by Dan O'Brien
He had felt constricted by it on the tundra, without a razor or a mirror to do it properly. His hands slid over the rim of the tub, hanging down along its blackened sides. He arched his head back; everything below his neck was submerged in the soapy fluid within.
Turning sharply as a shadow entered, his hand reached across to a stool at the side of the bath. His hand gripped the planedge without hesitation.
As his eyes came across the intruder, he reddened.
Once more his instincts had betrayed him. The girl was as young as E’Malkai, perhaps even a little younger. Her dark red hair was cropped close to her shoulders; the left side was braided tightly in places, though not on the right. Her eyes were a deep brown, wide and innocent. The shape of her dress was made to hide her femininity, and she was dainty enough that it did so. The slender arc of her neck was all that was revealed.
She carried a bowl in her hands, which might have easily outweighed her, for it was filled to the brim with warm, steaming water. E’Malkai leapt from the tub without thought. The pressing ache of his muscles was lost as he moved toward her to help.
That was, of course, before he realized what he had done.
He made it halfway to her before he looked down and realized his error. The spots of soap on his body did not hide the fact that he was nude. This made the scarlet of his complexion deepen. His eyes went wide, and he scratched his head in embarrassment.
The girl dropped the bowl as she brought her hands to her face to cover her shock. Despite his nudity, he reached out and grasped the bowl by its edges. Half of the water spilled on the floor in the process. He did manage to keep it from shattering.
He held it over his midsection.
His embarrassment did not keep him from being polite.
E’Malkai opened his mouth and then closed it. He did not know the girl’s name, and she merely stared with her hand clamped over her mouth and her eyes wide as she waited in silence.
“I’m sorry. I’m E’Malkai,” he stammered.
He tried then to reach his hand out as was done in polite conversation and forgot about the basin and had to squat down to catch it again. This time he rested the base on the floor and looked up sheepishly.
She giggled.
The sound of her laughter erased some of his embarrassment. He managed to smile as she took away her hand from her mouth and returned a smile. “I am Arivene.” She continued to stare and turned away quickly, spinning until her back was to him. “Please forgive me, I did not mean to startle you.”
E’Malkai wanted to move forward and touch her shoulder, comfort her. He looked down at the cumbersome basin at his feet and cleared his throat instead.
“Would you like me to get back in the tub again?”
She nodded vigorously.
E’Malkai turned and dumped the warm water into the tub. Placing the bowl beside the tub, he stepped into it. The heat of the new water was evident, for he winced as he sank into it.
“Safe to turn around again,” he called playfully.
She turned, her eyes lowered just in case. As she moved toward the tub, she bent to grab the basin. E’Malkai reached out and touched her forearm.
Her eyes rose to meet his.
There was hesitation in her eyes.
“You did not need to pour in the water.”
E’Malkai pulled his things off the stool. Reaching over, he pulled it closer to the tub and slapped the top of it. “Would you maybe sit for a while with me? I haven’t talked to a pretty girl in some time.”
She giggled again and held her dress as she sat down on top of it. The empty basin was still held in her lap. “Perhaps for a little while,” she replied.
E’Malkai sighed, one of contentment.
“You are a handsome man, and strong,” she marveled. The ease with which she spoke startled E’Malkai. He would not have been able to say the same thing so simply. She tilted her head and looked down. “I watched the rite of combat. You fought well for one not of the Fallen. I thought that you were very strong.”
E’Malkai felt warmth rush over him, not just from the water, but also from the girl’s words. He felt a tightening in his groin, and his embarrassment flowed free once more. “I did all right, I suppose. Tell me about your family. I would like to hear about life here in the caverns.”
She hesitated.
There was sadness in her eyes.
“There is only my brother and I.”
E’Malkai turned to her, an eyebrow lifted. “Where are your mother and father?” He faltered as he spoke, for he knew what had happened. Death was an early exit for many of those among the Fallen. “I am sorry, Arivene. I should not have asked you such a thing.”
She smiled, the small line of her lips pursed as she did. “It is okay, E’Malkai of the South. I know of your father. He was a great warrior. My brother was very young when Seth was here, but he remembers that he was very noble.”
E’Malkai rested his head back comfortably once more.
“That is kind of him. What is his name?”
“Mete,” she replied with a shrug.
E’Malkai flopped in the tub.
“Mete, as in the warrior who I just fought?”
She nodded, and he rolled his eyes, staring forward at the wall. “He wanted to say that he was honored to have fought with the son of Seth Armen. Your blade skills require some practice, which was what he wished to say.” Her voice tapered off as she spoke. She looked away, but E’Malkai merely smirked.
“There is no reason for concern, Arivene. Your brother would know much better than me. I had not used my father’s planedge more than twice before the rite. He was far more skilled.”
She smiled again.
The beaming, radiant image made E’Malkai’s heart sink. He thought that in all his years within the dome of Culouth, he had never seen anyone who smiled so freely as this woman of the Fallen. “He would be pleased by your words. He looks far worse for the wear than you. But he is not soaking as you are. Instead he is patrolling the catacombs because that is his place within the Fallen.”
