Failira, the Tahlet Vahllah (The Beautiful Whisper of the Goddess Saga)

by Orr, Krystal

  "I need you, Tah-li," she whispered in Esulan. "I lose myself without you here. Tell me how to bring you back. Tell me how to help you. Tell me how t--" Arizira stopped suddenly and jerked to a crouched position. Her tapered ears perked up at the heavy and offending sounds she could hear. In an instant, her tears were no longer falling, her sorrow no longer present. Everything in her changed from despondent to aegis in a matter of seconds.

  She took a deep and calming breath and reached for the sabre at her left hip. A sense of peace overcame her as she gripped the leather-bound handle. This was where she thrived: Swordplay, archery, tracking, weapons, being alone with her thoughts in the forest. This was where Arizira felt alive and at home. This was where she believed her goddess spoke to her.

  She took no joy in taking a life, but she believed the training, the practice, to be an art form and she loved it dearly. When her fingers wrapped around her bow or her sabres, it did not matter if she were only practicing or hunting for game to sustain her sisters. In those moments, she felt safe and in control. She felt alive and centered. She felt as though she had a purpose. The only other thing in her life that brought her such satisfaction was being with Talliea.

  Arizira stood up quickly. Not a sound was made as her feet found solid purchase on the ground beneath her. Her body was taut as she listened and followed the footsteps she could hear further away. Judging by the way they cracked leaf and twig and earth alike, Arizira did not believe whoever approached her was a friend. Even her mother walked more quietly, like her sisters.

  Looking behind her at Talliea's prone form, Arizira became aware of her situation. If Esu men neared her location, she would have no other choice but to fight. She could not allow the men to take Talliea. She would fight with everything in her to keep them all safe. As she slipped her second sabre from its bond at her hip, she could not help but wonder what had come of her mother and Bela'luin. Were they hurt? Injured? Or worse? Had they died trying to protect her?

  Arizira allowed such thoughts to leave her mind. They had no place at present. Her only concern was protecting Talliea. She wished she had something heavier protecting her middle than just Talliea's thin blouse, but she would have to make do with what she had. If Esu men showed themselves, she would attack quickly and try to get Talliea away before more men showed up.

  The sounds grew closer, and with them came the muffled grumble of voices. The words spoken were Esulan. "Come, quickly. There may be a way over the wall if we follow it far enough. If nothing else, we can gather our strength before returning."

  A second voice spoke up. "The women fight savagely. We lose too many men!"

  "And we allow them to suffer the same loses!" another voice said.

  Three voices, but Arizira could hear at least four sets of feet. She lowered herself to the ground and leaned against one of the walls of rocks. The footsteps drew ever closer. "Here!" said a man. "Mayhap the rocks up ahead lead over the wall."

  Arizira inhaled again and tightened her grip on her sabres. She could hear another set of footfalls. That made five. Five men. Against her. Alone. Arizira swallowed slowly and readied herself for battle. She had no other choice. A shadow darkened the rocks across from her. The men were no longer far away. Without pause, Arizira lunged forward and away from the wall and plunged the sabre in her right hand into the first man's ribcage. She felt the blade pass through muscle and nick bone.

  He had no time to scream in pain before he fell at her feet. Dark red blood pooled around his body. Arizira stood up and kicked him away from her, his body rolling to the far side of the structure. Sparing a look at Talliea, Arizira moved out into the open and in front of her love's body. Four men stood before her readying weapons. Light flared in two men's hands.

  Arizira studied each one. Her eyes surveyed their features and the tattoos on their skin. She took in the various weapons and state of dress in the span in a few short heartbeats. Baring her teeth, she hissed at the men and twirled her left sabre in her hand. When her eyes fell upon the last man, she cocked her head to the side and felt an anger well up inside of her like a hot flame.

