lowered. "Markahn? Where is your clan? This area is forbidden. To tread here is to bear a curse."
The woman did not explain why she was present in such a "cursed" place, but Markahn saw little point in explaining that. Instead, he said, "My people traveled far from the south to arrive here. Many of our number were lost on the Great Trek. We established a camp in the valley beneath these hills--"
The woman leaned into him and pressed the dagger against his throat again. "The south? You arrived from the Southlands?"
Markahn nodded, but said nothing more. The woman shook her head. This could not be true. Eyes staring deep into Markahn's, she asked, "You are one of the D'Tyshacea?"
Markahn did not reply. The woman's words were unknown to him. Whatever she had said was too foreign to be anything like the Esulan his people spoke. Shaking his head, he struggled with how to respond. The woman cocked her head to the side again and seemed to study him more closely. Finally, she opened her m
outh and asked, "You are...you are one of the..."
She trailed off as she searched for a word she knew that would be close enough to what she meant. "One of the...Others?" she finally asked.
"Others? I do not--"
The woman stood back and leveled him with an icy stare. She had no time for this! "What is your purpose here, Markahn?"
Markahn lowered his hands to his sides, but kept them where the woman could see them. The blade was still pressed against his neck and he could feel its bite against his skin. He did not know who this woman was, but it was obvious she was trained in weapons and combat. He thought briefly of using his own abilities to gain the upper hand, but decided against such a course. There was no telling how skilled the woman was. Besides, she was intriguing.
"I was escorting a friend of mine to safety," he replied.
The woman seemed to relax at his words. "Why would your friend think safety resides in the forest?
"Because the one she loves takes home amongst these trees."
"She?" the woman asked. If Markahn was from the Southlands, then the idea of him leading a woman away from the clan was practically unheard of. The D'Tyshacea treated their women like property. Or so the old tales went.
"Yes," Markahn answered simply.
"What is this woman's name?"
Markahn was unsure why that bit of information was important, but there was something compelling him to answer, something powerful that forced him to speak when he otherwise would not have.
"Talliea. Talliea Aldis."
The woman turned her head again and a ghostly expression crossed her features. "Aldis?" she asked and Markahn nodded.
Aldis? This woman, Talliea...how was it she possessed such a unique name? If Markahn and this woman were truly from the south, how was it that Talliea had a name belonging to her own people's dialect of Esulan? Aldis meant ‘protector’ or ‘guardian‘. Some used the word as an archaic title, but it's most-used definition was ‘goddess‘. The term was not one heard often as the Esu worshiped a male deity, but there were small groups that studied old texts and tales and they knew of the word.
Most often, Aldis was used in reference to the Arnira and any tales or myths about them. Usually, the word was used for the Arniran goddess, Aitla. Aitla, being a guardian and protector to the Arnira, was one reason some people had given ‘aldis’ those added definitions.
Markahn noticed the faraway expression on the woman's face and cleared his throat. Cool and intense eyes came back to him before the woman shook her head.
"Where were you taking this woman?" For reasons unknown, Talliea was important. The woman felt such to be true.
"I told you, to safety," Markahn replied curtly.
The woman acted so quickly, Markahn could hardly remember one moment from the next. A hand grabbed his collar and yanked him up to his feet. The woman was tall, nearly as tall as he was, and her grip was both strong and secure. Markahn felt his hands grow warm with the light of his gift, but he was unable to do anything farther. The woman slipped the dagger back into her belt in one swift motion before her hand came back up to the side of his head.
Her palm fell against his temple and an intense searing pain shot through his skull. "Answer me," the woman growled.
Markahn could not believe what he was experiencing. The woman was using the gifts of Esuval! On him! Whatever she was doing was causing him intense pain. He struggled to lift his own hands so that he could defend himself, but the woman's power glowed with more intensity and he felt his body go numb.
"I would not struggle were I you. I control your abilities now. Answer me and I will release you."
Markahn quickly nodded and stuttered his reply. "T-to...another woman. I w-was taking h-her -- taking her to-to another woman."
"Who?" the woman demanded.
"I-I do not know. Her name was...s-strange. Ari..Arecira.."
"Arizira?" the woman asked suddenly and Markahn nodded eagerly. In the next instant, the woman shoved him away from her and turned her back to him. Markahn coughed several times and fell onto his back as the pain began to clear from his head. How had a woman learned to use the Light? It was not possible and yet, this woman had! He struggled to his knees and regarded the strange woman with new respect.
"Do not harm them. If that is your intent, I will do everything in my power to stop you."
The woman turned back around and her face was no longer as harsh as before. "Harm? No, I do not wish to harm them. The woman, Talliea? She is Esu like us, yes?"
Markahn nodded.
