Antiquus pointed to the ancient council member seated to his left. “Soth, you may begin,” he said.
The Cærulean rose and ambled toward Eva. Her necklaces jangled with every step. As the elder woman searched through her knotted necklaces, Eva noticed a severed dried foot hanging around her neck. Soth must be the shaman, Eva thought. She remembered Rovender’s story about her and the Great Migration.
Eva hid her feet, tucking them under her. “What are you going to do to me?”
“We just need to ask a few questions. And you must speak the truth,” answered Soth.
“I always tell the truth,” replied Eva. “You can ask me anything.”
“We need to be certain.” The shaman untangled a thin necklace. A small whistle dangled from its chain. When she blew it, three short trills reverberated through the hut, and the tiny bird perched behind Antiquus took wing.
As the bird hovered above its perch in midair, Eva thought of the holograms of brilliant hummingbirds that she had once seen. The shaman called out with a long whistle and walked behind Eva. The bird zoomed over, stopping just centimeters in front of Eva’s nose. The shaman let out a final trill and received a chirrup in response.
Eva blinked involuntarily from the breeze generated by the bird’s fast-beating wings. A fine glimmering dust drifted from the wing tips and blew onto Eva’s face. She turned away from the dust, but Soth’s hands gripped Eva’s head and held her fast. “It will not hurt,” the shaman said. “Just breathe it in, and the treowe, the truth-bird, will do the rest.”
Eva did not feel the dust settle on her face. However, an overwhelming sense of calm took over her body, and her eyelids fluttered, as if she were fighting off sleep.
“Good,” Soth whispered. “It is working. Let the bird in, hu-man.”
The shaman’s words sounded as if Eva were underwater, as if she were dreaming. Eva let out a large yawn, and the truth-bird flew into her mouth and landed on her tongue. She felt the tickle of its tail coil down her throat.
“She is ready,” Soth said, and returned to her seat.
“Hu-man, tell us how it is that you came into our custody,” said Antiquus.
Eva’s mouth didn’t move. Her mind reeled with shock when she heard her own voice answering the question, spoken by the truth-bird. “I escaped from New Attica, the human city, with the help of my sister, a retriever, a Royal Beamguide Scout, and Rovee. I stumbled across the experimentation on Nadeau in a lab deep in Attican Hall and could not allow it to continue. All of us agreed that Nadeau could not be left behind. So Rovee led us here.”
The elders looked at one another with confusion on their faces. “Who is Rovee?” Antiquus asked.
“Rovender Kitt,” the truth-bird replied. “We crashed in the Northern Wastelands and lost Hailey and Huxley. From there we’ve traveled by foot to try to reach Faunas before Nadeau died.”
“What do you care of a dying Cærulean’s wishes?”
“Because everyone should be allowed the chance to say good-bye to those they love before they die.”
Antiquus leaned back and said nothing.
“But Nadeau did not just want to die here with his clan,” the truth-bird continued. “He wanted Rovender to return. He wanted you to hear the truth.”
This sent murmurs among the council members.
“And what is the truth?” asked Soth.
“That the human leader is to invade Solas with a fleet of warships.”
“An invasion?” a council member said, aghast. “Of Solas? Why?”
“To seize the Vitae Virus generator,” replied the truth-bird from Eva’s mouth.
“He will never find it,” the shaman muttered. “No one in Solas knows where that generator is hidden.”
“And what if he does find it?” Antiquus asked Eva.
“Cadmus wants mankind to rule the world once more and control all of its resources.”
Antiquus let out an audible gasp. “War?”
“Try as we might, we cannot escape war’s cunning effect on society,” Soth said. “It is as if—”
A commotion outside the hut interrupted her. The truth-bird fluttered out of Eva’s mouth, breaking its spell over her. Eva remained seated, still numb from the effects of the trance.
Galell stumbled into the hut, winded. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
“Galell?” said Antiquus. “What is this? Why are you—”
“He is running to tell you he has seen a ghost,” Rovender said as he stepped into the hut.
