| "Those were not midgets, Jenya!" Sha'en almost fell off of her mount as she shouted at the Sun-Chylde beneath a warm midday sun. "Fine," Jenya grinned. "They weren't midgets. But they were extremely short, even for Kilarans." As Trackers, Jenya, Sha'en, Lalreth and Dharin had been hired out for a week to protect some citizens from what they'd believed was a clutch of Feldenaim. It was in fact a group of angry farmers from the area outside of Effayeth, upset with the Kilarans over a price dispute. Kilarans were infamously petite - and unpleasant to look at, or smell - and such was their reputation across the whole of Sharan'akar. They were notoriously rude to any person of greater stature than themselves, which aside from six-year old children and people without shins, was everyone. "They even had short teeth." Jenya held the reins of his nameless dappled mount in one hand, gesturing to his lower legs with the other. Beneath the tan breeches he wore tucked into midcalf boots lay a series of crescent scars where a couple of the less polite Kilarans had bitten him. "You deserved every one of those scars!" Kelnai laughed at his back from the rickety wagon she drove. She held the reins of a pair of horses casually, staring out over the broad, scarred backs of the animals and keeping a slow pace. The supplies - horses, cookery, weapons and foodstuffs, which rested in the back with Saerifahl - that they had picked up in Arsibaeth were definitely not the finest to be had in Sharan'akar. Sha'en had made a comment to that effect as the party was shopping and was taken aback when Jenya snapped at her, muttering bitterly that they had all been spoiled. The party had ridden away from Arsibaeth early that morning. Jenya was set on arriving at Shivralliah before the end of the morrow. The Sun-Chylde took the lead, riding a couple of meters before the wagon. Sha'en and Lalreth rode on either side of the wagon, letting Shorin take up the rear. Jenya was not happy with Shorin being at the back, out of his sight, but the boy had proved he could handle a horse and a sword. Jenya wondered to himself, during the sparring sessions on the crossing of the Nevahri'n, how much Serelle had taught the boy. Shorin sulked as he rode, feeling very left out of the conversation. He wouldn't have joined in if he had the chance, but that was not the point. They were being rude to him, taking him first from his mother - which he knew was coming, but that again was not the point - and again from the place he had learned to call home. They were being rude, and he was returning the favor. Instead he listened to the whispers that told him how to hold the reins, how much pressure to put on his horse's sides. The whispers had taught his which swordstrokes Jenya favored, how to anticipate and counter them. The whispers all thanked him, weeping of gladness for his presence in Sharan'akar. They told him he needed to train more, and told him to help his father see the right of things. But Jenya never listened much to reason, especially from his son. Jenya would not hear Shorin's theories about the creature following them, would not pay attention to the fact that the animal had had ample chance to attack and kill them all, and yet had not. Shorin listened to the tiny whispers, staring out over the featureless countryside. "Any word from Kashan?" Jenya glanced back at Kelnai. The commander of the Taer'shal had made a habit of contacting Kelnai - his best pupil, he claimed - on a regular basis. The letters had tapered away recently. "No," Kelnai called, still speaking to her husband's back. "The last I heard from him he was gathering all of the forces together, construcing some ships. They may finally be relocating." "What for?" Lalreth didn't actually have any idea what the conversation was about, but that had never stopped her from joining in before. "Maybe they have outgrown their hold on Talrek Cerdai. The Aeldar Marsh is a hard place to raise children, and I think that Kashan and Dyta'lek are ready to ake back the Halls. They've been saying for a while now that it was time to make the presence of the Houses known again. Or, if they're not going to Taes'kenar, to the ruins of the Houses in Varikelle, then they would be traveling to the south of Ur'lindam to build a new stronghold." Kelnai grunted as the wagon bounced over a rock. "Can't we just use a road, Jenya?" "The quickest way to get to Shivralliah is in a straight line. Roads never run straight." Jenya's brow furrowed as Kelnai's words sunk in. "There isn't anything south of Ur'lindam." "Shows what you know," Kelnai laughed. Sha'en and Lalreth only exchanged confused glances. They knew just as much as Jenya about the geography of the world, and would have considered themselves experts. "No map shows anything other than Dorimseral, Taes'kenar, Shoridisalen and Ur'lindam." Other than weapons training, all Trackers studied geography in regards to organizing attacks and