Sea Born (Chaos and Retribution Book 3)

by Eric T Knight

  “I know,” Nergui said, stuffing the food in his mouth. “That’s my favorite too.”

  They finished loading the wagon and Karliss went to perform the departure ritual. He tossed the bone tiles and knelt to examine them. The omens all looked good for the day, but there was one he wasn’t used to seeing face-up. It had a wagon carved on it, and it had fallen to the north, in the direction they were traveling. He wasn’t sure what it meant, but he didn’t think it was anything bad, so he scooped up the tiles and gave the terl the signal that it was okay to move out.

  Karliss climbed up onto the wagon, and as they started to roll he thought that this was about the best he’d felt since last year’s Gathering. He was still worried about Kasai, of course, but the last few days had been smooth and uncomplicated. He felt mostly confident in his ability to fulfill the duties required of him as clan tlacti. He was looking forward to the Gathering.

  A big part of how good he felt, he realized, was having his two old friends around again. Over the last year he hadn’t seen them nearly as much. He’d been wrapped up in trying to learn what he needed to be tlacti, and they’d been busy with their warrior training. But in the last few days that had all changed. The awkwardness between them had disappeared and the old easiness was back. With them around he didn’t feel so isolated anymore. He felt a lot more positive that they would find a way to handle whatever came at them. He no longer felt as if the responsibility fell completely on his shoulders alone.

  “How about some tricks?” Nergui asked, interrupting Karliss’ thoughts. “I want to see some tricks.”

  “Sure,” Karliss told him. He pretended to be trying very hard, frowning and gritting his teeth. He waved his hands around. “I don’t know,” he said after a minute. “I’m not sure the wind is listening to me this morning.”

  “Really?” Nergui said, drooping a little. “Is it because you’re tired? Or sad? Maybe it’s because you’re hungry?” he said hopefully. “Do you want some of my…” He trailed off. “Oops. I ate it already. Sorry, Karliss.”

  “That’s okay,” Karliss said, slapping him on the shoulder. At the same time he whistled up a small gust of wind. Nergui was wearing his old, shapeless felt hat and the wind snatched it up and blew it right off his head.

  “Hey!” Nergui yelped, grabbing for it and missing.

  The hat blew straight up in the air until it became so tiny it was difficult to see. Then it came sailing back down. Nergui reached for it, but Karliss made it blow to the side at the last moment. The hat drifted forward and settled gently on one of the yak’s heads, where it perched.

  “You did that!” Nergui said.

  “Did I?” Karliss replied.

  “I know you did. Hats don’t do that by themselves, you know.”

  “Maybe the yak did it.”

  “No. It was you.” He grinned at Karliss. “That was a great trick.”

  “Thank you,” Karliss said. “Now, watch this…”

  Batu was riding off to the side a few dozen paces. He’d dug something out of his pocket and unwrapped it. Karliss couldn’t quite see what it was, but when Batu started to raise the food to his mouth, Karliss flicked one finger.

  The end of Batu’s janu blew up suddenly and slapped him on the open mouth, thwarting his effort to take a bite. He muttered something, pushed the janu out of the way, and tried again. Again Karliss made the end of his scarf get in the way, so that he bit down on it instead of the food. He looked over at them.

  “I know you’re doing that, Karliss!” he yelled. “Stop it!”

  Nergui howled with laughter and slapped his knee. “Do it again! Do it again!” he cried.

  Karliss raised his hand, but before he could do anything the terl’s wagon, just ahead of them, came to a stop. Nergui pulled back on the reins and stopped their wagon a few seconds later. One by one the entire train halted. Karliss stood up on the seat, wondering what was happening.

  There was someone up ahead. He saw three wagons pulled by horses. They were much smaller than the wagons the Sertithians used. Two of them were filled with barrels and crates of different sizes. The other one had a tarp tied over it, covering its contents. A handful of men on horses were gathered in a group near the wagons. Though they were armed, none had their weapons out. In fact, it looked to Karliss as if they were making an effort not to put their hands anywhere near their weapons.