Antiquus rose with the aid of his cane. “You will not desecrate this village, or this meeting, with your presence!” he said. “Please leave us, banished spirit.”
“Not without Eva Nine.” Rovender pointed to her.
“She is in our captivity now,” Antiquus said. “Both she and the other one may come in handy if the hu-mans are to invade here with their machines of war craft.”
“Bluh. That will do you no good.” Rovender approached Eva. “You know nothing of humans.”
“And you do?”
“I know what I know. But what difference does it make?” Rovender helped Eva to her feet. “I am dead to you. A ghost. A phantom.”
Even in her stupor Eva saw that the frayed cord around Rovender’s waist was identical to the cords wrapped around the other council members, the cords that bound each of them to the weave of the hut itself. She looked around the room.
“That was yours, wasn’t it?” She pointed to a severed unraveled cord hanging from the wall. “You were part of this council.”
Rovender’s face was stoic. “Come, Eva. I have returned here only for you. Now we shall leave.”
“Hold on.” Antiquus raised his hand. “We need to know more about the hu-mans and what they did to Nadeau.”
“You will learn of it soon enough,” Rovender replied. “You think you may avoid the world by hiding up here, but eventually the world will come to you. And you may not like what you see, old one.”
“Enough!” Antiquus pointed at Rovender with his cane. “Seize this ghost and his fledgling.”
A gang of Cæruleans entered the hut, overwhelming Rovender and Eva. Both were bound and tied.
“Bring him here!” Antiquus pointed to the center of the room. He looked over at the shaman. “Soth, call the bird.”
Rovender opened his mouth before the truth-bird flew in. Eva watched as it settled on his tongue. A pointed head peeked out from between Rovender’s lips.
“You will tell us all that we need to know,” Antiquus said, and took his seat as the head of the council.
“You know the truth already,” the truth-bird said in Rovender’s voice.
“Watch your tongue, ghost, or I shall have it removed,” said Antiquus. “Tell us why the hu-mans did what they did to Nadeau.”
“I do not know,” replied the truth-bird. “Perhaps it is an attempt to understand us so that they may control us.”
“Could they achieve this?” Antiquus looked over at Eva.
“They have many machines and an arsenal that is unmatched on all of Orbona,” the truth-bird replied from Rovender’s mouth. “They will stop at nothing to achieve their goal.”
These words sent the council whispering to one another. This is no different from what I said, Eva thought. It’s as if they don’t believe the truth even when it’s being told directly to them.
“His answer is based only on what he perceives as the truth,” one of the elders said. “This drunk has spent his exile wandering from our village to the hu-man village.”
“Has he?” Soth asked. She turned to Rovender. “How do you know that the hu-mans hold such power?”
The truth-bird replied in Rovender’s voice, “Because I have traveled far from here—into the ancient ruins of the Eastern Wastelands, down to the southern tip of the Bliek Mountains, and west to the shores of the Barren Sea. The humans have more primitive machinery than Ojo, to be sure, but there is much of it and it will fulfill their commands.”
Eva thought of the alien pedestrian she’d met when she’d been escaping from Solas in the Goldfish. Even that battered hovercar had impressed him. The aliens did not have a lot of Tech like Cadmus.
“If he is right,” one of the elders said, “it’s going to be like the Second Solar War all over again.”
“You have journeyed far, Rovender,” Soth continued. “Why have you returned here from your leave?”
“You mean,” Antiquus said, “why did he leave in the first place and turn his back on all his kin?”
“You know this answer,” the truth-bird said. “When my partner and nymph passed into the next world, I could no longer stay. Grief greeted me at every corner in this village. I was reminded of them everywhere I looked. I saw their faces in my brothers and sisters. I saw their spirits in my dreams. It was a longing pain that could never be soothed.”
Eva tried to wriggle free from her binds. She could see Rovender’s body begin to tremble. She wanted to hold her friend tight and tell him she was here for him.
