by Orr, Krystal
Screaming a battle cry, he raised the mace in his right hand and brought it down quickly, the head moving to collide with Tareya. Just as the weapon was about to make contact, it froze in mid-swing as if hindered in some way. The man had only a second to register what had happened before Tareya turned her head and looked at him. Her eyes were completely black, yet glowing with some unknown light. Strange wisps of energy seemed to confuse the air around her and she appeared to be separate from one moment in time to the next.
The man noticed, in one quick instant, how everything around him seemed to slow down. His brain processed information second by agonizing second and he grew afraid. Around him, moving just as slowly, were his brothers-in-arms coming to his aid. Looking back at Tareya, he found her eyes still on him. The mace, only inches from her head, was ripped from his hand and sent hurtling toward the very men trying to help him.
It slammed into two of the men, their slow movements no match for its speed. Blood colored the ground around them as they fell. The other men tried to move away, but time was against them and their actions were too slow.
The man who had thought to kill Tareya glanced down and noticed a slender hand on his chest. He could not recall how or when it had gotten there. The next thing he knew, dark eyes grew more intense and a painful jab was sent through his ribs. He watched, in slow motion, as he was thrown backward away from Tareya. Vaguely, he registered the muffled sounds of voices around him before such pain as he had never known shattered every other thought in his mind.
His body crashed into the remaining men behind him, their raised weapons piercing his flesh unintentionally. Time resumed normally for the man, but an instant later his body succumbed to its injuries and he was lost.
Ir'ra watched from the cage she had been placed in. Her face was one of horror and awe and disbelief. Green eyes took in the sight of battered bodies, blood, broken windows and crushed buildings. Everywhere she looked, she saw destruction and agony. Women cried, children wailed, and men were either dead or dying. At the center of the chaos, untouched by the calamity, was Tareya, her love.
The Esu woman's grey eyes seemed to clear as the power around her visibly faded. Her face changed from one of calm serenity to one of shock and desperation.
"Ir'ra!" she called and began walking on two shaky legs.
"Here," Ir'ra all but whispered. Her voice was rough, her throat dry. She pushed a hand through the bars of the cage and reached for her love.
Tareya smiled, the act appearing nearly grotesque in the chaos around her. Women and children backed away as she passed them. Once at her love's side, she shattered the heavy door keeping her prisoner. The sight of Ir'ra's bruised and battered body brought her to her knees.
Tears filled her eyes. The two women managed to embrace one another. "I heard their acts," Tareya whispered against Ir'ra's neck. "I knew they were pleasing themselves with your body."
Ir'ra could not respond. The memories of what the men had done to her so very recently were still fresh, just as the physical evidence was also. She felt Tareya's lips against her cheek.
"H-how?" she asked in a raspy croak. "How did you manifest such power? It is a gift of the gods."
Tareya pulled back slightly to look into Ir'ra's green eyes and shrugged. Her mouth opened to reply, but her answers were lost. "I do not know. I heard your cries and knew I had to get to you."
Ir'ra, exhaustion crawling up her spine, collapsed against Tareya's taller form and sighed. The fight inside her finally gave out. As darkness swam around her mind, she whispered, "I love you, failira. Thank you..."
* * * * *
"I do not have all the answers," Cynra said, sitting herself back down.
Talliea dismissed the words. "You have more answers than do we."
"Just tell us everything you know, Nai'lana," Arizira whispered, placing a hand on her grandmother's arm.
The words made Cynra smile. She patted the hand on her arm and nodded. "Very well. It starts with you, Arizira, as I have told you. You are one half Esu and one half Arnira. When your parents fell in love, they overcame prejudices that had lasted for ages and beckoned back to a time when our two separate peoples lived in harmony."
Talliea made a face and interrupted. "Wait. What harmony? Ari spoke of it briefly, but our people have always warred."
