by Stephan Knox
Tannin froze, but it was only for a miniscule moment. The maiden he had been introduced to the night Aari was taken, took a step in his direction and smiled. Tannin quickly countered, taking a step back. His stomach churning with the offer. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Titan— Man of Destiny. What you need is the gift of reanimated healing. A gift only a breeder can give you. Yves can give you this gift and she is ready to lay with you. It is time you stepped onto the path of your destiny.”
“No. Aari is my destiny. No other.”
“Aari did not give herself to you and now we fear she is lost to us all.”
“No!” he snapped, “She lives still.” He lunged for the old woman, but his path was instantly blocked by several of the priests and the male Keepers as well, all lining up like a wall around her.
Tannin grabbed one, sending him across the temple room, then went for another only to find someone of strength step into the room. He stepped into Tannin with quick movements with purpose to defend the priests and the Keepers, where Tannin found himself in a battle of locked arms and strength with this new guardian.
“You must stop this, Titan. Whatever fate has befallen our child, she has no future with you. You must forget her,” the old woman called out to him, to persuade him to stop fighting what was expected of him.
Tannin knew he could not fulfill the stories his people had told or of the feats which he was expected to accomplish without the gift given through the union with a breeder. And the wellbeing of the people needed him to fulfill it. But the Keeper woman’s words did not instill compliance in him. They did just the opposite.
Tannin let out a bellowing rage, he reached over his back then surged forward, arms coming around wielding his sword, ready to stand good on his word to level the temple with everyone in it. He summoned all his strength and sent the guardian, he was arm locked against, head over heel and crashing to the floor.
“I will not forget her! Who are you to suggest such a thing to dictate over our lives?” He took a heavy step towards the Keeper woman again. The other Keepers once again stepping between them to shield her.
But this time the woman pushed them aside with a gentle hand and stepped forward, “I am the Edify Mother. Take the breeder we offer you. Fulfill your destiny then if the child does show up you can still keep her.”
There was a growing commotion behind them, but Tannin didn’t permit it to disrupt him, he was leaving with the information he needed to find Aari or all of the Keepers would endure his pain.
“No. There can be only one union and mine will be with—”
“Tannin.”
A weak and dry, distinctly feminine voice spoke his name behind him.
Tannin spun about and there at the corridor of the stairs was the small form of a woman. Covered in days of dust, she looked crumpled and exhausted like a stiff wind could push her over, but Tannin’s heart was soaring at the sight of her. “Aari,” he gasped, and quickly rushed for her.
He dropped to his knees just as his arms encircled her. Without pause she collapsed into him and he held her, crushing her against his body. Finding he could not hold or squeeze her tight enough. “Oh, by Destiny and all the gods, Aari. You’re alive.” He buried his face in her neck. Kissed the dust and sweat that clung to her. Inhaled the scent he’d marked himself with since day one. It was the testimony of her survival. He heard her sobs, declaring she’d found him, and his heart caved that she needed him. “I will never walk away from your side again. I swear it,” he whispered coarsely into the side of her head.
After a long moment of merely holding her, securing the truth she was in his arms, he pushed her out, holding her out a moment to inspect her. Her skin was blacked with bruises and tiny scratches on her hands and arms. But none stood out as much as the dark collar of blackish-purple that twisted around her neck. The very sight of it had every beast inside him growling— turning feral and calling out for blood for those who did this to her.
“Leave her with us. She needs to rest and to heal,” one of Them spoke behind him.
It took every ounce of strength and control to not expel all that wrath in him towards them for even suggesting such. He reached over, snatching the last gear pack that remained, pausing as he met Aari’s eyes. She was about to collapse on the spot and he hugged her into him, letting her surrender her last drop of strength to his shoulder. Holding her tightly with one hand and opening the pack with the other, Tannin reached in and pulled out a small leather book. The very same the merchant’s wife had given him. He tossed it to the feet of the tender who’d led him inside.
Lastly, he returned his sword to its scabbard, slung the pack back over his shoulder, and then he lifted to his feet, hoisting Aari up with him. He shot a formidable dare over his shoulder as his eyes locked down on the Edify Mother. “Stay away from us.”
He turned his back to them and carried Aari away.
They, too, had watched quietly while the Man of Destiny left, taking Aari with him until both were gone, then all eyes turned to the Edify Mother, who smiled triumphantly.
“It was risky of you,” the elder, whom had always watched over the child, scowled at her.
Her smile saddled only slightly. “A necessary risk.”
“One that could have taken her life,” he still drove for his point to be made.
“We had lost too many breeders to unions that abandoned their care of them. Took their gifts but gave none back.”
“He would have sheltered her,” another of the Keepers spoke up to the defense of the Watchful One.
“It would not have been enough for him to only know his destiny needed her. He had to discover his heart needed her too.”
The Edify Mother stepped away from the debate, trading it for the pedestal of water. She waved her hand over its small pool of water then watched as an image shivered to life in its reflection. A vision of Aari in the arms of Tannin and she wore a smile on her face. “Is it not worth it to know you will soon see this expression upon her lips?” she asked them.
