by R J Kaldanis
“Have you had this the entire time?”
Old Man Teme sighed and nodded. Realising that he had always known she was cursed meant that he had lied to her not only her entire life, but particularly in these past few weeks. He was the one that suggested she leave her family, travel to Rovik and somehow provide her answers which he clearly already had for as long as he had known her.
“What is it?” She asked, giving Old Man Teme a chance to redeem himself.
Baba began talking,
“The Amethyst Eye Amulet is a -” Aardriyah shushed her, before saying,
“No. I want him to tell me. To speak some damn truth for the first time in his life.”
After a few moments, Teme finally spoke.
“This set is a kit from The Abolitionists of Yatha. Each and every one of us was given one to carry out our tasks. The amulet glows in the presence of those who carry the curse, indicating that it runs within their blood. The vial is used for collecting the tears of the newborn who carry the curse.” He paused momentarily, contemplating the gravity of his next words.
“The blade of bones, is used for taking their life.” His voice low and reserved, as he closed his eyes and swallowed deeply. “The tears are said to carry the nectar of Amrita, the nectar of life and immortality. Hence why only one drop is needed to restore health to those injured or hurt.”
“But I’ve seen you heal people before and I’ve never seen that vial.” She said, remembering the most recent time she had seen him heal Kit the night their carriage ran into him on Veros. He had at least three different vials all holding different liquids, none were clear liquid as the one before them now.
“Yes, well, after I decided to leave The Abolitionists, I poured out the vials I had, and only kept one. I never wanted to use them again, the cost of the nectar was far too high. I didn’t realise what I had set in motion, but by pouring them out into my yard on Veros, I suppose the magic within them filtered through the soil. All of my herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables grew with such success, that I suspected perhaps they had been imbued with the gift of life. So I resolved to spending my time on Veros offering healing medicines and potions, most of the time it wasn’t any particular combination but rather that anything that grew in my garden possessed at least a sprinkle of the nectar of life and immortality.”
Rachida gasped, shocked by the sudden revelations and in her usual grace, demanded to know more.
“The Amulet, why is it glowing now?” She pressed.
“Because I’m … cursed.” Aardriyah said, sighing. Ven looked at her in shock, confused by her revelation.
“Cursed? How is this a curse?” He said, “if anything it is a blessing - just one that people are afraid of because they don’t understand, that’s all.” Clearly Ven Digo needed to feel some power, some strength in his otherwise apparent weakness, but Aardriyah had no idea how being hunted for a talent she didn’t even understand, could be considered anything other than a curse.
“But, that night on the ship, the thing, the amulet was glowing so brightly before I had even approached, I remember seeing it glow from under the door.”
Baba and Old Man Teme shared a glance, Baba now taking a turn to speak.
“There was a sect within The Abolitionists who had managed to capture the power of the ones they killed, within the amulet. By pouring in some of the liquid of immortality, before killing them, they would ensure the soul remained eternal. When they finally executed the victim, their soul or power would be sucked into the amulet, able to be used by whoever was strong enough to wear it. They were called The Jiva’s and followed an archaic belief that the most powerful could ingest the souls of others and ultimately bring a new world order, giving power to those who had otherwise been shunned by society for not being blessed. They wanted to see the rise of the unblessed and downfall of the blessed. It was when the head of this sect took power over in The Abolitionists that we knew it was time to leave. Since then we have kept an eye on the few left who have been hidden from them, praying to whoever would listen that they would never discover your identities.”
“But how does it manifest? How did they discover me?” Aardriyah now demanded, still unsure how she had played a part in any of this.
“Your dreams, Aardriyah, they aren’t just dreams but visions of the past. That’s your manifestation of this affliction.” Old Man Teme responded. “How they found you, we’re not sure. But now they know of your existence it will only be a matter of time before they find you again and try to steal that power from you.”
“Which is why I threw the bucket of piss at you when you arrived. Now that you’re here you’ve put our lives in danger too, which is just what I needed.” Baba complained.
“Wait, so you said you’re cursed too - so how have you manifested?” Rachida asked of Ven Digo. He smiled at Rachida, no words being verbally exchanged and as if she had seen a ghost, she shrieked and jumped back from her chair. Just as Aardriyah was about to ask her what had happened, a voice suddenly entered her head,
“I suppose you could say I get inside people’s heads” the voice said, Ven Digo smiled at Aardriyah, tipping his head towards her. Kit growled at him, somehow aware that he had done something to upset his master.
Suddenly a silence fell across the room, as Baba held a single bony finger to her lips. She hobbled over to a small window in the kitchen, the chicken on her shoulder. Both of them peered out and gazed upon the figures of a dozen men, criminals and thugs that had been hiding out in Rovik. One person stood behind them all, covered in a deep purple velvet robe. The men now moved towards the door, bashing loudly on it, as the amulet within the hands of the robed Jivan glowed.
