by Brett Vonsik
“Breathin’ better?” Pax smiled.
Rogaan nodded then straightened upright. Looking around, he saw Kardul and his sharurs leading five sarigs toward him. The animals were big and powerful, more than 800 stones each, and as tall at the shoulder as Rogaan stood. A single stout horn sat squarely in the middle of their boney foreheads surrounded by large jagged plates that ran the length of their skulls to the top of the necks. Massive foot pads ending in stubbed claws intimidated Rogaan -- not because of their size, but because of the power with which the animals struck the ground, shaking the earth beneath them and making them seem larger than their visible stature. Each was reined with bit and bridle and was fitted with saddle and full saddle bags, ready for travel.
“Have you ridden before?” Kardul asked, demanding a quick answer. Rogaan and Pax both shook their heads, answering no. Kardul looked at his gray-green caped sharur, both standing beside a pair of charcoal-colored sarigs, holding two sets of reins and with their cape hoods drawn up, making it impossible to see their faces. Each sharur looked of Rogaan’s height, taller with their wide-brimmed green hats, each with a stature that made him think they were baraans. They carried long knives on the sides, and a full quiver of arrows on their backs, their bows already sheathed on the left side of the sarig’s saddles, and netted equipment bundles on both sides of the animals. Kardul pointed to Rogaan and Pax as he spoke to his sharur. “They have no riding skills. Double up with these two and trail the other sarigs behind us.”
The sharur simply nodded to Kardul -- or so Rogaan thought he saw them nod. They each pointed a gloved finger with the closest and the taller of the two sharur, at Rogaan; the other, the stockier one of the two, at Pax -- then motioned with their hands for Pax and Rogaan to join them. Not able to see their faces, Rogaan felt uncomfortable and wondered what he was getting into. Why hide their faces? Neither Pax nor Rogaan moved.
“Do you want to see the lass?” Kardul asked as he mounted his mud-colored sarig with ease. He sat calmly in his saddle towering over them waiting for an answer. Both sharurs mounted their sarigs with the same ease as Kardul, attached the lead reins of the extra sarigs to their saddles then reined in their steeds, ensuring they would be under control for the younglings to mount.
Pax looked at Rogaan with questioning eyes. Rogaan returned his own questioning look to his friend. Both shrugged then each approached his respective sharur. When Rogaan stood beside his sharur’s sarig, the saddled hunter offered his dark gray-gloved hand to him. Rogaan cautiously accepted it then felt himself being yanked upward as the sharur curled his arm. The hunter was strong -- very strong for his size. Rogaan’s surprise quickly evaporated as he tried to swing his foot up over the rear saddle and failed. The sharur grunted and hauled him up again. This time Rogaan found himself sitting awkwardly in the saddle behind his companion until he adjusted his backside better. The sharur impatiently grabbed Rogaan’s hands and placed them on a pair of leather grips, one on each side of the saddle. Rogaan flailed a little with his feet as the sarig moved about, adjusting to its load before the hunter grabbed Rogaan’s left leg and guided his foot into a pocket in the saddle where it would be secure for traveling. Rogaan quickly found another pocket on the right side of the saddle and jammed his foot in it as well. He felt awkward in the saddle, but no longer as if he were going to fall off. Rogaan looked at Pax, who had a death grip on the mid-section of the other sharur, but only until his sharur forcibly placed Pax’s hands at the saddle grips.
“Ready?” Kardul asked with that tone expecting a quick answer. Before Rogaan could answer, the sharur nodded -- again, Rogaan thought they nodded, but was not entirely sure. Then the sarigs were on the move with Rogaan holding his breath, expecting to fall off the animal at every move.