  Its red fury burned her skin and set her heart to racing. She knew the last man. She had encountered him before. He noticed her, too. His almond shaped eyes and hooked nose could not hide his own disbelief at seeing her before him. Arizira focused her attention on him, disregarding the other men as irrelevant. Her teeth bared again, the feral side of herself taking over as her instincts kicked in. The man's eyes looked past her and found Talliea and he smiled a wicked smile.

  Yes, Arizira knew the man, though how he had come to be in the battle was lost to her. Lao'dahn flipped his staff in his hand and looked to his brothers. "Get her!"

  One of the men rushed forward, a long sword in his hand. He brought the blade down with nothing but wild strokes. There was no technique to his advance, only a belief that his strength would avail him. Arizira lifted her left sabre and managed to block most of the attack. The man's strength was greater than her own and the side of the blade came down to cut her shoulder.

  She shrugged it off and used her other sabre to slice at the man's side. Her own blade met skin, but the cut was not deep. The man jumped back to see to himself as another man moved in to attack. A flash of light slammed into Arizira's chest, but did not harm her. Both she and her attackers faltered at such an occurrence.

  "How can--" the second man attacking her started to ask. Arizira kicked him between the legs once and then again when he doubled over.

  Lao'dahn stood back and watched. He had been the one to release a bolt of light. How was it that this woman was still alive? He had seen her fall in the first battle! Yet here she stood. He had used his power against her, yet she was unharmed. Lao'dahn knew she could be injured because she now bled from the wound on her shoulder. Somehow, she was immune to their powers.

  "Focus on your melee! Do not use your powers!" he yelled.

  The first man, realizing his cut was not life threatening, returned to the fight, while a third man jumped forward with a flurry of attacks from his axes. Arizira, swift and agile and with keen eyesight, deflected the man blow for blow. She lowered herself quickly, under the man's axes, and spun around to deliver a graceful strike. Both of her sabres came down and around her left side at a wide arc. The man had no time to parry the attacks. With his left side wide open to attack, he tried in vain to counter Arizira.

  He was to be too late. Arizira's sabres cut into his side. A long gash opened up and bled through his leathers. His axes fell, and so too did he. Another down. Three to go.

  Arizira turned, remembering the first man moving to strike again, but her response was too late. The man barreled into her from her exposed right side. She felt the air forcefully leave her lungs. The man managed to get her left arm in his grasp and hold it away from her body. She attempted to strike him with her right sabre, but a third man moved in wielding a great hammer.

  As Arizira was shoved backward, she barely managed to angle herself and the man holding her away from Talliea. Her back slammed into the far wall of rock and the man's weight pressed against her. The man with the hammer rushed her, his weapon above his head ready to smash the life from her.

  At the last minute, Arizira got control of her right sabre again, reaffirmed her grip on the handle, and struck quickly. Her blade cut the advancing man's forearm. A thin stream of blood ran down his arm and, with his hands above his head holding his weapon, that blood spilled into his eyes.

  The man slowed, angered. Arizira wiggled her foot in between herself and the man against her and kicked him away with all her strength. He fell into the man with the hammer and the two of them crashed to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

  Arizira took a moment to catch her breath. She noticed Lao'dahn hanging back and observing the fight. She knew he meant to have the others wear her down so that he could finish her off. Then he could be away with Talliea.

  Arizira twirled her sabres in her hands again and took a defensive
posture. She would not allow that to happen. She would protect Talliea. Blood seeped through the white shirt she wore and her back ached from being slammed against the wall, but otherwise she fared well. The men before her stood up and hefted their weapons in their hands. Each moved to a different side of her. She noticed the man with the hammer was closest to Talliea.

  "Tired, savage?" Lao'dahn called. Arizira cut her eyes toward him, the silver light in them burning brightly. Before she could do or say anything, the man with hammer finally realized who it was that lay unconscious next to him.

  "It is Talliea," he said dumbly. A lecherous smile spread over his bruised face.

  "Do not touch her," Arizira growled.

