Incarnation | Wandering Stars Volume One

Chapter 9

BAHYITH

When Sariel crossed the shallow stream, dozens of the Chatsiyram were gathered on the shore. His leaving to investigate the cursed valley was an unusual event in the life of the tribe, and now they waited eagerly to hear what he'd found. Unfortunately, Sariel didn't have good news to report. In fact, between what he found at the lake and his conversation with Tarsaeel, he was deeply troubled about the way events were unfolding. He must have worn this concern openly, because when he caught Sheyir's beautiful gaze, the smile drained from her face.

Once across the knee-deep pool, Sariel headed straight for Sheyir's father who stood in the shade of a nearby tree.

The elder looked Sariel up and down, then leaned from side to side, inspecting him. Apparently satisfied, he raised his eyebrows, but remained silent.

"We have much to talk about," Sariel said.

The man nodded. "We will go to the place of meeting and talk about what you found." Without another word, the elder turned and began to walk toward the village.

Sariel followed in silence, trying to avoid the stares of the other tribe members.

The place of meeting turned out to be one of the large hut structures located near the center of the village. Without walls, its columns of thick tree trunks supported a massive thatched roof which could easily shelter one hundred people from the heat of the day. On this day however, it seemed that every man, woman, and child in the village was present and there wasn't enough room for everyone.

At the center of this crowd, Sariel sat on the ground, across from Sheyir's father and the other senior members of the tribe. Looking at the eager faces of the men around him and the women behind, Sariel was reluctant to start. "Is there somewhere more private that we can talk?"

The elder looked around and his eyes grew stern. "I have no secrets from my people."

This seemed to contradict their previous meetings where only the men participated. Sariel had apparently misjudged the tribe's custom on the matter.

In the absence of discussion, the elder tried to initiate something. "You were taken to the valley and you stayed until the evening."

"That's correct," Sariel replied. "How long have you known about the curse?"

The elder's eyes went wide and he glanced quickly to the men sitting on either side of him. "Two years," he answered with a scowl.

"And how did you know that the valley was cursed? Did you see it with your dathrah?"

The elder leaned forward. "No. I sent a gathering party to take reeds from the lake. Only three men came back. They told me that the others had killed each other, or killed themselves. They looked sick. I didn't want their sickness to spread to the rest of my people. I put them away."

"Put them away?" Sariel asked. "What does that mean? Are they still alive?"