by H. M. Clarke
The soldier nodded and without warning grabbed Kalena around the waist and heaved her onto the top of the white stone. Kalena cried out in terror, afraid that the glowing stone might burn her but as her legs and hands came in contact with its surface she was pleasantly surprised. It felt very soft and warm, rather like a goat bladder that had been filled with water.
“Look Kala, it isn’t hot.” Kalena tugged at the head of the doll tucked into her belt, turning it to look at the stone through stitched eyes.
“Infantryman, please ensure that the child is secure.” The Pydarki said as he slowly approached Adhamh, not looking back to see his request carried out.
The soldier gave the Pydarki no response but immediately gestured for Kalena to lie down on top of the stone. Kalena did not argue with him, she welcomed the full body warmth the stone gave her. She made herself comfortable on the stone, adjusting Kala in her belt so that the doll would not be crushed.
Once comfortable Kalena now noticed that the two soldiers that entered the hall with Adhamh had joined them. Each man then pulled a long strip of plaited leather from their belts and twisted it into large loops.
Suddenly two men reached out and grabbed an arm each and slipped their plaited loops around each of her wrists, the third man pulled her legs together and looped his cord around her ankles. Quickly, the soldiers pulled the bonds tight and secured them somehow to the stone.
Kalena strained against her bonds but all she succeeded in doing was to cut the circulation in her hands and feet. The bonds were too tight. There was only one thing that she could think of to do. Kalena began to cry.
The soldiers moved away from her and disappeared from her field of vision. Tied now, all Kalena could see through her tear soaked eyes were the Hatar Adhamh to her left, the darkness of the ceiling above her and the emptiness of the hall to her right. She could no longer see the door that she entered through.
‘Please, do not cry’
Kalena heard Adhamh’s voice again in her head. She immediately stopped her crying to listen to him.
‘The bonds are necessary, do not fight them,’ the Hatar continued once Kalena had calmed. ‘Watch what happens to me and do not be afraid. Do as I do. When it is your turn I will help you as I can.’
‘What is happening?’ Kalena could not help replying. There were no Hatars or riders here to witness.
‘The Pydarki is going to perform the Krytal. First on me and then on you. Kalena, you must be brave and you must be strong.’
‘They’ve tied me down!’ Kalena cried mentally.
‘That is for your own protection Kalena. Humans react differently to The Krytal than we Hatar’le’margarten. Just watch what happens to me.’
Kalena craned her head into a position where she could see Adhamh. The Hatar’s black head was cocked to one side, his sapphire eyes staring intently at her. The sight of a carnivorous reptile staring at you like that would normally put the fear of The One into you, but to Kalena it was comforting. She did not feel scared any more.
Then the Pydarki moved between them, breaking Kalena’s line of sight with Adhamh. The man in white bowed slightly to the Hatar before signaling to his companion to join him. The man came into Kalena’s field of vision, hands held tightly around the wooden box he carried. The first Pydarki then spoke to Adhamh but it was so low that Kalena could not hear it. Adhamh gave no answer except to lower his head until it was level with the man’s waist.
It was at this moment that the man holding the box began to hum. The sound was low and deep and Kalena realized that she felt the sound rather than heard it. It felt as if it travelled through the very rock itself. Kalena stared at the man in awe. She wished that she could do that!
The Pydarki then turned to the one with the box and carefully unlatched it, lifting the hinged lid until it rested on the humming man’s chest. From Kalena’s angle, she could not see its contents. The man stood still a moment before reaching into the box and removed a small, delicate knife. It looked very sharp as it glinted in the light of the hall. Kalena looked on with renewed interest. What was the knife for?
In a tinkle of bells, the Pydarki then turned from the box and took a small step to stand just behind Adhamh’s ear. Now that the man had moved, Kalena could see everything.
Again, the man spoke to the Hatar. Again Kalena could not hear what was being said. Adhamh remained stock-still. Taking the Hatar’s stillness for an answer the Pydarki nodded to himself before leaning forward with the knife and quickly cutting a small incision behind what Kalena thought to be Adhamh’s ear.
