Guardians of the Light (Book One of The Nebril Riverland Chronicles)

  Chapter 17

  I peered through the darkness hopefully, as I watched the man brush the hair back out of his face. My heart sank in disappointment when I saw the lines that creased his forehead and crinkled in the corners of his eyes. He was an old man, at least sixty, if not seventy years of age. As my eyes focused, I could see that the long hair that stuck out from his head in a multitude of crazy directions was indeed gray.

  I looked from side to side and observed my surroundings with a clearer head. We were on an outcropping of rocks and when I looked across the water, I could see the lights of Sandoff's Village. It almost looked like........yes, we were sitting right where Jalya and I had been when we first noticed the village, just a few short hours earlier. I looked down at my drenched clothing and burst into tears.

  "Oh, hey now, none of that," the old man said. "You've had a scare, but you're alright now. Okay, I'm gonna turn my back now, y'hear, and you need to take off your wet clothes and put on that there blanket. But you better hurry cuz I'm only turning around for a minute. That's all you need."

  I stared at him, startled by his brusqueness, but decided I should take him seriously. It probably wasn't a good idea to be sitting around in my wet clothes. I could already feel the wind cutting through them and I couldn't control my shaking. I wiped my tears and watched his back as I stripped off layer after layer of wet material. He was tall, but wiry and probably strong enough to hurt me if I made any wrong moves. I grabbed the blanket from where it lay on the rocks. It was huge and I was able to wind it around my body several times, making quite a warm cocoon.

  "You finished yet, honey?"

  I finally felt strong enough to speak. "Yes," I said, forcing the word through my chattering teeth. I wondered what he was planning to do with me. "I need to get back to Sandoff's Village. I'm meeting a friend there."

  "Meeting a friend, eh?" He chuckled as he turned to face me again. "Were y'all planning to do some swimming together? Or did you just take a wrong turn in the dark?"

  "Something like that."

  "Alright then, let's get to my horse, and we'll have you back in a jiffy." He picked up my clothes and wrung out the excess water on the rocks. "Ooooeee, what a night. It's not too often that I get to rescue drowning girls. Let's go, honey." He took me by the elbow and led me up the rocks. I felt a bit dizzy and he needed to steady me a few times as I walked to the horse.

  "Now this beautiful girl here is Shilly." He stretched his hand out to touch the mare's face as we approached. She stamped her feet in response and nuzzled him with her nose. "Now Shilly, I know you don't like sharing me with other women, but this one's only along for the ride for a couple of minutes. I think you can handle the extra weight, a strong girl like you."

  Shilly snorted an abrupt answer, but stood completely still while her owner helped me climb onto her back. I combed my fingers through her dark mane, while the old man hoisted himself up behind me. He slapped the reins and the horse turned around and trotted onto the path. I hoped I wasn't hurting her as I dug my fingers into her neck, but I was a little nervous. I'd only been on a horse once before, when a travelling merchant had come to our village and offered all of us kids a ride. I had only been six at the time and really didn't remember what it felt like. Horses in Carper's Village were for pulling ploughs and maybe the occasional wagon trip, but not for riding.

  As we rode back into the village, the now familiar pull returned to my body. It dragged my eyes forcefully toward the water in which I'd nearly drowned moments ago. Though I knew it meant certain death, I still had to fight the compulsion to jump down off the horse, run back to the rocky shore and lose myself in the swirling current. My head began to hurt again and throbbed each time one of Shilly's hooves hit the packed earth beneath us. Luckily the distance was travelled quickly on horseback and in no time we reached the clearing of the village.

  As we rode down the hill toward the rows of cabins, I noticed Shaved Head sitting on a huge boulder in the middle of the field, apparently still at his post. There was a body passed out in the grass next to him, who I assumed was Ponytail. They would be in a fine state if anyone tried to attack their village now. He waved at the old man as we trotted past. I wondered if he recognized me, and what everyone would think when they saw me wrapped in a blanket with my hair dripping down my back.

  I needn't have worried, because, by the time we reached the dirt pathway, the village was mostly empty. The party seemed to be over and I saw the band packing up on the other side of the wooden platform as we rode past. There were several people laying in various places on the ground, apparently overcome by too much ale. I scrutinized them to see if any of them were Jalya, but she was nowhere to be seen. A few people were still staggering back to their homes, but for the most part the pathways were quiet except for a few men that were snuffing out the flames in the lanterns. They nodded to the old man as we passed.

