Eramane (15 page)

My body is shaken alive by a force that is not my own. I wake and watch as a limp body lands on the ground next to me. “Take it, Eramane; it will make you stronger,” Adikiah says eagerly. I look at this person lying beside me; she is a young woman with long blonde hair. Tear streak her cheeks. For a moment I wonder to whom this stranger belongs; someone loves her. Maybe she is the mother of a cheerful little boy, and his only joy in life is playing at the river with his mother and father. She could be the sister to a very proud brother, who boasts of her to all his friends. And maybe her existence is solely for the purpose of saving my life. I look over at Adikiah; his arms are empty.

Everything my new life encompasses
 … this means I must harvest to live; if I do not take the girl’s life, I will die, and Adikiah can do nothing to stop it. I do not see another innocent with him; could he not find a second human?

My instinct to survive takes over; the stranger has to die for me to live. I crawl a short distance to her and grab her by her neck. She moans when I clasp her head, yet again I am unable to extract the soul, my hand still mangled from the shard that pierced it earlier. Adikiah approaches and prepares her soul for me; my palm sinks into her chest, and the white glowing lines climb up my arm.

The energy shoots through my body like a rushing river. I feel myself healing from the wounds of the ice shards. The gashes repair themselves before my eyes; the deep lacerations are not as gruesome, but they are still visible.

“You see why it is so important for us to harvest? As long as we have strength, we are untouchable,” Adikiah says, happily watching me gain in strength. I understand completely now. I feel different, even more so than after my first harvest. I feel carnal, lustful, like I fulfilled an ultimate desire.

“Adikiah, I can fly now. Let us go from here before the villagers discover us. I do not wish another attack,” I say. Adikiah lifts into the air; I jolt up behind him.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Mountains End

LYING AT THE FEET OF
Samiah’s horse is the corpse of a woman. Samiah swallows. He fears that the body might be Eramane; from up on his horse he cannot be sure. He slides slowly down the side of his horse, staring straight ahead into dark nothingness. Samiah kneels down to the body and, reaching for the dead woman, begins to pray that she is not his sister. The corpse is still warm, but there does not yet appear to be a cause to her death. Samiah looks up to the dark heavens. “Please do not let this be my sister. Please do not let this be my sweet Eramane,” he begs. He gets closer to see whether the woman is in fact Eramane. Rolling her over, he is still unsure; her hair has matted to her face. Samiah eagerly moves away the hair until he sees that the dead woman is not his sister. His chest heaves as he sighs in relief.

Looking down at the body again, Samiah is reminded of Lebis’s corpse. Samiah feels the back of her head and finds the same type of wound on her that he found on Lebis. He backs away from the body in awe. “What did this to you?” he asks the dead woman. “I hope the same fate did not find my sister.” Samiah mounts his horse and proceeds toward the festive village. He is confused and does not understand how no one heard the screams from the woman. “Even with all the music, they should have heard her screams,” he contemplates aloud. Noise comes from behind Samiah and halts his thoughts.

“My apologies, High Commander, but I could not let you venture out here alone,” Nahmas says, riding up to meet Samiah. Samiah is grateful of his following but looks around for the rest of the Riders.

“Where are the others?” Samiah asks.

“I ordered them back to Eludwid. The Torbiun clansmen do not need the advantage of our delay,” Nahmas explains, knowing that his High Commander will agree. “Terrin and Aurick will await our arrival at Eludwid Hall.”

“Well then, it is just you and me. Let’s go find out what happened to this girl.” Samiah turns his horse in the direction of the village.

“It is a dreadful thing, but I am glad she is not your sister,” Nahmas comments as he looks back at the dead woman.

“Someone had to have seen something,” Samiah says as they both walk their horses into the village.

