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

  Chapter 20

  "Why are we stopping again?" demanded Jalya, glaring at the old man in the front of the wagon.

  "Oches think he spot a deer; deer meat good." Isrelda climbed in the back and hovered over Wagna, staring into his face. "He look better, you think?"

  I stared at Wagna, his crazy hair matted against the side of his head, the lines on his face seeming deeper somehow, like he'd aged ten years since yesterday. But his expression had softened, his mouth no longer gaped and his eyes were closed. His skin was still a little pale, but the grey undertones had vanished. He seemed to now be in a nice peaceful sleep. I nodded my head and pushed the hair from his eyes. "How long do you think he'll sleep?"

  "Hard to say; could be a few hours...could be days. Different for everyone, y'know."

  Jalya grumbled as she squirmed uncomfortably in the corner of the wagon. "Oches spotted a deer. Oches spotted a rabbit. Oches spotted a squirrel. Oches spots a lot of things, but never catches anything. We already have plenty of meat," she whined. "Why do we need more? What we need to do is to keep going."

  Isrelda looked at Jalya as though she were a petulant child. "We need to get what we can now. Those things, the Orlogs, there might be more of them where we heading. We maybe not able to leave the wagon soon." He smiled warmly and patted her arm. "Maybe you need some sleep, huh? My kids, they get grumpy when they tired too."

  "I'm not grumpy," she snapped. "I'm just concerned that's all."

  "It'll be alright, Jalya." I understood her distress. We had already stopped several times that day because the men thought there was game nearby. Then we had to stop to rest the horses, because they would be walking most of the night. My impatience was getting the better of me also, but I struggled to hold it together, because I knew Isrelda was right. He knew these woods a lot better than we did. I lay my hand on Jalya's arm and turned toward him. "It sounds like you know something about the Orlogs. Have you met up with them before?"

  Isrelda's eyes looked sad. "Oh yes, many times. They drove our clan away. Where we from, north of the river...we cannot hunt there no more...they everywhere in those woods, very dangerous, especially for the little ones. So many lost to us." He looked down at his hands, his gnarled knuckles white with tension. "The others went south. We were separated from them by the Orlogs. Don't know where they are now. My other sons and daughters, don't know if they live or die..."

  A sudden loud crunching diverted our attention and all three of our heads snapped toward the front of the wagon so we could peer out into the increasing darkness. Reyla bounded into the wagon, followed by Oches and then Kahj, his stocky frame blocking the remaining light from entering our shelter.

  "So did you get it?" Jalya raised her eyebrows mockingly, but the men ignored her.

  "We need to go now," Oches said. "We could hear them out there...from every direction. We'll have to make do with what we have."

  The old man shrugged. "We be okay."

  "Can't stop now though," Kahj said. "Best to ride straight through the night, take turns sleeping and at the reins....at least until we get out of these trees."

  "Agreed," Reyla said. "How about you take the first turn up front?"

  "Not me, brother. I'm exhausted. If you remember I was up most of last night on watch for us."

  I looked around at the four burly men and I felt bad for them. How long had they been out there, surrounded by Orlogs, with no form of shelter whatsoever? I was terrified just sitting in the relative safety of the wagon. If I'd been out there, exposed like that, I knew I wouldn't have been able to sleep at all.

  Reyla sighed. "Maybe I sleep more, but we all know who runs faster in the hunt. I need my energy."

  "What do you mean runs faster?"

  "What do you think I mean, heavyweight?"

  Isrelda threw his hands in the air. "No fighting now...we don't have time for this." He turned to me. "These boys, they cannot agree on anything." He stood up and moved toward the front of the wagon. "This is how it be. Oches you ride in front with me. Reyla and Kahj stay back here and get a few hours of sleep. Then we switch. Emerin you look out the back of the wagon, through the flap, watch from behind, see if anything follow us. Then later you wake up Jalya and switch. It all be good." He smiled at everyone, as the rest of us scowled at each other.

  "Alright now," said Reyla. "You heard Boban. Time to get going."

  Oches and Isrelda moved to the front, as Reyla and Kahj settled down to sleep. I took one last look at Wagna to ensure that he was still breathing, before moving to the back of the wagon. There was a small split in the covers through which I could see where we had been. I didn't know what use this would be when it got really dark though. The wagon began moving once again and I felt a sense of relief that at least we would be making some headway this time.

  "Go to sleep, Jalya." I looked to where she sat in the corner, head leaning back on the wood railing where it attached to the canvas covering.

