Awakening by Lara Morgan
He stood at the bottom of the stairs. The Guide Circle’s meeting place was a small, round cave set deep inthe rock of the Jalwalah’s Well. Warm steam rose from hot springs at the back, and light fell in a greenish hue from the oil lamps set in the wall.
The six remaining members of the Circle sat on cushioned stools of rock around a central low stone, sweat shining on their faces. The stool next to Nevan was empty: Haldane’s place. Tallis’s throat closed up as he looked at it and he made himself watch the Dreamer instead as she went to take her place at the right of Karnit, next to her heart mate Thadin. The warrior’s shaved head shone dully in the light and he gave Tallis a hard stare as he met his gaze. Tallis looked away. Like all the clan men, Thadin hunted but he was also chief of the warriors and had won them many an inter-clan battle. He had never had much liking for Haldane, or for him.
The other members of the Circle: Miram, Nevan and Crull, watched him impassively.
‘Sit.’ Karnit pointed to the stone in the centre of their gathering. Without a word, he did as he was told. His heart thudding, he faced them. He could feel the dark eyes of the huntress Miram on him. She was a tall, strong woman and he had always thought of her as fair. He hoped she judged him tonight with her heart.
After he was seated she rose to speak. ‘We are here to lay judgment upon Tallis, son of our clan, blood of our blood.’
Her voice was low and clear and his guts twisted at her words. He was not of their blood, not now, not ever.
‘He has spoken ancient words and has been charged with communing with serpents, an action against clan law. As set down by Rhodin, two thousand years ago: that way lays danger and death and never shall it be tolerated in this clan.’ Her voice rose at the last and she paused for a moment before adding, ‘A life was lost, yet many were saved. It has been the task of this Circle to decide if this man is still worthy to be called a son of the Jalwalah. Tallis, do you have any reply?’
He drew a shaky breath. What could he say? He hardly knew himself what had happened. How could he explain it to them? If he told them of his feelings, of the shivering wrongness inside, how could that help him? He looked at Karnit. The leader’s gaze was hard and pitiless. He did not think that anything he could say would sway him.
‘I don’t remember much of what happened,’ he spoke slowly. ‘The serpents came. I was afraid. They were all around us, attacking, lunging with their claws, shrieking . . . one of them grabbed my father . . .’ He stopped and swallowed, trying to push down the lump that had risen in his throat. ‘It pulled him away and . . . something came over me. I was angry . . . my father was bleeding . . . I spoke then there was blackness. I remember no more.’ He stared at the ground, feeling their eyes upon him.
For a moment there was silence then Miram said, ‘Thank you’. She turned and addressed the rest of the Circle. ‘We have been here many hours debating, and still have reached no consensus. We brought Tallis here in hope his words would help our decision. We have heard them, but now I say we should ask the Guides. I say we ask the Dreamer to search for an answer, for who knows, perhaps it was the Guides who gave these ancient words to our clansman.’
Tallis felt a flare of hope. Could Miram’s words be true? It seemed an impossible thing, and yet he wished it were so. He looked up at Karnit from under his lashes, but his hope faltered under the leader’s hard gaze.
‘I do not doubt the Guides’ power.’ Karnit’s scratched, deep voice came from the shadows of his seat. ‘But I doubt their influence in this boy, who is not even wholly of this clan.’
‘Karnit!’ Shila exclaimed, but he ignored her.
‘I saw him. He looked the beast in the eye and spoke words it understood – ancient words.’ He turned his gaze to the Dreamer. ‘He has the touch of the Fifth Guide on him.’
Shila’s face drained of colour and the rest of the Circle became utterly still. Tallis felt as though all the breath had been sucked from his body. Enocia: the Fifth Guide, the thief of free will. The Outcast.
‘He is too dangerous to be allowed to stay,’ Karnit said.
The loud drip of water in the springs echoed in the cave as all members of the Circle stared at the old hunter, their faces registering shock. Even Thadin looked taken aback. Shila, her face white and her chin high, rose to speak, but a deep voice suddenly echoed through the cave stopping her words.
‘Circle!’
In a daze, Tallis turned to see a bare-chested man striding down the steps from the entrance, followed closely by one of Thadin’s warriors.
‘Who disturbs us?’ Karnit’s face was fierce.
‘Forgive me, leader,’ the warrior said. ‘I could not refuse him entry, he carried this.’ He held up a hard baked disc of red clay imprinted with the outline of the eye of Sabut. A peace token, it was used by the clans to allow messengers to approach an enemy for consul unmolested.
Karnit’s lips twitched in disdain as he saw it, but he beckoned the man forward. ‘Speak, then.’