counterattacks. "Mapmakers are idiots, for the most part. They only draw what they know is safe. Did it never occur to you how small this known world is? You could see all it has to offer in a year and a half, including travel time. There is more out there, and there have to be more people." Kelnai shrugged, blurring the sharpness of her certainty slightly, but nobody noticed. "Yet, I think Kashan will head for the Halls of Varikelle. He is lazy and won't want to rebuild what he can just reoccupy." "I haven't seen these other continents and neither have you.," Jenya began the argument, but Kelani cut him short. "And you have never seen the Rift. Will you tell me that it does not exist?" Sha'en and Lalreth snickered softly seeing Jenya's back stiffen. "I didn't think so," Kelnai muttered. Even winning the argument, she felt more a little silly only talking to Jenya's back. Once the Taer'shal were mentioned, Shorin's whispers had quieted, urging him to pay attention. Hearing the finish of disagreement, he raised a blonde eyebrow. His whispers began humming again. Things had become very tense between Jenya and Kelnai since leaving Taes'kenar, and the Magi in the boy's head believed this might mean trouble. "Monkeys don't fly!" Saerifahl shouted in Jenya's face as her open palm struck his cheek. "What on Sharan'akar was that for?!" Jenya rubbed the side of his face. "It's time for us to eat," he grumbled, hopping down from the wagon. Sha'en and Lalreth had built a fire, Kelnai had made something resembling food, and Shorin had sat near his horse, sulking according to the two ex-Tracker women. "Food!" Saerifahl whooped happily as she jumped away from the wagon. Her hair was matted in every direction imagineable. She sat down next to Shorin, nudging his shoulder with her own. "Food!" She exclaimed again. Shorin was obviously not as enthusiastic as she was. "Go away," he muttered. "What," Saerifahl protested, throwing her arms around the boy. "Don't you love me anymore?" "You're a nutcase," Shorin glared as he wiggled out of her embrace. He let the glare encompass Kelnai and company, who were all budy giggling at the spectacle. "And you're not any fun," Saerifahl grumbled as her attention jumped back to edible things. "You have ties with the Taer'shal?" Sha'en cut in, stating the obvious and grunting after Lalreth elbowed her in the ribs. No one could accuse her of possessing too much tact. "Yes," Jenya laughed. He was in a much better mood now that he was off of his horse. "They are really Kelnai's ties. It's her story to tell. Jenya expertly covered up that he knew very little about how Kelnai had acquired those ties. "Just before Serfahlen was destroyed I got a letter from my uncle. Kashan, my father's younger brother, had heard about earthquakes and brushfires in the area. He was worried about my family and asked me to leave, to go visit him. He was living outside of Effayeth at the time, so it was a short trip. My parents..." Kelnai's eyes found the ground as she trailed off, looking suddenly uncomfortable. "Not important. Anyways, I joined the Magi at my uncle's request, but I have always been Taer'shal." "Okay... but what are they?" Lalreth blinked. "The remnants of the Dead Houses, and my uncle is the man they all answer to. He is planning something, that much is obvious. When his letters dwindle, the he is planning something massive, which is usually twice a year." "Wait, what?" The word Dead had caught Sha'en's ear. "Aren't they... well, dead?" "That is what Acharya taught us, and maybe that is what he believes. But no. Scattered they may be, they are very much alive," Jenya chimed in. This part he knew. "They let the world think they had fallen. After all, if they stuck together and tried to depose the Acharya, huge wars would break out. They didn't want to fight, even if he did. So they fell into shadow, let Acharya announce their deaths," he glanced sideways at Saerifahl who had interrupted with a loud belch. "Since when are you so concerned about history?" Lalreth peered at the Sun-Chylde. The Jenya she had known - not well, but that was never the point - only worried about now and tomorrow. What went on yesterday was rarely his concern. "Since I realized how much knowledge lies in it. The people in this world have closed their eyes," and with that turn of phrase Jenya realized how much he sounded like the Seer. He shook his head and began again. "Not a bit of knowledge was lost when the Old World fell," Jenya sighed. "It was simply discarded. And I am guilty of it too. We do not forget, we just ignore and so much trouble could be avoided if we would just pay attention." Sha'en blinked at Jenya. "You've finally grown up. What happened to you?" Jenya shrugged, remembering how often he had asked himself the same. "Four years is a long time," was all he could offer. "So much has happened. I'm not sure, sometimes, which has changed me more. Having a son, knowing that I killed