Tribal Dawn: Mordufa: Volume Three Read online

  - CHAPTER THIRTEEN -

  The carts travelled north on the first part of their journey from the Sun tribe. The forests were cooler the closer they got to the high ridges, and animals were seldom seen for hibernation. Of a night, the warriors stopped to rest and hunt. In the morning, the Kardier riders were ready, horses well fed and prepared for the next stretch. Bandit camps littered the forest, their forts of wood and spikes visible between trees. A glimpse of them made Tau smile. He’d missed home for as long as he had lived in foreign territory. He missed his mother nagging him to put on more clothes and his father’s grumpy face, yelling at him and his brothers to stop play-fighting or to at least do it right and get proper bruises and cuts.

  Rura remained stony faced, and Ebhi had barely spoken. Unika was happily chatting away in his cart. Tau closed his eyes and tried to sleep the days away. The bumps were nauseating and the chill had them wrapped in cloaks and whatever scrap cloth they could find.

  When they got to the stables of the first Kardier camp, they switched animals for ones less fatigued and stocked up on barrels of food and water. Unfortunately for Rura, they didn’t have any wine, ale or anything fermented for him to drink.

  It was dusk and they were about a third of the way across the land. No dangers had delayed them, just the odd wild animal here and there or Ebhi’s sickness.

  Tau had his eyes shut and legs up when Rura threw a rock at him. “We’re at the beaches.”

  Tau peeked open an eye and looked over the rider’s shoulders. Through the oak trees and cobwebs, a luminous saffron glow dipped behind a wavy horizon. The sky ahead was beige were the night swept the sky behind. He sat up straight, admiring the view. The greenery thinned, and the ground beneath the wheels softened and slowed the horses. Grains of sand like in the desert blew in the wind, into the Kardier’s eyes judging by his swearing.

  The brown floor was overtaken by pure white sands and rocks clustered either side. The waves were unlike anything most had ever beheld. They had beheld lakes, rivers and waterfalls aplenty, sparkling in the jungle or freezing up in the mountains, making frozen cascades of icy daggers. This was a vast sheet of turquoise, hiding the dying sun to leave space for the evenings blessing of Luaani.

  Tau grabbed a pouch of tar-leaves and rolled up to smoke. He took in the view, throwing the pouch to Rura. “There’s no land on the other side of it.”

  “Nope,” Rura said, rolling his. “Water and that’s it.”

  “We’re staying here tonight, aren’t we?”

  “Yeah, it’ll be this place. Further down the beaches is too close to feral fuckers.”

  Tau smiled and sat back. Black and grey rocks buried in white grains and dune grass passed them as they carefully went down the hill, right onto the open beach.

  “WOW!” Tau heard Unika yell. He was standing, neck craned like a meerkat, nearly drooling at the corners of his mouth with excitement.

  “I can’t wait to see what he’ll be like when we get there.” Rura smirked. “‘Look! Breasts! How extraordinary! Dark haired people! Wow!’”

  Tau grinned. The carts stopped on the beach. The riders corralled the horses. The rest gathered camping equipment for the night. Tau and Ebhi approached the food wagon, lugging supplies out piece by piece, checking for mould. Rura and Unika sped across the span of the beach, racing to an invisible line. When Unika won by a distance, Rura accused him of cheating and returned to help.

  They piled barrels and got to work securing the area for the night. The sand, while pleasing to look at from a distance, was filling their boots and quickly becoming a hindrance. They took off their gear and for a split second a hint of tribalness came back to Tau. No pieces of metal clutching his shoulders or wrists, no helm covering his face and no heavy boots on his feet. If it weren’t for the wind, he could pretend for a second he was fifteen again.

  They tied sheets to stout wooden posts in a circle to guard against the breeze, then lit a fire in the centre and raised beds above the ground to keep out the sand. The turquoise waves stilled, and the view was a void black except for the white of Luaani, her reflection rippling on the waters, half of her face hidden. They prepared meats, vegetables and bread, bundling them together to make a stew. Even though it was chilly, this was the most enjoyable night they’d had so far.

  Unika was the first to finish his bowl and clapped his hands together. “That was delicious!”

  “Thank Tau. Deep down his soul is yearning for him to be a wife.” Rura shoved a spoonful in his mouth.

