Revelation: The Todor Trilogy, Book One

by Jenna Newell Hiott

  Something about the arrangement didn’t sit right with Soman. Were the Zobanites not expected to do anything to care for themselves? “And in exchange for taking care of us, we protect them?” he asked.

  “That’s right, lad,” Archigadh said. “Now you’re catching on.”

  “What do we protect them from?”

  Archigadh shrugged. “Whatever they might need protecting from,” he said. “Which mostly proves to be Iturtians. Empyreans have little to do with Todor anyway. The Iturtians are the only real threat.”

  Iturtians. Keeper Stout had explained to Soman that Gemynd was an Iturtian. He hated the thought of ever having to protect Terrenes from Gemynd. “Why are Iturtians a threat?” he asked.

  “Every now and again, they get the idea that they should rule Todor and they try to take it from the Terrenes. It’s a rare occurrence, really. It’s only happened once in my lifetime and we quickly put a stop to it.”

  “Do you mean a war?” Soman asked, still finding it hard to believe something as horrendous as war had ever actually happened.

  “Aye,” Archigadh replied simply.

  “You were there?” Soman asked. “At the war?”

  “There?” Archigadh said and laughed. “Lad, I was the leader of the Zobanite forces.”

  “What was it like?” Soman asked with fascination.

  “Ah, a topic for tomorrow,” Archigadh replied. “For that is when you begin training. And as my eldest son, you will now take my place as leader of the Zobanite forces, just as one day you will take my place as Chief. So train well, lad.”

  “I know nothing of war,” Soman said, not sure he wanted to be the leader of the Zobanite forces.

  “You will learn.”

  Soman sighed and looked out at the view before him. The sun was beginning to set and streaks of orange and gold fanned out across a pink sky. If he was still in Aerie, he’d be looking at the same sky only with a different view before it. He wished he could go there now. He had enjoyed his time in Zoban so far, but he missed his home. He missed the familiarity of everything. He missed the Keepers. And most of all, he missed Gemynd and Numa. He wondered what they were doing right now. Were they seeing the same sunset too from their own corners of Todor?

  “When you’re ready, you’ll be shown to your rooms,” Maireen said, pulling Soman from his reverie. “You’ll have everything you need there. Sleep well, my son. Tomorrow will be a busy day for you.”

  A team of workers came early to Soman’s rooms carrying trays piled high with cold meats, tiny speckled bird eggs, bread and dried fruits. Soman ate it all and could almost feel his body growing. He had a lot of catching up to do if he hoped to someday be as large as Archigadh.

  When he’d finished his breakfast, one of the workers draped Soman in a white cloth, twisting it and tying it so that it made a skirt around his waist and then went up and over his left shoulder. Soman took a few steps around the room and smiled. It was a much more comfortable garment than a tunic and breeches. The cloth was soft like feathers and it allowed him great freedom of movement.

  “Yes, this will be a fine garment for training,” he said to the worker who made no response except to walk to the doorway.

  Soman followed the man in silence, through the stone walkways of the city and out through the main gate where he had entered Zoban just the night before. From there, the man pointed to a small footpath that led straight up into the mountain that cradled the city. Soman understood that he was to take the path so he nodded at the worker and began the climb.

  The path was steep and went up between rocks and trees of every size, shape and color. At times, the path seemed to disappear altogether, and Soman found himself having to climb up cliff faces and over giant boulders. But each time, he managed to find the path waiting for him again at the top. After nearly an hour of climbing, the path leveled out and wandered into a lovely, flower-filled clearing where Soman saw Archigadh and Maireen awaiting him.

  “Good morning, lad,” Archigadh called as Soman entered the clearing.

  Soman noticed that both Archigadh and Maireen were naked and when he caught sight of what hung between Archigadh’s legs, his jaw hit the ground. Somehow it had escaped Soman’s attention the night before, but the man was bigger than a stud horse. It was the first time in Soman’s life that he felt inadequate next to another man.

