Vulture

by Rhiannon Paille

  “What are you doing here?” Benir asked diplomatically as he brushed the grass off his cloak. He went to help Krishani up but the boy refused, moving to his knees first and then to his feet. Krishani wasn’t happy about being wet. This interruption to a completely imperfect day was off putting. He tried to quell the festering emotions wanting to erupt and attempted to hold his face in a smooth, relaxed position. It looked more like a scowl. He glanced at Kaliel who struggled against the others, a distressed expression on her face.

  “Let go of her,” he said, commanding.

  Benir glanced at them and nodded. They let Kaliel go. She raced down the hill and wrapped her arms around Krishani. He almost fell over at the action but held himself up. Benir crossed his arms and glared at her. “Why are you here? And why did you bring a human with you?” He said the word human like it was a disease that would poison Avristar the way the black skinned creatures had.

  Krishani didn’t know what Benir was doing or why he was there. It was so unlike the Brotherhood to go confronting people randomly. “Did Istar send you? Does he know I’m here?”

  Benir looked surprised. “No.” The other two flanked him. They didn’t remove their hoods and that bothered Krishani. He clenched his fist and thought about clouds and rain. He knew the land would react to him–he just had to want it badly enough. His eyes trailed to the sky, the appearance of clouds forming in the distance.

  “We were guarding the shores when we saw smoke from the cabin,” Benir explained.

  Krishani looked bewildered. “Don’t the gargoyles protect the shores?”

  “At night they do. We guard the shores during the day,” Benir said.

  Krishani didn’t know what to think. He looked at Kaliel only to find her staring at Benir with a baleful look in her forest green eyes. “And she’s not a human,” Krishani said, quiet.

  “I don’t care who she is. You need to leave.”

  Krishani gulped. It was one thing to come to Avristar unseen and to leave unnoticed but being confronted by Atara and Benir was a shot to his pride. He stood taller and met Benir’s gaze evenly. “We never meant to stay long,” he seethed. He took a step towards Benir and his former brother took a step back.

  “Something is different about you,” Benir said as Krishani pulled Kaliel to the cabin. Huge droplets of rain splattered the land, a light gray raincloud passing over their heads.

  Krishani turned back to Benir and looked at the sky. “Not much has changed about you. Do they call you a guardian now? What about your dreams to go to Lands of Men?”

  Benir pulled his cloak taut around his shoulders as the other two guards threatened to attack Krishani again. Benir held up a hand and smoothed out his features. He pretended not to notice the rain. “I know you’re the Ferryman, Krishani. I know you’re not a Child of Avristar.” There was an accusation in his tone.

  Krishani was dead to those words. He snickered as he whispered gently in Kaliel’s ear, telling her to pack their bags. He watched her move into the cabin, a warning look on her face. He wanted to end this stupidity with Benir but it was pointless. The Brotherhood of Amersil wasn’t superior, and Krishani had seen more bloodshed and chaos in the Lands of Men than they would ever see. The idea of Benir protecting the shores of Avristar was laughable. Nothing would touch them again.

  “At least I’m not a coward. Tell me, Benir, am I really the biggest threat to Avristar?”

  Benir seemed stunned. He fought to keep his composure, and when he couldn’t he threw his hood over his face. “Istar seems to think you’re dangerous. I know you are,” Benir said coolly.

  Krishani wanted to attack him for throwing his childhood in his face. He didn’t want to talk about what he was; being a Ferryman changed him. Flashes of Rand begging for his life on the beach passed through his mind. Benir didn’t know the half of how dangerous Krishani could be. His eyes turned angry as Kaliel returned with the bags. He pulled the drawstrings taut and slung one over his shoulder. “Are we done here?”

  Benir lifted his head. “Not quite. I need to escort you to the shores.”

  “Fine.” Krishani took Kaliel’s hand and stalked after Benir and his entourage. They pounded through the forest with the grace of an elephant and reached the hill. Krishani couldn’t even appreciate the sight of the lake in the midafternoon sun. The boat waited for them, and the woman with the pearly white eyes looked directly at them. Krishani moved to the boat without words as Benir and the others stood to the side bowing their heads. Krishani threw the bag into the boat and helped Kaliel without a word. Before he got in Benir clapped a hand on his shoulder. Krishani shot him a vile look.

