by Davis Ashura
Dar'El also has plans beyond Hal'El's ruination. He has every intention of finding a means to bring Rukh home. Dar'El is a member of the Society of Rajan, a near-mythical organization whose members are all high-ranking personages in Ashoka. With their help, he hatches a scheme that will see Rukh's conviction overturned. However, not all is as it seems. A member or the Society, Ular Sathin, one of Dar'El's closest friends, is also a high-ranking member of the Sil Lor Kum.
And none of them know that Hal'El Wrestiva is actually the SuDin of the Sil Lor Kum or that he and his Rahail lover, Varesea Apter—also of the Sil Lor Kum—are struggling with their own terrifying problems. The people murdered with the Withering Knife sometimes whisper in their minds. Despite this terrible turn of events, upon Suwraith's orders, Hal'El kills one last time with the Knife, a Rahail named Van Jinnu.
During all this, Rukh and Jessira press on toward Stronghold. The dark depression he hid from even himself is now gone for the most part, but a new threat arises. As they traverse a narrow gorge, Rukh is thrown from his horse and badly injured—his leg is broken and his right arm hangs useless at his side. Even worse, a freak blizzard takes them by surprise. The storm was presaged by a lightning-laced, bruise-colored cloud crisscrossing the sky—Suwraith.
Rukh and Jessira find shelter in a nearby cave where they ride out the storm, but a hidden injury nearly kills him. In her fear for him, Jessira lets slip the truth of her feelings for Rukh. She names him 'priya', a word that means beloved in Ashoka. Later, after Rukh recovers, they press on toward Stronghold. When Rukh asks Jessira about the meaning of 'priya', she dissembles. She claims that priya means close friend, but in Stronghold, it actually means 'only beloved'.
When they finally reach her home, Jessira reunites with her family. Her cousin, Sign Deep, is the first to greet her. Her brother Cedar made it back home as well, bringing Farn with him. Rukh, though, is briefly held prisoner until Stronghold's Senate decides to grant him asylum.
Afterward, he is sponsored by Court Deep, Sign's brother, and along with Farn, the three men share a flat. However, Court is a warrior while Farn has been relegated to work as a laborer. Rukh's cousin had suffered a head injury and until recently had been unable to walk for any length of time without stumbling.
In addition, Stronghold isn't as Jessira described. The OutCastes have their own form of bigotry. The two Kummas face discrimination. They are bluntly told that Purebloods—the Stronghold aspersion for those who aren't OutCaste—come from a culture that is inferior to that of Stronghold's and that the OutCastes are inherently better and more civilized. This attitude, combined with the lingering effects of Rukh's injuries, ensures that he will not be allowed to demonstrate his Talents as a warrior. He, too, must work as a laborer.
Nevertheless, Rukh settles into the city as best he can. He even finds someone to Heal his damaged arm, and he and Farn began training once more. Rukh's cousin plans on returning to Ashoka as soon as he can, even willing to brave winter's winds in order to leave Stronghold. While Farn admires what the OutCastes have built for themselves, their superior attitude has long since grown too grating to tolerate.
Unknown to Farn, Rukh also plans on leaving Stronghold. He reckons that after his cousin's departure, he will be all but alone in the city. While Court and Cedar have become good friends, as have some laborers, it isn't enough. Rukh, too, is tired of Stronghold's bigotry. In addition, he has purposefully put distance between himself and Jessira. If her people ever discovered the depth of their feelings for one another or learned of the kiss they shared, it might ruin her reputation.
Jessira is incensed by the decision Rukh has made regarding their friendship, but she has little time to challenge him over it. Her work as a scout keeps her too busy. Plus, she has struggles of her own. She is disgusted by the attitude and behavior of her people toward Rukh and Farn, but whenever she brings the matter up to her family or friends, it is only Cedar and Court who understand her revulsion. No one else recognizes the problem. To most people of Stronghold, their home is a paragon of equality and refined thought.
Matters aren't improved when Jessira truly gets to know her fiancé, Disbar. He is clutching, controlling, and calculating—on his word, his cousins spy on Jessira to ensure she doesn't contact Rukh. His loathsome conduct becomes too much for her to bear, and she ends their engagement. It is a scandalous action, but Jessira doesn't care. She can't live a lie.
