Warrior of Golmeira

by Marianne Ratcliffe

  ‘Follow.’ The woman took a five-step run up, planted the pole a few inches from the lip of the channel and swung herself up and over to other side. She flung the pole back to Zastra. Zastra caught it and winced. The metal was almost too hot to hold. She wondered why the woman hadn’t offered to help her, like the others, but there was no time to solve that puzzle. She sprinted towards the channel, planted the pole and flung herself upwards, placing her foot in one of the stirrups. For an instant, she balanced above the shimmering river. It reminded her of riding the jula trees back in the Border Mountains. She felt a strange exhilaration as she dropped over the molten rock and landed safely on the other side. The soles of her feet felt scalded and her boots seemed unusually heavy. Beads of half-set rock had stuck to the soles, so she scraped them against the tarry ground.

  ‘I… choking,’ Gwylla croaked. Her lips were tinged with purple. Zastra too, began to feel light headed. The ko-venteela gestured urgently up the mountain.

  ‘Surely, we must head down, not back toward the fire?’ cried Polina.

  ‘I suggest we do as they say,’ Zastra gasped. ‘They seem to know what they are doing.’

  As they climbed higher, Zastra felt her dizziness lift. Gwylla too, started to breathe easier. The ko-venteela nodded and smiled,

  ‘Bad air. Better up here,’ the woman said. They veered eastwards, away from the smoke and the lava. Zastra caught up with them.

  ‘Thank you for saving our lives,’ she said haltingly, in Aliterran. The ko-venteela exchanged amused glances. Urbek was laughing so hard, he could barely speak.

  ‘You… you are meaning to thank them for saving your life?’ he asked.

  ‘Of course. What did I actually say?’

  ‘You are offering most graciously to be smelling their armpits. Oh, this is being the funniest thing!’

  Chapter Twenty

  Once the perilous slopes of the First Born were behind them, the ko-venteela introduced themselves. The man was called Xhoyal, the woman Myshka. They were brother and sister. When Urbek asked what they had been doing in the Outlands, they said that they had seen the First Born erupting two days ago and had come to dance his fires.

  ‘You went there on purpose?’ Urbek exclaimed. Xhoyal nodded. ‘We have danced every fire since we earned our pilu.’

  ‘Is that usual among your people?’

  ‘Only for those born to be fire-dancers,’ Myshka remarked. She brandished the pendant around her neck and pointed at Zastra. ‘Like this one. It is why I let her ride the pilu alone.’

  ‘Me?’ Zastra could hardly believe she’d been left to fend for herself based on some misplaced belief that she knew what she was doing. Myshka lowered her pilu. Only now did Zastra realised the tip was sharpened to a point. Ithgol ripped his scythal from his scabbard. Myshka continued to lower the pilu until the tip lay by Zastra’s feet.

  ‘It is our sign of friendship,’ she explained with a nervous glance at Ithgol. The Kyrg returned his scythal to his scabbard.

  ‘Apologies. I misunderstood,’ he said in Aliterran.

  ‘This redskin speaks like ko-venteela,’ Xhoyal said admiringly.

  ‘Ithgol is having an excellent ear,’ Urbek said, in Golmeiran. ‘I too am having these ears. It is why I am being so perfect speaking your language.’

  Zastra let that go without comment. She could hardly be critical of his language skills after her embarrassing mistake. Myshka pressed her palm against her temple, grimacing. Her pilu clattered to the ground.

  ‘Ka-kee!’ exclaimed Xhoyal, surprise mingled with pain.

  ‘Morvain!’ Polina snapped. The Southlander’s eyes had narrowed.

  ‘Stop, Morvain,’ Zastra commanded. ‘We do not invade minds uninvited.’

  ‘I was only trying to discover their intentions,’ Morvain protested. ‘We can’t all understand this foreign speak.’

  ‘They just saved our lives. I think that makes their intentions clear enough.’ Zastra turned to Urbek. She did not want to be misunderstood.

  ‘Please ask them to forgive us. Morvain acted in fear and ignorance. It will not happen again.’ Urbek translated into Aliterran.

  ‘You are thought-stealers?’ Myshka gasped.

