Hand of Fire (The Master of the Tane) (20 page)

  
              “All right Teek,” she said, caving in once again. “Since I made you stay in tonight I guess it’s only fair, but you’ll have to wait until the others are asleep.”

  
              Teek smiled brightly nodding his head in quick agreement. “Yes mother.” He knew too well the power that his brown eyes and smile had on his mother.

  
              Teek’s sisters and brother soon finished with their meals and he sat down with them to play a game, to their utter delight. They sat in a circle each having a stick and then while they sang a song they passed their stick to the person next to them. In certain parts of the song the movement of the sticks would be reversed and then sent back again the same way. The song and the game would get faster and faster until someone messed up the rotation and then would be declared out. Of course, because of his age, Bink was allowed an extra chance or two.

  
              It didn’t take long for Teek to be eliminated since his mind was on the story his mother would retell of her journey up the Belfar River and her experience with the dwarves. He did know the tale by heart but he never tired of hearing it even though he knew it was a story brought on by family tragedy. Hearing it always fed his longing to find an adventure of his own some day.

  
              After losing three or four more times, Teek finally excused himself from the game, to the objections of his brother and sisters, and went out onto the landing to await his mother. The night air felt unusually comfortable during the dry months of winter. Most of the swamp’s rain and moisture came in the unbearable months of spring and summer when the temperatures rose and the air became thick with water.

  
              He listened to the music of a nearby cricket as it called for its mate and knew, by its tone, that the weather would change soon giving them the much needed rain to fill their water barrels. The moon above was nearly full, filling the swamp in muted light and shadows. Teek stared at the dark shapes around him imagining they were monsters with whom he was locked in desperate battle.

  
              “Take that,” he cried wielding a thin reed that had suddenly become his sword. Moving forward, he thrust with all his might piercing the heart of a foe and then turned quickly to dispatch another. The shadow monsters kept coming and for a moment he felt pressed, but with a magnificent show of skill and instinct he sliced his way through the danger while littering the ground with his enemies. One tried sneaking up from behind but he was all too aware of its presence. With a leap and a twist he brought his sword around to remove its head. Rani ducked just in time to miss being whipped in the face.

  
              “What in the name of all the ancestors do you think you are doing, Teek!” she cried while grabbing the reed from his hand. “You could have knocked me into the swamp with that thing!” 

  
              Teek watched his feet in hopes they would sprout wings and fly him away. When they didn’t he looked up at his mother regretfully and with a soft voice said, “I’m sorry, Mother, I was fighting shadow monsters. I didn’t know you were there.”

  
              “Well, I hope you didn’t,” Rani half smiled. “I would hope you have more care for your mother than to knock her into the swamp on purpose.”

  
              Teek smiled back. “Well, you know you would make a nice splash.”

  
              “What?” Rani grabbed him in a bear hug and commenced tickling him into hysterics. “Now, what was that you said?”

  
              “Nothing, nothing,” Teek cried trying to catch a breath. “I meant that I would never think of it.”

  
              Rani gave him a few more tickles before she stopped. “That’s what I thought you meant,” she said brushing the tangle of hair that was hanging down in her face. “Now, you sit down while I go get something.”

  
              Teek plopped down onto the landing floor wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes while Rani disappeared back into the hut. In a moment she returned with a weed mat wrapped around some kind of object that she placed next to her as she sat down by her son.

  
              “Now, we have to keep our voices down so your brother and sisters can sleep.”

  
              “What is that, Mother?” Teek asked quietly while pointing to the weed roll.

  
              “It’s a present.”

  
              Teek’s face brightened. “A present? Is it for me?”

  
              “Maybe,” Rani answered trying to hide a smile. “But don’t you want to hear the story of the dwarves?”

  
              Teek fidgeted, repeatedly glancing down at the reed-covered bundle and then back up at his mother. “Uh, well yeah, I guess.”

  
              “Then you’ll have to wait until I am done to see what it is,” Rani said quickly, a broad and contented smile creasing her face. She looked like a cat that had just gotten away with eating the family bird.

  
              At first, as his mother began her narrative, Teek was restless, his eyes continually falling back to the mat and its hidden treasure, but as Rani continued on with her story he became more engrossed in what she was saying and soon the tale washed over him like a piece of his own past. He even corrected her once when she had forgotten a part and started to skip over it.

  
              Finally, when Rani came to the end, Teek’s mind returned to the present that lay untouched by his mother’s side. “Now can I see what is hidden in the mat?”

  
              Rani regarded her oldest son for a long moment and then smiled. “I’m not finished with the story yet.”

             
Teek gave her a quizzical look. “What? Of course you are. Helgar gave you the gems for your sacrifice and then you came home and dropped them into the swamp at the base of the tree and the ancestors were appeased. Remember, I almost know the story better than you do.”

  
              “Is that right?” Rani asked, unable to contain a broad smile. “Well then, I guess there is no need to show you what is in the mat then.”

  
              Teek’s face twisted into lines of puzzlement causing his mother to laugh merrily. “Why?”

  
              “Just hold your teeth for a moment my son and I will explain. There’s a small part to this story that you don’t know because I’ve never told you.”

  
              Teek’s eyes bulged and he suddenly became very attentive and still. “What?”

