On the fourth day, a rider returned with a full report on the conditions at Minteegan. He painted a grim picture, and word soon spread among the troops to expect the worst. They marched with heavy hearts. Neevan was worried about her mother but hoped she had made it out of the burning underground city unharmed.
Some of the troops wanted to force-march to the cavern, but Ferman said no. He did not want to split up his army, and there was a great number of wounded who had to be transported slowly by wagon.
On the sixth night, the army broke out of the trees and came onto the fields that surrounded the cave. Riders appeared, and the soldiers’ anticipation was evident in their quickened step. The sky cleared, and the stars were bright. A giant bonfire had been lit near the entrance to the Minteegan, welcoming the army home.
As the army approached, however, they were met with a sad sight. The fields had been scorched by fire. Near the entrance that led down into their underground home, a refugee city had been set up. Tents, shelters of wood, branches, and blankets were clustered in every direction across the once fallow fields. The soldiers let out a deep groan as they comprehended the extent of the devastation.
A contingent of leaders from the city met Ferman and his officers. There was much to do. Families had to be notified of the deaths of both soldiers and city folk. Reconstruction was under way, but the army was needed to help. New lumber was required to rebuild homes. The fields needed to be replowed and seeded. There was a shortage of horses, and the scattered cattle had to be found. The temple had been burned to the ground along with their Flamekeeper and needed to be rebuilt. It was going to require monumental effort, and there was no time for the soldiers to rest after the war with the Karran. Assignments were given, and everyone turned to the tasks necessary to recover from the war’s devastation.
Neevan found her mother living in a brush shelter with a neighbor. Her mother was unharmed but shaken from the experience and in a state of depression. Neevan had little time to spend with her, however, as she was tasked with replenishing the horse herd and plowing the fields, as some of the horses driven off by the Karran had escaped and returned home. Others had been in far-off pastures and had not been captured. She was given authority to trade for horses with outlying lands, although this was difficult because other peoples were afraid of the Maggan, but it could be done through intermediaries. The only restriction was that she could not trade with the hated Karran.
Several weeks after the Maggan returned to their cavern, Neevan rode out with a dozen soldiers and several pack horses to the northeast. She had gold in the saddlebags to trade for the needed horses. Ferman had instructed her to travel to the north and find their cousin people, the Drumaggan, meaning northern Maggan, and acquire the desperately needed horses.
It was a pleasant night—not too hot—and they made good time following the road that meandered through the forest, occasionally crossing some large meadows and fast-running streams. As several days went by, they found themselves in hilly, rough country and emerged onto a high, elevated valley, well-watered with knee-high grass good for grazing. They camped that day in tents under a clump of trees where two streams conjoined. To be comfortable, they needed the trees to block the sunlight from coming through the tent walls.
As they were breaking camp that evening, to their surprise, they were hailed by a band of travelers riding toward them from the far end of the valley. Leading them was a farmer Neevan knew. The group consisted of ten heavily armed soldiers led by a young officer.
“After I escaped from the attack by the Karran, I rode to the land of the Drumaggan to report what had happened to us and ask for assistance. These soldiers are Drumaggan, our cousins,” he said.
The night sky was full of stars, and the breeze at this elevation was cold. They sat around a fire, wrapped in their cloaks. A young Drumaggan officer, a slight, dark-haired youth who identified himself as Janran, spoke. “When we heard what the Karran did to you, my Flamekeeper, Sassanan, sent us to determine what could be done to help.”
“How did you find the Drumaggan?” Neevan asked the farmer.
“My father had visited them when he was young. He was a trader. He spoke highly of them, and when it seemed that all was lost to the Karran, with everything burning, with all our people held at the point of a lance, I jumped on a horse and followed the road to the northeast. When the road ran out, I followed a trail, and I eventually found them. They live in a forest that lies at the foot of a mountain range a week’s ride from here. Their city is in a cavern beneath a mountain. If you follow our tracks, they will lead you there. You will find the horses you need.”
“And what are your plans now?” she asked the Drumaggan officer.
“We will go on to your city and meet with your leader, Ferman, to discuss what shall be done, and then report back to Sassanan. I believe you can feel assured that this terrible act by the Karran cannot be allowed,” he said.
Others murmured their assent. Neevan was thoughtful for a moment and then said, “It was we who attacked them.”
“Yes, but it was to take back the Flame. That is an honorable endeavor. We, too, hunger for the Flame. It is time the Flame is returned to our people. Besides, the Karran are not our kind.”
“But you have a Flamekeeper as well?” asked Neevan.
“Yes, of course.”
“But no Flame?”
“Like your people, we have no Flame, no Great Crystal. Only the Karran have the Sacred Flame.”
Life for Clarian returned to normal, though his thoughts were troubled, and his dreams were of conflict and suffering. He dreamed of Lillan, her chestnut hair flowing behind her as she galloped her horse, her smile, and her warmth. There seemed to be a hole in his chest that could not be closed. And then there were the strange catlike eyes of Neevan peering at him from the darkness. Could she really be an enemy?