“Yet you abandoned us all, even as we tried to help you,” Antiquus said.
“Our traditional rituals did little to ease my pain. I needed to—,” the bird started.
“So you turned your back on them? Our spirit-healing rituals have worked for generations, unchanged from our home planet. So it has always been. Who are you to disavow them?” Antiquus’s voice rose in anger.
“I am not from our home planet. I am from Orbona,” the truth-bird replied.
“And here, on Orbona, in our village, you left us all without any warning?” Antiquus leaned on his cane and pulled himself up, clearly agitated by Rovender’s words. “When the sickness claimed more of our clan, you were not here. When our munt-runners fled from Dorcean poachers, you were not here. When our scouts started vanishing mysteriously—”
“I left because none of you could heal me. I left because I didn’t know why I was still alive. I left because I didn’t understand why I survived and my loved ones perished.”
Soth looked over at Antiquus, but he said nothing.
The truth-bird continued, “I was a ghost, an apparition, destined to wander aimlessly forever. I cared about no one and nothing, not even myself . . . until I met the human girl, Eva Nine.”
“This hu-man?” Antiquus pointed to Eva.
“Eva gave me purpose. She filled my heart with hope once again. My spirit told me she was special. My spirit told me to teach her as if she were mine—teach her about us . . . about Orbona . . . about everything. Little did I know that she was teaching me.”
Tears rolled down Eva’s cheek as she listened to Rovender speak. Her friend had been beaten and bruised by Besteel, authoritons, and sand-snipers, and yet these words that he spoke, the truth, seemed to hurt him most.
“What has she taught you?” Soth asked.
“A heart of compassion is just as hard to hold within you as one of indifference,” the truth-bird replied.
Antiquus was silent. The council looked at him for a reaction.
“Say something,” Soth said to Antiquus. “For you now know his truth.”
Antiquus cleared his throat. “I knew that you ached for the loss of your loved ones. So, too, did the village. We all mourned their passing.”
“But you did not show it,” the truth-bird replied.
“A leader must be steadfast no matter what horrors he faces. He cannot show pain, Rovender. It can be interpreted as a sign of weakness.” Antiquus’s voice was hushed. A whisper.
“I did not want a leader,” said the truth-bird. “I wanted my father.”
Antiquus’s voice was shaking now. “And I wanted my son back, my little carefree son who was always by my side. Always playing. Always laughing. Not burdened by tragedy. Not broken by destiny’s fickle decisions.”
“A child needs his parent at all times, Father. Not just when life is smiling down upon him.”
Antiquus ambled over and gently removed the truth-bird from Rovender’s mouth. He held Rovender’s head in his trembling hands and spoke. “You are right, my son. You are right.”
The council of elders cheered and clapped.
Eva wriggled free from her binds. She rushed to Rovender, but stopped short as she watched him embrace his father. Arius’s chanting drifted into her mind like a long-forgotten lullaby. Soon there will be a reunion, but it will end falsely in death and then truly in rebirth. Eva dried the tears from her cheeks and smiled.
CHAPTER 30: FAMILY
If this conflict is inevitable,” Antiquus said, “we must do what we can to help our sister clans.” “We need to get to Lacus,” Eva said. She was sitting with the council members next to Rovender. Most of the village was now crammed into the hut, including Eva Eight. “We must warn the Halcyonus, and I need to speak to Arius.”
“Arius?” Soth said. “The Arsian? How do you know her?”
“I’ve met her,” Eva said. “She told me my future and gave me this.” Eva rolled up her sleeve.
“An Arsian glyph!” Soth’s eyes were wide. “Little nymph, you have been marked.”
Eva rolled her sleeve back down. She didn’t have to look to know that all eyes were on her. “Is that a good thing?” she asked, a bit hesitant.
“A mark can come to represent good, evil, or otherwise,” said the shaman. “It depends on what actions are associated with it.”
“And since you’ve risked much to return our dying brother, against the wishes of your own leader, I’d say that this mark will be a mark of good,” Antiquus said.