  
              “Helgar gave me more than just the two gems before I left the bridge that day,” she announced. “He also gave me this.” Rani lifted the mat producing a dagger that shinned like it had just been forged that day.

Teek’s eyes widened while his mouth moved, as if he was trying to say something, but nothing came out. Never in his life had he seen anything more beautiful then the blade his mother held in her hand. It was not the most fancy or decorated dagger ever made but to the eyes of young Teek, it was fit for a king. The hilt was wrapped with a thin, black leather cord ending with a polished onyx stone inlaid with a silver battle-ax. The hand guard was also silver and extended outward, each end capped with another tiny, onyx stone. The blade itself was straight and narrowed from the hilt in a triangular fashion ending in a deadly sharp point.

                 “I waited these years,” Rani continued, “and kept it hidden because I was afraid that if you knew about it you would not be able to resist playing with it and you might stab yourself or someone else. Now that you are older, I feel you can handle the responsibility of having it without putting yourself or anyone else in danger. So here,” she said, holding it out to him. “It’s yours. The sheath is inside the hut.”

  
              Teek didn’t move. He just sat staring at the dagger like it was something beyond his comprehension.

  
              Rani smiled. “Take it Teek. It’s yours.”

  
              Slowly, he reached out his hand and grabbed the hilt, lifting it up into the moonlight for a better look. It felt like it belonged in his hand. Quickly, his mind drifted away to other lands and places where adventures were everywhere to be had before his mother’s voice jerked him back to reality.

  
              “Now, I want you to promise me that you won’t play with it like a toy. A steel blade is something to be respected and cherished. No cutting into trees with it or threatening your sisters, or anyone else for that matter.”

  
              Teek looked at his mother for a moment and then nodded his head and whispered, “Yes, Mother.”

  
              “Well, it’s getting late,” she announced with a sigh while getting to her feet. “Come along now. Let’s put that away and get us both into bed.”

  
              Teek followed her lead as if in a trance, still holding the blade up in front of him. With a little directing he was able to get inside and sheath it before coming back to his senses. “Thank you, Mother,” he finally said giving her a big hug. “I’ll do everything you said and won’t break your trust.” Rani just smiled and held her son close.

  
              That night he traveled the road of dreams to countless places, living a myriad of adventures, always brandishing his dagger before him in victory.

  
              Teek rose early the next morning anxious to get his traps checked and moved so he could show off his new dagger to his friends, especially Twee. “Father Twee will appreciate such a fine blade I’m sure,” he told himself while washing up before he left. “He’s probably seen and used hundreds of them. Maybe he can teach me how to use it.”

  
              He buckled the sheath around his waist only to find it too big for his slender body. A little disappointed that he could not wear the knife at his side in plain view, he removed the belt and carried it in the sheath instead. Hefting a couple of newly repaired traps, he headed for the door when Rani called from her mat. “Be careful Teek. And don’t be foolish with your new dagger.”

  
              “I will mother,” he answered while descending the ladder and then quickly returned and corrected himself. “I mean I won’t...I mean...oh you know what I mean.”

  
              Teek immediately noticed the unusual humidity for that time of year, which always foretold the coming of rain. The sky was just beginning to cover with clouds blocking out the sun’s rays as it broke the horizon in preparation for another day’s journey. He ignored the strange weather and made his rounds quickly, gathering from his traps the unlucky guests that would become his family’s breakfast and then rotated them to different areas. Replacing his last trap, he glanced, with satisfaction, at his haul. All in all it wasn’t a bad morning’s catch with two crabs and a couple of medium sized shrimp. “This ought to feed us nicely enough.”

  
              He wasted no time getting home, anxious to deliver his cargo and then be on his way. He hoped to catch some of his friends as they returned from their rounds so he could show off his new dagger. Upon reaching his hut, he hastily unloaded his catch and then called up to his mother to raise the bucket before starting off towards the main cluster of huts.

  
              “Teek!” Rani called down as she pulled up the trap door. “Come up and eat before you leave.”

  
              Teek yelled back without slowing as he continued to put distance between himself and the hut. “I’ll catch some fish later mother. Bye!”

  
              Rani wanted to protest but it was too late, he was already well on his way and she knew that even if he could hear her he wouldn’t.

  
              Teek poled around the many Teague trees that filled the swamp on his way towards, what might be considered, the town. The only reason it was considered the town was the mere fact that most of the Waseeni people’s huts were gathered in that one central area. Rani preferred the outer reaches because they didn’t have to go as far to set their traps.

More and more huts began to appear when Teek finally came upon two other boys who were talking. Kip and Ben were a couple of years older than him, which made
them feel superior. This was his chance to show them that he was just as good as they were.

  
              In his excitement, he pulled his canoe up too close and slightly bumped Ben’s canoe making it rock in the water.

  
              “Hey, watch it with that thing!” Ben growled. Ben was the larger of the two, which also made him think he was the most important. Kip, on the other hand, was nice enough if you caught him alone but as will happen, he always followed Ben’s lead.

  
              “What are you doing, Teek?” Kip asked trying to ease some of the tension.

  
              “I wanted to show you guys something my mother gave me,” Teek said trying to sound important.