Later, after returning from weeks of maneuvers in the Wildness, Jessira learns that Farn has left Stronghold and that Rukh, Healed and hale once more, plans on entering the Trials of Hume.
No one else gives him a chance at victory. The OutCastes discount Jessira and Cedar's accounts of what Rukh can do. They reckon that the supposed Talents of the Kummas are likely nothing more than an exaggeration. Stupidly, they've not even bothered to ask Rukh for a demonstration. The one time he had offered to do so, he was vulgarly dismissed. He is also attacked on multiple occasions by masked assailants. The situation has him disgusted, and Rukh plans on carrying through with his decision to leave the city and never return.
The Trials of Hume arrive, and just as Jessira predicted, Rukh devastates all the warriors he faces. It is a stunning display that leaves all of Stronghold in silent shock as he leaves the arena.
Rukh's feelings toward the OutCastes softens somewhat at the Champion's banquet when many individuals come to express their sincere regret over their behavior and actions. The Governor-General, Mon Peace, even goes so far to give Rukh an officer's commission in the Home Army and his own flat.
However, Rukh is still insistent on leaving Stronghold. In the final letter his nanna had sent to him, a reference was made to The Book of First Movement, the supposed journal of the First Father. The Book is said to be in Hammer, and it is there that Rukh chooses to journey. But Jessira decides to accompany him, something to which he is categorically opposed.
While they set off in their travels, back in Ashoka, the search for the Withering Knife murderer continues. Information comes to Bree and Jaresh, but in the course of their investigation, they are attacked. In a narrow alley, they fight for their lives. Bree, who had never given proper seriousness to her martial training, is almost frozen in panic. She does enough to stay alive, but for the most part, it is Jaresh who defends them both. The attack is thwarted, and the only surviving assailant escapes but only after nearly killing Bree.
Rector learns of the assault, and he is able to deduce the location of the surviving attacker. From him, he learns that the one who initiated the assault was a Rahail woman, a MalDin. The same woman who was likely seen by several of the Withering Knife murder victims. She may also be a silent partner at the Wrestiva warehouse that Rector oversees.
As House Shektan prepares to investigate this new information in greater detail, Farn Arnicep returns to Ashoka. His miraculous homecoming allows Dar'El to push forward with his proposal to have Rukh's ruling rescinded. The Society of Rajan helps him, and with their aid and Farn's testimony, the Council of Lords decides in Rukh's favor. He is no longer Unworthy. He can return to Ashoka if he wishes.
Immediately, further plans are initiated. Farn will command a Trial to Stronghold, and Jaresh will go as well.
And far to the south, Li-Choke meets Chak-Soon for the first time. It is not an auspicious beginning. Discipline amongst the Chimeras has fallen precipitously since Li-Dirge's death. Choke almost has to kill Soon in order to force the Tigon to accept his mastery. However, after Soon bends knee, the other Chimeras fall in line as well. Nevertheless, even after their submission, Choke is still forced to institute harsh penalties for even the most minor of infractions. The Chimeras suffer, and Soon surprises Choke when he offers to accept everyone else's punishments if the other's will no longer be harmed.
The Tigon's willing sacrifice is stunning, and Choke eases off the punishment and teaches Soon of fraternity, who becomes the first Tigon in history to become so aware. There even comes a moment when Chak-Soon realizes that Suwrait
h is mad. He recognizes the folly of this quest that She has set them upon: to find Hume in long dead Hammer—the Bone Place, as the Chimeras call it.
During all this, after their months of turmoil in Stronghold and during their own travels to Hammer, Rukh and Jessira rekindle their love. It requires patience and understanding, but eventually they come to forgive one another for whatever hurts they suffered on the other's behalf. Rukh even agrees to return to Stronghold.
However, while camping on the famed black cliffs north of Hammer, the sound of Braids on the hunt drives them into the city. They huddle in a crumbled building and are shocked when Li-Choke and Chak-Soon burst into their sanctuary. Wolves on the hunt had driven the Bael and Tigon to seek shelter, but their respite is brief.
