The cove they had found was surrounded by towering limestone cliffs. A dozen smaller ships bobbed in the water around Lurush’s leviathan. Exhausted from rowing all night, lishas and hurums had jumped on shore to collapse and recuperate on the beach’s pure white sand. Inland, there were the shattered remains of huts and fishing boats, but other than that there were no signs of any locals.
As he wandered amongst the refugees, Oresh saw a teenage
lisha sitting in the shade of a tree on the edge of the beach sobbing. It was
his old neighbour.
“Ekur, where’s your mother?” he said as he sat beside him
“She… she…” Ekur didn’t look up, every word sounded painful
to utter, “she brought home two hurums. A mother and daughter. They were
screaming. She dragged them in and told me to eat the girl. But I didn’t want
to. She was going to eat the woman. S-so I went to the kitchen and got a knife
and… and…”
The tears made it impossible for him to go any further.
Oresh put his arm around his shoulder, but had no idea what to say. Was there
anything he could say to comfort him that wasn’t a blatant lie? Could he really
say that he’d done the right thing?
Under the next tree over was a young hurum man with a
goatee, his face blank as though he had long spent all of his emotion. Oresh
recognised him from the day before, he had been helping mend ships after the
wave.
“Excuse me,” said Oresh quietly, “you’re Oddyr’s brother,
aren’t you?”
Iddyr slowly turned to him, “Yes”
“I saw him fighting lishas. He didn’t stop, even after he
was surrounded. He didn’t surrender”
Iddyr cracked a tired smile, “I assumed as much. I doubt
he’d want to go out any other way”
“I’ve never seen anyone so… fearless”, said Oresh
“Thank you”
Oresh was distracted by someone shouting, “Askura! Askura!”
It was Peshura, Sopri of the Sapphire Temple, Askura’s
mother.
“I’ll find some fish and water for you,” Oresh said to Ekur,
“I’ll be right back”
Peshura’s white tunic was singed, her voice hoarse from
shouting, her face twisted with worry. She stopped frantically tramping up and
down the beach when Oresh approached her. He opened his mouth, but no words
came out. She looked deep into his eyes, searching for a glimmer of hope, but
found only despair. She wailed and buried her face in Oresh’s chest. He lay his
hand on her back as the tears welled up in his eyes.
“I… I’m sorry,” he said, “I couldn’t save her. I couldn’t do
anything. I’m sorry”
Running down the beach towards the water was Lurush’s
gigantic bodyguard. She had ordered him to scout the area as soon as they had
anchored in the cove. As gently as he could, Oresh prised Peshura from his
chest and sat her down on the sand with a consoling hug. He waded into the
water and followed Goresh up the rope ladder onto the ship.
Lurush was sat cross-legged in front of the rudder as though
she was holding court. Looking out to sea, still wrapped in the purple blanket,
Anka lay on the deck. Bukur stood keeping a watchful eye for any movement amongst
the trees atop the cliffs. Goresh whispered something into Lurush’s ear.
“There’s a village about three miles away,” Lurush
announced, “Anka, go and persuade them to supply us with food, water and
anything else you can think of”
“Can’t someone else?” said Anka, still staring at the
horizon
Lurush frowned, “No. You’re an elite negotiator, aren’t you?
Well then prove it, or if you can’t, then why do we need you?”
“I don’t know the language”
“I can translate”, said Gamoz
“Okay then,” said Lurush, “you, Anka and Goresh will go to
the village. Come on, enough sulking, we need to find a way to survive here.
Get a move on”
Anka sluggishly rose to her feet.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Oresh asked her
She didn’t look him in the eyes, “Don’t worry about me”
***
Anka tied two corners of the purple curtain tightly around
her neck, turning it into a cape, although she still had to hold it close to
herself as she didn’t have much on underneath. With any luck the locals would
think she looked distinguished and elegant, although she felt somewhat
undignified and out-of-place. Iddyr lent her his sandals, and with that she was
as ready as she could be.
She followed Goresh and Gamoz up the narrow path that
zig-zagged up the cliffs. At the top there was a forest of parched and spindly
pines, their brittle needles covering the ground. Once they reached the other
side, Parua stretched out before them, with thick green shrubs coating the
plateau. The mountains which flanked Parua had always been shadows on the
horizon to Anka, now up close she could see their true majestic size and their
titanic procession inland and out of sight. The sound of the gentle waves
behind them faded. The rough path they followed snaked its way between boulders
that gleamed white in the unrelenting Sun and laid back old trees filled with
birds chattering to each other in the shade.
“Ah, it’s good to be back,” said Gamoz, “Kurush was so busy,
so noisy, so cramped. Living in a place like that burdens the soul. But here,
the soul feels at home”
Anka was not so carefree. She didn’t know Gamoz, the deep
scars that criss-crossed his face made her nervous. He probably wants to eat
me, she thought, that’s probably why he volunteered to come. But first he’d
need to defeat or otherwise get rid of Goresh, and there’s simply no way he’d
be able win in a fight against that giant of a lisha. And would Goresh, here in
such a remote place, with no hope of a normal, comfortable life now that Kurush
has gone up in smoke, would he be able to resist the temptation? No, Goresh
will be the one who has me for dinner. With Kurush up in smoke, there’s no hope
for any of us.