  Maireen tried to stifle a laugh. “Don’t worry,” she said to Soman. “He didn’t always have so much to be proud of.”

  “Aye,” Archigadh agreed and seemed to be taking the matter quite seriously. “At your age I feared I only had a thimble where my pecker should be.”

  “It’s grand to be a Zobanite,” Maireen said with a smile and Soman tried not to focus on her naked body since she was his mother after all, despite the fact that she looked to be Soman’s same age.

  “How old are you anyway?” he blurted.

  “Too old,” Archigadh answered for her. “Look at her wrinkling up like a dried apple before our eyes.”

  Maireen leaned over and planted her foot right in Archigadh’s chest, sending him skittering backwards. He bellowed out his famous laugh and the whole mountain shook.

  “And how old are you, Chief?” Soman asked, realizing the man could be anywhere from a thirty to a fifty.

  “I have lived a good many years,” he said. “I’m old enough that most of the Terrenes I knew from my time in Aerie have long since died. I wish I could give you a number in terms of years, but I simply don’t know. We could say somewhere around two hundred perhaps.”

  “Two hundred?” Soman asked with awe.

  Archigadh shrugged. “It’s just a guess, lad. You see, once a Zobanite is full grown, as you will be in the next year or so, he stops counting his years. We age so slowly that it is never something we consider.”

  “Will we live forever?” Soman asked.

  “No,” Archigadh said and shook his head. “Perhaps we could, but few of us get the chance. The Ancestor is the only one who has survived to be his age. Inevitably, every couple of centuries or so there is a war. A war that takes many lives.”

  “So we can be killed?” Soman asked.

  “Aye,” Archigadh answered. “And that is precisely why we train.”

  Archigadh picked up a skin filled with water that had been resting on the ground. He took a sip from it and then lifted it up over his head. “May the Deis smile upon you with the good fortune of a lifetime of peace. May you never know a day of war,” he said then held the skin up a little higher. “And if you do have to know the horrors of war, may you always be the victor!”

  He passed the skin first to Maireen and then to Soman and they each drank from it.

  “When you have an enemy who can move things with their minds, it is imperative to be well trained,” Archigadh said. “You must first master your own special gifts so that you can learn to use them to combat the mind freaks. Now, you might think that the best thing on your side is your strength. But it’s not. Your first best weapon is speed. So, your first training is simple: catch your mother.”

  And with that Maireen disappeared in a blur up the mountainside.

  “What are you waiting for, lad?” Archigadh asked as Soman stood in place, gawking at the spot where his mother had stood. “Go get her.”

  Soman took off up the mountain in the direction he’d seen Maireen disappear. He ran fast, but was also cautious because the ground was uneven and there were many rocks and holes that could cause a fall. When he came to a ridge, he looked around but saw no sign of Maireen whatsoever. Suddenly, Archigadh was by his side. How did a man of that size run so silently?

  “Remember, lad, you are not Terrene. You need not worry about cut skin or broken bones. You could break your foot on one stride and it would be healed by the time it hit the ground for the next,” Archigadh said. “Now try again. Run.”

  Soman took off again and as he did, a streak of skin-colored light passed by his face so he turned around and moved after it. He shut do
wn all of his thoughts and just ran. He moved his legs faster and faster while trees and rocks blurred into indistinct colors around him. Once, he felt something dig into his thigh and he glanced down, expecting to see blood, but his skin had already healed. Another time a sharp, pointed rock came up between his toes and he was certain one had been severed. But again, he glanced at his foot and all his toes were in perfect health.

  Feeling more and more confident with every stride, Soman pumped his legs even faster. And then he saw her. She wasn’t just a streak anymore. Soman was now moving fast enough that he could see Maireen running in front of him. With a final push of power, he lunged at her.

  With a giggle, Maireen stepped to the side and Soman hit the ground, rolling and crashing through the mountain forest until he came to an abrupt stop against the trunk of large tree.

  “Well done!” Archigadh said, walking towards them clapping his hands.