Rukh runs Soon through before Choke can explain their presence. Jessira Heals the Tigon, and the pursuing wolves leave of their own accord. Afterward, with Soon still unconscious, the three of them recount their journeys to Hammer. Choke also explains Chak-Soon's importance and agrees to help Rukh and Jessira recover The Book of First Movement. He already knows where it is, a secret known only to the Baels. The Book is hidden away in the Library of Hammer, and after they retrieve it, they quickly exit the city.
Eventually, Chak-Soon awakens, but now a new challenge awaits him. He has been instructed since he was a cub that Humans are evil. Yet, one of them Healed him, and according to Li-Choke, all Humans are Soon's brothers. The young Tigon eventually comes to accept this truth.
The four of them travel east and go their separate ways on the banks of the Soulless River. Choke and Soon return to the Eastern Plague while Rukh and Jessira make their way to Stronghold. However, the two Humans are careful to never reveal that there is, in fact, a city in the Privation Mountains. The Chimeras are led to believe that the Humans mean to return to Ashoka.
Later that evening, Rukh, overcome by curiosity, cracks open The Book of First Movement. The pages are blank just like all the stories say. However, a blue light overwhelms his senses, and he finds himself reliving the last night of Linder Val Maharj, the First Father.
All the stories are true. The First Father and the First Mother had a single child, Lienna. That child would go on to murder Her Parents with the Withering Knife and become the being known as Suwraith. But somehow before He died, Linder was able to create the Oases and The Book of First Movement.
As Rukh lies entranced by Linder's last moments, Suwraith, drawn by what She thinks is Her Father's Jivatma, seeks out the source of what She senses. She races to where Rukh and Jessira had been camped, and the two of them barely escape Her wrath.
The rest of the journey back to Stronghold is tense, except for an evening when the Kesarin, Aia, and her brothers, Shon and Thrum, briefly reunite with Rukh and Jessira.
As for Choke and Chak-Soon, they make their way back to the Eastern Plague, where the new SarpanKum, Li-Shard greets their arrival with acclaim. What Choke has accomplished—befriending a Human—is the longed for dream of all Baels. The fact that he could open Chak-Soon's eyes to the truth of fraternity is another stunning blessing.
Their glad celebration is short.
Suwraith informs Choke that he is to take a full Shatter of Chimeras and follow Her north into the Privations. There, he will assist Her in eradicating a city of Humans. Choke is certain this must be Jessira's hidden home, the one she never spoke of, but which he was able to infer must exist. He and Li-Shard plan for how best to thwart the Queen's plans.
And back in Ashoka, Dar'El discovers the truth about Ular Sathin. His friend, a member of the Society of Rajan, is also the Muran MalDin. However, before Dar'El can extract any information from the traitor, Hal'El tracks Ular down first. In the confrontation with Hal'El, Ular ends up taking his life, and by doing so, all his secrets as well.
Days later, a journal—Ular's—arrives on Dar'El's desk. It contains everything the Muran MalDin knew of the Sil Lor Kum . . . but it's written in cypher.
That same day, Rector and Mira, through a great deal of investigation, separately learn the true name of the SuDin: Hal'El Wrestiva. Mira is about to relay the information to Dar'El, but before she can do so, she is abducted by Hal'El, who had been watching her movements and monitoring what she had been doing. He takes her back to the secret flat that he and Varesea share.
Rector had been on his way to meet Mira, and he catches a glimpse of her with Hal'El. At first, he isn't sure it's her, and before he can act on what he's seen, she's gone. He's further distracted when Satha and Bree Shektan ride up to him. After hearing what he's learned, and what he's just witnessed, Satha returns to the Shektan House Seat to gather warriors, while Rector and Bree go after Mira.
They burst inside just as Hal'El strikes Mira. In the ensuing battle, Varesea is killed and Mira terribly injured. Hal'El, however, manages to escape.
During all this, Rukh and Jessira manage to make their way back to Stronghold. Shortly thereafter, they are married. Any damage to Jessira's reputation when she broke off her engagement to Disbar is long since washed away, especially when the wedding ceremony is performed by none other than the Governor-General, Mon Peace.
Their honeymoon, however, is short-lived.
Several weeks after their wedding, Suwraith arrives at Stronghold. Rukh and Jessira, along with Sign, Cedar, and Court, watch helplessly as the Sorrow Bringer eradicates the OutCaste city. Only a handful manage to escape the destruction.
