THE GODS OF GARRAN
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
By moonlight they walked almost all night. Moorhen was tired and hungry and above all--thirsty. But they had lost all of their food and most of their water when they lost the animals. He still mourned for Crysethe. She was so young and they killed her. He hated them. The Chanden were animals. Maybe his father was right to attack them or die trying. Surely these men meant to kill them all. They were after the god-stone but how did they know it was here?
Este walked with them, seemingly tireless but silent. Her eyes had changed to the color of blue. It was an unnatural color among them. To Moorhen, she seemed even more pale than before, if that were possible, and more distant. Surely she was god-touched. He had no idea what would happen next--what Este would do, under the influence of the god-stone.
Draihe was also gone--another sister, leaving only two survivors of all the warriors that went out to battle. Moorhen mourned the death of his clan, and vowed in his heart that he would take revenge on the Chanden. He would spill their blood--they would pay.
To Sindke he spoke in a low voice. "Where will we go?"
Sindke was showing sings of tiring. She was old and this endless walking had taken a toll on her. "They'll follow us, I fear," she said. "But I know a series of tunnels near here--firecaves. By them we can travel for nearly a day without detection."
He nodded. And lose the Chanden enforcers that followed them. It could work.
They found the firecaves before dawn and made sure to cover their tracks, not that the Chanden were very good at tracking--but in case. The Chanden were more likely to use air vehicles to try and find them; they could pinpoint a human easily from the sky with their technology, but the caves would block their instruments.
Only a few of them had torches left--the Chanden kind that they kept in a pouch for emergencies. They shared them.
During this whole time, Este said nothing, only followed them. She was no longer aloof--she was not herself at all and it disturbed Moorhen, unsure as to what had been done to her. Would the gods be angry that she had touched the stone? Surely not--wasn't she a shaheak--a servant of the gods?
Or would she act? Could she save them? Had it been her that caused the earthquake and the mountain to overflow? Moorhen hoped so. Perhaps with the power of the god-stone they could destroy the Chanden cities--pulverize them and drive the Chanden from the planet, as they had driven the Garran a century earlier. Surely the gods would help them do this. Moorhen took heart--everything relied on the god-stone.
They walked long into the morning when they could have rested, knowing that it would be better for them to make progress. Finally they had to stop as Sindke could walk no farther. They slept without posting a guard, as they were deep within the earth. The Chanden would not follow them here.
Hours later, Sindke woke them. There was no way to tell how long they'd slept.
"Do you think we've lost them?" asked Moorhen.
"It would be very difficult for them to follow us," said Jarvaine, confident. "They would not know about these firecaves--not unless a Garran betrayed us and told them--or guided them." He glanced over at Este who still had not spoken since they left the sand fortress.
"You suspect Este?" Moorhen asked defensively.
"She says she comes from the Shing River clan, from Noloon, but I've never heard of her."
"The Shing River Clan are scattered," said Moorhen, "everyone knows that. That doesn't mean she lies."
"Doesn't it?" asked Jarvaine.
Surely Este could hear their conversations. It embarrassed Moorhen that Jarvaine would speak as if she's not present. Still--she said nothing in her defense but she almost seemed in a trance.
"She's god-touched," said Moorhen. "She would not betray us."
It disturbed Moorhen that Sindke said nothing during all of this, taking no sides. They began their journey again.
"Are you all right?" Moorhen asked Este, but she only stared out at him with those empty blue eyes and kept silent. There was something changed about her--something different.
They traveled for nearly a day (or night) before they came to the end of the firecave, this branch of it, anyway. They had passed up other passageways in the dark but Sindke had chosen this route, saying it would take them the closet to safety and would not be a place that the Chanden would be likely to search, especially on foot, as access was very rocky and difficult.
It was still night when they emerged. Jarvaine went out and scouted around briefly, then came back and reported all clear.
They had not traveled far from the mouth of the cave when a noise to their right gave them warning of an ambush.
Moorhen grabbed Este's arm and ran with her back towards the cave, pausing only to fire on shot from the distance weapon he'd obtained from the Chanden. Jarvaine, farther out, cursed and dove for cover, shooting at the Chanden with his own laser.
"You cannot escape," said a Chanden voice over a loudspeaker. "Surrender your weapons."
Sindke made it to safety, along with Moorhen and Este. Jarvaine attempted to withdraw to the cave and the Chanden fired on him. Rheggi stood up and tried to give him cover fire but was himself hit by a laser blast.
Jarvaine dropped behind a rock and shot wildly at the Chanden. "Run!" he told Rheggi.
