Souls of Aredyrah 2 - The Search for the Unnamed One (27 page)

Dayn rose, his hands trembling with fury. But
he suddenly felt the earth tremble and shift beneath his feet. He
stumbled, throwing out a protective arm as he toppled to the
ground.

The battle stopped as eyes darted around in
confusion. A deep rumble was heard as the shaking of the earth grew
more violent. Warriors from both sides fell to their knees. Voices
cried out in terror as horses reared and bucked. All eyes turned to
the mountains where the tallest peak was sending a billow of smoke
high into the sky. The cloud rose, then imploded and rolled across
the mountain range like a great tumbling wave.

The wall surrounding Tearia buckled, then
crumbled to ruin. The towering buildings of the great city swayed
and jerked. People on the battlefield scattered, the Guard heading
toward the city, the Jecta running in the opposite direction. Reiv
and Dayn staggered to their feet, then froze, paralyzed by the
horrendous sight.

Whyn wheeled his horse to face the city.
Buildings broke apart in massive chunks. Clouds of dust rose high
into the air as stone and marble plummeted to the earth. Whyn
kicked in his heels, screaming a command for his horse to gallop
forward, and disappeared into the carnage that was Tearia.

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Chapter 25: Aftermath

T
he world continued
to tremble in the days that followed. Tearia was left as little
more than teetering walls and piles of block. Thousands of people
perished and thousands more were injured as the wall that had been
built to protect them had only served to entrap them. Some
structures were left standing for a time, but one by one they were
leveled in the aftershocks that followed.

Tearian survivors massed outside their city,
forced to abandon rescue attempts until the earth ceased its
shudderings. The mountain to the north continued to smoke, but the
billowing clouds had begun to dissipate. People staggered around in
a daze, tending to the injured as best they could, scavenging for
medical supplies, food, and water. Wells were tainted, and the
fresh water streams that had previously cascaded down the slopes
were now buried. New sources needed to be found in the hills
between the city and the mountains, but few would risk going there.
The gods were still too angry.

The once abundant supplies of food housed in
Tearian storerooms were lost, and the orchards and crops nearest
the city were all but destroyed. Those that survived were quickly
raided. Treks were made to the far fields, but the destruction
there was equally severe. The wildlife, once abundant in the
forests, had scattered, leaving only rodents and lizards to scurry
about. The Tearians were soon starving; they did not have the skill
to utilize the alternative sources that nature provided.

Meirla suffered a different kind of damage.
The palm trees scattered throughout the seaside village had swayed
until one by one they thundered to the ground. The vast waters had
roiled and churned, and with each new aftershock they grew darker
and more turbulent. Great waves crashed upon the shore, sweeping
huts away with them. More life was lost from the cruel surge of the
waters than from the quake itself, and although the sea had calmed,
the Shell Seekers still feared to go into it.

Pobu was a pile of mud brick and broken
timbers. Much life was lost within the Jecta city, but the
casualties were far less than in Tearia, thanks to the mysterious
last-minute order for evacuation. Those who had received the
warning, and heeded it, found refuge to the south of Pobu. They had
watched from the hills as their city crumbled like a sand castle
toppled by a giant hand. Remnants of walls were all that remained
of their homes, but without the risk of unstable buildings, the
Jecta were able to get to work far more efficiently than the
Tearians.

The Jecta managed to dig up some of the
crates of food that had been taken from the fields during the raid
weeks before. They found much of it to be relatively unscathed.
They scavenged the hillsides, fields, and forests, finding a small,
but edible, supply of food. They knew which plants provided
nutritious roots, leaves, and berries, and knew many recipes to
make them more palatable. But their most dependable source of food
in the days that followed proved to be the rats that swarmed the
ruins of their city. The Jecta had long ago learned to survive on
whatever they could find.

A Jecta encampment was set up to the south,
not far from the wreckage of Pobu, but miles from Tearia to its
north. There was no contact between the people of the two cultures
at first, but by the end of the first week following the cataclysm,
refugees from Tearia, hungry and desperate, began to solicit aid
from those they had once enslaved. They were met with only
disdain.

