Onio

by Jeppsen, Linell

  New Moon reached down and lifted a cup of water to his mouth. He drank deeply of the water and then, staring Iron Hands in the eye, he proclaimed, “I hereby banish you from this continent’s clan. Go from this gathering place and never return. We are your people no more!” Then the old king turned the water cup over and splashed its contents on the ground.

  Iron Hands screamed, “No!” but four enormous guards seized him. He hollered and howled, writhing maniacally, but to no avail. Mel watched as their enemy was dragged out of the chamber.

  New Moon stood still and wiped tears from his old eyes. He seemed very tired now and his personal bodyguards helped him onto his carrying pallet. His voice rose once more, “Now it is time to celebrate!” he cried. “I will see the kings at first light,” he added, and then his attendants carried him away.

  At first, the mood seemed somber as the kings, their families and the sasquatches in the cavern turned to one another with hushed and worried voices. Apparently, this sort of thing was very unusual and only ever done as a last resort. Mel realized that she didn’t care in the least. That sasquatch tried to kill me, and the man I love! I hope he rots in hell! she thought savagely. Onio’s hand sought hers and when she looked up at him, she saw that his eyes shone with the same savage glee as hers.

  Then out of the hush, there arose a loud pulse of sound, then another and another. Turning toward the adjacent wall, Mel saw that the stretched hides were actually drums. She stared in wonder as the drumbeats filled the air and the flutes, horns and shortened sticks wailed, clacked and sighed in accompaniment. Mel saw the sasq people smile and shout in joy and saw many of them join hands and move in an intricate pattern of interlocking circles. Within seconds, all of the sasquatches danced the song of devotion. A few moments later, Onio grabbed Mel’s hand and they joined in the celebration.

  Chapter 29

  Mel, Tanah and the sasquatches danced late into the night. There was an abundance of food and drink, casks of ale and berry juice. Occasionally, a shout rose into the air, followed by a hush. The drums ceased their pounding and flutes stopped whistling. Someone was sharing the precious Fire Root tea.

  Mel watched as a dozen or so warriors at a time shared the precious elixir, which they did with humble gratitude. There was always enough, and Mel marveled at how the tea was portioned. Although there seemed to be very little, it looked as though, somehow, every warrior received at least one sip. It was as if the warriors were hit by a jolt of electricity when they drank the tea. Inevitably, their heads rolled back and they screamed with joy and exuberance. Then the drums and flutes sang and throbbed again.

  Mel stood back and watched as Onio took his turn at sipping the tea. Although hundreds of sasq warriors stood between her and the one she loved, when Onio finished his eyes sought hers with the unerring accuracy of a heat-seeking missile. He was standing by the fire looking straight at her. She wished she had brushed her hair…she wished…and then, without thinking about it, she walked straight across to him, and he opened his arms.

  He had held her before, briefly, but this was different. It felt like coming home from a long journey, and at the same time, it felt like the first day of spring, when all the beauty and possibility of the season lie ahead. They stood there without speaking a word, his arms around her shoulders, hers around his waist, her cheek against his heart, his fingers moving against her hair. I will not think beyond this moment, she told herself. I will store this up to remember always. A moment later, he was swept away again into the dance.

  Later he came to her and asked if she would dance with him. At first, she demurred, not knowing the steps, or if she would be welcome to participate, but his eyes compelled her, beseeched her to join him. She placed her hand in his and the shock of his touch was almost too much to bear. She knew that she was hopelessly lost in love and her heart despaired. Have I come all this way to die of a broken heart? She wondered. Staring up into Onio’s eyes, Mel heard no words from his soul song, but the heat of his gaze made her knees go weak.

  He shook his head, grinning. “Melody, rejoice!” he murmured. “This is a rare occurrence and the songs heard today are very old and filled with power.” Mel knew she was spoiling the party and decided to experience what joy she could find while it lasted. Smiling, she let herself go and danced.