  Tau pulled a mocking face. “Yes, I long for the life of dresses and being groped by my darling boy, Rura.” He moved over, wrapped his arm around Rura’s shoulders, and planted a sloppy kiss on him.

  Rura pushed him away and wiped his cheek. “Get off. Dick. In all seriousness, this is better than anything you’ve cooked at home.”

  “It’s got less in it so it shouldn’t be.”

  “It’ll be the sea air making you hungry.” Unika nodded. “When you’re hungry, everything tastes nicer.” He grinned and watched the sea, waiting for everyone else to finish and scrape the bottom of their bowls. “Ebhi, why don’t you tell us about the Aqua tribe’s belief in the Water Kreiess?”

  Ebhi had barely touched his meal and was lying on his side, dreadlocks hanging to the floor. “I am not feeling up to storytelling on this night, Unika. You have been taught more than even I. I am confident you can share the tale in all its glory.”

  Tau stared at Ebhi’s peaky features. He hadn’t improved. If anything, he’d worsened. Unika tapping his bowl took his attention.

  “Maybe when you’re feeling better. For now, gather around boys and let me tell you a tale from the old worlds…”

  “The never existing worlds…” Rura whispered. Tau hit him in the side.

  “Everyone here knows of Solianga, Luaani, Mordufa and the journeys they made throughout our lands. In the Aqua tribes, Luaani was a different person, as was Solianga. Luaani was called a Water Kreiess, and her skin was dark, like Ebhi’s. She was tall, beautiful, but had many troubles in her life. You see, Solianga wasn’t a Krenei, but a witch doctor and she cared for him grea—”

  “Does this story involve a pair of tits or mating?” Rura interrupted.

  “Not particularly, no.” Unika grimaced.

  “I’m going to sleep.” Rura lay down and brought his blanket up to his chin. Another jab from Tau and a threatening gaze forced him to turn around and at least appear to be listening to the fable.

  “Anyway, the Water Kreiess met the witch doctor during a feast in these lands. He was studying herbs in his humble home at the time of her visit. When she arrived, she did so in a grand boat made from the strongest wood known to her kind that had been passed down from the Kreiesses before her. It could carry hundreds of her tribe around the worlds. This time she visited, however, she was attacked with fire, walking on these very waters.” He motioned to the still shore. “That was where the witch doctor found her, blistered on every part of her body. She couldn’t reach her precious waters to heal her wounds. It was down to him to save her with the few herbs he had in this dry land.

  “When he healed her, she granted him the gift of Krenei powers. He told her he wanted to save those who were sick. She trained him to be like her kind while she suffered and wept about the scars on her once-beautiful body.

  “Now, when the high council who observed the Kreneis and Kreiesses looked down from the heavens and saw she was becoming weak, they decided the world needed to end.” Unika stopped and widened his eyes. “Clouds gathered in the night, and the stars that once had colours of a sparkling rainbow were drained of life and became white. The Kreiess took out her rage on the waters, throwing drowning whirlpools in different directions to fight the council, but it wasn’t enough. The sky shattered into shards and her people were killed. The witch doctor, seeing her distress, ran to her side. Together they whispered and prayed, bodies piling around them. Floods rose that the Kreiess couldn’t control, but they k
ept focusing on protecting the people.” Unika leant forward and shaped his hands into a ball. “Then their prayers were answered. There was a crack from their palms and searing light radiated from the witch doctor. It shot across the lands, destroying enemies and people alike until it reached the edge of the world.” Unika pointed towards the black outline of a rocky mountain a distance away. “He broke this part of the land away from the destruction. But the survivors weren’t his people anymore. Not how he knew them. He’d created new life and a new chance for us, his humble followers. When he woke up in the Sun tribe we all know he couldn’t find his Water Kreiess. He searched day and night. Then, on the other side of the world, where the Aqua falls are, he found people resembling her, worshipping the waters in a way only she did.”

  The group of men sat on the edge of their seats, listening intently to every word, waiting for him to continue. Unika grinned and sat back. “That is what the Aqua people believe, anyway.”

  Rura sat up and threw his legs over the edge of his bed. He scrunched his face and looked at the moon, pondering. “Didn’t Luaani fuck Mordufa?”

