by Ann Raina
Sajitar looked up from Rayenne to Thannis.
“And if I want to keep my beard?”
Thannis started to answer when Grenkyl laughed.
“Good joke in the morning! Really, good joke. Yes, let it grow long and filthy. You’ll get caught on things some place in the wood. Go, stay like this and you’ll carry moss and leaves like the women wear flowers.”
Sajitar had opened his mouth for a reply when he saw Rayenne smile and nod in appreciation. He turned to the waiting men.
“All right, you convinced me. And you know how to—” He wiggled a finger at the crude bone knife Thannis kept in his belt.
The older man knelt in a fluent motion and had the knife out the same moment. Sajitar’s head jerked backward and his hands were up in defense.
“Yes,” Thannis stated calmly, weighing the knife in his hand. His gaze was intense. “This knife can also be used to hunt and kill and even to butcher an animal.” He whirled it in his hand and put it back. The smile was still on his face.
“I hope you clean it between these chores.”
“I keep it clean,” Thannis said evenly. “Now, my friend, you look like some wild animal. Would you like us to help you, or do you prefer a woman’s hand at your stubborn head?”
“Stubborn? Me?”
“Yes, you!”
“My mother would never have called me an animal. Only when she had reason.”
Thannis and Grenkyl laughed and used a bowl to pour water over Sajitar’s head. He had the strange impression that this was more about christening than cleaning his hair, but he kept quiet. Grenkyl used a bone comb for straightening his hair and Thannis went to work with his knife.
Sajitar watched Rayenne. She gnawed her lower lip, looking worried whether the men would do it right. His surprise over her demeanor upon his return was bottomless. He regretted not being able to fulfill his own dream the night before, but he hoped there would be more nights to share. She had said he needed time to recover, so it was on him to define the date of their departure. He was in no hurry.
Rayenne had overcome her refusal and he would do everything to keep her company. Wind played in her hair, her cheeks had blushed and her eyes told of affection. In the end, the frightening days at the Horlyn nest had not been for nothing.
* * * *
Rayenne waited for Thannis and Grenkyl to finish shaving. For the fun of it, Thannis told Grenkyl that he needed a shave, too, and the other man went to work without protest.
Sajitar got back in his tunic and stood with Rayenne’s help. They walked away into the wood hand in hand.
“What happened to the bullet?” he asked when they were out of earshot.
“An animal took it and ran away.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“I think the little rat or whatever was quite annoyed to have that stuff in its fur, but I think it will work for a distraction.” She told him how she had waited in the growing darkness to find a suitable transport for the transmitter right before the surveillance machine appeared.
“There was a Cordell?” he asked, alarmed.
“Shortly after the Horlyn had taken you away.”
He whistled through his teeth.
“Did you stay under cover?”
“I was not detected, merely paranoid with fear.” She looked up to him. “I didn’t even know where that beast would take you, and then…Let’s say, I have had easier days.”
He squeezed her hand. “I survived. The transmitter’s gone. So stop worrying. No one will find us here.”
“The villagers told me many things to ease my worries.” Rayenne tried for a smile and failed. He could never know how hard the days had been on her. “They told me that the Horlyns are their friends, but I wasn’t allowed to search for you.”
“Seems to me, they have a deal with them. It’s give and take and they respect each other.”
“Says Sajitar, the zoologist. What visions did the Horlyns send you? Pictures of them sewing patchwork blankets and nibbling little petals as a snack?”
He grinned and began shaking her hand back and forth with his answer. “Pictures of you and me and children and success in the wilderness. Enough to convince you?”
“You’re making fun of me. Or the Horlyns did some kind of brainwash to you and now you talk gibberish. We’d better return before you take me to their nest.”
He stopped her when she turned, suddenly dead serious.
“Don’t do this just for show, Ray.”
“What?”
“Being nice to me. Just for show so that they leave us alone.”
“Wouldn’t that be my role?”