  ‘Not all of us,’ Zastra said quickly. She introduced the mindweavers.

  ‘The druin-ji warn of this.’ Xhoyal was still frowning. Urbek explained about Thorlberd, and that Morvain and the others had come to help.

  ‘Who are the druin-ji?’ Zastra asked, once Urbek had finished. Xhoyal and Myshka exchanged glances.

  ‘They are our spiritual leaders. They are able to speak to the Mother.’

  ‘It is unwise to disobey them,’ added Myshka. ‘They do not like strangers. It is best you leave our lands quickly.’

  ‘We have no wish to stay where we are not welcome. We only wish to find the Dreaming Pools,’ said Urbek. ‘Ko-yamacha land is on the other side.’

  ‘We will take you to our village and seek guidance from Padra,’ Myshka suggested. ‘She has travelled much and may know the way.’

  The ko-venteela were curious about everything. They fingered Zastra’s clothes, running their hands over her leather jerkin as if they had never seen such material before. Their own feet were covered in a black moulded skin that came halfway up their calves. Urbek explained the material was called lastic, and it came from rubber trees that grew in the Makhana Forest. ‘We are trading it for ko-venteela metalwork,’ he explained. In the metal canisters Zastra had mistaken for quivers, the ko-venteela carried everything they needed to travel. As night drew in and it grew colder, they twisted off the caps and pulled out tunics made of a densely woven material.

  ‘It is best to wear little when fire dancing,’ Myshka explained. ‘Cloth burns easily.’

  As they left the Outlands, the landscape began to change, and the tar-like ground became dotted with patches of green that grew up around water springs. Towards evening, they reached a large spring that had formed a pool of cloudy blue water, around which plants were laid out in neat rings. One of the outer rings consisted of plants whose broad yellowish leaves cascaded out from a thick stem. Each of these plants had a metal tube inserted at a downward angle, from which a pale liquid glooped into a metal pail.

  ‘These are being rubberwoods,’ Urbek said, in surprise. ‘The soil here cannot suit them. Ours in the Makhana Forest are being much larger. These are being ridiculous.’

  At the edge of the plantation rose a six-sided tent. Outside, a boy and a girl played in the light of a brazier, attempting to balance on miniature pilu. The girl caught sight of them and fell off her pole.

  ‘Myshka! Xhoyal!’ She flung herself at Myshka, eyeing the rest of them with unashamed interest. The boy disappeared into the tent and dragged forth a tall woman wearing a long-sleeved tunic. Xhoyal and Myshka dipped their pilu in greeting.

  ‘May none disturb the Mother’s rest,’ said Myshka.

  ‘May She sleep forever,’ the woman returned, eyeing her visitors. ‘I am Shuyal.’

  Another woman and a man emerged from the tent. ‘This my wife, Rebanna, and my husband, Xhakan. These are our children. Travellers are welcome in our home.’

  ‘Thank you for your hospitality,’ Zastra said, in halting Aliterran. The bemused look she received in response was becoming all too familiar.

  ‘What did I say?’ she asked with a sigh. Ithgol coughed.

  ‘It wasn’t clear. You may have proposed marriage.’

  ‘Who to?’

  ‘Possibly all of them.’

  ‘If we were allowed to use our talents, we could avoid such unfortunate misunderstandings,’ said Morvain. ‘I’m not sure these people are to be trusted. They have some very strange customs.’

  Zenarbia nudged Gwylla. ‘A husband and a wife? How does that work?’

  Gwylla giggled. ‘I bet Xhakan gets outvoted. A lot!’

  ‘Our hosts have no reason to wish us harm, unless we give them one,’ Zastra snapped. ‘We will not invade their privacy, nor will w
e openly laugh at them.’

  Zenarbia and Gwylla were subdued into silence. Morvain pressed his lips together but said nothing further. The children were entranced by the visitors, particularly Ithgol. They fingered his long, flax-like hair and ran their hands over his flat, red-hued face. He snarled at them and they screamed, running away only to return moments later, giggling.

  ‘Perhaps Ithgol will gain employment as a child-minder when this is all over,’ Polina remarked as the Kyrg swung the young girl over his head. She screamed in delight. He had barely put her down before she begged him to do it again.

