The Mountains Rise

by Michael G. Manning

  “Baratrea, Sabortrea, and Garoltrea,” answered the warden succinctly. “Each is similar in size to Ellentrea.”

  The She’Har were keeping close to a hundred thousand humans as fodder for their entertainment. I never thought there were so many people in the entire world, thought Daniel. Not only was the world much larger than he had ever suspected, but it held a hundred times the number of people he had ever suspected. Colne and Dereham were a drop in the bucket by comparison. And virtually all of humankind are slaves. No wonder they called him a ‘wildling’, free humans were a true rarity.

  Chapter 29

  Daniel let Garlin sit on his bed while he stood to play. From the first note, he could see a change in the other man’s aura, even though he kept his face smooth. By the time he had been playing for a minute, Garlin began to lose control of his facial features as well, his mouth rounding into an ‘o’ of amazement.

  “I-I have never…,” Garlin’s voice trailed off, as he struggled to find words.

  Daniel smiled and began another, this one a song about long summer days. It was a song his mother had sung to him as a boy, and he still knew the words. Closing his eyes, he focused on the music and tried to keep his rusty voice from missing the notes. When he finished, he saw that Garlin was sitting with his face in his hands.

  For a split second Daniel was reminded of a child, hiding his tears, and he wondered if Garlin had done the same as a boy in the pens, alone and afraid. “Are you alright?” he asked.

  The other man looked up, with red eyes and puffy lids, “Please, play it again.”

  The note of desperation in his voice tore at Daniel’s heart. The wardens had never displayed the slightest sign of any gentler emotions. Laughter at someone’s misfortune was the closest thing he had seen to real emotion in them and it was a far cry from kindness or empathy. Garlin had been the least cruel of the lot, but to see him in such a state brought a lump to Daniel’s throat.

  “I would be glad to,” he told him.

  After a half an hour Garlin admitted that he needed to go, though he was obviously loathe to do so. “If I come tomorrow, will you play for me again?”

  “Tomorrow isn’t an arena day,” said Daniel, surprised.

  “I am allowed to move as I please when they have no tasks for me,” said the warden.

  Daniel was still hesitant, worried that strange visits might earn him unwanted attention from the other wardens or the She’Har.

  “I will do you any favor, if you will allow me this,” added Garlin, and by the sound of his voice, Daniel knew that he meant it.

  The other man’s eyes drifted downward meaningfully, and suddenly Daniel grew embarrassed. “What?” he sputtered, realizing that Garlin was offering a service he had never considered, given the fact that they were both men. Struggling to come up with an excuse that wouldn’t insult the other man, Daniel thought furiously. “I wouldn’t want to bring punishment upon you.”

  “They only punish acts that can result in offspring,” said the other man with a grin.

  Daniel had discovered this fact with Amarah already, but he had hoped that it wasn’t common knowledge. “I will play for you, but I don’t require favors, Garlin,” answered Daniel.

  “Truly?” asked the other man. “Why would you do that?”

  “Perhaps we can be friends,” said Daniel.

  “But you don’t want favors?” Garlin seemed genuinely confused.

  “Where I come from friends help one another, but not for sexual favors,” replied Daniel, hoping he wouldn’t offend the other man.

  The warden frowned, “That isn’t what ‘friend’ means here.”

  Daniel had long ago realized that very little he was familiar with meant the same thing among the emotionally stunted people of Ellentrea. “What name do you use then, for two people who help each other?”

  “Why are they helping each other?”

  “Simply to be kind, because they like one another,” explained Daniel.

  “Ah,” said Garlin. “That is very rare, but when it does happen, we call those people ‘fools’.”

  Daniel sighed, “Let us be fools then.”

  The warden seemed embarrassed at the notion. “If anyone discovers, I will tell them that we are friends. They would think me insane otherwise.”

  Daniel flushed red. It was probably the first time he had been genuinely embarrassed since leaving home, but after a moment he let the subject drop. The rules and morals among the people of Ellentrea were strange to him.

  ***

  Amarah continued to linger after bringing his food, sometimes for music, and sometimes for mutual amusement. The day after his conversation with Garlin, Daniel decided to see if he could understand the people of Ellentrea better. More specifically, he wanted to make sure he understood her motivations.

  “Amarah,” he began, “I know you enjoy the music.”

  She nodded.

  “But the other things, the moments between the two of us…”

  She gazed at him blankly.

  “Are you just doing me favors so I will play music for you?”

  She nodded, “Yes, but you have returned so many that I am still in your debt.”

  He had worried that she might be offended, as any woman from Colne would have been if he had essentially implied that they were prostituting themselves. Amarah seemed to think his question and the answer were perfectly reasonable. Daniel’s mood darkened as he realized that what he had thought was something special, seemed to be nothing more than a transaction to her.

  Amarah wasn’t particularly bright, but she sensed the change in his mood. “Did I say something wrong?”

  Unable to conceal his hurt, Daniel replied, “I loved you, Amarah.”

  She shook her head, misunderstanding him, “No, let me repay you. I will love you.” She made her intention clear with her hands.

