Broken World Book Four - The Staff of Law (21 page)

Talsy stumbled
closer. “Chanter!”

He spun, his
eyes widening. “No! Go back! Talsy, run!”

Talsy stopped,
confused by conflicting urges to reach him and at the same time
flee from the Torrak Jahar. Some of the Riders turned towards her,
raising their swords, their gruesome faces evoking the terrible
fear that froze her gut. Never had she been so afraid as when the
sickly light of their glowing eyes rested upon her. Icy tendrils of
terror gripped her heart and made it pound painfully, her scalp
prickled and her blood chilled. She stopped, knowing in that
instant what it was to be a rabbit pinned by the sharp eyes of a
hungry fox.

The air
swelled with the prickling tension of Mujar power. Black dust
danced in little whirling eddies, accompanied by the sound of
beating wings as Chanter invoked Ashmar. This time he called upon a
storm’s wild power, and the wind rose around them, tugged at her
hair, blinded her with stinging dust and pushed her away. Two
Riders sauntered towards her, ignoring the rising storm Chanter
summoned.

With amazing
speed, a vortex of spinning wind formed above him, swirling the
brown clouds into a tempest. The earth bucked, sending her
staggering back, and the tornado descended above the kneeling
Mujar. A Torrak Jahar stepped up behind him and struck him savagely
across the back of the head. Chanter crumpled, and the wind howled
away, shredding the clouds. The tornado died as swiftly as it had
been born.

“
No!” Talsy sobbed, stepping forward.

All her hope
vanished at that moment. Chanter lay like a broken doll, discarded
in the dirt by a spoilt child who had tired of playing with him.
Black dust settled on his skin and hair, and blood seeped down his
cheek in a narrow crimson line. To Talsy it seemed impossible that
so powerful a creature could be vanquished so easily, his power
snuffed out with a single blow. Even the humble Aggapae were not so
easily defeated, for they fought on behind her. The din of the
battle seemed unabated, yet Chanter’s fight was over because he
would not kill, not even to save himself. Despair gripped her heart
as she stared at the approaching Riders, reading her death in their
pitiless eyes. Everything she and Chanter had striven for seemed
doomed.

A shadow
passed over her, making her glance up. A daltar eagle swooped down
with a piercing scream and landed in front of her. A rush of wind
kicked up the dust again, and a man clad in a silver-studded black
jerkin, a pale green shirt and scuffed brown trousers faced the
Torrak Jahar, blocking their advance. The riders sniggered, and the
invocation of fire slammed down in a raging illusory inferno. The
Riders ignored it, continuing towards him. The stranger lifted his
hands.

Blue fire
exploded from his fingers and ripped into the Torrak Jahar with a
roaring crackle. The Riders staggered back, raised warping arms to
claw at the inferno and grimaced with surprise and horror. They
turned ruby-red and slumped into lava pools aglow with the souls
trapped in them. The steeds sagged, and the fire leapt to the
Riders who stood over Chanter. As they melted, the man swung to
face the battle, his arms extended. His fire razed the Riders,
reducing them to puddles of lava in moments.

The Aggapae
leapt away from their former foes, raising their arms to ward off
the heat. Their skins reddened and blistered, and their hair
crisped. The fire leapt from Rider to Rider, guided by its
wielder’s will. Kieran glanced around as his horse shied from the
spreading pools of glowing rock, and retreated with the rest to a
safe distance. Talsy stared at the man’s back, stunned by this
unheard of act by one who could only be Mujar. As the last of the
Torrak Jahar sagged, the man lowered his arms and turned to face
her.

She gasped,
raising a hand to her mouth. “Travain!”

His lips
twisted in a bitter smile. “Now we’re even, Mother.” He spat the
last word.

“
What do you mean?”

“
You gave me life, when others were against it. Not that I’m
grateful, but you did. You brought this monster into the world, and
now this monster has repaid that debt.”

“
Wait!” Talsy sprang after him as Travain turned away. The air
swelled, and she cried, “Travain! Drummer, wait!”

He swung
around. “Stop using that damned name!”

“
Please.” She held out her hands. “Don’t be angry. Don’t hate
me for what I did to you. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it. I
was wrong, and you’ve paid for my mistake. But right now, I thank
the gods that you were born.”

