Despite the pain in her heel and occasionally in her back, she was unable to remain still. She paced along the circle, keeping away from the long grass. The dirt flew up steadily. Pale brown at first, then gradually darker and darker brown.
The random coughing barks and calls from within the grassland prevented her from relaxing entirely. "How long do the rels last?" she asked, drawing close to AaQar once more.
"Long enough, assuming we don't tarry," he said, his arms crossed as well. "Stay close."
Feelings started radiating off him once more, fracturing out. She pressed her elmis against her torso, continuing to hug herself.
"How far down does he have to go?"
"Knowing Naatos, not as far as he will go." He shifted his weight, glancing back toward the mountain. It appeared that QueQoa and WroOth had reached the monument. "This world no longer feels as it once did. There is a seething anger about it. An emptiness. Do you feel it?"
"It feels hostile and wild to me, but I don't know it as you do. In the end, Libysha felt angrier to me."
"We have enemies. Our people in general. To destroy Tri Ce or Sahl or Sevro's Bane or any of the five would be a remarkable accomplishment. The only cities harder to destroy on this continent would be Darmoste or Kiltar. Our absence may have created further problems than anticipated. The people—" AaQar broke off. He closed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Our people…"
She placed her hand on his arm. For the briefest moment, she felt those fractures crackling beneath her fingers. Then, as if she were holding thin pieces of wax, they warmed and melded together, their coloration brighter, then muted, then gone.
He dropped his hand over hers. "Given your encounters with us, I don't suppose that you feel much sorrow over the loss of our people. Or what this loss means. But I appreciate your attempt at comfort."
"I do care about you. I was afraid you were going to die. And I don't want any of the races gone. If this was your people's city, and it was razed, then I am sad for that. As well as for the lives that were lost. I don't agree with anyone forcibly taking over all the worlds or even one world. But that doesn't mean I think all Vawtrians should die or even most. This is a loss. All of the races are important to the continuation of the worlds. There have been too many genocides."
"Well…" He smiled a little. "On all of that, we can certainly agree."
They stood in silence, watching as the dirt flew out of the pit and grew deeper and deeper.
The wind rushed against them. QueQoa and WroOth swooped down, taking care to avoid the dirt. Even so, some fell into the pit.
The loud grunt that followed suggested that Naatos was not amused. QueQoa did not laugh though, and WroOth did not even attempt to add to the humor.
AaQar lifted his chin. His pallor increased. "How bad?"
Naatos leaped out of the pit, no longer in his altered state. "You're back." He knocked the dirt off his hands and shook some from his hair. "What did you find?"
QueQoa glanced at WroOth, releasing a long slow breath. A heaviness hung over him, stooping his shoulders.
WroOth nodded slowly, his arms folded. The light playfulness showed no signs of returning. He took a moment before looking once more to his brothers. "Someone removed the blessing from Tri Ce. At least the external one. The inner one remains, where it is too difficult to remove if one is not a Shivennan stonesmith."
AaQar's breath grew sharp. For a moment he swayed. Amelia kept her hand on his arm as he steadied himself. "And you," he said, directing his attention to Naatos. "What have you found?"
"Nothing yet. But I have a ways farther to dig before any conclusions can be drawn," Naatos responded. "If this is Tri Ce, then we know where we are. Sahl is seventy-eight miles to the east, Tuvron sixty-three miles due south." He pointed toward the east and then the south. "QueQoa, WroOth, scout them swiftly and return. See if the markers there received the same treatment. I'll continue digging. Return here or to the camp if you get in trouble. Do not delay in calling for help."
"At this rate, it's unlikely anyone will come," WroOth said. "At least not anyone good. But there was no one. And if this was Tri Ce, there should be towns, communities, villages for miles. There are no signs of anyone."
"We will come help you," Naatos responded sharply. "If you sense it is dangerous, then do not continue."
"No one goes alone," AaQar said. "Both of you, go together."
