Despite the dawning day, Raru'iti was insistent that Sothoo rested while he and Segar'iti searched the escarpment for whoever killed Lolontoo.
'But I am not tired, and I wish to prepare Lolontoo's body for cremation. We must send her off to the otherworld as soon as possible, we cannot wait to take her back to Peral'dul.'
Raru'iti understood Sothoo's need to be busy; he and the others felt it themselves. So they agreed; Sothoo would take a small amount of poppy water and get some rest while the others searched the caves for Lolontoo's murderer.
Sothoo was asleep before they were ready to leave, the exertion of the previous day and the grief of Lolontoo's death left her drained.
Sothoo had been clear that she only wanted a small dose of poppy water as she felt her natural tiredness would lead her to deep sleep without the need for any extra help. As soon as she closed her eyes she seemed to drop into a sleep of vivid dreams. But these dreams were not like any she had ever had before. These were so close to the normal activity of everyday life that it was impossible to say where dreams started and real-life ended.
She heard a strange noise and it woke her, or was she still asleep? She sat up and turned towards the direction of the noise. It was a qworking noise that sounded like a bird. Looking towards the cave entrance and towards the bird noise, she spotted a Jackdaw. Sothoo stared at the bird and the bird stared back. It stared intently and did not look away; it was not afraid and showed it. It qworked again, hopping a few paces away from the cave. It turned to look at Sothoo, fixing her gaze once more. It wants me to follow. Sothoo stood and put her boots on. She wrapped her cloak around her and followed the noisy bird.
Sothoo reached the cave entrance and saw that the bird had flown to a bush a dozen paces away. I qworked loudly and flew towards another. Sothoo followed moving away from the escarpment and out towards the forest. What is it trying to show me? Sothoo kept pace with the bird as it flew from one bush to another and entered the forest.
The bird would qwork from time to time, letting Sothoo know where it was. Sothoo followed the bird into the forest along a path only one person wide thickly edged with trees and shrubs. The foliage was so dense that Sothoo had no idea where she was going. But she managed to keep sight of the bird or at least hear its noisy qworking until they eventually ended up in a large, circular clearing in the forest at the centre of which was a circle of upright stones set on their ends a few paces apart. Sothoo counted them.
'...sixteen, seventeen, eighteen.'
In the middle of the stone circle was a massive stone slab big enough for six men to lay on side by side. The surface of the slab was about knee height and it was a pale, grey-blue colour. Sothoo stood outside the circle not knowing what to do next when a rumble of thunder burst overhead. She cringed slightly at the noise and looked overhead wondering where the lightning was. Then she spotted the Jackdaw in the middle of the slab, instinctively she walked forward into the stone circle and approached the slab. For the first time, the bird did not move but waited for her.
She stopped at the slab and looked at the bird not knowing what to do. What should I do now, my friend? The bird qworked and hopped from the slab onto her shoulder. Sothoo was taken aback.
'Well, my friend. Now what?'
Then something happened that Sothoo wasn't expecting. The bird spoke to her. Not through its beak but directly into Sothoo's mind. It said something wonderful, something that made Sothoo cry.
'Sothoo, it is the Numa spirit of Lolontoo. Something amazing is about to happen. Step back twenty paces and prepare yourself.'
Sothoo did as Lolontoo's Numa requested and as she did the sky cracked open and a fork of lightning burst out to directly hit the stone slab. The blast was massive, the stone was shattered into a crazed pattern of blasted fragments. Stone chips were sent flying in every direction as Sothoo and the Jackdaw were knocked flat onto the grass area around the circle.
Sothoo's ears were ringing as she pushed herself up onto her elbows, looking from side to side for the bird. She found it lying on the grass a dozen paces away, looking, for all the world, as if it was dead. Sothoo ran to it and picked it up. As soon as she lifted it the bird's eyes popped open, and it shook its head as if it were clearing its mind. Sothoo held out her arm and the bird perched on her wrist, it shook itself and turned to look at Sothoo. It spoke, now more clearly than before.
'Sothoo, do you know what has just happened?'
Sothoo knew that there had been a lightning strike but for what reason if there was a reason, she could not say.
'Tell me. I have no idea what has just happened.'
