Rhuna- New Horizons

by Barbara Underwood

  “What were their names?” Rhuna asked. “You said that you drew their names in the earth…” she said looking at the woman who had told her this.

  “Their names had the words of animals,” explained… “Like Swift Flutter of the Hummingbird and Diligence of the Spider.”

  “Our forefathers told us all the stories, and we keep telling them over and over, word for word to the next generations so that the story stays pure,” the man continued.

  “How long ago did they come?” Rhuna asked.

  “We don’t know. It has been too long to count,” replied the woman after a moment.

  Suddenly Rhuna wondered whether they were talking about the First Atlans, and she remembered what she heard about them in Suchinda.

  “I think they are talking about the First Atlans!” Rhuna whispered as she turned to Kitlamu who still stood silently behind her, holding onto Rhuna’s mother by the hands.

  “Yes,” Kitlamu nodded firmly. “The First Atlans brought the RTEs to Varappa, along with other things that have been lost since that time.”

  “Really?” Rhuna said startled. “The First Atlans had RTEs?”

  “Of course! That is why we Varappans still have them! We continued the ways of the First Atlans by ourselves, even after breaking contact with the land of Atlán.”

  “I’m beginning to understand better now,” Rhuna said thoughtfully, and then turned back to the people in front of her.

  “The Atlans of today might be a bit different, but if you want them to come…”

  “Yes, yes,” the man and woman said in unison.

  “I can send a message!” Rhuna said, thinking of the Gazing of the Waters and her recent communication with Guardian of Harmony.

  “Then they will come at last?” asked the man.

  “Yes, of course,” Rhuna said. “Tell me who you are, so that I can tell the Atlans about you.”

  “Who we are?” asked the man, puzzled. “You mean our names?”

  “No. What do you people as a group call yourselves?” Rhuna clarified.

  “We don’t call ourselves by any name,” the woman said, finally stepping forward and standing next to the man in the lead.

  “Where do you come from, and where do you live?” Rhuna asked, looking across the vast brown landscape of rocks and sand.

  “We wander around these plains and sleep in caves, between the rocks,” the man said, still puzzled by Rhuna’s questions.

  “Don’t you want to live in a town, a place like the city of Atlán which has everything to make life easy and comfortable?” Rhuna asked.

  The couple looked at each other, then turned to speak to others standing behind them.

  “We want the Atlans to come back again,” the man said firmly.

  Rhuna told them that she would send Atlans to this location, but that they would come on foot because there are no Rapid Transport Enclosures in Atlán.

  “But then, where are you coming from?” the woman asked.

  “From a land much further away,” Rhuna answered, and immediately the woman turned to the people behind her to relay Rhuna’s answer. The people chattered and looked at each other for a while, and then the man taking the lead announced that they would return to their usual ways and await the arrival of the Atlans.

  Rhuna watched the colourful gathering walk orderly away, many of them talking excitedly and looking back at Rhuna and the RTE.

  “I should tell the High Council of Atlán about these people right away, before we leave here,” Rhuna told Kitlamu, and then walked around the outside of the RTE to find a place to sit and speak a message. Kitlamu brought the basin and water carrier, and Rhuna’s mother stood at the hatch with a dazed and disoriented expression on her face as she looked around.

  “We are leaving this place now, and afterwards I won’t be able to summon messages or visions by means of the Gazing of the Waters,” Rhuna said at the end of her report about the people on the desert plains. “I don’t know how long I’ll live in Varappa…but maybe I can come again, with my own RTE!” she said, ending the message on a hopeful and happy note.

  Rhuna returned to the hatch of the RTE and gestured for her mother to enter.

  “We’re going to my home now,” she told her mother in the native Zao language, and Rhuna was relieved to see that her words appeared to comfort her mother slightly.

  “I have correct calculations now,” Kitlamu said, looking up from the textile map. “We can return to Varappa the same way we came.”

  Rhuna felt relieved that her mission to rescue her mother had been successful, and that they would arrive in Varappa in less than a day. She began to feel weary, and told Kitlamu that she would lie down to sleep a while. Her mother had already fallen asleep after the emotional excitement of being whisked away in a flying craft by the daughter she had not seen in over thirty solar cycles.