Shaking her head, Cynra elaborated. "There was a time when Esu and Arnira lived in peace. It was not until a single fanatical branch of Esu men began the Darkening Wars that history became so convoluted. What prompted such a change in those Esu, memory can not recall. All that is known is that this branch nearly eradicated the Arnira and their Esu brothers and sisters who did not agree with their views."
"How do you know all of this to be true when we have never heard as much?" Talliea asked.
Everyone present was curious as to the answer. Sighing, Cynra simply said, "I am old, child. Very old. Just trust that there are things of which I am aware."
Silence settled around the four women as the sun continued to shine down from above.
"When Arizira's nurture mother sent word to me, I came upon her and D'jiira as Arizira's birth was at hand. As I have told Arizira, a sickness had been in Iolirthas for some time. It claimed her life after the birth of Arizira. D'jiira's mind became clouded with the grief of her loss. I have never witnessed such sorrow. It was with a heavy heart and burden that she left Arizira in my care and returned to her clan far in the west. She was not like your people, Talliea.
“She could trace her ancestry all the way back to the very Esu clans who once lived in peace with the Arnira. Only a few of the pure-hearted Esu managed to escape the slaughter inflicted upon so many by their recalcitrant breathren. Still, many generations after those events, D'jiira's clan, like your own, believed the Arnira to be legend. She could not return home with a child that looked like Arizira. I agreed to care for the child, for you Arizira. After all, you were my blood child. As I was returning to the tribe, a vision came upon me during the night. In it, Aitla informed me of your importance. I was to be the one of only ones who knew the truth, the only one who would recall Iolirthas. I did not question my goddess. The vision had shown me that you were the key to future events that would unravel past ones."
Somehow, while Cynra had been speaking, the other women had all moved to be closer to her. Their attention was rapt and their curiosity piqued.
"Where do I come in to all of this?" Taetylona asked.
Cynra chuckled and fixed her gaze on her friend. "Your part in this tale is one of the most important ones. Again, the answers are not all within my possession. All I know is that you were to be vital in ensuring Talliea's health and well-being, for she was just as important as Arizira. In a way, we both were care-keepers to these two young women, each ensuring that one day they would have a chance to meet."
Taetylona nodded, her eyes looking out among the chasm valley of Li'nas Dei in deep thought. "The spirit," she said. "During my first exile."
Cynra nodded and so Taetylona continued. Both Arizira's and Talliea's eyes were fixed on her.
"When I was young and had been exiled in the harsh and dry Southlands, delirium nearly took my senses. I was weak from a lack of food and water and my body grieved at all the things it desired but had lost. One night, as I lay counting the span of my misery, a spirit came to me. It was a vision, but without form. A lightness covered my body and my mind and for a moment, I did not lament my suffering."
Talliea listened wholeheartedly. She had never heard of the events Taetylona now spoke of, nor had she believed the Sage Woman to have any connection to her other than being a member of her clan. She could recall, fondly, growing up listening to stories from Taetylona, but had there been another reason for the older woman's interest in her all those ages ago?
"The following daybreak, upon the new sun's rising, I began the journey back to my people with a new vigor in my limbs. In my mind, I carried knowledge and information anew. A prophecy had been given to my eyes and it
concerned a child that was to be born upon my return. That child was you, Talliea. Your mother was having difficulty during your birth and the leaders at the time called for my aid, for they knew me to possess abilities in ancient medicines. I helped your mother bring you into life and, as much, was given the authority to replace your house name with one of my choosing."
Talliea had often wondered why it was that her second name differed from her father's and mother's. According to Esu tradition, she should have the same name as the leader of her house, in this case, her father's. Her parents had always told her the Sage woman had named her, but Taetylona had never given her the full story.
“What does Aldis mean, Taetylona?" Talliea asked, her mind full of questions.