  “You nearly caught me,” Maireen said and offered Soman her hand to pull himself up.

  Soman groaned. His body felt strange. He knew he had broken some ribs when he hit the tree so he definitely felt pain. But he could also feel the uncomfortable tingling sensation of his bones knitting back together.

  “Just breathe,” Maireen said. “It will pass.”

  “Here, eat this,” Archigadh said and handed Soman a roasted leg of bird.

  “Where did that come from?” Soman asked, knowing that Archigadh didn’t even have pockets to keep things in.

  Archigadh laughed. “Workers brought it. You didn’t think I would have us out here training without any food, did you?”

  Soman took the meat and devoured it, feeling it work to heal his body even more quickly. “Thank you,” he said and attempted standing upright. He was amazed to find that he could and he had no more pain. “I’m healed!”

  “Ready for more?” Archigadh asked.

  “Sure!” Soman said, feeling eager now that he was convinced of his body’s ability to heal itself.

  “I had thought we would work on strength for a time,” Archigadh said. “But now I think we’ll stay with speed for a bit longer. So, same as before only this time instead of catching Maireen, you must catch me.”

  Before the words had even reached Soman’s ears, Archigadh was gone. There wasn’t even a streak to indicate which direction he’d gone. He had simply disappeared.

  “Run fast,” Maireen encouraged.

  “Which way?” Soman asked, frustrated.

  “Up,” she replied.

  Soman turned and began running straight up the mountainside once again. As he ran, he watched and listened and even sniffed the air, but there was no trace of Archigadh.

  “Faster!” Soman heard Archigadh’s voice call. Soman looked all around, but still saw no sign of him.

  Soman did as he was told, though, and ran faster and faster and faster still until he suddenly realized his feet were no longer on the ground. He was rising higher and higher into the air, his legs still pumping as though they were on solid ground.

  And then Archigadh appeared next to him with a grin pasted on his face.

  “The best kept secret in Todor,” he said. “Zobanites can fly.”

  Soman looked down and saw his feet moving in the air and far below him was the top of a tree. “I’m running in the air,” he said, dumbfounded.

  Archigadh laughed. “Once you’re in the air, you can stop running,” he said.

  “Won’t I fall?” Soman asked, keeping his legs moving.

  “You won’t fall,” Archigadh answered. “And even if you did, you’d heal.”

  Tentatively, Soman stopped running and let his legs hang in the air. He was perfectly motionless, floating above the tree.

  “How does it work?” he asked, looking at Archigadh who had taken up a reclining position.

  “You use your body,” he explained. “If you want to go down, point your body down. You can use a toe, a finger, your head. It makes no difference, just point something in the direction you want to go. And then think of it like swimming.”

  Soman decided to try going forward before attempting to go down. He pointed his arm out in front of him and gave a small kick with his legs. And he floated effortlessly in the direction he pointed. He looked at Archigadh who gave him a small nod of encouragement.

  Soman changed directions and floated the opposite way. It did feel like swimming, but without the resistance of the water.

  “Now try to catch me,” Archigadh said and flew straight up.

  Soman followed him, feeling more and more confident all the time. Archigadh led him up and down, forward and backward. He zipped one way then another. And all the while, Soman got closer and closer but never close enough.

  “Time for a break, boy,” Archigadh said and Soman sighed with relief. It was going to take a lot of training to be able to catch that man.

  Archigadh landed at the very peak of the mountain and Soman saw that Maireen was already there. He was nervous about his first landing, but Archigadh made it look so graceful, Soman figured it must not be very difficult. He directed himself down slowly until he hovered less than half a hand over the ground.

  “Now point your heels down and be prepared to catch your balance,” Archigadh said.

  Soman put his arms out for balance and pointed his heels down. All of a sudden, he was falling. Even though he knew it was only for the space of a halfhand, it felt as though he had fallen from the cliff at Aerie. He could see and feel the ground whooshing up at him at an alarming speed and he pinched his eyes closed just before impact. With a loud thud, he crashed to the ground. His knees buckled and he fell into a heap. All the air had been knocked out of his chest.