  The men laughed at her and began their attack again. The one with the sword grabbed his hilt with both hands and moved to strike at Arizira's middle. Panicked, Arizira used her left sabre to swipe the attack outward. The man's momentum sent him into the wall behind her. As Arizira turned her attention to the second man, she was dismayed to see him approaching Talliea.

  "No!" she screamed and rushed him. The man barely got the shaft of his hammer up in time to block both of her attacks. Arizira pressed him, relentless. She had to get him away from Talliea! The two of them traded blows and dodged and parried attacks. Arizira feinted to the right, nimbly avoiding a near paralyzing blow, and struck out with her left sabre. The blade cut into the man's hip and he fell to the ground. As Arizira moved to finish him off, she became aware of a sound behind her.

  The first man that had run into the rock wall was now moving to attack her again. Arizira turned around, her body exposed as she tried to move quickly to bring up a defense. The man's blade swiped across her left side. Blood colored her stomach and she staggered backward.

  “No, no, no,“ she whispered raggedly to herself. Her hand came up to her stomach and she felt the hot sticky blood under her fingers. No. No. In her state of tension from fighting, Arizira could not be sure how injured she was. All she knew was that the man had cut her stomach. She did not know how deep he had cut. She only knew that her baby was at risk.

  Everything blurred around her as she looked away from the blood on her hand and up into the faces of the men before her. Lao'dahn stood back smiling at her, his victory seeming to him to be at hand. The world slowed in that moment for Arizira. The man with the hammer was struggling to get to his feet again. She noticed him and a cry sounded from deep inside her throat. A cry of rage and anger and sorrow for something she may have lost, but was not sure.

  Before anyone had time to react, Arizira lashed out with her right sabre and cut deep into the man's throat. He fell back down close to Talliea and groped at his torn flesh. Blood bubbled from his mouth. Arizira turned back to the first man with the sword, the one who had cut her. Lao'dahn was moving closer now. His eyes were full of hate.

  "I'll kill you myself," he said before charging against her.

  Chapter 36: In Defense of Love

  When Lao'dahn had been shot while attempting to take Talliea during the first battle between the Esu and the Arnira, he had been ravaged with pain and unbearable agony. His eyes had remained open for only so long before he had lost consciousness. All that he could remember of that day was Talliea's savage woman shooting him, that woman being shot in turn by another, and Talliea's screams shattering every other emotion in the forest.

  Later he would recall the powers Talliea had summoned, but most of that recollection he attributed to his delirium at the time. When he'd been brought back to the clan, he'd been in a dreamlike state. For many days, he had slept while the healers attempted to repair the damage the savage woman had inflicted upon his manhood.

  During that time, he later came to find out, preparations for war had been made and his brothers, nearly the whole of their number, had began their march north. Without him. The days of his sleep had eventually lifted and when the healers had told him they had done all they could, but that he would never father any children nor lay with any women, Lao'dahn had been furious. He was no longer a man! He was no better than a eunuch and it was all because of Talliea's uncivilized little pet!

  So Lao'dahn had left the healers' hut, prepared for his own march, and left his clan. His brothers had a fair bit of distance on him, but one man could move more quickly than a large host. He'd been confident he would reach them and when he'd finally done so and fell into step alongside them, no one had spoken out nor asked any questions.

  It had been fate, or perhaps destiny, that had led him to where he currently was. When he'd seen the woman responsible for his damaged manhood, he'd taken the situation as a sign from Esuval. His god desired him to seek retribution! His day was here! "I'll kill you myself," he said as he charged ahead, staff in hand.

  Arizira stumbled back again, tripping over Talliea in the process. Her left hand continued to hold her side where warm blood coated her fingers. Somehow, since being struck, she'd dropped her second sabre and so now had only the one left.

