Incarnation: Wandering Stars Volume One (10 page)

“You asked me what my
d
athrah
has shown
me.
”

Sariel leaned forward and nodded his head.

“I have seen that some things are within my control, and some things are not.”

Sariel waited patiently for the man to make his point, which seemed like it would be a long time coming.

“
I have seen
t
ehrah
that is beyond my strength.  This is a danger to my people.”

Evil?
Sariel
translated to himself
.

Sheyir’s father
paused now,
perhaps
choosing his words carefully
, or taking one last opportunity to assess the stranger.  His expressionless face was difficult to read.

“The young men have seen your
d
athrah
.  If you do not mean us harm
…i
f you
speak truth when you say you have come to help, then I have a task for you.”

I like where this is going.
  Sariel nodded again.

The elder continued.  “
At the end of these mountains
,
where they
stretch toward the water,
is
a place called
Arar Gahiy
, the
V
alley of the
C
urse.  In this valley is
Armayim
, the
L
ake of the
C
urse.  In this place we can no longer walk
; I have forbidden it
.  It is
too
dangerous for my people
.  In the morning, the young men will take you.  They will not go into
Arar Gahiy
.  Y
ou will go alone
.  Y
ou will see if your
d
athrah
shows you what I have seen.  Then you will return and tell me what you saw.  You will tell me if your
d
athrah
is strong enough to help my people.”

Sariel wait
ed
for a moment
to make sure that the elder was finished talking.
  After a brief silence, he responded.  “Thank you for your trust.  I will do as you ask and if there is a way to help your people, I will.”

The elder
neither smiled, nor frowned. 
Without breaking eye contact, he stood up
, apparently
satisfied with the conclusion of the discussion.  The other senior tribe members rose with him and Sariel stood as well.

“You have been shown where you will sleep
.
”
the elder
stated
.

“Yes,
” Sariel replied, assuming it was a question.  “B
ut I will stay
here
for a while and think on the things you
have
told me.”

This time, the elder nodded, then turned and walked into the darkness.

When the men were gone,
Sariel
sat down again and
leaned forward
,
rest
ing
his elbows on his knees.

Valley of the
Curse?  I wonder what he means.  …an evil that is beyond my
strength
?

W
hile he meditated on the
discussion, a presence nearby interrupted his thoughts.  Turning, he
could barely make out the form of someone
standing a short distance a
way.

“I did not tell them,” she said softly.

Sheyir!

Her voice
was
like the song of water
gliding
over smooth stones in a
creek
.  It was gentle, clear, and complex.  “…about our first meeting?” he clarified.

“Yes,” she replied simply.

“I must apologize to you.  I didn’t mean to frighten you.  That is the last thing I want.”

Sheyir
’s
faint silhouette
came a step closer. 
She remained quiet for a moment while her head
turned from side to side
.  “You said you have come a long way to see me.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“
Men do not seek after women,” she countered softly, almost in a whisper.

Sariel smiled.  “
Not among
the Chatsiyram
.  But
I am not from your tribe
…and you already know that I am not a man.
”

His statement seemed to hang in the air for an eternity
, without a response
. 

“Do you know what I am?” he asked finally.

“My people
tell
stories of the
Baynor
.  They used to walk the earth, but not for many years.
”

Children of Light
, he translated to himself
, smiling at the confident way she presented her opinions, not unlike her father
.  “It is not far from the truth
,
”
he admitted.  “And
what do
the rest of
your people think I am
?
”

Sariel could almost feel
a change in her demeanor.  Though he couldn’t see it, he imagined she was smiling.  And
in that tiny fraction of time,
he
promised himself that he would give his life to make her smile more often.

“They say that you are an elder without a tribe.”

“This is also not far from the truth,” he replied.

Sheyir’s head lowered for a moment, then came up again.  Slowly, her outline backed away until it melded with the darkness.

Sariel
listened
to the faint sound of her feet retreating, unhurriedly, across the soil. 
He smiled to himself as
he
looked up to the night sky, now beginning to sparkle with the appearance of the stars. 
It seemed that so much had transpired in such a short amount of time.  But that was the way of things in the
T
emporal
R
ealm.  So far, he liked his new home.

