'There is an improvement. I feel her strength returning to her but it is still very weak and far below that which is needed for her to be able to help me connect to the magikal world.'
Sothoo was giving Raru'iti a report on Lolo's health while they rested for a while. They had been walking for the best part of the morning and Raru'iti had told Segar'iti that they would stop around mid-morning to rest and wait for him to come back in from his scouting to tell Raru'iti what he had learned. Just as Raru'iti had taken the panniers off Borek, Segar'iti walked in and threw his leather travelling bag down. He jabbed his spear into the ground and propped his bow and quiver against it.
'Welcome back, Segar'iti. What news do you bring?'
Segar'iti ran his hand through his scraggly beard and scratched at his head.
'Where I've come from is full of animal fleas and I have been plagued by them. I cannot wait to comb my beard and hair.' he said.
Without thinking the others took a step or two back from him as Sothoo rooted in her bag, pushing a boxwood comb towards him. He took it and ran it through his beard, relief crossing his face. They allowed him a moment or two of this then Raru'iti spoke.
'How far did you go?' Segar'iti stopped what he was doing and gave the comb back to Sothoo who took it back at arm's length in two fingers.
'I ranged far and it did not take long to find our friend the scout. He makes so much noise my grandmother could track him! However, he seemed to have a feeling that he was being followed so I was also unable to get very close, for as soon as I moved towards him he moved further away. I could not lay eyes on him and my plan to find him and kill him came to nothing. I have decided to go back later today and find him again this time I aim to get close to him. I will decide whether to kill him or not when I find him. I plan to wait until he makes a camp and try to get close in the night or get up above him and come down on top of him quickly, that way I might be able to get close enough at least put an arrow in him. In the meanwhile, I will take some food here and prepare to go off again later.'
'You have done well, Segar'iti. If I could be sure that we would not soon run into Dolreen, I would come with you, working together the two of us would definitely run him down,' said Raru'iti.
'Have you had any luck finding any of the plants that I'm looking for?' said Sothoo.
'Ah, you've reminded me.'
He bent down to his leather bag and searched inside pulling out small bunches of flowers and leaves tied up with thin pieces of nettle string. He passed them to her with a smile. She took them, peering at the leaves and flowers, a smile beaming across her face.
'Oh Segar'iti, If you were not smothered in fleas I would smother you in kisses!' she cried.
Segar'iti smiled an embarrassed smile and turned a pretty shade of red; he blinked his eyes and shrugged his shoulders.
'I hoped you would be pleased.' he said.
One little bunch looked nondescript but Sothoo knew it was a rare and vital part of Lolo's treatment. She now only needed one final thing that she was sure would bring her little friend back to health.
Segar'iti started to scratch again so Sothoo passed the comb back to him and told him to keep it with him when he left later that day. She took the bunch of flowers and placed them in a rabbit skin pouch, placing that into her leather travelling bag. She patted it and smiled. She could not wait until the evening when they stopped when she would be able to prepare the herbs, making a potion that she could use on its own or in conjunction with others to rid Lolo of the deadly arrow poison.
Sothoo stared hard at the birds in the tree and tried to find a fifth but no matter how hard she tried there were still only four magpies. She waved her arms hoping to make one or two fly away but they steadfastly sat, staring at her and chattering to each other.
'You are not very welcome, birds. I wish I hadn't seen you.'
Sothoo recited the rhyme of omens about magpies to herself. A rhyme every child knew, had been taught from the time they toddled at their mother's feet. Sothoo remembered the time her grandmother had seen four in a tree when she was only six summers old and they had been working in the fields together. She recited the rhyme then made the evil sign with her two outer fingers at the birds.
'One makes you sigh,
two makes you cry,
three they'll be sickness,
four they will die...'
'What does it mean, Nana?' she had asked.
'It means that someone we know will die.' she replied.