WroOth lifted his hands. "I'm not saying we can't. I am just pointing out that this world is feeling emptier by the minute."
"We split up yesterday and were fine," Naatos said. "They do not have the same damage you have suffered."
"No." AaQar shook his head. "We split up because we had no other choice. Now we do. No splitting up beyond two miles. Five at most. Even if we heard a distress call, it would take time for us to reach them. Assuming you are able to move at your top speed, and I suffer no—just assuming that all is at its best."
"Fair enough." Naatos set his arms akimbo. "No one goes alone." He tipped his head back to peer into the sky. "We should head south anyway. We can search for Tuvron on the way if we don't find what we need here. You two wait here then."
WroOth scoffed. "What? While you finish digging? Small chance. We'll scout the surrounding five miles by air. Find out more what we're dealing with. Together. The two of us. Then if something goes wrong, you two can come help. Or three, considering our sister likely won't stay behind." He swatted at Amelia's pony tail, forcing a smile. "Though you should stay behind. And be careful."
"This definitely doesn't seem like a good place to be foolish," she said.
"Wiser words you've never spoken." He squeezed her shoulder. "You'll be fine though." With a wave of his arm, he motioned toward the sky, then struck QueQoa on the back. "Come on. Let's see if we can get this done before he finishes digging that hole."
"Unlikely," Naatos responded. He turned back to the pit, then glanced at AaQar. "It will be well. We will find the ruins at least, and we will find out what happened, and we will make more rels. And if we must, we will retake this world and shape it in our image." He then leaped down into the pit.
13
Complications
Amelia rubbed her arms. The rawness on the edges of her mind struck her harder. There was a bitterness in the air now. She pressed her elmis down again, then noted one of the longer boulders Naatos had moved.
She pushed it closer to the pit but still out of the now steady stream of dirt that was kicking out once more. "AaQar, would you sit with me?" she asked. "I don't feel comfortable sitting by myself."
He scoffed but acquiesced nonetheless. "If it comforts you, little sister."
She sat on the end beside him. It did feel good to be off her foot. "Thank you." She glanced at him. "No one could kill all the Vawtrians. And from what I saw of your cadre, I am sure that they found a way to carry on with power and honor."
"We thought we had lost them after we awoke from the Machat imprisonment in the temple," he said. "When the elder commander said that he had advanced time by twenty thousand years, I knew that our cadre would have had to adapt. We had plans in place in the event we were separated, not specifically for the Tue-Rah of course. Just general plans. Khanaan was to assume control, Hatet as his first. They were well-suited to lead together, though appearances might not have suggested it initially. Vawtrians can live multiple millennia. But… there comes a point when we become weary or when we are no longer so swift in battle. When releasing becomes preferred. If Hatet knew we were returning, she would hold on. Ancient though she would be by now. But in truth, all they would know is that we are gone. Again. Khanaan would help them find a way to move on and seek a separate purpose and security."
He shrugged, his gaze distant, seeming to be on the worn monument to Tri Ce. "We prepared for that, of course. Our tasks, our purposes, they were often dangerous. Even before our decision to retain control as Paras, we had enemies who wanted to destroy us as painfully as possible. We did all t
hat we could to prepare them, and there was no greater cadre in all of creation. Even so, its power likely waned after a thousand years at most. For all must pass and all must fade. Eternity is not to be experienced on this side of death. I am not entirely certain I wish to experience it on the other side either."
She frowned, tilting her head as she studied him. "I'm glad you're still here, AaQar."
He grasped her hand, chuckling slightly. "I believe you, though if I were in your shoes, I doubt I would feel the same. None of what has happened is what was supposed to happen. Tell me this, did you at least get a chance to read my letter? The one explaining our plans and what we intended."
She shook her head, a shard of guilt expanding within her and tightening in her neck. "No, not all of it, I'm sorry. The first opportunity I had was when you and your brothers were high on huanna, and then…well, Vorec got hold of it and used it as proof of my treachery. Apparently it was evidence that I was going to join with all of you and subvert the nations of Reltux. I did learn though that you intended to break down nation groups."
