Night Calls the Raven (Book 2 of The Master of the Tane) (19 page)

Preparation for his first test came at the beginning of the fifth day. After the sun touched his naked body Jne flatly stated, “In preparation for your first test, you are no longer allowed any water,” and then she turned and walked away.

So, it began. No water for two days. Renja wanted to protest but knew to do so would bring him nothing but scorn and wasted breath. He found it interesting that the mere mention of not being able to drink any water made him almost instantly thirsty. It also disrupted his sword practice. He could not afford to lose any fluid by sweating so he spent most of his days in his tent trying unsuccessfully not to be thirsty. Jne still brought him food, but he didn’t want to eat it knowing it would only add to his thirst. Mid-day on the sixth day though, his stomach was too angry to worry about what his throat felt so he ate all of his midday and evening meals. The next day his tests would begin. He needed to keep up his strength.

He lay awake late into the night trying to ignore the parched sensation in his mouth and in the back of his throat and shut his mind away from the nervousness and excitement he was feeling for the coming morning. He knew he needed to get some sleep so he would be ready for whatever the dawn brought but he was having a hard time shutting his mind down to the questions of what he would be required to face. Jne had said that his three tests would be water, horses and steel. Maybe going without water was the first test. He grasped on to that idea, soothing his mind with the promise that tomorrow would end his thirst and he would pass his first test. It seemed too easy but he wouldn’t let his mind ponder it any further. With the promise of a cool drink of water in the morning he finally drifted into a fitful sleep bringing with it dreams of pools that beckoned to him but were always just out of reach.

The next morning when he made it to the spot where he had met Jne for the past six days, Kardosh was waiting for him on top of a magnificent black horse. Had his eyes not been so keen in the dark he would have walked right past him and not even known he was there. Kardosh looked down at him and nodded slightly. “Are you ready for your first test?” he asked in his deep rumbling voice.

Renja just nodded.

“Good. We wait for the sun and your final cleansing. You will then be ready for the test of water.”

What did he say?
Then
be ready? What about
have completed
? Renja didn’t have time to ask questions. The sun was brightening the horizon and he had to strip quickly. Strangely enough, he almost felt more embarrassed stripping in front of Kardosh than he had in front of Jne.

Casting his clothes aside, he waited in the chill air for the sun. A finger of light stretched out and touched him caressing him in its glow. Kardosh’s voice suddenly rang out through the morning dawn startling him from his peaceful moment.

“You are pronounced clean!”

Renja looked up at him momentarily stunned.

“Clothe quickly so we can go.”

He obeyed without argument, pulling his clothes back on with practiced speed and agility. When he was fully dressed, Kardosh offered him his hand and pulled him up onto the back of the horse behind him. Renja felt a little hesitant about being on such a large beast. Although he could appreciate the beauty and power of such a magnificent animal it also made him a little leery. He was fairly certain that he had not been an accomplished horse rider.

The moment he was on, the great horse shot off galloping deeper into the plains. At first, Renja wrapped his arms tightly around Kardosh’s waist holding on for fear of being thrown off. But Kardosh turned and glared at him. “Do not shame my horse or me with your own shame,” he barked.

Renja let go hesitantly still expecting to be thrown but certain of retribution from the large Tjal man should he refuse to loosen his grip. Finding that Kardosh sat on a small blanket, he gripped its edges tightly, not ready to trust his life to such a powerful animal.

He couldn’t imagine where they were going or what his test would be but as the hours slipped away and the day passed into late afternoon his mind became more focused on the immediate pain he felt in his rear end. The horse had not changed direction in the least bit nor had it slowed its pace throughout the whole day.

Long ago his fingers had begun to cramp insisting he loosen his grip and allow them to stretch. Reluctantly he had conceded and tentatively released the blanket. Expecting to drop off and be trampled any moment, he kept them close and ready to grab the blanket again should the need arise. That had been earlier this morning. The sun was halfway through its last drop to the western horizon now and Renja sat casually on the horses back the fear of falling almost gone.

They were far from the tented city, nothing but the long grass of the plains stretching out in all directions. Renja’s tongue felt shriveled, his mouth almost completely void of any moisture. The sun had not helped any either. The sky was clear of clouds and it seemed unseasonably hot today. He sat helplessly and watched as the precious water seeped from his pores and was devoured by the suns rays.

Suddenly the horse slowed and then abruptly stopped. Renja was even more confused than before. There was nothing there, just miles of grass in all directions. Was the horse taking a rest?
He was about to ask Kardosh what they were doing when his deep voice boomed in his ears. “Get off.” Renja hesitated for a brief moment before pushing himself off the back of the horse and falling on his rear, his legs weak from sitting for such a long time.

Kardosh turned the horse back around and stared down at him. “You have two days to make it back to the camp. If you fail you will be hunted and killed.” Without another word, Kardosh and the horse shot forward in a dead run headed back the way they had come. Renja attempted to yell a protest but his weak voice was lost in the thunderous gallop of the horse and in mere moments he was left to himself.

At first he felt panic rise in his chest almost choking off his air. How was he to get back to the tents in only two days without a horse, without food, and particularly without any water? His body was at its end now. Part of him wanted to just lie down where he was and die. There was no use going on anymore. He was beaten. They had beaten him. None of this was worth being a part of. His throat burned, screaming for moisture. His body lay weakly in the grass begging for sleep. He could easily just let it all go and drift away.