“Mountains End,” Samiah reads from a small wooden sign that hangs from a torch post. Lights cast a warming glow to fill the pathways of the small settlement. The dwellings in this village are close together and form a barrier for each side of the dirt path. As the two men slowly ride their horses through the village, the people begin to stop their festivities and look at the newcomers. Soon the two-piece band no longer plays, and the children stop their games. When all grows quiet, Samiah speaks loud enough to be heard by all the villagers: “My name is Samiah Fahnestock; this is my comrade Nahmas. We are Riders for Lord Emach Danius. Amidst your fun and games a woman was attacked and lies dead just outside the wooded area behind your village.” As his words reach the ears of the townspeople, they all begin to look around to see who is missing. Moments later, a woman begins shouting about her lost daughter.

“Thea! I cannot find Thea.” The sobbing woman runs up to Samiah and grabs him. “Is it my Thea? Is it?” she demands.

“I do not know, my lady,” Samiah says to her, shaking his head. The frightened woman dashes to the woods.

Samiah looks around at the townspeople and notices a young boy, about ten years old, standing silent on the stoop of a home. He was not among the townsfolk when Samiah and Nahmas first arrived. The boy came out from inside the dwelling and focused his stare in the direction of the dead woman. Samiah alerts Nahmas to the boy on the stoop, although Nahmas has already noticed him. They both dismount their steeds and walk slowly over to the boy, as townsmen arm themselves and rush into the woods. Samiah looks around for the boy’s parents. “What is your name, boy? Where are your mother and father?” Samiah asks.

“I thought I imagined it,” says the boy, ignoring Samiah’s questions. As he speaks, Samiah and Nahmas listen intently. “I thought if I went inside, it would all go away. Everyone celebrated still, so I thought that it did not happen; someone would have found her already, but no one did. Then the music stopped, and I looked out and saw you two, and I knew it was real.” The young boy begins to tremble as he recalls the events that took the life of the woman. “I was sitting on an old fallen tree at the edge of the woods, throwing rocks at the little woodland animals. Then I heard a commotion near me. I went to see what it was, and there was Thea, struggling with a … a … a monster. It had its claws over her mouth; then … then … then it … it took her away into the sky.”

The lad stands silent after his testimony, a blank look on his face. Samiah pats him on the shoulder, and then he and Nahmas walk a few steps away from the boy. “He speaks of a monster? What do you think of it, Nahmas?” Samiah asks.

“I believe he speaks of the myth of the Nameless One, a wretched creature that steals the souls of humans. It is folklore, though … a story aimed to keep people close together. But if what this boy says is true, the Nameless One may be more than a myth. This child may be the only one who has seen it up close and lived to tell about it.”

Samiah looks at Nahmas curiously. “I have traveled great distances yet have never heard of this creature of which you speak. Why?”

“The myth of the Nameless One is more common in the lands far past our territories, Samiah.”

“Do you believe it to be true, a monster?” Samiah asks his friend apprehensively.

“I believe that boys have big imaginations,” Nahmas says firmly.

Samiah thinks about the dead woman they recently discovered, and he thinks about Lebis. “Well, I do not know about a soul-sucking Nameless One, but something strange is happening, Nahmas; could it be a beast, a wild animal of some sort? Maybe it flies; maybe it does not. But if this is what attacked Lebis, how did Eramane get away? Her body would have been discovered as well. She had to have escaped somehow,” Samiah states confidently.

Nahmas quickly reminds Samiah of the boy’s testimony. “The boy claimed that the creature flew away with the woman. If that is true, then …”

“Then maybe it took Eramane too? Is that what you are saying?” Samiah shouts. “Took her where? It does not eat its victims. Why would it take her ?

“No, it does not eat them; it is believed that it takes their soul.”

Samiah gives Nahmas a look of disbelief and turns to speak with the boy. Shouts from the villagers claim Samiah’s attention as the angry townspeople run toward him and his comrade. They are screaming foul things at the two men.

“You murdering bastards!” one of the village men yells.

“Both of you shall pay!” shouts another as they approach. Samiah and Nahmas draw their weapons. Samiah stands fierce with his sword pointing straight out. Nahmas plants his feet firmly and aims his bow at the crowd.