“Usually, yes, but not here. Take me if you want me, but don’t cast me out the moment we leave the village.” She freed her hand and began walking back. “You are a strange man, Saji.”
* * * *
Sajitar followed her for a brief moment but then, when she kept going, halted. “Call me strange, but at least be honest. I can’t deny what I did or who I am, and that’s the same with you.”
Rayenne turned and walked back to him. Her expression was unreadable and he feared he’d be slapped for his forthrightness.
She put her hands on his cheeks.
“You won’t get any written contract that binds me to you, but if my reaction upon your return did not convince you of my intentions, nothing will.”
He put his hands over hers. His voice trembled. “That was the best declaration of love I ever heard. You are—”
“Ah, please, shut up.”
Rayenne kissed him deeply. Sajiter returned the kiss with so much energy he nearly ran out of air. They held each other in a tight embrace, unwilling to let go. He kissed her hair and closed his eyes as he leaned against her. He did not wish this moment to end. What would be so bad about living in a small society? Maybe this is the right way. Maybe city life is all wrong. There is no need to leave the woods. And Rayenne will stay with me. What a dream!
Sajitar felt the mighty presence before Rayenne stiffened in his arms. Slowly he turned around. Behind them between the tall trees stood a large Horlyn, shimmering in different lights so that his outer appearance changed every second. It was hard to tell its size. Sajitar knew it was alarmed, but it sent no information to decipher. It suddenly glistened in a wet orange due to the drizzle that had started minutes before. Its antennae lowered toward the ground as if to reach out for the two of them standing with their hearts hammering. Sajitar felt small and vulnerable and when it lifted its front pair of legs, the memory of the days in the nest weakened his knees. He found it hard to breathe and just wished he could take Rayenne and fly away.
“What does it want?” Rayenne asked in a low, anxious voice, retreating carefully.
“I don’t know. It’s…I can’t make anything out of this. It’s wild, just a mix of colors, and too many things at the same time.”
The Horlyn put his legs down on the ground with a thump, then took a step forward and lowered its mighty head that the long antennae touched ground. Suddenly, the picture was all too clear. He saw Rayenne and himself running away.
“It wants us to run.”
“Is this a kind of game? Does it want its prey fresh?”
“I don’t care. Just go!”
“No need telling me.” Rayenne pulled him with her. The Horlyn followed, pressing its mighty abdomen between the trunks, tweeting either in frustration or alarm. “Hurry!”
Sajitar stumbled, looking back over his shoulder. His head hurt and he had trouble focusing. The image told of safety in the village and of a thing with a mouth big enough to swallow them whole. “There’s something else!”
“I don’t care!” Rayenne held fast to Sajitar’s arm to support him as they fled back to the village. She dodged a branch and turned to pull Sajitar down. “Watch out!”
He tried to send a question to the mighty insectoid, but the only response was another tweeting, louder this time. Then he saw a black shadow move across the open space betwee
n two trees. It was so fast its appearance was a blur, and he could not tell if the animal had fur or feathers or just shining skin. He was as fascinated as he was frightened. His attempt to follow Rayenne’s pace only led to another misstep, sending him down hard on his knees. Pain shot up his thighs and down his shins. He grimaced.
“Saji, come, get up! Whatever this is, I don’t want you to be its dinner!”
He tried and failed. As he looked up there was true panic in Ray’s eyes and for a moment he was moved by her compassion much more than he was paralyzed by fear. He panted so hard he needed to catch his breath before he shook his head. As much as he tried, his muscles did not obey his orders.
“I can’t. Go.”
Ray stood in front of him to grab him under the armpits. “You won’t give up! Not so easily! Damn it!”
The animal escaped the grip of the Horlyn to attack them. It had thick short fur, six stout legs and a pair of mighty tusks protruding from its oblong mouth. If this sight was not bad enough, it roared as it got closer, mighty paws scratching the soil and sending it flying in large chunks. The tusks jutted forward, out to gut Sajitar.