Tall and well muscled, the intruder had a wide jaw and thick lips and his head was shaved leaving a thin strip of cropped dark hair across his head from ear to ear. He approached Karnit, bowed his head and spread his arms wide. ‘I have no weapon and come for the good of all clans.’
‘Since when do the Raknah care about other clans?’ Thadin said.
The man ignored him. ‘I am Krald, First Warrior of the Raknah. Are you head of this clan?’ He addressed his words to Karnit.
The old hunter nodded, his eyes narrowed.
‘I bring you news of an enemy that kills regardless of clan. Two days past, serpents attacked one of our hunting parties. They killed all but one of our men. He dragged himself back to our Well holding his flesh together. He told me of the attack before Kaa claimed him.’
Karnit stared at him, his face betraying nothing at the news. ‘Are you sure?’
Krald’s face darkened. ‘He was my son. He would not have lied to me. The Raknah are not Ja . . .’
Thadin made a sound deep in his throat and Krald stopped, the effort not to speak obvious.
Karnit was unmoved. ‘Many have lost sons. Many Jalwalah have lost sons to the hand of the Raknah.’
‘And many Raknah have given their sons in battle with the Jalwalah,’ Krald retorted. ‘But these men did not go to Kaa in honour fighting for clan! They were taken by a beast that knew no honour, that cut them down as though they were meat for its table.’
Karnit said nothing and around him the others sat tensely watching.
‘I see you have sent one of your own to Kaa.’ Krald swung around to look at the others. His gaze swept over Tallis and beyond to Haldane’s empty seat.
‘And one of your Circle. How was he taken? Was it the same beasts?’ He looked back at Karnit. ‘I think you already know of the beasts.’
‘We will not share the loss of one of our own with a Raknah,’ Karnit spat the word. ‘You will go now, while you still stand unmarked.’ He nodded his head at Thadin who moved a step toward the warrior, his hand on his knife.
Krald gave a twisted smile and nodded. ‘As you say, Leader. But first I will tell you why I came. I was visited by men from both the Shalneef and the Baal. They too have suffered similar attacks. We suspect it is the same throughout our lands. We are calling a Gathering to unite the clans. I have come to give you this missive: we meet at Sabut’s Well in three days. It is your choice.’
He nodded once at Karnit then turned and left, disappearing up the stairs, escorted by the warrior.
There was a long silence after they had gone.
‘A Gathering,’ Shila said, sitting slowly.
‘There has not been a Gathering in more than fifty years,’ Miram said.
‘How can we trust him?’ Thadin looked at Karnit. ‘He is Raknah, he could be leading us into a trap.’
‘No,’ Shila said. ‘He carried the token. Even the Raknah would not misuse that. And he was mourning for his son. He spoke true.’
‘He may only have spoken the truth of his son’s death. He could still be preparing a trap for us, the Raknah cannot be trusted!’
‘But at least now we know we are not the only clan to have been victim to these beasts,’ Crull spoke. ‘He said other clans have also been attacked. I think this changes how we decide Tallis’s fate. We must consider attending this Gathering.’
‘Enough!’ Karnit snapped. ‘Attacks on other clans do not change what Tallis did. And as for the Gathering, we must think carefully on exposing ourselves to our enemies, not rush in like muthu in mating season!’
Crull’s face turned a dark red. ‘I did not advise that we rush in, only that we consider that it may serve us to find out what the other clans know. If the beasts killed an entire Raknah hunting party we have cause to be concerned. The Raknah are foul dogs, but they are fierce fighters.’
‘Crull is right.’ Nevan weighed in. ‘We cannot turn our back on this we . . .’
‘Silence!’ Karnit cut him off.’ We will decide on the Gathering later, but first,’ he pointed to Tallis, ‘we must settle this matter. Let us all vote on what we gathered for.’ He folded his arms and stood, legs spread, surveying them all. ‘What say you all, do we cast this man out?’
‘I do not think we should make our vote in front of him,’ Miram said. Karnit slowly turned to her.
‘We will do as I see fit.’ He held her gaze. ‘If he has friends or enemies he should know them. Now, how do you vote?’
Miram’s full lips tightened. ‘No. I say no. He shall stay.’
‘As do I,’ Crull echoed, a challenge in his gaze.
‘I say yes.’ Thadin’s lip curled as he looked at Tallis and Karnit turned his gaze on the youngest member of the circle, Nevan. The dark-haired hunter looked worried.
‘I am concerned by what we have heard.’ He did not look at the leader as he spoke. ‘But still I will not vote to cast him out. Lives were saved.’
Karnit’s mouth hardened into a thin line as he turned to the Dreamer.
‘Shila? What do the Guides tell you?’
The Dreamer looked down at Tallis, her pale eyes unreadable. He could not help but hold his breath. Shila held his fate in her hand. That Karnit would vote to cast him out he had no doubt. Shila could change that.
