A number of younger fathers and other adults showed up at the next training session. They acted as though they were only curious to see what Amantis' wolf-hunters had been doing, but soon they were wielding poles and stabbing at pretend wolves. They quickly caught on to the techniques the hunters had trained in and soon began to improvise their own.
Fearing they might take over the session, Amantis divided them into two groups, each a mix of adults and wolf-hunters, and practiced group tactics. Amantis watched, corrected mistakes and noticed a disturbing trend. Most of the fights ended in near draws with a great number of "dead" fighters on each side. If he were ever to build a powerful fighting force, he had to find a way to defeat the enemy without losing fighters.
As he pondered this, he noticed Charissa standing demurely at the edge of the pasture watching him with a hopeful expression. He walked over to her, keeping one eye on the combatants. "How are you doing?" he asked, giving her a friendly but carefully-not-too-intimate one-armed hug. She didn't pull away, but she didn't return the casual affection.
"Did you do it? Did you consult the stone to find a way?"
He dropped the arm. "To help Karux?"
"Yes."
A shout of triumph sounded from the field of battle and Amantis turned away to watch someone land on the ground while three opponents stabbed him in the vitals with their poles. "I did." Annoyed at her obsession with Karux, he said nothing further, waiting for her to continue the conversation. She didn't wait long
"And did you find a way?"
"I believe so." He was tempted to leave her hanging, but he knew irritating her would get him nowhere. He turned, gave her an earnest and concerned expression, looking deep into her eyes. "The visions are destroying his mind. He is not able to handle them. If he is to survive, he must give the stone up."
Charissa took a step backward, a silent "oh" on her lips.
"And it must be you who convinces him," he said with a hidden savage glee. "No one else can convince him."
"I can't... I don't know..."
"If you fail, he will die, and soon."
"But—"
"Once you get the stone from him, bring it to me. I think the two stones were meant to work together. With both, I can not only stop his visions, but find a solution to the dangers it shows him."
Charissa took a deep breath, and straightened her shoulders. "Very well, I'll try."
Amantis took her by the shoulders and gave them a firm squeeze. "Do not fail. More than his life is at stake."
-=====|==
Charissa hurried to Karux's house. He was dying and she had to save him. She surprised Arrain as he was leaving and asked if she could see Karux, but he told her that Karux was sleeping. She waited all day hoping to see him, growing more concerned with each passing hour. He finally came out for the evening meal and Charissa managed to get him alone.
He looked like the walking dead, his eyes dull, his face expressionless. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
Karux shrugged. "Same as usual."
"Have the visions stopped?"
"No."
She made a sympathetic sound and rubbed his arm.
"Last night I saw the elders and our fathers lying dead in the commons, while wolves fed on them. We were all running through the snow, trying to hide. But you weren't there. You had already been taken away and I knew I'd never see you again."
"Oh! That's terrible."
Karux lowered his head. "It's not the first time I've seen this, but it was much clearer last night. I think it may happen soon."
Charissa squeezed his arm. "I'm very concerned for you. I'm afraid these visions are killing you."
Karux didn't respond.
"I think you should put the stone away for a while."
Karux's head jerked up and he glared at her.
"Just for a while, just until you get some rest and get your strength back."
"No."
"But Karux..."
"I can't stop. I can't! I have to find the one vision that will show me the way out. I have to keep looking."
Charissa threw an arm around him and held him close. "But you don't have to do this alone. You need help."
Karux took her other hand and kissed it. "I do appreciate you. You do help me."
"But I can't help you with your visions."
"I'm afraid no one can."
"But Amantis could. He's willing to help." Charissa felt his whole body stiffen.
He gave her a side-long glare. "You've been talking to him."
"Yes, because he can help. He wants to help."
"No. He wants something, but it's not to help."
"How can you say that?"
"He wants you."
A jolt of surprise trembled through Charissa. That couldn't be possible, could it? He had often been kind and polite to her, but that didn't mean he was attracted to her, did it? The more she thought about it, the greater her confusion. She didn't know what to think or feel. "I know you two have never gotten along very well..."
"It's not just some sort of rivalry. This is real. I've seen the way he looks at you. I've watched him try and get close to you. If you love me, avoid him."