  When Kitlamu announced that they had arrived at Judharo, Rhuna’s heart began to race with eager anticipation, and she quickly gathered her belongings and an extra blanket to cover her mother’s bare limbs and ragged appearance.

  “Come! We’re going to Damell’s home now,” she told her wary-eyed mother. She took her mother’s arm as they disembarked from the RTE, but Rhuna quickly realized that her mother was paralyzed by fear of the unknown. She stood at the threshold of the Rapid Transport Enclosure, staring at everything around her.

  “Yes, it’s an overwhelming sight,” Rhuna said, giving her mother time to absorb her new surroundings. Slowly, Rhuna was able to lead her mother away from the RTE base and towards Damell’s home, where Hari Tal already stood in the open doorway.

  “We’re here, Mother,” Rhuna said, and then looked at Hari Tal’s scowl. “This is Damell’s house servant,” she said, hoping the little man would at least be friendly towards her mother.

  “Mem-Sahb,” Hari Tal said with a bow of the head, but his scowl returned when he looked back at Rhuna again. Rhuna ushered her mother inside the house, and stopped when she saw Damell standing in the middle of the main room. The long silence that followed began to alarm Rhuna, and she looked back and forth between her parents, waiting for a reaction from either one.

  She stepped away to allow them to be reunited after more than forty solar cycles.

  “They look so awkward!” Rhuna whispered to Hari Tal.

  “What would you expect?” Hari Tal responded testily.

  “I’ve done something wrong again, haven’t I,” Rhuna said with more emotion than she intended, wiping tears from her cheeks.

  “You did The Forbidden,” whispered Hari Tal to Rhuna as she watched her parents finally approach each other slowly.

  “What is forbidden?” she asked nervously, wondering if she would suffer punishment of some kind.

  “You brought someone back to life,” he stated simply.

  Rhuna recalled her father’s similar words of condemnation for a deed that she felt should be celebrated with joy. She struggled to understand the negative reactions around her, and then dismissed them as she stepped forward towards her parents.

  “Mother,” she said addressing her in the Zao language of her childhood. “I promised you a luxurious bath to make you feel much better.”

  “Good idea,” said Damell flatly, and gestured for Rhuna’s mother to go upstairs to the grand bathroom. Rhuna’s mother looked in that direction without comprehension, and then continued to look around at the rooms, its furnishings and the little brown man, Hari Tal, who stood nearby watching.

  “She hasn’t spoken a word at all yet,” Rhuna said to her father. Damell nodded and gestured once more for Rhuna to take her mother to the bathroom. Hari Tal’s scowl followed her as she ushered her mother up the wide stone staircase to the upper levels of Damell’s house.

  Rhuna loved the grand bathroom in her father’s beautiful house, and as soon as they stepped inside, Rhuna began to show her mother all its sophisticated features.

  “Look! Water is always ready to flow out, both hot and cold!” Rhuna s
aid cheerfully, and continued to show her mother the various scented soaps and oils.

  Rhuna had to repeatedly explain and coax her mother to undress and step into the tub which had now filled with comfortably warm water. Finally seated, Rhuna began to wash her mother’s hair which was full of tangles and dirt. She used one of the scented oils for untangling hair, and then gave her mother one of the fragrant soaps.

  Rhuna thought her mother was like a mute animal looking, touching and smelling everything around her, and then she realized that she must have done the same when she was introduced to the Atlan lifestyle in Medíz so very long ago.

  Finally, Rhuna’s mother began to use the bar of soap to wash her face, slowly and carefully, while Rhuna fussed with her mother’s hair until it was clean and shiny.

  “What happened to me?” her mother asked. Rhuna jumped from the shock of hearing her mother’s voice unexpectedly. It sounded foreign and unfamiliar to her.

  “Was I sick a long time?” she continued to ask. Rhuna hesitated and thought carefully before answering.

  “Yes, you were sick a long time,” Rhuna answered simply.

