by Coral Walker
She had the urge to put it on, despite its size — too big for her petite frame — and swiftly slipped into it. To her surprise, and delight, it fitted her well, as if the fabric could shrink or stretch to conform to her body. Her judgement must have deceived her.
Nothing delighted her more than a fine dress that was well fitting. She felt like she was going to attend a fancy dress party and let a sensation of mirth lift her bearing. With light steps, she walked out of the Dome. In front of her a vast blue lake stretched out.
+++
Teilo finally slept.
After dropping Brianna at the Dome, he rode Ba-Bolt back to Babeedo — Ba-bolt always had a way to find his master. Babeedo was with the Rioneans. A skirmish with the Barans had killed unarmed Rionean men and women and many of their youths had been enslaved, filling the land with sorrow and despair.
He had wanted to stay too, to bury the dead and nurse the injured. Many were more than acquaintances to him — they had shared food from the same bowl, and slept under the same roof. But he took his leave. The prophecy, the coming — he must go, he was duty bound. Brianna was in his keeping, and above all — Yuna.
He made a detour to Mount Leafar where the rocks tower up like tall trees and the Bacilos bloom in clusters. Bacilos were good for healing wounds, but thrived only on the smooth surfaces of inaccessible rocks, threatening a nasty fracture for anyone who dared to trespass. He also took a handful of Jue roots, bursting out of the damp ground not far from the rocks. Yuna loved them. They were too bitter for most palates, but if Yuna liked them then he liked them too. When he chewed a mouthful of it, frowning from its sharp bitterness, it reminded him of who he was.
The road that took Ba-Bolt a third of a day took him one night and one day. How marvellous that creature was. Many a time his mind was filled with wonder at the thought of her — in nature there were always sublime things that made him hold his breath in awe.
He came back to the lake just before nightfall. The Dome of the Oracle was solemn in the thickening twilight, and Yuna was dying. An arrow to the heart was a difficult wound to treat, even for Bacilos — the king of all healing herbs. Nevertheless, he chewed a mouthful of it and applied the pungent blackish paste to the wound. It would keep her alive, at least for the night.
When he finally lay down next to Yuna, worn out and desperate for sleep, the sound of Yuna’s harrowing breath made his heart tremble.
He didn’t know how long he had been lying awake, counting each of Yuna’s breaths, before sleep overtook him. It was short and deep and seemed to him dreamless if he hadn’t had the dazed feeling of flying when he woke. He must have dreamed of flying with Yuna again.
He blinked his eyes, for a while baffled by the dark shadow towering over him. As soon as he made out the face, he jolted his shoulders up with a start.
It was Brianna kneeling next to him. Warm lights behind her made a gleaming halo out of her fine brown hair. The beams slanted down onto her face, tinting her shadowed skin with their bright hues, giving her an exotic look.
Her eyes shone radiantly. She looked happy, strangely happy. When her face widened into a smile, she stood up and did a twirl, giggling as the sparkly dress she was wearing flared out.
She was the one — the Dome knew her. It took her in and healed her. Even Tyanna’s dress fitted her well.
But she looked childlike and simple. There wasn’t the air of Tyanna’s serenity and grace, nor the tender, soft sheen that always shone through her enchanting, almost translucent, eyes.
She grinned, seeming to be amused by his bewilderment, but then her gaze shifted suddenly past him to where Yuna lay. The awkwardness with which Yuna's head was buried in her large wing alarmed her, and she knelt down beside her and outstretched her arms.
“Don’t touch her!” Teilo’s cried, sitting up. The sternness in his voice even startled himself.
Her hand froze in the air.
At once Teilo drew out his dagger and with a flick of his wrist, slashed one of his palms. Blood gushed out. A cry escaped from Brianna’s lips as she recoiled in alarm. But Teilo was quicker — he lurched forward and grasped her retreating hand.
“Touch it,” he said, placing his bleeding palm before her.
“No!” she shrilled, no sign of cheerfulness left.
“Touch it, please.”