"But he has a stone too. He can help."
"He doesn't want to help. He wants you."
-=====|==
Amantis found Charissa during the mid-day meal and sat down next to her. He leaned in close and said in a low voice, "So, were you successful?"
Charissa looked around. Nyrana noticed the two of them sitting together and whispered something to her sister, who stared at them, then turned and giggled. "I tried, I really did. But I couldn't convince him to give it up."
"You told him the stone would kill him?"
"I told him he needed to give it up for a while to regain his strength."
"And what did he say."
Charissa hesitated, she didn't know what all to tell him. "Er... he didn't want to stop the visions. He felt something terrible would happen soon and he hoped to find a solution in his visions."
"And what did you say to him?"
"That he needed help. That you had a stone and that you were able and willing to help."
"Hmmm. What did he say to that?"
Charissa blushed. "He seemed to think that you were more interested in me than in helping him."
"Did he? What else."
"That's it."
"You'll have to try again. You must convince him to give you the stone."
Charissa paused and looked at Amantis expectantly, but he only returned a puzzled look. "So what do you think?" she asked.
"About what?"
"About what... he said? About you and me?"
Amantis leaned in close. His dark eyes seemed to bore right through her. He looked like he might suddenly kiss her and her heart inexplicably started racing. Charissa wondered what it would be like, how she would feel, whether she would like it. While Karux was handsome in the friendly boy next door sort of way, Amantis was different, more polished, more controlled. He didn't seem to be the sort to give his love easily, but the one he did love, he would love with a furious passion.
His lips were but inches away.
Her breath came in short little surprised gasps.
"What I think, isn't really important," he breathed. "The real question is how do you feel about us?"
"I—I don't know."
He chuckled quietly and she could almost taste him. "Well, you will have to decide that. But right now you need to find a way to get that stone. More is at stake than just his life. You can't let him jeopardize everyone, including his own life, because he is too stubborn to give the stone up."
"Very well, I will."
"You will what?"
"I will find a way to get the stone."
"When you get it, bring it to me in the stoma."
-=====|==
Karux's screams echoed across their small village early that morning, though in his drugged state, his screams sounded more like the strange wailing moan of a lost and tortured soul. Charissa waited outside his house all morning, but he didn't come out. Around midday Arrain returned from his morning chores to check on him and when he left, Charissa slipped inside their house.
She found him moaning as he tossed and turned on his sleeping pallet. She knelt by his bed and stroked his face. "Karux?" she said softly. "Karux."
He roused slightly and cracked open bleary eyes.
She kissed him on the forehead and his arms rose weakly to embrace her. She used them to lever him up into a sitting position and he smiled falteringly at her.
"I came for the stone."
"The stone?" he echoed.
"Yes. Where is the stone?"
"No," he murmured.
"You must give it to me. It's for your own good."
"I need it."
"Just for a little while. Just while you rest."
He muttered something that might have included the word rest, but was unintelligible.
"Come on sweetie." She kissed him and he seemed to wake up a bit. "Tell me where the stone is."
"I have it," he said
"Yes. Please give it to me. Please? Just for a little while?"
"Very well."
Charissa cradled his head and gave him a big long kiss, ignoring his morning breath. "Where is it?"
He smiled and let out a sigh. "It's in the pouch around my neck."
Charissa lifted the leather thong from around his neck and opened the small pouch. She found the stone inside wrapped around a braided lock of her hair. She lifted the stone out, feeling a strange sense of guilt as she did so. She carefully tightened the pouch and placed the thong back around his neck. She laid him back down on his pallet with another long kiss and he slipped back into a peaceful sleep with a long happy sigh and a smile on his lips.
Charissa rose, pausing at the door to look back at Karux. She promised herself she would find a way to save him, that she would make everything up to him. She would make sure one way or another he would be happy again.
Then she left to find Amantis.
-=====|==
Karux woke from a deep sleep bathed in a warm relaxed glow. The perfume of Charissa's presence still hung in the air and the memory of her lips pressed against his still fresh. He smiled to himself and stretched.
She had asked about the stone.