  Mel and Onio danced until she could dance no more. Gasping and laughing in exhaustion, Mel held her hands up in the air and shook her head when Onio tried to drag her out on the floor again. Smiling, he nodded and led her over to where Rain sat on the stage. He stayed with them for a few minutes, grinning out at the crowd, while Mel drank some berry juice and wiped the sweat from her face. Then, young Arrow shouted for his idol, Onio, to join him in the dance. Grinning, Onio ran off the stage and was soon lost within the crowd.

  Mel stared out at the laughing, dancing sasq people and knew she had never been happier. She realized, for the first time in her life, she felt as though she belonged. She thought it ironic that she was more at home with these strange and exotic creatures than she ever had been with her own kind. She sighed, wondering what was going to happen to her. Watching Onio take the hand of one of the young female sasquatches and twirling her around in his arms, Mel felt frightened.

  Although Onio was unfailingly polite and always saw to her safety, Mel thought that he was withdrawing his affections from her. Of course, and why not? She thought. Look at what my people are doing to his right now! It’s a wonder they don’t kill me in revenge!

  A large warm hand touched hers and she started with a gasp. Rain stared down at her, smiling. “You must learn to guard your thoughts, girl. Onio and anyone else who wants to listen to you can hear your words as plain as day.” There was a broad grin on the old female’s face, and Mel realized that Rain heard her every thought. Blushing furiously, Mel stared at the toes of her sneakers.

  “Melody, do not be ashamed of yourself,” Rain said. “I think that First Son feels for you very deeply. He is only thinking of the welfare of his people!”

  Mel nodded, and muttered, “I know. I don’t blame him….” Then to her surprise and humiliation, she started to cry. It was too much…all of it! First, her mother died, and then she was in a car wreck…then abducted and almost murdered by Onio’s own uncle! Then the mad chase through the tunnels, and the alien…Melody sobbed, and the tears she hadn’t realized she was holding back poured down her face.

  Rain gathered the small human girl in her arms and comforted her. “Shush…shush,” she murmured. Bouldar walked over to see what the matter was. Then Petal and Hunter, who held his ex-wife’s hand in his, came to see. Finally, Onio stopped dancing, and with a look of fear on his face, jumped up on the stage and knelt by Mel’s side.

  “Melody, are you hurt, or in pain?” Onio asked. Rain rolled her eyes and Petal grinned. “What? Why do you scoff?” Onio demanded.

  Rain glared at her grandson, and said, “Has the journey addled your wits, boy, or made you blind?”

  Onio glared back for a moment but he was beaten by the knowledge in her eyes. He hung his head and whispered, “I did not want it to be so, for the health and safety of the tribe. Nevertheless, I feel…I feel love for this girl. I would marry her, but I fear the reprisals at this time of trouble!”

  Mel hiccupped once and turned around to stare at Onio in surprise. Her beautiful gray eyes were red with misery and her nose ran. His green eyes stared into hers and then she was in his arms. They kissed and the drums, pipes and cacophony of the dancing sasquatches faded to a whisper. As far as Mel was concerned, she and Onio were the only people on the planet, and her inexperienced kiss held all of her heart’s passion in its innocence.

  Then Onio, still holding her protectively, withdrew from her kiss. Staring up at his grandfather, Bouldar, Onio said, “Grandfather, I ask your permission to marry Melody. She has no one to mourn her passage into our society. Her ears can’t hear the world around her unless she is with us. She is brave, smart, and strong. To cast her back now would
do her harm, and I think my heart might break from sorrow.”

  Bouldar gazed back and forth between his grandson and the small human girl, who was beaming with joy. He remembered his feelings for Petal’s mother and the heartbreak that followed their coupling. He never forgot the reaction of that girl’s family or the deadly war that tortured him and his people for so many years. Gazing at the two young people before him now, though, melted the ice that lingered around his own wounded heart.

  Onio had never lied to him about anything important. When he said that the girl Melody had no family to mourn her passing, Bouldar believed it to be true. He also remembered how the soul song almost killed her. To look at her now, however, one would believe that she was already sasq.

  He used the soul song to test his theory. “How do you feel about this, girl?”

  Mel’s eyes grew huge when the king spoke directly into her mind. She was used to it by now, but this old king’s voice was so powerful, so compelling, it staggered her senses. Trembling, she nodded and said, “I…I love him, sir. I would be a good wife to him.”