E’Malkai laughed.
Her mirth was a welcome change to the somber tones of both Arile and Higald. His chest heaved beneath the water. “I ask that you stay with me, as my guide here in the Fallen. The tunnels can become dizzying, and I do not wish to stumble upon something that I should not.”
It was E’Malkai now who was being coy with her, and she seemed to enjoy their exchange, giggling at his response. “It would be my honor to lead the son of such a great warrior around the caverns of his father’s home. I do not know what manner of guide I could be.”
“Far better than if I were to wander alone,” he laughed in return and then suddenly felt cold. The water, his muscles, everything chilled him. “I wish to get out of the bath now.”
She stared at him for a moment as if she did not understand and then blinked several times in succession before she stood up quickly. “Of course, I will turn my back.” She blushed. The scarlet in her pale cheeks was like a wild rose. She gripped the edges of her clothes as she turned away from him.
He rose from the tub.
Reaching down, he grabbed a thick towel and began to dry himself roughly, scrubbing at his head and his chest. He paused to look at the scars that now marred his chest and fingered them in wonder. They had not been there before and seemed foreign to him in a way.
He shrugged and threw aside the towel into a heap. Taking some of the Fallen clothes that had been left out for him, he pulled the tunic over his shoulders and the leggings over his feet. He pulled them to his waist, tying off the rope that served as a belt. He looked up at Arivene whose back was still turned while her hands remained near her mouth.
“Is there something the matter, Arivene?” he called. He did not bother with the wraps. They remained in a loose coil next to the towel.
Arivene shook her head and he smiled.
She was shy, nothing more.
He laced his boots and gave hims
elf a look over. Turning to the stool, he saw the sheath of his father’s blade on the ground and stared. He reached down and grabbed it, turning it over in his hands.
The skill and care that had gone into its making astounded E’Malkai. The materials necessary to create such a weapon were in limited supply within the caverns of the Fallen. He closed his eyes, and they fluttered beneath his tan lids, as if searching for an answer. Opening them, he strapped the blade around his waist.
“All finished,” he announced.
She turned and surveyed him with a mock critical eye. Then giggling as he cocked his waist to the side, he posed as if he were at a royal ball. “It would seem that you are indeed ready, E’Malkai of the South,” she mused.
He moved close to her, and she seemed to draw within herself. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked deep into her wide reservoirs of autumn brown. “You do not need to call me E’Malkai of the South. E’Malkai will do just fine. We are friends now, right?”
She seemed to slacken at the word friend and managed a weak smile. “I would like it very much if we were friends.” She looked down solemnly, a glassy look in her eyes. “There are not many boys or girls here my age, and most are soldiers. I am lonely sometimes.”
E’Malkai could see the sadness in her eyes. He placed his hand underneath her chin and brought her eyes up to meet his. “If you need someone to talk to you, then you can come see me. All right? I would very much like to listen to anything you have to say.”
She cried now, though her sobs were contained. Tears streamed down her face and E’Malkai wiped them away with his thumb and forefinger. She fell against his chest, encircling him with her spindly arms. Her voice was muffled as she pressed her face against his muscles.
“I am scared sometimes, too.”
E’Malkai pulled her away gently and looked at the streaked features and the wide pools of her eyes. He smiled as best he could. “It is okay to be afraid. There is no weakness in fear, for it is what makes you human.”
“That is what Mete says as well. You and he think a lot alike. He said that it would be silly if I did not wonder. That is what youth is for, to wonder about things I do not know.”
She seemed distracted as she spoke. Her eyes flashed up again like she had just thought of something. “Can you tell me what it is like in the south?”
E’Malkai reached up and scratched the back of his neck and smirked. “I suppose I could tell you a few things. I do not want to upset you with what I say. There are some things that you might not understand.”
She blinked her eyes. “I would very much like to hear about a place that is not as cold as here. I get sick of it being cold all the time.”
“It is also winter where I came from. Snow is already on the ground, but it is not packed tightly like it is here; instead, it forms frothy drifts that you can move with your hands. There are great cities. Some are built from the ground up while another floats high in the sky beneath a clear dome that looks down on Terra.”
The water in her eyes seemed to crystallize as she listened.
“That sounds magnificent. It must be a beautiful place.”
E’Malkai shrugged.
His view of Culouth had been tarnished. “It is a place, like any other city, that has both beautiful and terrible things. There are a great many things about it that makes it a cause of fear as well as awe,” conceded E’Malkai with a heavy sigh. He could not find the silver lining of the Intelligence and Fe’rein.
She frowned, and her nose wrinkled as she did. “I could not understand how such a beautiful place could be a cause for alarm.”
“As I said, there might be things that you would not understand.”
She paused and seemed to think about that. “The best way to understand would be to see them up close, wouldn’t it?”
E’Malkai’s face brightened.
“I’m glad you understand what I meant.”
“Then you will take me to see your home?”
