Doira'Liim (The Beautiful Whisper of the Goddess Saga) (3 page)

“Your mind drifts to the Esu?

    Arizira lowered her eyes and looked into the faded purple of the older woman. “Yes, the stories you told me as a child have proven not to be myth at all, but fact.”

    Cynra smiled again and her drawn up fingers played with the necklace about her neck. “Not myth at all,” she said, more to herself. Arizira looked at her more closely and furrowed her brow. “You hold some bit of information.” The words, though a question, appeared more a statement in their delivery.

    Cynra turned back to look at her and her old eyes were alight with a mischief that would have matched Co’ta. “Perhaps I do, but I shall hold onto it a little while longer. The hunters have returned and their news will be ill-received.”

             
                                                        *  *  *  *  *  *

    Arizira followed Cynra and several other important members of the tribe into
Rae’kir
and settled around the base of the tree. A protruding section, slightly elevated above the rest of those in attendance, held Talyn, the
Nai’iris
.

“Silence,” Talyn said as the last of the Elders and hunters made their way into
Rae’kir.
“What news do you bring on the matter of the day walkers?”

    Her question was addressed to a tall, fair-skinned hunter in the center of the tree. The woman was taller than most other Arnira and her hair was pure silver. Eyes of an emerald green shade were slightly slanted and gave her a haughty expression. Her green and brown forest garb was beautifully decorated, and a large curved yew bow was held in her right hand.

    “The day walkers have come from the South, just as Arizira said. They are in the early stages of setting up a more permanent settlement. I would guess they have been in the valley no more than fourteen of their day cycles. Myth they may have been thought, but that myth has come alive again and our borders are no longer safe.”

    Voices sprang up around
Rae’kir
. Looks of alarm or outrage colored the faces of those present. “How can this be?” an elder woman spoke up. “The Esu, even the southern regions themselves, are nothing more than myths spun into being by the tales of the Dream Speakers.”

    Cynra chuckled to herself and walked slowly into the center of the tree where she stood next to the hunter who had spoken of her findings. Looking in the direction of the disbelieving Elder, she waited until she was sure all attention was on her. “Myths spun around, you say? From myth, there is always a grain of truth. Where do you think the old tales come from? My mind is no longer as young as it once was, and the effort required to invent such elaborate stories would be beyond me.”

    Arizira fought back her desire to laugh out loud. Though Cynra was no Elder among the ruling council, she was the oldest living Arnira in the village and, as such, all those present awarded her a great deal of respect.

    “Cynra,” Talyn called down from her post, “your words have always been tempered with wisdom. Though many of us have grown into womanhood enjoying your epic tales, there are few of us who ever actually paid the stories any other mind. You are saying the Esu are not legend, but fact?”

    “I am saying I am too old to be so colorful. Four of our number have seen the dark skins. If not Esu, how are we to explain their appearance? I have not seen them with these old eyes, but they are obviously not as we are.”

    Silence followed the Dream Speaker’s words. It was difficult for anyone in
Rae’kir
to admit to the knowledge being given them. Though several of the Arnira had possibly wished in secret for the old tales to be true, more perhaps for the valorous deeds and songs brought about by their people, few of them had ever actually thought they would live to find such myths to be true.

    Bela’luin, the lead huntress in the center of Rae’kir who had just confirmed Arizira's story, stepped closer to Talyn and spoke up. “We haven’t the time to discuss tales of myth or fact,
Nai’iris
. Whoever the strangers are, it is obvious they are day walkers. Several of their number slept while we watched from above. We must decide how to go about removing them from our borders.”

    Murmurs of approval met her words. Arizira stepped forward quickly. “With all due respect,
Nai’iris
, we know nothing of these people’s intentions. They are only along the farthest reaches of our territory. It is possible they know nothing of our people.” She allowed herself to omit the fact that there was at least one Esu who knew of the possibility of others in the forest.

    “So we are to just allow them to establish their settlement, build their arms, and learn our forests while we do nothing?” Bela’luin said, turning back to look at Arizira with fire in her eyes.

    “Enough!” Talyn said, her voice carrying over those of the two women arguing. “The other Eders and I will need to confer on this matter. Until such a time as a decision is made, no one is to go toward the Esu camp.”

             
                                                        *  *  *  *  *  *

    Arizira, several hours later, sat high up in the branches of one of her favorite trees. The view from so high up allowed her to see much of the forest. With the moon soon to be at rest again, Arizira knew her people would be making ready for their own slumber. Her time was quickly coming. If she hoped to learn what she could, she knew she would have to do so during the daylight hours. That was the only way she could hope to move about unseen by her fellow sisters. It also increased her chances of happening onto the Esu woman again.

    Feeling the first rays of the sun upon her skin, Arizira squinted her eyes at the sting and looked down below her. The women of the village were milling about before retiring for the day. When the last of her sisters had disappeared from view, she effortlessly dropped from branch to branch until her feet were once again on solid ground.

    Holding her breath for a moment, she turned her head to ensure no sounds of movement could be heard. The sun was rising quickly in the sky, and the area around her was soon aglow with its near blinding light. Arizira spared one last glance behind her at her village and hurriedly made her way back toward the glade she’d met the Esu woman in three days before

    With any luck, the dark skinned woman would be just as curious about her and be wandering in the woods again.

                                                        Chapter 4: Names in the Light

    Talliea awoke the next morning feeling lighter than she had the day before. The dugout she looked around had been excavated into the slope of the hillside with a roof of strong wood and grass. The front of the structure held an open doorway covered with oiled hides that could be parted to the side for entry or an exit. Two square windows were on either side of the door and they, too, were covered in the same material as the doorway.

