Awakening

by Lara Morgan

  It was almost a relief, but then in the nothing, she saw a glimmer. A spark was thrown and Shaan did the only thing she could – she reached for it, and a world of pain exploded inside her.

  Her face smacked against hard tile and lights came, flashing across her eyes. She opened them and realised that there was light. She was in the temple, on the floor, one hand outstretched upward, her back straining and at the end of her fingers was a rip in the darkness. The fabric of the world was torn and coming through it, travelling to her hand, was the light. It was small, the size of her fist and it was shapeless, a travelling mass of blackness spun with silver, turning and coming to her hand. She watched it come, her body shaking, unbelieving as it came through the tear in the world. As the Stone touched her, an arc of agony screamed up her arm and through her left side. It stopped her heart and she collapsed to the floor as the energy of making ripped through her.

  Outside, Tallis voiced a soundless scream as he felt Shaan’s life slipping away. He fell forward onto Marathin’s neck, his chest heaving, as the serpent landed amid a tumble of stone within the walls of the city. A river of pain was clawing at his left side, an echo of Shaan’s own. He knew if only he could concentrate he could do something, but the pain! He tumbled off the serpent’s back to the ground. At least he could feel her now, he knew exactly where she was. Arak-si. Pain! Marathin hissed, and he leaned against her for a moment.

  Come for me when I call, he said and pushing away, he began to run.

  As Shaan fell back, Azoth leaped forward and caught the Stone in both hands. His eyes were bright violet in its light and he cradled it as his body was bent back by the force of its loosing. A pale, silver fire surged up from the Stone and covered his body and for a moment he was nothing but light, pure energy. Then flickering, flickering, it was sucked back into the Stone, leaving him standing, his eyes black indigo in the light as the Stone coalesced and became solid in the hands of the god.

  Outside the temple, pale fire burst from the doors illuminating the night, but Nuathin did not look for he was staring up, up, his bright eyes watching as a great host of serpents flew over and filled the sky, their high coarse calls filling the air. The rain had stopped and they landed on rooftops and broken walls surrounding the temple, crouching like great terrible birds, their taloned tails striking stone and grinding decaying lumps to dust.

  Silently they watched the temple as Azoth emerged, striding down the black steps to stand near Nuathin’s shoulder. Slowly he turned to look at all the serpents and with glittering eyes he raised the Stone in his hand and said in the ancient tongue, ‘I have come and the true paths will be found’. His back was turned as he surveyed the bowed heads of the beasts and he did not see as Tallis slipped behind him into the temple.

  His breath short, Tallis ran through the darkness to Shaan’s side. She was still alive, but she was so weak, her heart beat a ragged flutter. He bent and gathered her up in his arms, his soul wrenching at how light and frail she felt. He felt her tenuous hold on life and, afraid for her, he reached deep into his own well and called to her. The words he whispered were ancient and rang with power, and he felt the warmth of them rush through him and into her like a hot desert wind. She did not stir, but he felt her heart grow stronger and, knowing he could not linger, he carried her to the door intent on getting her away.

  As he emerged he met Azoth, standing at the bottom of the steps, a frightening smile on his lips as he looked up at him.

  ‘So,’ he said casually, ‘there is not one but two. How is it I did not feel you before?’

  Dark indigo eyes flashed at him and Tallis froze on the top step as he saw what Shaan had not told him. Azoth’s eyes were his eyes, his sister’s eyes, they were the same. A strange, shuddering fear ran through him and he stepped back, holding her close against him and feeling the doorframe of the temple at his back. A tugging pulled at his being, like a cord tightening – or a leash.

  ‘Aah, yes,’ Azoth nodded. ‘I see you feel me now.’ He looked him over, considering. ‘My black serpents chattered to me about my Arak-ferish, but their minds are not what they once were, I did not think they knew what they said. I see I was wrong. Son.’ His teeth shone white. ‘I have often wondered if the first one I seeded was a son.’ He tilted his head to the side. ‘Tallis, a desert man’s name.’