'The Gods have connected you to the world of magik. Through me, your familiar, and some other magikal items, you will become a shaman. You will be able to cast spells to kill or cure, protect or destroy. The Gods have given you an extraordinary power, Sothoo and I will help you understand it. For now, you need to know two things. Firstly, I made a conscious decision not to pass on to the otherworld but instead to live in a middle world halfway between the land of the living and the land of the dead. Because I did this I had to give up my living name so now I am known in the in-between world as Lolo. Secondly, you will have to fashion your magikal staff from three items, two that you own and one of mine to bind them together. The two items you own are your carved staff and the quartz crystal and my item is the leather lace that ties my hair. You will need to thread the lace through the crystal and then tie it to the staff using a knot that I will explain to you. Once you have done this you will be able to cast spells, some of great subtlety, others of awesome power. Now I suggest we head back to the cave.'
Lolo hopped from Sothoo's wrist up to her shoulder and she turned to leave.
'One thing before we go, Sothoo. The stone slab that has been blasted by lightning retains magikal power of its own. Find a piece, pocket-sized, it will be a most useful thing.'
Sothoo searched the grass until she found exactly the right piece. She showed it to Lolo and the bird nodded her agreement. She placed the fragment in the front pocket of her tunic and then set off on the single track back to the escarpment to tell the others what had happened to her and to find the items needed to create her magikal staff.
'I don't know how I'm going to explain this to the others. I wouldn't believe it if I were them. How shall I put it?'
Lolo turned to look at her and loudly qworked.
'We shall find a way.'
'We are not leaving it. The spear must be retrieved. You must wait for Raru'iti and the others to leave the cave unguarded and you must go and retrieve it. And you must do it sooner rather than later.'
Sekar'iti was firm on the matter, His son must go with Baran'iti and Toral'iti and fetch the spear from Raru'iti's cave. They cannot leave any evidence that links his son to the murder of Lolontoo. They will all wait until this has been achieved.
Toral'iti grabbed his spear and placed an arm around Serant'i.
'Come, boy. The sooner we do this business the sooner we will be away from here. Then you can put all this behind you.'
Serant'i winced at his uncle's words as he walked out of the cave and headed for the open area in front of the escarpment. The sun had risen but was firmly behind thick, grey clouds and a stiff wind drove a spitting rain to slick the grassland. They moved out towards the forest and then down towards the bottom of the escarpment, then they started to slowly move towards the cave where they believed the spear could be found.
Baran'iti crouched behind a sprawling hawthorn bush and waved at the others to crouch too. He was no more than twenty paces away from the cave entrance and could see no one guarding the cave. They would wait a little while to see if there was any activity.
They sat there for what Serant'i thought was an age until Baran'iti deemed it safe to approach the cave. When they got there the camp was still in evidence. a well-stacked fire still burned on a hearth made from large, flat stones. Towards the back of the cave large, leather travelling bags were stacked against the cave wall and smaller leather and felted wool bags were heaped around them. Further down a large, bay horse stood quietly facing away from the entrance, its ears flicking around at their presence.
'Search for the spear, as quickly as possible. Do not approach the horse.' whispered Baran'iti.
Serant'i was terrified that the cave's occupants were going to return and catch them but Baran'iti had reassured him that in a straight fight they would win out and secretly Baran'iti hoped that they would be discovered so that he would be able to kill Raru'iti and the others so that they didn't have to skulk home with their tails between their legs without the circlet.
Serant'i just hoped that they could find the spear and leave the caves without anyone dying, but things were not going well. They had searched the cave at least twice and could not find the spear. Baran'iti was out of ideas.
'Are you sure you properly searched the cave where Serant'i killed Sothoo, are you certain the spear was not in that cave?'
Toral'iti gave an irritated growl and shook his head.
'We searched the cave thoroughly, nothing was missed.'
Then Serant'i had an idea.
'What if they have started to pack? Perhaps it's with the baggage or the horse?'
Baran'iti brightened.
'That sounds like a good idea. We'll stay here, you go and search the baggage and the horse.'
Serant'i crept towards the horse making quiet chucking noises and talking gently to her.'
'There, there girl. Steady girl, steady. It's only me. Just come to have a look, nothing to worry about, girl. There, there.'
The horse made nervous whickering noises but became quieter when Serant'i reached her and started to pat her flanks.