  Daniel stopped her for a moment, “That isn’t what I truly want from you, Amarah.”

  “But I am your friend,” she replied, a look of uncertainty on her face.

  A woman tells me we’re friends while offering me sexual gratification. A few years earlier he might have thought differently, but now the thought just made him sad. “If I could no longer play music, if you owed me no debt—what then? Would you still want to do this?” Daniel resisted using the word love, since it was quite clear that it had no meaning in her vocabulary.

  Amarah stared at him seriously. “You think strange things.”

  “I know I’m odd, from your perspective, but I want to know what you think,” said Daniel.

  “I think… maybe,” she replied at last.

  “Do you feel something for me, Amarah?” he asked with a pained expression.

  She stood quickly, moving away as if suddenly uncomfortable. “Do not talk of this. People die. You will die soon, or I will die.”

  Amarah left, her posture tense and angry. Daniel was unhappy with her response, but unsurprised.

  Abuse her and she thinks it normal, but try to speak on matters of love, and you invoke her wrath. These people are mad.

  The next day Amarah returned, but she said little. Daniel played a song for her, and she left. Garlin appeared that afternoon, but he had someone with him, another warden.

  The newcomer was, for Ellentrea, stunningly beautiful. Athletic, with a tall frame and lithe build, she was smooth skinned and dark haired.

  “Who is this?” asked Daniel, suspicious. Two years earlier he might have been embarrassed as well, since he was naked, and both of them were clothed, but he had long since gotten past that.

  “My name is Layla,” said the woman in a challenging tone. “Garlin tells me you make a special noise.”

  Daniel stared daggers at Garlin, “Can we talk for a moment?”

  Seeming almost embarrassed, Garlin allowed him outside while Layla waited for them within. “I couldn’t help it,” he began immediately once they were alone.

  “You promised to keep my secret.”

&nbs
p; “Did you see her?” stated Garlin.

  Is he referring to her looks? “I thought you preferred to trade favors with men,” said Daniel, bewildered. He had just turned Garlin down the day before, and now the man appeared with a woman. Maybe he’s trying to tempt me with her.

  “Prefer? We rarely get such choices here,” answered Garlin. “She wants to hear your music.”

  “You’re hoping she’ll be your friend,” accused Daniel, suddenly beginning to understand. He’s hoping to use me to get himself laid.

  Garlin smiled, “With the music you make, she might be friends with both of us.”

  Daniel gaped at him. Such things had never been mentioned, much less discussed openly where he had grown up. “No, whatever happens between the two of you, I want nothing to do with it.”

  Returning inside, Daniel moved to pick up his cittern, but Layla spoke to him first, “You are Tyrion, the wildling.”

  He glanced at her. The symmetry of her face was only slightly marred by the bend in her nose. It had been broken at some point in the past, but then that was almost the rule amongst the people of Ellentrea. It was rare to see someone with a perfect nose. “That is what they have named me,” said Daniel.

  “They say you have killed more than two hundred in the arena,” she questioned, wetting her lips.

  “More than that by now,” he told her. Before she could ask anything else, he began to play, already irritated with her attitude. She stopped then, her face frozen as her ears struggled to understand what they were hearing.

  Garlin chuckled at her astonishment and helped her to take a seat while Daniel played.

  They listened for almost an hour before leaving. In truth they tried to do more, and Daniel was forced to ask them to leave, not wishing to witness their interchange.

  ***

  Months passed and Daniel’s life settled into its new pattern. In the arena he never faced fewer than three at a time now, and he was already looking ahead trying to figure out how he would handle four when they eventually decided that three was no longer a challenge.

  He was already aware that most of the human mages of Ellentrea were much weaker than he was, in terms of overall strength. Left alone, he could kill any number of them, if he was given the opportunity to turn the interior of the arena into a windstorm. The problem lay in defending himself long enough to do so. With two he could afford to ignore them if he drew a circle. Three was enough to threaten him though, if he didn’t keep a significant portion of his strength engaged in his defense. Four—that might be the breaking point for him.

  Garlin and his new friend, Layla, failed to keep their secret very well. With each passing month, more wardens showed up to hear Daniel’s music. The numbers of his visitors swelled, and by the time a year had passed, it got to the point that Daniel was forced to stand outside and play for a crowd of wardens every evening.

  Many of them offered him ‘favors’ for a private song, but Daniel rejected their advances. He had long since learned that since the people of Ellentrea had no possessions or other means of barter, they used sex almost as a currency.

  Those with some small amount of power, such as the wardens, frequently abused the unnamed servants, people like Amarah, forcing them to provide favors for nothing. They bartered only with other wardens, or people like Daniel, who were considered too dangerous to try and compel by threat. The unnamed, likewise bartered amongst themselves and sometimes with those who had been chosen to fight in the arenas.

  It was a system in which the only occasion for equal exchange was when people of similar power were involved, and those at every level took advantage of those who were beneath them in the hierarchy.

