Alien Chronicles 3 - The Crystal Eye (15 page)

“Now,” she said, holding them out to Velia. “You won’t be pulled off balance.”

Velia took her things with reluctant gratitude. “It
is
better,” she said grudgingly. “Thank you. I didn’t know how to do that.”

Ampris smiled at her. “You’re welcome.”

“Might learn a lot, if you decided to be willing,” Elrabin said. Clutching the back of Ampris’s belt, he pulled himself to his feet and swayed a moment.

Ampris moved to steady him, but Velia darted between her and Elrabin, fitting her shoulder under his arm and glaring at Ampris possessively.

“Guess you don’t need more help,” Ampris said mildly, backing away.

Over Velia’s head, Elrabin met Ampris’s gaze and rolled his eyes with a comical waggle of his ears. That, more than anything else, assured Ampris he was definitely on the mend. Hiding a smile, she let them struggle on without her.

Most of the group had now passed her. Automatically Ampris looked for her sons. Nashmarl was well ahead on the trail, once again in the midst of the Kelth newcomers. Not pleased to see him there, Ampris backed her ears. He was asking for trouble by pestering ignorant, ill-educated slaves who found his appearance repugnant, but she couldn’t reach him now. Once they were safely down, however, she would have a more forceful talk with him.

As for Foloth, he was helping old Robuhl pick a tottery way down. Satisfied that Foloth was being useful, Ampris went to Tantha and offered warily to carry one of the newborn cubs. Tantha accepted, surprising Ampris, and even bared her teeth in a brief smile.

“You, I can trust,” she said loudly, looking around to make sure she was overheard.

Mindful of the precious bundle cradled in her arms, Ampris rubbed the sleeping infant between her ears and started down with her. It was not easy keeping her footing. The rocks tended to shift underfoot, and the drop on one side was steep and long. Refusing to look into the depths of the precipice, Ampris focused her gaze strictly on where she was going.

Halfway down, they reached a wide ledge that formed a sort of shelf. Here, Harthril called a halt and let everyone rest.

Returning the spotted cub to Tantha, Ampris allowed herself a small sip from her water skin, then shared it with Foloth. While he drank, Ampris gazed out into the far distance, absently clutching the Eye of Clarity. She was still puzzled as to why Harthril had chosen this difficult trail when out to her left she could see where the northern point of the mesa sloped down in a far more gentle fashion into a forest. Had they gone that way, they would not have been risking their necks every moment.

But their direction instead aimed them toward a mountain range that rose sharply almost from the very foot of the mesa. Heavily forested, the mountains stood in jagged formation ahead of them. South of the mountains spread a wide, arid brown plain half-obscured in the haze of heat and lingering field smoke. Recognizing the geography with an unpleasant jolt of foreboding, Ampris lifted her muzzle and drew in a deep breath.

“Harthril!” she said sharply.

The Reject looked her way. but he was talking to Frenshala and did not come over. Ampris felt a spurt of annoyance, then realized she would have to go to him. She did so, glaring at Frenshala without really seeing her.

“I must interrupt,” she said without apology and took hold of his tattered sleeve to turn him so that their backs were to the others.

Frenshala growled. “We not be finished—”

Ampris backed her ears and glared at the Kelth female with such fierceness Frenshala’s protest died in her throat. “I must interrupt,” Ampris said, and Frenshala backed away.

Harthril pulled his ragged sleeve free of Ampris’s fingers. “What?”

“We’re going the wrong way,” she said, keeping her voice as low as she could. She did not want to undermine his new-gained authority by saying this where the others could overhear, but neither would she remain silent. “This mountain range is Kreige mal-Hahfra. Its forests contain imperial lands. We can’t go there.”

Harthril stared at her through his brilliant-hued Viis eyes. His rill was halfway extended, but otherwise he showed no expression. “Good hunting there.”

“No!” she said. “We can’t risk crossing a boundary marker.”

Harthril’s rill extended more. He pointed at the bluff rising above them. “You saying to climb back up there?”

“Of course we can’t climb back the way we just came,” she said irritably, knowing the exhausted group would never make it. “But if we go into those mountains, we’ll be heading for greater trouble than we left.”

A sharp yelp and the sounds of a scuffle made her break off and turn around. Harthril turned with her.

At the opposite end of the ledge, Nashmarl was shoving the Kelth Steegin, who snarled an insult at him and snapped her teeth right in his face.