There were no panniers on the horse so all he needed to do was search the baggage that was piled up against the cave wall. He started to pull them away and when he had moved the top layer there, on top of the bottom layer, was the spear.
Serant'i had not thought much about retrieving his spear; after all, he had owned it for such a long time. He hadn't thought about it as a murder weapon. Now he was looking at it the events leading up to Sothoo's death came back to him as if they were happening to him right now. He looked at the blood-stained end of the spear and he could see, vividly, the spear entering Sothoo and the horrible, scraping sound it made as it passed through her ribs. Then he saw the blood, the huge well of blood ooze from her body as she slowly fell taking his spear with her.
Gods save me, I never meant to kill Sothoo. The whole thing was an accident. Gods help me.
'Have you found it, boy?'
Baran'iti's urgent, half-shouted whisper broke the spell that had paralysed Serant'i and he reached down and grabbed the spear.
'I have it, I'm coming.'
'Hurry up, let us get out of here.' said Baran'iti 'I'm sure this place is haunted by the ghost of the girl you killed, I want to get out of here, hurry, we must be on our way'.
The three of them made their way back to their camp and then having gathered their belongings started for Peral'dul.
The storm was now a distant memory. The ferocious wind had died down to a stiff breeze. The thunder and lightning had disappeared off into the distance and the torrential rain was now no more than a spitting drizzle.
Away from the escarpment they quickly re-joined the path that would take them to the main path back to Peral'dul. With every step, Serant'i's memory of the night was growing dimmer and dimmer. Soon, he hoped, he would forget that the events of that night had ever happened.
'Wait! Slow down, Sothoo. I can't follow what you are saying.' said Rathu'i.
Sothoo took a deep breath closed her eyes, opened them, and started again.
'I was asleep, at least I thought I was, and then a bird came, a Jackdaw, and bid me follow.'
Sothoo mimed herself following the bird with her two fingers and then looked at them all.
'She took me to a clearing in the forest with a stone circle at its centre. The bird spoke to me, she told me something amazing was about to happen, and it did. A bolt of lightning shot from the sky and blasted a flat stone at the stone circle's centre into pieces. I was knocked flat onto my back.'
Sothoo beamed at them both. She turned to Lolo and the bird stretched upon its thin legs speaking to her without making a sound.
Rathu'i and Segar'iti looked at each other and then to Raru'iti. Raru'iti shrugged his shoulders and waved his hands as if absolving himself of any responsibility.
'It's no good looking to me for help understanding Sothoo's story. The last time I heard tales of magik I was a child listening to my mother and father tell of the old Agatha when the world was young and ruled by the First Men. I suggest we let her get on with it and see where we end up.' he said.
Segar'iti turned to Sothoo 'And then what happened?'
'The bird told me that I had been connected, through her, to the world of magik. She told me that she was the spirit of Lolontoo who had decided to stay in the world between men and spirits to become my familiar.'
Rathu'i scratched the top of his head and poked the fire with the toe of his boot.
'Why would she do that? he said.
'The gods have allowed her to stay in this in-between world to be my familiar to bring balance to the magikal world. Although I know of no other shaman there are others in the world whose magik is based on the black arts. Their only wish to use their skills to bring the world under a dark power. The gods wish to have balance and so are helping to create white shaman. I, with Lolo's help, will be one.'
'Sothoo, we've all been affected by Lolontoo's death, you most of all. No one would blame you if you had vivid dreams about her especially after taking poppy water. You and Lolontoo were very close it's to be expected that you want to make her come back but let's face it your story is quite ridiculous. Would you not think it so if Segar'iti or myself came to you with a similar tale?'
Rathu'i looked to the others for support.
'Well, help me here' he finally said.
'Rathu'i is right. I'm sure you believe that what happened to you truly happened to you but did it really? What I mean is, you might truly believe that Lolontoo is somehow alive again in that bird but dreams can seem very real especially when you have drunk poppy milk. This whole thing might just be a very vivid dream. Is there any way you can prove what you're saying is true? That would help, wouldn't it?
Sothoo looked defeated but the bird stretched up to her left ear and Sothoo bent her head over, which was unnecessary because the bird never spoke to her but instead somehow managed to talk directly into Sothoo's head.
Sothoo nodded and laughed. She clapped her hands a couple of times and rubbed them together.