The six remaining members of the Circle sat on cushioned stools of rock around a central low stone, sweat shining on their faces. The stool next to Nevan was empty: Haldane’s place. Tallis’s throat closed up as he looked at it and he made himself watch the Dreamer instead as she went to take her place at the right of Karnit, next to her heart mate Thadin. The warrior’s shaved head shone dully in the light and he gave Tallis a hard stare as he met his gaze. Tallis looked away. Like all the clan men, Thadin hunted but he was also chief of the warriors and had won them many an inter-clan battle. He had never had much liking for Haldane, or for him.
The other members of the Circle: Miram, Nevan and Crull, watched him impassively.
‘Sit.’ Karnit pointed to the stone in the centre of their gathering. Without a word, he did as he was told. His heart thudding, he faced them. He could feel the dark eyes of the huntress Miram on him. She was a tall, strong woman and he had always thought of her as fair. He hoped she judged him tonight with her heart.
After he was seated she rose to speak. ‘We are here to lay judgment upon Tallis, son of our clan, blood of our blood.’
Her voice was low and clear and his guts twisted at her words. He was not of their blood, not now, not ever.
‘He has spoken ancient words and has been charged with communing with serpents, an action against clan law. As set down by Rhodin, two thousand years ago: that way lays danger and death and never shall it be tolerated in this clan.’ Her voice rose at the last and she paused for a moment before adding, ‘A life was lost, yet many were saved. It has been the task of this Circle to decide if this man is still worthy to be called a son of the Jalwalah. Tallis, do you have any reply?’
He drew a shaky breath. What could he say? He hardly knew himself what had happened. How could he explain it to them? If he told them of his feelings, of the shivering wrongness inside, how could that help him? He looked at Karnit. The leader’s gaze was hard and pitiless. He did not think that anything he could say would sway him.
‘I don’t remember much of what happened,’ he spoke slowly. ‘The serpents came. I was afraid. They were all around us, attacking, lunging with their claws, shrieking . . . one of them grabbed my father . . .’ He stopped and swallowed, trying to push down the lump that had risen in his throat. ‘It pulled him away and . . . something came over me. I was angry . . . my father was bleeding . . . I spoke then there was blackness. I remember no more.’ He stared at the ground, feeling their eyes upon him.
For a moment there was silence then Miram said, ‘Thank you’. She turned and addressed the rest of the Circle. ‘We have been here many hours debating, and still have reached no consensus. We brought Tallis here in hope his words would help our decision. We have heard them, but now I say we should ask the Guides. I say we ask the Dreamer to search for an answer, for who knows, perhaps it was the Guides who gave these ancient words to our clansman.’
Tallis felt a flare of hope. Could Miram’s words be true? It seemed an impossible thing, and yet he wished it were so. He looked up at Karnit from under his lashes, but his hope faltered under the leader’s hard gaze.
‘I do not doubt the Guides’ power.’ Karnit’s scratched, deep voice came from the shadows of his seat. ‘But I doubt their influence in this boy, who is not even wholly of this clan.’
‘Karnit!’ Shila exclaimed, but he ignored her.
‘I saw him. He looked the beast in the eye and spoke words it understood – ancient words.’ He turned his gaze to the Dreamer. ‘He has the touch of the Fifth Guide on him.’
Shila’s face drained of colour and the rest of the Circle became utterly still. Tallis felt as though all the breath had been sucked from his body. Enocia: the Fifth Guide, the thief of free will. The Outcast.
‘He is too dangerous to be allowed to stay,’ Karnit said.
The loud drip of water in the springs echoed in the cave as all members of the Circle stared at the old hunter, their faces registering shock. Even Thadin looked taken aback. Shila, her face white and her chin high, rose to speak, but a deep voice suddenly echoed through the cave stopping her words.
‘Circle!’
In a daze, Tallis turned to see a bare-chested man striding down the steps from the entrance, followed closely by one of Thadin’s warriors.
‘Who disturbs us?’ Karnit’s face was fierce.
‘Forgive me, leader,’ the warrior said. ‘I could not refuse him entry, he carried this.’ He held up a hard baked disc of red clay imprinted with the outline of the eye of Sabut. A peace token, it was used by the clans to allow messengers to approach an enemy for consul unmolested.
Karnit’s lips twitched in disdain as he saw it, but he beckoned the man forward. ‘Speak, then.’
Tall and well muscled, the intruder had a wide jaw and thick lips and his head was shaved leaving a thin strip of cropped dark hair across his head from ear to ear. He approached Karnit, bowed his head and spread his arms wide. ‘I have no weapon and come for the good of all clans.’
‘Since when do the Raknah care about other clans?’ Thadin said.