Harthril hissed, flicking out his tongue in anger, but a growling Ampris was already limping in her cub’s direction. She saw Nashmarl shove Steegin again, pushing her dangerously near the edge. This time, Steegin’s yelp held a distinct note of fear. Growling, the other Kelths rose to their feet and closed in on Nashmarl as a pack.

In mingled annoyance and growing alarm, Ampris roared, freezing all of them in place. “Nashmarl!” she yelled angrily. “You—”

But she never finished her sentence. From over the top of the mesa came a thundering boom of sonic pressure and the blinding flash of sunlight off metal. Two high-velocity, scout-sized warships came screaming over the rim of the mesa and barreled down right above them. The ships’ noses were aflame, and their jets spewed contrails of white exhaust. The noise of their engines deafened the world, making the ledge itself tremble beneath Ampris’s feet. Small rocks dislodged and went tumbling, then the ships went plunging down toward the far-off Plains of Filea, gone in the blink of an eye, with only the stink of exhaust and the boom of their engines echoing off the cliffs and canyons.

Ampris, although she had ducked instinctively like everyone else, was the first to recover. She jumped upright. “They didn’t see us!” she said, her voice ringing out over the panicky babble. “Stay calm, everyone. They couldn’t see us.”

Velia was in hysterics, her hands clawing the air over her head. “This close!” she said over and over. “This close! Could touch us. Had to see us.”

“No way,” Elrabin said. He gave Velia a shake and she fell silent, standing beside him wide-eyed and shaking, her hands clamped around her muzzle. “Those be spaceships, messengers, coming in on autopilot control. Slack yourselves. We be fine, see?”

The other Kelths weren’t listening. Yipping shrilly, they ran about, grabbing up their meager bundles and shoving each other.

“They’ll report us,” Frenshala said, as wild-eyed as Velia. “We’ll be taken back and flogged.”

The confusion increased as they yelped and milled about. Frustrated, Ampris could not make herself heard. Elrabin tried to shout above the noise they were making, but gave up.

Harthril, however, pushed his way through and waved his long arms. “Follow me!” he ordered. “Move fast. We go now!”

He started off the ledge, with Frenshala right on his heels. The other Kelths crowded them, still yipping and sobbing, refusing to calm down. Trying to back out of the general confusion, Ampris looked around for her sons and belongings.

Then a scream pierced the air.

Turning that way, Ampris saw Nashmarl teetering on the edge of the precipice. Horrified, she rushed to him, knocking someone out of her way, and dragged him back to safety. She clung to him a moment, feeling him tremble against her, and sent up a silent prayer of gratitude that he was safe.

“Look!” someone shouted.

A fresh babble of voices broke out, and Nashmarl squirmed from her arms to look over the edge.

Ampris stared down far below at Steegin’s sprawled, broken body. Sickened by the sight, she closed her eyes.

Wails rose up from the Kelths.

Ampris stepped back, forcing herself to look deep into the stricken green eyes of her son. “Nashmarl,” she whispered.

He was wide-eyed with shock. His usual defenses had crumbled. Ampris saw the lonely, frightened, deeply insecure cub that lay behind his moody facade.

“I
didn’t,”
he said, his voice airless and squeaking. “She shoved me, and I pushed her back. Then her foot slipped, and she just fell.” His mouth opened and closed several times. “She just fell.”

Ampris said nothing. Her heart went out to him, and she wanted to fold him back within the safety of her arms. But he remained rigid and unmoving, resisting her comfort.

Foloth rushed up to them, his dark eyes blazing. “You
fool!”
he said to his brother. “If you had to push her, why couldn’t you do it when no one was around to see you?”

Shock hit Ampris hard. She stared at Foloth, unable to believe what she had just heard.

Before she could react, the Kelths mobbed them, snapping and hitting, jostling the three of them dangerously close to the edge.

“Killer!” they shouted. “Monster! Freak!”

Ampris grabbed her sons by their arms and pushed forward through the pack of Kelths. She snarled, baring her teeth, and bit anyone who blocked her way. Reluctantly the pack parted to let her through.

A small stone came out of nowhere, hitting Nashmarl in the shoulder. He cried out in pain, and another stone hit him.

“Killer!” someone shouted shrilly.