  A man detached from the group and came riding towards them. Once Karliss saw the red hair, he knew who it was. Nergui, who was standing on the seat beside him, did too.

  “It’s Firehair!” he cried excitedly. “Karliss, it’s Firehair!”

  Word spread quickly back down the wagon train and excited voices rose. Firehair was a trader from the south, a familiar face on the steppes. Firehair wasn’t really his name, only something he was called due to his bright red hair, which was unknown amongst the Sertithians, who were dark-haired and dark-skinned. But no one used his real name, which was Blake. He was very popular among the Sertithians, not just for the goods that he brought to trade, but for the entertainment he brought as well.

  Karliss hopped down off the wagon and trotted forward. He reached the terl about the same time as Firehair did.

  “Terl Dashin, I believe!” Firehair called out, a big smile on his face. He was a small man, shorter than Karliss. He was wearing a large, badly-stained, floppy hat, a buckskin jacket with fringes on the sleeves and boots that came up to his knees. His hair was long and bushy and he had a huge beard that hung down to his belly. “I knew it had to be you. I saw the dust and I said to my men, that has to be Spotted Elk Clan.”

  “Welcome, Firehair,” the terl said. “It is good to see you again. When you did not appear last year, I feared you had come to harm.”

  “No, no harm. Only another, shall we say, business opportunity, that I couldn’t pass up. But there was no way I was going to miss a second Gathering, no sir.”

  “Others will also be happy to see you, I believe.”

  “I hope so.” Firehair took off his hat and scratched his head. With his hat off, his hair quickly doubled in volume, a fiery red halo that surrounded his head. “Do you mind if I tag along with you folks to the Gathering?” he asked. His habitual smile faded and was replaced by a look of seriousness. “We had a bit of a nasty encounter with a pack of red wolves last night. They killed a horse and injured one of my men before we could drive them off.”

  “The wolves are a problem this year,” the terl agreed. “It is very dry and the herds of spikehorn and antelope are much reduced. The wolves have raided our herds much more often than usual.”

  “Then I’m extra glad I ran into you. I was hoping to, but this is a big place. It’s easy to miss someone out here.” Firehair pulled his hat back down over his voluminous hair. His eyes drifted over to Karliss and he took note of the krysala hanging around his neck, but said nothing, only gave Karliss a brief nod.

  The Sertithian wagon train started rolling again. Firehair and his men waited as the train passed, planning on catching on at the end. There were many greetings called out to the trader as the wagons passed him and more than a few warriors rode up and exchanged words with him. He smiled at all of them and waved his hat.

  Nergui couldn’t stop talking about Firehair for the rest of the morning. “Do you think he’ll have hard candies again?” he asked Karliss. “You know, the little red ones? They’re spicy and sweet,” he added, as if Karliss didn’t know.

  “I’m sure he will,” Karliss said. Firehair almost always had a bag of the treats with him. They were very sweet with a strong jolt of cinnamon. No doubt children all throughout the clan were already talking about them.

  “So, Batu,” Hulagu called out. “What are you planning to trade?”

  Batu rode closer. He saw the way Hulagu was smiling, looked at Karliss, saw that he was smiling too, and got a suspicious look on his face. “Why would I be planning to trade? I don’t want anything from Firehair,” he said.

  Karliss, who�
�d picked up right away on where Hulagu was going with this, said, “You don’t expect Firehair to simply give you a present, do you?”

  “What are you two talking about?” Batu asked, thoroughly befuddled now. “I don’t need a present.”

  “Of course you do,” Hulagu said. “Maybe a bright ribbon or a fancy comb.”

  “I think a necklace would be just the thing,” Karliss added.

  “What are you guys talking about?” Nergui wanted to know.

  But Batu had suddenly gotten it. His eyes got wide and he got a frightened look on his face. “You don’t think I…really?”

  “Absolutely,” Hulagu said.

  “I believe it is customary,” Karliss said.

  “Oh, no,” Batu breathed. “I never thought about that.” He looked really stricken.

  “What is it?” Nergui begged. “What are you talking about?”

  “We’re talking about a gift for Batu’s sweetheart,” Hulagu said.

