by Shannah Jay
Lands of Nowhere
Shannah Jay
The Kindred desperately need refuge from Those of the Serpent, whose incense-choked shrines worship pain and suffering, and from Robler, the insane Exec in charge of the Confederate satellite circling above them. In the legendary Lands of Nowhere the mysterious deleff have already saved the Kindred twice. But why are the deleff so reluctant to let them leave the closed community of Dsheresh Vale?
Published by Shannah Jay
Copyright 2010 Shannah Jay
Cover Copyright 2010 David Jacobs
Shannah Jay 2010 Edition, License Notes
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CHAPTER 1 DSHERESH VALE
Herra began to regain consciousness - or rather, she entered a period of pre-awakening awareness. She didn’t know what had happened to her or even where she was. Panic flickered in her for only a moment then, instinctively, she sent adrenalin coursing round her body, increased the rate of her heartbeat and began to ready herself mentally and physically to face danger. But for once, even her well-trained body was sluggish in responding; for once, mists of disorientation blurred her awareness.
Only gradually did she begin to remember. She was Herra, Elder Sister of Temple Tenebrak. With a group of companions she had fled from the city of Tenebrak pursued by Those of the Serpent. But where was she now? And where were the others?
Dear Brother of the World, look down upon us! she prayed, eyes still closed, body motionless. She concentrated, straining to remember. The deleff had helped them to escape by pulling the two big trading wagons into a dark tunnel. Perhaps the deleff meant them no harm, but why had all the humans lost consciousness when they passed through the portal? And why had those strange beasts bothered to rescue them at all? They had done it several times now.
She frowned. There was something else. Ah yes, she remembered now. As they entered the tunnel a voice had told her that they were safe, a strange, alien voice that hissed its words at her.
She held her breath, listening carefully. Was anyone there? Did she dare open her eyes yet? No. Best to wait. Someone might be watching her. And she hadn’t yet regained her senses fully. Her thinking was clouded and her body weak.
Through her blue Sister's robe, she could feel the roughness of rock beneath her. It was dangerous to wear the robes now in The Twelve Claims. Those of the Serpent killed Sisters on sight. But after she and her Sisters had passed through the portal into the desert, they’d had taken their robes out of the secret compartments and started wearing them again. Perhaps they’d been wrong, but it had been so comforting to feel the familiar caress of silken material against skin. It comforted Herra now.
She was not, she decided, lying in the open air, but this didn’t feel like a building, either. A cave, then? Yes, that would fit. She listened again and this time she could make out faint sounds of breathing nearby, but so slow and shallow that it took her a while to identify the sounds as belonging to several people. In the Sisterhood you learned to control your body in more ways than most people would have believed possible, but she knew of no Discipline which would enable a person to manage on only one slow shallow breath every few minutes.
Was she the first to awaken? Surely one of the younger folk should have woken first, unless - she tested the idea carefully - unless she had been woken on purpose. But if so, why was no one there to help her? Brother, how my thoughts are rambling! Forcing herself to concentrate, Herra worked on her muscles one by one.
From their stiffness she judged that she must have been lying unconscious for several days. Who would have thought that creatures like the deleff, used everywhere in the world to pull traders' wagons, would possess such powers?
Should she risk opening her eyes? No, not yet. She must be patient. Her muscles were too stiff to function efficiently. Memories were still flooding back, especially of those dreadful days before they had fled from Temple Tenebrak. Those of the Serpent, always Those of the Serpent, bringing pain and evil to her world!
Her loathing made her take a long shuddering breath. Brother, I have betrayed myself! She opened her eyes and quickly surveyed her surroundings, ready to roll to one side or struggle to her feet.
Yes, she was in a cave, a broad dark space with a rough-hewn ceiling. It was inadequately lit by two flickering resin torches, placed in slanting holes gouged out of the rocky walls at about knee height. Within seconds of her moving, a high-pitched voice began chittering and hissing softly.
She tensed and raised her head to scan the cave, searching for the owner of the voice. It took her a moment to locate it - a large, spider-like creature, grey like the rocky walls. She only saw it because the thing stood up, if you could call that untangling of rope-like limbs standing up. It had a body twice the size of her head and it was staring at her out of huge multifaceted eyes positioned in the elongated upper part of its body.
It was now waving two of its ten legs, but neither that movement nor the hissing, chittering noise seemed threatening.
It stayed half-way up the ramp, obviously keeping watch on them. How still it must have remained before!
She’d heard no sound from it since she regained consciousness.
Noises from outside the cave made her sit up in alarm. Her head began spinning and the cave seemed to lurch around her. She could move no further, only stare around. To her relief, she could see all seven of her companions lying on the ground behind her, but she had no time to examine them because two other spider-creatures entered the cave at that moment. One was carrying a bowl, but neither seemed to be carrying weapons.