  Bouldar turned to Rain, who stood smiling, and then to Petal, and her husband Hunter, Onio’s parents. “What do you say?” he asked.

  Hunter studied Mel’s body critically and muttered, “She is not too small. The breeding would work.”

  Petal gasped and slapped his arm. “Enough of that talk, husband! Of course it will work, and my son will be gentle with the girl, won’t you, Onio?”

  Onio’s face was as red as Mel’s was and he exclaimed, “Mother…Father, stop! I will be fine and so will Mel!” Mel giggled nervously, and then they looked up at Bouldar again, who regarded them all with a small smile on his face.

  Nodding gravely, he said, “Then so be it. You are now married.” All at once, a huge roar rose up behind them. Onio and his new wife turned around and saw that, unbeknownst to them, all of the sasquatches had ceased their festivities to observe this newest drama. To Mel’s vast relief everyone seemed pleased with the pairing. The drums began to pound again, this time in an entirely different pattern.

  “It’s the wedding song, wife,” Onio murmured and led her out onto the floor. Pausing for a moment while the closest sasquatches, grinning and slapping Onio and Mel playfully, gathered in a more or less loose line behind them, Onio took one step forward, and two steps back, before turning to Mel and indicating she should do the same.

  The steps were repeated, much to the amusement of their fellow dancers and the sasquatches who watched. Onio explained the meaning, while the sasqs behind them giggled helplessly, falling over one another’s feet, and gasping with laughter.

  “It is said, in a marriage, every step a male takes, his wife must pull him back…for the male is foolish and daring, while the female is wise and must temper her love with caution and wisdom.” Onio grinned. “So…the marriage dance!”

  Mel laughed and the two of them led the dance, while her new clan members howled with glee.

  ***

  Hours later, while Onio and Melody explored one another’s bodies with a pleasure so keen it resembled pain, and their gasps of passion rose into the air, a lone sasquatch warrior ran through the night’s shadows.

  Iron Hands’s teeth clenched in rage and his heart overflowed with vengeance. How dare that doddering old king usurp his right to Bouldar’s tribe? It was written…somewhere, he knew, that if a king lost control over his clan, a close relative, like a brother, could seize the mantle of leadership, if only to keep the clan safe! Well, as far as he was concerned, Bouldar lost control years ago when he bedded that small human whore!

  As for Onio and that ridiculous prophecy, Iron Hands had stopped believing in old healer’s tales long ago. The small humans were a nuisance, yes, but with the right kind of leadership, the mighty sasq could squash them like bugs. Many, many times over the years, he and Bouldar had argued this very point. Iron Hands was all for going in and stopping the small humans with force, if necessary, while Bouldar was forever going on and on about the old ways, established in the ancient past, that stated the sasq were bound by honor to protect the smalls, whether they deserved that protection or not!

  “Bah!” Iron Hands spat on the ground in disgust. He stopped for a moment and looked up at the night stars. There was a clan, he knew, fairly close to where he stood, that believed as he did. They did not trust the ancient ways and had spoken loudly and often about their wish to take the fight to the enemy, instead of cowering under the ground like scared rabbits!

  They had spoken too loudly, in fact, and just recently been banished from the conclave for their radical and violent ideology. Iron Hands felt a tingle of excitement. An elderly king, one who could be overthrown easily enough, encumbered that tribe. It wouldn’t be hard to seize control…to be the leader who was strong enough to make their dreams of dominance come true. A word here, a whispered comment there, and Iron Hands would be king!

  Lifting his broad, flat nose to the air, Bouldar’s exiled brother followed the air currents south toward a small, ruined tribe who had, unfortunately, forgotten who they were, and in time’s passing forsaken what it meant to be the guardians of the universe.

  Chapter 30

  For Mel, the next few days were heaven on Earth. While she and Onio shared their passion for one another at night, in the warmth and darkness of their sleeping alcove, Mel spent the daytime hours learning the ways of the sasq people.

