Azaria (7 page)

She leapt straight out from the cliff top, her arms outspread, uncertain if she’d clear Vulture Rock. Earlier, she'd been confident she would if she had enough speed, but now was terrified. Deep inside, she’d doubted her own courage. However now that she was in the air, Azaria realized she would clear the landmark rock easily.

As she soared past, she worried she might have jumped too far. The far side of the river was approaching fast.

But no.

As gravity began to dominate over her lateral momentum she realized she’d land almost exactly where she'd imagined she would. Just past the center of the deep pool. She pleaded for it to be deep enough. As she fell she began to anticipate the impact with the dark water of the pool. She was falling head first. She couldn't adjust now to land on her feet. It was too late. Azaria straightened her arms out in front of her, as if it was a normal dive and then closed her eyes.

Down below, her mother Zephia was waiting on the other side of the river, along with her son and mate and hundreds of others. Most were watching the northeastern incline waiting for the runners to come racing down, but she’d been eyeing a large hawk mother, circling above, hunting for river-meat. Zephia wasn't the only one watching. Hawks were majestic animals, sacred and bearers of tidings - usually welcome ones, but occasionally less so. When she saw a figure suddenly throw itself off the cliff she stared aghast, not believing her eyes. She gulped before opening her mouth to scream warning. As she realized the plunging form was her own daughter, the dread creep of death overpowered her. "Azaria!! Azerban! Azaria!!" was all she could shriek as she pointed upward and fell back.

Her mate looked up in the direction she was pointing and saw his beloved daughter spread eagle, floating in the air above Vulture Rock, plummeting to her doom. Others were also pointing now, some caught breathless and others screaming in horror. At first they thought she would smash into the giant vulture nests, but as she dropped past them they realized she would live until she hit water. They watched as she soared, mesmerized, a golden-brown eagle-woman falling to her end.

Azaria hit the water with great force. A magnificent splash rained back down upon the river bank. Zephia, still lying on the dusty path, had turned away, at first unable to watch, but returned her gaze just as her daughter hit, accompanied by a horrible smacking sound. She let out a deathly scream reserved only for mothers forced to watch their children perish.

Azerban's fatherly instincts took over and he raced into the water yelling his daughter’s name.
How did she fall off the cliff?
He hadn't yet reached the river, when he saw a head bob up. He sprinted toward it. His beloved Azaria would be dead, but he needed to retrieve her body.

But she wasn't dead. She was swimming, straight toward him. "Azaria! Azaria!" he continued to call, wading into the river to reach her.

Thank the Mother she's alive!

When he finally met her Azerban grasped her arm, but she shook him off. "I'm fine," was all she said as she splashed the rest of the way out and took off running toward Sunset Hill. The rest of the crowd was silent, speechless, only able to watch her pass.

"She's a bird! Azaria is a bird! Father, Azaria is a bird-runner!" Quzo yelled. Her little brother didn't realize it, but it was a name that would catch on quickly among the other youngsters, partly because he would spend the rest of that sun telling all his friends the amazing story of how his sister had swooped down from the top of High Cliff, hovered over Vulture Rock and then landed on the river, already running for the finish line before her feet touched the water.

As Azerban followed his daughter to the bank, he heard gasps and then another loud crash sounded behind him. He ripped his eyes from his daughter. Spinning around he was met by another huge spray. He instinctively knew another runner had followed his daughter and feared for that life as well. He swam out and saw a second head bob up in front of him. It was the Fox Camp girl. The one Izyl, the shapely Fox Camp Ta’araki, had helped raise when her parents had perished in that terrible tragedy so many winters ago. He grabbed onto her arm, helping her swim to the bank, amazed she’d survived the fall as well. It was then he realized his daughter hadn’t fallen – she’d jumped. Then he heard more screams. He bowed his head in dread before turning around again and looking up.
How many of these foolish children are going to follow her?
He saw Dogahn falling straight for him, feet first, arms careening wildly. He feared the young man might land on him, but no, Dogahn had barely cleared Vulture Rock and entered the water several paces deeper. Azerban swam out, desperately hoping the boy survived the fall too. He was relieved when Dogahn's head finally pierced the surface and started swimming for the shore, grinning wildly.

