Hand of Fire (The Master of the Tane) (17 page)

  
              DelVen looked up just as his attacker burst into flames and then fell at his feet in a mass of charred fur and flesh. Thane collapsed, the energy suddenly drained from his body, his mind a whirl of stunned disbelief at what just happened. Everything seemed to halt in mid action. The remaining attackers disengaged from their fighting to stare at the ashes of one of there own and then as one they all turned and looked at Thane. Silence overtook the village. Even the Chufa no longer seemed interested in the fight their accusing eyes falling on Thane as if he were the true threat.  No one seemed to breathe until, as if by command, the attackers suddenly all lifted their heads to the sky and howled a horrendous sound. Then, as quickly as they had come, they raced back into the forest, away from the village, and disappeared.

  
              The Chufa warriors stood in stunned disbelief, none of them moving. Thane lay in the dust, still without enough energy to rise, and watched as DelVen moved slowly towards him. Tears came to his eyes to see his father still alive knowing that things would certainly have to change between them now. DelVen had looked into the face of death and had miraculously escaped and now his heart would have to change towards how he felt about his son.

  
              He reached Thane’s still lifeless body and, without hesitation, spit on him. “You green-eyed devil, how did you do that? I knew you were some kind of freak, but this is too much. You are no longer welcome in my hut. I want you gone by tomorrow.” With that, he kicked dust in his face and then turned away. Thane continued to cry.

  
              The men slowly started coming back to their senses and began looking after their injured, all the time whispering to one another and throwing glances at the lonely boy still lying lifelessly on the ground. No one approached him to see if he was all right. No one came to his aid. So he just lay there on the ground numb from his lost energy and from what his father had just done. To be cast out of the family hut was akin to being disowned. He would not even be allowed to visit his mother. From then on he was on his own.

  
              Thane’s energy gradually began to return and he was finally able to inch his way back to Dor to check on him. Dor watched him approach, trying, unsuccessfully to hide the terror that was clear in his eyes. Thane couldn’t help but notice that his friend seemed to try and back deeper into the side of the hut as he neared. “How did you do that Thane?”

 
              Thane looked at him blankly, wiping the tears from his face. “I don’t know. It just happened.”

  
              Dor rose painfully to his feet supporting himself on the hut and looked down on his friend. “I…uh…better go and get wrapped up,” he finally said and then turned and left without another word.

Thane’s heart groaned, feeling as if a boulder had dropped and crushed it. Everyone had deserted him, even his greatest friend who had stood with him through everything in his life. They were all gone now. He was alone.

                 He rested for a while longer allowing his body to regain its strength to the point where he could stand. He did not allow himself to think because he knew that in doing so he would only find pain and grief. He looked around at the others almost pleading for someone to come to him in acceptance and understanding, but he only found averting eyes and hand covered whispers.

  
              There were five men though who did watch Thane, keeping well hidden from his view. They had all seen what had happened and now stood motionless and in silence scrutinizing the boy as if to see what strange thing he might do next. They stared, as Thane got to his feet and, with one final look of pleading, turned from the village and disappeared into the woods. One of them finally spoke. “There can be no mistaking it now. He must be destroyed.” All eyes turned to the man and then one by one they nodded their heads in agreement. “We will meet tonight at the usual place to decide on a plan to carry it out.” Then, as if by an after thought, he added, “Thanks to a certain little pledge, the question of ‘who will carry it out’ has all ready been decided.”

  
              TanVerPa turned pale, as the eyes of the other four seemed to bore into him. Quickly gaining control of his fear he glared back at them in defiance. “I have not forgotten the words I spoke two cycles past and I will honor those words now. Until tonight,” he added and then turned and walked away.

  
              Thane sprinted through the woods using every skill he possessed to keep his passing silent and without mark seeking to find comfort in his abilities. The trees passed him in a blur of motion as he distanced himself from the village cutting through the undergrowth without the slightest mention of his passing. Finally, he was forced to slow to a walk, no longer able to see through the tears that streamed like a river down his face. His heart ached to bursting as feelings of self-doubt and worthlessness crashed in on him. What use were his finely tuned skills if his peers didn’t trust him to use them to protect the people he loved? What use was his miserable life without the one he felt he could trust, Dor? Brushing the tears aside, he began to run again trying to find the answers in the wind that passed by his face in cool silence. Eventually he found himself at his once secret hiding place, the rock by the great waters. The tide was in barring easy passage into the hidden cove where he often sat in contemplation of life and its mysteries.

  
              Climbing up the backside, he sat down on the rock’s peak and looked out to the vastness of water that continued on until it met the clouded sky. His body began to cool and a shiver raced up his back escaping through the top of his head only to be followed by more. He did not notice the cold as he desperately tried to find the answers he sought.

  
             
Why is this happening to me
? he thought as the mist from the crashing waves danced across his body.
What was it that caused that animal to burst into flames
?
Could it have really been me
?
But, how
?
I did not touch it with my hand, it was far from me and it was not dead to allow me to call fire to it. Maybe they’re right; I must be a devil after all
.

He looked around unsure of what to do. The wind and cold were quickly becoming realities so he slipped back down to the base of the rock to find protection from the breeze. Sitting against the rough stone, he pulled the dagger from where it rested by his waste and began drawing in the sand. His mind still raced through the events of the day and then drifted into his past. Thinking back through his life, the only fond memories he had were those times with his mother and Dor, the only friends he had. Now they were gone too. It was almost too much to bear.

