by Renee Travis
“That might work Ereshkigal, of course it will take several days for us to make travel provisions for you, and we were just waiting for your brother to tell us he was ready. Your initiative has come as quite a shock.” I wanted to throw something at her. Never had she made it clearer she could care less what happened to Mash and I, just the precious Biri born daughter.
“That is fine.” Mash and I left the room together, it must have been important that he talk to me because he followed me into Adura. I could see on his face just how disturbing he found it.
“Eshie, you’ve never been interested in our family before, but if you are really going to leave please listen. We have family all over Salas.” I knew that, the royal line could only be Biri, but that didn’t mean other things hadn’t happened over the years. People take lovers, get divorced, have affairs, sex happens.
“We have family in the city of Damu just past Namba River. It is the largest city in Adura”
“I know my geography.” I cut in. He grabbed me by the shoulders.
“Just listen! This is painful enough as it is.” His blue eyes darted around the shadows of the East Wing.
“I have been in contact with them, they agree that it has come time for Nannaru, Biri and Adura to be three separate countries, like it is on all the other continents, in the old world. Salas is behind in the times. I will send word ahead of your arrival.” The old world was what we called the larger continents where we had originally immigrated from.
“And they are?” I questioned, I mean, hello, could he be vaguer? I would gladly seek out family, though I wasn’t sure about the separation of Salas.
“I won’t speak their names here just in case, the walls have ears, you know. They will find you when you enter Damu.”
I pointed to his forehead and then my own.
“No sister, not even like this will I speak more…treason.”
Now that I could understand, what my brother was discussing was treachery. Treason, no matter who your family was, equaled a death sentence.
“Be safe Mash.” I hugged him, kissing his golden cheek. He squeezed me back and then he left, back to the glitter and sun light of Nannaru.
“Are we going then?” Nam’s voice came from behind me.
“Yes, within a few days. We should start packing so that they can send our things on ahead to our new home.” I had to force myself to move, back into the gloom of Adura. It was amazing how fast the castle turned from home to a cold and uninviting habitat.
Chapter 7
It took three days for my parents to finalize my trip, including sending a message to Bet Pagri to be expecting Nam and I. Within those three days I watched my brother and Aya leave and Ishtar barricade herself in her room. She was angry with me and I couldn’t really blame her. She’d never been alone before, but at least she had Enki, her companion, to keep her company. Enki did not have a lot of power and mainly over water. He was a soft feminine sort. I left my parting message with him as she would not come down to see us off.
Nam and I were to travel together; Puabi flew on ahead to Bet Pagri. Thankfully being born in Adura I had access to Adureeds, a type of horse. They were omnivores that had fangs and their skin was covered in a soft fur. Males typically had black coats and orange eyes while the females were the reverse. They were awesome for travel because they had long stamina and galloped at around 45 miles per hour.
Adureeds had a herd system; no one “owned” them. Being partially telepathic they knew when they were needed and just showed up. Because of their tendency to offer their service and guard those that rode them, the creatures of Salas left them alone. They were not captured or hunted and it was an offense punishable by death to harm one.
My parents did not come to see us off. Nam looked happier than I had seen him in a long time. His hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and he was in comfortable riding clothes, as was I, though I did look sexier in mine.
When the Adureeds showed up there were three, one just to handle what we needed for the trip, since the majority of our belongings had already been sent ahead. I decided to ride the big male. I walked up to him, breathing in his fruity scent and meeting his eyes.
“Greetings, I will be riding you. I appreciate you coming on such short notice. May I mount?” It snorted at me and butted its huge head into my shoulder which I took for a yes. I needed no help getting into the saddle, neither did Nam. Kassaptus have more than just magical abilities after all.
I looked behind me at the castle and I could not feel sad. I would miss my sister but she had her own life to live as did I. The Adureed did not need commands like a normal Biri horse; it just knew it was time to go. We sped through the gates and out onto the road. We took the Left Road, which would past very briefly the cemetery P.O.T. but I knew we would be going too fast to have to deal with it.
We would go past only a few of the towns and cities in Adura and see only a bit of the country side. The Left Road wound through dark green grass, hills and tall trees, with bark almost black and leaves a deep rich emerald. We would ride until the twilight green of the Aduran day turned into the star lit black night. I leaned forward feeling the muscles moving underneath the Adureed.
Wind whipped against my skin and I was thankful for the good leather of my riding gear and the black cloak I had slipped on last minute. It was still a little cold, the summer months weeks away.
We slowed down a bit as I began to see people milling about. We were quite close to the village of Masku. It was small and one of Adura’s farming communities, mainly Kassaptu resided there. I received many smiles, cheers and waves as we passed by the road that led to the heart of the village.
“See, you’re practically famous!” Nam yelled from next to me. I could only grin as the Adureed sped up.
When we had left the castle the moon had been high in the sky, the middle of the “day”, as the moon set and blackness began to creep over the land the only light came from the sparkling stars above.
Just as I began to think we should stop for the night all the Adureeds slowed.
“Yes, I was just thinking that, thank you.” I told it. We pulled off the main road and went farther into some of the more dense foliage to be hidden from the view of the road. I dismounted, a little achy, and began to stretch. I watched as Nam moved easier than I did and rolled my eyes, annoyed; stupid, skinny, athletic boy.