When they reached the crest of a ridge, Gamoz suddenly
stopped in his tracks, then jumped into the shrubbery and wordlessly beckoned
Anka and Goresh to join him. He pointed to another ridge some distance ahead of
them. There was a band of ten lishas trekking across the scrubland. Some
carried spears, all of them wore blood-red loincloths but little else. One with
an imperious poise, his bronze helmet glinting in the Sun, was riding a hapa.
“Dusk raiders,” Gamoz whispered, “it’s when they usually
attack. And they come from the duskwards plains. They first arrived in Parua
when I was a boy. The bastards killed my family, they’re why I decided to make
my life in Kurush instead. But it looks like I can’t escape them”
Anka noticed their scales were shades of light and dark
green, they almost blended in with the foliage, “They look like Oshuans”
“There’s an old legend that Oshuan traders came riding hapas
from the plains long ago. Maybe they’re your tribe’s long lost cousins”
“But I can’t see any hurums”
“Some say the dusk raiders ate all of their hurums. I think
it’s more likely that they just stay in their homeland and leave raiding to the
more restless lishas”
One of them cracked a joke, making the others guffaw. They
disappeared behind the ridge, and Gamoz, Goresh and Anka continued along the
winding path, being careful not to make any sound. After about another mile,
they found themselves on the edge of a shallow valley. A clear blue river
flowed down from the mountains, embraced on both banks by fields of wheat that
glowed golden in the Sun as it hung low in the sky. The river forked and then
converged again, creating a large island upon which stood white stone walls.
Wisps of smoke rose lazily from the village.
Once they reached the edge of the fields, they suddenly
realised that the path had taken them past a tree between whose roots a lisha
was cradled. From his short stature and bright yellow scales, he was probably a
teenager. A droplet of drool dribbled slowly down his chin. Anka was overcome
with envy, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept that deeply, and
both her mind and body were crying out for some rest.
He wearily opened his eyes, and once he saw that he was
being examined by three strangers, he awoke with a snort and bolted for the
village. They followed, wading through the wheat as it swayed like the waves of
a tranquil sea.
There was a causeway of wooden planks held up by posts
lodged in the riverbed that led to the village entrance, although they had shut
the gate as soon as the youth had got in. Two lishas with spears stood on the
ramparts above the gate with cold eyes. One of them barked at them.
“He wants to know why we’re here”, said Gamoz
“We are refugees from Kurush,” said Anka, which Gamoz
translated, “our home was destroyed by water and then by fire, and the winds
brought us to your shores. Please allow us to settle here for at least a short
while, and provide us food, water and shelter. Your generosity will be
remembered and rewarded”
The two lishas whispered to each other before replying. The
Paruan language used ‘z’ sounds so often that to Anka they spoke like angry
snakes.
“They say they don’t have any food to spare”, said Gamoz
“We can help you harvest your fields, rebuild your fishing
boats, anything you need doing”
“They say they can’t help us”, said Gamoz
Anka felt her face go red, “Stop wasting our time. You don’t
understand what hell we’ve been through. We demand that you give us what we
need”
“Are you sure?” said Gamoz
“Yes, say it!”
Gamoz dutifully translated, although he said it much more
calmly and slowly than Anka had intended. Nonetheless, it was enough to make
the Paruans raise their spears and spout a guttural tirade at them.
“They’re telling us to, er, spend more time with our
mothers,” said Gamoz, “I think we should leave”
Gamoz and Goresh backed away, but stayed Anka rooted at the
spot.
“We need your help!”
Gamoz put his hand on her shoulder and gently pulled her
away. Reluctantly she turned her back on the village and followed them through
the fields. They walked back along the path that winded through the scrubland. Each
step was hard, and not just because her legs were exhausted. The humiliation of
failing so badly at such a crucial task weighed on her shoulders like a
boulder. What was she going to tell Lurush?
She was too busy looking at the ground to notice that Goresh
had stopped in front of her. Walking into him snapped her out of her self-pitying
reverie. Emerging from the shrubs around them were ten lishas – probably the
same dusk raiders they’d seen earlier. They talked to each other in their
coarse language, devilish smiles across their faces. Anka felt their eyes on
her. Several of them were licking their lips.
Before she knew it, Goresh had picked her up, carrying her
under one arm. He sprung forward and plunged his spear into the chest of the
lisha blocking the way, before charging down the path and out of the ambush’s
grasp. Gamoz raced alongside, overtaking Goresh.
Anka heard a grisly thud, and then another and another.
Goresh fell forward, throwing Anka onto the ground. She rolled until she collided
into a jagged rock. She looked up to see Goresh sprawled on his belly, three
spears planted in his back.
“Goresh!” she cried as she crawled to him, “Goresh!”
His eyes were drooping apologetically. The dusk raiders had
already caught up with them.
“Today just isn’t our day, is it?” said Anka, “Lurush was
very lucky to have you as a bodyguard. You kept us safe like no-one else could.
Thank you”
He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say
anything the raiders sank three more spears into him. Goresh gasped, and his
eyes grew dark. One raider picked Anka up and put her over his shoulder,
keeping a tight grip on her with one arm, even though she didn’t have any
energy to resist.
They pulled their spears out of Goresh’s corpse, then the
band started walking. They grumbled to each other about the loss of their
comrade, whose body two of them lugged across the scrubland. In the distance
Anka saw Gamoz watch in horror as she was carried off. He turned and ran
towards the shore.
Constructive criticism welcome
© Paul Bramhall
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