Rheggi tried to run but stumbled. Moorhen ran out and grabbed him, shooting with his right hand at the cliffs where the Chanden were hidden. He saw no targets but hoped it would at least send them for cover.
Moorhen dragged Rheggi back into the cave. He was wounded in the shoulder and arm, hopefully not more. Moorhen cursed--only he and Rheggi were left. Would the Chanden not be satisfied until he has eradicated their entire clan? Anger burned within him.
In one last dash, Jarvaine made it the rest of the way into the cave. Surely the Chanden would not enter the cave--as long as they defended it. After that--they would follow them.
Everyone exchanged solemn glances.
"She is the traitor," shouted Jarvaine. He went over to her and jerked her to her feet. Moorhen ran to her side, ready to defend her, but less certain now. If she were a half-garr, as he thought, then perhaps she did have Chanden ties.
"They could not have followed us to this entrance without help, woman," said Jarvaine. He slapped her. "Confess it--are you in league with the Chanden?"
She stared at him blankly. "Confess it!" he slapped her again, hard. Moorhen wanted to stop Jarvaine, but he also wanted the answer.
"Yes," Este said at last, even more pale than usual. "I am."
"Impossible," muttered Moorhen, looking to Sindke for confirmation.
"I knew it was possible," said Sindke, "that she was not who she claimed to be. But that the gods have some connection to her is clear."
There was a silence.
Overcome by anger, Moorhen snatched the pouch from Este. She screamed and lunged for it but Jarvaine held her back.
"You would have given them the god-stone?" Moorhen demanded.
"Yes," she said, still reaching out towards the bag. "Please," she begged, "give it to me. I must have it!"
Jarvaine shoved her to the ground. "Chanden dog! Let's shoot her and be done with it!" He pulled out his laser and aimed it at her.
"Jarvaine!" said Sindke sharply. "You will not."
"She betrayed us!"
"I didn't know!" shouted Este.
"Didn't know what?" demanded Jarvaine.
Este made no reply but whimpered at the agony of separation from the god-stone.
"How is this possible?" Moorhen demanded of Sindke.
"Give her the stone," said Sindke.
"No!" said Jarvaine. "I say we leave her body for the Chanden."
"The god-stone has formed a bond with her mind, and she will bear it," said Sindke. "if it was not their will--they will take their revenge on her, not us. It is said that those that bond with it amiss will be driven mad by the stone--to their death. Only then can the god-stone bond with another."
"She will betray us," said Jarvaine.
"Then she will die," said Sindke.
There was silence a moment. Este jumped up and ran at Moorhen, grabbing the stone from him. He let her have it.
"We will take another route through the mountain," said Sindke.
Jarvaine glanced at the entrance, reluctant. "All right. I'll stay and keep them from entering. But I pray this works because the price of this journey has been high."
Sindke nodded. "Thank you, Jarvaine." Jarvaine gave Este one lasts hostile glance and made his way towards the cave-mouth, taking a few shots to warn the Chanden that they had not abandoned the entrance.
Moorhen looked down at Este, clutching the bag to her chests. There was a crazed look in her eye. Almost he pitied her--surely the gods would not be kind. He pulled her to her feet, not gently, and pulled her along with him following the others. He felt disgust at her for her betrayal but also at the fact she had lied to them, had lied to him, and was Chanden. At that moment, if Sindke had allowed it, he would have slit her throat.
Again they walked all day, taking a new tunnel, one that Sindke hoped they could not find. They may not think the cave would extend so far. Their only hope was in losing the Chanden and escaping the cave, maybe to make for Koshke or some place to the east.
For an hour or two, they slept on their journey, but no more. Moorhen was exhausted but he was sure that Sindke was worse off than himself. Este didn't look very good either but he couldn't tell how much was exhaustion and how much was the strain of the god-stone on her. She made no complaints.
The mood among them was bleak. They had put all their hopes on the god-stone and its power to deliver them. Now Este possessed the stone in a way that it couldn't be used by others. Looking for help from the god-stone seemed unlikely while it held her mind. Moorhen considered that they might have to kill her. There was no question that she deserved it, but they had taken her weapons and she was now their prisoner, defenseless, even if they had not bound her hands. To kill a defenseless enemy, even an evil one, had no honor.
"If you didn't trust her," Moorhen asked Sindke. "Why did you let her bond with the stone. Shouldn't someone else have done it?"
"The god-stones have a power we do not understand," said Sindke. "They will chose those they will work through. Also, the one that blends with them will lose herself. How much remains is not clear. Though you hate her, she is no longer who she was."