Kalena gasped at the sight. Adhamh did not even twitch and even now she could see the red of the Hatar’s blood beginning to well and drip from the wound. It was not a very big cut; about the size of a man’s thumbnail but it was enough to make Kalena uneasy.
The man then placed the knife back into the box and pulled out something else. The Pydarki held the object between his thumb and forefinger and showed it to Adhamh. The object glittered like a rainbow of many colors and seemed to pulse with its own inner light. It was beautiful and Kalena thought she could hear it singing to her.
The Pydarki then held it high for the hall to see and Kalena could now see that it was a faceted stone that drew the light from the hall and turned it into rainbows. Kalena heard the disquieted murmuring from the audience.
‘Uniforms obviously do not appreciate beautiful things,’ she thought to herself.
“Witness and Remember,” the Pydarki said as he bought the stone down and held it gently against the new incision behind Adhamh’s ear. Kalena tried to crane her head forward to get a better view. Blood washed over the stone, cutting off its rainbow light from the hall and Kalena could no longer hear its silent singing. She groaned in loss and the Pydarki carrying the box looked curiously at her.
Then suddenly a red glow appeared where the stone was that grew in intensity as all the welling blood became absorbed into the stone. The Pydarki quickly released his grip from the stone as it began to sink into the incision, taking the eerie red glow with it. Within the blink of an eye, the stone was gone, buried inside the flesh next to Adhamh’s ear. There was no sign of the cut and the Pydarki holding the box stopped his humming. The only reaction Adhamh had given to this violent intrusion was a slight curling of his upper lip. The Hatar then blinked three sets of eyelids before raising his head to its normal position.
Even now she could feel a tingling behind her ear as Adhamh’s words came back to her.
‘…first on me and then on you…’
Kalena turned uneasy eyes to the Pydarki who were now moving towards her. What she could see of their faces behind their beards looked compassionate and kind. It did not look as if it had hurt Adhamh; maybe it just looks worse than it is.
‘Adhamh, how do you feel?’ She asked, looking for reassurance, but the Hatar gave no reply. Instead he sat back on his haunches, shaking his head as if trying to shoo a fly.
Then her vision of Adhamh was blocked by the chest of the Pydarki. He stared down at her through ice blue eyes, knowing that Kalena had seen what had happened to Adhamh. Gently, he placed a hand on her forehead and smoothed back her hair.
“My name is Asnar, my friend is called Angrave.” The Pydarki spoke softly, just on the edge of her hearing. “We do not mean you any harm. The Speaking Crystal does not mean you any harm. We are about to perform the Krytal on you. Traditionally we would ask your consent to do this but under the Dominion of the Suene Empire free will is not possible. Do you understand?”
The man looked down at her, the bells in his braids tinkling as they settled around him. He has no choice in the matter, but he still treated her like he would an adult. Kalena slowly nodded her head.
Asnar smiled down at her and said, “Be brave.”
Kalena closed her eyes tightly and turned her head. She did not wish to see what was happening to her. A moment later she heard Angrave begin to hum and then felt the nick of the blade behind her ear and could feel the tric
kle of blood run down into her hair. Oddly she did not feel any pain. The warmth of the stone seemed to drain it away from her. She then heard the sound of the speaking crystal being removed from the box and braced herself. Kalena felt the stone being passed in front of her closed eyes, felt it sing to her in greeting, then she heard Asnar exclaim, “Witness and Remember.” She then felt a nudging behind her ear and Kalena tensed.
Curiously, Kalena felt nothing at first and then suddenly it felt as if someone was poking at her behind her ear. It then became hot, it felt as if a burning coal was being held against her skin and Kalena began to squirm against her bonds. Then, somehow, she felt something move through her flesh growing tentacles in all directions from the space just behind her ear. The growth was quick and Kalena began to panic as she felt it touch the bones in her neck. She began to involuntarily thrash against her bonds as if someone else had control of her limbs. Kalena began to shake her head, as if the thing could be tossed out with the force. But it did not work, Kalena could still feel it moving towards her brain. Fear washed over her as the first tentacle moved into her nervous system. Then Kalena fell unconscious.
