The Oathbreaker's Shadow

by Amy McCulloch

  Ironically, Raim knew Khareh would have loved to be in his place. Well, perhaps not recovering from a behrfly attack, but to be in the desert, learning all the tricks of the desert people. It had been Khareh’s ultimate dream to cross the desert.

  ‘And they say no boats have ever crossed from the Xel Sea because it is so dangerous and would take years and years, and that’s even before the impossibly long camel journey to Aqben!’ Khareh had divulged this juicy tidbit to Raim a few months ago, as they skipped stones on Lake Oudo. He had been listening in on one of his uncle’s meetings, and he was always keen to talk to Raim afterwards about how he would do things differently.

  Raim had laughed. ‘How could anyone live on a boat for that long? It takes two hours to cross Oudo, a lake that is never anything but completely flat, and still everyone except the Erudees just end up drowning!’ He’d watched as one of the boats passed them by in the distance, just some logs tied together with braided rushes, and a narrow strip of cloth for a sail. They were the most primitive mode of transportation Raim had ever seen. He had never been on the water, and he had no desire to. He liked his feet placed firmly on the ground.

  ‘I can’t believe you don’t know.’ Khareh had put on his most authoritative voice. ‘But in the south they have boats as big as houses. Bigger even. And they sail in them for months and months. They can explore wherever they want.’

  ‘Right. And your elephant has three trunks.’

  ‘Still,’ Khareh had mused, ‘the quickest way to get down there would be to go through the desert . . . if you could reach the oasis in the Western Eye of Sheba, then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.’

  Raim had been horrified. He’d looked around quickly to make sure no one was close enough to hear them.

  They were alone. ‘The desert? You’re crazy. Why would anyone willingly go to the land of the Alashan and the Chauk?’

  ‘You’re right,’ Khareh had said, after a long pause.

  ‘Anyway, I overheard some of the old timers saying that the south was all a myth. The desert just goes on for ever and ever.’

  ‘I don’t believe that. And the first person to get across there would be thought of as truly great.’

  Khareh would have ordered them to breed a million worms, Raim thought.

  With a start he realized that neither Batar-Khan nor Khareh had their Protectors. He wondered who Khareh would choose as his replacement. It was too painful to speculate. And now that Khareh was no longer going to be Khan, the person he chose would no longer be Chief Yun. Even that wouldn’t have mattered to Raim. He would still have been Khareh’s Protector, even if the only people Khareh commanded were lowly goatherders.

  Raim stopped daydreaming once another tremor – the biggest one yet – shuddered through his limbs, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut tight. When it was over, Raim gingerly opened his eyes and realized that his sight had cleared, and the pain in his body had left him. He gingerly lifted a finger, ran it across his forehead, and it was dry.

  He sat up, but instead of moving towards the camp he remained facing away from it. He sat with his eyes closed and his legs crossed, his hands balancing on his knees in the same meditative position Yasmin a temporary settlement.SVgCC f had forced him into so many times. Something gnawed at his memory, like a behrfly in his brain. The bites around his head were fewer than anywhere else on his body, that couldn’t be denied. As Wadi told him, there was no natural explanation for their absence. What if . . .

  The promise-knot he made to Khareh had been hidden under the cloak. He ran his finger around the thread, feeling the knot and knowing what it meant. After learning from Ryopi that shadows were really the spirits of the person the promise was made to, he spoke to the knot as if through it he could communicate with Khareh: ‘I did not betray you. I will come back and I will prove myself to you.’

  Strangely, though, that did make him feel better. He lay back down in the sand, stretching his arms above him. As he felt the warmth beneath his head, he was amazed by how silent it was and by how much the desert had changed to him in such a short time. Maybe it was just having company that made it better.

  Beneath him, the ground trembled. At least, he thought it did. By the time he realized it was shaking, the movement stopped. Something sharp stabbed his forearm. He grimaced in pain, sat up abruptly and clutched his arm to his stomach. A thin line of blood trickled from a wound gaping like a mouth.