Taetylona sighed and threw her arms up in confusion. A moment later, a rueful chuckle sounded from her throat. "I wish I knew. During my trek home, much of what I had witnessed and seen from the spirit began to fade. I could recall a few of the words from old Esulan and a bit of history on the Arnira, but that was all. Apart from knowing of your coming, my mind refused to hold the wisdom bestowed upon it. When I was given charge to name you, the last thing I could recall from the vision was Aldis.I am afraid the ever-growing shadow age brings to one’s mind has forever clouded the translation."
Talliea swallowed and exhaled as she took in everything she had just been told. It was all nearly too much to comprehend. She was not a person spoken of in prophecies with a name shrouded in a mysterious origin! She did not possess untold power or the ability to heal the wounds of her love. She was just Talliea, a young woman, despite her upbringing, who was filled with everlasting hope of how the world could be.
And yet, she did have inside her something that gave her special abilities. She did have a name that differed from all the others of her house and she had been mentioned in some ancient prophecy long before her birth. It all hardly made any sense to her. How had she gone from the innocent youth who had stumbled into the woods one night and been happened upon by a perplexing and wondrous creature of myth, to the person she found herself to be lately?
The woman who had been sick with fever and nightmares. Who had ended up befriending the man who had long-desired to claim her. Who had been attacked and hounded by a man who was both cruel and deceitful. How had she gone from being the person who had been awed, humbled, and anxious the first time someone had touched her body with pleasure and gentleness to the woman who had watched that same person nearly die in her arms?
How had she gone from simple, assuming Talliea, to a person at the center of a generations-long feud that had since become legendary?
A soft hand on her forearm grounded her and helped to ease her mind. Arizira was looking at her, concern evident in her eyes, and Talliea smiled. Clearing her throat, she placed a hand on top of the one on her arm, and said, "So, everything that has transpired, from the moment of my birth and Arizira's, was meant to happen as it has?"
Cynra nodded. "It appears that way, yes. Arizira was -- is -- the key to your powers. Her own bloodline touches both Aitla and Esuval."
"Why are we so important, though?" Talliea asked. "What is it about me or Arizira that is so vital to all of this? Even with these powers, how am I to erase such animosity as exists in our two peoples? What do you want from me?"
Silence met the end of the question. Cynra seemed to be choosing her words carefully. Arizira kept her hand on Talliea's arm and the simple touch proved to be somewhat calming.
"I told you, I do not have all the answers. You and Arizira are spirit mates. That kind of connection has been missing from the world. All I do know is that I have done everything I can to protect the both of you, to ensure your initial meeting, and to see that events foretold come to fruition. Whatever else happens now, I can not see plainly. We are in dark times, child, and there is very little light to bring us clarity. You are the answer, however. That is all I know."
Talliea shook her head, anger at her circumstances coiling within her. "You have to know more than that! Aitla speaks to you! Ask her what she wants from me! How am I to just stand between two warring peoples? You are asking me to risk myself, my mate, my child and you do not know our path!"
Cynra stood up and looked down into Talliea's dark eyes.
"Your path is the truth! It has become hidden in the murky waters of falsehoods. Our past has become black with the unknown, the forgotten. The only way to win this war, for everyone involved, is to find and uncover the truth. You have the power to do that. Your connection with Arizira is more powerful than either of you realize. The Doira'Liim is about more than sharing experiences and feeling good with one another. The potential for greatness is limitless. I do not know what you must do, child. All I know is that you must try! Lives have already been lost. Men and women died in that clearing and more are sure to follow if we do not stem the tide."
Talliea exhaled and her shoulders sagged. Her eyes darted around at the different colors of rocks in the canyon before her. Beside her, Arizira kept a steady hand on her arm and attempted to soothe her suddenly chaotic mind.
"I do not even know where to begin," she said after a moment in a small voice.
Cynra knelt next to Arizira and waited for Talliea to meet her eyes. “You do not take on this endeavor alone. We will help you and pray we find allies along the way."
Talliea sucked in a sharp breath and held the air in her lungs for a long moment. She attempted to calm herself and order her thoughts. A hand on the side of her face gently brushed aside her hair before caressing her skin. She turned and looked into Arizira's lively and vibrant eyes and found the peace she had been searching for.