  "I don't think I can."

  "Just try....come on, we can't afford to be sleep deprived now."

  "Okay, okay." Through the dimness, I was sure that I saw her roll her eyes, but she snuggled down into the blankets anyway. I looked back through the covers for a moment and saw nothing unusual in the light of the setting sun, then when I turned back, she was already asleep. So was Kahj, but Reyla lay with his eyes open, staring straight ahead. I studied his hardened face and wondered if he was the oldest of the brothers.

  "You should be looking out the back, not at me," he smirked. "I mean, I know I'm good looking and all, but you've got a job to do."

  I quickly averted my eyes. "I wasn't looking at you."

  "Oh, I can tell when someone's looking at me. You're wondering if you can trust us."

  "I don't trust anybody."

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Reyla shift and prop himself up on his elbow. His dark braid spilled over his shoulder. "Why'd you ask us to come with you then?"

  "First of all, Jalya asked you, not me, and really what else could we do? We needed the help now that Wagna is....the way he is. We're still not very good with the horses and then there's those things out there." I turned back and looked him straight in the eye. "I trust you more than I trust the Orlogs; that's all I really need to know right now."

  "Good point, I guess."

  I turned to look through the back flap once again, but saw nothing except the increasing darkness. I swallowed hard and asked Reyla the question I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer to. "So, what about you? You said you didn't want the coins of amure, so why did you come? What do you want from us?"

  "Well, what would any man want from a beautiful young woman?" he said. I snapped my head back around thinking I was right not to trust him, but then I saw that he was smiling.

  "Why her wagon, of course," he continued, chuckling to himself. "It's a lot safer in here than it is out there, wouldn't you agree?

  He paused briefly and I nodded. When he began to speak again, his tone was much more grim.

  "And a wagon is a much faster way to travel. We need to get back to the Beyjerones caves. That's near Warshar's Village, where you're going."

  I stiffened up, but tried not to show any reaction. "Why do you need to go there?"

  Reyla sighed and sat for a long while before continuing, as though he was trying to decide whether or not he trusted me. I had almost given up on a response, and contented myself with peering into the darkness that was closing in behind the wagon, when he finally spoke again.

  "I need to find a way to break into Lock Up...the Beyjerones are pretty smart and they have a great army; I thought that maybe they could help. You see, my wife's in there. I need to get her back....she's not crazy; she's not a criminal....she did nothing wrong."

  "I'm sure she didn't," I said, trying not to show how stunned I was by his statement.

  He looked at me as though he were surprised. "You believe me?"

  "Not everyone who goes to Lock Up is crazy or a criminal. Someti
mes...." I thought of my parents and a heavy ache filled my chest. "Sometimes there's just a misunderstanding."

  "Misunderstanding!" Reyla's voice raised up, then he looked around at our sleeping companions and brought it back down to a whisper. "Nah, they knew exactly what they were doing. Those people in the city they don't care about us, in fact, they're happy to find any reason to put us away."

  He twisted his fingers together and took a deep breath before continuing. "You see, my wife and I....we had a little girl, almost a year old. I was out hunting, and she liked to take walks with our daughter. This was before any of us had even seen one of those things....if I'd known that there was any danger, I never would have...."

  He broke off in midsentence and didn't say anything else for a few seconds. I tried to look at his face, but it was now too dark to clearly see his expression. I sat quietly and waited for him to continue, though I really didn't like where the story was going.

  When he finally spoke again, his voice was barely a whisper. "She couldn't move; it had her paralyzed; she couldn't do anything to stop it. All she could do was watch while that thing sucked the life right out of our little girl. Then it moved on to her. When I found them later that day, well, Shrieva was much the same as Wagna is now, but Nenia-- that was our daughter's name, Nenia--I couldn't wake her up. She was too little, not strong enough to handle it." He stopped abruptly again, and there was only wind and horses hooves to fill the uncomfortable silence.

  "Oh Reyla, I'm so sorry," I croaked. "I don't know what to say."

  "There's nothing to say. There was nothing to be done either, nothing but push through the horrible pain. I've never felt such a loss. I couldn't eat for days, couldn't hunt....but Shrieva, she was inconsolable. When she finally woke up the next day, she wouldn't believe it. Then when she was strong enough to walk, she looked everywhere for Nenia; accused me of hiding her or sending her away. She was angry for so long. Then when she finally accepted it, she cried for days; wouldn't let me help her; wouldn't even let me near her. I told her that we were still young; we could have another....we would have many more children to come, but it didn't help of course....nothing I said or did helped.

