The Lord of the Plains (62 page)

‘You’ll probably have to fight it.’ Aerlid
spoke to her in the Astarian’s version of Seiaan. He let go of her
hand and stepped back.

‘You may not use our shelter!’ the creature
growled. ‘Get out or become our dinner. Your choice.’

Riley drew her sword. It sung as it arced
from her scabbard. ‘We choose neither.’

As they were sitting by the fires drying
themselves, Riley pondered that she had basically forced herself
into someone’s home. At that moment, she didn’t really care.

She realized once they settled by the fire
that the mound was a big, fat gemeng. It was blowing out air to
keep the sheet aloft. She was surprised it didn’t blow away, or
that he had enough air to do that.

Still, it kept them from getting wetter. The
ground underneath the tent was only damp and the grass was
flattened down.

At that moment, it was very pleasant with
the storm raging mere meters away.

She glanced over at the wounded man on the
other side of the fire. The other creatures were bandaging him.
They watched her with dangerous scowls.

They were not safe here.

She and Aerlid would have to take turns
sleeping.

Chapter 52

It was difficult to tell the passing of time
with the sky so dark. Day seemed no brighter than night. The
gemengs watched them. They watched the gemengs. But nothing
happened while it rained.

Riley and Aerlid ate from their supplies.
They got as dry as was possible under the tent.

The fat gemeng just kept blowing, keeping
the tent aloft.

And then the rain lightened. A few spots of
sky appeared in the cloud layer. As the day wore on the clouds
disappeared.

Riley stared up at the blue sky and the
shining sun.

It was so quiet without the rain.

How could it be so bright after so much
darkness?

The fires were put out. The tent floated
down slowly.

Aerlid and Riley quickly got out of the way
as the tent was packed up.

The world felt strange and new. Riley looked
around, she was surprised to find they were not on an island in the
middle of an ocean.

Just the grass, blowing in a light
breeze.

She turned back to the gemengs. They had
come to the Plains so that she might fight and test herself. But
these people had given them shelter, even if it had been
unwillingly.

She studied the gemengs as they worked. They
were a strange, motley group. Big, small, furry, skinned. A lot of
sharp claws. Some had tails. Some didn’t. But they were not the
same as the gemengs from Astar, Garrondin or the gemeng village of
her youth. They moved with a savage confidence and pride none of
the others had had.

She didn’t really want to fight them.

Besides, they were only on the edge of the
Plains, and that creature she had fought had not been in the least
bit challenging.

If she wanted to find some really dangerous
gemengs she would have to go further in.

So while the gemengs were packing up, she
and Aerlid quietly slipped away.

‘I guess we shouldn’t go too far in.’ Riley
reluctantly announced the next day. ‘In case we run into
trouble.’

‘We won’t.’ Aerlid replied calmly.

Riley’s eyes were instantly on him. She
noted the arrangement of his features, the tone of his voice. All
in all, it seemed a rather odd position to take when travelling
through the Plains.

It was not something Riley could let lie
unquestioned.

‘Why do you say that?’ she asked.

A slow smile spread across his face.

Riley was used to Aerlid responding
strangely to her questions so she remained unbothered by his
response and instead focussed on walking. The ground was muddy,
though most of the water had soaked into the earth. It was much
drier than yesterday, at least.

Riley had never travelled through the long
grasses that made up the plains, so it took her some time to be
able to travel silently. They hadn’t been attacked by anything so
perhaps she was doing alright. Perhaps they were being
followed.

‘So you want to know?’ Aerlid prompted when
she did not say anything for some time.

He sounded almost eager.

‘Yes.’ Riley replied.

‘Well, the answer is long. Are you sure you
want to hear it?’

‘Have you been here before?’ Riley asked
instead.

‘Why do you ask that?’ Aerlid demanded.

‘Well if you know this place well, then I’ll
trust your judgement.’

‘No, no!’ He protested. ‘You wanted to
know!’

Riley had already made the decision,
however. ‘It’s alright. We’ll head to the centre then.’

‘Riley, I really think you should ask me why
I’m not concerned about the plains people.’

‘You can tell me if you like.’

Aerlid spent the rest of the day cursing her
incurious nature and demanding she demand answers from him.

Riley spent the rest of the day ignoring
him.

Chapter 53

Riley didn’t know if this was the centre or
not, but it was somewhere and she was willing to settle for
that.

She and Aerlid (who was still sulking)
approached the campsite slowly.

Riley’s quick eyes flicked around, taking
note of everything.

It was not a permanent settlement. There
were tents, flattened down grass, and a crazy assortment of
creatures. Some had fangs and claws, horns and other protuberances.
Some had discolourations and marks on their skin, patches of scales
or fur. Riley also noted that some parts didn’t look quite right,
as if they didn’t work properly. There were stubby, useless claws
and fingers that were too short or fused together. There was a
certain odour to this place, suggesting the people here weren’t
overly conscious of bathing. They wore animal skins. Some had
decorations, mostly consisting of parts of other gemengs. Claws
were a popular feature, as were teeth. None of them carried
weapons.
They
were the weapons.

They stopped at the edge of the
encampment.

Riley noted the surprise on the creatures’
faces. Suddenly the camp was transformed. Menace filled the air.
Gemengs spread out in a loose formation. Not all stayed near them,
Riley noted some stayed to guard the rest of the camp. A few more
disappeared into the grasses, perhaps to search for other
interlopers.

And then it was done and activity
ceased.

For a wild moment Riley wondered how she was
to go about this. Should she just go up and say, ‘hi, I’m Riley,
nice to meet you, I’d very much like to beat some of you guys up,
thanks.’

What was the procedure for this kind of
thing?

Before she could wonder any more over it,
Aerlid stepped forward. He spoke in Plains-speech, the same
language he had spoken to the gemengs in the rain.

He said some things about challenge, test of
strength. Riley noted curiously he specifically mentioned
not
fighting the lord of this tribe. She would ask later. At
the moment, she focussed on remembering what he said (so she might
handle it herself next time) and visually taking stock of the
gemengs of this tribe.

They all looked strong.

But she couldn’t really tell just from
looking. She didn’t think what applied to humans and gemengvals
applied to the gemengs of the Plains.

Some of the gemengs were laughing. It was
loud and raucous, with an ugly edge to it.

A man with a long, thin face stepped forward
from the crowd. He was not as thick as some of the others, or so
tall. What he lacked in size Riley thought he made up with the
length of his claws. There was one main one on each hand. It was
not so much a claw but a small sword that had grown from the
creature’s hand. There were smaller claws on his other fingers, but
they were small and misshapen.

‘I am to fight it?’ Riley asked Aerlid.

He nodded.

She smiled.

She was careful at first. The ease with
which she defeated him was surprising and elating. And then another
came forward. She didn’t mind.

Nor when the third came forward. Or even the
ninth.

When the first one came back again she began
to get a little concerned. She’d already defeated him.

She shoved him away for the second time and
turned to speak to Aerlid. But another was coming.

‘Why don’t they stop?’ she called at Aerlid
as she dodged and slashed around the next opponent.

‘Hmm, I think you’ll have to kill one of
them.’ he answered.

‘Why?’ she demanded. They just kept lining
up. When their turn came they threw themselves at her. And then
they got back in the line.

‘I thought they’d stop when you defeated
their leader.’

Riley wondered which one that had been.

‘I guess they have no reason to stop. If
they kill you, that will bring them glory. But they don’t perceive
you as dangerous. Why would they stop when they know you aren’t
going to hurt them?’