  “I don’t understand. Why does Batu have to get Sube a gift?” Nergui asked.

  “Because she’s his sweetheart.” Hulagu gave Batu a wicked grin. “You don’t think you get to just scarf down all those treats without consequences, do you?”

  Batu looked thoroughly shaken. “I never thought about it.”

  “Time to think now. She’s going to be expecting something. You better get her something nice.”

  “I don’t…I don’t think I have anything to trade,” Batu said.

  Karliss was starting to feel sorry for him. Clearly Batu had never considered this side of it all before. “I may have something you can trade with,” he said. “There’s a handful of minor charms that Ihbarha was working on but didn’t finish. I don’t have any idea what they are for. I was thinking about throwing them away.”

  “That’s…that’s great, Karliss,” Batu blurted out. “Do you think any of it is stuff Firehair would want?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe he could sell them in the city, tell people they are powerful magic from the wild lands in the north.”

  “Thank you so much. When can I have them?”

  “I’ll dig them out when we stop to camp.”

  Batu rode off by himself then. Hulagu reined his horse closer. In a low voice he asked, “Do you think you might have anything extra for me?”

  “What? Don’t tell me you’re sweet on someone too?”

  “No. It’s these boots of mine. I told you they’re too small. But I’ve seen Firehair have boots to trade for in the past. Maybe a pair of them would fit me.”

  ╬ ╬ ╬

  They made camp a little earlier than usual that evening, doubtless because everyone was anxious to see what Firehair had to offer this year. Karliss had seen the terl’s wife talking urgently to him during the afternoon, and he guessed she had some input on that.

  The yurts were set up in record time, the yaks unhitched and rubbed down faster than any normal day. Firehair barely had time to lay out some blankets and spread out a few of his wares before a number of people were streaming over to his wagons, most of them women.

  Firehair was popular with everyone, but especially with the women, and he quickly demonstrated why as the first wave made it to his camp. He swept off his hat and bowed deeply, then straightened and gave them a beaming smile.

  “It does my heart good to be back on the steppes,” he said, “back amongst so many beautiful women. I’ve traveled far and wide, I have, and I’ve always said wherever I go that there are no women anywhere who are half so beautiful as the women of the steppes. Truly I should be paying you lovely ladies for the pleasure.”

  Firehair was like that. He flirted outrageously with all the women, young and old. He complimented them constantly, and not just their beauty either. He complimented their clothing and sewing skills. He complimented their food, their intelligence, their wit. Karliss had even seen him make Henta smile like a young girl one time when he asked her oldest daughter if Henta was a sister he’d never met before.

  The women smiled and tittered as Firehair kept up a steady stream of compliments while they looked over his wares.

  Oddly, Firehair had never had any problems with a jealous husband or lover, so far as Karliss knew. Part of it was no doubt the evenhanded way Firehair handed out praise. It was hard to suspect him of ulterior motives. It was also undoubtedly because the man was so completely nonthreatening. He was short and bandy-legged. He carried no weapon and didn’t seem the sort who would be any good with one. He had bright eyes and a big smile, but he couldn’t be honestly called handsome in any way.

  Probably the main reason he never had any trouble though was because he had never tried to push himself on any of the women. On the contrary, he talked quite movingly about the wondrous beauty of his own wife back in Qarath, praising her so highly that no woman could possibly have lived up to his words.

  Later, when the initial frenzy had died down and Firehair had turned the trading over to his assistant for a bit, the trader came strolling by Karliss’ yurt. Karliss was sitting out front, carving a piece of bone. Nergui was fiddling with the yurt stays, making sure they were all evenly taut.

  Firehair squatted down by Karliss and pushed his hat back. “What’s that you’re working on?”

  Karliss looked up. “I think it’s a krysala.”

  “I’ve seen a few krysalas in my time, but never one like that.”

  “Neither have I.” Krysalas were always circular, but the one Karliss was making was angular. It was about as long as his forearm and was bent in the middle. The only thing that made it look like a krysala were the holes and grooves carved into it.

  “What made you decide to make it that way?”