Sothoo had cried thinking of her little brother or her Mama or her beloved Papa but her Nana said that only the gods decided who would be taken to the otherworld and that when they got back to the village she would ask a priest to cast the crow bones to scryer the future to try to find out more. But she did not need to because when she returned to the village her husband, Sothoo's Gramp's, had been gored by a bull that he and Sothoo's father had been moving from one field to another. He lay, covered in blood, outside their hut surrounded by a crowd of village folk come to see what had happened. Sothoo's Grandma had thrown herself onto her husband and with her sister wife had wailed to the gods for their husband's departing Numa.
She looked over at Lolo and wondered if the omen was about her or one of them. She could not tell because they were still walking and she was unable to cast the crow bones to scry the future and to try to determine what this sign meant. She took a deep breath and sighed, how much more difficulty could the god's heap upon them she wondered. But she knew that with Lolo at least she was winning the battle to save her. Slowly she was defeating the arrow poison that had almost killed her familiar and brought to an early end her magikal life. One more herb and she would win through, one more and she would bring her little friend back to her and regain her magikal skills hopefully in time to defend her friends from the dark magik of Dolreen who was rapidly catching up to them. Sothoo feared every day that the dark mage would appear with his war bands and capture them all without her being able to protect them with her light magik which she knew she could do if only Lolo was cured of the arrow poison.
Sothoo looked over to a large elm and her heart sank. There on a large branch was a long-eared owl which stopped preening its breast feathers and stared directly at Sothoo. An Owl in the daytime was a definite omen of death. It would not be necessary to try to scryer a meaning of this portent; the message from the gods was clear – death.
Sothoo looked at her companions and she hated herself inside for not being able to cure Lolo and being able to protect her friends. She blamed herself for what she felt was their impending doom at the hand of the dark mage, Dolreen. She thought back to their time a Coreet and it broke her heart to think of the pain her friends will come to before their eventual death and tears came when she realised she could not prevent it. She knew that Dolreen would probably keep her alive for a while but that she too would probably die though she was less concerned about that.
The owl lifted itself slightly and gave its wings a hesitant flap or two then went back to preening its breast feathers. Sothoo was glad that she could no longer see the bird and tried hard to forget it but it was difficult An owl in the daytime was a rare sight so there was no mistaking the sign.
'SOTHOO!!'
'Mmm...What is it?'
'I've called your name a hundred times, where were you?' said Raru'iti.
'I was thinking. And you've told me endlessly not to call someone by name but to use whistles or animal calls, has this changed?'
'No, it's not changed. Perhaps I should throw pebbles at your head? And for your information, I had whistled at you several times before I needed to call you by name. You paid no attention to either.'
'I'm sorry, I have much to think about. What do you want?'
'The sun has quite a distance to go before we might need to make a camp but there is some marshy ground to the south of here and wondered if any of the plants you need might be found in that type of ground? If so we can make a camp here now and all search the area looking for anything that might help Lolo.'
'Thank you, Raru'iti. Yes, that is a very good idea. Let's make our camp here and go searching.'
'We will leave the carriage here. Shurell will walk with us all; so how long will it take us to confront Sothoo?'
'Two days, master. No more.'
'And how many are in her party, five?'
'Three only, four including Sothoo.'
'Good. I want the war bands to spread out and get ready to encircle them. Leave four men to protect me and Shurell and take the rest of your men and move quickly ahead and prepare to move in. Go Now.'
'Yes, master.'
The war band leaders turned and headed back up the line to their men as Dolreen opened the carriage door and peered in. As always his demeanour changed totally.
'Did you hear our discussion, sweet?'
The childlike woman smiled adoringly at Dolreen and blinked her eyes at him, she cocked her head to one side in a quizzical way.
'Yes, I'm afraid so, sweetling. The carriage will only slow us down and I wish to capture Sothoo and have us back in Coreet as soon as possible. I wish to destroy Balraan as soon as possible and take over the tribe. Do you not wish to be my queen, sweet?'
