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Excerpt:
Gods or
Children?
Death. Decay.
Destruction. This is all the three people who topped the hill had ever known.
Salmyra
was a world in ruin. For centuries the factions fought, until they all but
destroyed one another.
Still,
they fought. They fought for food. They fought for fire. They fought for fun.
But none fought for or with honor.
Those
who did not fight, traveled. They were constantly on the move, searching.
Though the daytime sirocco scorched exposed skin, the nomads dared not move at
night on their quest to find the fabled city of Lumenesca. They dared not brave
the darkness when the winds stopped blowing and the cloud of dust no longer
swirled in the sirocco but settled into a low-lying blanket that shrouded the
land in death. No one journeyed at night for fear of falling prey to the
Danooks, those rumored to have survived the flesh-melting weapons used in the
final battle. Now, they could not tolerate the faintest light and desired
man-flesh for nourishment—and legend told that woman-flesh was even tastier to
them.
The
three on the hill had once trekked across the world with their mother searching
for answers. After a decade, she had finally found what she sought, and they
had stopped. The past three years, they had been in one place. She called it
Libretante.
Thirteen-year-old
Tornabolt stretched his lean, wiry body and turned his head side to side. His
granite-gray eyes caught his sisters', Taekeyla having aqua-marine irises and
Terkoyze with deepest brown, as the wind stopped whipping his long chestnut
tresses around his face.
"The
nomads should be stopping shortly." He pointed at the sojourners. Each
dressed in drab earth-tones and covered themselves from head to foot, with thin
layers of gauzy material over their faces to protect skin and eyes from cutting
sand grains. They pulled pop-bubbles from packs on their backs and set up camp
where they halted. Each group rolled strands of heavy twine, barbed at
intervals with bone shards, glass, sharp stones, or metal, as could be found,
around the perimeter of their faction. The color of the pop-bubbles denoted
which ideology they supported.
To
Tornabolt's right, Taekeyla laid a hand on his arm. The wind had all but died,
and the dust cloud began its descent, causing her long silvery-blonde hair to
hang limp. "Mamere told us not to wander far, just close enough to watch
the nomads."
Tornabolt's
and Taekeyla's triplet and identical to her sister in appearance, except her
eye color, Terkoyze said, "We should get back."
The
girls' lithe bodies seemed to float as they turned around. Their tan gauzy
skirts that had lashed around their muscular legs only moments before draped
over rounding hips of developing womanhood.
In
loose beige breeches, shirt, and vest, Tornabolt followed a step behind.
***
The
siblings picked up their pace as grunting and snarling caught their ears.
"Danooks!" said Tornabolt, pointing out two large human-like figures
emerging from a clump of cacti surrounded by sagebrush. The creatures' large
eyes and somewhat pointed noses and mouths gave their faces a distinctive
dog-like countenance.
Frantic
trills from the nomads not yet fully camped spurred the teens into a full-out
run. The two Danooks they had spotted had caught their scent and pursued them
in hopes of fresh, tender flesh.
Loud
wailing accompanied the triplets as they closed the heavy wooden door of the
partially-razed building they called home. Although out of breath, a pleasant
aroma took their minds off their near escape of the Danooks' waking.
Illuminet
Ignis turned from lighting the single tallow with its wick of twisted animal
gut. "You three cut that too close."
"We're
all right, Mamere," Tornabolt said with a reassuring smile. "What's
for supper?"
"Roasted
boar shoulder with mushrooms and onions. I shot a large one today. I'm salting
the rest." She popped him playfully on the head with the fleece mitt she
held. "Don't try to change the subject, Tor. I didn't walk all those
leagues with ropes around my waist tethered to your arms in order to keep you
near me so that we could find this place for you to be so careless. Don't risk
your lives again."
"Mamere,"
Terkoyze said, "how can you be sure this is the place you sought? More
than half of it is crumbled in ruins."
"The
scrolls, Terk." Illuminet waved a hand around them. Cubbyhole after
cubbyhole was filled with scrolls.
Taekeyla
rolled her eyes. "Which you read every day and make us read every
day."
"You
three are special, Tae. Soon you'll come into your powers and here is where
you'll learn to control them."
"We
know, Mamere," said Tor in a placating manner. "We are supposedly the
Elemental Gods reborn."
Terk
added, "Mamere, you do realize that any folk we journey with think you're
crazy. Nobody believes in gods anymore. Look at this world. What kind of gods
let this happen?"
"The
kind that was usurped!" Illuminet snapped. "Soon when your powers
manifest, you'll understand. Then, you can help your father."
The
triplets looked from one to another. They had never known their father. They
were unsure if Illuminet knew who he was. She had always insisted he was of
some great importance. More likely, according to anyone who knew her, she had
either been seduced or given herself to a member of a warring faction to stay
alive. She had conceived, and in an attempt to maintain some form of sanity and
make the children she bore feel wanted, she made up a story. But they had
always felt loved.
Tornabolt,
the one who resembled his mother most in appearance, but only in facial
features, asked softly as his mother served plates and passed them out,
"Mamere, who is he? Do you know?"
"Yes,
but I cannot tell you. I am forbidden until your powers appear."
Terkoyze
snorted. "Yes. We've heard a thousand times. Tor will be able to control
the wind and weather. Tae will bring forth life-giving liquid. And I will bless
the terra-firma—but only if we
succeed in helping free this father
that has never once laid eyes on us."
"Stop
it!" Tor rebuked his sister. "You will not speak to Mamere with such
disrespect."
She
hissed and turned away from her brother.
Taekeyla
asked, "Mamere, if we are these three Elementals, where is Fire?"
Illuminet
sighed. "First, children, I was not seduced or raped as many say. I was
chosen." She rolled her hand with her fingers in a wave-like motion until
the top of her hand was on the bottom and her palm made a small cup. A tiny
ball of fire flickered to life, but it did not burn her. "I am Fire—and
Light. But that's all I can tell you." Amber eyes glowed a momentary red,
and lava-like locks fell over her shoulders as Illuminet bowed her head.
"My power will not be full-strength until…" She trailed off and
dipped a piece of unleavened bread in the juice of the boar. She chewed slowly
and swallowed. "And your father has
seen you. Eat and rest. Tomorrow I need to send you to another sector. You will
need to camp, and I cannot go with you this time."
''Where
are we going, Mamere?" Tor asked.
''To
your father. But you will need to follow the map I'll have for you to the
letter. The Mound of the Obelisk is your goal."
They
ate in silence.
The
meal finished, Illuminet cleaned up while the triplets prepared for bed and a
trek the next day. She came to each one's mat to kiss their foreheads.
"I'm
sorry, Mamere," Terk said.
"All
is forgiven. Sleep, my children."
She
snuffed the tallow and lay on her own mat. Sleep.
Dream. For after tomorrow, I might never see you again.