A gathering of the clans was called, and they
met under a patch of barren trees that had once been part of a lush
orchard. The ground sloped downward, and Dayn and Reiv positioned
themselves at the highest point. The rest of the crowd sat
scattered before them. Minds still seemed to gravitate toward the
two of them for leadership, especially Dayn, who was now revered
for his life-saving premonition. To some it seemed odd that two
mere boys had proved to be the real leaders amongst them, but there
were no complaints as all eyes turned to them now.

Reiv raised his hands to calm the disgruntled
crowd. “Your anger is understandable,” he said. “But the Tearians
need your help. Will you refuse them?”

A man rose and shook his fist in the air,
denouncing any suggestions of charity. Others shouted in
agreement.

“Before you deny them, consider this,” Reiv
said. “You have an opportunity to rebuild your world without
Tearian rule. Their power has been stripped away. They depend on
you now more than ever. Are you going to stand by and watch them
starve? If that is your decision, so be it, but history may well
show you to be no better than they are.”

“History or no, they come seeking our help,
but we’ll get nothing from them in return,” an elderly woman
said.

“You do not know that for certain,” Reiv
said. “Perhaps in time their hearts will turn our way.”

“Maybe some of her people will turn our way,”
a voice in the back shouted, “but the King and the Priestess never
will!”

Reiv lowered his eyes. “I do not know the
fate of the King, nor of anyone in his household. But I do know
that of the Priestess. She will trouble us no more.”

“How can you know?” a young man asked.

Reiv’s jaw tensed. “Agneis saw to her
destruction. I was there.”

The crowd gasped almost as one, then
mutterings of wonder made the rounds. The young man spoke up again.
“Why did Agneis forsake us? Why did she and the gods see to our
destruction? You said if we faced our enemy we would not be
deserted. We heeded your words and look what happened.”

“What happened was not the will of the gods,
it was merely the way of things. But were you not all warned?” Reiv
gestured his hand toward Dayn who was standing off to the side.
“Did

Dayn not see what was to come? Did he not
call for the evacuation? That, my friends, was the will of the
gods.”

Eyes turned to Dayn in appreciation, and the
people calmed momentarily as they considered the wisdom of Reiv’s
words.

“You’re right,” a woman said. “We survived
because of Dayn and for that we’re grateful. No one could have
known what was going to happen without the guidance of the
gods.”

“You must understand,” Reiv said. “We live in
an unstable world. It has always been so, and will be until the end
of all things.”

“What are you saying?” someone asked.

“I am saying nothing is eternal except the
After Realm, and even that magnificent place goes through
transformations. With each ending there is a new beginning. That is
the way of the world.”

One of the clan representatives rose and
turned to face the crowd, looking from one end of it to the other
as though seeking support. “I for one am willing to consider aiding
the Tearians,” he said. “There were some among ‘em who sided with
us. I’m not a cruel man, but before I lift a finger to help, I want
assurances from their King that there’ll be no vengeance against
us. I want our demands to be addressed, but all of ‘em this time,
not just a few, and with no compromises on our part. Only with the
King’s promise to accept and abide by those demands, drawn up and
documented before witnesses from both sides, will I ever agree to
help.”

Support for his idea was swift, and heads
nodded as words of agreement were muttered.

“You must be the one to meet with the King,
Reiv,” a man called out to him. “He’s your brother. You should do
it.”

Reiv felt a momentary pressure in his chest
as words of refusal prepared to leave his lips, but then he
realized that it was his task to do, not only for the Jecta, but
for himself.

“Very well,” he said. “I will take your
demands to the King. But after that is done, the clans must select
someone to lead them in council. I will be going home to Meirla,
and Dayn—” Reiv turned to watch his cousin’s face as he said, “Dayn
will support you as long as he is able, I am sure, but even he has
choices to make.” Then he looked out across the crowd. “You have
divided yourselves into clans with representatives from each. You
have started a governing body, different from that of Tearia, but
far more powerful. Elect a leader, work together, and all will be
well.” Reiv waited for no more comments or questions, but moved
swiftly through the audience with Dayn at his back. There was no
need for further discussion. The sooner he undertook the task with
Whyn, the better.