Shurell smiled and lifted her hand to her mouth and blew him a dozen kisses.
'Oh sweetling, you are so gentle in some ways but in all the most important ways you are a beast of terrible power. You do not mind me saying that do you, sweetling?'
She wagged her head and smiled at him then lifted her eyebrows, her eyes open wide.
He cast his eyes back down the line towards the cage of naked men then turned back to her.
'I don't think so now but when we make our next stop I will have them come to you.'
First, she pouted, a look of pretended hurt on her face then it broke and she smiled and laughed or at least what passed as laughing.'
Dolreen tapped his index finger on her nose and smiled.
'You tease me!'
He blew a kiss to her and closed the carriage door. He laughed to himself.
'She really is so naughty' he muttered.
'If I had my nets I could catch us some fish for our evening meal' said Raru'iti who was sat on a larger tree branch overhanging a deep pond. He peered down at the shadows moving below the surface and regretted not bringing a bow so he could at least have a go at spearing one or two of the massive hump-backed carp that were rolling in the pond margins.
'Thetant'iti's frozen hell, I did not even bring my spear. I would love to eat some fish for tonight's meal.'
Sothoo was walking along the pond fringes picking flowers and leaves, tying them with some nettle twine, and placing them in her bag. She was a long way off and out of earshot and so Raru'iti was effectively talking to himself. His arse hung over the branch as he peered through his legs into the clear water as the dark green fish came to the surface, rolled then with a few strokes of their tail fin disappeared into the weed. Raru'iti counted about twenty fish but there could have been more. How he wished for some way to catch one, how he wished for a meal of fish.
Sothoo called to him but she was on the other side of the pond about a hundred paces away. He cupped his hands to his ears and shrugged to tell her he could not hear her then went back to peering at the fish rolling and gulping at the surface of the water. As looked down something small fell onto his head and wriggled causing him to snatch at his neck furiously searching for whatever it was. His hand went to the middle of his back then his fingers found what he was looking for. He brought it out and examined the thing held between his thumb and index finger; a fat, bright green caterpillar. He looked back down at the water then he could see it, the surface of the water was dimpled with falling caterpillars and every so often a fish would come to the surface and suck one into its mouth. And all of a sudden he had an idea. Fish for tea was unexpectedly a possibility.
'Raru'iti!'
He turned and saw Sothoo getting closer to the tree he was in. She was still out of earshot but she was shouting. Gods! How many times must he tell her? He dare not shout in case he scares away the fish he was planning to catch and she was getting closer so she might scare them away. He had no alternative he had to act. He stared down at the fish and prayed to the gods for a fish to come to the surface; just as he finished praying he saw a large carp readying to come to the surface to take a caterpillar. He waited...waited...waited...then he stood himself up and slid off the branch and fell into the pond in a crouched position ready to snatch the fish with his bare hands as it rose to the surface. Raru'iti hit the water with an enormous splash that shocked Sothoo as she arrived at the tree, water spraying over her as she turned away. Raru'iti plunged into the water, boiling and foaming as he disappeared from view. Sothoo looked back and watched as massive waves spread out over the pond, water sucking and lapping up onto the margins. She wondered what had caused him to fall into the water and could not think that it was on purpose; it must have been an accident. The water boiled again as Raru'iti shot to the surface, a massive fish clasped firmly to his chest, its tailfin foaming the water, trying to break free. He took a massive gulp of air and bobbed about in the water his long hair plastered to his face so that he could not see what or where he was going. He started to swim to bring the fish to the bank but swam in a circle and headed out towards the centre of the pond.
'Raru'iti, this way! You're going in the wrong direction! This way! Follow my voice! This way!'
Raru'iti turned with the fish still putting up a mighty struggle for freedom and headed towards the edge of the pond. As he got closer he started to walk and then was able, with a mighty heave, to throw the fish onto the bank then, once he had dragged his hair out of his eyes, he pulled himself onto dry land again, back under the tree from which he had so recently jumped.