  “I ‘eard it was the other way around!” one of the younger warriors piped up. “She gave birth to ‘is shadow children and they protect ‘er mountain. Solianga ‘ad nothin’ to do with it.”

  “We were taught Solianga had a thing with Dizilais,” Tau said. “And he left her with hundreds of children in the rainforest.”

  “Ya all be wrong!” another intervened. “It be Donduma who be bringin’ down destruction wid his quakes of da land. Dat be how we be here now!”

  They argued amongst themselves about which deity was on which part of what lands and how they came to exist. The conversation turned into one about the elders who taught them and how they weren’t wrong in their beliefs, and the others were. Tempers flared, and even Unika’s was tested on the subject, raised as he was in the most religious place in the world.

  Ebhi was focused elsewhere while they quarrelled. Some were getting ready to hit another, others were hostile, huffing and puffing. He threw off his blanket, grabbed his sword and stepped across the circle.

  Tau pushed Rura away from Ebhi and gave him a second glance. Ebhi lunged forward, tearing a hole through the cloth wall between Unika and one of the other warriors. “Why did you do that?!” Tau yelled.

  A groan came from the other side. Ebhi withdrew his blood-coated sword from the gash. Stunned, the warriors looked for weapons. Ebhi stepped back. The body of a man wearing bone armour and furs stumbled through the wall. He struggled and heaved. Rura scooped up his sword and finished the dying man off.

  As they turned to question Ebhi, an instant roar of throat calls and feet stampeding on the soft sand had them picking up weapons and throwing on any pieces of armour within reach.

  Unika stared at the hole above his bed, not paying attention. His brethren were stepping out of the closed circle, ready for a fight. Ebhi noticed him and called for him to follow.

  “Yes! I’m coming!” Unika said, panicking and grabbing his sword.

  The first of the feral men sprinted towards them, arms and weapons flying in every direction. There was little training behind the clumsy swings they aimed at the skilled Sun tribe warriors. Rura lazily stabbed the first. Tau hacked off the hand of an elder before slicing off his head. They turned and saw Unika by his bed, gripping his upper arm where it was pinned by the sword of a crazed and bearded feral man, grinning morbidly through the hole in their shelter.

  “Unika!” Rura yelled, carving the throat of another.

  Tau broke off from the defensive cluster, picking up a bone throwing dagger from one of the piles. The bearded man laughed, wrenching the dull blade. Unika cried out in pain and knelt, blood oozing down his arm and dyeing the white sand. Tau went to throw the dagger. Ebhi dived on him, snatching the weapon, and threw it instead. It hit the man in the eye, setting him roaring and stumbling back. Unika crawled away in agony, gritting his teeth, to join his group as they fought off the madmen.

  Swords of silver and ivory clashed. Dashes of red splattered the golden warriors as they cut each feral down. Bones cracked, and gashes were opened. Bruises ached and swelled. The aroma of the calming sea air was overtaken by the coppery scent of blood and death. The last of the enemy took a quick glance at the heap of their dead brethren and sprinted back the way they came.

  Rura picked up several of the throwing daggers and chased after them. “That’s right, you feral cunts! You’re nothing!”

  The last one to die was wearing a helm made from the skull of something like a deer, its jaw widened to show the face of its wearer. His mouth bared and hardly any teeth remained in his brown gums. Bracelets of bone, stones and rough gems were tied around his wrist. Pieces of fur, clumped together, had been sewn onto his leather armour for cheap decoration.

  “Ugly fucker,” Rura panted, wiping his brow. “What made them run?”

  Tau kicked the deer skull. “Killed their Chief. Or at least war leader.” He leant down and pulled off a bracelet. “War leaders aren’t normally decorated with jewellery.”

  Unika hissed. Ebhi and a younger warrior lifted him to his bed. The smaller trainee ran to the barrels and took out healing supplies. Rura and Tau stared down at Ebhi.

  “You fucking heard them and didn’t say a thing!” Rura started, wiping his blade on a dirty piece of cloth.

  “I was not sure what I heard,” Ebhi said, taking out leaves and thin threads of healing vines.

  “You fucking split open the wall and dragged one of these furry cunts through!” Rura spat, standing over him.

  “Ebhi,” Tau intervened, pushing Rura back, “you clearly heard and didn’t say. We could’ve had time to equip. Luckily, these were untrained and hopeful it was a trading wagon. Now Unika has that fucking wound, and a couple of others have been cut. Why didn’t you say anything?!”