He edged his palm closer, her hand wriggling in his.
“Tyanna would do it if she were here. She’d heal my hand straight away,” Teilo cried.
Brianna stopped wriggling her hand. Her gaze flared up and swept over Teilo’s face like flames before falling onto his open palm.
The air around her was dead still.
As she looked at his hand, a sudden searing pain from the wound overtook him. He reeled and abruptly released her hand.
She was shaking like a thin twig, her face turning ashen. Dark smoke came out of one of her hands, and she looked at it in sheer bewilderment.
Still flinching from the pain, he managed to summon up a tight-lipped smile. “See, you can do it,” he said.
“I can do what?”
“You can do harm as well as heal.”
Brianna looked stunned and her face was as tight as a pulled bowstring.
“Brianna, you're the one chosen to take the place of Tyanna,” he said, his heart pounding with hope, “Don’t you realise that the Dome of the Oracle approved you and saved you from the bokwa’s bite? Otherwise you would have been dead by now. Bathing in the Bath of Life has prepared you for the lake. That's why you have started to gain these powers."
“Did I hurt you?” Her voice was quivering.
He smiled and waved his head. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. It’s always easier to do harm than good. Just do what you need to do — you will find out how to control the power soon enough.”
She threw him a look like he was a stranger and her face darkened alarmingly, as if she were overcome by a growing anger. She struck her hands on the ground all of a sudden and shouted at him, “I don’t want to take Tyanna’s place! I have nothing to do with the lake! I don’t want to have any of those stupid powers!”
After that she lurched to her feet and rushed off towards the Dome. A dusky handprint appeared on the grey rock that had received her impulsive blow. The Dome duly opened upon her arrival and shut behind her.
Teilo sighed, glancing down at the long cut in his palm and then at Yuna’s lifeless body before stuffing a black Bacilo leaf between his teeth and biting into it. The bitter juice filled his mouth.
Aunt Malalea was right — they should have tested her more thoroughly before entrusting her with the powers.
+++
When Brianna re-emerged from the Dome, the dress still gleamed on her, but she looked hesitant and shy.
“I couldn’t find any other clothes,” she murmured, twisting her hands and looking down sheepishly at the dress. The black smoke no longer rose from her hand.
“Sorry, I was carried away by the dress and a little out of my mind,” she continued, “You must understand that I’m not a local girl, and the world I came from is different. We have troubles and even wars — the same bloody stuff you have here. But a lot of ours are fictional, dramas or movies you watch on a phone, TV or at the cinema, a kind of box with a screen that has images displayed on it. The real ones — we call them news when they are broadcast on TV — happen somewhere else. You don’t get involved. I hardly ever watch the news. Since our problem with the energy shortage got worse, it has always been too upsetting.”
She formed her hands into a square shape when she mentioned the strange term — TV. It didn’t make much sense. War-in-a-box? He shook his head slightly when he visualised it in his mind but kept his expression unchanged — he wanted to know what she had to say next.
Now and then her glance shifted to his hand and then to Yuna.
“But,” she wet her lips with her tongue as if she were about to say something important, “I think I can do it now.”
&nbs
p; Without waiting for his response, she knelt down opposite him and drew his wounded hand near to her chest. She then lifted her other hand and held it palm down over the wound. For a while, her forehead frowned in concentration, looking sincere and straining with effort.
Nothing happened.
Her eyes slanted up, puzzled. “How am I supposed to do it?”
Teilo was lost for words. Tyanna always knew what she had to do — it was her Wona instinct. Why couldn’t she simply do the same?
To his relief, a thought seemed to find its way to her, her eyes glinted, and her face became calm and assured. She cast down her gaze and returned her hand to its hovering position. Before long he felt a certain warmth radiating from her hand and permeating his skin.
He frowned, feeling the pain, which was tolerable as if a clumsy hand was poking the wound with a stick.
“I was thinking of stitching it up with a needle,” Brianna explained, concerned at his reaction. “Perhaps I should try something different”.