  "I need to find my friend," I said. "I don't know where she is."

  "Maybe she went home."

  "No, you don't understand, she's not from here. Neither of us is. She has no home to go to."

  The old man sighed. "Well, we ain't going knocking on everyone's doors at this time of the night. I'm sure someone has taken her in for the night. She know anybody here?"

  "Last I saw, she was with a man named Shale." I pressed my hand to the side of my head to relieve the pressure. All I wanted to do was go to sleep; I imagined how good it would feel to lay my head down on Shilly's soft mane.

  "Aww, Shale will take good care of her. And he's probably far too drunk by now to take advantage of her."

  "Take advantage of her?" I hoped that didn't mean what I thought it did.

  "You know, when a guy's alone with a girl and he feels an urge and she's too drunk to put up a fight......aw, never mind; she'll be okay."

  Shilly came around a bend where the pathway circled behind a large bush and stopped in front of the cabin at the very end. The old man slid down off the horse with the agility of someone much younger, then helped me to the ground.

  "Well, looks like you'll be staying with me tonight then," he said matter-of-factly. "And you can tell me what you and your friend are really up to here."

  He smiled as I uncomfortably avoided his gaze. It sure seemed like he was sober enough to take advantage of someone. I suddenly felt quite under dressed wrapped in only a blanket and crossed my arms in front of my chest, trying to think of some way out of the situation.

  The old man chuckled at my obvious discomfort. "Don't worry honey; I won't hurt you. My name's Wagna."

  Wagna! I felt a little relief at the sound of the name and decided, that for the sake of our mission, I had to trust him. Besides, I might just freeze to death outside tonight with my wet hair. "I need to get my bag, with my things in it. It's somewhere near the dancing platform over there." I gestured vaguely with my arm, squinting my eyes to quell the increasing pain.

  "You okay?" Wagna furrowed his eyebrows in concern. "You didn't hurt yourself out in that water, did you? Crash into a rock or something?"

  "No, at least I don't think so. I just have a headache." I shot a look back in the direction of the dance floor, pretending like I was searching for my bag, but really trying to get a glimpse of the river. It felt like if I didn't keep looking at it, that it might just disappear. I strained my eyes out into the blackness, hoping that somehow my vision could extend to the other side. No such luck. I turned back to face Wagna.

  He studied my face with intense curiosity. "C'mon honey," he smiled, "let's get you inside, then I'll go find your bag. Started a fire earlier, so it should be warm by now." He put his hand on my back and ushered me toward the wooden door. "Why don't you tell me your name?" he said as he pushed it open. "Seeing as I'm not in the habit of bringing strangers into my house."

  "Emerin," I said, wondering if I ought to have lied. I couldn't be sure if tales of our escapades would eventually get back to Carper's Village.

  "Emerin, interesting," Wagn
a mused. "Used to have a schoolteacher named Miss Emerin. Horrible woman. I'm sure you're much nicer than she was. Here now, sit down. I think I've got some facion bark here; take it sometimes for my old, aching joints. Let me set some to brew on the stove before I leave."

  "Yes, please." I nodded gratefully, as I took in my surroundings. Wagna had led me to a small cot where I now sat. There was a wood stove in the corner, a table with one chair and a wooden wardrobe on the opposite wall. That was about it. I reasoned that Wagna must live alone.

  I watched as he poured water into a kettle and placed it on the stove. Then he rustled through several canisters, apparently looking for his facion bark. He grumbled more audibly with every container that he opened which didn't yield the appropriate herb. My eyes gravitated toward the door repeatedly and I fought the urge to run back through it. Tears of frustration sprang to my eyes and I swallowed hard in an attempt to hold them in. Why was I subject to this torture? Was this how my life would always be? A drive to get somewhere that I just couldn't, a drive so strong that I was willing to put my life in peril over and over again to satisfy it. Leaving home only seemed to have increased its intensity. What if I couldn't handle what was to come?

  "Aha!" Wagna shouted triumphantly as he pulled a container from under his table. "I knew it was here somewhere. It'll just be a few minutes now."

  I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and forced a smile. Wagna looked at me sadly as he pulled out the vile tasting leaves and dropped them in the kettle. He replaced the lid and pulled his chair over to the cot.