AaQar nodded. "Break down the nations. Reorganize living arrangements of all but those who cooperated. Incentivize peaceful living. Abolish their political systems. It would not have been easy, nor would it have been bloodless. Indeed, in the early days, quite a number would die. That's why we handled the Libyshan court as we did. But none of that matters now, I suppose." He sighed. "In the end, it was all to make the worlds better. They are so hostile and violent and cruel. You know if your upbringing had been to plan, you would not have found this transition so difficult."
"I'm sure you would have all done your very best to convince me it was right." She did not like to think about that much. Sometimes she had wondered what would have happened if she had not looked out the window in the stable when she was a little girl. What would have happened if she had just kept believing WroOth was the best friend in the world and rode off on that white-winged horse.
"You would have gained more knowledge regarding your skills as a mindreader at a minimum. You were never intended to be an executioner. You're a healer through and through. Somehow the child of two assassins was woven as a healer." He clicked his tongue, then laughed.
She lifted her eyebrows. "I knew my mother wasn't, but my father wasn't either?"
"Not in the least. They were among the few who could kill while in contact with a victim and not suffer the repercussions. Salanca could place her hand on the back of a woman's neck, know the fullness of her dreams and hopes, experience it as it was, and end that woman's life without experiencing the slightest of traumas."
"Uncle Joe taught me a great deal about kindness."
AaQar gave her a soft but sad smile. "I am certain he did. But you were born a healer, Amelia. Your mind was almost crushed by your mother's abomination, but you persisted. Somehow. I sometimes think Elonumato chose you as the Third Nalenth because you were one of the least qualified. He does that sometimes. The world needs more healers, little sister. But they aren't meant to be dragged off, beaten, and brutalized. Nor are they meant to be burned up or devoured."
"Not even when they oppose you and your plans for universal domination?" Amelia smiled slightly, though his last statement struck her as odd. So was the way he was looking at her. Almost as if he were worried. No. Not as if. He was. And he didn't want to say why. "It's a lot easier to say all of this out here, I think."
"Some things."
"Still," she said with a sigh. "My relationship with Naatos is strange. It would have been much stranger if you or WroOth had raised me. I'd have grown up thinking of Naatos as an uncle or whatever. Then, oh surprise. That would have been much worse. It's strange enough that we were nulaamed when I was an infant."
"It would have been strange, but custom would require that you never interacted with Naatos. He didn't even intend to encounter you once before you were of age."
"Still would have been weird."
AaQar chuckled. "True, I suppose." He glanced at her, his brow wrinkling more. "How are you feeling?"
She lifted a shoulder. "It's complicated. Especially with the nightmares. But I'm going to work on my mindreading and creating my own barriers to avoid being crushed and losing my identity. I can worry about other forms of impending doom later."
"But you are feeling all right? Your head and these nightmares? Are they getting worse?"
She shuddered. Wrapping her arms around herself, she pressed her elmis to her torso. "They are relentless, but I'd rather not talk about them any more than you want to say what has you worried. What about you? I don't want to embarrass you, but something feels off."
"There is nothing wrong with me that I did not inflict upon myself. Not all can be healed with suphrite and will. At least not all at once." He drew his hand over his face, then sighed. "The air is different now as well. It's older."
"Does that make it harder to shift?"
"Harder to shift. Harder to heal. There's more ilzinium in the air. It is one of the indicators that the Grey Season has not come for a long time. Perhaps over a hundred years." He coughed into his fist. "The aging of the atmosphere is not a problem in places like Eiram or Reltux. But here… I've been feeling it more and more."
"What does it do?" She frowned. "Are you in danger?"
"No. Not unless I press myself too far and allow myself no time for rest." He sighed. "No. It just means I must adapt. And I must also pay for the damage I did to my body over these years. Life means pain."
"In that case, I've never been more alive than I have this past week." Had it really only been a week?