The guardian, tall and slender, who at first glance should not have been able to match the Titan, stepped closer and gave the Edify Mother a sided glance with an expression caught between humor and annoyance. “You know the Watchful one will not give you the satisfaction of looking and acknowledging what it is you see.” He took another step for the pedestal. “But my heart soars to know Aari has survived all these years. I want to know her destiny is restored. You owe me that much.”
She nodded welcoming his eyes to look. The guardian sighed with evident relief.
“Go ahead, say it.” the elder spoke still keeping his eyes straight ahead and away from the scrying bowl.
The old woman grew younger in the very instant, her smile curling up tighter over the renewed youthful complexion and looked upon the elder with a blessing of radiant warmth. “I told you so.”
The tender had also watched, but then his gaze dropped to the book at his feet. He crouched over, picking it up like he would a fragile baby bird, and gently leafed it open to its pages. It was the gasp that caught the Keepers’ attention.
“What is it, Nazheer?”
The closed closed his eyes and clutched the book to his chest. “It is the sacrament prayers to restore the pools of waking,” he whispered with great reverence.
The old Watchful One, who had always watched over Aari, nearly smiled with a sigh of relief, “Then you will be ready for them when they decide to trust us enough to return one day.”
“Me? I am but a tender.”
“Nazheer, you fled a temple bearing the last living Symbiotai and found him a host when there was no one to assist you. You stayed with them through their pain of mergence because there was no Pool of Waking to comfort them.” He paused with a warm smile that chased away much of the despair he’d been known to carry with him. “I have the utmost faith you will be able to serve the Titan and Aari just as bravely.”
; A GIFT SO MUCH MORE
Tannin carried Aari out of the temple and back out into the dark channels of the subway. He knew they could rest here, that all and whatever dwelled down here within the darkness would protect them. But it was not enough. Not after what she had just gone through and by what strength and determination that she managed to find him, he would take whatever means necessary to get her as far away from any threats that would attempt to track them down.
The eyes that watched as they left, whispering to one another seemed to know, there would be no convincing him otherwise.
He stepped out from the submersed world out into the open valley. He glanced one way then the next. He knew of a place that would grant them solace to rest and heal. But it was not a place close by. The small frame that draped over his shoulder still clinging to him would not be able to make the trek in her condition. The black and purple ring around her neck provided the evidence that she had gone farther into death than she and her sym had ever gone before.
He glanced down the valley path he’d taken to get here, then noticed in the shadows parked on the far side of the blockade, a vehicle that still held some heat signature that translated into a dark glowing red in his mind. “Yours?” he asked, feeling only a miniscule nodding of her head. Now that he knew how she had gotten here, it also provided a solution to their destination.
There was always another way.
Two days, Tannin drove the land rover while Aari slept. He’d have preferred to travel by foot— less to take notice, but the crumpled body in the seat next to him reminded him why he had decided to take the vehicle. At least this way he could actually put some distance between them and those who had seen them.
In the high of the first day, he stopped, pulling the rover off the road, and hid in the ruins of an old hangar of some sort. He listened for a long time. One of the downsides of driving was not being able to hear anyone else’s machines. A disadvantage he didn’t care to have and so stopped often along the way take time to listen to the distant world.
He drew quiet, keeping his breathing steady, and slowed his heartbeat. His eyes closed while his mind reached out to hear even the faint scurry sounds of a rabbit some eight furlongs away. He reached his hand out to caress Aari, to assure himself she was still alive.
Sometimes he thought he could hear the explosions of a war rumbling off the foothills of the mountain range where the City of Maegray was or if it was just him filling in the details he strained to hear. Yet, most certainly, with each pitstop the vibration in the earth caused by the thunder of the war grew fainter and more distant.
By the sunset of the second evening they had reached their destination. Or as far as the thickening jungle allowed.
He found the stacked building that once collected cars and abandoned the jeep there. Once cooled, anyone passing by it would never take notice of it, except to consider scrapping it for its resources.
Aari insisted she could walk, yet Tannin held onto her to keep her steady as they hiked through a thick stand of trees and vines that had grown off the remnants of the old-world until they reached the large lodge he’d brought her to.
It’d been some time since he’d traveled here, so a sweep was necessary to secure it. Just in case they weren’t the only ones taking up shelter here.
He drew his pistol allowing him to keep one hand on Aari, keeping her close behind him, and they stepped in cautiously. His senses careened to the fullest, looking, listening, smelling, and feeling for any hint of a trap. But all was quiet save for a few night birds chirping to call the nocturnal creatures to come awake.
He glanced over his shoulder and gave Aari a relieved smile. The coast was clear and now they could both take some time to recover.
The old-world lodge must have been a place of social gathering at one time. It had many bedrooms with full facilities that no longer had any purpose in present times aside from offering its gutted interior as shelter. There were tables enough for a full tribe at meal times, plus several great rooms where a council could come together for talks. But the reason he had brought Aari here was for the hot spring in the back.