  He looked at the sand and ran his hand over the granules. Everything was smooth; there was no sign of anything jagged. Finally he decided he had spent enough time out on the dunes and that he should go back to the camp. Wadi had said he could join the Alashan now; he no longer had to be alone. He wondered whether he could live as Alashan for ever. Would it be better than living permanently in Lazar, with the oathbreakers? But Raim knew better than that. Mhara had said he might find answers there. And more than anything else, Raim needed answers.

  He stood up with renewed determination, but as he did something burst out of the dune, sending plumes of sand into his face. He shielded his eyes with his arms and stumbled backward.

  Immediately the creature started attacking his chest, ripping the tunic off his body and stabbing at his skin. Raim yelled and tried to beat it back with his hands. The moment he felt the creature falter, he started running back towards the camp.

  It chased him, and he could tell now that it was a bird. And not just any bird. It was trying to attack his promise to Khareh, which meant only one thing: it was a garfalcon – a mythical bird of the desert than hunted promise-knots. Raim had thought them only a story to stop honest people from entering the desert, but here was one in the flesh. Its wings pounded against his ears and his shoulders as it tried to dig its talons into his arm and its beak into his chest. Raim came to an abrupt halt, hoping to throw the bird off him with the momentum. It worked for a moment, and he reached out with his other hand and punched the bird hard on a wing. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Wadi running towards him.

  The bird was startled momentarily, and flew up. For the first time Raim got a good look at it. It was ghastly in the moonlight. The beak was long and curved, with a thick streak of red that ran down the centre; though the gash in Raim’s arm meant the beak could have been stained by his own blood. The bird itself was a magnificent blue-black, and its wingspan was huge, the wings seemingly too big for its body.

  It swooped down, lightning fast, and latched onto Raim’s wrist. It dug its beak deep into his chest and ripped at the promise-knot. Then, the unbreakable broke. It snapped from around his neck and he could do nothing but watch that?’ble?din horror. The bird’s talons remained fastened to his arm, the knotted string dangling from its mouth like the tail of an unfortunate rodent.

  Wind rushed past his ears. The bird screeched and was pulled off his arm. It remained suspended in the air, a few feet away from Raim. Holding the bird by the throat was Khareh. Or rather, dream-Khareh.

  ‘I’m god – perh

  19

  ‘Well, boy. What a surprise you are. You never told us the oath you’d broken was to the Crown Prince. You must be brave.’ Ryopi sidled up behind him, the mutterings of his haunt following him like a bad smell. The whole tribe – Alashan on one side, Chauk on the other – were gathered around Raim and Wadi.

  Raim shrugged him off in disgust. ‘I told you, I didn’t break an oath out there.’

  Ryopi eyed dream-Khareh, who was hovering near. ‘Looks like you did to me.’

  ‘No!’ Raim almost launched himself at the man, but Old-maa held up her hand, which was enough to stay him.

  She spoke, and Wadi translated. ‘As Alashan, we do not knot our promises. We make them in the name of Sola, and that is all. She knows our hearts and she is the sole judge of our intentions. But we recognize the shadow that accompanies the oathbreakers. And a shadow has descended upon you. This we cannot ignore. You must keep away from the Alashan, and remain with the Chauk.’

  Raim glared at Old-maa. ‘But I’m n
ot like them! I can show you,’ Raim said, with more confidence than he felt. In reality, he had no idea how he was going to prove it. Then he remembered what dream-Khareh had said to him during the behrfly incident. He thought, can you read my mind?

  Dream-Khareh spoke back in his head, ‘Yes.’

  Then tell me how I am different from Chauk. He was pleading silently.

  ‘All they see around you is a shadow, and all the Chauk’s haunts appear as shadows too: but the Alashan already know your shadow is different. It’s not dark, it’s not menacing. It’s not repulsive. I can make the shadow disappear, if you want.’

  Do it then, thought Raim. He watched as dream-Khareh started edging away from him. Move so far back that they won’t be repelled. But don’t leave me for good, he quickly added.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ dream-Khareh said. ‘I’m here to stay.’

  Dream-Khareh floated backward until he was out of sight.

  A huge murmur scurried through the crowd.

