Broken World Book Four - The Staff of Law (22 page)

Travain gazed
across the battleground with a distracted air. “Rage,” he muttered.
“Yes, perhaps I have. I’ve always been angry, with you, and him,
and everyone who looked at me like I was a freak. The children who
wouldn’t play with me, the animals that ran from me. Your love and
sympathy weren’t enough. I blamed you for making me different. I
was lonely and angry and I wanted him to notice me. That’s why I
burnt you when you wanted to punish me for burning the cook. I knew
he’d come to help you. I didn’t burn you very much.”

Remembering
the power of his fire during the battle, Talsy nodded. “Why did you
save us?”

“
When you got angry before you left the valley to find the
trapped Mujar, you said some things, about me, and your own life,
that made me realise that I wasn’t the only one suffering. You said
your death would change nothing, and that you’d failed. I didn’t
want you to die, or him to suffer, so I followed you. I didn’t
intend to do anything. I’ve always been afraid to venture into the
chaos, but when you faced it unafraid, without power, it... shamed
me. Then when I saw him trying to sacrifice himself to save you, I
knew I could do what he couldn’t.”

She squeezed
his hand. “He’ll be proud of you.”

“
You think so?”

“
He should. I know I am, but no one can predict a
Mujar.”

Travain
scowled and pulled his hand from hers. “I wish I was an ordinary
Trueman, not a freakish crossbreed.”

“
An ordinary Trueman wouldn’t have been able to save us. Blame
me for your strange parentage, not Chanter.”

“
But he’s to blame as much as you, yet he won’t accept
me.”

“
No, he’s not.” Talsy found a rock to settle on and launched
into an explanation of his conception and her reasons for it. At
the end of her halting monologue, he stared at the ground. She
waited for his reaction, but then Kieran came over to inform her
that Chanter was awake. Talsy left Travain to ponder her words and
hurried back to the camp. Chanter sat on a pack, clasping his
head.

She knelt to
peer into his face. “Are you all right?”

“
Apart from a splitting headache,” he groaned.

“
Do you want some water?”

“
No, it won’t help.” He rubbed his brow and sighed. “My injury
is healed, but it’ll take a little while for my brain to get over
its outrage.” He glanced around, wincing. “What
happened?”

“
Travain saved us.” Talsy’s heart swelled with
pride.

“
Travain?” He looked puzzled. “Why?”

“
Because we’re his parents, silly. He couldn’t let me die, or
you suffer. He’s not unchosen, just angry and confused.” She
explained what had happened, and what Travain had said to her
afterwards. Chanter frowned, his eyes roaming over her
face.

At the end of
her story he asked, “Do you understand this?”

“
Of course, it’s pure Trueman emotions.”

“
Good, because I don’t.”

She sighed,
smiling. “Because you’re a damned Mujar! He just wants you to love
him, that’s all.”

“
But I do, just as I -”

“
Just as you love everything, I know,” she interrupted. “But he
needs more than that. He needs your guidance and
friendship.”

“
He has no Wish -”

“
He’s your son!” She quelled her angry outburst with an effort,
taking a deep breath. “Okay, you don’t relate to that, but you owe
him now. He saved you from the Torrak Jahar.”

He nodded.
“Yes, that’s true.”

“
Good.” She relaxed, relieved by his acquiescence. “His wish is
-”

“
That’s not for you to decide. Let him ask.”

“
All right.” Rising to her feet, she glanced over at the spot
where she had left Travain, but the black expanse was empty save
for the toiling Aggapae. “Where is he?”

“
He flew off,” Kieran said.

“
Damn!” Talsy swung away, scanning the skies. “Maybe he needs
time to think about what I told him.”

“
That’s one very confused kid,” Kieran commented, and she
silently agreed, but it was hardly surprising considering the
conflicts he had to deal with. The one person who could really help
him was his father, but, true to Mujar nature, Chanter was
singularly disinterested in Travain’s plight. There was certainly
no malice in his indifference, only a complete lack of
understanding of Trueman emotions, so he failed to see the problem
or what he could do to help. Talsy resolved to speak to Travain and
explain how to use his Wish, lest he ask the wrong questions and
receive inscrutable Mujar answers.