The man ignored him. ‘I am Krald, First Warrior of the Raknah. Are you head of this clan?’ He addressed his words to Karnit.
The old hunter nodded, his eyes narrowed.
‘I bring you news of an enemy that kills regardless of clan. Two days past, serpents attacked one of our hunting parties. They killed all but one of our men. He dragged himself back to our Well holding his flesh together. He told me of the attack before Kaa claimed him.’
Karnit stared at him, his face betraying nothing at the news. ‘Are you sure?’
Krald’s face darkened. ‘He was my son. He would not have lied to me. The Raknah are not Ja . . .’
Thadin made a sound deep in his throat and Krald stopped, the effort not to speak obvious.
Karnit was unmoved. ‘Many have lost sons. Many Jalwalah have lost sons to the hand of the Raknah.’
‘And many Raknah have given their sons in battle with the Jalwalah,’ Krald retorted. ‘But these men did not go to Kaa in honour fighting for clan! They were taken by a beast that knew no honour, that cut them down as though they were meat for its table.’
Karnit said nothing and around him the others sat tensely watching.
‘I see you have sent one of your own to Kaa.’ Krald swung around to look at the others. His gaze swept over Tallis and beyond to Haldane’s empty seat.
‘And one of your Circle. How was he taken? Was it the same beasts?’ He looked back at Karnit. ‘I think you already know of the beasts.’
‘We will not share the loss of one of our own with a Raknah,’ Karnit spat the word. ‘You will go now, while you still stand unmarked.’ He nodded his head at Thadin who moved a step toward the warrior, his hand on his knife.
Krald gave a twisted smile and nodded. ‘As you say, Leader. But first I will tell you why I came. I was visited by men from both the Shalneef and the Baal. They too have suffered similar attacks. We suspect it is the same throughout our lands. We are calling a Gathering to unite the clans. I have come to give you this missive: we meet at Sabut’s Well in three days. It is your choice.’
He nodded once at Karnit then turned and left, disappearing up the stairs, escorted by the warrior.
There was a long silence after they had gone.
‘A Gathering,’ Shila said, sitting slowly.
‘There has not been a Gathering in more than fifty years,’ Miram said.
‘How can we trust him?’ Thadin looked at Karnit. ‘He is Raknah, he could be leading us into a trap.’
‘No,’ Shila said. ‘He carried the token. Even the Raknah would not misuse that. And he was mourning for his son. He spoke true.’
‘He may only have spoken the truth of his son’s death. He could still be preparing a trap for us, the Raknah cannot be trusted!’
‘But at least now we know we are not the only clan to have been victim to these beasts,’ Crull spoke. ‘He said other clans have also been attacked. I think this changes how we decide Tallis’s fate. We must consider attending this Gathering.’
‘Enough!’ Karnit snapped. ‘Attacks on other clans do not change what Tallis did. And as for the Gathering, we must think carefully on exposing ourselves to our enemies, not rush in like muthu in mating season!’
Crull’s face turned a dark red. ‘I did not advise that we rush in, only that we consider that it may serve us to find out what the other clans know. If the beasts killed an entire Raknah hunting party we have cause to be concerned. The Raknah are foul dogs, but they are fierce fighters.’
‘Crull is right.’ Nevan weighed in. ‘We cannot turn our back on this we . . .’
‘Silence!’ Karnit cut him off.’ We will decide on the Gathering later, but first,’ he pointed to Tallis, ‘we must settle this matter. Let us all vote on what we gathered for.’ He folded his arms and stood, legs spread, surveying them all. ‘What say you all, do we cast this man out?’
‘I do not think we should make our vote in front of him,’ Miram said. Karnit slowly turned to her.
‘We will do as I see fit.’ He held her gaze. ‘If he has friends or enemies he should know them. Now, how do you vote?’
Miram’s full lips tightened. ‘No. I say no. He shall stay.’
‘As do I,’ Crull echoed, a challenge in his gaze.
‘I say yes.’ Thadin’s lip curled as he looked at Tallis and Karnit turned his gaze on the youngest member of the circle, Nevan. The dark-haired hunter looked worried.
‘I am concerned by what we have heard.’ He did not look at the leader as he spoke. ‘But still I will not vote to cast him out. Lives were saved.’
Karnit’s mouth hardened into a thin line as he turned to the Dreamer.
‘Shila? What do the Guides tell you?’
The Dreamer looked down at Tallis, her pale eyes unreadable. He could not help but hold his breath. Shila held his fate in her hand. That Karnit would vote to cast him out he had no doubt. Shila could change that.
But would she? She was Dreamer of the clan, their conduit to the Guides, and her decision would be directed by them. Would the Guides still want one who did not carry the blood of their clan? He waited, his heart thudding against his ribs.
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