“No, I’m just observing,” Satreka said as he maintained his constant watch on those in the other room.
“Very well,” Dulica said as he turned to go back to his work.
Satreka popped out of his semi-trance-like state, “Dulica, wait.”
“Yes, my lord,” he said as he turned back to him.
Satreka motioned him over and whispered, “They just chant and circle about that fire all day?”
“Yes.”
“And what kind of fire produces no smoke?”
“I know not, my lord.”
“Do you know what they are doing?”
“Not exactly, however, it feels like they are creating some kind of energy that is radiating out in all directions. I sense it is intended to deaden or diminish life force in some way, but I can’t be more specific than that.”
“They’ve been at this since Kutrik’s death. Whatever they are doing must require a great deal of energy to support,” Satreka surmised.
“You have a good relationship with them. Why don’t you just ask them?”
The warlord paused for a moment, and then said, “I think I will.”
He walked over and stepped through the crude opening in the wall, which immediately captured Juun’s attention. The sorcerer removed himself from the ritual in an obviously predetermined manner and walked over to him.
“How may we serve, my lord?”
“I was just interested in this ongoing ritual you are conducting. What is its intent?”
The sorcerer explained, “We concluded that it would be beneficial to your plan for breeding Valtyr if we were able to come up with a spell that could block Valtyr mind links across the region. If it works as we designed, it will make it easier to capture them. We have been feeding this spell with, may I say, a great deal of energy for several weeks now and I believe that we are having good success.”
“That is very cunning,” Satreka was surprisingly complimentary. “Their mind links give them a distinct advantage in battle. Without them they would be disoriented and their inherent abilities would be compromised. You say this spell of yours is intended to affect them even if they are far from here?”
“Yes, my lord. We believe that its influence has crossed over into their lands. Currently, its effects are strongest here at its source, but as we put more energy into it, we envision it reaching as far as Tyrkamani.”
Satreka smiled, “This could radically change the balance of power on the continent. It sounds like what you have already accomplished provides us with an enhanced level of security that makes it near to impossible for them to successfully attack us here.”
“They would find themselves greatly disadvantaged, yes.”
“Very well done, Juun. I will leave you to your work. I’m obviously not paying you gentlemen enough,” Satreka laughed as he turned and left the room.
Junn watched him up the stairs and turned back to continue his work.
Aliko looked up at him and said, “He has no idea what is happening right under his nose.”
Juun smiled at him and replied, “This is going to be far easier than any of us could have imagined.”
Dikaylia ran her shoulder into Nidreyka’s and pushed her a few steps sideways. She laughed as she hurried ahead trying to stay just a bit in front of her lover as they rounded the base of a giant oak. Most telling was the distinct lack of firewood they were carrying, along with the small leaf and handful of twigs still caught up in Dikaylia’s hair. She ran onto a small rise and stopped abruptly. Nidreyka caught up and grabbed her waist from behind.
“What is it,” Nidreyka felt the girl’s distraction.
“Look,” Dikaylia said quietly and motioned with her head.
There, standing in the stream knee deep in water, were Kidreyli and Kaitra. Kidreyli was naked and completely wet. Kaitra was naked except for her shirt and bandaging, an obvious effort to try to keep her wounds dry, and was only wet up to her hips. Nidreyka and Dikaylia watched for several moments while the couple exchanged deeply passionate kisses.
Dikaylia whispered, “The woman is very beautiful.”
“Yes, she is.”
The young warrior watched for a few moments more before continuing, “She must truly love her.”
Nidreyka spoke softly, “Kidreyli is the consummate loner. She has spent her entire life working most diligently to remain alone in the world. She left her home…our home, and traveled far and wide across the continent. For her to show such passion for another is something I never expected to see. Kaitra fills the chasm in Kidreyli’s heart. I’m sincerely happy for her.”
Dikaylia looked up over her shoulder to Nidreyka’s longing face, “You wish it was you?”
Nidreyka turned her love around by her shoulders so she could talk face-to face. “Kidreyli and I grew up together. We’ve known each other our entire lives. We tried to make a relationship…well, I tried, but it was like trying to push a sword through a tree. I was not what she needed or wanted. Understand that I will always love her because of the history we have shared, but it’s more like the love one has for a sister. You are the one I wish to spend the rest of my life with.” Nidreyka pushed Dikaylia’s hair back over her ears and held her by her cheeks, “You are my anamhra, and I am so happy and proud and honored to have you in my life.”
Dikaylia smiled and turned back to watch the couple in the stream. Nidreyka wrapped her arms around her from behind and put her head on her shoulder.
“What do you think will happen to them when we reach home?” Dikaylia asked.
“I don’t think the elders will want to let Kaitra out of their control. She knows all about our defenses and battle tactics, and that information in the wrong hands could spell great danger for us. I suspect that they will want her to live in our world for the rest of her life, or face the real possibility that they will want her dead. Either of those options will not set well with Kidreyli.”
“And you have agreed to defend.”
Nidreyka’s face told the tale, “For all the good it may do. I don’t think my arguments will sway them very much in this situation. All I can do is try.” Her eyes perked up, “What do you say we go down there and torture them a bit.”
