Incarnation: Wandering Stars Volume One (36 page)

Batarel
s
haped
to his animal form.

Seconds later, as
the two Myndar
ym
moved eastward across the mountain face, Tamael turned his head.  “Godspeed,” he said in farewell.

Indeed
, Sariel thought.  His mind was already racing with the anticipation of what lay ahead.

*   *   *   *

From beneath the shade of a tree,
Enoch
watched the rippling water as it left the river and followed the narrow path toward Aragatsiyr.  It had become his favorite place since the day he described his vision to the Myndarym.

Or was it more than a vision? 
Was
I really there?

He couldn’t be sure.  All he knew was that the angels now treated him differently. 
Not with contempt, but with neglect.  It was as if they were choosing to believe that he
wasn’t there or didn’t exist.

And who could blame them?

No one wanted to be
confronted with
their mistakes, their low standing with the Holy One.  And Enoch was simply a
physical representation
of
their judgment
. 
While
they had chosen to forget about him, he made it easier by staying on the outskirts of the city.  He foraged for food in the nearby forests, but hadn’t yet received any indication that he should leave.

Holy One, I am confused.  I do not know why
Y
ou asked me to come to these creatures.  I have not been able to prevent them from doing what is against
Y
our desire.  I once believed that
Y
ou sent me to befriend them, but I think they wish to be rid of me now.  I pray that
Y
ou give me wisdom.  Reveal to me what
Y
ou want of me.  I am useless now, going about as an animal in the
forest
.
  Though I have little contact with them, each day I feel their
discomfort growing.  What should happen if they choose to be rid of me forever?  What then?  It would be nothing for creatures of such power.
  I just—

“Prophet,” a voice spoke softly.

Enoch
jumped
at the sound.  Turning, he noticed
Ananel
standing a few paces off.

“I’m sorry to startle you.”

“It’s no trouble.  What can I do for you?”

Ananel
smiled.  “…talk with me?”

“Of course.”

Ananel
walked closer and bent down, leaning
his angelic form
against the same tree so that they were almost back to back, but could see each other if they turned their heads.  “You know,” he began.  “I like you.  You are an honest man.  When I look at you, there is nothing of deceit or falsehood.”

Enoch continued to stare out at the river, not knowing what to say in response.

“That’s why you should come back.”

“Back?  To the city?”

“Yes,”
Ananel
answered.

“
But the Myndarym would be troubled by my presence,” Enoch protested.

“True.  …for a little while.  But your honesty will put them at ease in time.”

“Hmm,” Enoch mumbled, feeling like he was speaking to his wife, Zacol.  She always seemed so sure of everything.  Enoch rarely felt sure of anything, unless the Holy One revealed it to him.

“With you living out here, away from us, it gives us too much time to think of only the bad things.”

“You mean, when I speak for the Holy One?”
Enoch
quickly clarified.

“Yes.  He speaks through you and sometimes His words are difficult to hear.  But that is not your fault.  You are not to blame for our decisions.  It was our choice to come here, to disobey. 
T
he longer you stay
out
here, the easier it is for us to blame you instead.”

Enoch turned his head and looked
up at the angel who towered over him, even in a sitting position.
  “The ways of your kind are complicated.”

“And the ways of your kind are simple,”
Ananel
added.  “But I admire that.  I know you don’t wish to deceive anyone.  I’m only suggesting that you continue to live among us.  It is safer for you to remain familiar.”

A murmuring sound
to the
north
had now grown into a commotion.  Enoch leaned forward and looked
past Ananel toward
the city, but he could
n’t
determine the reason for the noise.

Ananel
rose to his feet and looked
north
, holding his hand to his brow to block the
afternoon sun in his eyes.

“What is it?” Enoch asked.

“It’s Jomjael.”

“Who
is he
?”

“We sent him and a few others to spy on Semjaza.
  It looks like he’s returned and there are human women.
”

Enoch stood up and came around the tree.

“Lots of them,”
Ananel
added.  “Come little one.  It’s time to go back.”

The pungent odor came suddenly to
Batarel’s feline
nose, bringing him to halt.

A few yards ahead, Tamael lowered
his nose
to the grass and a quiet growl escaped his throat.  His head turned suddenly, then he began to move toward a hiding place nearby where a
dense tangle of vines cascaded down fro
m the limbs of a massive tree.

Batarel followed his friend into the
bright, green strands
of concealment.  Crouching low
to the damp earth
,
they
both
waited.