Moorhen considered this as they walked westward through the endless firecave tunnels, hoping for escape.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The journey was a blur to Este. The dizziness persisted and the moments of memory loss got worse. She wasn't sure how long they had walked. She knew that her identity as a Chanden had been discovered. So far they hadn't hurt her but she was effectively a hostage.
But her attempts to think of an escape plan were interrupted by random thoughts and memories--as though someone were rummaging through her mind. It was hard to concentrate and to keep control.
She had to escape--she knew that much. There was no telling how long they would tolerate her before they took the stone and killed her.
But the Chanden would also want the stone, and she didn't want to relinquish it. Above all else, she needed the stone. And there was more.... In the city of Urrlan there was an ancient place named the Temple of the Stars. She had to take the stone there... it wanted to be taken there. She didn't understand why but this thought rooted itself in her mind. Nothing else mattered.
She had heard them talk about the stone and how it could drive someone mad. She worried that she was mad already. But somehow getting to the temple seemed essential for her to keep her sanity.
A sound from behind, in the cave startled them. But it was just Jarvaine.
"What happened?" asked Moorhen.
"They left after a few hours," said Jarvaine.
Within an hour they were to the west entrance. "Do you think they'll be waiting for us?" asked Moorhen.
Jarvaine shook his head. "I hope not. I'll take a look. Wait here."
They rested an hour while Jarvaine scouted around. Finally he came back. "It's clear--at least for quite a ways."
So they left and made their way along a ravine that gave them partial cover. Colors interrupted Este's thought: blue, white, pale yellow. Images of spears, huts, fire. Destruction. A Chanden squad just over the hillside.
Este stopped suddenly. "Danger," she said. The others stopped and looked at her.
"What danger?" asked Sindke.
Had it been a dream or was it real? Este wasn't even sure.
"Was it the Chanden?" asked Jarvaine. Este made no reply.
Jarvaine climbed out of the ravine and scanned the horizon, then came back down. "I saw something. I think they're following us."
"Impossible," said Moorhen. "How do they know where we are?"
Jarvaine looked at Este. He came over to her, pulled out his laser and held it to his head. "How do they know?" He powered the laser up. "Tell me!"
She stared at him. The situation wasn't working. Something had to change. Purple, orange, green.
"I said tell me!" something hit her. She opened her eyes to see Jarvaine.
"A locator," she said.
"Give it to me," he said.
"It's internal," she managed to say.
"That's it. We leave her, we have to," said Jarvaine. Even Sindke was left without an answer. Movement on the ridge above them caught Jarvaine's eye. "They're coming!" He shoved Este to the ground. "Get the stone!"
Este struggled to recover but before she knew what was happening Moorhen grabbed the bag from her and ran. She started after him but the pain hit her immediately and she buckled to her knees. "No!" she screamed.
"I'll kill her," said Jarvaine.
"No!" said Sindke.
Red, yellow, pale blue. The sun setting on an ocean of glass. Sitting across a fire with other Garrans. Murmuring.
Pain enveloped Este and she knew that Moorhen had escaped with the stone. She opened her eyes and saw laser fire. Up to her right she saw Chanden enforcers. With her last strength she got up and ran for them. They'd help. They'd get the stone.
She stumbled into a group of them and they nearly shot her.
"Este!" one man shouted. "She's one of us!" he told them, making his way over to her. It was Demold--out on a mission--that seemed out of place. But Este's head was swimming and she still wasn't sure what was real.
"They got the stone," she told him. "You've got to catch them."
"We will," said Demold. "Well done, Este. When you stopped reporting, we feared for you. We've been on your tail ever since. I knew you'd come through."
Este was in too much pain to reply.
"Are you all right?" asked Demold. "Do you need a medic?"
"I'm fine," she grimaced and followed those that began pursuit of the Garrans. Half running, half falling she made her way down the slope after the Chanden, despite Demold's objections. Demold didn't follow.
Pale green, white, brown.
Strange music, a familiar melody.
Este ran after them, half blind.
Suddenly Este realized that they'd stopped. She'd lost time somehow and found that they had captured the Garrans. She hurried over to where they were taking their weapons. Jarvaine was dead. Sindke was wounded.
Este went over to Moorhen and grabbed the bag, ripping it from him.
"We trusted you," said Moorhen, a deep hurt in his eyes. Este had no answer for him. She had the stone--that was all that mattered. She turned and walked away from them back towards where Demold and the others waited.
"You have it?" asked Demold. "Let me see."
She hesitated and finally pulled the stone out of the bag. It glowed a pale blue. The others were awed. Demold touched it and dropped it.
"It moved!" he said. He turned to the others. "I thought I felt it move."