Yumineh looked to her right as she splashed out of the river. The crowd stood as still as the Great Temple stones she'd passed earlier, their maws agape. She saw runners coming down the incline, but ignored them. She knew Azaria had a huge lead. She could only hope the Boar Camp girl was wearied enough to catch her.

But Azaria wasn't tired anymore, in fact she was exhilarated. She'd survived and was now in the lead. She expected cheering when she swam out of the water, but everything was eerily muted. The ringing in her head drowned out all other sounds. Azaria entered the camp from the north. She ran past the feasting grounds, past the mud-brick shelters, and toward the path to Sunset Hill. No one would catch her. There was no chance. She didn't know Yumineh and Dogahn had imitated her suicide plunge. She thought all the other runners would be far behind, still on the decline, or maybe even atop High Cliff, mouths hanging, watching her finish the race first.

Yumineh ran her heart out, still not completely understanding what had happened. She’d been in total control, poised to take the race almost effortlessly and now Azaria was ahead of her. Her head was pounding, her legs numb. She felt nauseous. She’d never liked heights. The urge to gag was overwhelming. Deep down she knew she couldn't catch her Boar Camp rival, only watch helplessly as Azaria peaked Sunset Hill and ran between the finish stones.

The crowd, finally recovering from the shock of the unexpected drama, ran after Azaria and Yumineh and almost trampled Dogahn as he labored through the encampment and up Sunset Hill. Even some of the elderly were passing him.

Yumineh finished second and Dogahn third, although the two who'd been leading almost managed to catch up before he ran between the stones. They were completely baffled as to how the other three runners had managed to pass them. It was an explanation they would later listen to in awe, unbelieving, disappointed they'd missed it.

---

Azaria was exasperated. At first she’d allowed herself to glory in her achievement, basking in the praise. The burst of elation she’d gained from the jump and victory had overpowered her natural tendency to shy away from excessive attention. But as she and Daneel gathered with her mother in their shelter to prepare for the Feast, she'd already decided she'd had enough. Children had been following her around all sun, begging her to sprout wings and fly again or just sticking around in case she decided to without their prodding. And they weren't the only ones. Countless young men - and older ones - had approached. Many only wanted to congratulate her, but it quickly became clear some had other interests. Azaria wasn't good at flirting, she didn't understand all the subtleties yet, and was discovering she didn't like too much of it, especially when it came all at once. She was grateful Daneel, who took everything in stride, stuck with her through it all. Daneel, in fact, seemed to enjoy all the attention that suddenly came with being Azaria's best friend.

All sun long, Swan and Fox Camp members were coming up to re-introduce themselves. Azaria had never met so many people in so short a period. She did her best to remember all the names and ties, but it was too much. She’d forget one person's name as soon as the next approached her. To make it all worse, it seemed each new acquaintance had a host of friends and family members they wanted to introduce her to. Some of the mothers were even more aggressive than the impertinent men. She'd already received several dowry offers from pushy matriarchs who wanted to tie their sons to her. Thankfully, her own mother was also staying close and making sure she didn't get maneuvered into anything, speaking for her when Azaria became flustered. Zephia was shocked by some of the offers however, and against her better judgment, briefly considered the more extravagant ones before remembering her daughter was barely of age.

As the sun dropped, Azaria wasn't looking forward to the night's festivities nearly as much as she'd expected to. She wasn't sure she even wanted to attend now, if everyone was going to continue to behave as they had since the end of the race. But she knew at the very least she'd have to show up to receive her accommodation, and besides that, she was really looking forward to seeing Dogahn.

Back in her shelter with her mother and Daneel, Azaria vented her frustration. "I don't think I can leave, Mother. This is the only place I can find any peace. Look, there are children hovering outside, waiting for me to come out," she said as she peaked through the leather flaps.