Dikaylia’s mind raced through the possibilities, “That sounds like too much fun.”
They made their way quickly back to the camp. As they approached, Nidreyka called out, “Aren’t you two cold in that water?”
Kaitra abruptly pulled back from her lover, displaying those human sensibilities about sex. “Cold? I hadn’t noticed. Kidreyli’s passion keeps me warm.”
“And wet too, I see,” Dikaylia laughed.
“Is that really necessary?” Kidreyli asked. “Weren’t you two supposed to get a fire going?”
“We did,” Nidreyka confirmed. “We never explained how it would manifest.”
Kidreyli laughed. “Right. Well, could you two get a proper campfire going? It’s quite cold in this water.”
“If you insist,” Nidreyka answered. “How would you like your fire, raging or cooking or with a homey ambiance or…?”
She never got the words out before she had to dodge a stone that Kidreyli had thrown her way with the obvious intent to miss.
Nidreyka laughed and said, “You were never good with being teased.”
“You are absolutely right about that,” Kaitra said as she pulled on her pants.
Kidreyli trudged out of the water and over to her Katrion, where she retrieved her cloak and wrapped it around her. She was shivering a little as she took a seat on a rock.
Kaitra came over, sat beside her and gave her a quick kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you,” Kidreyli responded.
Dikaylia had pulled the leaves and forest debris away from a small circle of stones she had constructed. Nidreyka dropped some aged wood she had gathered into the fire pit and made an effort to spark up a fire.
“Let me do that,” Kaitra offered. Nidreyka backed away as Kaitra passed her hand
over the pieces of wood, her magics setting them ablaze.
As the sun disappeared into the western horizon, it became dark very quickly in the trees. Dikaylia brought over food and drink and they all settled in around the fire.
Nidreyka looked over at Kaitra and said, “So you tamed the wild one?”
“What do you mean?”
Nidreyka explained, “The non-conformist sitting next to you. In all my lives I’ve never seen anyone so intent on redefining herself so as not to fit into the culture that is her birthright.”
“I don’t think I would characterize it as ‘tamed.’,” Kaitra said smiling. “I’m not sure anyone is strong enough to tame this one, but you are certainly correct about the non-conformist.”
“You know why I left,” Kidreyli looked intently at Nidreyka with a look that indicated she did not want this subject discussed openly.
“Yes, I do,” Nidreyka said with the same level of seriousness.
The several moments of silence that followed were surrounded with an overwhelming tension that seemed to get the trees to bend away.
Dikaylia chimed in, “Tell us how you met.”
Kidreyli tapped Kaitra on the shoulder and whispered, “I’m going to get my clothes.”
“I’ll come with…,” Kaitra could not get out the words before Kidreyli stood and held out her hand signaling her to stop.
“I’ll be right back,” Kidreyli looked Nidreyka in the face and walked off into the darkness toward their Katrion.
There was a long, quiet pause before Nidreyka jumped up and commanded, “Both of you stay here.”
Dikaylia let her get ten steps into the darkness before whispering to Kaitra, “I’ve seen that look before. This could be very unpleasant.”
Kidreyli was pulling on her pants when Nidreyka came up to her in a huff, “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing. Leave me alone,” she said firmly.
Nidreyka pushed her shoulder, causing her to take a few steps backward to retain her balance. “I am tired of this attitude from you. You are going to talk to me now.”
Kidreyli smiled sarcastically at her, “You want to know why I’m unhappy? Since the obvious has apparently eluded you, I suppose I should explain it to you, shall I? Very well. I need to return to the place of my birth in order to see my…,” her voice broke, “…mother before she dies. The person I have chosen to live my life with cannot come with me in this most important moment because a few old people who run our world have come to the absurd conclusion that she is a threat to our very existence.”
“She does have critical knowledge of our culture.”
Kidreyli’s fury was surfacing, “There you go spouting the words they have so carefully beaten into your head all these years. But you and I both know she is no threat. Tell me the name of one person on this continent with the courage to attack us in our own land.”
Nidreyka’s silence was piercing.
“Ah, the truth finally prevails,” Kidreyli noted. “Between the myths we have spread about ourselves and our true passion for fighting, no one would ever be so bold as to attack us in our own province. We would decimate them in painful and horrible ways. You know this. But for some unknown reason you choose to ignore this reality and continue to perpetuate the lies. Do you still refuse to see that what our elders are really trying to protect is our racial purity and the permanence of our female-only society?”
“I believe there is benefit to our species in protecting the line. We are all that’s left of our people. If we lose that through intermingling with other species, then we lose who we truly are.”
“But this is not who we truly are. In the old time, the same old people of that time told us that we needed to kill the males of our species in order to bring peace and stability to the continent. Every time I think of this, I cannot believe we actually did it. I admit, they were brutal, but in my last life during that period, I remember loving my mate and he loved me with all his heart. Their passion for love was stronger than their passion for savagery. Both of us were eager to have children and we would have cherished them for all time. When the word came down that we were to kill our mates, we were told that it was necessary for the survival of our species, but I know now that it was decision based on fear and trepidation generated by the cultures that were near us, especially the Clannya and the Dhoyans. I truly believe that had we directed our efforts into tapping the passion for love and nurturing that I saw in my mate, we could have brought them into the fold and made them the best part of our people. I’m not saying that it would have been easy, but I believe it would have been the best for our species and our honor.”