“Remember how you made it worse,” he suggested. “Do the opposite.”
She flushed.
“I was angry, hating you for ordering me around.” She paused, her eyes gleaming. “Hate. I hated you at the time. Then all I need to do now is to ...”
She stopped short and flushed more until her cheeks turned a shade of rosy pink, like the rare Bacilos flowers that blossom only on the frozen rock.
A smile stole up his face — Tyanna is back, in her — and he opened his palm wide, knowing she could be trusted.
Yuna will survive, so will Rion.
13
The Lake
Brianna hesitated. The lake wasn’t as innocent as it looked. There was a reason for its semblance of peace — the deadly creatures that roamed beneath, deterring whoever dared to approach.
They were sacred creatures, at least that was what Teilo told her. “They protect the lake from uninvited intruders, including myself.”
He grinned a wide grin as he said it.
According to Teilo, the whole, enclosed land was sacred and protected — not just by the high cliffs and the deep canyon that guarded the place like an impregnable castle, but there was some mysterious power within the land that repelled any unwelcome visitors. Teilo could roam the place in the role of messenger, but the sacred Dome of the Oracle would take no notice of him — as far as he was concerned, the Dome was just a damp, dark cave. Neither did the lake creatures regard him as special. They would devour him with no more mercy than for an unfortunate bird quenching its thirst with its waters.
The shore was craggy in places, but Teilo led her to a long, flat rock that had one end overhanging quite a way into the lake.
He jumped onto it, and immediately the creatures gathered around him as if they were drawn by the smell of flesh and blood. With their bared teeth and scaly skin of drab green, they bore the ugly and substantial look of a crocodile but with the agility and tenacity of a deadly shark.
One arm outstretched, palm out, he stood like a dancer anticipating his partner.
She took his hand and shifted her right foot forward. When the tip of her foot touched the surface of the water, she wobbled as if she was stepping onto an unsteady stool. The feel of Teilo's firm grip was reassuring, so she shifted more weight onto it.
To her utter astonishment, as well as delight, she didn't sink. Instead, a crystal plaque was formed where her foot was in contact with the water and grew in size as she pressed her weight on to it.
It was just like in the picture on the rectangular plate — the girl walking on the surface of the lake to reach the centre.
At her second step, she let go of Teilo's hand.
The lake was reassuring. The crystallisation was simply magic. Without her slightest perception, here it was, under her foot, and there it went, the instant her foot was lifted.
Every step was like a miracle, and her mind was full of fluttering butterflies that were difficult to contain. She felt like laughing wildly.
But she resisted the urge. The monsters beneath had been following her like shadows, their razor-sharp teeth flashing ominously — it’s a simple procedure, but any mistake would lead to deadly consequences.
She walked faster as if she were racing the shadows. In no time, she was at the centre of the lake where a gigantic plant floated. The plant itself resembled a large flower, with its giant purple leaves curving outwards like a lily’s petals. Out of the multi-layered leaves, a thick, silvery stalk reached up skywards, holding a white flower bud that was tightly shut.
As she moved closer, the stalk swayed under the weight of the bud it was carrying. Stretching her arm up, she nudged the bud with the tip of a finger. The bud shook and opened at the touch, as if by magic. In a blink, it had blossomed fully into a delicate flower, and nestled within it was a pearl the size of a small marble, swaying like a large dewdrop in the morning breeze.
This must be the thing the girl was supposed to collect.
Without delay, she took the pearl, rolled it into her palm and pressed it with her fingers. A cool, marvellously refreshing sensation pervaded her hand and her arm and entranced her.
Her captivated mind awoke suddenly to a low murmuring sound, vague and indistinct, permeating the lake and beyond. Alarmed, she looked around.
The hills stood, calm and solemn, but the serenity of the lake was disintegrating. The water was getting unruly and choppy although the air was utterly still.
The murmuring was growing louder and angrier. She could now tell the types of noises in the tumult — the clank of metal, heavy steps and breathing. There was something else — she strained her ears.
