“I just talked to you a little while ago,” Karliss said, but Ganbold continued as if he hadn’t heard him.
“Look at this,” Ganbold said, holding up the tulwar. “Isn’t it something?”
“It is.”
“It’s mine now, you know?”
“You’ve been carrying it around all night, so yeah, I kind of figured it out.”
Once again Ganbold didn’t appear to have heard him. “It’s mine because I earned it.” He paused to take another drink of achai. “I killed the one who was carrying it and that makes it mine.” He peered at Karliss as if he was having trouble focusing on him. “I should…I should tell you how I did it.”
Karliss sighed. “You’ve already told it to me twice. I think you’ve told everybody twice.” It was true. Ganbold had been swaggering around camp the whole evening telling anybody who would listen how he’d killed one of the enemy.
Ganbold threw an arm around Karliss’ shoulders. Fortunately it wasn’t the arm with the tulwar, so Karliss wasn’t injured. Unfortunately, Ganbold’s mug was still half-full of achai, which meant that Karliss got the front of his shirt soaked with fermented yak’s milk.
“That’s nice,” Karliss said. “I’m sure that will smell good in the morning.”
“There I was,” Ganbold said, “my horse was limping and my arm was still numb from the last blow. I knew I was about to die.”
“You’re not hearing a word I say, are you?” Karliss asked.
“Right then his mount tried to bite me,” Ganbold said.
Karliss sighed again.
╬ ╬ ╬
Karliss was heading for his yurt when someone spoke to him from the shadows beside a wagon. “Come here.” He paused. He could see that there was someone sitting there on a stool, but it was too dark to see who it was. He walked over closer.
“It’s no secret that I’ve never liked you.”
Karliss recognized the voice then. It was Henta, the old lady who’d tried to get him removed as clan tlacti.
“I still don’t,” she said. “I don’t think I ever will.” She had a mug in one hand and from the way she was slightly slurring her words he knew she’d been drinking achai.
“Okay,” Karliss replied, not sure where this was going. He stood there, waiting for her to finish. When she didn’t say anything for a minute he started to think maybe she’d gone to sleep. He turned to leave.
“I’m not finished,” she rasped.
“What do you want, Henta?” he said with exasperation.
“Still…still an insolent pup,” she said. “That hasn’t changed.”
“If you have something to say, just say it. I want to go to bed.”
“Only this,” she replied. “You’re cocky, arrogant, feckless and irresponsible.”
“Are those my good traits or my bad traits?” he asked, unable to resist needling her.
“They’re your only traits,” she snapped.
“Good night, Henta.” He started to leave.
“What I wanted to say is, what you did today…maybe you’re not as bad as I thought.” She said the words like they tasted bad.
“Thanks, I guess.” He wondered how drunk she was. She was going to regret this tomorrow. If she remembered it.
“Maybe you’re the tlacti this clan needs. Maybe you’re the only one who can see us through this,” she added.
Now he knew she was drunk.
Chapter Ten
Most of the council members looked a little bleary at the meeting the next morning. The terl’s eyes were red and his hands were shaky. Chusin, the other warrior on the council besides Ganzorig, was sweating badly and looked strangely pale. Henta barely looked up from her tea and when she did it was to glare at Karliss, as if she blamed him for how she felt. He had a feeling she didn’t remember their little talk from the night before. Shria, the other elderly woman on the council, had her eyes closed. Only Yeke, the eldest person on the council, and Ganzorig, seemed hale and healthy.
“Let’s keep this short,” Terl Dashin said without preamble. “I want to leave for the Gathering today, even if we start late and only get a few miles.” That raised a few eyebrows. There was still quite a lot of destruction from the battle, wagons that needed repairing, yurts that were destroyed.
“We’re still going then?” Ganzorig asked.
“The other clans need to know this latest development.”
“We could send a rider,” Yeke pointed out. Last year, after discovering the fate of the missing clan, the terl had sent messengers to the other clans to tell them what had happened.