The woman smiled and shook her head to herself. "Like her mother," she mumbled. Her eyes darted back to Markahn's as she fell to the ground in front of him. Her smile did not fade. "What does she look like?"
Markahn, again, struggled to translate the woman's strange dialect. "Who?" he asked.
"Arizira. Have you seen her? Is she...like me? Or does her appearance differ from your own?"
Markahn stood to his feet and dusted himself off. The woman stood as well and the two of them regarded each other for several moments. After a time, Markahn spoke. "Who are you and why are you interested in Talliea and the woman?"
He knew he was risking possible harm to himself if his questions irked the woman, but he had answered enough questions thus far and had none of his own answered. If he was going to give this woman anymore information, he needed to know who she was and what her intentions were. Even if the act killed him, Markahn was not about to risk Talliea's life unduly.
The woman smiled and placed a hand to his chest, over his heart. "Honor and Grace," she said before stepping back. Markahn nodded in acknowledgement of her words, but said nothing more. The woman spoke just a short moment afterward.
"My name is D'jiira. Arizira is my daughter."
Chapter 18: Nai'lana
"We have to make ready to leave at once!" Kolofen, a Lat'sa'val man said during yet another argument over recent events. "Something evil lurked in this forest before we ever made camp here, and now that same evil lies within Talliea! Her power was not bias in that clearing. If she does not greet us with death, then surely the savage women shall!"
Ban'nuk, another member of the Lat'sa'val Order spoke up. "And what of these women? Who are they? Why do they attack us so?"
"Does it matter?" Kolofen countered heatedly. "We are beset by enemies by every direction the wind blows! Talliea is a pagan demon of old! She rendered us all powerless with but a single gesture! Not even the warrior women could stop her!"
"Exactly!" Ban'nuk interjected with a passionate cry. "The savage women could prove our allies against her!"
"Allies? Those primitive heathens? They would sooner side with Talliea than with us! Did you not notice? There were no men among their numbers! Were I prone to believe the ancient tales, I would say the women we fought were the Arnira."
Haldynn spoke up then, having listened to Kolofen, Ban'nuk and several others swap one theory after another for the better part of an hour.
"Arnira? Come now! Do not be absurd! Those tales are for children, not fully grown men of Esuval!"
Kolofen would hear none of it. "If not Arnira, then who, or what, are they? Did you not glimpse their hair, the shine of their eyes? They were feral and primal. The Arnira were said to be the same and legend holds that they called the Northlands their home!"
Such arguments had become the center of Esu conversation and debate since the groups sent to scout the surrounding forest had returned with tales of women wielding magnificent blades and bows and how a battle had broken out two days walk from the camp. The men, upon returning, had told their fellows of the battle that had taken place and how they had been set upon without their noticing.
Alas, but such stories were not the focus of the men’s' tales. No, the event that had started such heated arguments amongst the Esu camp was that one of Talliea. Of how she had cried over the fallen savage woman. Of how she had used some power, some ability, to slow and then stop the passage of time and freeze ev
eryone present, both Esu and heathen woman alike, with but a command -- a thought.
The stories surrounding Talliea's display spoke of how she had been in control of the very earth itself. Of how rock and tree and wind and twig had shattered around her and injured anyone near enough to her. Men had told of how Talliea had disintegrated an arrow that had been meant for her while it had still been in mid-flight. They had had informed the others of how she had picked up the fallen female and carried her away before, some time later, removing everyone in the clearing from the terrifying grip of her power.
The knowledge had spread like wildfire in the Esu camp. Men and women had both been fascinated and fearful of such news. In all their long history, the Esu could not remember any power such as had been displayed by Talliea. Over the following days, patrols had doubled as everyone in the camp feared another strike by the savage women or Talliea.
Of Markahn, there had been no sign and the members of the Order had come to assume him lost at Talliea's hand. Lao'dahn had been taken to a healer, his blood loss nearly claiming his life as well, and had remained in a deep sleep since.
"We are overlooking the bigger issue!" The words were spoken by another, Tor'len. "The women can be dealt with. They withdrew just as we did. Our concern is Talliea. With her powers, she could remove this camp from existence. We need to focus on neutralizing her as a threat first!"
Haldynn laughed. "How do you propose we do that? She could freeze our movements before we ever approached her!"
"Then forget that! Forget the savages!" Tor'len said over Haldynn's mockery of him. "We need to find out how Talliea came upon these powers of hers! Not always have they been a part of her, for she could have used them long before now. It was not until we settled here, in the north, that she started to become even more obstinate.
“Perhaps the woman she carried away is the answer. Lao'dahn said that he fought a woman when he rescued Talliea. Could the woman killed in the clearing be the same, and if so, is it she who gives such unnatural abilities to Talliea?"