All of a sudden she shivered. Bokwas, seething with their bodies squirming, flashed into her mind like a tap being switched open. So many of them, she could feel it, under the stones and trees, writhing their way through and worming their way out.
Standing on the same rock, Teilo hadn’t moved since she went across the water. Something twinkled among the trees not far behind where he was standing.
Swords! Arrows!
“Teilo!” she cried and broke into a run.
The crystal plates quivered under her feet, and the waves grew rougher. At once she sensed the troubled mind of the lake. “Peril, peril!” it seemed to be hissing, and every smashing wave was a sign of its turmoil and despair — the land was contaminated.
“Destroy! Destroy!”
She ran, faster than she thought she could. Teilo’s outstretched arms were just a few more strides away.
To her horror, the water in front split open at her feet. Without even a struggle, she tumbled into its murky green abyss, and the water closed above her.
Floundering she plunged deeper. In dread and bewilderment, she found herself caught by something large. With its teeth sinking into her thigh, she was trapped and dragged down. Before she touched the bottom of the lake, a white shadow swam past her, and the next moment the grip on her thigh was released. A cloud of blood rose and danced, enveloped in which was the bleeding body of a dark lake monster. A distance away, a large-finned white beast was staring back at her.
The water darkened as if angered by the savage slaughter of its scared creature. A treacherous underwater current formed, tossing and carrying everything in its path. Monsters tumbled and rolled, and she went along with them, her face slamming into the tail of one creature and her feet rasped by the fins of another.
Soon her strength started to abandon her, and disoriented she couldn’t tell where she was heading. When her arms were pulled and her waist was grasped, she didn’t resist. The hands holding her were firm, and the current was now spinning them upwards. All at once fresh air burst into her tight chest. She gasped and coughed.
Teilo was with her, his arms wrapped around her waist.
The realisation brought her no comfort. She was startled by the thunderous noise, the rushing wind, and the beads and drops of water that spattered and smashed into her face. The lake was rotating wildly in big ci
rcles, like a basin of water stirred by the unruly hand of a giant, and forming a whirling updraft.
In the tumultuous mayhem she was dazed, struggling to comprehend — the updraft, like a tornado of water, was carrying them forcefully upwards.
Among all the chaos, the firm grip of Teilo’s hands had not faltered. His water-splotched face was furrowed in concentration.
“Hold tight,” he shouted into her ear.
As his voice trailed off in the clamour, a large shadow shot towards them. She heard the resounding crash, the fluttering of the giant wings, and the plaintive cry of Yuna.
At once she was jerked forward. Through the thick wall of water droplets she flew, into the fresh air that was crisp and dry.
She must have screamed though she had no recollection of that later, except for a burning sensation in her throat. Hands clinging onto Teilo’s arm, legs dangling helplessly, she was numbed with horror.
Yuna was in trouble. She could tell from the shuddering that went with every beat of her wings and the unbalanced way she flew.
Yuna gave out another penetrating cry, and Brianna felt them dropping, as the ground and the sky started alternating before her eyes. Yuna cried again, flapping her wings arduously, in a desperate attempt to pull upwards.
The final drop came without a warning. In the matter of seconds, they plunged to the ground below.
Landing on Yuna's soft body, Brianna was the least hurt. As she slipped down, she caught the sight of Teilo, scrambling to his feet. As soon as he was on his feet he staggered towards them.
His eyebrows were twisted, and his face was a mask of pain. At first sight, she thought he must have been injured from the fall. But when he thrust past her, ignoring her concerned gesture, and flung himself onto the ground next to Yuna, she knew that he was suffering for her — Yuna.
Yuna was bleeding again. A blotch of blood gathered below her injured breast, and one wing was folded under it. Hastily Teilo put his arms under her scaly body, and frantically struggled to lift her. She joined him.
Despair was thick in the air. Without turning her head, she saw them marching towards them, their suits of armour glinting, their faces taut behind shields, swords in their belts and bows in their hands.