They rode hard into the night -- southward, he guessed and hoped. The tree branches slapping at him, cutting into his arms and legs and drawing blood…staining his pants and shirt sleeves as they passed through dense, dark areas of the forest. Rogaan held on for dear life at every shift of the sarig, as he watched in wonder how easily the sharur shifted himself in the saddle, using his legs to hold up much of his weight in the stirrups and keeping the saddle from spanking his groin and rattling his teeth. Somehow, he also used his legs to guide the steed, command its direction. Rogaan tried doing the same, and was rewarded with only infrequent bruising of his private region. Not long after they made off, the dawn broke over the mountains to the northeast, casting rays of golden light on the wilderness of mixed pine, oak, maple, and gum, leaving deep shadows only where the sunlight could not penetrate at such a low angle. At least Rogaan was certain now they were heading south, with the Tamarad River off to their right and sun over his left shoulder. He started wondering when they would meet up with Suhd and, with each stride of the sarigs, he became more deeply worried that he was being taken far from her and his mother.
Rogaan closed his eyes for a few moments to pray, I ask the Ancients, who gave us life, for Mother and Suhd to be kept safe. The sarig suddenly shifted, forcing Rogaan to snap his eyes open and pull tight the saddle grips to keep from falling off. The sarig groaned and slowed, allowing Pax’s sarigs to pass them. Rogaan’s sharur looked about as if unsure what had just happened. Not finding anything obviously wrong, he ignored Rogaan’s attempt to ask him when they would meet up with Suhd, and urged their sarig on. They rode until just short of mid-morning, the sun halfway to its full height before they slowed to a walking pace. Without the thundering noise of the sarigs and the wind roaring in his ears, the forest came alive with the sounds of life. Featherwings chirped from the treetops as leatherwings squawked from both the trees and high above where a dozen long-winged creatures soared. The buzz of biters grew all about. A few landed and crawled on Rogaan’s neck and arms before he brushed and shook them off. Hopper songs came from high in the trees, mostly from his right toward the river. The call of tanniyn came from everywhere, though mostly on his left and some distantly to his right and ahead.
His sharur offered a small jar over his right shoulder. Rogaan was hesitant to accept it, but decided to take it after reconsidering he showed no ill-will towards him. Locking his knees tight to the saddle to keep from falling off the sarig, Rogaan opened the jar and wrinkled his nose at the pungent scent of Blue Savior in the form of an ointment. Rogaan remembered the first time Kardul had shown him and Pax the mystical blue flower and how to make a salve that did very good at keeping biters and bloodsuckers away for a day or more. He applied the salve everywhere he had exposed skin and a couple of places on his clothes for good measure. As he was handing the jar back to his sharur, they entered a clearing where three sarigs and people stood, two of them looking like sharur with their wide-brimmed hats pulled down low, one looking to be a scruffy baraan with long stringy black hair and a closely cut beard and the other very clearly a tellen by his stockier build and braided mid-chest beard and shoulder-length hair of white. White? At first, Rogaan assumed the tellen to be of extreme age, but a closer look found the tellen warrior in the prime of his life, maybe fifty or sixty summers old. Then Rogaan’s eyes found Suhd standing behind the sharur with eyes wide and a gray-green cape wrapped tightly around her.
Kardul dismounted next to the two standing baraans then spoke to them. The baraan sharur took Kardul’s sarig walking it to where the other three sarig’s were tethered. Kardul continued talking with the tellen sharur. They seemed to disagree, but did so respectfully, then Kardul followed the baraan and his sarig. Pax and his sharur came to a stop in front of the tellen then waited unmoving. Rogaan realized he was to dismount and did so as gracefully as he could, though he stumbled a little when his boots awkwardly hit the ground. Suhd squealed, alarming Rogaan, making his hair stand on end. She ran to Pax with cape forgotten in a heap on the ground and hugged him intensely. Suhd’s green knee-length dress almost matched Pax’s shirt in color making it look as if brother and sister had become one as they embraced. Pax spoke a few words to his sister Rogaan could not hear c
ausing Suhd to hug him tighter. The sarig next to Rogaan started moving off causing Rogaan to jump in surprise. When he returned his gaze to Suhd he saw her looking at him with a big smile. Rogaan’s heart skipped beats and he suddenly felt warm. Suhd broke away from Pax and ran straight into a tight embrace of Rogaan. It happened so fast that Rogaan stood in shock as Suhd wrapped her arms around him. Then he started sweating. What do I do? Rogaan asked himself. He looked at Pax, who mouthed, “Hug her back.” He did, and felt as if nothing else existed and that the world was only for him and Suhd. Rogaan felt completely lost in Suhd’s arms. She returned his admiring gaze and his feelings. Rogaan melted completely and embraced her deeply as she embraced him back.