"It's why it is so important that we find more ingredients for the rels. I need time to prepare, time to become stronger. To adapt. We are fortunate in that we were not dropped in a place with more aggressive predators. But as we travel, which we will almost certainly have to do, it will get worse."
"Are you in pain right now?"
"Dizzy more than anything. But that will pass in time. That and my concern that I may have to fly for an extended length of time in the next four days. Adrenaline and ilzinium with everything else are not a particularly pleasant combination."
Naatos's spear flung up out of the pit, floating in the air for half a second before it struck the ground point first. Naatos leaped up after it. He struck the ground with both feet and wrested it free.
He was a showoff, but he was also very good. She pretended not to notice as she smoothed the wrinkles from her skirt. Half of what he had done had not been necessary. Actually all of it. He wanted her to notice most likely. No need to let him know he had succeeded.
"There is nothing down there," Naatos announced.
"That can't be." AaQar strode to the edge of the pit and peered down. "Perhaps it is farther."
"I went twice as far as you requested." Naatos set his arms akimbo. "There is nothing there other than earth and a thick layer of pulverized dust and stone."
AaQar dipped his head forward. The muscles in his jaw and throat tightened. "It is not possible."
Amelia watched AaQar closely. He did not feel right. Something had moved off balance. He was becoming far away. She edged closer.
"It is." Naatos stared into the pit. "Tri Ce has not only been destroyed; its roots have been ripped out, its foundation crushed. And as this is Tri Ce, that means that all of its surrounding territories have been removed as well. And if Tri Ce has fallen and no enemy colors or monuments erected, then how many others have fallen? All of them likely. It is twenty thousand years past our last point, and all are dead. Our people. Our cadre. And it cannot be stopped. This is what it is unless we return in time and prevent this."
"He's going to faint!" Amelia cried out. She barely flung her arms around AaQar's waist before he started to pitch forward and dropped to his knees.
Naatos slammed his arm out against AaQar's chest stopping him.
That motion jolted AaQar's head back. It struck Amelia in the mouth and nose. A bolt of pain flew up through her face, foll
owed by wet heat. He had gotten heavier since the last time she dragged him. Shockingly heavier. She stepped back, trying to adjust her grip to better hold him. The mist of tears that had sprang to her eyes kept her from seeing much of anything else.
The weight lessened as Naatos spoke. "I've got him, Amelia. Let go."
Amelia released him and stepped back.
Naatos stretched AaQar out on the ground and crouched beside him. "He hasn't finished healing."
"It could also be the news," Amelia said, her eyes still watering. She pinched her nose to cut off the blood flow and wiped her bloodied lips with her other hand.
Naatos stopped as he glanced up at her. "Why did you block his head with your face?"
"I didn't have time to prepare accordingly." She shot him an annoyed glare.
"I would have caught him."
"I didn't know that."
"He would have dragged you in with him," Naatos observed. "And unlike you, he would have survived the fall. Even in his weakest state, he would have survived that fall."
"I did not have time to prepare another plan." She knelt beside AaQar.
"Don't do that again."
"No promises." Amelia searched for AaQar's pulse. It was not as steady as she would have liked. "QueQoa and WroOth aren't going to find anything, are they?"
"We may dig another pit or three to ensure we didn't miss anything, but there isn't." Naatos's jaw clenched. "There's no one here. And there hasn't been for centuries. And whoever did this was vengeful enough to tear out all of the roots. The identifying monument was disgraced and ground down to all but its barest form so that this dishonor would be seen and known by any who did dare to travel out here. And though not worse in perspective, what most directly affects us is that the supplies we hoped to find in the ruins, like the elgan steel and…" He shook his head. "Well, things are going to be significantly more complicated."
As if on cue, a ragged distress call bellowed out from the east. Naatos dropped his spear beside Amelia. "Stay with AaQar. Do not leave the short grass or go far from this point. When he wakes, tell him he stays."
Wilderness Untamed Page 14