I unloaded what we would need for the night as Nam went to find a bush, or whatever, boys had it so easy. I cast a simple spell around where we would be sleeping to keep bugs and other creepy crawlies and animals away from us, I also put a few charms around to alert us if anyone came within ten feet of our camp. These were basic magics all of my people could do.
When Nam came back I took my toiletries and walked off. Let him set up our beds and get the fire started, I did not want to deal with it. Holding up my hand, a little ball of red light shot out of my palm, giving it a flick it flew above my head, illuminating myself and a good ten feet in all directions, it gave things an enjoyably sinister look, but at least I could see.
When I returned from washing my face, among other things, it was to some really delicious smells coming from the campfire and to see my bed was all set up, as was a weather shield. The Adureeds were not far from us, grazing.
“I totally forgot a weather shield, thanks Nam.” The beds floated about a foot off the ground and were thick cushions, each had a comfy pillow and several blankets piled on top of it. I sat on mine and my ass was grateful, as were my thighs. I kicked off my boots and wished we weren’t camping. I hated to camp and it also meant I couldn’t get into my night clothes. I could not wait until we reached a city.
“Cook packed enough food until we could restock in a city, proper.” Nam said as he handed me a cup filled with juice, and a plate that had fruit, grilled meat on a stick, a wedge of cheese and a slice of brown bread with butter. Magic made these things much easier with Stay-Cold, Stay-Fresh spells and Non-Rotting spells.
Sitting across from me Nam began to eat. We stuffed our faces in silence and watched as the moon totally set. The fire would stay lit all night, until we put it out the next morning, which was a plus.
I finished, whispered a Word and the plates and cups were clean. I stood and got Nam’s, putting them back into our bags. I fell into a deep sleep shortly after, exhausted.
I awoke a few hours later choking on a spell. I gasped, reaching my hands up as I struggled to breathe. I could not see Nam across the fire. I had been stupid to forget to set the perimeter to go off if magic tried to make its way through. I had only thought about flesh and blood (or undead) threats.
Rolling off my cot made a loud thud and I could see Nam now, he sat straight up, I could tell he was alert, but it wasn’t doing anything for me. I couldn’t get any air; my thoughts were becoming fuzzy as darkness set in around the corners of my eyesight. If he didn’t notice me soon I was going to die and I was not happy about it. My thoughts were so jumbled I couldn’t focus enough to project them to Nam.
“Eshie!” Nam exclaimed, he darted to my side and placed a hand on my neck. His eyes closed and I could breathe. It was a nasty spell, but basic to break, it did need concentration, which while dying of lack of oxygen, is hard to manage.
I sat up, eyes going to the darkness outside our camp. I could feel presences out there and I didn’t like it. Then the alarm went off and they were on us, about six Kassaptu, all in various stages of dirty and scraggly looking.
“Magic Stealers.” Nam spat it like a dirty word and it was.
I spun around and lifted my hands, shadows engulfed two of the magic bandits, they screamed as they were consumed by the wispy creatures. One of my nastier spells, but I was pretty pissed, they had tried to kill me after all.
As one tried to grab me I gave a solid round kick to her stomach. I heard fighting behind me and knew Namtar was doing his best against the other three. I heard him mutter a Word and one began to scream. The girl I was fighting grabbed me, pushing me around and I saw that Nam had killed one of the Magic Stealers, the poor guy’s body covered in several debilitating diseases. The other two had backed off and looked frightened.
She tried to shove me to the ground and go for her wand, yes, I said wand. Magic Bandits steal magic and store it in their wands. I swung around, using my hands to brace her and then my lips touched hers and she went very still. I began to suck her life force away slowly, and sensually. When she realized what was happening she began to struggle, by that point it was useless.
“Stop Eshie, they’ve given up.” I heard Nam’s words and broke away from the girl. She looked to have aged at least five years and I felt refreshed and well rested.
“You two, stand with her, if any of you make another move you will die.” My voice was devoid of any emotion and the girl looked at me with fear in her eyes.
The three of them stood together, huddled. I do not think they had any idea who they were attacking. In Salas most Kassaptu are born with magic and then a specific gift. Sometimes, however, people were born with the bare minimal of magic. Those usually did one of two things; dealt with it or became Magic Bandits. You could learn to steal magic. The problem was that stolen magic eventually returns to the owner and you have to find a new source.
“Do you have any idea who I am?” I asked.
“No. We were told you would be on this road and to attack, we were paid handsomely,” one of the men said.
“I am Princess Ereshkigal of Death and Destruction!” Their eyes widened and their heads bowed.
“Forgive us, Princess, we didn’t know, we never would have attacked had we known,” the other man said.
“Look at their tattoos.” Nam whispered, standing next to me. The girl had a multi colored bird on her right arm; it was gold with silver wings and a red beak.
“Ah, you are the Ishu Tribe, the largest Magic Stealers in Salas. Hopefully your leader did not send his best to get slaughtered tonight.” My laugh was harsh, voice sarcastic. Those who stole magic could travel all over Salas, because they could no longer claim any one section as home having taken so many different types of magic into themselves.