Chapter four
Kalena Kalar
Kalena awoke with a blinding headache and a burning sensation on her cheek. She immediately closed her eyes again as the light made the ache in her head pound worse. Around her Kalena could hear nothing and the air felt cool against her skin. It felt like night time, but why was it so bright?
Kalena lay a moment in silence, her eyes tightly closed, slowly sensing the world around her. The feel and weight of cloth on her skin told Kalena that she was clothed and in a bed and she could feel the form of Kala tucked into the crook of one arm. Over her was a thin blanket, a corner of which she must have kicked off in her sleep, as Kalena could not feel it on her right foot.
Bracing herself, Kalena was determined to open her eyes, curious to find out where she was. This place did not feel like the dormitory, it was too quiet.
‘Kalena?’
‘Adhamh!’ The sound of the Hatar’s voice cheered Kalena no end. But Adhamh’s mind voice was very faint and Kalena found it hard to concentrate with her headache pounding away to her heartbeat.
‘Yes, it is me. Do you remember my warning?’
Kalena did not need to think hard to remember what Adhamh had told her.
‘Not to tell anyone that I can still hear other Hatars and their riders talking.’
‘Good. Please remember that Kalena, both our lives now depend on both of us keeping this secret.’
‘Can we still hear others after what…after those things were put into us?’ Kalena imagined she could feel the bump that should be behind her ear.
‘I can still hear the conversations that other humans have with their Hatar partners. I see no reason why you should not either.’
“Good,” Kalena said aloud in satisfaction.
“Kalena Tsarland, are you awake?”
A male voice that was deep and friendly sounded about the room.
‘Adhamh, someone is here with me. I accidentally spoke aloud and he heard me.’
‘We will speak again later,’ and then Adhamh was gone.
She heard someone move near to her. They had been sitting in a chair next to her all this time.
“Kalena, can you hear me?”
The man’s voice became very insistent and Kalena held her eyes shut a few moments longer as she decided whether to feign sleep or not. But she cannot pretend to sleep forever and the headache Kalena felt upon waking was not as bad as it was. The ache seemed to ebb slowly away with each thump of her heart. She slowly opened her eyes.
Kalena found that she was in a small room that contained the bed she was lying in, a couple of ladder-backed chairs, a clothes chest against the far wall and a small writing desk. It was all very cozy. The man standing next to her was another thing all together.
He was much older than Kalena, at least in his early twenties. His thatch of thick brown hair stood out at odd angles from his head and he regarded her through dark brown eyes. On his left cheek was the small tattoo of a leaping ram. The man’s uniform was one that Kalena recognized from her classroom. It was a Wing Lieutenants uniform and it settled perfectly around his lean frame. The Blue and Red of his uniform collar proclaimed him to be from First Wing, Second Flight – the second best flying squadron in the Suene Empire. First Flight are the elite of the Flying Corps and is based in Hered, Suene’s Capital – That much Kalena remembered from her lessons.
“How are you feeling?” the man asked giving Kalena a smile of reassurance as he seated himself in the chair that stood beside her bed.
Kalena sat up slowly in her bed, giving the area behind her ear a slight rub. As her fingertips brushed the skin she could feel no trace of the knife cut or the Speaking Crystal. Kalena hugged Kala to her before giving the man a non-committal shrug.
“Who are you?” Kalena asked in an effort to ignore his question. She did not want to talk to this man about how she was feeling. Kalena wanted to find out more about what was going on, and she wanted to discuss things more with Adhamh. She desperately wanted to find out more about the Hatar. Apart from Kala, Kalena considered Adhamh her only friend in this place.
The man did not look to be shocked by her question. He seemed to be expecting it.
“My name is Gwidion Bessal, Second Lieutenant of First Wing, Second Flight. And I know that you are Kalena Tsarland who has just been accepted by The Krytal and is now linked with Adhamhma’al’mearan.”
“Linked?”
“The Speaking Crystal gives you the power to speak to your Hatar partner through telepathy or mind-speak. I know you have experienced this so you know what I mean by it. Usually humans cannot talk to Hatars with their minds but the Speaking Crystals make this possible. We call it being ‘linked’, as the Crystals that are given to each partner are actually two halves of one entity. They have to be or the link will not work.”