The lodge was actually butted up against a steep mountain slope and all along its incline where ledges stacked like honeycombs. But instead of honey, they were pools of hot mineral water.
Still uneasy, Tannin wanted to be sure there were no threats inside the lodge or chances of someone who might just be out hunting and would be returning soon. They both needed rest and lots of it. Nevertheless, to be sure they were alone, he walked the entire perimeter and then checked each and every room. There were signs that the place had been used, but not for some time. Abandoned nesting and bedrolls were now caked under thick layers of moss.
Exhausted, Aari didn’t care, and she crawled up and collapsed on top of one such bedding. He figured she would be safe enough to leave there but only long enough for him to check the rest of the structure. His only encounter was with a large deer that had wandering inside. For one brief moment he thought of leaving it be, but they both would need a good meal, so he silently thanked the Keepers of Destiny for the gift of sustenance, then closed the door of the room, locking the deer inside for an easy kill later. The deer would supply them food enough for several days. More even, if he could manage to preserve some of the meat.
After Tannin had set their perimeters, he went back for Aari and woke her from her napping. He led her back downstairs to the main gathering hall, then out through a set of oversized doors carved of a dark heavy wood. The next room was spacious, but not like the great gathering rooms. This one gave off some welcoming idea that it was meant for quiet time, though Tannin could not have explained why he felt such. Nearly every span of wall space was filled floor to ceiling with wooden shelves. Some so decayed, they crumbled at the slightest touch, while other sections held solid. He could even make out a few ornate carved trims which suggested that once upon a time the wall units might have been an exemplary display of craftsmanship. There were even a few books still neatly placed on them, seemingly untouched while others had been pulled out and scattered along the floor. Most of the books looked to be rotten beyond recovery, but he would check them later. The reason for bringing her into this room was for the large stone hearth that took upon a good part of one wall and stretched all the way up to the ceiling.
Aari watched, for once not taking the initiative to start setting up her tin cans and string traps. She still looked as though she would fall over if someone were to blow on her.
Outside, the pitter pat of raindrops began to tap on the roof. Tannin used a few chairs from another room, broke them down into timber, and then got the hearth started.
“Come with me,” Tannin invited softly, holding his hand out towards her to take as she sat with her knees drawn up.
She took his hand, letting him draw her up to her feet. “Where we going?” she asked.
“You’ll see. Trust me, we both need this.”
Tannin led Aari through the lodge and out the back into an enclosed area kept warm by the hot springs. He pulled moss from the crevices and portioned it out among the several small dishes laid about, clearly haven been used for the same purpose he was about to. He poured some oil he brought from one of the packs, then lit them using a firestone, then did the same for the other four dishes until there was sufficient lighting for them to bath in.
Tanning stripped own first and stepped into the pool. A moan escaped his lips as his body welcomed it hot mineral water. Aari didn’t even bother to undress, the moan from him was enough and in she stepped and came up to his side to lean against him.
One of the other added benefits of the spring was the soapy, clay-like mineral deposits that accumulated around the pool’s edges. But he also had some lye and ash with him to add to the mix. He pounded out some lye, then mixed it in with some ash and the mineral clay, mixing and kneading until he worked up a thick lather, and used it to wash Aari’s hair.
He tried to co
mb through the tangles using his fingers as well as he could. He felt a light chuckle come over him, remembering how her hair had looked the first time he saw her that fateful day in the hangar. How much it had grown since then and only now to become so matted over with filth and dried blood. But as the dreads refused to let go, he feared she would to have to start all over again and silently he reached around her for his hunting knife still belted to his trousers.
Aari’s hand snapped out to cover one of the dreads under consideration and glanced over her shoulder at him. “Not just yet, okay?” she asked feebly.
“Okay.” He nodded, then left her hair for another day and began the task of washing her body. He kept his palms light as he mapped out the bruises that still haunted her skin. Not even the dark ring around her neck had shown any signs of fading just yet. He kissed the back of her head as his apology.
He rinsed the soap from her skin then leaned back against the edge of the pool, pulling her with him, to rest against his chest and they sat silently, letting the heated water melt away the fatigue that plagued them both.
Out of nowhere Aari just started talking as she stared into the flicker of flames in one of the lantern dishes. Words she had never spoken of to him before. “My sister was a breeder.”
Tannin kept quiet, letting her just talk or ramble. He didn't care which they were, only that he would listen and give her whatever comfort he could.
And in the flickering lantern light, she went on, “She had been forced into union with Maegrethe. They used to tell me how They grieved for her.” She dropped her head then shook it slowly. “But They could not save her. The Skaddary celebrated when news of his death reached us. Including me. Because though I was sad, I knew she was finally free.” She paused, then reached for some of the soap mixture he’d made, and she started to wash her frontside in a mindless motion. Her eyes still string out into the distance of her past.