  Tallis struggled for breath. He had plucked his name from his mind. What else could he find? In panic he imagined a barrier around himself, seeking to shut him out.

  Azoth frowned. ‘You have power. But how long do you think you can wield it and stand against me?’ He smiled. ‘So young. Bring your sister down from there and don’t look so angry, I would not have let her die. With this,’ he held up a small black shining stone, ‘I could resurrect her.’

  The Stone glittered like a piece of night in his hand, but Tallis did not know what it was and Azoth’s casual dismissal of Shaan’s plight set anger in his heart.

  ‘I am not your son,’ he hissed, ‘and we will not stay here with you.’

  ‘And how will you escape?’ Azoth indicated the circle of serpents crouched low and unmoving as statues around the temple. His fear doubled. How could he not have noticed them? There were so many. The black serpents who had killed Haldane crouched on a crumbling wall. He felt their hatred reach for him. They were so strong, how would he defeat them all? Despair rode upon him, but he pushed it back.

  Marathin, he called, but then a high shriek sounded in the sky above and both he and Azoth looked up to see Haraka with Attar astride, swooping down upon them from the cloud-scudded sky. An arrow struck the ground beside Azoth’s foot and the god turned and shouted a command to the serpents. They rose up in a clatter of talon and wing.

  Tallis ran. Holding Shaan close, he sprinted down the steps, calling to Marathin as he did. Come! Come now! Behind him, Azoth turned casually and watched him flee, a slight smile still on his face. Tallis glanced back at him as Marathin swooped down.

  Go then, son, it was a whisper in his mind. I have what I need for now. We will be together again. And Azoth raised a hand to him as Tallis awkwardly hauled Shaan up on the serpent’s back.

  All around the god serpents were launching up into the air and wheeling to attack the fleeing Haraka. Tallis didn’t have time to think about why Azoth had let them go as he commanded Marathin to rise and go to Attar’s aid. The serpent crouched and flung herself upward, lashing out at a smaller serpent as she did, shrieking at it so it cowered and fled. Then, spreading her powerful wings, she streamed through the air toward Haraka.

  Tallis held tight to Shaan, clinging on with his thighs as Marathin dipped and turned, cutting through the mass of serpents rising from the ground. None of the serpents came near them, though they shrieked and wheeled around; they did not attack and only two ahead followed Haraka and Attar as they sped away from the city.

  Tallis saw Attar let two arrows fly at the one at his side, and as they approached he prepared to reach deep for the words to command them but, as one, both serpents turned and dropped away, shrieking up at him as they arrowed toward the trees, returning to Azoth and the city.

  I will come for you, Azoth’s voice whispered in his mind and Tallis flinched as he felt the cold touch of it stroke him. Shaan cried out in his arms, and then there was nothing but the rain in his face, and the faint cries of the serpents disappearing behind them as they winged away and back to Salmut.

  42

  Across the lands, the one who had been called Fortuse stirred from her slumber. She opened her eyes with a scream, clutching at nothing. ‘He has it, he has it!’ she muttered, and began crawling on the floor, reaching for invisible threads.

  Outside the small hut, a man who had been chopping wood slowly lowered his axe and stood for some time staring up at the sky. He was tall and dark haired and the muscles in his wide shoulders were firm from years of toil, years he could not always remember. As he looked upward, the dark grey of his eyes deepened and flecks of blue appeared. The axe fell to the
ground and he turned with long strides walking to the hut and flinging open the door. He stared down at the naked woman crawling on the floor. She gazed up at him with frightened eyes that swirled grey, then green, then blue.

  ‘Where are the others?’ he shouted, his voice trembling. Then at her scream he staggered and sank to his knees. ‘Where are the others?’ he whispered. She crawled toward him and curled up, shaking, against him. Her hands clutched at him like a child, her red hair spread fine as silk over her face. He has it, her voice sounded sweet as music in his mind and he looked down, staring in wonder at her as he remembered his real name.