Ampris lost her temper. Drawing herself to her full height, she spun around with the old speed that had once made her champion of the gladiatorial arena and roared with a ferocity that silenced them. Swiping with her claws, she chased one of the Kelths into the safety of the crowd. “Nothing is settled here!” she shouted at them. “Nothing!”

Another roar joined hers, and suddenly Tantha bounded to her side. The two Aarouns snarled at the Kelths, who quietened and backed away uneasily.

Tantha bared her teeth and shook her head from side to side. “Come on and fight, if you want a fight!” she taunted them.

But Elrabin came hurrying forward to stand between them. Holding up his hands, he peered at first one side, then the other, from beneath his rakish bandage. “Slack yourselves,” he said sharply. “This ain’t the way.”

“I told them this will be dealt with below,” Ampris said, fury still growling through her voice. She stared at the Kelths through a red haze of emotion, the old, long-dormant fighting instincts roused within her. “Or I can deal with it now, one by one.”

“I will help break bones,” Tantha said with relish.

“Killers!” yelled a Kelth voice from the safety of the crowd.

“Shut the gab!” Elrabin snapped fiercely. “All of you! We ain’t judging this now.”

“Steegin be dead!” Frenshala said in anger. “She be dead
now
—so we
deal
with this now!”

“You got no say in when we judge our own,” Elrabin told her. “Cool off and get down the trail. Move!”

His fierce orders did the trick. Obviously the Kelths were still conditioned to do as they were told. One by one, they turned aside and went down the steep trail—even Frenshala, although she was the last of them to go. She glared at Ampris as she went. “Liar,” she snarled. “Better off we be with Viis master than Aaroun.”

Ampris opened her mouth, then closed it without reply. Her anger was cooling now, and she was ashamed of having lost her temper. She had come very close to actually attacking some of them, and that was not the way to live peaceably with her comrades, as she had sworn long ago to do.

She and Elrabin exchanged glances, and the sad, pitying blame in his eyes deepened her hurt. She dropped her gaze from his, and turned around to look at her cubs.

Nashmarl’s head was hanging. His breathing was ragged and audible. “Mother—”

“Hush,” she told him. “Not now. This will be settled tonight in council.”

Foloth shot his brother an icy glare. “Fool,” he said so contemptuously that Ampris backed her ears.

“Foloth. don’t,” she said.

Her oldest son’s dark eyes snapped to hers. “He’ll get us shunned.”

Her heart squeezed in fresh worry, and she admitted to herself that Foloth might be right. Rubbing her muzzle, she told herself not to believe it. Something could be worked out.

“Shunned?” Nashmarl said, his voice shaky and uncertain. “We can’t be. Mother is too important.”

Foloth bared his short fangs in disgust.

“Was,
you mean,” he spit out, turning his scorn toward her. He was so young and inexperienced, yet so swift to judge harshly, Ampris thought with a sigh.

She backed her ears and pushed both of them to the rear of the line. “You will both stay silent,” she said. “No more talking.”

“But I did nothing wrong,” Foloth said.

She wanted to shake him. “Quiet,” she snapped, and to her relief he obeyed.

In grim silence the group descended the rest of the treacherous slope. Several times while she waited for the person ahead of her to scramble over a dangerous spot, Ampris gazed across to the easier descent of the mesa. From this angle she realized now that had they gone down that, they would have ended up on the northern side of the mountain range instead of here on the southern side, where the vast Plains of Filea began.

Her suspicions grew, and she wondered what Harthril was up to.

Steegin’s body lay wedged in the V of a deep, narrow fissure, impossible to reach or bury. The Kelths wailed as they passed her, but a sharp order from Elrabin silenced them. After that, no one spoke at all. An unpleasant tension filled the air. Ampris could smell hostility and anger simmering in everyone except poor befuddled Robuhl. and she feared for her sons. Young and foolish, they had yet to show good judgment—either of them, although Foloth was far more responsible than his brother. She sighed to herself, grimacing as the climb over a boulder put too much strain on her crippled leg. Perhaps this tragedy, she mused, would help both cubs grow up.

By the time they reached the bottom, long shadows coated the rough terrain. The sun was sinking behind the bulk of the mesa, bringing respite from the day’s heat. Overhead, the sky glowed lilac streaked with coral and gold. Kreige mal-Hahfra loomed over them like a bad omen, its sides looking black and heavily forested. Ampris could smell the sharp tang of narpines. It would be cool up there in the mountains. It always was. There would be plentiful game as well.