  “I’m sorry, my friend. Farewell,” Benir said, letting go.

  “Be well,” Krishani grumbled. It was a customary response and one he couldn’t deny to Benir, who had once been his oldest friend. He climbed in after Kaliel and Benir push them into the water. He didn’t know what to feel anymore. He stood at the bow, staring at the island for a long time. Arms circled his waist as the island grew smaller in the distance.

  “We can never call it home again,” Kaliel whispered, her voice wavering. He covered her hands with his and hung his head in response. Nothing was left for them on Avristar, nothing but cruelty and punishment.

  * * *

  16 - Hostile Welcome

  Kaliel huddled on the seat in the middle of the boat. She shivered, clutching her traveling cloak to her shoulders. They were covered in a sea of mists, the boat tossing tumultuously in the black water. It wasn’t long before they glided towards a land mass, stopping on the rocks. Krishani stepped out, water splashing onto his boots as he held a hand out for her. She took it idly and skipped limberly over the rocks. She climbed the sloping shores and stopped, pressing her forehead into the grass. Her whole body ached with grief. Home, she couldn’t go home to the apple orchards, the waterfall, the lake, Evennses. A hollow feeling swept through her. There was a time when she wanted to show Krishani the forests of her youth, and now she wouldn’t ever get that chance. Footsteps crunched beside her and Krishani crouched. She glanced at him, a reproachful look on her face.

  “It’s going to rain soon,” Krishani said; his eyes were on the clouds before she could speak.

  Kaliel pushed herself to her feet, using Krishani to brace herself. Her legs felt like rubber and nothing was stopping her from crumbling into a pile of dust. She didn’t want to mention it, but Terra was colder and more dead than she originally imagined. She gazed at the endless ocean, thousands of tufts of white topping the water. Wind churned the ocean into a maelstrom. It wasn’t even a storm and it was the most malevolent form of weather she had seen. The passenger-free boat drifted into the mists and Kaliel watched it find the line of the horizon, disappearing. Big droplets of rain splashed onto her shoulder as she turned to Krishani.

  “Do you remember the way?” He didn’t say anything, looking as somber as she did. He took her hand and began trekking across the land. They passed skinny trees and tall, folded grass and big slabs of rock. They wound around clusters of trees that seemed to be hugging the rich soil. Kaliel found it odd how all the trees were small, short, and losing their leaves. When they left, the leaves were light green, now they were yellowing.

  Krishani stopped at a big rock. Kaliel rounded it, noticing traces of a fire on the other side. She pushed the tall grasses to the side and sat while Krishani climbed it. The heavy feeling in her heart didn’t lift but she tried to focus on Pux. Of all the people and things she had to say goodbye to, he wasn’t one of them.

  Krishani jumped down and gave her a stern look, the place seeming familiar to him. “About halfway there now.” He extended a hand to her.

  She got up, following him into the heavy cover of trees. They found Gott’s River and crossed it. Kaliel’s ivory dress wasn’t long enough to hit the water. She brushed herself off and stopped, holding onto Krishani’s hand tightly. She heard animals poking in and out of their holes and it saddened her that they weren’t curious en
ough to speak to her. They acted like she was some sort of parasite to their land. The trees were the same way, their voices buried deep in their heartwood, voices damaged by the harsh winds and tough winters.

  Krishani trudged up the sloping land. He froze at the crest of the hill and Kaliel crashed into his outstretched arm as he tried to keep her back. Below them in a shallow valley was a deer drinking from a puddle of rain water. The doe had bright white spots on its hind and a bushy fluff of tail. Her brown eyes were trained on Krishani, frozen in a trance.