Adrenalin pumping, Saji stumbled to his feet, but knew even if he was strong enough, he would never outrun it. Rayenne pulled him away in time and the beast, unable to stop, ran past them.
Rayenne drew her knife and, turning around, shielded Sajitar with her body. “Just come, and I’ll show you who gets gutted!”
The sight of the beast was impressive, but the chasing Horlyn took their breaths away. The mighty beast charged through the undergrowth as if it were slick as soap. Its body moved with practiced ease and elegance between the trunks as if they were just sticks on an obstacle course. It knew where it fit and where the trunks were too narrow to pass.
The animal had almost reached them, so close that they smelled its wet fur when the Horlyn’s leg crushed down. It missed the animal by enough that it reared and escaped to the left, eyes wide with panic. The Horlyn turned on his back pair of legs, searching for another way to keep up the chase.
The black animal circled, not yet willing to give up its prey. Standing tall, it was almost as big as a B-horse. Its roaring was deafening. Sajitar flattened against a trunk, Rayenne still in front of him, watching the creature and not trusting the Horlyn could catch it in time. He watched her move with it, ready to react. There was no doubt it was getting closer, cleverly using the narrow pathways.
Sajitar had the absurd impression of the beast playing hide and seek with its prey. He did not want to end up as a meal.
The beast evaded the Horlyn’s pursuit another time, but did not gain an advantage. Stopping and turning, it shook its head so hard its spittle flew. During the next attempt, the Horlyn crushed through the undergrowth like a train cutting a swath through the wood. Its mighty legs thundered across the soil and it overran the shrieking attacker, leaving it smashed and unmoving.
Sajitar leaned his head against the trunk, fighting for air. The picture of death along with the Horlyn’s boasting glee was strange and hard to bear. Its triumph exploded in colors in Sajitar’s head, driving him to the ground, hands pressed against his temples.
“Saji, hey, please talk to me!”
He could not. The emotions of the Horlyn celebrating victory against the black attacker were too alien, too weird and too overwhelming to block out. His lack of understanding caused him pain as he tried to push the Horlyn out of his head. For a long moment, he was a Horlyn himself, a beast celebrating victory over another equally dangerous beast. Similar images of dead opponents rushed him and if he had any notion that Horlyns were peaceful, he changed his mind. The knowledge caused him nausea. Horlyns were able to fight and kill and feel great about it.
He opened his eyes wearily, stomach still turning so much so that he was close to vomiting as he pushed the Horlyn out of his mind. The shadow of the Horlyn appeared and the picture of superior power lingered. Sajitar felt smaller than an ant, crouching on the ground, hoping to get away untouched. He suffered the impression of the Horlyn as ruler over the woods until it abated. When the shivering diminished and he was strong enough to sit up, the Horlyn had already turned. He watched its mighty abdomen swing with every move and listened to the thumping on the ground as if it played its own victory march. The beaten attacker remained as a heap of meat and fur. The tusks stood up like sentinels after a lost battle.
“Are you both all right?”
Sajitar took a deep breath and nodded toward Thannis, who had come running from the village. More men followed him and when they saw the dead enemy, they whistled with surprise.
Thannis knelt beside Sajitar. “Did the Tusk-turner get to you?”
“No,” Rayenne answered, sheathing her knife. “It didn’t.”
“Thanks to the Color-changer, I suppose.”
Sajitar felt Rayenne stiffen and gently took her hand.
“First it scared the shit out of us,” he admitted, and let Rayenne pull him to his feet. “It looked as if it would attack us.”
“It would never do us any harm.” Thannis smiled amiably. “The Color-changers protect the village.”
“But tell you not to stray too far, right?”
Thannis dropped his head and turned to walk back to the village with them, gently supporting Sajitar when his knees buckled.
“There are more dangers around than we know of. We follow the rules, Sajitar, and therefore our friends reward us with their protection and support.”