    The light of the early morning sun could be seen behind the coverings trying desperately to pour its golden shine into the dark interior. Talliea stretched and rolled away from her low sitting bed. Apart from the bed, her space was sparsely decorated. Her people had been on the open wilds for many seasons and their livestock had suffered on the journey to the North. Each family had been required to aid as much as possible in building the dugouts that would serve as their temporary homes. Once the settlement was established and secure, then the work of increasing their food and animal supply could begin and more stable homes built.

    The Esu had been in the valley boarding the forest for two week, or
alu
in their language. Measures were still being taken to secure the perimeter. None of the clans-people were knowledgeable about the wilderness around them and until the settlement was completed, most were content to let  the woods encircling them be.

    Talliea stepped through the flap of her dwelling and looked around the camp. A few of the women nodded in her direction, but their attention was quickly called back to whatever chore they were about. The sound of stone being worked could be heard in the distance, and a few of the clansmen were barely visible along the forest’s edge busily hewing wood. Talliea saw no sign of her mother and for that she was thankful. A nearby stream that ran around the curve of the valley offered communal bathing for the women. Farther up, nearer to the mouth of the stream, the men held their own area aside for such tasks.

     Talliea had no desire to bathe among the other women. Such a simple task would only prove to be a means for the others to ask questions of her they had no business asking in the first place. They would want to know her reasons for running off several nights ago, as well as why she was behaving so obstinately, even for her. Talliea had no such desire to humor them this morning.

    Walking to the eastern side of the camp, away from the other dwellings, she peered into the dense forest in front of her. So thick were the trees and plants that she could make out no definite shapes between them. The tranquil serenity of the woods seemed to call to her. Above her, birds flew high over head and sang songs of hopeful and tempting freedom.

    Talliea looked back over her shoulder and noticed the sounds of the camp were dulled from so far off. No one paid her any attention and still of her mother there was no sign. Deciding a bath in the clear pool along the glade would better serve her, she quickly disappeared into the welcome hands of the forest.

             
                                                        *  *  *  *  *  *

    The sun was a most distracting foe. Try as she might, Arizira had not been able to escape it. Her day's trek had been bothersome when the sun had held the sky.  Stealth was always her ally, the trees her friends, yet with the sun above her such movement had proven to be more difficult. She knew she had little to fear so far from the Esu settlers. Even if one of the younger members of the clan chose to go off exploring, they would be without her knowledge of the forest. She knew each tree and each blade of grass.

    Her agile form could scale one of the many pines without any difficulty, and be away from any prying eyes before they had need to question matters. Still, Arizira would have felt better were the eyes of the moon on her back and not the sun. Coming to the clearing quietly, she knelt by the oak she’d communed with four moon risings ago. Once again, she placed her hands upon its trunk and tried to speak with the ancient sentry. The oak, as before, was just as light hearted and gave her no indication of what she sought.

"Salira has blown through your boughs one too many times, my friend", she whispered softly to the tree with a small smile on her lips. A sound, faint, came to her ears suddenly. Stepping away from the oak, Arizira moved into the glade and opened her senses to the world around her. Sounds and smells, vivid to her kind, washed over her. Slowing her breathing, she turned around and surveyed the circular area for anything out of place.

    The sound from before was picked up by her keen ears again. It was closer. Different. She thought she caught a familiar scent, but Salira decided at that time to blow away from her and she lost the elusive fragrance. Again, the noise sounded in her head and she realized, belatedly, that she had become caught up in her senses. Someone approached her from behind. Quickly and without any struggle she turned on her heel, bow flying into her hands in the process, while a feathered arrow locked into place. Her form was perfect.

    A pair of startled brown eyes looked down at the beautifully crafted and etched arrow. Thick and wet black hair hung around the newcomer's face and water could be seen collecting on a dark skinned neck. Arizira faltered a moment at the sight, but did not lower her bow. Her eyes were just as wide as the Esu’s before her.

    Both women remained frozen, Talliea covered in her damp blouse and skirt and Arizira adorning the leather jerkin and breeches befitting her calling. Talliea swallowed and despite the situation, a small smile tugged at her full lips. She had thought of this faerie for two sunsets. Slowly, she began raising her hands over her head like she’d seen the other woman do so many nights before.

    Arizira tightened her hold on her bow string, but  made no move to stop the Esu woman.

   Talliea succeeded in bringing her arms over head and crossed them at the wrists. She was unsure what the gesture meant, but she hoped it was something that would show the Arniran woman she meant no harm. Her heart was racing in her chest and her thoughts were chaotic. The fair woman was even more beautiful in the light of the sun. The blonde in her hair seemed to catch the rays of Esuval and made her appear as some herald of prophecy, some harbinger of hope.

“Ahmanae?” Talliea said in an unsteady voice. Arizira cocked her head to the side and regarded her with curious blue eyes. Talliea smiled again and lowered her hands. She pointed to the Arniran and tried again. “Ahmanae?”

    Releasing the tension she had on her bowstring, Arizira allowed the string to slacken and brought the bow down to her side. Nodding, she placed a hand on her chest and said, “Ahmanae.”

    Talliea smiled and a small laugh left her lips. The woman understood what she meant! Arizira looked upon her face and was struck with how perfect the Esu woman’s smile was. It made her appear even more beautiful. A strange fluttering sensation welled up inside of her.
“Tai?”
she asked, indicating Talliea.