'Come with us' she said and skipped out of the cave into the escarpment.
Rathu'i and Segar'iti followed. Raru'iti bent over, picked up a couple of logs to keep the fire going then joined them all standing half a dozen paces away from her.
'Stay where you are. Do not venture any further forward. It will be extremely dangerous for you.'
Sothoo stood sideways on to them and raised her hands in front of her. She cupped her hands and made a shape as if she were carrying a medium-sized ball, the sort that mothers weave for their little ones from dried rushes.
Sothoo suddenly stood with her legs apart as if she were about to push a cart and started to mumble something that Rathu'i and Segar'iti could not hear clearly. Between her hands, a bright blue-white light began to form, and as she continued to chant it grew. She moved her hands and moulded the light as if it were a ball of clay.
Her chant grew louder and although they could hear it they could not make out what she was saying. All the time the ball grew larger, becoming brighter until it was so bright it was hard to look at it directly and so they had to look at it through their outstretched hands.
Without warning Sothoo's chanting stopped as she swept both hands behind her, quickly throwing them forwards and casting the ball of light towards a large bolder thirty or so paces in front of her.
The light smashed into the bolder, blowing it into a million pieces in a cloud of dust and with a crack so loud it echoed around the escarpment and made everyone's ears ring. Small pieces of gritty rock rained down on them giving them a powdery grey coating.
Rathu'i and Segar'iti had turned their backs on the explosion and had their fingers in their ears. Raru'iti had stepped back in surprise and had stood awkwardly on a fallen tree branch causing him to fall onto his backside.
The look of shock on them all was comical and made Sothoo laugh out loud, she stood with her hand on her hips with a beaming smile on her face.
'What do you say to that then?' The bird pointed its beak to the sky and opened and closed it several times. Raru'iti was sure the bird was laughing at him.
'Your bird mocks me' he said in a hurt way. He stood up and brushed himself off.
'Your new powers are all well and good, Sothoo but we have other oatcakes to griddle. We must return to the cave and prepare to carry on our journey. We need to help Sothoo deal with Lolontoo's body.' said Rathu'i.
In the excitement of the demonstration, they had forgotten about Lolontoo. Even though she had been reborn into an in-between world to help Sothoo gain her magikal powers they had not considered what to do with the tiny corpse in the cave wrapped in a pelt quietly waiting.
'Sothoo, I do not know what we should do with Lolontoo.' said Rathu'i 'If her spirit is living in some between world what are we to do with her body?'
'Do not be concerned. Lolo has told me what we should do. I have discussed with her how we are to prepare the body and what we are to do with it. When we get back to the cave I will tell you all.'
'I have never heard of anyone being sent to anywhere other than the otherworld and the ancestor village. I wonder where Lolontoo's Numa will go?' said Segar'iti.
'Soon you will understand' said Sothoo, turning her face to the bird and showing it a beaming smile.
'Good, at last, you have done something useful.' said Sekar'iti to his son. He then turned to the others and waved a hand. 'Make sure everything is packed. We leave for Peral'dul.'
Everyone knew what they had to do and so busied themselves to keep out of Sekar'iti's way. The incident of Sothoo's murder had made his notoriously bad temper ten times as bad as usual and so they all tried as much as possible to keep out of his way and to complete their tasks without him having to ask for them to be done.
Sekar'iti had left the group to get on with their tasks and had climbed the escarpment to get a better view of the surroundings. Sogol'iti finished packing his leather bags and then followed Sekar'iti to the top of the escarpment. There was something that he needed to get off his chest. He found him close to the cliff edge, the remnants of the storm wind pulling at his wolf-skin cloak. He turned as Sogol'iti approached and smiled a sneering smile.
'You do not look like a man who is bringing me good news, Sogol'iti. Come on, Spit it out. What treachery are you bringing into my life?'
Sogol'iti coughed a few times to clear his throat and pulled his cloak tightly around him, more for comfort than a need to keep out the cold. He moved closer to the edge but not too close as he was concerned that Sekar'iti might throw him over in his anger.