The terl shook his head. “I want to talk to the other terls in person. We need to make plans. Kasai may come in force next time. If that happens, our only chance is to unite the clans and face him.” He looked at Karliss. “I also want you to talk to the other tlacti. Find some way you can communicate with each other over long distances. If we have to wait for a rider to cover all those miles, it might be too late.”
“I have some ideas about that,” Karliss said.
“Ganzorig tells me you think the one with the fire in his eyes was here for you,” the terl said abruptly.
That caught Karliss off guard. He didn’t realize his father had had a chance to talk to the terl already. He forced himself to meet the terl’s look. “I do. He came right for me, not for anyone else.”
“And you think this is because Kasai saw you spying on him.” It was not a question. The terl’s words were blunt and direct.
“I do,” Karliss said, his voice very low.
“And now you defeated one of his captains. That makes you even more of a threat.” The terl nodded. “That’s good.”
“Why is it good?” Karliss asked.
“It will make him cautious. I think he won’t attack again right away. He’ll want to wait and find out more about you and what you can do.” The terl shifted his gaze to look at the other council members. “I’ve been thinking about the attack. Kasai didn’t send a very large force against us. That either means he was overconfident, or it was all he had.”
“I’ve been thinking the same thing,” Ganzorig said. “Those were not normal men anymore. Something had been done to them.” The enemy warriors had been grossly swollen with muscle and were much larger than a normal person. Nor did they feel pain like a normal person.
“We don’t know what it cost Kasai to create warriors such as those,” the terl said. “We may have some time before he is able to send more of them against us.”
“Let’s hope so,” Yeke said softly.
╬ ╬ ╬
They were leaving the council meeting when they heard the scream. It was a child’s scream, long and high-pitched, and it came from the far side of the camp.
“That’s Narantse,” Ganzorig said, and took off at a run. Karliss ran after him. All over the camp others were doing the same, the warriors carrying weapons as they ran to face this new threat.
Narantse was kneeling, holding something in her hands, still screaming. Another little girl was standing beside her, crying. As he got closer, Karliss realized what it was that Narantse was holding and he felt sick inside.
It was the bone staff.
It had been left lying where the man with the burning eyes dropped it. His body had been dragged out away from camp and left for carrion eaters, but no one had wanted to touch the staff and so it was left there.
Other people had gotten there before them and Karliss saw one man bend over and take hold of the staff. With an oath he jerked his hand away and stumbled backwards so quickly he nearly fell down.
Ganzorig bulled his way through the small crowd that was starting to gather, shoving people heedlessly out of his way. Karliss was right behind him, trying to think what they could do to get the staff out of Narantse’s hands. It was clear she couldn’t let go of it on her own. She was rigid, her fingers locked around the thing, her eyes wide and filled with terror as she stared at something only she could see.
When he g
ot to his daughter, Ganzorig ripped his sword out of its sheath. He swung the blade and chopped the staff in half.
There was a crack and a flash of intense gray light. Narantse dropped the pieces of the staff and toppled backwards.
Ganzorig caught her before she hit the ground. He scooped her up in his arms and cradled her to his broad chest. Narantse was trembling badly. She sobbed and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face against his shoulder. Ganzorig carried her out of the crowd toward their yurt.
The terl arrived a moment later. He looked at the other little girl, who was still standing there crying. “What happened?” he asked her.
“I’m sorry,” she sniffled, tears running down her face. “I’m sorry.”
He crouched in front of her. “It’s okay. She’s fine now. Tell me what happened.”
Still shaking and crying, she said, “I didn’t think she would really do it. We were only looking at it. Then I…then I dared her to pick it up. I didn’t think she would. We were only playing. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
The terl nodded, patted her on the head, and stood up. The child’s mother came out of the crowd and led the little girl away. The terl gestured to one of his warriors. “Smash it, bury it. I don’t care what you do, but get rid of it.”