his mother -" he glanced at Shorin, who was making a study of ignoring Jenya. The death of his mother didn't seem to bother the boy as much anymore. "Or knowing that I spent most of my life slaying innocents for a lie." He quirked an eyebrow nonchalantly. "Too many people ignore the past, and meet early deaths because of it. If people looked more into what has been, they might see through Acharya's lies," Jenya spat bitterly, keeping his eyes trained on the ground. His gaze jerked upward as his son erupted into laughter. "So much figured out, right Th'ar?" Shorin placed an odd emphasis on Th'ar, the Kaer'melthek equivalent to Daddy or Pop. "You're an idiot," he sighed simply. "So much you take for granted. Too much. You've got it figured, but you've figured it all wrong." Shorin set his dishes down and strode south, out of sight. "What was that about?" Kelnai looked to Jenya, who shrugged irritably and went after his son. "Stay here," Jenya called over his shoulder. He peered at the ground, following the trail of bent grass that Shorin had left as he'd stomped away. "Shorin," he called uncertainly. Trees dotted the landscape and Jenya found his son sitting beneath one with thin, broad, star-shaped leaves and a thick trunk. "Okay, kid. You owe me an explanation." Jenya crossed his arms, trying to tower over the boy as he set his face in a frown. "I don't owe you anything," Shorin spoke quietly, picking at his fingernails. "And if I did, you've done nothing to deserve it." Obviously his mother's death still bothered Shorin, but it was no excuse. Jenya bent down and grasped the collar of his son's shirt, pulling the child to his feet. "Then explain the last four years to me, boy!" "Boy," Shorin giggled, brushing his father's hand away from his neck. "Not long ago you acted just like me. Well, like I am expected to." Shorin paused, looking deep into his father's glittering eyes without flinching. "You want an explanation for the last four years? You are completely lost in the world without the Then'kael. That's why you've jumped at the chance to go claim his body, but you've no idea... It doesn't matter. You are too scared, and too stubborn to admit that you are all alone. You fumble about as you are, and someone is going to take advantage of that." The way the child said "someone" made Jenya want to cringe. Shorin smirked coldly, throwing a glance to the skies that was deliberately casual. "You have no idea what you're here for anymore, so you wear that mask of self-importance and grand purpose. I see through it, Th'ar." Jenya's eyes narrowed into burning, twitching slits. "And what do you think you're here for?" He didn't argue with his son's accusations, or question what else the boy might have said. Shorin was right, and Jenya didn't really want to know what else there was, not yet. "Me?" Shorin grinned, the spitting image of Jenya's curious, too-amused smirk that the world rarely saw anymore. "I'm here to make sure you don't do anything stupid." The boy rolled his eyes and turned his back on Jenya once more, heading back to camp between a walk and a run. Jenya stood for several long moments, his brow furrowed in thought before he ran after his son. He still wanted answers, even though he knew he would regret them. He always regretted answers. He made it back to the crackling fire to see the outline of his son on horseback, fading quickly against the horizon. Kelnai saw the anger contorting Jenya's face and stood, edging away from her husband. "Get everything together," the Sun-Chylde growled. "We are going after him." "Jenya," Kelnai said softly. Jenya turned on her, eyes flashing wildly. The woman steeled herself against his anger, straightening her back, letting her arms fall and rest at her sides. "Let him go." "What? Do you not remember the monsters that are out there? The... things we killed when we were Cleansers? Have you completely forgotten what the people of this world are like?" Jenya realized he was shouting but made no effort to control his voice. Four women stared at him, dumbfounded, and he glared at them all. "Yes Jenya, I remember very well." Kelnai put a hand on his shoulder, speaking slowly and coldly. "But your son will be fine. He will meet us in Shivralliah." Jenya shrugged her hand off violently. "How does he know how to get there?" "That boy knows more than you would give him credit for," Kelnai shook her head, becoming increasingly upset with Jenya. The Sun-Chylde drew himself up, staring hard at Sha'en and Lalreth. "Get on your horses, now. We will go after him." Neither woman budged, fidgeted, or twitched. "Well?" He glared at the two as they exchanged uncertain looks. "Now," Jenya's jaw clenched. "No," Sha'en shook her head. Her short hair waved in front of her eyes. "You have no command over us, Jenya. Sorry." "I don't understand any of you," Jenya spat disgustedly, stomping over to his mount. His hand rested on the pommel of his saddle; he was