AKLESH (Under Strange Skies) (9 page)

Till then he’d need to keep a low profile and not disturb the status quo. On that score he already wasn’t doing very well, at least so far. Ruffling feathers was something he was naturally quite good at. His family and advisors were constantly trying to convince him to mend his ways. It appeared now was his opportunity to start.

Pretty much all of the tribe had settled for the night. So, when Gar looked down to the lower level and saw a lone figure walking in the torchlight, he knew immediately who it was. He could feel Kai’s animosity even from that distance.

The young native had stopped and looked up, having sensed Gar as well. Strapped over his shoulder was a leather bag and in his hand he held a long spear. Gar did not know where he was going. The prince assumed was that the Aklesh youth was running away. Gar knew that desire well.

Their eyes met for a moment.

“Just go,” Gar thought.

He hadn’t been intentionally sending this message, but it had been received. Kai turned gruffly and proceeded down the long stairway to the ground level and out of the keep.

***

The young Aklesh warrior was determined to get away from his tribe, at least for a little while.

Once out past the ground level huts Kai hit on a path through the woods heading towards the plains. He knew this path well. When he wanted privacy for a while, this was always the direction he took.

No one had seen him leave except for the stranger. Kai was certain he would not follow. He was also certain that nobody in the tribe wanted to see him for a while.

His people may not have approved of his actions, but it had saved a life. And life was of the utmost importance to the Aklesh. If he had been a better healer, he would have been able to keep his mind back from Gar’s. Kai kept berating himself for not being more advanced in the healing arts. If he had been, then the tribe would be praising his heroics as opposed to condemning the fiasco.

But, it was true. When he had leapt from the cliff face, it had been purely on instinct. With the immediate events that followed, there had been no forethought, just action.

It pained him to know his unguarded thoughts had unintentionally hurt the stranger.

Kai contemplated the visitor from the Sky Tribes.

Gar’s mind was such a jumble of images, thoughts and feelings, and they all seemed to contradict

each

other.

Mostly,

Kai

was

overwhelmed by the hate and resentment that he had sensed from Gar since the moment their minds had been linked.

Some of these emotions the young prince had directed at him, but mostly they were in regards to so many other problems in his life. Other parts of his consciousness showed incredible kindness, strength and even love.

Kai didn’t understand most of the images pictured in the prince’s head. The poor stranger could barely manage his own thoughts. Kai did not want to see all of these things but Gar did not know how to hold himself back. If the young tribesman had not already possessed the ability to sort and filter those feelings coming at him, he might have been as vulnerable as Gar. He continued walking, increasing the gap between himself and the keep. This dimmed the pressure of these unedited emotions and thoughts. Although the distance did help, it could not erase them entirely.

He turned and looked back for a moment.

The keep was now small and hidden among the tall, overlapping trees of the forest. It was the place where his failures and the figures of the past kept haunting his life. Most times he felt doomed to be always on the outside, like he was now. There were his friends in the tribe and the Healer, but these were pretty much his only true allies among the community, and even they were considered among the fringe. Kai wondered if his situation would have turned out differently had his father had not been killed.

The moonlight through the trees lit his way and the path he was on turned at a small creek. His ears were filled with the sounds of water running over the rocky bed and of small insects chirping in the darkness.

There was a large rock just in the distance where his father used to take him as a child. It was their special place and sacred to Kai. He never spoke of it after his father was gone or brought anyone there, even Tyro. This private spot held only good memories and he desperately wanted to keep it that way. There was no judgment of the tribal elders, no disappointed affection and no Sky Tribesman who looked on him as some sort of mental deficient.

Just the memory of a loving father.

And it was this place he could find some peace before he had to face his tribesmen again the next day.

He climbed the rock. It was about six feet high and hung over the stream.

Once there he sat cross-legged and closed his eyes. Kai let himself breathe slowly in the cool night air. He let is mind order the thoughts swirling about his brain, just as he had been taught. Like the Healer had taught him, he separated those stray pieces of memory and emotion that were not his own and placed them where they could be dealt with later. It was like putting a bowl upon a shelf.

Then he sorted out the trivial things and useless feelings that came from reactions in the heat of earlier events. These he discarded. What remained was the essence of his being, boiled down to its base.

Sadly, his spirit felt insignificant. Light glowed in his soul, but not brightly. Still, it was his own small flame to nurture.

Having found his equilibrium he took a few more deep breaths and opened his eyes.

The sky was bursting with stars. A new understanding of these small points of light was becoming clearer to him. They were homes and other distant places, like his and yet not like his.

Growing up he had often looked to the sky and wondered what the Sky Tribes were really like.

Now, he had seen glimpses, things he had found difficult to understand.

But he liked it. It filled him full of awe at its majesty.

He considered the sparkling sky and wondered which exact star Gar came from.

In the dark a cold, gloved hand forcefully covered his mouth. Before Kai had time to react there was a sharp pain on the back of his head.

Then everything went dark.

***

Gar sat bolt upright in the cot.

A sharp sting of fear and panic had stung his brain then was abruptly silenced. He darted out of the hut and through the door of Tyro and Seema’s home, forcibly pushing the straw curtains aside.

Tyro was already half out of bed, startled by the intrusion. Seema gasped in surprise. Their faces we covered in confusion, waiting for him to speak.

Gar knew what had happened.