“Wait a minute,” Karliss said. The terl turned to him. “Don’t destroy it. I want to study it first.”
“You think you can learn something from it?” the terl asked him.
“It’s worth a try.”
“Okay. I’d tell you to be careful, but I think you know that already.” He looked around at the watching people. “We’re still leaving for the Gathering today.” They took his hint and quickly left, returning to their tasks.
Karliss went to his yurt and got a blanket. He was leaving the yurt when Nergui showed up.
“What was all the screaming for?” Nergui asked, his eyes wide with alarm.
“It was the bone staff. Narantse touched it.”
“Why did she touch it?” Nergui asked. “Why would she do that?” Karliss started to leave. “Where are you going? I have to take down the yurt.”
“I’ll be right back to help you. I’m going to get the staff.”
“It’s coming with us in the wagon?” His eyes got even wider and his nostrils flared. He shook his head violently. “No, no, no. It’s a bad thing, Karliss. Please don’t bring it in the wagon.”
“It’ll be okay, Nergui,” Karliss assured him. “It won’t hurt you as long as you don’t touch it.” He hoped that was true, anyway.
“But what if I touch it by accident?” Nergui wailed. “I’m always touching things I’m not supposed to. Ihbarha always said so. He always said I’m an idiot who doesn’t know his head from a cabbage.”
Karliss turned back to him. “That’s not true, Nergui. You’re not an idiot.”
Nergui kept shaking his head. “You don’t know that for sure.”
“Of course I do. Here, I’ll prove it to you.” Karliss reached up and tapped Nergui on the side of the head. “What’s this thing? Is it your head, or is it a cabbage?”
“That’s silly,” Nergui said. “It’s my head, of course.” Then he realized what Karliss was saying and he started to giggle. “Who’d be dumb enough to think their head was a cabbage, huh? Not me, that’s for sure.”
Karliss left him, still giggling, and went to fetch the pieces of the staff. He put the blanket down over them and then winced when he picked them up. But nothing happened. Carrying the pieces carefully, he went to the wagon, found a wooden box that was mostly empty, and put the pieces inside. Then he closed the box and secured the lid.
Next Karliss went to his family’s yurt. Ganbold was leaving the yurt when Karliss got there. He had the huge tulwar strapped to his hip, though the tip was almost dragging on the ground.
“She told us what she saw.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how you do it, little brother. I don’t think I could manage it. Give me someone I can face with steel any day.”
Karliss entered the yurt. Narantse was huddled under her sleeping furs. Ganzorig was gone, probably helping prepare for their departure. Munkhe was packing their few possessions into boxes and sacks, keeping a close eye on her daughter as she did so. She crossed the yurt when Karliss entered and took his arm.
“You’re going to touch that thing yourself, aren’t you?” she whispered.
“I am.”
“Why?”
“I have to. I might learn something.”
“Something worth getting yourself hurt over?”
“I don’t know. I hope so. But what else can I do? We have to learn everything we can.”
“I suppose,” she said, still not sounding convinced. “You know, I miss the good old days when all I had to worry about was you stealing progis.”
“Me too, Ana,” he replied.
He knelt beside Narantse and touched her shoulder. She rolled over and her small face peeked out from under the fur.
“How are you doing?” he asked her.
“Terrible,” she said in a small voice.
“What did you see?”
“It was him. He was waiting for me. He stared at me and I couldn’t get away.” She sniffled and rubbed her nose. “I can still see that red eye every time I close my eyes. Will it ever go away?”
“It will. You just have to give it time.”
“I hope you’re right.” She looked very pale and vulnerable. “I’m afraid of him.”
“Me too.”
She stuck one small hand out from under the furs and took two of his fingers in her grip. “I wanted to be brave like you.”
“You are brave,” he said.
“I saw what you did to that man on the big bird,” she said. “That’s the only reason I’m not quite as afraid anymore.”
“Why?”
“Because my big brother is the greatest tlacti ever.”