“You know, the Ars—including Arius—are very reclusive beings. They are highly selective in who they communicate with,” Soth said. “Can you recall any of Arius’s predictions?”
Eva concentrated on conjuring more of what Arius had said. “There was something about a gift that none could have or take. . . . I don’t know. . . . I can’t remember. It’s in my head, but it never comes when I want it.”
“A gift?” Antiquus said.
“The greatest gift of all is life,” Soth replied.
“Maybe she was talking about the Vitae Virus generator?” Eva added.
Antiquus nodded. “That certainly is a gift given that none may take.”
“Cadmus is going to try,” Eva Eight spoke up.
“As I said, he’ll never find it,” replied Soth. “It is buried deep in the Heart of the Wandering Forest, protected by a powerful entity.”
“A being that can see right into your very spirit,” added Antiquus. “It will know if someone impure of heart were to cross its threshold.”
“The signposts,” Eva said. “I remember when we saw those, Rovee.”
“Warnings to all who trespass,” Rovender said. “Whatever dwells inside there is beyond our understanding. Only a few who dared enter have returned.”
“And they are always changed,” Soth added. “Different from before they ventured into the Heart.” The gathering murmured in agreement.
“Father, may we take the shuttle so that we may travel to Lacus to help our sister clan, the Halcyonus?” Rovender asked.
“I am still confused as to why the hu-mans would lay siege to Lacus instead of directly attacking Solas.” Antiquus rubbed his dewlap in thought.
“I saw what looked like an Ars working with Cadmus, but he was different,” Eva said. “For some reason they want Arius before they attack Solas.”
“That is not good,” Antiquus moaned. “Not good at all.”
“Why?” asked Eva.
Soth reached up to a shelf and took down an oblong piece of carved wood. The shellacked wood was decorated with the design of a round smiling creature. Soth twisted the top of the carving, and it split in half, revealing a smaller wood carving inside, like the nesting dolls Eva had seen in her dream. The shaman pulled the second doll out from within the first and opened it up.
“When we arrived in Orbona, there were four Arsians who traveled with us.” Soth now had all four dolls placed in a row. “Two sisters and t
wo brothers.”
“Yes,” Eva said. “I also met Zin at the Royal Museum, and he told me this. He has two sisters: Arius and Darius.”
“That is correct,” Soth said, arranging the dolls in pairs. “Arius seeks the premonitions of the future. Darius seeks the wisdom of the past.”
Eva recognized the dolls now. They were fanciful depictions of Arius and her siblings. “What does Zin seek?” she asked, pointing to the doll representing him.
“Knowledge. Which is why King Ojo asked them to accompany us on our journey,” replied the shaman.
Eva remembered how intrigued Zin had been by every artifact he’d collected, and all the questions he had asked her.
“But what of the other?” Rovender asked.
“Loroc, the other brother. He sought strength.”
“I don’t know,” Eva said, examining the doll depicting Loroc. “This guy didn’t look that strong. Big and scary? Yes. But he didn’t seem very strong.”
“Strength is not just in muscle and bone,” Rovender said.
“That is right,” Soth added. “Emotional strength is more powerful.”
“I don’t know.” Eva returned the Loroc doll to the others. “This being had two pairs of eyes and more arms than Zin or Arius.”
“Hmmm,” Soth said. “That description is different from what I know Loroc to look like.” She tucked the dolls back within one another and put them away.
Eva remembered her conversation with Zin. Despite his chirpy voice there had been sadness in him. Hopelessness. “Zin said his sister Darius had died. He was looking for Arius and didn’t know where she was,” said Eva.
This unsettled the gathering. Many murmured among themselves.
“Darius did visit us many years ago to seek our counsel,” Antiquus said. “She was not well.”
“We tried to heal her, but it was hopeless,” Soth added. “So we sent word to King Ojo.”
“Loroc arrived some days later,” continued Antiquus, “and Darius and Loroc left together. We never saw either of them again.”
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