  "Look at me," he commanded. I glanced at him momentarily before my eyes flitted back to the door. He put his hands on my face and turned it toward him and I began to have the sinking feeling that I was wrong to trust him. Maybe he was really brewing some drug to knock me out so he could have his way with me. But I almost didn't even care anymore, as long as I would be away from this reality, away from the pain and the nagging compulsion to drown myself. I stiffened slightly, waiting for him to try to kiss me or rip off my blanket or something, but he only stared into my eyes for a moment before dropping his hands.

  "Hmmm, interesting," he said. "You're a bei clu ain't ya?'

  If I'd had a hard time keeping my eyes from the door before, I certainly didn't now. My gaze snapped back to Wagna's face in an instant, and I quickly debated whether or not I should tell the truth. The Lumeai had told us not to tell anyone who I was or what we were doing. The villagers wouldn't understand. They would think we were crazy or troublemakers. We would end up in Lock Up before we could even reach the Beyjerones.

  I looked Wagna straight in the eye. "What's a bei clu?" I asked.

  He shook his finger at me. "So you either really don't know, which is a possibility of course, or you're trying to hide it from me. Though I doubt that you don't know, judging by the look on your face when I mentioned it. It's really not necessary to keep it from me you know. I'm in a position to help you here. I can take you wherever you need to go. I've helped many others like you over the years."

  I stared into his eyes, trying to judge their sincerity. There seemed to be pain in them now, but I still wasn't sure I could trust him. "What makes you think I'm a bei clu?"

  "Oh dear girl, it's written all over your face." He smiled at me before continuing. "There's a certain look about a bei clu that is not with their bei clu va, a sort of quiet desperation, a need that can't be fulfilled, an itch that can't be scratched you might say. You haven't been able to turn your head away from that water since I found you and I'm pretty sure I know why you threw yourself in there in the first place. I saw it in the first second that I looked at you. Then when you told me about the headache, well that pretty much confirmed it." He looked down at his hands briefly. I noticed that they were now twisted together so tightly that his knuckles were white.

  "You see, Emerin, the youngest of my brothers is a bei clu. I haven't seen him in almost forty years, no idea where he is, whether he's alive or dead. I watched him grow up like that, saw his pain, his longing. I wanted to help, yet there was nothing I could do. Then one day he just up and disappeared; never heard from him again." He turned to look at me with a sad smile. "I suppose kind of the way you did."

  I nodded my head slowly; there wasn't really a need to say anything. I looked into Wagna's eyes and knew that I could trust him. He was the first person that truly seemed to understand me and I suddenly felt a powerful connection to him as a result.

  "Your parents know where you are, honey?"

  "No. I couldn't tell them. Everyone in Carper's Village thought I was just crazy."

  "Ah, Carper's Village. Should've known that's where you were from." He sat back in his chair and his tone lightened. "Tell me, Miss Emerin, had they found a husband for you yet?"

  My nerves grated on the memory of Callum and I wondered if I visibly twitched. "Actually, I was supposed to get married this morning, but I couldn't do it. He was a real twit."

  Wagna threw his head back with a loud guffaw and stood up out of his seat. "I'll bet he was! I've met quite a few of those Carper's Village fellas and I don't think that I've come across one that wasn't. Not that they're any better here, mind you."

  He crossed the room and reached his hand out to the door. "Well, you just rest here a minute, while I go find your things. And by the time I get back your tea should be ready. I'm going to put Shilly on guard duty though, so don't even think about making another run for that water. She's a real kicker that one. When I get back, I'll show you the hoof prints she's left in me!" He chuckled as he went through the door.

  I lay back on the cot and tucked the blanket tighter about my shoulders, relishing my first moment alone to relax and think since this whole ordeal began. My thoughts immediately went back to my parents. Were they getting any sleep tonight? I doubted it. But at least they were safe. I didn't even want to think about what might be happening to Ashel right now. What did the Nebril want with him? The only reason for David to take him would be if he knew what he was and that he would be a threat to the Nebril. If that was the case what would they do to him?

  Fear gripped my chest like a claw threatening to rip me to pieces. I rolled onto my side and curled into a ball to relieve the growing discomfort. The window in the front of the wood stove was alive with dancing orange flames and I lost myself in the glow. I loved Ashel, maybe not in the way that Jalya thought he loved me, but in some way nonetheless. He'd been a part of my life for so long, how could I not? And what kind of trouble had Jalya gotten herself into now? Somehow I knew she'd go crazy once the strict rule of our tiny town was lifted from her. I sighed and closed my eyes, praying that they would both be safe tonight.