  The morning after the wedding dance, Rain and Petal took Mel in hand and led her through the marketplace. Onio, meanwhile, had risen at first light and followed Bouldar, Wolf and Hunter to the king’s chamber. He held her tightly for a moment before leaving and murmured, “Learn our ways well, my love. My mother and grandmother will teach you.” Then he was gone.

  Mel washed her body, which tingled and throbbed with new awareness, and smiled with pleasure. Then, she regarded her clothes with distaste. She tried to use the moss to achieve the same level of cleanliness as the first time but to no avail. Her clothes were ruined.

  Smiles whined and got up, wagging her tail. Then there was a tap on the large skin that covered the door. “May we enter, daughter?” It was Petal and Rain.

  Casting her clothes aside, Mel called out, “Yes, just a minute, please.”

  She used her physical voice to say the words, although her mental voice was becoming stronger. It didn’t matter to the sasquatches what her voice sounded like; theirs were, after all, just as unintelligible as hers was. Throwing a fur around her naked body, Mel waited politely for the females to enter.

  The beautiful Petal entered first, followed by her foster mother, Rain. Mel gazed up at the tall half-breed female and marveled. Her hair was a glossy reddish brown and hung to her knees. Her body hair was scarce and perfectly placed. Her large green eyes shone with warmth. Rain smiled at Mel and handed her a bundle.

  “Take this girl,” she said, “Your mother and I made them for you.” Mel took the furs and unwrapped them to find beautiful, clean, new leather breeches and shirts inside. The hide was as soft as silk, and tiny colored pebbles embellished both shirts and pants in blue and purple…the colors of Bouldar’s tribal standard.

  Mel gasped and smiled up at the two sasq females with gratitude. Then, knowing the sasquatches disdain for unnecessary modesty, she dropped the fur and put the new clothes on. They felt wonderful and she twirled in place, showing off for her new mothers. Petal took a wooden comb and tugged it gently through Mel’s hair, while Rain told her they would be going to the market and maybe, if time allowed, go to make an offering to the wise ones.

  Mel wasn’t aware there was a market in the cavern but wasn’t surprised. The place was huge, and, she acknowledged with a blush, she and Onio had hardly ventured out of their sleeping quarters in two days. Hair brushed and plaited, teeth cleaned, Mel followed Rain and Petal as they made their way through the teeming mass of sasquatches.

  Mel was shocked to find that the king’s conclave was not just a meeting place, but also an actual
, underground city. There were market stalls that sold everything from tanned hides and cooking pots to fine jewelry and medicines. Food booths sold jerked meat, fresh and dried fruit and vegetables and pressed ciders and beer.

  There were games, music competitions, and animal acts. Mel had noticed before that animals seemed drawn to the sasq people, and this place proved no exception to that rule. Mel watched with amusement as three sasquatches urged their dogs to dance, which the animals did with aplomb and enthusiasm.

  Smiles watched the other canines intently and then looked up at Mel with a question in her bright brown eyes. Mel said, “Go!” and applauded with the other onlookers as the little chocolate dog joined the others in a circular dance. Front paws up, the five dogs jumped on their back legs in perfect unison to the drumbeat of a nearby musician.

  Mel was shaken and amazed. She understood that there was some sort of magic involved with the people she now claimed as her own, but still her skin tingled with awe. The drummer stopped, laughing, and the dogs broke away from their mesmerizing dance and ran back to their owners, grinning and panting with joy.

  Mel, Rain and Petal stopped by a vendor’s stall and Rain purchased some jam and biscuits. The first time Mel had tasted one of the sasquatches biscuits she almost spat it back out. They were so grainy and heavy, the bread was almost inedible. Lately, however, Mel had developed a taste for them. It seemed as if one of the biscuits would keep her energy levels strong all day, and the slightly sour taste seemed to go well with anything.

  She and the sasq females sat and drank berry juice and ate their biscuits and jam. The sasquatch people seemed unfailingly polite and milled about the market place in an orderly fashion. Then, to Mel’s surprise, an elderly male approached with a human boy at his side. The boy seemed a little simple-minded and beamed at her bashfully, while the old male asked Rain’s permission to speak with her granddaughter.