“Huh?” E’Malkai pushed her out beyond an arm’s length. “You can’t be serious?”
She seemed disheartened by his reply. “You said that to view it would be to believe, did you not? Then I wish you to be my guide to the south, as I am for you here in the Fallen. Is that not fair?”
E’Malkai stuttered. He could not believe that she had so simply turned around his words. Staring dumbstruck at her, he spoke carefully. “I do not think that your brother or Higald would appreciate it if I did such a thing.”
E’Malkai felt the approach of Arile before he actually appeared next to the doorframe. His eyes followed as the shadow passed beneath. The thin frame of the white hunter seemed to materialize soundlessly into the room.
Arivene seemed unfazed by his approach. She turned her back to E’Malkai and leaned into him. Arile placed his spear on the ground, as a hiker would his walking stick.
“It would seem that you were getting rather comfortable here, E’Malkai of the South.”
E’Malkai looked down and realized that he had placed his arms around her shoulders without thought. He pulled them away and reddened. “Where have you been, Arile?” queried E’Malkai as he tried to dismiss the embarrassment.
He rolled his eyes and moved closer to the wall, leaning against it. His spear was held loosely in his hands. “I did not wish to see the rite. I have seen many battles and did not wish to see you beaten, though it would appear that you are doing well enough.”
E’Malkai dismissed his sarcasm.
“Why are you here now?”
He flicked his hand.
“Higald wishes to speak with you.”
E’Malkai looked at Arivene.
He was hesitant to cut their conversation short.
Arivene looked back at him, craning her neck to see him. Her height was evident for the first time as E’Malkai towered over her. “It would be best if we went to Higald. It must be important if he called you,” she reasoned.
Boom.
The shudder reverberated into the halls and soon shallow screams echoed. Arivene turned. Concern, not fear, crossed her face, and she moved forward with her fists clenched. Arile wheeled as well, the spear tightened in his grasp.
He cocked his head back as he spoke. “There is trouble.”
E’Malkai took a step forward.
He stared.
His body still.
Arile took a few more steps, the screams echoing louder. “There is something in the caverns.” He turned back again. “Some of those screams were soldiers.”
E’Malkai scowled.
He had felt a chill, the sickening final call of a man as his breath and life left him. He placed his hand on the planedge to try and center his thoughts. “Where could they have come from?”
“Something followed us from the tundra. It must have been that shadow you spoke of. Something tracked us.”
Arivene had crept ahead of Arile, and he swept her back with his free hand. “My brother, the others, you have to help them, E’Malkai,” she pleaded.
E’Malkai pulled the handle of the blade free and moved beside Arile. He looked down at the girl with as much confidence and self-assurance as he could muster. “Stay here. Hide if you have to.”
She pushed her hands against his chest. “I wish to fight.”
E’Malkai placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
“We do not know what lies out there. We cannot risk it.”
The fire in her eyes enhanced the deep brown pools. She thrust her hands to her side; her voice was strained as she skirted the edge of anger. “Had you not been here, I would already be in danger. This is the way of the Fallen. We fight and we die by the rules of the tundra and the creatures that roam it.”
He could not fault her logic.
E’Malkai could not help but feel a pang in his heart at allowing her that close to danger. He tilted his head and squinted as he looked at her. “I would rather that you not, but we waste time deliberating. Stay close and do as I say.
”
She nodded and lowered her center of gravity as she moved behind him. Arile took up the rear. His head swiveled back and forth as he surveyed the tunnel.
“Which way?” called E’Malkai. The darkened tunnel extended each way for what seemed like an interminable distance.
Arivene pointed in silence to their right.
E’Malkai stalked forward into the darkness.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but as he did he saw the curve of another tunnel. Arivene pointed without sound each time, guiding them through the catacombs as the screaming grew less frequent, but far more intense.
Women and children could be heard.
The tunnels grew larger as they pressed on, and the urgency of their progression increased. As they pushed through the final curve, back out into the light of the common area, they skidded to a halt.
“By the Believer,” whispered E’Malkai without thought.
Some of the adobe flats had caught fire.
Others lay strewn in pieces as their owners had collapsed upon them, their bodies beaten, some mutilated. The main area was filled with Umordoc. Their bodies were covered in decorative skulls and skins. They did not hunt animals for their furs, but merely for food.
It was humans that they killed for trophies.
The Umordoc stood in a tangled mass. Some circled farther into the Fallen, where there were huddled groups of humans on their knees; some were beaten while others were fearful of what might become of them. The shock of Higald’s hair made him stand out at the center of the convoluted mass.
E’Malkai moved forward only to be restrained by Arile.
The High Warrior’s eyes narrowed. He extended his open hand toward the emerging trio, and the eyes of the dark warriors followed. As he closed his hand, a formation of Umordoc charged forward, ten or twelve strong.
Arile brought his spear around again.
Separating from E’Malkai, he swept his arm over Arivene. She ducked beneath and stood her ground as he mumbled about her insolence and foolhardiness. E’Malkai’s eyes widened and he pulled the planedge free of its sheath.