After a few seconds, a tall figure moved out of the trees on the other side of a clearing. 
His dark and muscled form was difficult to
see
against the background of
jumbled
branches
and leaves
, but e
ven at a hundred yards they could tell it was one of Semjaza’s
Anduar
ym
.  He was moving quickly
by virtue of his enormous stride
, but
didn’t seem to be in a hurry.
 
Neither did he appear concerned about moving with stealth.

W
hen the soldier had retreated into the
distance, Batarel
turned to his friend. 
“Spy?” he whispered
as quietly as his animal vocal chords would allow.

Tamael
n
odd
ed. 
“We will have to be more cautious from here on out.”

Slowly, the two
rose to their paws and crawled out into the open.  Despite the confidence
they had in their animal forms,
which gave them a sensory advantage over anything else in the forest, they continued
with caution to the north.

In the gathering mist of the afternoon, the two creatures came to
the last of a series of mountain peaks just south
of
Senvidar
.
  As they began their ascent
from the foothills below
, the
breeze
shifted slightly
, bringing warning of a nearby threat.
 
Batarel
looked to Tamael, whose
fierce golden eyes
were
narrowed
, while
the whiskered skin of his face twitched
.

Tamael g
rowled
and bared his teeth.

Batarel knew instantly what it meant.  For years, they had hunted together and their coordinated efforts had always been successful.  Communication was no longer necessary,
it had become habit.

The two animals, whose agile and powerful bodies were designed for silent movement and rapid attack, moved in opposite
directions.

Tamael
crept
slowly, straight up the incline toward the enemy.  H
is
striped
fur
faded into the mist and the mottled brown and green colors of the forest.

Batarel turned westward and
trotted
quickly through the
trees
, leaping from clearing to clearing.  When he’d gone a safe distance, he turned north and headed up the incline much faster than Tamael had done.  Using the
soft pads of his feline paws
, he
move
d
silently through the
labyrinth
of vines.  As he climbed, the mist grew denser, reducing visibility and distorting the way sound traveled through the air. 
Batarel
smiled inwardly as the environment began to favor his
superior sense of smell
.  After long minutes of cautious footing, he topped the ridge and paused as a shift in the
air
took the scent of the enemy away.  But a low sound to his
right
told him that he was very near his objective.

With unmatched agility, he scaled the thick, twisting trunk of a nearby tree. 
Between the digits of his supple feet,
deadly claws
dug into the bark, steadying his movement along
a thick branch that intertwined with that of another tree.  In this way, he moved across the remaining distance of the ridge to find his enemy almost directly below him.

There were
four
of them
—all
Anduar
ym
. 
They crouched
before a low mound with a clearing to the
north
, watch
ing
the Myndar city
which was
partially obscured by the mist rising from the earth.

Batarel
quickly
estimated the distance he would have to jump,
and found it to be
well within his ability.  When the breeze shifted
again
, he picked up
Tamael’s
scent mixed with that of the
Anduar
ym
.  Knowing his friend was in position to the
east
of the soldiers,
the time had come to
attack. 
He focused
on the nearest of the group, crouched low
,
and readied his powerful leg
s
for the leap.

Out of the mist,
Tamael
came at a full run, so quickly as to have appeared
from
nowhere.  By the time the soldiers recognized the movement, they
only
had time to turn slightly in his direction and bring their arms up in defense.

Just as
Tamael lunged
to take the nearest
soldier
by the throat,
Batarel
launched himself
through the air and landed
on
the back of the
Anduar
nearest him.  Immediately digging his claws into the soldier for leverage, he bared the ten inch daggers in his deadly mouth and
thrust forward
, clamping down on the back of the
Anduar
’s neck.

The soldier instinctively dropped and rolled, using
Batarel’s
momentum against him.

Struggling to maintain his grip,
Batarel
felt his body fly through the air as his claws and teeth slid easily through the
Anduar
’s flesh and were suddenly free.  There was a second of weightlessness, then the crushing impact of the ground as he
landed awkwardly on his side and rolled onto
his back
.

From the corner of his vision, he saw
Tamael
p
ushing
one of the
soldier
s
backward
,
violently wrench
ing his head
from
side to side
.  The sol
dier’s throat
tore and sp
lattered
blood on
the ground and leaves
as
Tamael’s
growl filled the forest
.

Batarel
rolled over onto his feet and came up in a
pouncing
position
.  Without a secon
d
’s hesitation, he jumped forward and
caught the Anduar by the front of the throat.