  ‘See?’ Raim said, out loud this time. ‘I am not the same as they are. I am not bound to my “shadow” because I did not break my promise. So please . . . let me stay with you for now . . . until we reach Lazar.’

  Old-maa’s expression changed, then, after Wadi had translated his words. She almost looked as if ies. Absurdly

  20

  It was almost too much for Raim to bear to think?’ asked Raim.t ><. He wa had made Khareh was really there with him in the desert. So he blended the words ‘dream-Khareh’ into the name Draikh to disassociate spirit from person. In all other ways but name now, though, they were the same. The same sarcastic comments. The same withering looks. The same best friend.

  ‘Hey, watch out,’ Draikh said. ‘Pretty girl coming up.’

  Raim looked up.

  ‘Hi.’ Wadi was standing over his shelter, wringing her hands. ‘I’m sorry about Old-maa . . . she’s stubborn.’

  ‘Stubborn? She’s more stuck in her ways than a constipated camel,’ said Draikh.

  Are you going to talk in my head over every conversation I have? Raim thought to his annoying spirit.

  ‘Yup, pretty much.’

  Well stop it, will you?

  Raim tried to compose himself for Wadi, and not look like a crazy person who was having conversations with an invisible being. He shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. ‘Don’t worry about it. Look, I have to ask you something. Ryopi says you will never take us to Lazar. Is that true?’

  Wadi nodded. ‘Old-maa refuses to go there. Trust me, I have tried hard to convince her we have to go. The Chauk are so . . . pitiful. Despite what they’ve done, I feel sorry for them. All they want is to reach the city. They were just unlucky to have been picked up by us and not another Alashan tribe.’

  ‘But why is she so reluctant?’

  ‘I honestly don’t know.’

  ‘So get Old-maa to point me in the right direction, and I’ll start walking there!’

  ‘It doesn’t work like that.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Only Old-maa knows the way. One day, she will pass that know ledge on to her successor, but for now . . . Why do you think the Chauk need us in the first place? It is impossible to find Lazar without knowing beforehand where you are going. It’s hidden deep in a mountain range in the desert.’

  ‘So then what can we do?’

  ‘I can try to convince her to take us to another Alashan tribe. A tribe who will accompany you to Lazar. But it will take time. We haven’t come across another tribe in many moons. It is a big desert.’ She smiled wryly.

  ‘Yeah, no kidding,’ said Draikh.

  ‘Another tribe could be just over this dune, and we would never know,’ she continued.

  A high-pitched whistle sounded from inside the camp. Wadi’s eyes immediately leaped to the sky.

  ‘What is it?’ said Raim, following her gaze, suddenly fearful of more behrflies.

  ‘Daylight.’ Sure enough, in the sky behind him the first few streaks of colour were beginning to appear. ‘Quick, we only have a few minutes. Pass me your cloak and sit cross-legged.’ He did as she asked and she threw the cloak over his shoulders, arranging it around him so that every inch of skin was covered. She turned back to the Alashan camp, then looked up to the sky again, and cursed. ‘It’s too late for me to go back now; the sun is almost up. It’s easier if we sit back to back. Pull your hood over your eyes set in a firm lineor him.’CC fso your face is covered.’ Again he did as he was told, as Wadi sat down behind him. Raim felt her back press against his, her spine, shoulder blades, and neck adjusting until they were both comfortable.

  Maybe a little bit of extra time with the Alashan wouldn’t be so bad, after all.

  They marched on for a week through the desert, into the stretch that divided the Western Eye of Sheba from the Eastern, and still there was no sign of another tribe.

  The first day they’d spent out of the Eye, the baby garfalcon had swooped down out of the sky and landed on Raim’s non-scarred arm, scaring him half to death. But it squawked a greeting and Raim had warmed to the creature immediately. He stroked the oily feathers on its head and neck, before reaching into his cloak for his skin of water. He tipped a droplet into the bird’s throat. From that moment, Oyu, named for the sound it made when it drank the water, had remained Raim’s constant companion, almost like another shadow.

  Oyu waited out the heat by burrowing into the sand. Raim often marvelled at the bird’s curious anatomy. Its wings, which looked so slick and dazzling in the air, were covered in a strange oil that seemed to repel grains of sand, enabling it to bury so deep that no trace of its presence was visible on the surface. Sometimes Raim was jealous – it was a great way to stay cool.