Carefully Este picked it up, wrapped it up again in its cloth and put it in the bag. "They say it's cursed. It will drive you mad."
Demold could think of no response, but none of the others argued with Este keeping the bag as they went back to the transport. She watched vacantly as the Garrans were loaded in an air lift vehicle behind them. Moorhen glared at her, sullen.
It didn't matter. The stone was hers.
Their airship touched down at the security port in Urrlan. Having the pouch this long had calmed Este and the pain had left. Colors remained: lavender, aqua, gold.
She had been asleep and when she woke she knew that she had been talking to someone, having an important conversation but she couldn't remember what about. She wanted to continue it but instead she followed the soldiers out and onto the landing bay, where she waited while Demold held a conversation with his superiors.
The Garrans were unloading nearby and were brought to wait not far from Este. Soon someone came for them. No one said what would happen to them.
As they herded them past, Moorhen stopped. "Help us, Este. You owe us that!" They pulled him away. It was out of her hands, she told herself. Their fate wasn't up to her.
Anyway, they had the thing they wanted. The god-stone was awake.
Mauve, gray, black.
Chitchat. Conversation that Este couldn't really follow, which she answered in monosyllables.
A jump in time and they stood at the intersection of a corridor--Este, Demold and two security guards.
"You should get some rest," said Demold. "We appreciate everything you've done for us. The mission has been a great success."
The guard came and took the stone from Este. She could have resisted but she didn't. She let him have it. "Where will you take it?"
"Just into a holding cell for tonight, to keep it safe," said Demold. "Tomorrow, we'll have it shipped off-world, for safe keeping and study. Best not to leave it here."
Demold and the two security guards left Este standing in the hallway, empty-handed. She watched them go.
They would not keep it.
She found herself in bed and woke with a start. Not her own bed nor a Garran bed, but a bed on the base. Vaguely she remembered a medical check up they'd given her, telling her she was fine. No injuries.
It was the middle of the night. Este got up, dressed and walked into the hall. The scene was slow, dreamlike. She held a gun in her coat.
Crimson, flame, flesh-tone.
Up the stairs and past the security station that all but ignored her. "Just getting some air," she said. They nodded. Down the hall, up the stairs. Down another hallway over to where a man stood guarding a door.
"Any trouble?" asked Este.
"No," the man said. "Seems--"
Este shot him. He fell.
She had remembered to put it on stun, hadn't she?
That didn't matter.
She opened the door and went in, got the stone, put it in the pouch she carried and walked out, dragging the man in the cell and locked it.
Hallways, guns, security. It was all a blur. Este made her way out of the building. Demold didn't matter. Her father didn't matter. She had a goal in mind: the Temple of the Stars.
There was a stolen vehicle, a short drive, a few startled pedestrians and a large doorway. The temple.
Burgundy, blue-green, cream. Pictures formed and reformed in her mind, shapes, objects, meanings. All just out of reach. A message that she couldn't hear.
She was through the door and into the temple, now a museum. She broke some glass and entered a doorway. She shot another guard. Couldn't remember if she had killed him or not.
She kept going up the stairs, up through several chambers to the Chamber of Souls. There she stopped a moment, unsure of where to go. Too many things were changed. The Chanden had covered over many parts of the chamber.
Glass cases displayed ancient Garran artifacts: pottery, weapons, a few sacred ooluks not too different from Este's, some golden masks of a ceremonial nature, decorative pipes for smoking--probably also ceremonial.
Along another wall were more displays: elaborate priest clothing, robes and cloaks, senchai daggers and helmets, delicate bone and glass necklaces, all made long ago. Drums, chineth flutes, zhri lythes and yothars. Most of these things did not belong here. All were from varied, scattered time periods, different tribes, different uses. None of which were comprehended by the Chanden who built this museum on the remains of a sacred borrai temple. All stolen from the Garrans.
Este broke a case and took a silver helmet of fine make, along with a jeweled ceremonial dagger and cloak. She smashed another case and took a crystal medallion that reflected rainbow colors: maroon, sky-blue, and orange-yellow. This she put around her neck. But these were not what she was looking for.
She looked farther and found it: a single hexagonal crystal lined with gold and silver and a rune on the top: "bor" -- god. The key. With this she went up on the dais at the front of the room and inserted it in the large stone mural. There was a clicking sound and the rush of air, stale and ancient, as a secret door opened behind the dais.