Sothoo stood by the fish as it struggled and flapped for its life. Raru'iti took out his tang'i knife and turned it around and holding on to the blade gave the fish several whacks on the head until it stopped its flapping and lay flat on the soaking grass.
Then he set to work gutting the fish, cutting two large fillets from it leaving just a head and the spine on the grass. He took the meat to the edge of the water and washed it well then poked a hole in the tail end and threaded some nettle twine through the two pieces tying them together and making a handle so they could be carried comfortably.
'You were saying something to me, Sothoo?'
'It was nothing. It will wait 'til this evening.'
'Let's head back to the camp then. I can't wait to get this fish cooking.'
They walked together around the pond and back up to the camp and Raru'iti threw down the fish onto his travelling bag. Rathu'i jumped up and looked at the evening's meal, wonder on his faces.
'How did you ever catch a fish? he asked.
'I have a secret method that I cannot tell you.' said Raru'iti
'He jumped out of a tree.' said Sothoo, a huge, enigmatic smile on her face.
He looked at her through narrowed eyes, disbelief on his faces. Sothoo said it again, this time she was laughing wildly.
'Raru'iti jumped out of a tree and caught a fish.'
Segar'iti stopped, his lungs bursting his breath burning in his throat. He bent over slightly, his hands on his knees, and drew in a few large breaths then straightened up, looking around to make he was still alone. He was high now, on the valley sides looking down onto the river flowing silently below, knowing somewhere down there was the scout that he had been tracking for three days now. He was easy to follow making little effort to conceal himself and even having a cooked meal and a blazing fire and a couple of nights. He had tutted and remembered what he had said to Raru'iti about his grandmother being able to track him and laughed.
For most of the time he was sure that the scout did not know he was being tracked but a few days ago he began to act strangely and so he headed up the valley, away from him just for a few days or so, it wouldn't be difficult to pick him up again when he was sure he was safe. He looked out over the valley knowing he had headed inland a little away from Sothoo's party and thought he was either worried he was discovered or was heading for a meeting with his war band. Whatever it was, he wanted to know, so he headed away and would pick him up again tomorrow, then he would make his decision, to get in close and kill him or not. He'd had an opportunity to do it a couple of days ago but decided against it just in case he was meeting the war band but tomorrow there would be another opportunity and he would have to make another decision. Kill or not.
Segar'iti woke as the sun broke the horizon and showered his side of the valley in blazing light. He climbed a massive pine tree near to his camp giving a panoramic view across the whole valley but the early dawn had smothered the valley in a ragged mist and he was unable to make out much of the valley floor. He climbed down and gathered his things and started to pick his way through the steep forest side, though this time he was going downhill and the going was a little easier. About halfway through the morning, he came upon a wide glade fringed with blackberry bushes and a huge walnut tree. He stopped for a while, wishing it was summer so that he might gorge himself on blackberries but there was not even a single flower so he ate some cold pigeon from a few days ago and, after wiping his hands on the grass, set off down the valley side, now so close to the river he could hear it in the distance.
He was glad he was in a pine forest because of the cover it gave. Most of the other trees were only just in bud and would not see a leaf for a few weeks yet.
He knew that he needed to be on the other side of the river so as he approached it he looked for somewhere to safely cross, finding a wide, shallow part covered in large, flat stones. Once across he moved quickly away and listened carefully. It did not take long for him to hear the scout whistling in the distance. He smiled, he had made his decision.
'I'm sorry my friend, today I send you to the otherworld.' he whispered.
He made a pile of his travelling bag and other things then took three arrows from the quiver. He took out a fourth then put it back.
'Three should be enough.' he muttered.
He took the last of the leftover rabbit and put it in a doeskin pouch then placed that in the front pocket of his jacket. He reached around and felt for his tang'i knife and pulled it partway out wondering if he should leave it but slipped it back and patted it knowing it might just save his life if the arrows let him down.