  ‘I am Paretim,’ he said and then stronger, his voice growing deeper, like a drum in the dark. ‘We must find the others.’

  EPILOGUE

  ‘It’s hard to believe there’s so much water in the world.’ Tallis stood by the open window, staring out at the heavy rain. ‘It falls and falls without end.’

  ‘Move me closer; I can’t see,’ Shaan said, her voice raspy and weak.

  ‘I’ll put the bed under the window,’ he said and picked up the end of the wooden bed, dragging it carefully. The legs made a dull scrape on the tile as he positioned it at an angle so she could see through to the garden beyond.

  The vibration of the moving rattled up through Shaan’s spine and she gritted her teeth at the pain, then cursed as her left arm bounced and flopped down off the side of the bed, dangling like a dead fish.

  ‘Tallis!’ she cried and he quickly came and picked up her arm, laying it once more across her stomach over the thin sheet. She felt nothing as he touched her and had to look away, blinking back tears of anger. It had been a week and still she had not regained any feeling or control in her left side. Her arm and leg were like lumps of living but inanimate flesh. The Sisters had said it would take time, but how long?

  ‘Do you want to sit up?’ He pushed a strand of hair back from her face.

  ‘No.’ She stared out at the dark afternoon.

  ‘You’ve been laying flat all day,’ he said and, ignoring her protests leaned over and gripped her beneath her armpits, hauling her up until she was leaning against the bed head.

  ‘Oww!’ Pain streaked up her back and dug knives into her belly. She punched him as hard as she could in the chest with her right arm.

  ‘Not bad,’ he grunted and casually pushed her left leg away from the edge of the bed. ‘I almost felt something that time.’ He stood back, surveying her. ‘You know, I think you’re getting fat.’

  She glared at him, taking short quick breaths as the pain subsided. ‘I am not fat.’ In fact, she’d never felt so frail or thin before. Despite the rich foods the Sisters gave her, she was not putting on weight. All her energy was going into her daily battle against the pain that seemed to be her constant companion. And she could not sleep. She was afraid that every time she closed her eyes, Azoth would find her. She still had the prophet’s ring. And even though it was locked away now deep in the palace she was still afraid he would use it somehow to find her. That he would drift into her dreams and she would never wake again. The only rest she had was when Tallis was there. Holding tight to his hand she managed a few hours a day, it was the only time she felt safe.

  ‘Balkis came again this morning,’ he said casually striking a flint to a lamp. Her stomach tightened and he looked over at her as the warm yellow light fell across her face. ‘You have to see him sometime.’

  ‘Not yet.’ She chewed on her bottom lip watching the rain.

  ‘He comes every day, Shaan.’

  ‘I can’t!’ Her voice rose and a bright spot of colour appeared on her cheek. Tallis fell silent. He wished once more that Jared were there. He knew women so much better. He would have found a way to convince her that Balkis would not be repulsed by her.

  Thinking of his earth brother made his chest contract. He still could not believe he’d had to leave him there in the jungle. He didn’t even know if he lived. Anger at Azoth burned in his gut, and quickly he smothered it lest Shaan felt it. They were connected so closely now, he didn’t want her to feel his suffering as well as her own.

  He picked up a stool and sat by her bed, leaning on the low windowsill and looking at the thick, dark leaves of the plants being battered by the rain.

  ‘They say a war is coming,’ he said. ‘Rorc is gathering the warriors from the outlying lands. Attar says they will not be enough.’

  ‘And the serpents, have they all gone?’

  He nodded. ‘All but Marathin and Haraka.’

  Shaan shivered. How would they defend themselves when Azoth came for them?

  ‘Perhaps Tuon will send word of serpents still on the Isles,’ she said, thinking of her friend, still alive, who she had once thought dead.

  But Tallis looked grim as he gazed up at the heavy grey sky. ‘I don’t know, I can’t feel any.’

  ‘A vast sea separates you, perhaps the water interferes.’