  Maireen covered her mouth with her hand. Soman wasn’t sure whether she did it out of concern or to cover a smile.

  “Well done!” Archigadh said proudly.

  “Well done?” Soman choked as he tried to regain his breath.

  “Best first landing I’ve ever seen,” he replied.

  Soman got to his feet and stretched, taking in the view from so high. From where he stood, he could see the Zobanite valley stretched out far below, and to his right the road that led him there from Aerie looked like a brown thread. He knew Aerie was out there somewhere, but it was too far away to see.

  “Look this way, lad,” Archigadh said and Soman turned around.

  At the bottom of the backside of the Zoban Mountain stretched a red desert. Red dirt, and nothing else, covered the earth from the bottom of the mountain to the horizon.

  “What is that?” he asked.

  “That is the Iturtian Desert. The home of our enemies.”

  Soman looked at the endless dirt and felt a tugging in his heart. Gemynd was out there somewhere. Was he miserable? How could anyone find Joy in a place like that? “They are not all our enemies,” Soman said. “My dearest friend, my brother, is an Iturtian.”

  Archigadh and Maireen both stayed quiet, but Soman saw a flicker of sadness in their eyes.

  “If there is war, I will not fight him,” Soman said, feeling obligated to let The Chief know his limits.

  “We will continue to pray that you never see war,” Archigadh said in reply. “Now, who’s hungry?”

  Maireen smiled and winked at Soman and he looked away quickly. “Before we eat, I have a question,” he said, suddenly feeling sheepish. “Are there any women in Zoban who are not my kin?”

  Archigadh’s laughter shook the mountaintop. “Has no one told you of the pleasure room?” he asked.

  Soman shook his head.

  “Ah, we will remedy that at once.”

  The three of them returned to the city, shadowed by a collection of workers who awaited their bidding. This time they entered the city from a rear gate on the east side that stood between the public pool house and The Chief’s private pool.

  “To answer your previous question, lad, we are all kin,” Archigadh explained as they walked through the arched gateway. “You enjoy whosever body you wish and when
it is time for you to have children, your women will be carefully selected.”

  Soman knitted his brows. In Aerie, a man would never even consider a sexual relationship with a blood relative. The thought was utterly repulsive and unnatural. Still, Soman had needs and the women in Zoban were strangers to him, kin or not. He thought the Pleasure Room might be worth a look.

  Soman followed a worker to a square building with a domed roof that was adjacent to the public pool. The deep pounding of drums echoed from the building.

  “The men enter through this doorway,” the worker said gesturing to the archway on the near side of the building.

  Soman walked through the arch into a small entry room where he was met by a team of workers. They worked seamlessly together, like pieces of a single machine. One poured oil over Soman’s body while the next one scraped the oil off with a golden rod. Then a third patted Soman’s skin with a cloth infused with flower-scented oil while a fourth poured a freshening liquid in his mouth. Finally, a fifth worker put a bronze mask over Soman’s face and tied it behind his head. The whole process had taken less than a minute.

  Soman was then directed down a hallway that opened into a grand chamber. Here, the drums were nearly deafening and Soman felt the rhythm of them thump in his chest. The room was quite dim, being only lit by a few lamps hanging in the corners. But it was light enough for Soman to see that before him was a sunken floor covered entirely by the very soft bedsacks. And on top of these bedsacks were bodies that moved and writhed in time to the drums.

  As he watched, he felt someone come up behind him and lace fingers through his. He turned and saw it was a female with long, black hair who wore a mask over her eyes that was made to look like a butterfly. She angled her head towards the bedsack floor and Soman realized she was waiting for him to take the lead.

  Soman walked toward the undulating floor and stepped down the three stairs that led to it, all the while bringing the girl along behind him. At first he found it awkward to walk on the soft, cushioned surface, but he found his footing soon enough and led them to an unoccupied corner.