Also arriving at Stronghold on the same day as Suwraith is Farn, Jaresh, and the rest of the warriors of the Trial from Ashoka to Stronghold. They, too, are witness to Suwraith's wretched evil as is Aia, Shon, and Thrum.
Li-Choke, who has brought his Shatter of Chimeras north, does his best to save the survivors. He and Chak-Soon had managed to haul a number of canoes up to River Gaunt, which the OutCastes can hopefully use to escape. Choke tells Rukh, newly reunited with Jaresh and Farn, about his plan and promises to do all he can to keep the Chimeras away from where the boats are to be launched.
A tearful trek makes its way north. Out of Stronghold's original forty thousand, a little more than one hundred remain. Nevertheless, through luck, courage, and skill, all of the survivors—Strongholders and Ashokans alike—make it to the River Gaunt and the promised boats.
They push off into the water, but in the ensuing, frenetic escape, a Fracture of Chimeras discovers them. The battle that follows is horrific, and none would have survived if not for the timely intervention of Aia and her brothers. The Kesarins had been tracking their Humans—Rukh and Jessira—back to Stronghold. During the battle, they pass on all of Rukh's Talents to the OutCaste warriors fighting for survival.
By the barest of margins, the new abilities prove just enough to hold off the Chimeras, and it is left to a ragged and weary Jessira and Rukh to lead the other survivors to safety. They push their canoes into the water, hauling on the oars as they hurl them into the river's rapids.
When a city is destroyed by Suwraith, Hope itself becomes a victim.
~ A Concise History of Arisa by Kalthe Mint, AF 1839
Rukh watched as Jessira sat alone by the banks of the Gaunt River. Her knees were clutched to her chest, and she stared across the water wearing a distant expression of shell-shocked weariness. Her air of grief and exhaustion was one that was mirrored by rest of the OutCastes, all of whom sat about in small clusters of huddled misery and mourning. Their losses were incalculable. From a city of over forty thousand people, there were now but one-hundred twenty-nine survivors of Stronghold's destruction. The OutCastes were people at risk of extinction.
Rukh glanced over at the small encampment of Ashokans. Fifty warriors had journeyed from the city of his birth to Stronghold, and they too, had suffered grievous losses. There were now a little more than thirty Ashokan warriors remaining. They mourned their dead alongside the Strongholders and appeared every bit as drained. Most of the Ashokans leaned against one another, bone-tired and dozing, while a few of them remained alert and kept watch. Jaresh and Farn were a
mongst those who remained awake.
Rukh shook his head. He still couldn't believe his brother and his cousin were actually here. It was like a waking dream, and he would have been overjoyed to see them, except for the occurrence of yesterday's events. So many terrible tragedies. So much loss. So many dead. Too many. Rukh bit his lip, refusing to let the tears fall as he remembered Cedar and Court.
His gaze shifted and fell upon the people grouped along the river's bank. Some of them were angry with him. After the rapids, when the water had leveled out and calmed, some of the OutCastes had called for a halt. They wanted to stop and grieve, but Rukh wouldn't allow it. He knew they had to push on. They needed distance between themselves and Stronghold. The Sorrow Bringer was probably still seeking them.
While Li-Choke could promise that his Fracture of Chimeras would not be patrolling the Gaunt River, he couldn't make the same vow on behalf of the Queen. She would almost certainly be on the hunt for them, and if She succeeded, they were all dead. According to Choke, Suwraith had discovered a new Talent. She could somehow sense a person's Jivatma, even through the tightest of Blends. It was apparently the reason why no word of Her imminence had been carried back to Stronghold by the Home Army's scouts. The Queen had killed them all.
If Choke was right, the news was disastrous, not just for those huddled here but for everyone throughout the world. The Trials might no longer be possible. They relied on Blends to hide from the Sorrow Bringer's sight, but if She could see through them, then no one entering the Wildness would ever be safe.
Art and learning—so important in rebuilding civilization after the Days of Desolation—would suffer as each city was cut off and left as an isolated island alone. The loss of communication and sharing would lead to stagnation, decay, and a slow-motion death for each city.