He shook himself. He had to get up. He had to start back. He had to find the strength to make it back. Jne’s voice taunted him in the back of his mind. “
It does not matter
.
You will die
.” He focused in on her mocking tone as he had heard it almost daily for the past week. “
You will never make it to steel
.
You will die
.”

“I will not fail!” he yelled out. “I will not die!”

Pushing himself to his feet he looked toward the empty plain where he had last seen Kardosh’s back as he galloped away. “I’ll have to run the whole way.” Again the despair closed in on him but he fought it back with all the strength he had left. “I have to find water first.”

Looking around he tried to spot any differences in the landscape that would reveal itself as a place where water might be found. But it was all the same. No variations in landscape. Not even changes in color. He had to do something fast. He had to have water but knew he had to get moving or no matter how much water he found he was never going to make it back in time. “Maybe something will present itself on the way.”

The tracks Kardosh and his horse left were easy enough to follow. Finding his way, at least, would not be a problem. He moved forward at a quick walk, wanting to run but knowing that to do so, without water, would quickly spell out his doom. He wanted to wait until dark to move but he couldn’t risk the time. As soon as he found something to drink his pace could speed up. He would have to trust in luck that there would be water deposits in the direction he was going.

After an hour of walking, his situation was becoming more desperate. At his current rate he would never make it in time and his body was starting to fail him. The sun was fast approaching the western horizon, which relieved him of much of its heat but his thirst still seemed to have increased twofold. He wasn’t going to make it.

Suddenly he felt a pull to his left. On its own his body had suddenly stepped to the left as if someone or something had pulled on his arm. He stopped and looked around. Nothing had changed. The landscape was still as it had been all along. If not for his own tracks following behind him this place looked identical to where Kardosh had dropped him. He looked at his arm. Could this be a stage of dehydration? Was he starting to hallucinate? He started walking again trying to ignore the pulling but it only increased. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, a strange scent suddenly played across his nose. It smelled like…like…. “Water? But water has no scent.” He took another deep breath, the same scent filling his nostrils. It did smell like water. He took a couple of steps to his left, following the pull he’d been feeling and then stopped. Looking back to the trail he was leaving behind, he hesitated. Something inside him screamed that water would be found to his left, but did he dare leave the trail? He had no idea how far away the water was; only that it was there. He tried to swallow but his throat was too dry. Looking to his left again he started walking. The trail meant nothing to him if he died on it in the next few hours. He had to have water.

He walked on, leaving the path to camp behind, his feet moving
almost as if on their own. The sun, dropping in the west, shone brightly in his face making him squint against its rays. He took another deep breath, the scent of his quarry growing stronger now. He had to be close. Time was ticking away in his mind. No water. No time. He was losing. He would die of thirst or they would hunt him down and kill him. Jne’s voice laughed at him.
You have failed
,
Renja
.
Give up
.
I told you that you would never make it to steel
.
You won’t even make it past water
.

Suddenly the ground gave way beneath him and he found himself tumbling down the side of a steep hill. Feet, legs and arms flew about in all directions as he tried to catch himself before landing flat on his stomach with a great splash. He pushed himself up sputtering and coughing his hair dripping in his face. He sat stunned for a moment, his dried out mind not registering what was suddenly all around him. Then with a shout, he lunged forward, burying himself in a deep pool of lifesaving water.

Popping to the surface, he took a deep, long draught before again disappearing below the surface. He’d found it, life restoring water. It was easy to see why he was unable to spot anything from the plain. This was an old riverbed surrounded by the large grasses that were everywhere. Even from the top of a horse you would not be able to spot it from more than a quarter mile away. Renja broke the surface again and swam for the shore. Stopping at the river’s edge he took another long drink before pulling himself from the pool. Darkness was coming quickly and with it came the cool breezes that pushed across the plains. Where he lay he was protected from the sharp gusts but looking up the bank he could see the grass bending and waving back and forth in their evening dance.

He had to get moving. His time was getting shorter, but he needed time to regain some strength and let his body rehydrate. He took another quick drink from the river and then leaned back letting his stomach settle. He would have to run the whole way back to camp without any time for sleep. He was already out of time. He looked at the water. It would save him if he could take some along, otherwise, he would have to stop and find more during his trek back. He checked his belt and his clothing but already knew it was no use. He had no pouches to fill. He took another drink and then looked down at his boots. Quickly pulling them off
he inspected the pads of his feet happily finding the skin quite tough. Dipping a boot into the river he pulled it out full of clear liquid and set it on the ground. It did not leak.

He climbed the bank to the grassy plain above and quickly set off, retracing the trail to the original path with two boots full of water tied around his neck. The sun was just making its last stand against the distant horizon as Renja turned back onto the trail headed for the Tjal camp. As the sun disappeared below the horizon, his eyes quickly adjusted to the dwindling light and lit up the landscape before him.

He ran as fast as he could all through the night never deviating from the trail. He couldn’t be sure how good his time was but felt confident that even if he had been behind he was making up for it now. Luckily, the wind blew at his back giving him a boost as it pushed against him as if trying to help him on his way. Midway through the night his throat started to burn but he resisted the urge to take any water from his boots. He knew that daylight would bring the heat and he would need to conserve his ration if he expected to make it back in time. Twice more during the night he felt the pulling and caught the scent of water on the wind telling him that more was close by but he ignored the feelings not willing to waste anymore time by leaving the trail. He was catching up, he knew he was, but he couldn’t risk the time to chase after another creek. He pulled the memory of Jne’s mocking voice back into his mind. “
You will never make it to steel
.
You will die
.”