“What do you mean by being half of one entity?” Kalena asked, a little confused by Gwidion’s explanation.
“I don’t really understand it properly myself. The Pydarki are the ones to ask about that, but do not expect them to answer you. What I just told you is what they’ve been telling us for the last hundred years.”
“Oh.” Kalena felt a little let down. This was the first time she had met an adult who admitted that they did not know everything. Then a question came to her.
“Who are the Pydarki?”
“That is hard to explain.” Gwidion sat a moment in thought. “They are a people who live in the Bhaglier Mountains to the north of here. They are a secretive lot, full of ritual and mystery and though they come under the same laws as the rest of the Empire they remain oddly independent. Don’t ask me why, I know not, but they do possess the secret of the Speaking Crystal and they are the only ones who are able to conduct The Krytal. That is all I can tell you.”
Kalena raised her hand to scrub at the burning feeling on her left cheek but froze as Gwidion leaned quickly forward shaking his hands.
“Don’t rub at it. Rubbing just makes it worse.”
“Makes what worse?” Kalena’s hand did not move as she spoke. It stayed hovering in the no man’s land between the blankets and her face.
“While you were unconscious, the Administrators gave you a tattoo to mark who you are. It is exactly like mine.” Gwidion pointed to the black inked leaping ram on his cheek. “All Kalarthri get one, though you probably haven’t seen enough of us to know that.”
“Really, I have a tattoo?” Kalena’s voice filled with excitement as she looked down at Kala. “You will have to give Kala one too. See, there is a clean spot on her cheek where it could go.”
“I will ask our best tattooist to paint one on for you,” Gwidion could not help but smile as he spoke.
Then another question came to Kalena. This Gwidion Bessal seemed open to her questions so she pushed ahead, asking without fear.
“Why was I pi
cked to be a Flyer?”
“Candidates are chosen from the other Kalarthri due to their ‘special talents’. Most don’t even know they had talents. I didn’t anyway. Some people are born with the capacity to be able to use their mind to communicate, but they are unable to. Apparently human minds are not built to be able to do this. That is why we use the Speaking Crystals. They become the conduits for our special human minds to communicate to its partner Crystal and then on to its Hatar host. As you can tell, Hatars can only communicate via telepathy so they need the Crystal to talk to us. Understand?”
Kalena nodded. This was something that she would have to talk to Adhamh about later. She felt sure that he said earlier that Hatar could talk to any human – not just gifted ones.
Gwidion paused a moment as if considering his next words.
“This was the generally accepted theory until you came along.”
Kalena held her breath in fear – what were they going to do to her now?
The Lieutenant just sat there starring at her, though his eyes did not show fear like those other Flyers. If Kalena did not know better, she thought they held pity.
Then suddenly he stood from his chair muttering quickly to himself, “People will always be afraid of the unknown.”
Kalena automatically huddled back in her bed at his abrupt movement, scared that he will grab her for something worst to come.
Realizing that his actions had been misinterpreted he calmed himself.
“Don’t worry. Nothing else is going to happen to you.” The Lieutenant then held out his hand. “Take my hand and I will take you to meet the rest of the wing – after all, now you are one of them.”
“Huh?” Kalena came out of her huddle, startled by what she had just heard.
“Come, the wing is in the Mess Hall eating dinner and you must be starving.” A loud rumble from Kalena’s belly confirmed him. “Wing Commander Thurad wants to introduce you to them. You are now a junior Wingman in First Wing, Second Flight. Training proper begins tomorrow.”
Gwidion opened the door and Kalena moved uncertainly from the bed, Kala hugged tightly to her chest. She gingerly let her feet touch the floor and saw that her boots were placed neatly beside the bed. As Kalena pulled them on she found that her headache had now receded to a dull ache, and the light no longer felt like small needles being pushed into her eyes. She stood up and grabbed her jacket from the back of the chair that the Wing Lieutenant was sitting on and threaded her arms though the sleeves as she walked through the door.