*   *   *   *

Through the mist, t
he ominous silhouette of
Gadol Har
-
Marah
darkened the no
rtheast
ern
horizon.
  As Enoch moved through the cold, wet grass, a shiver move
d
through his body.  It wasn’t the chill in the air
that filled him with fear
, but the
oppressive aura of the
dense forest that loomed overhead, blocking the sky
.

With hands tied behind his back, he trudged onward, following the lead of his captors as he had for the last day and a half.  No one had said more than a few words and Enoch knew better than to speak to them.  Instead, he kept his head down, his feet moving, and his thoughts inclined toward the Holy One.

Then, just as he had settled into this routine, odd shapes began to emerge from the fog and the men began to speak amongst each other. 
As they drew near, Enoch realized that the conical structures dotting the landscape were dwellings.  It was a village.  The homes, perhaps a hundred in all,
consisted of long, wooden poles leaned against one another and wrapped in the same reptile hide as
the sparse clothing his captives wore.  From the openings at their peaks, thin lines of smoke rose into the sky.

Almost immediately, the
village inhabitants
came out
to
greet the
small
procession.
 
T
he women were naked except for necklaces of long
, pointed
teeth that radiated about their necks.  Around their wrists and ankles, they wore an assortment of bones strung together with
strips of hide
.
  Their hair was long, black, and coarse, gathered into a single braid that ran down to the lower back.

Embarrassed by the
ir
immodest
y, Enoch kept his eyes on the ground, wondering if the
men
would untie him now that they had arrived. 
Abruptly
, something hard gl
anced off his leg.
 
Enoch
quickly looked
up
at the gathering crowd of
women and noticed that most of them were holding rocks or sticks.
 
As one of the men pushed him forward
through the crowd
,
a
nother
rock hit him in the cheek and
he flinched.

This show of fear was met with
a
growing
chorus of vibrating screeches
that
cut through the air
. 
T
he women
appeared to
be
grow
ing
more agitated
by the second
.  Then, the stones began to fly through the air.  Enoch tucked his face toward his shoulder, but it was no use.  He couldn’t stop the rocks from pelting his skin.
  Between the
small,
sharp jabs cutting into his flesh, he also felt the heavier impact of the sticks against his arms and legs.  Within seconds, the pain was unbearable.

He started to fall and felt a powerful grip on his arm
suddenly
lift him back to his feet and
force
him forward.  With his eyes closed and his head turned, he struggled through a mass of tangled limbs until he bumped into something more solid.

A
large man
towered above the women.  He stared hard into Enoch’s eyes for a moment,
then struck him in the face.

Enoch felt his legs go limp and he crashed to the ground.
  Dozens of other blows glanced off his extremities, feeling weak by comparison, until some
one
kicked his exposed ribs, making his body spasm in pain.

When the beating finally stopped, Enoch
’s
feet
were
lifted off the ground. 
Too weak to resist, he simply opened his eyes and watched a
s the hunters proceeded to drag him
.
But the intense pain of his skin grinding across the rough
soil
brought him instantly out of his stupor.  Fighting to sit up, he flopped from his
side onto his back and
tried to
use his hands to push his body away from the
jagged
rocks that were tearing at his flesh.

Holy One, save me!

The
men
finally stopped in front of a large
r
dwelling
encased in more colorful reptilian hides than those around it.

The hunters dropped his legs and Enoch
rolled onto his side and
rested
his head on the
bare earth.
 
Breathing heavily and wincing at the pain, he
feared
what would happen next.

From inside the tent, the muffled sound of speaking could be heard. 
Moments
later,
a large flap of hide was pushed open and smoke billowed from the opening.  O
ne of the hunters came out, followed by an older man whose skin was painted white with ash.  Circling his h
ead was a crown of fanged teeth, stabbing upward to
ward
the sky.

“
Hifl
leuma
elet
elafur
wu-s
e
lema
?
” the older man asked.

“
Fi
wau del’hakul theila wau zjenup
,
” the hunter replied.  “
Hauah
wu-s
e
lema
el muhadis anashida
?”

“
Nahma
,” the elder answered.  “
Elhet
sewutha
dutiyr
wu-s
e
lema
del’zjaruh
. 
Ehchuda
wu-s
e
lema
theila
wau
Muhadis Makhun
. 
W
u-s
e
lema
sewutha yukowim wau duthuya theila
wau Akila Lena Lahaema
”