She forced herself to stand up, feeling shaky. The two newcomers scuttled part of the way down the ramp, then stopped and stared across at her. Well, she thought, narrowing her eyes in concentration, they obviously didn’t mean her any immediate harm. Indeed, they were taking care to stay well out of her reach, as if they were nervous of her. She began to flex the muscles of her legs with slow and, she hoped, non-threatening movements.
One of them opened a mouth shockingly yellow against its grey-furred body and began to call, "No danger! No danger! No danger!" in a thin reedy voice.
Only when she said, "I understand. No danger," did the creature stop mouthing the words. Was it intelligent or not? Had it understood her?
When it fell silent, its companion began to chant, "Drink this! Drink this!" It set the bowl down at the foot of the ramp and retreated hastily to the top.
She took a deep breath to focus her will and managed to walk across the cave without falling. Still keeping an eye on the spider-creatures, she inspected the bowl, tasted a little and found it good. She sipped its contents slowly. Beringa sap, mainly. An excellent tonic. As a Healer, she often recommended it for those who had been ill or were run-down. The drink wasn’t drugged, either. She’d have been able to tell.
When she set the empty bowl down, the second spider-creature began to chant, "Come this way! Come this way!" in a high, toneless voice, and to move away a few feet and back again in a suggestive manner. Its body hair had a more yellowish tinge than that of its companions.
"Wait! I must check that my friends are all right first." She couldn’t tell whether the creatures understood, but she reasoned that even dumb animals could recognise a tone of voice and these bright-eyed creatures didn’t seem stupid, although their knowledge of her language was severely limited.
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sp; She went to bend over the motionless bodies of her seven friends, and the first creature immediately recommenced its chant of "No danger! No danger!" She ignored it and continued to check their body processes, paying special attention to Davred who had come down from the satellite of the Galactic Confederation to join them on Sunrise and whose body might have reacted differently to these ordeals. She was relieved to find his condition appeared no different from that of the others. As the eighth Manifestation of the God their Brother, Davred was vital to their Quest.
When she stood up, satisfied that everyone was alive and well, even if functioning at a much reduced rate, the chant of "No danger!" ceased and the other spider-creature started repeating, "Come this way!" in the same high, toneless voice.
With a reluctant last glance at Carryn and Katia, who were both pregnant and therefore the most at risk, Herra began to walk slowly towards the ramp. There was no benefit to be gained by staying here next to a line of unconscious bodies. She must go and find the deleff who had brought them through the portal to this place and communicate with them somehow. The drink had made her feel stronger, thank goodness, though she was still not herself. How long had they all been lying there?
I must try to understand the deleff better, she decided. Davred thought that they looked like a cross between an ox and a dragon from Old Earth; to Herra, they resembled giant sun lizards with longer legs. Why had no one realised before the powers the deleff possessed? And why had they posed as simple draught beasts for so long?
At least when she began to follow the spider up the ramp, it stopped repeating its monotonal command.
The other spider pressed against the cave wall as she passed it, then pattered along behind her at a careful distance. The one which had been keeping watch settled down again half-way up the ramp in a neat coil of rope-like limbs, its bulging multifaceted eyeballs fixed unblinkingly on the line of unconscious bodies.
Near the top of the ramp was a square alcove, whose rear wall was uncomfortable to look at. That must be the portal we came through to get here, Herra reasoned, but she made no attempt to enter or examine the alcove. She didn’t want to be separated from her friends.
The leading spider recommenced its chant of "Come this way!"
"Can you not be quiet?" she asked, weakness making her give way to her irritation. Her request had no effect. The spider continued its chant until she started moving again.
The passage led up into a larger cavern, which was both lit and ventilated by shafts in the roof. Its walls were honeycombed with circular holes, which looked like the entrances to burrows. Although Herra moved quietly in her soft sandals, the minute she set foot in the cavern, spider-creatures appeared in at least half the holes. She could feel the rows of gleaming eyes following her progress. Had creatures such as these carried them all down to the lower cavern? They didn’t appear strong enough. And where were the deleff?
At the other side of the cavern another well-worn ramp led upwards. Fresher air seemed to be blowing down it and Herra quickened her steps, eager to get outside again. But there was a third cavern to be gone through first, a kind of entrance chamber to the underground areas. This one was lined with rows of stalls, each separated from its neighbour by low walls and pillars of solid rock. In these stalls several types of four-and six-legged animals were being tended by yet more spiders.
She’d never seen their like, nor did she remember creatures like these being listed in the Sisterhood's extensive Archives back in Temple Tenebrak. Where could they have come from? Had they always been there on Sunrise, in these hidden lands far to the west of the wildwoods which surrounded the Twelve Claims?
Traders said the deleff lived in the Lands of Nowhere.
The cave floor was crisscrossed by channels whose purpose she didn’t immediately grasp until she heard the sound of water trickling along one wall. It required intelligence and considerable skill to design a set of stables such as these, and to bring water to them.? The deleff hadn’t the dexterity for that, surely, and the spider-creatures looked too weak.