"Don't you dare whine, young girl!!" her mother tore into her. "You asked for this with your reckless actions and now you
will
accept the consequences without complaint." Zephia had worn a stern face all sun, but was waiting until they were alone to reprimand her daughter. She didn't want to do it in front of Daneel, but Azaria's self-pity was too much to take.

"Yes, mother," Azaria whimpered. She’d suspected her mother was upset. This opening salvo confirmed her suspicions. She'd hoped making it clear she wasn’t enjoying the attention would dampen her mother's ire, but apparently it wasn't going to work that way.

"What could possibly have driven you insane enough to try something so stupid?" Zephia railed.

"I'm sorry, mother."

"I didn't ask if you were sorry. I asked what drove you to such foolishness!"

"I know, mother. I... I don't know. I'm sorry."

"What do you mean you don't know? That's not an answer. I asked you why you jumped off that rock!"

Azaria started to well up. She couldn't remember ever being so harshly handled by her mother, nor seeing her so irate. Not even Quzo had ever made her so angry. "I... I knew I could make it... I tried to swim to the bottom of the river earlier, but I couldn't reach-"

"Wait! What?" Zephia cut her off. "You planned this? You've been planning this all along? Did Azerban know about this?"

"What? No... Father didn't-"

"Daneel?! Did you know?" Zephia interrupted again, turning around.

Daneel had been sitting quietly on Azaria's furs, thinking of the different places she'd rather be, like fighting a pack of wolverines, or maybe at the bottom of the river. She wasn't at all prepared to be yelled at. "I... No... I..." she stammered.

Azaria lost control, tears trickling down her high cheeks. "M-Mother, D-daneel didn't know. Father didn't know," she stammered. "I-I thought of the idea moons ago, but I didn't tell anyone. I didn't know if I could do it. When we reached the path to High Cliff, I knew I couldn't beat Yumineh. She was too good. So I just decided. I wasn't sure if I would actually do it. But when I reached the top of the cliff, I just closed my eyes and jumped."

Seeing her daughter break down in front of her served to finally dim Zephia's ire. She really only needed a chance to vocalize the terror she'd experienced watching her only daughter plunge to what seemed like certain death. Now with it off her chest, the overpowering need to comfort her child took over. "Oh Azaria! Shhh girl. It's okay. It's okay... I'm sorry I got angry. I was just so scared. I thought I'd lost you..." As she spoke, her eyes dampened also.

"I know mother. I'm so sorry..." Azaria said, as a fresh stream of drops ran down.

Daneel thought this was the perfect opportunity to make her exit. "I'll just leave you two alone," she whispered.

"No, don't you go anywhere Daneel, come here," Zephia said with a sob. "The Mother knows you've been a part of this family since the morning you and Azaria first played together. If I didn't think of you as a daughter too, I never would have yelled at you." She finally burst into tears also, holding one of her arms out to embrace her daughter's best friend.

Daneel sobbed as she wrapped her arms around the other two women, partly because their tears evoked her own, but mostly from Zephia's heartfelt and unexpected admission.

The three women were still weeping when the leather flaps swung open and Azerban entered with his son. Quzo walked in nonchalantly, as if nothing unusual was occurring, but Azerban stopped in his tracks. He'd been busy with the other Ta'araki preparing for the night's ceremonies and had little sense what the three women had been going through. "Whoa, Quzo," he whispered. "Maybe we should leave these women alone."

"No, it's okay. They're jus' bein' girls," Quzo exclaimed in his most normal voice, setting the three women off in giggles, which relaxed Azerban enough to come all the way in.

"Is everything okay here?" he asked. He was as angry with his daughter as he knew his mate was. He thought he had a pretty good idea of what might have transpired, but was still curious.

"Yes, Quzo is correct. We were just sharing a womanly moment," Zephia replied as she reached out for her boy. "Come here, my son."