“He’s got it bad,” the deep voice of the stocky baraan sharur announced.
“Never seen it worse,” the scruffy baraan sharur agreed, playfully.
“They need a hideaway,” the tall, lean baraan sharur, serious in tone, recommended.
Rogaan opened his eyes. He felt their moment was ruined -- then he looked into Suhd’s radiant blue eyes and melted. He could not think of a happier moment in his life.
“You all would be so fortunate,” a deep rumbling voice chided the others. Rogaan looked up from Suhd, unhappy that he felt he had to. The tellen sharur walked past him to pick up a saddlebag. He did so without showing any further interest in the two embraced younglings.
“You’re too soft on your kind, Trundiir,” the playful voice came from the sharur accompanying the tellen when Pax and Rogaan rode into camp.
“No meanin’ ta break dis up.” Pax sounded tentative then cleared his throat. “Ya done ogle-eyeing each other?”
Suhd blushed brilliantly while standing demurely, dumbfounded and obviously embarrassed at having been called out on her open display of feelings for Rogaan. Rogaan stood brooding at having been interrupted.
Trundiir walked past Pax, carrying his saddlebag, his words rumbling, “Careful young one. Tellens are known for their fierceness defending what they care for. Get in between him and his heart...not a place to be.”
Pax stood silent with a blank expression, looking after Trundiir; confusion filled Suhd’s face, and Kardul’s companions all seemed to be snickering at Trundiir’s mentoring of young Pax. Rogaan felt a sense of familiarity in Trundiir’s demeanor. He was tellen through and through: direct, unguarded, and frank. Rogaan started to realize that everyone saw him and Suhd, and he felt his face warm considerably. Wanting to change that subject, Rogaan searched his thoughts for a question -- any question to ask to remove himself from the focus of their gazes. With a shock, Rogaan realized he did not know if his mother was safe or in harm’s way, and that he entirely forgot about her when his eyes meet Suhd’s. A chill shook him. How could I forget Mother so easily?
“Mother...” Rogaan said to Suhd as he moved his hands from her back to her shoulders. “Is she...in danger? Harmed?” He dared not ask if she were lightless.
Suhd shook her head, certain of her words. “She was in her coach getting away from the robbers, last I saw. I heard her yelling at people when her coach was driving away.”
“What happened?” Pax asked.
Suhd’s face went serious as she stared off into some place Rogaan was uncertain of. She spoke calmly as she recalled the evening. “Ya ma had me ride with her, and she made one of the guards stay with us in the coach ta look after me. We were on the road ta her family home when we stopped. Don’t know why. That’s when everybody started yelling and screaming. A wagon caught fire behind us just before robbers attacked us in the coach. They hurt the guard bad enough he couldn’t guard us. That’s when they dragged me and ya ma out of the coach. They pulled me by my hair ta the river. Ya ma fought them hard. She was like a wild woman. Then these swordsmen showed up and saved ya ma. The robbers tossed me into a boat and ran away across the river. That’s the last I saw of ya ma when her coach and wagons rode off.”
“How did you get away from the robbers?” Rogaan asked.
“Them.” Suhd looked to Kardul and his sharur. “They came after me and killed the robbers. They were surprised ya weren’t with ya ma. I told them ya were going ta that dark place, and that’s when the big one and those two over there went ta save ya. These two brought me here ta wait for them after saving ya and bringing ya here.”
“I be thankin’ ya then,” Pax said to Kardul.