“Kai has been taken by the Others.”

Only a few members of the tribe had been summoned to the small hut outside the meeting area.

The hour was late and discretion had been paramount. There was fear that if the information got out too quickly, panic would take hold of the keep. In attendance were Tyro, the High Mother, the Healer, Vol and about ten of the tribe’s warriors.

The light of a small fire illuminated those gathered from underneath, giving the proceedings an ominous feeling.

There had been many questions over the past hour since they had assembled.

A lot of them had been related to what Gar had seen when he knew Kai was captured. What had he felt when it happened? What was the environment? Could he describe the images? The Aklesh asked for specifics and he answered the questions as best as he could, but the glimpses that had flashed in his brain at that moment had been vague at best. One tree on this planet pretty much looked like every other tree to him.

A detail that had caught in his mind was the creek.

“He must have been by Little Creek,” said Tyro, grasping onto any lead.

“Was the creek flowing towards you or away from you?” asked a clever warrior.

Gar closed his eyes and tried to think.

“Away. No, towards, I think.”

“This is useless. He ran off in a huff and got himself kidnapped,” complained Vol, who Gar was growing to dislike more and more. “We add this to the list of stupid things he’s been responsible for. I say we let them do what they will with him. It will take care of two of our problems.”

As she spoke, a few of the warriors from her hunting group agreed.

“No matter your personal feelings for Kai he is one of the tribe, Vol,” reprimanded the High Mother. “He will not be left to…” She refused to finish her sentence.

Gar imagined she was leaving out something unpleasant. Instead, her gaze fell squarely upon him. He could see the gears turning in her head, and whatever her plan was somehow involved him. The others were quick to catch on while the young prince remained in the dark.

Vol scoffed. “You must be joking?! He has no control over the connection! The notion is ridiculous.” Her warriors voiced their opinions as well.

“The stranger cannot be trusted…”

“The Others will kill us all before we can even find them…”

The arguing reached a fevered pitch, some for and some against, whatever was being proposed. The only person not taking part was the Healer. Gar figured his best course was to follow her example, lay low and let them sort things out for themselves before asking unwanted questions.

It was clear the warriors and Vol had a low opinion of him already. It seemed better to not draw any attention by saying things which would appear stupid.

He began to wonder; these ‘Others’ who had taken Kai, if they killed him, would he be free of the mind lock? Was it in his best interest to help them retrieve the impulsive tribesman? As soon as the thought entered his mind, he banished it.

Although he loathed his situation, much of it was of his own making. Kai had saved his life. It was a debt he owed him. He had promised to be of service to the native people and his word was already very much in doubt.

These thoughts were disrupted by the High Mother slamming her hand down on the table. All bickering was silenced.

“Enough!” she said, projecting but not shouting. It was apparent she did not have to. “Vol, at dawn’s first light, send three parties south going first by Little Creek. If the water was indeed flowing towards him, then that is the direction he was heading.”

Vol accepted the command but was very put out. “What are we looking for?”

“Signs of a struggle, tracks,” said the High Mother tersely. “You’re hunters. Hunt.” The warriors, including Tyro, left to prepare for their search. Dawn was not very far off. Once the room was clear, the High Mother turned her attention once again to Gar.

“I’m afraid your lessons with the Healer cannot wait. They must begin immediately if we are to locate Kai’thal.” She started to leave as well.

Gar felt useless. “I don’t know if I can help you,” he admitted.

“You have already,” said the High Mother at the hut’s doorway. “All we can ask is that you try.” With this she made her exit, leaving Gar and the Healer in the hut alone. She motioned him to the table where she was sitting.

Her kind eyes looked upon him and the old woman smiled.

“It is very important that you listen to what I say. Do you understand?”

He nodded.

“Good,” she said gently and settled into an explanation. “Your mind is like that of a child. Not to say that you do not possess all the knowledge of an adult, but in our tribe how you think is almost as important as what you think. Your mind is a powerful tool, but first you must learn how to use it. Like a muscle, it needs to be exercised.

Thoughts can be soothing or they can be hurtful, as you have already discovered. Our connection to each other is the strongest tie that we have in our world. It’s the web that keeps us together,” Gar was surprised when she said the word ‘world,’

and this showed on his face. “Yes,” she went on,

“I know of worlds and planets and what makes up the Sky Tribes. I know of the ships that carry you through infinite amounts of space. But this is beside the point. There is as much inside your head to be explored as there is out in the night sky.” She tapped his head to emphasize this point. Then she took out a small shell, about the size of her fingernail and placed it on the table. It had a small chunk missing out of one side.

“Look at the table,” she said. Gar did so.

“Now find the shell.”

The young prince laughed a bit, not knowing what the point of this exercise might be, picked up the shell which was directly in front of him and handed it to her. He had no idea what she was up to.

She laughed a little bit with him. “You found the shell. Good.”

“Of course I did,” said Gar, his tone a little flip.

“Yes, yes,” said the Healer, who was either unaware or didn’t care about his manner of speaking. “You obviously know what the shell looks like. The way it feels. The texture and color.

Your senses tell you all of this information. Very easy to find a shell on a table when it is the only one. But now, let’s use another sense.” She pinched the shell between her thumb and forefinger. “Close your eyes and I will again put the shell on the table. This time, find the shell without using your eyes.”