  Wadi he hardly ever saw. Not since the day they had spent back-to-back in the desert. Afterwards she had been berated by Old-maa for spending time with him, and so Raim’s only source of human company came from Ryopi. None of the other Chauk seemed to be in the mood for conversation.

  ‘Blood traitor. Fool. Cursed one. Good for nothing but Lazar.’

  Ryopi’s haunt was always close by. Whenever Ryopi spoke, his haunt-father would move in front of him and stare directly into his eyes. Ryopi tried to avoid the piercing eye contact, and as a result never looked in the same direction when he was talking, his eyes flicking from side to side, his neck twitching. When he walked, the haunt followed close behind, playing with the edge of his curved dagger. The tiniest movement out of place and Ryopi would cry out as the blade was waved in front of his face. This behaviour was pretty typical of all the Chauk. They were all jumpy and agitated. Even time didn’t lessen the pain. The haunts were smart; they adapted. If the Chauk became too complacent, too used to the insults, their haunt would step up their game, trying a different, even more agonizing tactic &#m didn’t

  21

  A few days later, as the tribe began to wake from their sun-filled slumber to begin another night’s journey, there was excited commotion from a group of younger Alashan.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Raim asked Ryopi.

  Ryopi shrugged. ‘What do I care?’ he replied, before setting out on the long trudge. That was all the Chauk seemed to do – sleep and walk. The Alashan refilled their skins of water and left food out for them – more jarumba roots, bowls of soft cooked cornmeal and the occasional strip of dried meat – but otherwise left the Chauk to their tormented thoughts.

  Raim was determined not to follow their example. So he moved in the direction of the commotion, careful to keep his distance. The Alashan children were shooting their hands into the sand, quick as vipers, giggling all the while. A loud squeal signalled one of them had been successful. In the little boy’s palm was a tiny sand-lizard, which he quickly popped into his mouth and gobbled up raw. Raim was shocked at first, but after what seemed like weeks of dry, tough meat, he suddenly craved something fresh. He tried to follow their example, looking for little ripples in the sand and snatching his hand after them, but he was never fast enough.
<
br />   ‘You’re losing your touch, Raim,’ Draikh said from behind him.

  Raim chucked a handful of sand his way, but Draikh just laughed. The worst part of it was that it was true. Raim felt himself becoming weaker, the effects of his training fading. It made him feel uncomfortable and he knew he needed to rediscover his routine. What else did he have now, if not his Yun-bred skills?

  He launched his hand into the sand and came out with a fat lizard. ‘Aha!’ The tiny creature latched onto a finger and refused to let go even as Raim shook his hand in frustration. Finally he dangled the lizard over his mouth, the tip of its tail brushing the top of his tongue.

  The back legs wriggled in his mouth as he lowered the lizard, but he spat it out. He didn’t yet have the stomach for raw lizard after all, it seemed. The children were pointing at him and laughing, but Raim saw the funny side too and laughed with them. He saw one of the children hook a lizard onto his bottom lip, where it dangled like a living, breathing piercing – obviously saving it for a midnight snack.

  He brought his lizard back to the campsite, where he discovered it was delicious cooked over an open flame, the skin burned to a crisp while the inside was creamy white and chewy.

  Oyu was growing quickly, and soon his wingspan was as great as Raim was tall. He took to the skies as they walked, his black form disappearing into the night sky. His vision in the darkness was clearly remarkable; he brought back tokens for Raim, mostly gruesome things like bits of bone and once even the shed skin of a snake.

  One night, Oyu swooped down and landed on Raim’s shoulder. In his beak was a leather tie, which looked like those used by the Alashan to secure the tops of their water casks. But it was marked with a strange knife-cut design that he hadn’t seen in this tribe. Filled with excitement and hope, Raim ran up to the Alashan group, forgetting the taboo. He was quickly reminded of it, though, as the tribe members at the back of the group spun round, knives in hand. He held up his own hands, trying to show he meant no harm. ‘Please, I need to see Wadi.’