He turned his attention to the ferry, which badly needed repair. The two soldiers who had managed the ferry in his absence had done a creditable job, but the river was hard on the craft. He began by replacing the rope cables that draped across the river and guided the ferry. He harnessed a team of horses and with help from Rostan, a boyhood friend who lived nearby, dragged the boat out of the water for repairs to the hull. To Clarian’s relief, Rostan agreed to stay on at the ferry at least for a time.
The summer slipped into fall, and the nights became cooler. It did not snow on the Grasslands, but the endless wind could turn cold, especially in winter and at night, and rain was frequent. Ranna and Helan didn’t ask Clarian about the war but instead tried to provide a peaceful home. As the days and weeks drifted back into a familiar routine, Clarian became more like the happy young man he had been before the war.
Travel had been disrupted during the war, and the ferry had been little used, but now Clarian transported a good number of traders across the river, so they could journey into Madasharan, the desert country to the west. There was a demand for horses in Karran, since so many had been lost in the war, and Madasharan traders often appeared with a string of horses on the other side of the river, where they rang the bell, signaling Clarian. His ferry could only hold six horses at a time, and there were days when he made countless trips back and forth to get a horse herd across. He enjoyed meeting travelers and talking to them, and they often stayed for a meal prepared by Helan and Ranna. Good stories about lands far away made for lively conversation.
Several months swept by quickly as peace returned to the land. Letters came from the Flamekeeper asking Clarian to return to the Citadel to discuss rebuilding the country and to give advice regarding the army, but Clarian sent brief replies saying that he was unable to come. Rokkman and other officers sent letters from time to time, keeping Clarian up to date on what was happening in the Citadel and the countryside. The Maggan remained in their forest, and all were at peace. The months gave way to spring.
Meanwhile, Ferman commandeere
d the army to rebuild the city. Crews set to work cutting timber and lumber. Work gangs and teams of horses and wagons removed the ruins and hauled the debris out of the cavern chambers. Builders began construction of new homes and buildings, and for the first time stone fortifications enclosing the area at the entrance of the cavern were going up.
Neevan returned from the land of the Drumaggan, driving a great herd of horses before her with help from Drumaggan soldiers and herders. She was welcomed with praise by Ferman and the city folks. Everyone treated the Drumaggan with great courtesy and friendship. Janran had already visited the cavern and met at length with Ferman and his officers and city officials during Neevan’s journey north to find horses.
Janran returned to his home with letters from Ferman for Sassanan, the Flamekeeper of the Drumaggan, with requests for more help. The distance between the two lands was considerable but nothing that couldn’t be overcome with planning. The Drumaggan and the Maggan united in their hatred of the Karran and bonded in their ultimate aim to recover the Flame. The Drumaggan people were an offshoot of the Maggan; the two groups had split off eons before, and the Drumaggan had traveled far to the northeast to establish a new land. They, too, had no Flame and yearned for it with a long-suppressed passion. The news of the disastrous war and the predations by the Karran reignited their dormant desire to capture the Flame. How they would share the Flame once they recovered it from the Karran was under discussion.
The rebuilding of the city went on throughout the winter. A new temple was built and dedicated, and the Maggan installed a new Flamekeeper, who proclaimed that the time had come for the Flame to be returned to its rightful owners, the Maggan people. The fields were plowed and seeded, and although food was in short supply, the trampled gardens had not been completely destroyed, and the people were able to get by. The cattle had been driven off, and many had been lost, but many were eventually recovered by searching them out in the forest. It would take some time to replenish the herds, and meat and milk were not plentiful.
Neevan and her mother took a new apartment down on the cavern floor. Her mother was frailer since the war, and Neevan didn’t want her mother to have to climb stairs. The new apartment was close to the entrance, so her mother could go for walks above ground on those nights when the weather was good, and it was close to the shops that were being rebuilt on either side of the road that ran down the middle of the cavern floor.
Ferman assigned Neevan responsibility for all the horse herds, which she thoroughly enjoyed. She and an assigned group of soldiers and herders managed the pastures and grazing lands and separated the horses into mounts and draft horses. Some of the horses from Drumaggan had never been broken to harness or saddle, so each had to be trained. Many long hours and nights were dedicated to rebuilding the herds, and Neevan found herself happily engaged in something she loved. She tried not to think about the horrors of war, pushing them out of her mind when she could by focusing on the tasks at hand.
Gradually, as the rebuilding efforts were completed, Ferman reassigned soldiers to their army units for refresher training. He added a number of new soldiers from the ranks of the young, but the army had lost so many that it would be some time before it regained its original numbers. Neevan was ordered to expand the number of mounted soldiers and to train them to be ready for battle at some distant time, especially as mounted archers, according to the Karran model. As Ferman shrewdly advised and Neevan agreed, the mounted Karran troops had made the difference in the war that had just ended, and the Maggan needed a similarly lethal force.
Neevan worried that Ferman was planning another war. While he had not stated his intentions, it seemed plain to her that he was preparing for something. When she mentioned this to her mother, her mother told her that Ferman was only building up the army to protect against the murdering Karran.