He took the waterskin to the river and filled it then slung it over his shoulder then made off towards the position where he had last heard the scout.
It did not take him long before he picked him up again this time slipping and skidding through the forest, hacking at the undergrowth with a short sword. He moved around so that he was coming down from his left-hand side and crept down until he was within bowshot. Just as he reached him he stopped and rested looking around superficially searching the area. Segar'iti dropped down in the greenery and held his breath, he was no more than a hundred paces from him and it bothered him that he could be heard. But he needn't have worried because the scout soon ended his survey and bent down to his pack where he withdrew his waterskin and took several large gulps. He wiped his mouth with his cuff then replaced the waterskin and stood there taking a rest.
Segar'iti rose from his position and lifted his bow he stabbed the arrows into the soil in front of him then slowly picked one out and nocked it. he turned sideways and raised the bow up, pulling slowly with his right hand and drawing it as far as it would go. He looked along the arrow, made an allowance for the wind, and loosed. The arrow hissed from the bow and struck home, hitting the scout in the chest, just beside his left armpit causing him to reach up and grab it with his right hand. The look of shock on his face increased when a second arrow hit home, this time directly into the heart, causing the scout to drop to his knees with a thump at the same time Segar'iti walked out from his hiding place, his last arrow nocked and ready for use. He walked over to the scout and stood ten paces in front of him, the scout looked at Segar'iti and opened his mouth as if he was about to shout but he let the last arrow go and it pierced his skull, through the mouth and exiting at the back of his neck. The scout keeled over amongst the leaf litter on the forest floor, blood seeping into the dust-dry ground.
Segar'iti waited long enough to be sure he was dead and searched the scout for anything that might be of any use to him then covered him over with branches and dry leaves to try and keep off the worst of the wild animals. He did not know anything about this man's beliefs but even if he did he could not do anything on his own, he could not build a pyre or dig a grave, his spirit would have to make it to the otherworld somehow on its own he thought.
He returned to his belongings and then set off back to find Sothoo and the others, glad to be getting back to his friends.
They all surrounded Sothoo as she sat cross-legged on the grass, a bundle on her lap. Inside, as bright as the morning sun was Lolo, sat up and looking about, blinking and searching for the small titbits that Sothoo was feeding her.
'This is a wonderful sight, Sothoo. I did not think to see the bird in such a way ever again.' said Raru'iti.
'She is not fully recovered. Her magikal link is very weak still so I'm unable to effect a healing spell and I would still be ineffective against Dolreen should he attack today, or even tomorrow but things are improving.'
Raru'iti looked about and scratched his beard.
'I'm more than a little worried for Segar'iti. He should have found us again by now. We are not in a position where I can leave you and go out to see if I can find him. Dolreen might be only days away and I'm needed here to protect you and Lolo,'
Sothoo thought about the omen's she had seen past days ago and bit her bottom lip, worry etched across her face. Perhaps the death was Segar'iti? She carried on feeding Lolo the little pieces of insects that Rathu'i had collected for her and put her worries to the back of her mind.
Rathu'i came and sat next to her, dropping a handful of insects into her cupped hands. He leaned back on his elbows and started to say something.
'Does...'
Then he tailed off and stared into the sky looking at the shapes of the clouds.
'What was it you wanted to ask. Speak plainly.'
He said nothing for a while choosing to stare at nothing in particular.
'What I wanted to ask, Sothoo was, Does the circlet have a magikal power? Is that why Dolreen chasing us? Does he need you to unlock the circlet's power?'
Sothoo thought for a while. She hadn't thought about why Dolreen was chasing them. She supposed it was because he wanted to know her magikal knowledge but it was she was sure it was also because of the circlet. She was sure he needed her to unlock the circlet's power.