Old Man Teme grabbed his and Aardriyah’s belongings and motioned to the basement stairs. Everyone except Baba followed, Ven Digo speaking directly to her mind. She shook her head and pointed a stern finger at the basement, urging him to go. The bash on the door rang out louder, forcing Ven to jump back in fright. Baba moved towards the door and with a last pleading look, Ven reluctantly descended the sharp staircase into the basement. Old Man Teme had just finished assisting Rachida up into the old wine barrel when he grabbed Ven’s hand.
“I can’t leave her, she’s the only family I have.” He begged of Old Man Teme, who whispered in response,
“If you don’t leave now with us, you’ll never have a chance to become the man she raised you to be.”
As the door on the wine barrel was pulled safely shut, the door on the yellow house slammed open. The thug who had since recovered from the rock being thrown at his precious jewels stood in the imperfect doorway, completely entranced he said in a monotonous voice,
“Where are they?”
“Say what?” Baba responded pretending she was hard on hearing.
“WHERE ARE THEY?” The thug repeated, still monotonously but at a much higher volume. Baba tilted her head, as the chicken squawked and also crooked its neck.
“Sorry, can you say again?”
Realising she was clearly trying to waste his time, the man rose a hand and pushed past her. The chicken roosted on her shoulder launched at the man’s face, scratching and pecking and drawing blood where it could. Baba stood tall, hunch no longer impacting her and with the cane as her weapon she beat down three of the thugs who had tried to force their way in the house. The chicken managed to scratch the eyes of another two of the men, causing one to wander blindly down a set of steep stairs on the laneway, and the other to run full force into the side of the building, both of them knocked unconscious in a matter of minutes.
Old Man Teme led Rachida, Aardriyah, Ven and Kit down another of the spidery streets, towards a building of faint pink. A small eye was carved above the doorway. The party entered, following the old man as he navigated to a bedroom inside. Pulling open a wardrobe, he leaned down to reveal another hidden trapdoor, in the false base of the wardrobe. He ushered the others inside and paused for a moment, a single tear fell from hi
s face as he felt an unearthly sensation of grief hover over him.
“Baba” he whispered.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
escape
Once inside the tunnel, the party followed Old Man Teme’s lantern, now beaming off the walls of burnt terracotta, crumbling in several places. The tunnel system was complex, snaking off in several directions, Aardriyah was impressed that Old Man Teme seemed to know exactly where he was going. Then she realised that each tunnel they went down had a small eye carved above its entrance. Thinking back to the conversation in the house, she asked Ven,
“So if you can get inside people’s heads, why didn’t you do it when we were, you know, under attack by those thugs earlier?” She asked, frustrated that he could have easily got them out of that situation. She was sure now that those thugs had been working with the Jivan’s and had clearly led them to their current predicament.
“Because Baba taught me to never use it - unless for a second or two at a time.” He rasped back, trying to keep his voice low.
“Why?!” Rachida demanded.
“Have you ever been taught to use your magic for evil?” He spat back at her.
“No, but you’re allowed to use them if in self-defence!” She retorted.
“Yeah well, our power isn’t like yours, okay? There’s always a danger I can get stuck in someone’s head and not navigate back into my own properly, or that I could send the other person insane by being in their head.” He explained as the turned down another tunnel.
“Last time I checked, thugs approaching you with sharp stabby objects weren’t exactly the most upstanding citizens that you should be worried about sending insane!” Aardriyah exclaimed.
“Last time I checked, this entire city is only full of thugs and criminals, some of which I actually consider my friends!” Ven responded.
The five of them found themselves at a dead end. A large metal black door hung in a curved door frame Carved ever so carefully into the facade were two snakes, one of white and one of black, which rose from the bottom of the door, intertwining in a helix shape four times before their heads pulled apart. Within their jaws they held a large amethyst crystal eye. The crystal shone brightly, making the tunnel awaken as if daylight had reached its depths for the first time in centuries. A groaning noise echoed through the tunnel complex, as the ornate black door opened slowly outward.
The room beyond was entirely empty, beside a large black slab in the centre. The slab held a caste of a woman, such detail and care had been taken that even the pores of her skin were visible. Aardriyah looked around, sensing she had been here before, feeling as though she knew the woman the caste was made of. She placed her hands atop the stomach of the woman noticing it was enlarged, she was pregnant, Aardriyah realised and took a step back in shock.
“What is this place?” Rachida whispered, as a loud thud from the closing of the heavy black door echoed within.
“It’s a tomb.” Aardriyah responded, Old Man Teme nodded in agreement. Looking around, Aardriyah noticed what had distracted Ven, large carvings adorned the four walls, three of them contained a single amethyst crystal. The wall Ven stood in front of had the carving of a large human at the top with an amethyst crystal in the centre of their forehead. Lines of waves radiated out from it and reached down to several other humans below the first.
“That’s … telepathy… I think.” Ven said to no one in particular, though everyone in the room heard his words, they were busy staring at different walls, interpreting the strange carvings. Rachida called out to Aardriyah to inspect the wall she was fixated on, Ven joined the women a moment later. The carving was similar to the first one he had inspected.
A carving of a large human at the top with an amethyst crystal in the centre of their forehead, lines of waves radiated out from it and reached forward towards smaller, bodies, not as heavily carved. They stood in front of the first human, as if in the way on a path of some sort, while a large sun beamed down on them.