“
Because he can’t kill!” Travain shouted, stabbing a finger at
Chanter. “But I can! That makes me a monster in your eyes, yet he
would have let you die! Now you see what Mujar power can do, and I
don’t have a fraction of his! Why doesn’t he use it? Why didn’t he
save you? Why did he never love me?”

Travain’s
words revealed a lost little boy in an adult body who could not
understand why his father did not love him. She reached him in two
strides and gripped his arms, hanging on when he tried to pull
away. Anguish and unshed tears filled his eyes, and she realised
that, for all his size and apparent maturity, Travain was only six.
His Trueman psyche had not kept pace with his Mujar growth.

“
Oh, Travain.” She stroked his hair. “He does love you, he
always has. He just can’t show it. He can’t touch you. It’s a Mujar
thing. I don’t understand it, but it’s true.”

“
He can touch you!”

“
I’m Trueman; you’re half Mujar.”

“
He touched me once, when I was little. I remember!”

“
Yes, and you hurt him.”

“
I did?” Travain stared at her, turning his back on the
Aggapae, who were busy with their wounded and paid him no
heed.

Talsy cursed
her own stupidity. After Travain’s first act of violence, she had
spent long hours explaining what he was and how he should behave,
but had not explained what his father was, or why he avoided his
crossbreed son. Then again, she did not really know, and the
enormity of her omission weighed heavily on her conscience.

“
I’m sorry,” she said again. “I didn’t realise what you needed.
He can’t understand your needs, he’s Mujar.”

“
He never loved me! He thinks I’m a monster, and so do
you!”

“
No, we don’t think that, I swear it.”

“
He didn’t want me!”

She shook her
head. “He’s Mujar. They don’t raise their children like we do. It’s
not because of you! Please, try to understand, your father simply
doesn’t know how to be a father. I’ll try to explain it to you, or
I’ll get him to, but not now.” She gazed into his confused, angry
eyes. “We need your help. Will you heal the wounded?”

Travain
glanced around. “They hate me too.”

“
No one hates you. They’re afraid of you, so show them that
they’re wrong.”

“
Why should I?” A sneer crept back into his tone.

“
Why did you save me and your father? Because you’re not a bad
person, although you’ve tried hard to convince us that you are. Do
it for me.”

Travain
nodded, still looking mutinous and a little uncertain. After years
of sullenness and deliberate bad behaviour sparked by his encounter
with his father five years ago, doing good deeds did not come
easily to him. Talsy released him and hurried over to Chanter.
Kieran knelt beside him, and glanced up at her approach.

“
He’s out cold. That thing must have hit him hard enough to
crack his skull.”

“
We need water.”

Kieran nodded
and left to find some. Talsy jumped when she became aware of
Travain standing beside her, frowning down at his father. Chanter
lay curled on his side, blood oozing from the back of his head.
Travain stepped closer, but Talsy held him back.

“
No, stay away from him, at least until we know
why.”

His scowl
deepened. “He held three Powers when they hit him. Earth, wind and
fire. He could have obliterated them with a flick of his fingers.
Why didn’t he?”

“
Because he’s Mujar.”

“
I can barely hold two at once, and then I can’t do anything
with them.”

Talsy smiled
and patted his shoulder, awkward with him after so many years of
bitter estrangement. “He can control all four with ease. Perhaps
he’ll teach you how.”

He shook his
head. “No, he won’t. I kill.”

“
In this instance, I’m very glad you can.”

“
He’ll hate me for it.”

“
No he won’t. You saved us all.”

Kieran came
back with two water skins, kneeling beside Chanter again. Talsy
took the second skin and handed it to Travain. “Go and heal the
wounded.”

Travain stared
at it, his brow still wrinkled in a deep frown. For a moment she
thought that he would refuse, but then he turned and headed for the
Aggapae.

Chanter
convulsed as Kieran poured water over his head, and Talsy tore her
eyes from him to watch her son. Travain approached the wounded
Aggapae, who regarded him with deep distrust. His black scowl was
not reassuring, but when he poured water on their wounds and
touched them, they healed. She turned back to Kieran as he sat
Chanter up to free him from the Dolana.