They camped on
the plains for the remainder of the day, giving the Aggapae time to
see to their dead and recover from the battle. Talsy worried about
Travain, and kept an eye on the sky until it grew dark.

The next day,
they trudged onwards across the plain, drained by the sorrow of
their loss. The Aggapae had been reduced by almost half, and over a
hundred riderless horses followed them in a forlorn herd. Chanter
took wing once more to guide them, refusing Talsy’s plea to search
for Travain.

The chaos
continued to take its toll. Chaos beasts and the ever-present
danger of the tainted Powers killed ten more men and four horses.
One man died lighting a campfire that exploded in his face, another
was engulfed during the night by living stone, dead when they found
him in the morning. A third fell prey to a manant attack, carried
off and killed before Chanter could singe the beasts and rob them
of flight. Talsy’s longing for the valley’s safety grew to
monumental proportions, and at night unwanted tears of tiredness
and dejection squeezed from her stinging eyes.

One last
ordeal befell them before they reached the valley, in the form of a
blast of hot wind that brought a strange, foul smell upon it. The
bad wind burnt their eyes and throats, stung their noses and made
them cough and sometimes retch at the acrid stench. The terrible
heat made men and horses alike sweat, dried their mouths and caused
a dreadful thirst that drained their water supplies. Many wrapped
cloths around their faces to try to ward off the stink, but this
helped little, and Talsy found that it only made her
claustrophobic. Chanter would do nothing to help, since the wind
was not really harmful and stopping it meant wielding the corrupted
Powers.

When at last
the mountains that guarded their valley loomed in the distance, a
great sigh of relief went through the chosen, and the horses found
a little more energy to hurry homewards. Chanter’s wall parted, and
they rode into the tranquillity and normality of the green vale. A
tumultuous welcome awaited them within its gentle slopes. The
chosen rushed out to greet the returning warriors with flagons of
wine, sweet pastries and warm bread.

The Aggapae
veered off to join their people in the tent village on the plains,
jumping from their steeds to sweep wives and sweethearts into their
arms, the horses neighing joyful greetings to the mares. Nort
strutted proudly into his herd, welcoming the whickers of his mares
with glad squeals. While all this excitement was going on, a
prelude to the sadness that would follow when the Aggapae counted
their losses, Talsy, Kieran and the few surviving chosen trudged
the last few miles to the village that nestled against the side of
the valley, accompanied by those who had come to meet them. There
they were accorded a hero’s welcome, hugged and kissed by friends
and relatives. Sheera hugged Talsy until she squeaked in protest
and Shern kissed her soundly on both cheeks. Kieran was the least
approachable, for he carried the comatose young Mujar curled in his
arms like a child.

That night
they placed him on a bed, and Sheera clucked over him and spent
most of the night repairing his torn clothes. Talsy and Kieran
retired to their beds as soon as they had eaten, too tired to share
their story with those eager to hear it, or even to worry about
where Travain or Chanter had disappeared to.

The following
morning, Kieran carried the young Mujar down to the lake. Talsy
went with him, hoping for a sign of Chanter or Travain. When they
reached the lake, she gazed into its depths, glimpsing an
occasional silver flash of a fish.

Kieran looked
down at his burden. “I suppose I just chuck him in?”

“
I think so.”

“
Good thing he can’t drown.”

Talsy smiled
at this incongruous comment. The tall warrior shifted his burden,
swung him once, and hurled him into the calm water. The young Mujar
sank like a stone, trailing silver bubbles. When the bubbles
stopped and the lake regained its glassy surface, they wandered
back to the castle. Talsy paused in the doorway to trace the Mujar
mark in the rock, wishing she could remember the day Chanter had
raised its sheer walls from the valley’s bedrock. She had been
carrying Travain at the time, however, and the events of those
months were blurred and faint in her memory.