“Premonition.” Rachida said, the other two nodded in understanding and agreeance.
All three moved to the wall to the left, once again adorned in similar carvings. This wall was almost a mirror image of the one they had just looked at, though the carving of the largest person atop the wall was facing the opposite direction, this time looking backwards while the moon beamed down on the ghostly figures behind. The crystal amethyst eye radiated waves towards the past.
“Hey Riyah! It’s you!” Rachida exclaimed, “What is that called?” She asked, Aardriyah and Ven shook their heads, unsure. Old Man Teme called from across the room,
“It’s called post cognition; seeing the past.”
Satisfied with this answer, all three walked to where Teme was standing, the wall that contained the door they had entered. Atop it was the same person depicted in the other carvings, this time facing down towards the centre of the room, looking at them, but also looking down to where the caste of the woman lay. This time, four people were carved with their hands out towards the person, who also held both arms out to their side. The first person held a water droplet above their palm, which was repeated above the left palm of the main person, followed by someone holding a flicker of flame in their palm, also repeated in the right palm of the main person. The next person held a mountain in their hand, which the main person was strategically standing atop of, and the final person held a whirlwind, which resembled the one cascading atop the main figures head.
“Where’s the crystal amulet?” Rachida pointed out, noticing that there was a clearly carved whole in the forehead of the largest figure, right where the amulet had sat upon the other three carvings on the surrounding walls.
“It’s meant to be within a crown, we had hoped it was still within this room” Old Man Teme responded. Ven, Aardriyah and Rachida looked at each other in confusion, scanning the empty room. There was no one and nothing besides the slab and the caste of the woman’s body.
“I had hope these carvings would tell us more, but it appears that Baba and I were wrong.” Old Man Teme said, before grabbing Aardriyah’s shoulder and saying,
“I’m sorry. I’m not sure where to go from here.” Defeat spreading across his face.
A silent force reached out and beckoned in the quiet room, Aardriyah felt herself being pulled towards the woman's body in the centre upon the slab. Noises from outside the door started to ring in, thuds of footsteps approaching the heavy metal door. Kit growled as a faint purple glow grew under the door, glowing brighter and brighter with each resounding footstep.
Aardriyah paid no attention, turned away from the door and she breathed deeply before plunging a hand through the body of the woman's caste. Inside the body, Aardriyah found the source of what had been calling to her, beckoning her forward. Tt was the last amethyst eye amulet, sitting within a beautiful crown of glistening purple crystals, intricate silver securing the crystals to the base while flowers of violet, indigo and lilac were woven atop.
Her hands, now shaking slightly, grabbed the crown, entranced by the eye whispering to her in a thousand different languages. A familiar song she had heard once before played within her mind. No one in the room seemed to understand what had overcome her and try as they might, they couldn’t distract her or alert her to the danger they were in. The voices of men, women, children, different accents, tones and volumes sung the sweet song to Aardriyah,
“Born in the islands of water,
An unblessed, loveless daughter.
With hair of fire,
And eyes of earth.”
A loud churn rung out through the tunnel and tomb alike, as the metal door groaned. It began opening again, pushing itself outward towards the company of entranced thugs and criminals. The Jivan in the purple velvet robe held the amulet towards the eye grasped within the snake’s teeth, breaking the magic lock that had sealed it off.
“Airsday of The Arche,
Her day of birth.”
The thugs p
ushed inside the room, their swords and daggers ringing out in the otherwise silent chamber. Old Man Teme yelled at Rachida and Ven to stay close to Aardriyah, as he threw his lantern on the floor, sliding it across to her feet. Rachida whipped out her fire, lighting a ring around the party now. The men charged through the flames, four of them suddenly becoming aware of the fire that had now lit their clothing, awakening from the spell they were under and forcing them to run from the tomb. The Jivan lingered ever closer, making his way towards Aardriyah. Kit barked furiously at her as she raised the crown and slowly donned it atop her mass of wild, red hair.
The sweet song of a thousand whispers that only she could hear, reached a crescendo as they sang,
“The strength of many,
Finally in one.”
Her eyes suddenly shut, the light in the lantern sucked out just as the ring of fire disappeared. It was followed by a sudden current of air, a force so strong it almost knocked everyone standing down. The thugs who had been entranced, now collapsed unconscious hitting the hard-black floor with loud thuds. The room was thrown into complete darkness, as a wicked and twisted echo came from space where the robed figure stood. Rachida and Ven held their breath, hoping the figure couldn’t hear this faintest of noises. They grabbed each other’s hands, squeezing tightly in the darkness, the sole piece of comfort they could find.
Within Aardriyah’s mind, stood a woman cradling a baby in her arms. Aardriyah knew her, recognised her from one of her dreams. As if suddenly sensing her presence, the woman turned and smiled at Aardriyah,
“You’re here at last.” She said in a voice so soft and so sweet, full of love and hope and all the beautiful things the world ever held. Aardriyah nodded, simply replying,