  Kaliel stared at the deer and without thinking she held out her hand and clucked at it the same way she would have in Avristar. She pushed Krishani’s arm out of the way and approached the deer, her feet crunching leaves below her. She barely took three steps when the deer’s head shot up, its lean muscles tensing at the threat of danger. Kaliel nickered and kept her eyes low as she took another step. The deer didn’t wait. As Kaliel raised her hand to pet its mane the deer bolted through the trees, sending a trickle of water into Kaliel’s face.

  She shrieked and instinctively threw her hands up to protect herself. She wiped excess water off her cheeks and ran her hands down her ivory dress. Krishani put a hand on her shoulder and she jumped, startled. He pulled her close.

  “I feel like I’ve lost everything,” she whispered. It wasn’t just Avristar; it was her body, elders, friends, animals, trees, merfolk. Everything she loved about life was gone, changed or forbidden.

  Krishani kissed the top of her head. “You haven’t lost me. I’ll always be here.”

  Kaliel sighed, trying to believe it was okay, but even though she had the one thing she always wanted, for once she wasn’t sure it was enough.

  • • •

  Krishani smelled the smoke before he saw the scorched fields. Thick, black patches dodged rocks and trekked towards the walls of the Tavesin compound. Kaliel gasped, her knees wobbling, her hand flashing out to grab his arm before she fell over. She rocked into him as he quickened his pace along the dirt road, passing the charred cart in the center of the field. It was hacked up and lying in pieces. He tried not to look. There was still blood, body parts, and armor they hadn’t recovered from the field. Kaliel ran alongside him to keep up, panting and glancing at the ground. Krishani looked at the guard towers, thick gray smoke coming from the other side of the walls.

  The village had been attacked.

  His stomach lurched as he pounded on the gates with the side of his fist. Kaliel surveyed the fields, her hood slipping off her head. It brushed his cheek as the guards opened the gates. Krishani stormed into the village. It wasn’t enough that the only place he called home didn’t want him. The place that was supposed to be home burned while he was gone. And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to regret spending a few last moments in Avristar with Kaliel. He marched into the village and Kaliel let go, her feet firmly planted in the mud.

  Commotion was all around them, parts of the towers blown away, and what was still there was black and crispy. In the distance faint outlines of smoke rose from the cabins. He tried to piece together what happened, but his thoughts were incoherent. Everyone whispered around him, and villagers carrying baskets gave him dirty looks. The guards didn’t bother to welcome him; one of them nudging him forward.

  “Get to the hall,” the guard said, acid tingeing his tone.

  “Something bad happened, didn’t it?” Kaliel whispered in his ear. He didn’t want to talk to her right now. He didn’t even want to look at her. He glanced at his right hand and stifled the disgust he felt. The inky black mark in the center of his palm grew, stretching towards his thumb and fingers. He pulled the sleeve of his cloak down as they ambled along the trail, digesting the damage.

  Pux careened out of the barn as they reached the fences. He flew at Kaliel, almost tackling her to the ground. Krishani’s hand flew out of hers as Pux crushed her to him.

  “Where were you?” Pux asked fervently.

  Krishani turned away. He had completely forgotten about Pux. He had no right to steal her from her best friend without telling him where they were going. He hadn’t even thought of the feorn once he had the seashells. He almost forgot about the witches. He didn’t revel the thought of facing them.

  “Avristar,” Kaliel huffed. Pux eased her onto the ground, and she smoothed out the wrinkles on her ivory dress. The feorn looked stricken and sad, and Kaliel had that same uncertain look on her face.

  Krishani went to speak but a fist slammed into his face, forcing him to the ground. His cheek scraped along the rock studded dirt. Sharp points dug into his skin as a heavy object pounded against the back of his head. He went to stand, but a weight crushed his spine and he couldn’t move save to turn his head slightly to the left. His hands went up to block himself from the next blow but it was useless. A hand forced his face into the mud and he choked on the awful smell of metal and burning wood. There were other smells, like the faint scent of dung, but he tried to ignore it. His attacker pulled his hands off him long enough for Krishani to raise his head and pivot, the left side of his face showered in a sea of red and brown. Another fist pummeled his face before he could see who it was. Krishani was spent. He lay there, not fighting. He wasn’t sure what he had done to deserve this. The attacker shouted obscenities at him, all of which were muffled by the blows to his head. He waited for a long moment, the land tilting upside down.