Kieran jerked
his chin at Travain. “What’s with him?”

“
He’s not as bad as we all thought.” She knelt and wiped the
blood from Chanter’s cheek. “I’ve been a fool. I never realised
what he really needed. Imagine being the son of a demigod and
thinking your father didn’t love you.”

“
That’s his whole problem?”

Talsy nodded,
her eyes stinging. “Chanter’s only touched him once, and that was
to punish him. He wants his father to love him, that’s all. But
Chanter won’t go near him, like he won’t go near the young Mujar,
and I don’t know why.”

“
And that’s why he’s been such a shit?”

“
He’s been hurting, all his life. Hell, he’s only six. He’s
still a little boy.” She shook her head. “He looks like a man, so
we treated him like one. But all his pranks and sullenness were a
cry for attention. He wanted Chanter to notice him, but all we did
was shun him.”

Kieran
muttered, “Harsh.” He glanced over at the boy, who received
tentative pats on the back from his patients. “Chanter’s going to
eat crow now.”

“
Oh, don’t be silly, Chanter doesn’t understand him any more
than he understands his father.”

“
By the gods, you’ve got a real crackpot family.”

She smiled.
“But he saved us all. He couldn’t let us die.”

Kieran looked
at the cooling puddles of lava that surrounded them, still exuding
fierce heat that made them sweat. “He sure didn’t mess around.”

Talsy
shuddered. “Let’s move him away from here.”

“
I’ve got him.” Kieran scooped up the Mujar and strode away to
set him down where the air was cool. “I hope he wakes up. We don’t
need two comatose Mujar.”

“
Well, at least we’ve got Travain.”

“
If he stays.”

“
He’s been with us all along,” she said. “How else could he
have got here so fast when we needed him?”

“
And Chanter didn’t know?”

“
Apparently not. If he did, he didn’t say anything to
me.”

The Prince
went to help heal the wounded with the Starsword, and Talsy stayed
with Chanter. When the injured were all healed, they made camp a
short distance from the battleground. The Aggapae summoned and
unloaded the pack horses, which had stayed away from the battle.
They placed the young Mujar on a pile packs, and Chanter on
another. The Aggapae set to work digging graves for the fallen,
washing and arranging the dead for burial in solemn silence.

Many more
riderless horses neighed their loss to the uncaring winds, while
others whinnied for lost companions of their own race. Sixty-seven
riders and twenty-two horses had died in the battle, a heavy toll
for such a brief skirmish. Returning to the battlefield, Talsy
found Shan weeping beside a body, comforted by a grim Brin. The
dead warrior was Taff, a long-time friend of both. She left them to
mourn and searched for Travain, whom she found standing alone,
watching the men work.

He turned to
scowl at her. “How’s... Father?”

“
Still unconscious.” She smiled and took his hand, ignoring his
sullen expression. “Would you like to ask me some
questions?”

“
I’d like to ask him some.”

“
He might not answer you.”

“
Why?”

She sighed.
“It’s complicated. Sometimes I don’t understand him, either. I’ve
told you that Mujar don’t raise their young, haven’t I?” He nodded,
and she continued, “Chanter has no paternal instincts. To him,
you’re my son. He doesn’t feel any responsibility for you. Perhaps
it would have been better if I’d never told you he was your father,
then you wouldn’t have expected him to act like one. Also, you said
some things, when you were young. You called him names, so he
thinks you’re unchosen. Do you hate him?”

His eyes
narrowed as he considered this, and her heart sank. “I don’t know.
I always wanted him to talk to me, to teach me things, but instead
he looks at me like I’m a bug that just crawled out from under a
rock and shat on his lunch. He’s never given me a reason to like
him.”

“
No, he hasn’t, but he doesn’t hate you, he just... He thought
your birth was a mistake, and I think perhaps he’s a little wary of
you, because you have Mujar powers and a Trueman mind. He once told
me that a battle between two Mujar would tear the world apart, but
it would never happen because of the way they are, peaceful. I
think he wanted to avoid any kind of confrontation with you. He
thought you were violent. He also told me that you’d inherited the
Mujar rage, which you couldn’t control like he can, and that made
you hate all of us. Is that true?”