                 He stared at the picture he had created in the wet sand. He was surprised to see that it was his TanIs. Five curved tentacles reaching out from an inner circle with one dot above each. What did it mean? Why was he cursed with it? He took his dagger and cut through the sand destroying what he had unconsciously drawn there. He sat motionless for a moment as a way to be free seeped into his mind.
One cut, and it would be over. One slice from my knife and my soul would be released from this terrible life forever
. He slid the dagger down across his TanIs just barely touching the skin as he contemplated this new idea. What would happen to his soul? Would it be worse? He thought it couldn’t possibly be worse than the life he was forced into living now. Death was the gate to freedom. Dor was not afraid of it when he faced it at the crushing hand of a troll not so many cycles ago.
Dor
. Gone like the others. Scared by what Thane did not even understand.
It would be better this way
, he thought. Nobody would miss him.

  
              Thane pushed the point of the dagger against his TanIs. One quick move and it would be over. He began to apply slow pressure, his skin backing away from the knife’s sharp point as if trying to save itself. He took a deep breath and prepared himself for the fatal cut.

*     *     *

                 Dor sat outside his family’s hut trying not to think of the pain that wracked his body in waves. He had to confess that since his mother wrapped his ribs they did feel a bit better but nothing could help the pain in his shoulder. His mother, with his father holding him still, had made a type of harness that went around both shoulders and then was cinched to pull them back. The broken collarbone would heal back in place and Dor would be saved the problem of a drooping shoulder. She had also fixed him a broth of forest herbs to dull the ache but they obviously had not yet taken effect.

             
His mind turned, contemplating the events of the day trying to make some sort of sense out of the whole thing. It had been so strange. Never in the known history of their village had anything attempted a raid on them during the winter. The trolls were all holed up in their caves high in the mountains waiting out the snow. And what of those strange beasts that did attack? What were they and where did they come from? None in the village had ever seen the likes before. Rumors had already begun to spread of what they might be. Some thought they were something to do with the trolls. It was suggested that they had bred them in their dark pits deep beneath the mountains and then had let them loose in hopes of destroying their enemies. Others claimed they must have come from across the mountains where everything was evil and hungry for blood. Still others felt they were a curse from TehraMae sent to punish the Chufa for some unknown misdeed. The most popular belief though was that they were connected to Thane somehow. Many felt that he had brought them here and controlled them claiming that they seemed to leave at his command as proof.

  
              “Dear Thane,” Dor whispered to the closing day. “What have you done? What strange power is this that possesses you?” Dor’s thoughts lingered on his friend as he tried to figure out how he had called fire onto the monster from such a long distance. It was impossible. No one could call fire unless it was onto something dead, and then they had to be touching it and say the word. “But you are different, aren’t you my friend?”
My friend
. Dor’s heart sank as the words left his mouth. His mind raced back through the years they had been together, remembering the fun they had had and the closeness they had felt as true friends. They always were watching out for one another. He remembered the times Thane had saved his life, the times he had saved the lives of his people
because
he was different. No, not different, but special. Thane had lived the life of an almost complete outcast because of the things he could do, the things that were not to be explained by himself or those around him. But he always put his friends and the lives of the villagers first.

  
              The pain from Dor’s wounds were forgotten, replaced now by the heart felt pain caused by thoughtless actions. “Oh Thane, my friend. After all you have done for me, and now, in your time of greatest need, I have let you down.”
I must find him and beg his forgiveness
. Dor attempted to rise but was overcome by a sudden loss of energy. His limbs felt like tree stumps and his head began to swim as if in a pool of mud. “So now the herbs take affect,” he whispered trying to rise again with even worse results. “Tomorrow then,” were his last words as he drifted into a deep sleep.

*     *     *

                 “The argument of whether to proceed or not has already been decided. We have all seen the signs, which have been quite clear. The boy grows stronger every day and every day becomes more of a threat. We must act now while we still have a chance against him.”

  
              “We all agree with you LorVenPa but we cannot just approach the boy and ask that he give up his TanIs to us and lose his soul forever. We must take him by surprise.”

  
              “I say the plan has been made TanVerPa and you made it two cycles ago when you volunteered to cut the TanIs from him yourself.”

  
              “So I did, DanGuaPa but we are all in this together. What if I should fail and be killed? Then what? He’ll know of our plot against him and then who do you think he will come after next?” DanGuaPa looked to the floor as TanVerPa’s eyes dug at his soul.

  
              “Enough of this childish bickering,” FelTehPa said trying to calm the others. “TanVerPa is right, we are all in this together and we must be successful the first time or we risk losing not only our own lives but the lives of the others. Now, let’s concentrate more on the how then on the whom. TanVerPa has said he would wield the knife and so shall it be.” FelTehPa looked at TanVerPa who only smirked in annoyance and nodded as the others added their wholehearted support.

*     *     *

              “So we are agreed then?” Every one of their heads nodded in agreement as the speaker unsheathed his knife and held it above his head. “Then this night we shall rid ourselves of the green-eyed devil forever.”

The others followed suit by taking out their own daggers or lifting their bows and shouting, “Tonight!”

*     *     *

              Thane walked through the woods on his way back to the village so deep in his own thoughts that he made no attempt to walk quietly or listen to the sounds of the forest surrounding him. The sun had gone down long ago adding to the coolness of winter’s biting sting that settled on the night breeze and pressed against him. A layer of thin ice had already hardened upon the forest floor crunching loudly under his plodding feet. Though he tried many times, he was unable to take his own life.
I am a coward
, he thought as he neared the dark and silent huts outlining the village.
I’m a coward for even thinking of taking my own life and even more of one for not going through with it
.