'Sekar'iti, I know you wish to leave soon so I will try to be brief. When I came to you with the proposition of recovering the item that belonged to you, I did so in the belief that no one would come to any harm. The murder of Sothoo was a deeply shocking thing that would have angered the gods. Gurn'iti himself would have witnessed everything that had happened, Sekar'iti. Serant'i will have become marked by the gods. He and anyone associated with him will be marked for the god's retribution and who knows what that might be.'
Sekar'iti was staring out into the distance and seemed not to hear what Sogol'iti had said.
I have no alternative but to sever our agreement, and therefore we must part and go our separate ways. Sekar'iti do you hear me?'
Sekar'iti turned slowly. His face black with anger. He raised his right arm and pointed his finger. His mouth twisted into an angry sneer.
'You desert me as soon as I have the greatest need of you! You let me down when I need you most! You skulk off and run from me just because the god are angry with me!
He jabbed his finger each time he made a point and finally, he brought his hands together and wrung them together.
'I wash my hands of you, be gone from my sight. You no longer have the protection of my clan. Should the dangers of the world crash down on you I will not lift a finger to help you! Get out of my sight before I lose my temper and throw you from this cliff. Gods know I have no fear to anger them any more than I already have!'
He turned back and gazed out at the landscape. Inside he was seething with anger. First, it was Serant'i's stupidity now Sogol'iti's cowardice. What next? He loudly cursed the world to Thetant'iti's frozen underground hall and then he turned and made his way back down the path to the caves where he hoped everything was ready for them to leave. He was heartily sick of this place and wished to see the back of it. He wanted to leave for Peral'dul as soon as possible. They had far to go and now, without Sogol'iti's guidance, a difficult journey to make.
'No, Raru'iti. I'm firm on the matter. Lolontoo's killers are to be left to the gods. We are to deal with the body and then carry on with our task. The bones of the stranger are to be returned and the circlet is to be given up to the Broken Axe people.'
Raru'iti's stomach was churning. He could feel the anger in every fibre of his body and was unhappy allowing the murderer to go free. Sothoo could sense his hurt and moved to him. She took his hands in hers and shook them. She stared up into his face and spoke gently.
'Trust me, Raru'iti, the gods will have their vengeance. The killer will not go free. All those responsible will pay. And the payment will be great.'
Raru'iti's bowed head nodded a few times and Sothoo could see that he was sobbing. Sothoo reached up and touched his cheek and with the palm of her hand wiped away the tears.
'The gods will exact a mighty vengeance, Raru'iti, I vow this on Petatoo's silver mare.'
Sothoo looked around at the others and smiled.
'Now we need to deal with Lolontoo's body. This is what she has told me we should do.'
They all gathered around the fire and Sothoo laid out the plan for Lolontoo's body.
'Firstly the body is not to be burnt.' Sothoo looked at them all and could see that they were uncomfortable with this.
'If we burn Lolontoo's body it would send her immediately to the otherworld and my link to Lolo and the magikal world will be lost forever.' Sothoo turned to them all, in turn, to make sure they understood this.
'Them what in Thetant'iti's icy hall are we supposed to do with it? said Rathu'i.
Sothoo smiled at them. 'I'm sorry but there will be a little work for you three this afternoon for we are to bury Lolontoo in the ground.'
Burial was completely unknown amongst the tribes local to the children of the stars and only rare amongst others. It was through cremation only that the Numa was sent to the otherworld and burial was thought an unclean method of dealing with a body. Rathu'i could not hide his revulsion.
'Sothoo, burial is an horrendous fate for a body. Can you imagine what it would go through in the cold earth, slowly being eaten by worms and insects?' He shook in disgust.
'I do not have Rathu'i's priestly learning but I do know when something isn't right. Are you sure that this is what we must do Sothoo?' said Raru'iti.
'I cannot explain to you fully the reasons why this must be but I ask you to trust me and to follow my instructions without question. This I ask for me and Lolontoo and for the future I will have as a mage. I ask you to trust that for a future you cannot possibly know, be assured I am acting for the best, for all concerned.'
They all looked up and faced each other. Each one nodded their grudging approval and as they did Sothoo breathed a sigh of relief.
'Well, you bid us do work but with what tools are we expected to do this work? said Raru'iti.
'Lolo has told me where we might find everything we need. Raru'iti. Go with Segar'iti to the next-door cave. You will find it is a bear's lair. Inside are the bones of its many prey. Amongst these bones, you will find the tools you need to strip turf and dig ditches. Go now and bring enough tools for the three of you. Rathu'i, come with me to the edge of the wood we are to find some nettles, I need to make some string. We will meet back here when we have all that we need.'