The crowd thinned as people returned to their
business, and Dayn and Reiv headed for their makeshift shelter in
the encampment. Their shelter was like the hundreds of others that
surrounded it. It was nothing more than several poles stuck in the
dirt, topped with a ragged tarp that snapped in the wind and moved
its supports in a precarious dance. When Dayn and Reiv arrived,
they were surprised to find Alicine and Nannaven there, deep in
conversation.

“I thought you two went to see about a sick
child,” Dayn said as he ducked beneath a drooping portion of the
tarp.

Alicine’s face looked solemn. “We did. The
babe’s not doing well.”

“But you said it only had a slight fever,”
Reiv said.

“It did, but by this morning…”

Nannaven shuffled to the far corner, then
bent down to rummage through a pile of bottles she had scavenged.
“The illness came quickly, but the child’s not the first. There are
others. But this illness…” She shook her head. “It’s like nothing
I’ve ever seen before.”

Reiv lowered himself to sit cross-legged on a
blanket. He leaned his forehead in his hand. “Agneis give me
strength,” he muttered.

“Could it be the food or the water?” Dayn
asked. “I mean, the water smells foul, and I actually saw people
eating rats!”

“Could be. Can’t be certain,” Nannaven
replied. “But I doubt it’s the rats. They have been a part of the
Jecta diet off and on for years. As for the water…”

“We’d better get word to the clans just in
case,” Dayn said. “If it’s the water, a new source will need to be
found. As for the rats, I’m going to suggest people find something
else to eat anyway. Whether the things are causing illness or not,
they’re still vile.” Dayn started to leave, but then paused. He
turned to Brina who sat silently to the side. She stared past him
with vacant eyes.

“Brina?” he asked.

She blinked and focused her attention on him.
“I am fine, son. Do not worry about me. Go on…take care of the
business at hand.”

Dayn nodded, then left.

“You are not fine, Brina,” Reiv said, rising
and crossing over to her. “What is it?”

“My burden, Reiv, not yours.”

He knelt in front of her. “Tell me.”

She turned her eyes away, then said, “I
always had Mahon’s love, but I threw it away. All these years I
blamed him for everything when I should have shared in it equally.
Now he is dead and I can never tell him how sorry I am for it.”

“Forgiveness is a difficult thing. I am
struggling with it myself. But you have to forgive yourself first,
Brina.”

“I do not know if I can. Mahon gave his life
for our son. His love was there for Dayn, just as it was for
me.”

“And he gave it without hesitation,” Reiv
said. “You can honor it by accepting that which you cannot change.
Mahon would have wanted that.”

“When did you become so wise?” she said,
admiration glinting through her tears.

Reiv shook his head and smiled. “I would not
describe myself as wise, but I guess I have learned a few things
these past months.”

“That you have. Well, let me offer you one
more piece of wisdom. If you truly love someone, latch onto them
with all your heart and soul. Do not toss love aside over wounded
pride or foolish misunderstandings.”

Reiv felt the overwhelming urge to look at
Alicine, but refrained from doing so. “Sometimes tragedies force us
to realize things about ourselves we never knew,” he said. Then he
rose and took a step back. “Now I must do some forgiving of my own.
I am off to find Whyn.”

“What?” Brina cried, raising a hand to stop
him.

“The clans refuse to aid the Tearians unless
a pact is drawn up with their King. I have offered to seek him out
and present the demands.”

“Please, you do not know how he will react.
He tried to kill you before; he might do it again!”

“I do not think that will happen,” Reiv said.
“Whyn’s people are in desperate need. He will have no choice but to
listen.”

Brina rose and wrapped her arms around him.
“Please do not go,” she whispered.