  Ebhi remained silent, passing the needle through Unika’s pale skin. Pressing balled up rags to the wound, he eased the blood flow.

  Rura shook his head, hands on his hips. “Why did you take away my kill, and Tau’s? Did you ask those bitches to turn you into a greedy fucker to get your numbers up?!” When Ebhi didn’t respond, he growled and kicked the sand. “Fucking answer us!”

  “It’s… fine,” Unika stammered, holding his breath. “It was my fault for not moving. It was lucky that Ebhi even heard them at all for us arguing.”

  “That’s not the point, Unika,” Tau said. “Your arm would’ve been covered had he given a word of warning. Instead, he sat there, whispers from la-la land swirling in the mists, and took a stab in a wall at an intruder.”

  “I did not hear it clearly. I saw a silhouette that did not match our shadows. I took a guess,” Ebhi calmly said. “If I had been certain, I would have signalled to arm and dress for battle.” He let another warrior take over the dressing and clutched his forehead, pressing his temples. He leant forward, dreadlocks hiding his face.

  Tau sat beside Unika. Rura glared at Ebhi, crawling to his bed space. “We can’t stay here. The ones who ran might’ve gone to get help.”

  “Probably best to… burn the bodies,” Unika whispered, knuckles white.

  “No. If they’ve gone back for more, burning their Chief might feed their morale if it’s not their custom. We need to wait until that’s patched and move. Leave the dead on the beaches if they wish to collect them.” Tau narrowed his eyes at the amount of blood pouring from the wound. A stab in his gut forced him to turn away. “We’ll get packing the rest of this stuff while you finish up.”

  Rura signalled to Tau. Both grabbed belongings bound for the same cart. Tired, adrenaline easing, they reluctantly bundled things together in haste. “I saw him take that dagger off you,” Rura muttered. “As if you couldn’t make the fucking shot.”

  “Leave it, Rura. He’s going to be like this for a while.”

  “He’d be better going back to the Sun tribe. Unika should’ve been quicker, but still, not signalling enemies? Taki
ng a throw from you when you kicked his ass at archery?”

  “I kicked everyone’s ass at range attacks.” Tau half grinned. He uneasily glanced at Unika. “We’re going to have to live with it. It was the first attack, and he probably didn’t believe what he saw or heard. Imagine, some woman tells you that you can sense all this shit, would you believe it the first time?”

  “Probably not, but I don’t believe anything whores or women tell me. Nor do I care to listen in the first place. They chat shit.” Rura shrugged and climbed into the cart, kicking blankets into the corner.

  The Kardier riders, shaken by the attack, prepared the horses to depart. Luckily, they had been resting with the animals. The warriors gathered their belongings. Unika was lifted, cloth padding on his arm. Footsteps and rustling in the trees had them on edge. Tau saw flashes of weapon-wielding shadows between the rocks at the forest edge. That was enough for him to throw everything that was left into untidy piles.

  The carts started to move in case another attack was imminent. Rura and Tau jogged alongside theirs, hopping in and lighting up rolled up tar-leaves. Unika waved with his good arm and smiled as if nothing had happened.

  “Won’t be long and we’ll be there.” Tau rolled his head and yawned. “Sooner we get there, the better.”

  Rura laughed and brought up his cloak. “If you think we’ll get rest when we arrive, you’ve yet to realise the reason why we’re being sent.”

  - CHAPTER FOURTEEN -

  It took a few days for Zura to calm. She stayed in her room, gathering her thoughts and controlling her traumatic urges. She rested under the sun in the garden with her mother, sharing freshly brewed petal tea.

  The garden behind the hut was a square. Colonnades led either side to the building opposite where warriors slept, guests stayed, people worshipped at the temple, and the crypts rested beneath the ground. Decorated stones paved the floor, and clay pots of wildflowers bloomed and grew spiralling around the wooden pillars to crawl onto the roof. Sweet pollen filled the air throughout the year. Some bore berries and nuts to nibble when meals weren’t ready. Tables, cushioned chairs and blankets were set around. Even though they had a dining room, Atsu and Jocelin preferred to eat in this quiet patch of paradise rather than confined in a heated chamber.