  “Did Damell come to take you away from Chinza?” she asked. Rhuna looked at her mother and noticed a shine radiate from her face which she felt was more than the result of washing off dirt.

  “No, it was someone else,” she answered briefly. “I only met Damell a few solar cycles ago.”

  Rhuna’s mother looked up in surprise.

  “Yes. I thought he was dead, too, all that time,” Rhuna said. Her answer appeared to console her mother.

  “We have a lot to talk about,” Rhuna said as she finished rinsing her mother’s hair and reaching for some towels.

  “You can call me Kiana,” she said as she took one of the towels and buried her face in it to absorb its softness and sweet smell. “I’m so tired,” she sighed into the towel.

  Rhuna helped her mother into one of the sleeping chambers and told her that she should sleep as long as she needed, and before she had closed the door behind her, Rhuna saw that her mother had already fallen asleep.

  She left the upper level of her father’s house quickly, eager to tell Damell about her newfound skill of sensing land and earth energy currents, as well as her encounter with the people of the desert plains who had been waiting many generations for the Atlans to return.

  “How can you do such a thing?” Damell hissed as Rhuna approached him. “After my strict command not to reveal to anyone that you have restored your mother’s life, you go and bring her here!” he said, looking flushed and flustered.

  “But I didn’t tell anyone! And I won’t!” Rhuna shot back, angry at her father’s criticism and Hari Tal’s constant glowering looks. “You made me aware of what my actions caused, and I did something to fix it! I took her away from the people who would have harmed her, and brought her here to have a good life!”

  “Fix it? Fix it, Rhuna?” Damell shook his head in dismay and walked away.

  Rhuna stood still a while, absorbing the painful impact of Damell’s reaction. As she stood motionless in the corridor, Hari Tal suddenly appeared before her and bore his black eyes into her. For a moment, Rhuna thought she could actually feel sharp, piercing rays coming from his eyes.

  She turned around to slowly ascend the stairs again when she heard someone approach the outer doorway. Hari Tal was already standing at the open door as Aradin appeared. He was carrying Shandi, who in turn was carrying a small textile bag which Rhuna recognized as being Shandi’s little sack of personal belongings.

  “She wanted to spend some time with her mother,” Aradin said, putting Shandi on her feet. The little girl immediately dashed forward towards Rhuna with open arms.

  “Oh! I’m so happy you’re here!” she whispered in Shandi’s ear as she held her tightly. When she looked up at the entrance way, Aradin had already turned to leave, and Hari Tal began to close the door.

  Rhuna played with Shandi for a long time until the little girl needed to sleep, and then Rhuna tried to rest as well, but was unable to fall asleep. She felt bombarded by harsh words and reactions from other people, and she was grateful that Shandi came to bring her comfort. Eventually, Rhuna drifted into a restless and turbulent sleep, and awoke suddenly when the sun began to shine across her bed.

  As soon as she hurriedly refreshed and dressed herself, Rhuna moved quietly down the corridor to the sleeping chamber in which her mother was resting. She slowly opened the door, and to her surprise, saw her mother sitting on the bed looking around the room.

  “Here, wear this,” Rhuna said when she had reached for a silk gown nearby. “And let me brush your hair.”

  Kiana kept looking around the room, then touching some nearby small items like a curious child.

  “You have two grand-daughters,” Rhuna told her mother as they walked down the stairs to the main rooms of the house. In that moment, Shandi came running towards them and greeted Kiana with outstretched arms and joyful smile. Kiana kneeled to fully embrace the little girl.

  “Oh! Isn’t she sweet!” Kiana said, looking at Shandi’s happy round face.

  “Do you know who this is, Shandi?” Rhuna asked, surprised by Shandi’s affectionate greeting of a stranger.

  “Your mother,” she answered simply. “You went away, to get mother.”

  Rhuna remembered that Shandi had spoken those words earlier, before it ever entered her mind to attempt going back in time to prevent her mother’s death.

  “The other one?” Kiana asked Rhuna.