  Both Lao'dahn and the man who had cut her rushed forward. The man with the sword was clumsy, fortunately for her, and he got a stiff kick in the groin for the pain he'd caused her. Arizira watched him drop his sword and grab between his legs. Lao'dahn paid him no mind as he got within distance of her. The swift and harsh strike to the right side of her face from his staff caused her to spit up a mouthful of blood. His attack ruptured her gums and her ears now rang. Arizira could not think. She could not defend herself. She could barely keep her eyes open. Her thoughts were focused on one thing and one thing alone: what if she'd lost their baby? She was frantic with worry and the blood, dark and red and angry, that seeped through her fingers and colored her blouse only heightened that sense of panic.

  She wished Talliea would wake up. She wished she could focus and finally put an end to the miserable man before her, but her mind seemed unable to do anything but lament over her possible loss. She knew whatever pain she was feeling was being lessened by the adrenaline coursing through her veins. How badly she was truly injured, she did not know.

  "You think yourself so above me, don't you?" Lao'dahn asked her. His voice practically dripped with his hatred of her. Arizira spit up another mouthful of blood and looked up at him defiantly. He dropped in front of her and slapped her across the face. "Not so willing to talk back when you are beaten, savage?"

  Arizira refused to answer him or rise to his taunting. She continued to stare at him with all the insolence she could muster. The man she'd kicked earlier was slowly standing upright again. He picked up his sword and watched her with Lao'dahn.

  "I think I shall make you watch as I take Talliea. I do not know what afflicts her, but I do not honestly care. You ruined me. You took away my ability to be a man!" Arizira was unsure what he was talking about, but she smiled at his words nonetheless. The gesture only infuriated him. He grabbed her jaw in his hands, his fingers pressing into the gash across her face and causing more blood to fill her mouth.

  "There are other ways I can take Talliea...other objects I can use. She will be just as helpless to stop it as you are. I shall have my revenge on both of you and ensure neither one of you comes back from the dead again!"

  Lao'dahn, holding Arizira's jaw in his right hand, used his left to run his fingers down Talliea's chest. In his blind belief that he had already won, he dropped his staff down to his side and fondled Talliea. Just as Arizira suspected he would.

  In a flash, she acted. She spit the blood that had fill her mouth into Lao'dahn's face. Startled, he went to wipe it away, and that was when Arizira moved. She backhanded him across his face and reached for his staff. Lao'dahn backed away, wiping blood from his eyes, and stood up. Arizira lunged forward and slammed the head of the staff into his middle. The blow knocked the wind from him and he coughed harshly.

  Meanwhile the man with the sword, who had been watching Lao'dahn and enjoying his own respite, was now forced to act quicker than he was prepared for. Arizira, while still holding her side, twirled Lao'dahn's staff between her fin
gers and waited for him to make a move. She did not know how long Lao'dahn would be out of the fight, but she knew she had to kill one of them to even the odds against her.

  The man with the sword struck out with his blade. He aimed his attack at her left side. Arizira barely dodged out of the way and came to rest against the rock wall behind her. She used it for support to keep herself upright and continued to twirl Lao'dahn's staff. One of her sabres was just next to her left foot. If she could get it into her hand, she'd feel more confident. The man came at her again and all thoughts of her sabre fled from her mind.

  "Get her!" Lao'dahn yelled. Arizira noticed him wiping the last bit of blood from his face and dusting himself off. He would soon be upon her and then she would be overpowered. The rock wall she was leaning against was both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it was giving her much needed support. On the other, it cut off any means of retreat. She had very little room to move with the rocks so near to her.

  Her eyes landed on Talliea's face and she wanted to cry. She was supposed to protect her. She was supposed to protect their baby. Lao'dahn was moving toward her and so was the man with the sword. The blood coming from her side had stained her hand red and she was beginning to feel light-headed. Soon she would fall to blood loss if the men did not get to her first. Arizira wondered how much of her thoughts were from her panic and sorrow and how much were due to the wound she'd suffered.

  It did not matter, however, as the man with the sword moved closer to her. He raised the blade over his head, in the process exposing the whole of his chest. Arizira hefted Lao'dahn's staff in her hands, twirled it to the side so that the shaft ran along the back of her arm, and swung out with all of her strength when the man moved within striking distance.