  “I don’t know. I found a piece of bone and started carving it. It sort of happened by itself.” It was true. Karliss had no plans for the thing. He worked on it as a way to relax and it almost seemed to shape itself.

  “Will it work?”

  “I don’t know that either.”

  “Is it almost done?”

  Karliss shrugged.

  Firehair looked around. “Where’s Ihbarha?”

  Karliss set the krysala aside. “He died last year.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, I truly am,” Firehair said, taking his hat off respectfully. “Though the truth is, when I saw you wearing that,” he pointed at the krysala hanging around Karliss’ neck, “I guessed something of the sort.”

  He took a pipe out of his pocket and started stuffing tobacco into it. “You’re a bit young to be clan tlacti, aren’t you?”

  Before Karliss could reply, Nergui spoke up. “No, he’s not! He’s the greatest tlacti to ever live!”

  Firehair looked over at Nergui, who seemed embarrassed by his outburst and looked down. Then he looked back at Karliss. “It seems you have a fan there.”

  “Nergui gets excited sometimes,” Karliss said. “He exaggerates a bit.”

  “That’s not true!” Nergui blurted out, surprising them both again. He hesitated. “I do get excited. But Karliss is really the greatest. He defeated Kasai.”

  That had an immediate impact on Firehair. He stopped packing his pipe and stared at Nergui, then Karliss. “Did he say Kasai? You’ve encountered Kasai?”

  “Not directly,” Karliss said. “But he sent people to attack us.”

  “One of them was riding on a giant bird,” Nergui said. He flapped his arms, miming having wings. “Karliss blasted him.”

  “Kasai has men on giant birds now?” Firehair asked.

  “Not anymore!” Nergui crowed. “Karliss did for him.”

  “How do you know about Kasai?” Karliss asked.

  “We’ve had problems with him before, during the war against Melekath,” Firehair said. “He had an army and thought he would come down and conquer Qarath, but Macht Rome and Quyloc had other ideas. They defeated him at Guardians Watch. He didn’t have anyone flying around on giant birds back then, so it sounds like he’s got some new tricks. Rome will want to know what happene
d. Will you tell me?”

  “Okay,” Karliss agreed. “I’ll tell you what I know about Kasai, if you tell me what you know.”

  “It’s a deal,” Firehair said. “How about we talk more after dinner? Maybe you could throw in a little demonstration of what you can do while you’re at it? I take it you didn’t defeat Kasai’s captain by throwing rocks at him.”

  ╬ ╬ ╬

  During dinner Firehair regaled the members of Spotted Elk Clan with wild stories of places he’d been and things he’d seen.

  “…bigger than your yurts the creatures are, with legs as big around as wagon wheels. People ride on them. They use them in battle too. They’re a sight to behold.”

  Everyone listened closely while he talked. Crowded closest to him was a pack of small children, all with big eyes. While he talked, periodically Firehair handed out another round of hard candies which were greeted with exclamations of delight.

  Nor had he forgotten the adults either. One of his men had carried over a small keg at the beginning of the meal. “Help yourselves!” he told them. “You won’t get finer brandy this side of Thrikyl!” The liquor was a lot more fiery than the achai the Sertithians were used to, but it started disappearing quickly all the same.

  Later, when things had settled down, Firehair came over to where Karliss and his friends were sitting. “How about that story now?” he asked.

  Karliss told him about the misshapen warriors mounted on wolf-things that attacked first, then about the gray-clad man with the bone staff and the burning eyes. He told how he deflected the man’s attacks with the wind and about riding one of the wind spirits. When he was done, Firehair was openly impressed.

  “Nergui was right,” he said. “You really are the greatest tlacti ever. At least that I’ve heard of. How do you do it?”

  Karliss shrugged. “It’s something I was born with. It comes naturally.”

  “What else can you do?”

  “That’s mostly it,” Karliss said.

  “Show him!” Nergui said. “Do some tricks.”

  “I don’t know,” Karliss said. He remembered how much he used to like showing off his abilities. That ended once he had to use them for real, he realized. He took them a lot more seriously now.