The afternoon had progressed well. Raru'iti and Segar'iti had found the shoulder bones and long bones of a horse and were so provided with the means to pick and shovel the earth as Sothoo commanded. Sothoo had found a huge patch of nettles and from it had been able to use the stems to make a long rope large enough to mark out a circle, ten paces wide. Sothoo led them all to the open area where she had first met Lolo, She took them past the blasted rock and over to a corner where the ground was smothered with strange mounds surrounded by ditches. Sothoo found a flat piece of ground amongst the mounds and marked out the edges of a circle using sticks and the nettle rope. Then she put them all to work. First, they stripped off the turf and carefully stacked it, Then they dug a deep ditch around the edge of the circle, the earth from the ditch being thrown up into the centre to form a domed mound, in the middle of which they dug a rectangular pit large enough to take Lolontoo's body, curled up with her arms around her knees, like a child sleeping. They placed her into the pit and Sothoo spoke some arcane charms and spells that Lolo had taught her and then they filled the pit in, stomping down on the earth to create the domed mound. Then they replaced the turf onto the mound but leaving the ditch bare. Sothoo placed a badger skull on top of the mound and placed a posy of forest flowers next to it. They all stepped back and looked at the grave they had created.
'Lolo is happy.' said Sothoo finally.
Raru'iti threw down the shoulder blade shovel he had been holding and silently started back to the cave.
'We have done the right thing, haven't we?' said Rathu'i. It was a question to Sothoo, not a statement.
'We have indeed, Now let us go back to the cave and prepare to leave.' Sothoo turned and led the way. Rathu'i and Segar'iti followed behind.
'What do you mean. It has gone?' said Raru'iti. 'Did you have the item when we left Coreet?'
Sothoo stood amongst the contents of her travelling bags looking from side to side hoping that the bag would suddenly appear out of nowhere.
'It was in this leather bag and now it has gone.' Sothoo was frantic. She had been packing her bags ready to leave and was making sure that everything was in its right place when she discovered the doeskin pouch containing the circlet was missing.
Then she remembered.
'Oh! Petatoo's silver mare! I remember! Balraan said they had the circlet and they did not understand the object or its power. They have it. Raru'iti we must go back to Coreet and get the item back!'
'Ha! I would not go back to that place if Panek'dul was tomorrow. I would rather go down naked to Thetant'iti's frozen hell than go back to that place. Do you not see this face? I suffered somewhat to Dolreen's inquisitors. No, no. I will never go back to Coreet and if these two will go with you they are bigger fools than I would ever think they could be.'
Raru'iti turned and began to pack his bags and take them out to Borek to pack in the panniers. Rathu'i and Segar'iti stood staring at Sothoo not knowing what to do. They wanted to help but if Raru'iti was afraid to go to Coreet what could a young hunted and a junior priest hope to do to help Sothoo get the Circlet back from a place so dangerous?
Sothoo dropped down onto her knees a look of dejection on her face. She gathered up her possessions and began to slowly re-pack her leather travelling bags.
'Well, I have failed in my task of taking the circlet to the Broken Axe people but that does not mean I must fail to take back the bones of the stranger to the tribe of the Burned Men. We continue our journey to the village of the Broken Axe people. Tell Raru'iti. We leave as soon as we have packed. I wish to be gone from this place.'
Segar'iti took a deep breath and sighed. 'I also. This place is a place of great sorrow. I wish to be somewhere else.' He turned and picked up his travelling bags and headed for the outside.
Rathu'i finished packing his bags and quietly did the same. Sothoo slung her bags around her shoulders and looked around the cave. On her way out she glimpsed the cave floor where Lolontoo had lain and spotted a small patch of rusty brown dried blood. She knelt and touched it, turning to the bird on her shoulder.
'I pains me to leave you here in the wilds with the animals of the forest and the birds of the trees but I must move on and carry out a task that Lolontoo would understand I need to finish. I hope to pass this way again soon and I will visit you Lolontoo. Take care child.'
She brushed a single tear from her eye and headed out of the cave. Out into the blinding light of a beautiful early spring day.
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