'The circlet has a profound magikal power given to it by the mage, Harcal'iti. It was meant as a gift for the shaman of the Broken Axe people in the hope that its influence will bring together two people that once were one. I suspect that Dolreen wishes to use me to turn the item into a dark one but he is mistaken if he thinks he can use the circlet for any dark purpose, entirely mistaken. Even if I had any knowledge of how the circlet was created, I would never help him, never.'
'Then why has he got the circlet? Why is he searching for us? For you?'
'He stole the circlet from me when I was captured and taken to Coreet. He tortured Raru'iti and would have done the same to me if we hadn't escaped. Dolreen is misguided and drunk on power, he wishes to dominate the world starting with Agatha, starting with the tribes in this place. It would not surprise me if he has already slit the throat of Balraan, the leader of the Angry Bull people, and placed himself as their chief. But we must, I must, oppose him and if possible, defeat him, if Agatha is ever to be free. And so we march onwards towards the inevitable, a battle with Dolreen. And I hope that Lolo and I am up to the task for if we are not, Dolreen will bring down a dark cloud over the whole of Agatha.'
Rathu'i's stomach churned with fear. Sothoo had done nothing to assuage his anxiety over the meeting with Dolreen and to some extent had made things worse.
Sothoo returned to feeding Lolo and Rathu'i returned to the forest edge to pick insects for Lolo deciding that the little bird's good health was vital to their survival in the future battle with Dolreen. He stopped briefly and, looking down to the eye tattoos on his hands prayed to Gurn'iti.
'Find me now, find me and mark me well, Gurn'iti. Do not let me go to the otherworld like a snivelling coward.'
Sothoo picked up the shawl that Lolo was wrapped in and fell in with Raru'iti as they started again after their short break. Lolo was more attentive now, looking all around as they walked, taking in their surroundings. Sothoo was still worried as she was only thinly connected to Lolo and could not feel the magikal world at all. She was able to converse with her familiar now and then and as she feeds and grew stronger the conversation grew. As the day wore on Sothoo became more optimistic and her heart lightened as the connection between them both strengthened.
The next time they stopped Sothoo gave Lolo some of the mixture she had made from the plants she had gathered by the pond, dripping a few drops into the bird's open beak and following it with an insect which she took ravenously.
By the time they came to make their evening camp Sothoo's mood had lifted and she offered to prepare the meal, something she had not done for all the time she had been caring for Lolo. After the meal, she fed the bird then returned to the fire and told everyone a fantastic story about a dragon and two brothers who try to steal its hoard of gold. One of the brothers is burned alive but the other brother, seeing his opportunity, sweeps in and plunges his sword into the gap between the dragon's scales and kills it.
'Do you suppose the story really happened?' said Rathu'i.
'It did not.' said Raru'iti. 'There are no such things as dragons.'
'How do you know?' said Sothoo.
'Because I have travelled far and wide and have never seen one.'
'That doesn't mean they had never existed.' said Rathu'i.
'It does. If dragons had ever existed, the First Men would have painted them on the cave walls as they did with all the other animals they knew.'
'Well, it doesn't matter. They do not exist now. The story is a good one. Let us all get some sleep. Are you taking the first watch, as usual, Raru'iti?'
'I will. I will wake one of you later. Get some sleep. Good-night.'
Sothoo and Rathu'i settled for the night and Raru'iti went about his usual night-time chores. First, he made up the fire and made sure nothing was close enough to catch fire then he went to Borek and checked the hobble and made sure she was happy, finally, he sat himself down by the fire with his back to Sothoo and took out his little knife, giving it a sharpen he then retrieved the carving he was making for Sothoo's birthday and set to work. He held it up and admired it. 'Sothoo will be so surprised' he thought. He didn't think anyone would remember that it was her birthday never mind make her a present. It was only a day away now, he couldn't wait.
Creative writing is nothing without creative criticism. So I really hope you take some time to tell me what you like, and, more importantly, what you don't like about this chapter. Don't hold back, let me know. I only ask that, no matter how harsh you are, you're polite. Thank you.
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