Nidreyka tried to be conciliatory, “I think your memory of that time is somewhat fuzzy and tainted by nostalgia. But we are in the here and now. I believe our culture is worth protecting and that means following our ways established a thousand years ago that have served us so well. We certainly have made mistakes, and I do agree with some of your premise, especially with regards to Kaitra. However, our leaders have always stood firm on the issue of bonding with outsiders. I don’t see how we could get Kaitra home and back without getting her killed in the process.”
“I don’t have any intention of trying to take Kaitra home. They will most certainly try to kill her. I will convince her to wait for us in Triami while we travel to see Talenyan.”
“You must know that will never happen,” Kaitra said emerging from the shadows. “I will meet your mother before she passes and I will stand beside you and face whatever fates await us.”
“I told you to stay with Dikaylia,” Nidreyka’s anger clouded her words.
Kidreyli smiled rubbing her eyebrow, “She’s a very independent woman.”
“Yes, and I am going with you to see your mother. The two of you just need to figure out how to make that happen.”
Nidreyka started to say something and Kaitra held up her hand, “Stop. I don’t want to hear any predictions or philosophical bantering about cultural issues. We need a workable plan to fulfill my demands.” She pointed at Kidreyli, “You come with me.”
The warrior looked at Nidreyka, shrugged her shoulders, laughing quietly, and followed Kaitra back toward the campfire. Nidreyka watched them walk away and then took a small pouch from her saddle, stopping for a moment to smile, acknowledging the passion within her human friend.
Dikaylia was snuggled up near the campfire keeping warm when the couple returned.
Kaitra pointed at the large stone nearest the fire and commanded, “You sit here and hold me. I’m cold and I hurt and I need to cuddle for a while.”
Kidreyli complied and held her cloak out with her left arm. Kaitra tucked herself within Kidreyli’s web and wrapped both her arms around her lover’s waist.
A few minutes later, Nidreyka returned and sat on a stone across the fire from them. Dikaylia moved over, sat on the ground in front of her and wrapped her arm around her leg. Nidreyka took out a large comb from the pouch she had retrieved, and slowly and carefully brushed it through her lover’s long blond hair. They sat quietly, almost in a trance-like state, the act of combing serving as a timekeeper for the rhythm of their spirits as they came together as one.
Kaitra stared at them for a long time, mesmerized by the romanticism and depth of connection this seemed to bring to them. The beauty of them sitting in the warm dancing firelight performing this ritual touched her in her deepest emotional well. She thought about saying something to Kidreyli, but chose instead to silently tighten her grip on her waist and lay her head on her shoulder, soaking in the imagery for as long as it lasted.
Kidreyli kissed her on the forehead and silently spoke to Kaitra’s mind, “What they are doing is a common ritual we use. We call it arfulan.”
“I had touched this within you, but I never realized the beauty and sheer power of it until actually seeing it. I want to try it with you.”
“I thought you might,” she replied, holding up a large comb in her right hand.
Kai
tra’s eyes smiled joyously and she quietly moved to the ground in front of her lover, wrapping her arms around her leg as Dikaylia had done.
Kidreyli explained, “Just let yourself go and become one with the rhythm of your surround.”
Kaitra’s own instincts knew what to do. After the few tangles in her hair were resolved, she sat totally relaxed with her eyes closed, feeling herself float softly within Kidreyli’s realm, surrounded by intense passions for every aspect of life and loving. Each stroke encouraged her spirit to blend with Kidreyli’s, as if wafting incense with one’s hands so as to enhance the interaction. Her spirit became one with her lover’s and she found herself soaring within her, traversing the depths and range of the Valtyr spirit, but the outer reaches of it always seemed distant and unattainable by her human soul. She could only sense glimpses of that which she could not reach. Though limited by her own being, she was overcome with the beauty and power that the ritual brought to their bond. The sensual commune took her to levels of personal ecstasy her physical being could barely withstand, achieving heights of pleasure and satisfaction that she never imagined were possible. Within her being she concluded that certainly no human relationship, no matter how passionate, could ever rival the intensity of the Valtyr. Her understanding of all that was her anamhra became more clear and defined, leaving her with the knowledge of just how advanced the Valtyr were as a species.
Kidreyli looked across the fire to see Nidreyka looking at her through the bouncing flames. They smiled at each other as the separate rituals continued uninterrupted for over an hour.
Kaitra’s eyes popped open when she heard the breeze rustle the leaves in the tree that had kept watch over them during the night. Kidreyli was lying by her side, her head on her belly and her arm draped over. She did not remember falling asleep, but her love had wrapped her cloak around both of them on this especially cold morning. She stared up at the pre-dawn sky and gently stroked the Valtyr’s hair with her fingers. The Moon of Tria majestically floated above, its reflection tinting the wispy clouds, streaking the sky with gold.
Into the Fray: Volume 1 of The Sorcerers of Jhanvia Series Page 21