“What do you know of Emerald Green? How far have you gone from here?”
“We go fishing. That is a two-day’s march to the river. And we go hunting in small groups.” He wiggled his brows. “We are no cowards, if you thought so. We are but settlers who feel good where we are. We don’t want to explore all of these woods. We respect the rights of those who have lived here for centuries.”
Rayenne shook her head. “You would not invade their privacy. We are men. Curiosity is our second nature.”
“And our first nature is to feel safe. All members of our settlement are safe. The Color-changers keep the predators at bay. We have never suffered any losses from an animal attack. Isn’t that great news to you?”
When Sajitar did not reply, Thannis smiled at him. “I understand your wish to explore the lands. Be assured, there is always time to go out and about. But it’s not now. The season of the Tusk-turners has just begun. There will be more out for easy prey in the next moon phase. It’s better now to stay within the limits of our village.”
Sajitar exchanged a quick glance with Rayenne. There was no doubt about the meaning.
“We have been out and about for weeks,” he replied, unable to keep his mouth shut. “We are able to watch our backs.”
“And you got lost in the wilderness. Today you would not have stood a chance. You should take a closer look at the teeth the beast has, aside from the tusks. They’re sharper than any bone knife. Very useful for working on leather, by the way.”
Sajitar gritted his teeth. He wanted to say more, but Rayenne’s sharp glance forbade it.
The Tusk-turner became the attraction of the evening. When the settlers gathered for their meal, the attack was the sole subject of interest and Sajitar stopped counting how often he had to repeat that the Color-changer had arrived in time to save both Ray and him. He did not mention the images that had caused him a lasting headache and made his stomach turn.
He wiped his face, tired of more than just talking. Rayenne had taken care of him during the afternoon and with every hour he cherished her company more. The quiet understanding, all the little gestures of care and love lifted his mood. He even tolerated Thannis’ litany about the immeasurable help of the Color-changers, those friends who came when the villagers were in need, without comment. Whenever Thannis looked his way, Sajitar avoided eye contact. He was not out to spoil the mood. The dead beast had been gutted, the meat put aside for cooking and drying, and the fur would be cleaned and dried for the next baby’s cradle.
<
br /> The announcement to leave for bedtime woke him from his reverie. He put down his empty goblet and got up slowly. His belly ached as well as his side with every move, but the pain was largely tolerable. He was very glad to be alive, Horlyns or no Horlyns. If their greatest threat consisted of sending him pictures that were hard to stomach, he would withstand the challenge and the nightmares that followed.
“Come, that was the bedtime call.” Rayenne smiled like only women did. It was information, an invitation, and a flirt all in one glance.
When she stood, he kissed her without making it a show for others. He just wanted to feel her close, the closest he could get without sneaking under her skin. Being alive was one wonderful sensation after another.
“You’re quite demanding,” she whispered in mock accusation. “Do you have something in mind beyond sleeping?”
“Maybe sleeping with you, my radiant lady?”
“Is there a reason you are hopeful that I might agree?”
He put an arm around her waist and led her toward their hut. “Is there any reason you might have to disagree?”
“Hmm, let me think. You didn’t shoot the beast today to give me as a trophy.”
“In my defense, I state that the Horlyn did the job before I could.”
“Ah, next time then?”
“Next time.” He opened the flap for her, breathing hard from his anticipation. “I might enchant you with a bundle of jokes instead.”
“How nice.” She laughed and lay down on the pallet.
There were few clothes to drop and their body heat made a blanket superfluous. He gently stroked her hair.
“You are a marvelous woman, Ray. I’m really a lucky guy.”
“From the first moment we met.”
He kissed her forehead, smiling. “Who is arrogant now, hmm?”
“If I hadn’t saved your sorry ass, you’d be in the hands of Sanjongy, don’t you think?”
“Don’t remind me. It makes me shake all over. Please, don’t ask questions. Not tonight,” he begged her when she was about to do just that.