  ‘Yet another of Ithgol’s impressive talents,’ remarked Morvain with a smile. He had recovered his composure. Even though he had not troubled himself to try and learn Aliterran, he began to dominate the conversation, asking Urbek to translate his questions and compliments. Their hosts provided a hearty but simple meal – a hot soup topped with savoury dumplings, followed by a dish of crunchy vegetables in a spicy sauce. Urbek related all that had happened on their journey. When they came to the bit about dancing the fires, the little boy crawled over to Zastra and tugged off one of her boots. He examined the soles, running his fingers over the bobbles of rock before looking at her in awe.

  ‘Where will you go?’ asked Shuyal.

  ‘Makhana Forest,’ said Urbek. ‘We must warn my people of their danger.’

  ‘I hope this whiteskin Thorlberd will not try and take our lands,’ Rebanna said.

  ‘The Mother and the druin-ji will protect us,’ said Xhakan stoutly. Shuyal snorted.

  ‘Pah! The druin-ji are thieves and charlatans. Look what they did!’ She lifted her sleeves. The insides of both arms were branded with the ko-venteela symbol, repeated all the way up to her elbows.

  ‘I asked too many questions when I was a girl.’

  ‘They did that to a child?’ Urbek exclaimed in horror.

  ‘They do that, and worse.’ Shuyal glanced at Xhoyal and Myshka. Xhoyal’s head dropped.

  ‘We had an older sister,’ Myshka explained. ‘She took care of us when our parents died in the fires of the Second Born. One year, our sister refused to pay the druin-ji the tribute they demanded. She said it was too much, that we would starve. Pacifa growled that night and the druin-ji blamed my sister. She was made sacrifice.

  ‘Sacrifice?’ Zastra asked.

  ‘The druin-ji teach that the Mother and her children can only be appeased by human flesh. Our sister was cast into the firepit.’ Myshka broke off as Shuyal reached out to squeeze her hand.

  ‘When we had our own children, we left the valleys to live here,’ she said. ‘It is harder, but the druin-ji don’t bother us. We even try to grow our own rubberwoods, so we do not have to run begging to the druin-ji. They control all trade with the ko-yamacha.’

  ‘They are fine specimens,’ said Urbek quickly. ‘I was saying as much when I saw them.’

  After the meal, Xhakan washed the pots while Rebanna put the children to bed. Smaller sections of the tent served as sleeping quarters for the family. Shuyal invited Zastra and the others to camp down in the largest section, apologising for the lack of mattresses. Zastra asked Urbek to thank them, rather than risk yet another mistake. They wrapped themselves in their blankets and tried to sleep as the ground trembled, echoing the distant roars of the First Born.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  The next morning, they bade their hosts farewell and continued onwards, reaching a fertile valley formed by a pale blue river that meandered between two mountains. Smoke drifted lazily from the summit of the mountain to their left.

  ‘Should we be worried?’ Urbek asked. Xhoyal looked amused.

  ‘Such little smoke is nothing to fear. Pacifa will not harm us today.’

  Zastra walked between the ko-venteela, speaking only Aliterran, eager to improve the way she spoke the language. With their patient help she started to feel more confident. Fields stepped up the sides of the valley, covered in plants and berry-laden bushes. Ko-venteela worked the fields or washed clothes in the river, stopping to stare at the strangers but making no move to greet them. Unlike Myshka and Xhoyal, they seemed wary and fearful. In the mid-afternoon, they reached a large settlement that spread up Pacifa’s lower slopes. It was made up entirely of tents, covered in brightly-coloured paintings of fires, or mountains with strangely human aspects, and almost all carried the ko-venteela symbol. Some tents were nearly as large as the great hall on Uden’s Teeth, others were much smaller. Here and there, pools of steaming water broke through the ground. Ko-venteela children splashed in them, their mottled legs bare, giggling with pleasure. Myshka led them through the settlement via well-worn track that zig-zagged upwards until they left the tents behind and approached the entrance to a tunnel. Outside, squares of cloth were laid out, covered in intricately worked jewellery. Zastra recognised a pair of pendants like those worn by Myshka and Xhoyal. An open circle of metal, inside which strands of bronze, gold and silver had been melded together to give the impression of fire. It was astonishing craftmanship. Behind the jewellery were pilu of various sizes as well as household items such as buckets and knives and forks. Even these ordinary objects had pleasing lines and decorative touches. An old man with no teeth sat by the cloth and thrust a bracelet hopefully towards Gwylla. The young mindweaver declined reluctantly.

