Talisa started. It had been some time since Mistress had mentioned the Schahi, the Abominations as she called them. She looked in the direction of Mistress’s gaze.
Mistress looked at her and frowned. “Fear not. They will not enter this valley.” She paused, then said, “Walk with me.”
Talisa followed Mistress into the woods along the path that led toward where the others lived. When they neared, Mistress turned to her. “It is time for these folk to leave. They may break their fast on the meat they have taken and pack what they do not eat with them. Then you are to escort them up the pass. See them through the saddle, then return to me. Do you understand?”
Talisa chilled. If what Mistress said was true about the Schahi, then her people would be leaving into terrible danger. “Mistress, please.”
“The time has come,” Mistress said. “You will obey me.”
Talisa bowed her head. “Yes, Mistress.”
“Go. I will await you here.
Talisa slipped through the woods, a silent ghost, until she came to the edge of the camp. One of the dogs bounded up to meet her, its tail wagging. Talisa crouched and scratched it under the chin. The previous night, the dog had eaten “her”, in the form of a large mouse. She had been predator and prey, hunter and hunted, so many times that she sometimes thought she was losing track of who, of what, she really was.
People began to stir in the camp, attracted by the dog’s barking. Embron, whipcord lean. Banev, sharing a shelter with Ranthar. Talisa scowled. Banev’s belly had grown big. It would not be much longer, a month, maybe two, before she gave birth. Mo-an went to blow the banked coals into flame.
Embron reached her first. He always did. “Milady. What instructions has Guardian for us today.”
Talisa hesitated. She did not want to dash the joy in their faces. She closed her eyes and bowed her head.
“Milady?”
Talisa shook her head then sighed. Mistress’ instructions would not change through delay. “You must leave.”
“Leave, Milady?”
“This garden. This valley. Mistress has said you are to leave.” Talisa pointed back in the direction of the saddle that marked the entrance to the valley. “I am to escort you to the pass, then return.”
The others reached them.
Banev put voice to the question that was on every face. “But...Milady, why?”
“I do not know. She had allowed you to stay so long that I had hoped...” Talisa sighed again. “But, I suppose this place is sacred to Treva, She of the Wild Things. We would not be welcome here forever.”
“And you are to return?” Embron asked
“That is her command.” Talisa gestured toward the fire. “Eat. Break your fast. Then gather up your things and any remaining food and we must go.”
It was a silent group that ascended to the entrance, now the exit, to the valley. Talisa led the way with Embron in the rear to ensure that no one straggled. At the top, Talisa stopped, and turned. She waited until Embron joined them. "It is time." She looked out from the valley. "Mistress has said there are Schahi about. Be cautious and avoid them."
"Schahi?" Banev shivered despite the summer heat. "Changelings?"
Talisa nodded. "Mistress calls them Abominations." She forced a smile. "But you can avoid them. Go south. Briganzo's desert is a harsh land, but people live there. Perhaps you will find friends." She pressed her lips tight, unable to admit that she was sending her people to almost certain death. The Schahi who had pursued them so far would not fail to find them again once they left the shelter of this valley.
Banev clutched Talisa's arm. "Then come with us, Milady. I know we will find friends if we have you to speak for us."
Could it be so simple, Talisa wondered. They were past the point Mistress had said she did not go. If Mistress could not leave the valley, then Talisa could simply go with her people, to live with them, or to die with them. She looked back down into the valley. Or she could return, be Mistress's servant all her days. She would be safe, but what use was safety when she sent these last few people, the few that remained of all she loved in the world, into danger.
But she had given her oath.
She saw Embron's eyes light. "Yes, Milady, come with us. I will see you safe. All of us will." Nods greeted his words.
Talisa squeezed her eyes tight. Did Embron really think that it was fear for herself that made her hesitate? She bowed her head, then shook it. "I have to stay. It would be my dearest wish to go with you, but I gave my word."
"Then I will stay with you," Embron said.
"You cannot. Mistress has commanded..."
"If she wishes to slay me, she may." Embron fell to his knees before Talisa. "Bid me not to go!"
"Embron, my loyal huntsman," Talisa touched her hands to his shoulders, urging him back to his feet. "Who will protect these others if you do not? If ever you loved me, please, go and protect these others."
"Then come with us. Word given under force is..."
"Still my word," Talisa said. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "Now go. Perhaps, someday, we will meet again." Talisa knew she lied.
Casting long looks back, Embron shepherded the others away from the valley. Talisa watched until they vanished into the undergrowth.
"So you chose to remain?"
Talisa spun at the voice. Mistress stood beside her, an incongruous smile on her face.
"Mistress? I thought..."