He slapped at the pouch and could tell the stone was missing. He remembered she had asked for it, had wanted to borrow it for something, but what?
Amantis. She had talked about Amantis. She said he had wanted to help, but Karux knew better. Karux rose from his pallet and swayed dizzily. He had to find Charissa. He shrugged on a tunic and staggered out of the house.
The late afternoon sun hurt his eyes. He squinted around looking for Charissa or someone who might have seen her. As he circled around the houses, he came across Eiraena sitting on the ground playing in the dust. Her mother had somehow convinced her to wear a simple shift which had become caked with dirt. As Karux walked by, he noticed she had painstakingly stacked a dozen impossibly narrow piles of stones, each situated at the intersection of a complex arrangement of lines, a series of intersecting circles and angles inscribed in the dirt.
Karux froze at the sight. The design looked like a complex symbol that should represent something and he felt understanding flicker at the edge of his consciousness. Then Eiraena, chanting "Karu Karu Karu", slapped a pile down. She chanted "Chari Chari Chari" and slapped another pile down. She repeated "Karu Karu Karu Chari Chari Chari", smashing each pile of rocks and throwing them away, some to the left and others to the right.
A cloud covered the sun and Karux felt a chill run down his spine. He staggered away, glancing over his shoulder and found Nyrana at the keleos press, pressing nuts and collecting the oil in large stoneware jars. "Have you seen Charissa?"
At the question Nyrana bolted upright and blushed guiltily. "No," she blurted out.
He got much the same unconvincing response when he questioned some of the younger girls he came across. They said no and giggled annoyingly.
Growing frustrated, Karux ran his palm across his forehead. He felt feverish, yet his skin was cold and almost clammy. As he stood there, Macander came by carrying a practice stave. "Are you practicing today?" he asked, leaning dizzily against a sapling.
"Well Amantis called practice off for today, said he had something to do. Some of us are going to practice anyway."
"Called it off? He never misses practice. He's usually the one harassing anyone not participating. What does he have to do that is more important than practice?"
"I don't know, but I saw him walking towards the stoma with Charissa."
"Macander!" Nyrana shouted. "How dare you tell him?"
"Tell him what? What wasn't I supposed to tell him?"
"Thanks," Karux muttered and staggered away.
"Don't go," Nyrana called out after him. "You'll only regret it!"
Karux trudged forward, his vision narrowing to a gray tunnel as an ominous foreboding filled him. He passed through the korion, not seeing anyone, his whole world a confused mess of disjointed sensory perceptions. He didn't even see Pronos and Somek until he nearly walked into their crosses spears.
"Sorry," Pronos said. "Can't go in."
Karux staggered backwards and blinked at the stoma's entrance. "Why?"
"Amantis doesn't want to be disturbed."
"Why? What is he doing?"
Pronos and Somek shared knowing looks with each other and grinned goofily.
"What's going on?" Karux demanded, pushing forward. Somek stiff-armed him and Karux bounced back as if he had run into a boulder.
"We were told to do whatever was necessary to stop anyone from entering," Pronos said. "Don't make us hurt you."
Karux heard sounds like heavy breathing and a faint but frantic rustling coming from the opening. "Is there someone in there with him?"
Somek screwed up his face and simulated a series of pelvic thrusts.
"You really don't want to know," Pronos said. "Just walk away. It's for the best."
The rustling continued, accompanied by muffled grunts and gasping. Karux looked into Pronos and Somek's leering faces and understanding crashed down on him. Rage boiled up inside Karux, burning away his mental fog as he pictured Amantis and Charissa locked in a passionate embrace. He wanted to lash out at Pronos and Somek, break knees, smash crotches, crush throats and jab at their eyes...he knew his fury would carry him past these guards and he felt compelled to charge in and confront Amantis and Charissa.
Then his anger turned cold. How dare she? She'd said she loved him! How could she betray him like that—practically the minute she found out Amantis liked her!
Well if she could turn on him like that, he didn't want her. Amantis could have her, have the stone and have the whole cursed village as far as he was concerned. He turned and strode away. Though the ground wobbled a little under his feet, his head felt amazingly clear for the first time in a long time.
To the Void with all of them!