Chapter Nine

Three days
later, Chanter appeared and stayed for two days, basking in
Sheera’s delighted pampering. He left the day Travain returned, as
if he sensed his son’s impending arrival. Talsy spent many hours
trying to explain to the boy how he should word his Wish, but
Travain appeared self-absorbed and distant.

Hoping that he
had at least listened, she gave up bombarding him with advice and
concentrated on trying to re-establish the bond she had lost. This
proved just as difficult, for he seemed to regard her attempts at
friendship with distrust, although he was no longer so rude. After
four days he left, and Talsy wondered about the Mujar in the lake,
wishing Chanter would return to be there when he emerged. Every
day, she spent several hours on the shore, searching for some sign
of his impending emergence.

Law dreamt
that he was back in the sea, lying on a soft, muddy bottom,
surrounded by the pure glitter of untainted Shissar. In his dream,
his limbs were no longer stiff with the creeping sickness of
corrupted Dolana. The pleasant dream never changed, and he pondered
his previous dreams, of jolting sensations and the touch of tainted
Powers, but those had stopped.

The Dolana
beneath him gleamed pure silver, and little fish nibbled at his
skin. The golden light had retreated to the back of his mind, where
it crouched like a slumbering beast, ready to pounce at the first
touch of corruption. As time passed, he wondered about the never
ending dream, strange in its unchanging monotony. Since Mujar did
not get bored, he found the relaxing environment quite comfortable,
not wishing to wake into the hellish world of torture he had left
behind.

One day a fish
brushed against him, startling him into an involuntary movement,
and he realised that he could control this dream. Fascinated, he
moved some more, discovering the joy of swimming in the clear
water, and explored his environment. He found that the water was
fresh and the lake quite small, filled with fish. Changing his
shape to that of a sleek otter, he chased the fish playfully,
revelling in his freedom.

Law grew
bolder, and surfaced to explore the shore, which was as untainted
as the water and mud at the bottom of the lake. A nearby forest was
rich with the gentle power of a young Kuran, whose presence
reassured him. He spent more time on the shore, enjoying the warmth
of the sun and the peaceful birdsong. He wondered if this idyll was
a gift from Antanar, to keep his children from suffering. Sometimes
Lowmen came to the lake with children who shrieked as they played
in the water, while the adults talked, or caught a few fish for
their supper. If any glimpsed the blind otter, none bothered him,
and he became less afraid of them. Once again, Law was tempted by
thoughts of cooked food and a soft bed, and, since this was a
dream, he wondered if any harm could come to him.

Talsy
discovered the blind otter one day as she wandered along the shore,
gazing hopefully into the water. Its eyes were sealed shut, and she
wondered how it survived. Moved by its plight, she brought food for
it and left it on the shore, for the shy beast slid into the water
when she approached. Every day she brought food, and sometimes hid
in the bushes to watch it eat. Two weeks had passed since the young
Mujar had been flung into the lake, but Chanter could not tell her
when he would emerge, only saying that he would when he was
ready.

Law ate the
fish the woman left, curious about her reasons. He knew she was a
woman from her size and scent, and that, too, allayed his fears. A
woman had never harmed him, and he still remembered Letta’s soft
hands and good cooking. The strange woman seemed well-intentioned,
and he let her watch him eat to show his appreciation, although raw
fish was not really to his taste. Each day, he allowed her to come
a little closer, until he let her put the food before him and ate
it while she sat nearby.

One day she
touched him, making him start, but she only stroked him and spoke
soothing words. Law decided that if the people in his dream were
kind and gentle there was little point in hiding his identity from
them. Still, he was wary of being caught again, knowing now the
danger of spears. The fact that the girl did not have one reassured
him, but, having sensed the hatred of the men who had attacked him
in his forest, he did not allow that to lull him too much.

Talsy strolled
down to the lake for her daily meeting with the tame otter, well
pleased that the creature had become used to her and no longer
scuttled away at her approach. She found the sleek animal basking
on a log and sat down close by, placing her offering of fish next
to it. The otter raised its head, turning towards her. She wondered
if she should catch it and try to find out why it was blind, maybe
heal it if she could. Noticing that the otter seemed uninterested
in the food, she shoved it closer.