“He sent those he could afford to Princess,” the girl told me from the ground.
“We will let the three of you live if you tell us everything,” I stated.
“Of course. Our leader was given quite a bit of Alu magic to make sure you did not make it to Bet Pagri. We were told to look for three Adureeds and a woman with blood curls.” One of the men said “none of us are originally from Adura, Princess, or we would have recognized you.”
“Your leader also set you up. Someone from Adura would have known that only the royal family has ever had her color hair. He wanted to keep the magic and did not care what happened to the rest of you. I suggest a new line of work.” Nam’s irritation leaked out into his words.
“We have been camped near Bet Pagri, it is in a state of unrest. A majority of its people think you are their only hope. I believe someone there does not wish for you to end the strife.” The girl spoke again as her companions helped her off the ground.
“Thank you for the information, I am sorry for your loss tonight. Now get out of my sight.” I ordered. They ran off into the night. Thinking, I sat down on my bed and Nam sat next to me.
“Maybe we should have had some Adura guards come with us, Eshie.”
“No, we took them just fine. We’ve never really seen what we can do and now we know. We are too powerful for most to interfere with.” I knew my smile looked sadistic in the fire light, but I felt powerful and secure. We had taken them without any problems, glancing around; I curbed my pride not wanting it to become my downfall. If Nam hadn’t been there I might have died.
“We may have more issues though. What if whoever sends more and next time it’s worse?”
“How much worse could it be Nam? We’ve taken on Death Nymphs, my parents, a really pissed off P.O.T. and now Magic Bandits.” I chuckled. Looking into the sky I saw that the moon had risen a bit. We had slept about five hours before we were rudely awakened.
“Do we want to get back on the Adureeds or sleep some more?” I asked. Nam considered it for a few minutes, before nodding his head.
“We should get going, use the adrenaline of the fight to push us a little. I bet we could make it to Damu before the next moon setting.”
I agreed with him, and as I thought it the Adureeds showed up.
“And where were you during the excitement?” I kidded. I got the impression that they knew we could handle ourselves and would have interfered had things gone badly.
Nam and I packed up quickly. I didn’t want to say it out loud, but the commotion may have disturbed something we weren’t prepared to deal with quite yet. The natural inhabitants and magics of Adura could be scary, no matter what I’d said to Nam about us taking on anything. I did not want to have to deal with rogue shades or blood sucking Mormos quite yet.
Mounting my steed we began to canter, and while I was sure we could reach Damu within hours I didn’t want to feel like I was running from or to something. We were only a few miles away from a village that primarily produced the artsy type; performers, artists, singers and the like. While Adura was not as creatively inclined as Nannaru, we did have entertainment.
I could hear singing as we rode by. There was sign at the fork in the road that read: WELCOME TO NEPESTI HUIL WHERE THE GREAT ARTS ARE PREFORMED. Underneath there was a small sign that said: CARAVAN LEAVES SIMANU UM SITTA 3. This meant the traveling show that made its way to all who could not afford or take the time to travel to Nepesti Huil , would be leaving for a tour in the month of Simanu, on the first day of the third week. Each month had three weeks; our years, 252 days long. The Caravan would travel to every city and village until it circled back home.
“Oh! Hopefully we’ll reach Bet Pagri before them. We haven’t seen a play or concert in forever Eshie!” Nam called to me as we went past. His face was flushed and there was a bit of little boy
excitement in his eyes.
“That’d be great Nam, something else to look forward to. Adura entertainment is always more interesting than that garbage we got at the palace.” We’d been force to watch some really dull ballets and operas, what Biri was famous for, while growing up. Some people thought they were beautiful and amazing; Nam and I tended to sleep through them. To each their own.
After an hour or two I knew that while we might not stop and make camp, we did need a rest and to eat something. I knew that my legs, butt and thighs would hate me if I didn’t stretch and give them a break.
“Do you smell blood?” Nam asked, a pleasant smile on his face.
“Kind of, more like sweet rust.” Sniffing the air, my eyes strained a head of us. We were coming upon a bridge.
“Oh, we’ve reached Namba River.” The Adureeds, sensing our desire, slowed and took us to the side of the road where the grass was thick and soft. Standing, I could look down the few feet to the river’s edge.
Namba River had a peculiar smell and the water was as red as my hair. But even though it looked and smelled like blood, it was thin and drinkable. It had no real flavor and was supposed to be healthy.
Nam had to help me down off the steed as my legs wanted to give out from under me.
“How do you not hurt?” I asked him.
“I rode a lot when you had Princess things to do. I’m used to it.” He shrugged.
I gazed longingly at the water, “do you think I could take a bath?”
“I don’t see why not, it’s a river like any other,” Nam said.
Once when I was twelve, my father hired Adura guards to take Nam and me on a tour of Adura. We’d been gone one week, not enough time to really see everything, but enough so that we’d know about where we had been born. I remember the guard telling us how Namba freaked people out, even Adurans, that it only looked and smelled like blood, but was basically harmless. It didn’t even have creatures that lived in it like other rivers. Just a source of good water.