"My destiny is to reveal the truth?" she asked Cynra but her eyes remained on her love's.
"Yes, through that truth shall come unity. Only you can break this cycle of hatred and bring the past to the present."
The sun was briefly blocked by cloud cover high above the four women. A soft breeze blew Arizira's hair around her face and neck while the slightly darker sky caused her eyes, as well as Cynra's, to glow with greater intensity. Taetylona, gentle and wise Taetylona, watched Talliea with an air of understanding and silent strength.
Talliea reached up and brushed Arizira's hair behind her ear before cupping the back of her neck with her hand. "We do this together," she whispered.
Arizira nodded. "Together."
Talliea's hand traveled down to her love's stomach. "For her. For our child."
Again, Arizira's silvery head of hair nodded. "For all children, present and future, Tah-li."
A moment of silence carried afterward.
Talliea seemed to be coming to some conclusion, some commitment, within her mind. Everyone was quiet as the sun above went from bright to shadowed as the clouds passed over it.
Eventually, Talliea inhaled, looked up, and nodded her head. "Okay. I shall do what I can. I will have need of counsel ere we depart and often while we journey."
Cynra, who was smiling, nodded. "You have it, child. From myself and Taetylona."
Talliea turned her attention back to Arizira. "You will be my guide, love, in more ways than one."
“Anything I am is yours, failira."
Talliea nodded again, slowly getting used to the idea of undertaking such a perilous task. "Okay," she said, "where do we begin?"
* * * * *
D'jiira stepped into the small crater and looked around her. The dirt had only recently been disturbed, but she could not venture a guess as to what had caused such devastation to the landscape. Turning her head, she took in broken branches and torn tree bark, as well as shattered rocks and ripped vegetation. There were no bodies to explain a possible battle, nor any weapons that she could see.
She walked further into the deep impression. Behind her, she heard Markahn sliding down to follow her. Her booted feet sounded loud in her ears as she stepped on dying leaves and decayed plants.
What had happened here?
"This was not always present," D'jiira said to Mark
ahn in relation to the disturbed earth they both were standing.
"No," Markahn said looking around. "No storms did this land such tragedy either."
"Then what caused this?" D'jiira asked turning around.
Markahn just shrugged and shook his head. The two of them walked toward the western rim of the crater. Something caught D'jiira's observant eyes.
"Here," she said, walking over to a darker spot upon the dirt. The area appeared nearly black, as if the earth had been scorched, and was in the shape of a body, maybe two. D'jiira ran her hands along the dirt and the outline of a form. She could swear she made out a small and slender body.
"Something happened here, something strong and powerful. Do you see it?"
Markahn, his gray eyes stormy, nodded. "Yes, I see it and I believe I know who did this."
"Who? You believe a person is responsible for such power? Such destruction?"
Markahn stood back up and barely noticed a set of footsteps leading away from the crater. He remembered hearing Talliea’s scream, remembered coming upon the battle that had taken place in this very spot. He recalled the frozen forms of men and women, caught in statue-like displays of might and virtue. He did not know why, but something was telling him that Talliea was responsible for what he had witnessed then and what he was seeing now.
"Yes, I do, and I believe your daughter is nearby."
Chapter 20: Leyaja
Talyn paced inside the wide circular area of Rae’kir. Her shoulders were tense with apprehension and her headache was quickly moving from a dull ache to pounding throb. It had been two days since Bela'luin and the other hunters had returned from their first clash with the Esu. Two days since so many of their number had not returned with a spark of life in their bodies. Two days since Talyn had learned of Arizira's death.
Not for the first time since war broke out, Talyn found herself wishing Cynra were present so that she could offer her a bit of advice and wisdom. She chuckled to herself ruefully. What did anything matter now? She had been attempting to direct the tribe in a certain way to effect the changes Arizira's fulfillment of her destiny would bring about.