  ‘Perhaps,’ he shrugged.

  ‘Rorc should let you take Marathin there,’ she said. ‘It would be faster, and you could speak to any who are left.’

  ‘He wants to wait until he receives word. He doesn’t want to risk leaving the city so undefended.’

  ‘I don’t see how it would be any different.’

  ‘He’s right,’ Tallis said mildly. ‘It would be a wasted journey, and if any of the serpents attack while Marathin is not here, there would only be Haraka and men on the ground to defend the city.’

  ‘But there must be serpents there, it’s their breeding ground.’

  ‘Unless they have all gone to join Azoth,’ Tallis said and Shaan fell silent.

  It all seemed hopeless. She heard again the whispering voice that had followed them as they flew from the wild lands: I will come for you. She’d heard it, even locked in that darkness she had heard it, as he’d meant her to. She looked at Tallis, but he seemed far away and she knew he was thinking about Jared and the home that was lost to him. She put her hand out, touching his arm, and without looking at her he slid his warm, rough hand into hers.

  They sat together silently for some time. Shaan thought of all she had lost, and what she had gained. She thought of Tuon somewhere out on the open sea, and prayed she was all right. She thought of Torg, on his way to be buried in the soil of his birth, and of Alterin and Jared, lost in the jungles of the Wild Lands. She looked at Tallis. His face was averted from her, but she could feel him, pensive and full of anger at what Azoth had taken away, and she was glad at least that he was here with her.

  ‘Tell me about our mother.’ She squeezed his hand with what little strength she had. ‘Tell me about hunting with Jared when you were boys.’

  He blinked and she saw the glisten of sudden tears in his indigo eyes. He looked down for a moment and then with a long sigh began to speak, and she lay back and closed her eyes, letting the images of heat and sand roll over her. He opened himself to her, and she clung to his hand, hearing his words and seeing with him the vast open plains, the mar rat hidden behind a rock, and a woman with dark hair and eyes the colour of the sea, that seemed also to be holding her hand as well until, finally, she was lost to sleep.

  LIST OF CHARACTERS

  Alterin

  Seer and healer of the Wild Lands people

  Amora

  A slave girl who was the catalyst for the defeat of Azoth 2000 years ago and founder of the city of Salmut

  Anyu

  Headman of the Wild Lands people

  Arlindah

  The Guardian of Salmut – ruler of Saranthium

  Attar

  A captain in the serpent riders

  Azoth/The Fallen

  Creator of the serpents and youngest of the five ancient gods. He stole the Birthstone and enslaved the majority of the human race, using the Stone to create the Alhanti (see glossary). Banished to the abyss 2000 years prior by his four older siblings.

  Balkis

  Son of a wealthy merchant and serpent rider. The youngest to be named a sept le
ader of the serpent riders for many years.

  Bren

  Serpent rider

  Crull

  Member of the Jalwalah Clan’s guide circle

  Cyri

  Consul of the Faithful – their spiritual leader

  Epherin

  Second eldest of the Four Lost Gods

  Fortuse

  Only female of the Four Lost Gods

  Haldane

  Heartmate of Mailun and member of the Jalwalah clan’s Guide Circle

  Irissa

  Jared’s sister – a hunter of the Jalwalah clan

  Jared

  Hunter of the Jalwalah clan and Tallis’s earth brother

  Karnit

  Leader of the Jalwalah clan

  Lorgon

  A member of Salmut’s Council of Nine

  Mailun

  Tallis’s mother, originally of the Ichindar, the Ice People

  Meelin

  Perfumer in Salmut and a friend of Tuon

  Miram

  Member of the Jalwalah clan’s Guide Circle

  Mishi

  Alterin’s friend and her nurse as a child

  Morfessa

  Advisor to the Guardian of Salmut and a powerful healer

  Nevan

  Member of the Jalwalah clan’s Guide Circle

  Nilah

  Daughter of Arlindah, heir to the Guardianship of Salmut

  Paretim