  ‘Padra-ji?’ Myshka asked. The man jerked his head towards the tunnel and threw down the bracelet in disgust. Myshka led them down a narrow passage that grew distinctly warmer as they descended, and they began to hear clinking and hissing as the passageway opened out into a vast cave. A large hole in the roof let in the sunlight and the air shimmered above an open pit in the floor. Around its edge, men and women wearing little besides lastic aprons and padded gloves worked with glowing metal. Zastra peered into the pit. A river of molten rock flowed beneath her, blasting heat upwards. One of the aproned workers used a pilu to dangle a ceramic pot above the lava, her forehead beaded with sweat. She retrieved the pot and poured molten metal into an intricate mould. The metal sizzled as it hit the cool clay. Only then did she turn to greet the visitors.

  ‘Greetings, Padra-ji. May none disturb the Mother’s rest,’ Myshka said politely.

  ‘May she sleep forever,’ the woman returned. She frowned at Zastra and the others. ‘It is unwise to bring strangers here. The cries of the First Born have roused the druin-ji. They have been seen further up the valley.’

  ‘We do not wish to bring you trouble,’ Urbek said. ‘I wish only to return home.’

  Xhoyal quickly recounted what had happened. Padra eyed Zastra thoughtfully.

  ‘If what you say is true, this whiteskin must give thanks to the First Born for his mercy,’ she said. ‘But we must perform the ceremony quickly. They must be gone before the druin-ji arrive.’ She set aside her work and began barking orders.

  ‘What did she mean?’ Zastra asked. ‘How am I supposed to give thanks to a mountain?’

  ‘Come,’ said Xhoyal. He and Myshka took them back outside where the air felt pleasantly cool after the intense heat of the cave. They were led to a tent covered in lurid flames.

  ‘Welcome to our home,’ said Myshka. ‘Please, refresh yourselves.’ Xhoyal disappeared outside with an empty bucket. When he returned it was full of steaming water.

  ‘Why do they live in tents?’ Morvain asked. Urbek translated both his question and the response.

  ‘The mountains are not being silent for always,’ he explained. ‘They are needing to be ready to move speedy.’

  ‘What an odd life,’ Gwylla remarked. ‘Knowing that any moment everything you’ve built could be swept away.’

  The ko-venteela left them to wash and change. When they returned, Myshka brought a pair of thin black shoes and offered them to Ithgol. Ithgol turned them over suspiciously and then handed them back.

  ‘You will not take the gift?’ Myshka looked offended.

  ‘Let me look at those,’ said Lorzan, taking the shoes. He removed his boots and pulled them on.
<
br />   ‘It’s like being barefoot,’ he exclaimed as he strode back and forth. ‘And such grip! I could climb anything in these.’

  He offered to give Ithgol his boots to replace his damaged ones. By good fortune, they were both of a similar size. The ko-venteela were delighted that their gift had been accepted.

  ‘And all this time I’ve been thinking Sendorans don’t know anything about diplomacy,’ Zastra remarked with a smile.

  ‘We are learning much about each other on this trip, Lady Zastra,’ Lorzan responded. ‘I would never have taken you for a dancer.’

  ‘I enjoyed it very much when I was was a girl, although I prefer a solid floor and a lower chance of imminent death.’

  ‘We must prepare,’ Xhoyal said, inviting her to another section of the tent. He thrust a pilu into her hands. ‘Follow my lead.’

  He began to leap and twist around the chamber in a kind of frenzied dance, stepping from one foot to the other. It reminded Zastra of how she had crossed the lava lake, except the steps were rhythmic and more stylised.

  ‘I can’t possibly do that!’

  Xhoyal gave her the same look Myshka had given Ithgol when he refused the lastic boots.