  The more Daniel learned, the more disillusioned he became, and despite receiving many offers, he refused them all, except for Amarah’s. He still had his weaknesses, and though she refused to admit to any feeling, he pretended that deep down she cared for him somehow. The people of Ellentrea were brutally honest, but Daniel needed the lies he told himself to keep from going insane. The self-deception of his relationship with Amarah was all that held him together.

  At night his dreams continued to bother him, though less frequently now. He had been a slave to the She’Har for over four years, and his life before seemed more distant than ever. Still he would wake sometimes, alone in the dark, weeping as a vision of green eyes faded in his mind.

  Chapter 30

  I paused for a moment, seeing the strange looks on Moira and Matthew’s faces. “What?” I asked bluntly.

  “You should know,” suggested Moira, and Matthew nodded.

  I had been rather caught up in my tale, reliving the events of Daniel Tennick’s life and relaying them without spending too much time editing or reflecting upon them directly. I took a moment to review the last half an hour. “Oh,” I said suddenly before adding a weak excuse, “It was a different time.”

  Matthew grinned at me conspiratorially, “I don’t think Mom would want you telling us about some of these—things.” His body language indicated that he was perfectly fine with a secret conspiracy.

  His sister wasn’t quite so ready to become an accomplice, “Those people were disgusting.”

  Her tone set me back, for it seemed she was missing some important lessons. “There is no doubt that they lived miserable, almost animal-like existences, but you should remember that they had little choice in the matter.”

  “Nobody forced them to do those things,” she argued.

  “What do you think you would do, if you were raised in a pen, forced to fight with other children just to get your daily food, with no parents to protect and love you, and no one you could trust? How would you think if you were given no education? You have seen how cruel children can be, especially to one another. Imagine if they were ungoverned and left to their own devices. Imagine being beaten and abused by those older and stronger.”

  Moira’s face took on a pained expression.

  I didn’t let up, though, “Then imagine that when you finally got close to what you thought of as ‘adulthood’, the ripe old age of twelve, you were forced to fight and kill another child. Your initiation into adulthood is being forced to kill or be killed, by the only beings you can possibly regard as authority figures. The only reason they weren’t more bestial and crude was that the most insane and animalistic of them tended to die earlier.”

  “It’s still horrible,” she declared.

  “I agree,” I told her. “Just remember that those people are our ancestors. We are descended directly from them, the survivors of that time. Only a few thousand years have passed, and we are no different from them in our nature at birth. We have one big advantage, though.”

  Lynarralla chose that point to interject, “What is that?”

  Both I and my children found that answer obvious, especially given my speech, but Lynarralla wasn’t born with enough experience to understand. “Love,” I told her. “We care for one another, we rear our young and teach them. That’s exactly why Tyrion surprised the She’Har of that time. They thought the humans in their camps were devolved, lesser creatures, incapable of the strength they had found in the humans they fought seven thousand years before. What they didn’t realize, was that the major difference was in upbringing.”

  Her face was still confused.

  “She’Har are born with all the knowledge they will need. They are born without weaknesses, other than a lack of experience. Humans are different. We develop from helpless, completely ignorant little animals, into complex and loving social creatures,” I explained. “The nourishment we receive, in love and knowledge, as well as food, while we are growing, makes a huge difference.”

  “I think perhaps I understand,” admitted Lynarralla.

  “It may be that if the She’Har of Tyrion’s time had understood, we wouldn’t be here now, or maybe the war would have been avoided.”

  Moira seemed a bit impatient. “Get back to the story,” she insisted, “just leave out the sex stuff.”


  I sighed, “I haven’t been describing any of it, and the story wouldn’t make sense if you didn’t know what was going on.”

  “My innocence is already ruined,” Moira replied melodramatically.

  “Just go on,” said Matthew.

  “Alright,” I began, “Let’s see, Daniel was twenty then, and nearing his twenty-first birthday, although he had no good way to keep track of exact dates. He just counted the seasons. He had been there almost four and a half years, and word of his strange music had spread throughout Ellentrea…”

  ***

  It was late spring and Daniel had grown accustomed to the changes his music had brought. In the evenings the wardens would come to release him and all those who were unoccupied would wait outside his room to listen. Some of the unnamed servants would come as well, those who had jobs that left them free near that time. They risked abuse at the hands of the wardens, but such was the draw of his music that those who were able, came anyway.

  Today Daniel was just beginning. The crowd had heard all of his songs many times over by now, but they never seemed to tire of them. He spent much of his free time picking out new melodies, but he was still forced to play many of the same tunes again and again. He frequently lamented that, without other instruments, the people of Ellentrea would never know the sound of a multi-part piece played by a real band.

  Halfway through his first song the gathered people began to move away. Most of the unnamed servants simply left as quickly and as directly as they could. Some of the wardens did so too, while the others merely drew back, creating some distance between themselves and Daniel.

  A brown-skinned She’Har male, with vivid red hair and eyes approached. His coloration immediately declared that he was a She’Har of the Gaelyn grove. The red hair of the Gaelyn’s was nothing like the natural red that Kate’s hair had been. It was a crimson that might have been more at home on a rose or some other flower.