All the spiders stopped work to watch her pass, but the other animals ignored her and continued to chew their way through miniature mountains of hay-like material, which ranged in colour from pale beige to a very dark yellow ochre. Apart from its colour, the fodder all seemed to be from the same type of plant, a long, coarse grass, with occasional bulges on its stems, like bladders. The whole area was clean and sweet-smelling, the only dung being that newly dropped by one huge beast.
Herra shook her head, worry fretting at the edges of her mind. There was still no sign of any deleff. Where were they?
At the far side of the stables lay the entrance to the caverns, a long low opening, whose roof was supported at intervals by stone pillars, each decorated with lines of geometrical carvings. Herra decided to stop when she reached the pillars and take stock of what lay ahead. She’d just escaped from one danger and didn’t want to rush headlong into another. She slowed down as they approached the opening and although her guide instantly resumed its chanting, she ignored it.
A gentle wind moulded the long blue robe to her body and tugged at her hair. She would grow her hair longer again, she thought, running her fingers through it, once she no longer needed to disguise herself as a man. She sighed and shook her head angrily at this frivolous thought. Somehow she couldn’t concentrate properly. Whatever had rendered her unconscious was still affecting both her body and her mind, and though the drink had helped, she would really have liked to lie down and sleep for a while.
She gazed down into a great semicircular valley, which had been terraced into several broad steps, each two or three hundred paces wide, rising up in tiers from an oval lake. So large was the valley and so regular in shape were the different levels that the landscaping must be artificial. How long had it taken to carve out terraces like those? At least as long, she thought wryly, as it had taken the Sisterhood to build their great temples in each claim. And it must have taken just as much dedication.
To her right a stream splashed down to the lake, not big enough to be called a river, but deep and swift-flowing. At the edge of each level it dropped over a weir in a froth of white and some of the water was siphoned off into large pools in a variety of shapes, whose purpose she couldn’t even begin to guess. Some levels were planted with crops - here grains, there vegetables, and directly below her, surely that was a whole expanse of glowberries? The coarse bladder grass that the animals had been eating flourished everywhere, even in nooks and crannies on the sides of the mountains that ringed the massive amphitheatre.
The various levels had only one thing in common: on each, there was a path of a glistening creamy colour.
These paths met at the weirs where steps of the same creamy material led down to the next level. The bottom path circled the whole lake.
Here and there on the various levels Herra could make out groups of deleff, but nowhere did she see a deleff on its own. There were also a great many deleff around the lake, sunning themselves on the sandy shore or splashing in the water. It must be very shallow, for deleff were walking around over most of its great expanse as if it were a meadow.
Near one edge of the lake was what looked at first like a patch of mist, though how that could be on such a sunny day she did not know. As Herra studied it carefully, it seemed to her that the mist was concealing something more substantial - an island perhaps, or a peninsula.
One group of deleff was splashing through the water towards the misty area, beating the water behind them with their tails so that a line of white foam followed them like a ragged transverse wake. Herra blinked her eyes hard as the deleff seemed for a moment to disappear, then she realised that the water must have become deeper at that point, for the creatures resurfaced again after a moment or two and resumed their slow progress. Then the whole group of deleff vanished into the strange mist and, although Herra continued to stand there watching, she didn’t see them reappear.
Her guide's chant had becom
e hoarse and desperate-sounding, though the other spider-creature had remained silent, so she took pity on the poor thing and began to move forward again. Immediately the noise ceased.
"Well, that's a relief, anyway," she said aloud. "Your conversation is somewhat lacking in variety, my friend."
The bulging eyeballs rolled around as she spoke, but the creature made no attempt to respond.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
More rolling of the eyeballs, then the yellow mouth opened and closed a few times. It was obviously trying to say something, but was finding it difficult. She waited patiently and was rewarded by "No ssspeak musssh."
"I see." So it was intelligent, even if it didn’t speak her language! She gestured to it to lead the way again and strolled along behind, observing and recording in her memory everything she saw. She refused to hurry and the spiders had to keep stopping to wait for her.
On the next level down, near the spot where the river rolled over the edge, a small delegation was waiting for them in the shade of some low trees. So, Herra thought, as she moved carefully down a grey rocky stairway, now surely they will have to explain what has happened to us.
The delegation consisted of three more of the spiders, but these were much bigger than her guides, and the surface of their bodies was mottled with a yellowish pattern. One of them, the largest and the most yellow, stepped forward and Herra tensed. It was moving slowly and seemed to mean no harm, but who could tell with a strange species?
She noticed that her escorts had moved back and left her alone to face the new group, so she took a deep breath and held her head up. Brother, look down upon me! she murmured.
The large spider came to a halt an arm's length from Herra and very slowly extended one of its thin fur-covered legs. "Welcome to Dsheresh Vale, Elder Ssisster."
Its voice was deeper than those of the other spiders, though still light-toned by human terms. She recognised it at once. It was the voice she’d heard while passing through the portal to escape from their pursuers, the voice she’d heard as she was losing consciousness.