Este removed the key and entered, closing it after her. Here she stood in the ancient Hall of the Ancients. It was a long narrow chamber whose ceiling tapered to a point high above her. The walls were lined with all manner of crystal, many of which were a deep red color. The floor was an elaborate mosaic of stone with pictures that represent many of the original clans. On the wall in the center was a circular carving of crystal and gold which had a small opening in it's center just large enough to hold the god-stone. Connected to this, in front of it, was an altar inside a golden circle.
From a round hole in the ceiling came a shaft of light that hit a triangular crystal carving that hung high up in the chamber, refracting light of all colors all over the chamber. It was carved in such a way that the colored fragments of light almost looked like runes that one could read.
A panic surged over Este--she knew what was coming. She had struggled thus far to maintain partial control of her mind from whatever the god-stone contained. But this place was were the god-stone was made--and where it would be unmade. This was the goal of the force that possessed the stone and was fighting to possess her.
Something drew her towards the wall and she felt a wave of dizziness. As in a dream she walked forward and took out the god-stone and placed it in the center of the crystal carving. The god-stone was also a key. All that remained was to kneel at the altar and the deed would be done.
Este knew if she did this, she would lose the battle for her mind. The gods would take possession of her fully. Impelled by the forces of the stone she took several steps towards the alter and stopped.
She mustn't do it. Whatever was in that stone would probably be hostile to the Chanden and herself. It would drive her mad, as Sindke said, and destroy her. But she didn't know that for sure. She thought back on the gentle music she'd heard, the colors. They didn't speak of vengeance or anger, but of justice and harmony.
Without being aware of how, Este found herself standing in front of the altar. In the center of the alter was a single crystal which now glowed red. With all her heart, Este resisted and stopped just short of kneeling at the altar. She mustn't do it. It was what they wanted--it would give them power over her. She wouldn't give up her own soul for some alien cause.
A vision burst on her mind of a thousand clan warriors gathered on a plain. Then from the sky came Chanden attack ships that shot lasers, scattering the warriors and dealing out death and destruction. Hundreds died at a time and each death pained Este terribly.
The shock of the pain forced Este to her knees and she reached out to the golden rail that encircled the altar to steady herself, still not willing to touch the red crystal that the god-stone continued to try to draw her towards.
The vision shifted and Este saw the death of many Eke herds across the plains as the Chanden hunted them for sport and then the capture of many of the remaining ones for domestication--and their slaughter by the hundreds for processing as food that would be shipped to other worlds for sale.
Then Este saw the razing of the jungles on the Kinsikk Sea -- the annihilation of an entire bios-culture in favor of an alien biology. Even the death of these plants and animals caused Este pain.
The focus of the vision shifted, showing other atrocities committed by the Chanden down through the ages. Then other wrongs committed by the Garrans also, such as their wrongs against the tacha--turning them out of their natural area and taking it over for Garran dwellings. Driving the tacha away and killing them when it suited the Garrans.
Then Este saw the attack of the Sand Plain people on the Chanden village less than a week ago and the deaths of many unarmed Chanden as well as the slaughter of the clan by the Chanden enforcers.
Then Este saw things that she had not heard news of: attacks by the Chanden on gatherings of Garrans and their deaths. Then a massacre by the Garrans on Chandens just outside Urrlan. A whole series of violent outbursts that grew each time in its intensity. The war was escalating and was nearly an all out war.
After that the god-stone showed her the future--how it might end in bloodshed and battle between the two as they continued to fight and to extract their own justice.
But the earth itself was riled up and had its own form of justice. Este perceived that the god-stone had the power to force her to do this. It was showing her in order to gain her cooperation--but it didn't have to. It was giving her a choice--to join it in stopping a terrible war and righting wrongs that had spanned a hundred years.
Este knew that what the Chanden had done to the Garrans wasn't right but there was a deeper issue here--something even more primal, with respect to the earth and life. In a corner of her mind she could still hear the music and feel the colors changing, moving.
She could run--escape from here and take the god-stone with her but what then? Give it to the Chanden? And what would they do with it? Put it in a box and ship it to a planet light years from here for study in some lab? But she couldn't do that -- it was alive. Even if rescued the Garrans and gave it to them, what would they do with it? They weren't guiltless either. That didn't seem right.
She didn't feel that the stone was evil--or was she just going mad, as Sindke had said?
Then again if she completed the blending with one of the ancients she could learn something that no one else could learn--see things never seen before--the understanding of the Ancients.
Drawn by this thought, Este bent forward and touched the stone. Light burst forth in her mind and washed through her body. Knowledge filled it, no longer hidden in the corners of her mind. There was a merging of memories and a surge of light then the god-stone ceased to glow.
Este stood and looked around the chamber. She knew now what she had to do.
NEXT
"The Gods of Garran" by Lareena Smith, (c)2004