"I said I did not leave. While the abominations wander the land, this garden holds the hope of eventual healing. And so I remain guarding, protecting, shaping." She placed fingertips under Talisa's jaw and gently turned her face from side to side. "You chose to honor your word. You are my servant. But I have need of servants in the world. You, I think, are but the first." She looked to the slopes and laughed--a light, airy sound like wind rippling across a pond. "And here I think is another, who could not bear to be parted from you even under pain of death."
Mistress lifted a hand and suddenly Embron stood beside them.
Dazed, Embron looked back and forth between Talisa and Mistress. Recognition hit and fear filled his eyes. "Milady? Guardian?"
Talisa looked up at Mistress. She licked her lips. "Mistress...Treva?"
Mistress nodded. "I have been called by that name and many others. Yes, Treva will do, I think."
"But...I do not understand."
"Child, my siblings, whom you know as Koreb and Mira, The Threefold Twins, give their love, and their attention to the affairs of men. It is left to me to care for the wild things of the world, for the plants and the animals. But--" she lifted her hands, one pointing at Embron, one at Talisa. "Men are also animals. I do not love you less for having other cares." She touched them each on the cheek. "Your labor has become part of my garden. Your sweat, your tears, your blood. And so the garden also lives in you, as do I." She lowered her hands and stepped back. "Now go. There is my work to be done in the world. I do not think you will fail me."
Mistress vanished, leaving Talisa blinking.
"Her work?" Embron still looked dazed. "Milady?"
Talisa smiled. "First, I think, we need to get our people to safety."
"But...is not Treva the Goddess of the Wilds? We..."
"Did you not hear? Men too are her work. Men too are Treva's Children."
###
About the Author
David L. Burkhead is an Indiana writer of Science Fiction and Fantasy. He has also written on technical topics for The World & I magazine and High Technology Careers.
In addition to his writing, he works in a consulting laboratory in Atomic Force Microscopy and Nanotechnology. His work ranges from measuring samples in the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) to refurbishing used AFM's for resale to writing software for measurement of AFM images. More than half the DVD production in the world, and the development of Blu-Ray, is supported using measurement software he wrote.
David L. Burkhead is one of the originators of the SpaceCub concept. In 1994 David and Ge
offrey Landis proposed SpaceCub, a reusable manned suborbital rocket that would carry human passengers into space and back again. SpaceCub was intended for tourism and "thrill rides." In this way SpaceCub provided a model for private businesses to make money in suborbital flight, an approach that could, with incremental improvements, lead to private manned orbital flight.
David and Geoff presented the SpaceCub concept at the 1994 Northeast Space Development Conference, the 1995 International Space Development Conference, and other venues. Short articles appeared in Popular Mechanics and the Brazilian magazine Istoé and David was interviewed about SpaceCub for an AAAS radio broadcast. Shortly after these events, other people started talking about reusable, suborbital rockets to carry humans into space. As a direct consequence, Peter Diamandis created the X‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑Prize foundation and the original Ansari X‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑Prize. The prize goal could have been taken directly from SpaceCub's proposed specifications: a reusable rocket carrying passengers to an altitude of 100 km. This prize lead directly to the development and successful flight of Dick Rutan's SpaceShip One and to the ongoing work by the Rutan's and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic. Rutan and Branson, in offering private suborbital tourist flights, continues the model originated with SpaceCub.
Other works by David L. Burkhead
"Jilka and the Evil Wizard", Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine, Winter '91
"The Future is Now", Analog Science Fiction & Fact, April '91
"Match Point", Analog Science Fiction & Fact, February '93
"EMT", originally published in Analog Science Fiction & Fact, December '93
"Splitting Seconds", Analog Science Fiction & Fact, January '99
"Her World Exploded", Analog Science Fiction & Fact, April '05
"With Enemies Like These", Lawyers in Hell (anthology), pub. Kerlak Enterprises, 2011
"Time for Tears", Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword & Sorceress (anthology), pub Norilana books, 2011
"The Place of Fear", Rogues in Hell (anthology), pub. Kerlak Enterprises, 2012
"The Knife Edge Bridge", Dreamers in Hell (anthology), pub. Perseid Publishers 2013
Also Available on Kindle from Amazon:
"Live to Tell", 2014.
"EMT" 2014
"FTI: Beginnings" 2014 containing "The Future is Now" and "Match Point"
"The Kinmar" 2014
"Plague Station" 2014
Survival Test 2014
"The Spaewife", 2014
You can find an updated list at my blog: http://thewriterinblack.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html
Contact the Author
David L. Burkhead can be reached at his blog The Writer in Black.
CONTENTS
Frontispiece
About this Work
TREVA's CHILDREN
About the Author
Other works by David L. Burkhead
Contact the Author
CONTENTS
Treva's Children Page 4