  “Lozira – she has been unwell lately…” Rhuna trailed off, wondering how she should explain the difficult situations of Lozira’s condition caused by the Dark Master, Aradin’s loss of love for her, and the activities of both Atlans and Conjurers. She realized that all these things would be frighteningly new and strange to Kiana, and for a brief moment she realized that what she had done was not without all kinds of complicated consequences.

  Damell entered the hallway where Rhuna stood with her mother and Shandi, and then stopped when he saw Kiana in a gown Rhuna had chosen for her to wear.

  “Isn’t she beautiful?” Rhuna said, raising an arm and gesturing at her mother’s fine silk gown.

  “Yes, indeed,” Damell said in a soft whisper.

  Lozira and Goram appeared behind Damell and also stopped and stared a moment.

  “Where have you been?” Lozira asked anxiously.

  “I went to Chinza in my RTE to bring my mother here,” she answered, and then turned to Kiana. “That’s my first daughter.”

  “Big girl!” said Kiana. “I thought you meant two little girls.” Kiana slowly walked towards Lozira, giving Damell a long look as she passed him.

  “Lozira, this is my mother, Kiana,” Rhuna said.

  “Y-your mother?” Lozira stuttered. “But I thought…”

  Goram stood silently next to Lozira looking at Kiana and then at Rhuna, a strange mixture of awe and envy in his green eyes.

  “Lozira? What a pretty name!” Kiana said as she turned back to Rhuna. Lozira looked at both of them with a puzzled look, and Rhuna realized that they would not be able to communicate in a common language.

  Throughout the day, and as they shared a meal, Rhuna translated, introduced new foods and other basic utensils to Kiana, and explained a few general things about her family. The language barrier was no obstacle for Shandi, who sat next to Kiana and appeared to have a comfortable bond with her grandmother already.

  “That was good food,” Kiana said as Rhuna took her mother back to her chamber after the evening meal. “So…Lozira’s father is in Atlán, Shandi’s father is in this other place…”

  “Cha’al – it’s not far from here, and I live there too, but lately I’ve been staying here a lot,” Rhuna prattled.

  “Men are always trouble,” Kiana grumbled, and Rhuna recognized the familiar old bitter tone she always heard in her childhood. “I’m glad you’ve got girls.”

  Rhuna lay awake, unable to sleep despi
te the calm night and the comforting sound of Shandi’s breathing in her cot near Rhuna’s bed. As her mind raced to put her thoughts and feelings in order, Rhuna heard the shuffling of feet outside her chamber. She waited a moment and then decided to look in on her mother.

  “Kiana?” she whispered into the dark chamber. The sparse moonlight was enough to reveal an empty bed, and Rhuna quickly turned around to search the house for her mother. When she had thoroughly searched the upper level, Rhuna went downstairs, panic slowly rising inside her. She became aware of the big responsibility towards her mother who was helpless in this new world in which everything was foreign to her.

  Finally, Rhuna found her mother standing in front of the door to the chamber occupied by Possessor of Discernment. She placed her hand on the door handle.

  “What is behind this door?” she asked as Rhuna quickly approached her.

  “Don’t open it!” Rhuna whispered urgently. “There is a sick man inside,” she said as she ushered her mother away.

  “What sick man?” Kiana resisted Rhuna’s attempts to leave the door.

  “An old man, a teacher of Damell who travelled with us from Safu…he is dying,” Rhuna added somberly.

  “Oh.” Kiana let her hand drop away from the door and let Rhuna lead her back to her sleeping chamber. When they reached the upper level corridor, Damell suddenly appeared in front of them.

  “She was wandering around,” explained Rhuna in a soft voice. Damell remained silent and watched Rhuna escort Kiana back into her sleeping chamber. “Stay in here,” she told her mother in her native Zao language.

  Rhuna closed the door gently, and then turned around to look at Damell. He began to walk away, motioning to her to follow him.

  “She is your responsibility – keep watch over her,” Damell grumbled.

  “But Father, I thought you would be happy to see her!”

  “Not like this!” he hissed, shocking Rhuna with his passionate outburst.

  “Is it really so bad, what I’ve done?” Rhuna asked. When Damell did not answer immediately, she began to explain. “You said that you always observed her, all this time, so I thought you still loved her.”