“I don’t know about—”
“It’s true,” she said fiercely. “Everyone says so. You’ll protect us from Kasai, I know it.”
“I’ll do my best.” Karliss started to stand, but she didn’t let go of his fingers.
“I have something else to tell you,” she said.
“What is it?”
“He said something to me.”
Karliss’ heart went cold.
“He said, ‘Tell him to come see me. I have something to show him.’”
╬ ╬ ╬
That evening, after the clan made camp, Karliss went looking for his friends. He found Hulagu helping his parents repair a wheel on their wagon.
“I need your help,” he told Hulagu. “It shouldn’t take long.”
Hulagu looked at his parents. “Take as long as you need, Tlacti,” Hulagu’s father said. He gave his son a meaningful look, and Hulagu nodded.
“Bring your sword,” Karliss told Hulagu. The look on Hulagu’s face said he wanted to ask why, but he went into his yurt and got his weapon. Once Hulagu had his sword, Karliss asked him if he knew where Batu was.
“I think he’s helping some of the warriors making new spear shafts.”
Batu was by the wagon the clan used to carry spare weapons and the tools and materials for making more. Two warriors were there with him. They were taking raw shafts from a bundle in the wagon and paring and shaving them down to make them straight enough to use. Batu was affixing the iron points to the ends of the finished shafts.
“With your permission,” Karliss asked the older of the two warriors, a man whose long braid was mostly gray, “I could use Batu’s help for a short while.”
The man nodded. “As you wish, Tlacti.”
“Bring a spear,” Karliss told Batu, who looked surprised, but did as he was told.
“What’s this about?” Batu asked as Karliss led them toward his yurt.
“I’m going to touch the bone staff.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Hulagu asked.
“No,” Karliss replied, �
��but I’m going to do it anyway. Wait here.” Karliss went into his yurt before they could ask him any more questions. He could hear Batu’s voice outside, shrill with worry, asking Hulagu something, but he couldn’t hear the words.
Karliss opened the wooden box holding the pieces of the staff and took them out, careful not to touch them. He unwrapped the pieces and knelt looking at them.
The staff was made of gray bone, both ends shod in iron. Every inch of the staff was intricately carved with scenes of horror. Demonic figures torturing screaming people. Strange symbols. Flames. It made him feel slightly ill to look at it.
He hesitated, wondering once again if he was doing the right thing. He’d debated this with himself all day. The chances were this was a trap and he was walking right into it. Kasai might be waiting to kill him. He might have a way to take control of Karliss. He had no way of knowing.
And that was the problem. He needed to know more. He had to take the risk.
“Why are you doing this?” Batu asked as they started walking away from the camp.
“Because I have to.” He didn’t tell them about the message his sister had relayed. He hadn’t told anyone. “Maybe I can learn something important. Maybe I can learn something about what he is planning, what he can do.”
“That’s a lot of maybe’s,” Batu said.
“I know. But I don’t have anything else.”
“What if he’s waiting for you? What if it’s a trap?”
Karliss shrugged. “Then it’s a trap. If it looks like things are going wrong, knock the staff out of my hands. Without touching it. That worked with my sister. Hopefully it will work here. But if it doesn’t, and definitely if it seems like I’m not me anymore, you know what to do.”
Batu got a sick look on his face as he realized what Karliss was saying. “Do you think what happened to Ihbarha is going to happen to you?”
“It might,” Karliss said.
Batu winced. “And then we’ll have to…” His words trailed off.
“If you don’t want to do this, I can ask terl the to pick a couple of his warriors.”
“We’ll do it,” Hulagu said grimly. “You can count on us.”
“Good. Now, let’s get this over with.” Karliss had been thinking and worrying about this all day. He wanted to act and be done with it one way or the other. They were a few hundred paces from the camp now, hopefully far enough if trouble should arise. He sat down on the ground and set the blanket down in front of him. Looking up at his friends, he said, “Are you ready?”
Sea Born (Chaos and Retribution Book 3) Page 14