“Get back!” Samiah demands.

“You killed my Thea!” the dead girl’s mother screams.

“We did not kill her! Stand down now! Ask that boy over there what killed her.” Samiah points in the direction of the boy witness. The villagers look over to see nothing; to Samiah’s astonishment, the boy is gone. He and Nahmas, both guarded, know they will have to fight the angry mob of distraught villagers.

Silence fills the damp night air as Samiah and Nahmas wait for the angry mob to attack. “Do not kill these men, Nahmas; they are driven by fear and remorse. If we disarm a few of them, we can run for our horses and ride out. On three now … one, two, three!”

They engage to disarm the men. It is not a difficult task to relieve the villagers of their weapons; these people are unskilled farmers, armed with only farming tools, and they have been drinking ale all night. Clumsily fighting, a couple of scruffy drunkards lose their weapons. Samiah and Nahmas bolt to their horses and ride into the woods. The mob follows but stops at the tree line and turns back, knowing that they cannot catch the Riders.

The sun is coming up, painting streaks of bright white across the horizon. It seems like days since the sun has made an appearance, and Samiah wonders if the mighty orb will stay with them all day or be cast over by another intrusion of heavy clouds. His search for Eramane has been unsuccessful, and his hopes for finding her are dwindling. Samiah’s face is grim and his heart beats to the tune of sorrow. Nahmas is at his side, riding in silence, looking to the horizon. Samiah has no idea where Eramane could be. Torbiun clansmen, flying beasts … his concern deepens as he imagines what Eramane might have suffered if she lived through the tragic events that took place at the meadow. He wonders if his sister had to witness the death of her companion, her newfound friend. Mostly he wonders if his sister has already met the same fate as Lebis, her body found by someone who does not know her, who does not love her.

“I do not know what to say to my parents. I dread seeing their faces when I tell them we have not found Eramane.” Samiah’s words are low, sad. Nahmas does not reply to any of these remarks. He knows he does not have words that will help his friend.

As they continue making their way to Eludwid Hall, Nahmas thinks about the myth of the Nameless One. It is an outlandish idea, but to Nahmas it is a scenario that makes sense; he decides to approach it as if he were planning an attack strategy for Lord Danius. It does not take long for him to come to a useful conclusion.

“We have to rethink this situation, Samiah. Thea’s attack resembles the assault on Lebis, yes?”

“Yes.”

“And the boy from Thea’s village said that it had wings … that it could fly?” Again Nahmas looks to Samiah for confirmation.

“Yes, the boy mentioned wings.”

“If Lebis and Thea were attacked by the Nameless One, could you imagine that they would look other than they did?” Nahmas questions, pointing out the minimal wounds on both bodies.

“I do not know what a person should look like if they were relieved of their soul, but they could resemble Lebis’s and Thea’s remains, I suppose,” Samiah confirms. “Are you truly trying to convince me that we are looking for a creature that flies and”—he searches for fitting words—“harvests our souls? It sounds absurd!”

“I agree. It does sound as if we are mad. But as absurd as it seems, it is the only explanation that makes sense of all this. We just interrogated the Torbiuns and detained them; they do not have Eramane, and we both know that. Ulic had no idea what you were speaking of. Samiah, we have seen many things on our journeys that other men have not; I was saved by a man who can summon fire with a thought. If that type of power exists without question, a flying beast is but child’s play.” Samiah remains silent. “Why should we ignore this possibility?” Nahmas urges.

“Based on the testimony of a child, you mean?”

“That, and the point that we know it was not the Torbiuns.” Nahmas hesitates, understanding that he needs to reach Samiah another way. “Samiah, you are like my brother; Eramane is dear to us as well. Your pain is not unfelt by your brothers. If I did not think that what I am suggesting made sense, we would not be discussing it at all. Animals do not waste their kill, but the Nameless One would have no use for the bodies.”