Neevan thought of Clarian from time to time. She hadn’t forgotten that night in the forest, nor the touch of his warm, strong hand as they shook hands at the end of the war. She knew she should hate him as an enemy, but she didn’t really hate any Karran. And she knew she shouldn’t be thinking of him at all, much less thinking of his strange, blue eyes and thick, brown hair. She wondered if she would ever see him again.
As spring approached, Ferman announced that he would travel to the Drumaggan stronghold to visit and meet face-to-face with Sassanan, their Flamekeeper. A large traveling group made up of Ferman, key officers, city officials, and the Maggan’s new Flamekeeper, Zefran, prepared to journey to the land of the Drumaggan. Neevan was excited to be invited and longed to see again the city of the Drumaggan, which she had told everyone was spectacular.
The long wagon train with many outriders left on a dark night and began the trek to the northeast, first through the forest and then into the wilderness lands earlier traveled by Neevan and her cohort. Ferman was in a good humor, joking and telling stories, before they all retired to tents and shelters during the daylight hours.
Neevan often rode with the Drumaggan escort, and she enjoyed their pleasant manner. She learned from them that they had long ago conquered all the neighboring areas and held a secure realm without any threat from other peoples in adjacent lands. They did not allow traders to travel far into their land and never to their city but nevertheless conducted trading at the boundaries of their land. For the most part, they were self-sufficient and depended on the vast forest lands for sustenance, clearing farm land and pasture where needed and remaining safe and secure in their city caverns within a great mountain.
The wagon train went slower than the group would have traveled by horseback. After a week, the trail, which was now becoming a traveled road, entered a great forest under giant trees not unlike the trees of the Maggan. There was a heavy smell of foliage and decaying moss. There was no canopy to this forest, and these trees let in more light than the Forest of Darkness. Still, it was dim light and easy on the eyes of the travelers. The road was not wide, and wagons followed single file, snaking along for several days. The higher elevation brought colder days, causing everyone to wrap up and provoking some grumbling on the part of the soldiers.
At last they came upon cultivated fields and open pasture lands and a short distance away, they saw the rising cliffs of the Drumaggan—great, gray faces of rock towering at great heights above the forest floor. Within an hour a delegation of riders appeared to welcome Ferman and his people, and there was great shouting and joy. The riders escorted the Maggan, and more riders came to join in. It was well after midnight when the caravan arrived at the base of the cliffs and began a steep pull up a narrow road hewn out of rock across the face of the cliff. After several thousand paces, the road turned into the mouth of a gigantic cavern and leveled out. Standing all along the sides of the cavern were great crowds of Drumaggan people cheering and waving to their cousins, the Maggan.
Neevan was again amazed, as she had been on her first visit to the cavern. Inside the cave rose multilevel apartment buildings built from stone. The cavern was much bigger than that of her city, with narrow streets crisscrossing at floor level and wide stairways to homes built up against the walls. She and her soldiers were led farther into the dark recess, which widened and seemed to branch out into many chambers going off into the darkness. Lanterns hung at intervals along the streets to provide enough illumination to see in the dim light.
People leaned out of windows or stood on balconies waving and calling out friendly greetings and invitations to the Maggan, who were gratified and overcome with joy at the gracious welcome. Behind Neevan, Ferman stood in his horse-drawn wagon, waving his arms and smiling with delight at the attention. Eventually the procession stopped before a large, impressive building with wide steps that led up to a stone platform and great wooden doors. Standing there was Sassanan, the Drumaggan Flamekeeper.
Ferman stepped down from his wagon and walked up the steps, showing great dignity, followed by the Maggan Flamekeeper, into the open arms of Sassanan.
He was then embraced by the Drumaggan army commander, Sulan. They turned and waved, to the roaring approval of the people. Neevan couldn’t hear what they were saying over the loud voices, but they soon gave final waves to the crowd and entered the building arm in arm.
Neevan was billeted in the female officers’ quarters located far back in a secondary chamber. The headquarters for the army was located there, along with a stable for a small number of horses. The majority of horses were kept down in the pastureland at the foot of the cliffs. There was no river here as there was in the caverns of the Maggan, but springs and seepage formed pools that were sufficient to meet the populace’s needs. The air inside was fresh, and Neevan was told that a chamber emerged on top of the cliffs that created a draft to pull air from the cavern entrance and out the top.
The shops were a source of entertainment to Neevan. The women of Drumaggan wore gold jewelry and jewelry with colored stones, something Maggan women did not wear except for earrings. Also, Drumaggan people wore heavier jackets made in different colors because of the elevation. The Maggan almost always wore black. Neevan purchased several gold bracelets and sets of earrings and some jackets and other clothes. She bought several gifts for her mother, including a blanket with a mountain motif woven into it.
The Drumaggan were a wealthy people, Neevan observed. They had extensive lands, including the vast forest that all the nocturnal people valued, but also lands that stretched a great distance beyond their forest. Orchards and vineyards and vegetable gardens dotted the valley floor. The Drumaggan had overwhelmed neighboring tribes and cultures, thereby extending their borders as a barrier against invasion. But it was generally accepted that no tribe warred against the Drumaggan because they were feared. They had not engaged in a war in many years, but their population was expanding. They were searching for another cavern in which to establish another city.
Die for the Flame Page 18