The big Kiuri’Ner had silently joined them during Suhd’s telling of how she got here and of Kardul’s and his companion’s courage. Kardul smiled at Pax, at least Rogaan took it for a smile…more of an acknowledgement, really -- before he said, “I was told of the warrant for Rogaan’s arrest when we got to Coiner’s Gate. Firik argued against handing you over and was firm that you were an honorable one, but they would have none of it. They told me to ‘fetch’ you, and that didn’t sit well with me. Truthfully, I didn’t like being told to fetch, more than the idea of handing you over to them. At least that was then. Since you ran off into the forest, with a bit of help from my sharur, I’ve learned of your father’s arrest. The charges sounded as whims of authority. I learned of the failed assassination attempt against your mother only after the Isin caravan left town. I suspected more trouble and decided to help you keep from it. Those robbers had no intent of robbing. They were assassins sent to capture and take you away or kill you, if they couldn’t keep you from the protection of your family.”
“So,” Pax sounded frustrated and angry. Rogaan was not certain which. Pax looked at Kardul then Suhd, with questioning eyes, “If this be all about Rogaan and family, why take our parents?”
“Not sure,” Kardul answered with a slight shoulder shrug.
“Because you are my friends and could help secret me away.” Rogaan started putting the puzzle pieces together in his head. In his heart, he started feeling guilty and sad for all the trouble Pax and Suhd were suffering because of their association with him.
“That be certain,” Pax proudly announced.
Suhd hugged Rogaan, again, then spoke into his chest. “We could never give ya ta the swordarms. Father and Ma wouldn’t give ya up. “
“Our ma and father,” Pax asked Kardul. “Can ya help us free ‘em?”
Kardul stood looking at them with his arms folded. He sighed. His stare lost focus on everything and he seemed lost in deep thought. His companions stood next to their saddled steeds, watching Kardul and the younglings. They appeared to be waiting for something.
“We’ve done enough,” Kardul announced. “We kept you from harm at the hands of the assassins and the dark robes. I think we’ve done enough.”
“But...” Pax started.
“We’ll take all of you to the Isin estate,” Kardul interrupted.
“We need help,” Rogaan reluctantly declared. Rogaan did not want to beg for Kardul’s help, but he had nowhere else to turn now that they left lightless baraans and dark circle servants behind.
Kardul looked at Rogaan, considering him for a long moment then said, “Isin can help you.”
“Father will be in Farratum before I can get help from my family,” Rogaan said flatly. “I already thought of them. Isin was first, but that would put their lands and freedom in jeopardy.”
Kardul frowned. “So you wish us to put our freedoms in question?”
Rogaan’s face warmed and his hair prickled at the realization of what he was asking of Kardul and his sharurs. Now what? Rogaan felt a welling up of panic wrapped in frustration take hold of him. Time was short for his father. There was nowhere else to turn. Rogaan felt desperation rising from deep within him. Even going back to the dark temple and gaining their help -- if he survived the wrath of the dark robes -- would mean being too late. The jailer’s caravan was on the move. Any delay on Rogaan’s part meant failure. His father lost. He closed his eyes and silently prayed, Ancient Lords, please grant me aid in my time of need. I seek your hand in guiding me. Allow me to free my father...and Pax and Suhd’s parents from an unjust bondage. Praise to my Lords.
&nb
sp; Silence fell over the eight...except for the wind, the leatherwings calling above, the featherwings squawking from the trees, the hoppers croaking, the periodic bellows of tanniyn, and of course...the buzz of flying biters, which seemed to grow in the silence of the group assembled in the wilds.
“I will aid him if you will not,” Trundiir deeply rumbled.
Kardul looked to his sharur -- not a gaze of anger, but seeming to consider the tellen’s words. He unfolded his arms and straightened his posture from his casual stance and announced, “We’ll help you younglings -- as much out of respect for Mithraam’s fair hand he’s shown me over the years as to keep you three under our protection so you don’t go off getting killed in the first steps of the journey.”
Rogaan stood stunned looking at Kardul, astonished at the Kiuri’Ner’s change of mind and offer. Prayers do get heard? Rogaan looked up to the sky in silent thanks while Suhd squeezed his arm tightly with both hands as she jumped up and down in her excitement. Pax had closed his eyes and mumbled something to himself before a smile came to his face.