preparing to hop onto the animal's back when something hard and heavy struck him on the back of the head. His vision blurred as his back met the ground, and an unfocused image of Kelnai drifted to darkness above him. "He can, and will, take care of himself," Jenya heard her voice wade through distortion. His world went dark, and Jenya spent the next several hours dreaming of what he had lost throughout his lifetime - everything - and what he trusted; knew to be true - nothing. "Do you understand any of it?" Sha'en looked at Lalreth, her almost-sister. Lalreth studied Kelnai, who crouched next to Jenya. "I understood the part where she hit him with a piece of crockery." Her light brown eyes fell to pieces of the broken bowl that lay next to Jenya's horse. "The how, anyways. Application of force, collision with a target, conservation of energy. As for the why," Lalreth shrugged. "It's almost like we don't know them anymore," Sha'en gathered a blanket around her shoulders, huddling close to the sputtering fire. "Makes you wonder if we ever knew them in the first place. Makes you wonder which side they're on. As for the boy," Lalreth's eyes widened in bewilderment. Kelnai looked at the two women, her face void of any emotion. She knew why they were with her; she had saved one of their lives, and would probably save the other soon. Why they had come to her in the first place was still a mystery. Her gaze flicked past them to Saerifahl, who had gone to sleep after giggling over Jenya's unconscious form. The sitter lay, murmuring in her sleep with her back to the fire. Nodding once, apparently to herself, Kelnai went back to watching Jenya. The Sun-Chylde twitched occasionally, his eyes moved slowly to and fro beneath his eyelids. He dreamt of sorrow, of the years he had spent taking life beside Dharin. He dreamt of the years before that, training to be worthy of serving the Acharya. Before that, the years with his parents that he had mourned for - needlessly - for too long. Jenya dreamt of grief, and the weight of time. That unbearable weight impressing upon him questions that always had painful answers. Questions that punctured his confidence and certainty about the workings of the world. Jenya dreamt of betrayal. Two Magi he had never trusted - Corridan and Felanya - had taken his son, called Rift Beasts and led his best friend to a certain death; a death that Dharin certainly would not have backed away from. Dharin had always possessed a courage and conviction that Jenya had always envied. It was a courage that earned him death; the refusal to admit fear and the courage to die for love. Dharin had simply refused to let Seer die alone. And Jenya had run. These past four years, still running. He traveled Sharan'akar - the known, mapped parts of it - searching for answers and convincing himself that he was giving Dharin's death purpose. Jenya convinced himself that he was setting the balance of the world right, that Dharin's death served as his awakening to the true nature of this painful place. Jenya dreamt of the light of Coranavayel, telling him he was only deceiving himself. Jenya was as much in the dark now as he ever was, and now it seemd that the few things he had known to be true - that his wife was on his side, that his son needed to be looked after - were as fake as anything else had been in this world. Jenya dreamt of pain as the world as he knew it shattered. Dharin was dead - Jenya wondered if the Moon-Chylde had put up a fight - Kelnai had attacked him. Had Dharin fought? Surely he had. Nothing in the world would make the wise, steadfast Then'kael just lay down and die, not the Dharin that Jenya had known. And yet, the Dharin that Jenya had known was wed to his work, would never have left the Trackers, and did not have time for anything other than following orders, completing his missions. Jenya dreamt of truth, dark and terrible, the only truth that made any sense. The truth that nothing he had known was real, nothing was permanent and he had a tendency to believe wholeheartedly in lies. The truth that he had abandoned his best friend, and the woman that had never failed to keep Jenya's skin attached. He had left them both to die at the hands of the Acharya - slowly and painfully, no doubt - because he had convinced himself that he was in love. He never spoke the words, because they can never be taken back, but he had believed it to be true. Jenya dreamt of all the things he believed, and the past four years he had spent guarding those lies. He had tracked Kelnai and Shorin down - a ruby-haired woman with a gold-haired child were not hard to find - and made a promise to himself that no harm would ever come to them. Jenya dreamt of pain, grief, betrayal, and the jagged pieces of the things he held dear. Jenya dreamt, and let all his promises fall to the wind. As the Sun-Chylde dreamt, a balance shifted and something in the deep dark smiled. A bodiless, mirthless smile. |