  “Do you hear me boy!? You’re a betrayer and a liar!” The hiss was unmistakable. Elwen Tavesin. That explained why nobody bothered to stop him. This was his land, and he could do whatever he wanted. Beating Krishani to bloody pulp was fine with him.

  Krishani groaned and let his arms splay above his head, his long fingers reaching for grass. He didn’t want to give Elwen a clear shot at his face again. He already felt the bruise forming along his cheekbone.

  “The Horsemen have returned,” Elwen sneered.

  All the life drained out of Krishani at those words. Fear boiled in his veins. It was one thing to leave a hostile welcoming party only to be greeted by another, but it was something else altogether to see their enemies striking back so soon. The last battle only ended days ago. Why couldn’t he escape what he was for a moment? He gritted his teeth and tried to draw his legs to his chest. Elwen weighed down on him, his knee pressing into his back. Krishani popped his back and Elwen let up. Krishani tried to open his eyes. The world was blurry, his left eye burning with tears and the dirt caked into it. He tried to wipe away the grit and silt, but Elwen put his foot on his stomach. He scowled at Elwen with the one eye he could see out of. The village hazed in and out of blurriness.

  “The time for fairy tales is over,” Elwen barked. He stole a glance at Kaliel that made Krishani clench his fist, resentment seeping into his bones.

  “You touch her and I swear I’ll kill you.” He managed, even though his mouth was full of rocks. He spit them out and his head swayed backwards, longing to lie in the mud again.

  “I need to feed the horses,” Pux said, inching away. Krishani snapped to attention but disorientation got the better of him as Pux nudged Kaliel away. She wasn’t looking at him. Their footsteps shuffled against the stone-studded path and then stopped.

  “You said we’d be back before they noticed we were gone.” Kaliel was talking in his direction but he couldn’t see her face. Her words were muffled because she was mumbling. He tried to lift his head and prop himself up on his elbows but his muscles were tense.

  Elwen shot her a venomous look and the urge to kill him snaked through Krishani’s limbs.

  “You were gone for three months. Didn’t you notice the chill in the air?” Elwen spat.

  Kaliel rubbed her arms and shied away from him. Pux bent down to her ear and said something Krishani couldn’t hear. She stood her ground, eyes blazing. His left eye watered and a tear spilled onto his cheek and chin. He clumsily wiped his face and gave her an apologetic look. “I miscalculated.”

  “And because of it the Horsemen attacked,” Elwen roared.
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  Kaliel looked scared and Krishani let the guilt sting him. He didn’t want to talk about this with her. He didn’t want her to know anything about the things on Terra. He cleared his throat.

  “I’ll kill them,” he said. His wary eyes trailed over Elwen’s cloak but instead of acceptance Elwen kicked up the mud at his feet and sent a clump of it into Krishani’s face. He fell back and before he had a chance to react Elwen kicked in him in the ribs. His body contorted in reaction to the shooting pain. Kaliel let out a yelp, but he hoped she would just go with Pux to feed the horses. Leave me alone, he thought with as much strength as he could muster with his jumbled thoughts.

  “I don’t care about the Horsemen! You weren’t here to protect the people, you filthy, selfish boy,” Elwen shouted. He kicked the ground again and Krishani was fast enough to shield his face from dirt. He didn’t want to hear it. “I had to watch the villagers die,” Elwen seethed.

  Krishani could imagine his face, tense and lethal, bearing down on him. He tried to roll onto his side but rethought it and stayed where he was. He lowered his hands and glanced at Kaliel who seemed confused. He carefully brought his gaze to Elwen who bent over, grabbed him by the collar of his cloak, and hauled him to his feet. His head swirled as he swayed on his heels but Elwen kept his clothing firmly in his grasp.

  “Not everyone escaped their flaming arrows,” Elwen said, his voice low and deadly. His brown eyes came into focus as he let go and Krishani stumbled backwards. Elwen turned in a slow circle, his hands behind his head. “The Vultures took them.”