  "Then one day she stopped crying, got up and started living again, and I thought she'd be okay, you know. But she kept talking about the Nebril; somehow she got it into her head that it was their fault, that they had sent the Orlogs. Now, none of us like the Nebril; they keep growing, pushing out in every direction, taking over our lands...but you can't blame them for everything, you know. But she insisted that they were the cause of it; if it weren't for the Nebril, Nenia would still be with us."

  "What made her think that?"

  "I don't know. Nobody knows," he sighed. "It was probably just her way of handling the grief. She needed someone to blame, I suppose. But it really didn't make a difference. I was just happy that she was coming around. And things were okay; we were trying to have another baby. She seemed okay...until the day we left to go south.

  "You see, our clan travels south in the winter. The animals go where it’s warmer and we follow. We need to hunt; we need to eat. We had to leave earlier than usual, as it's getting cold so soon, but we didn't mind because the Orlogs were becoming such a problem....Nenia wasn't their only victim. So we were happy to be getting away. But the day we left, we were travelling on a road through the meadow, because that's the safest place, when we passed a caravan of Nebril. Not just any Nebril either, but soldiers on horseback, hundreds of them. I don't know where they were going, the city I suppose, but it doesn't matter. All I remember was Shrieva...she went into a rage, ran up to the horses....she was gone before I could stop her. She was yelling, screaming, beating on the horses, trying to pull the men off. I ran up to take her away, but she wouldn't stop. She didn't stop until they knocked her out. Then they picked her up and took her with them."

  Reyla's breath came in quick gasps and his voice shook as he continued. "Just threw her on the back of a horse and took her. I tried to stop them but they beat me until I blacked out. When I woke up they were gone. The others said that the men told them they were taking her to Lock Up, and that there would be more of us going if we gave them any more trouble.

  "I travelled with the clan until we got just past Lock Up and then I couldn't go any further, not without her. So, I turned around and went back while the others were sleeping, so no one could stop me....my father and brothers, they came after me. That's how we got separated from the rest of the clan. They were trying to convince me to come back to the others when the Orlogs got in the way. We had to climb a tree to get away from them. Then they prowled around for so long, just waiting for us to come down. Well, by the time we were able to get away, the rest of the clan had moved on...thought we were dead I guess, I don't know."

  I sat there stunned, just trying to process everything that he'd told me. If I hadn't seen and heard so many incredible things over the past couple of weeks, I may not have believed him. I never knew things were so bad outside of our little village.

  "I'm sure the Beyjerones will be able to help," I said. "There has to be some way to get her out."

  "I sure hope so, cause the way I feel right now.....I just can't go on like this," he said, as he lay back down and shifted about to get more comfortable. "If no one can help me, I'll be going in alone...even if I don't come back out again."

  As I let his chilling words sink in, I turned back to my little window and watched the changing landscape. Instead of dense trees, we were finally moving into some sort of grassland. The blades of grass stood tall against the pathway, coming halfway up the side of the wagon. I looked across the field and in the barely perceptible light of the crescent moon, I could make out their swaying. They moved like giant ripples across the land, reminding me of the wheat fields back home. I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned back to Reyla to distract myself from the painful thought, but found him to finally be asleep. Now I was alone with my thoughts, surrounded by the light snoring of strangers.

  At the front of the wagon, Isrelda and Oches seemed to be having a heated debate in their own language, so I couldn't even entertain myself with their conversation. My stomach growled, hunger gnawing at it incessantly, but I knew I couldn't eat any more. We had to make the food last until we reached the Beyjerones caves. I twisted my neck to look up at the stars, but the tiny slit that I looked through would not let me see the sky. I sighed and resigned myself to the fact that this night would pass very slowly.

  I spent the next few hours thinking about things far more than I would have liked. Wondering about my mother, my father and Ashel...what were they doing now? Was Ashel even still alive? Would we still be alive tomorrow? The next day? The day after that? It was all too much to take in and I had to steady my breathing, concentrating on counting my breaths so I wouldn't hyperventilate. How normal everything had been just a short week ago, when marrying Callum was the worst thing that I could imagine in life. Now I was hiding in a wagon with men that I didn't know, expecting that at any time, a strange mutant creature would waddle forth and suck out my very essence. I felt bad feeling so sorry for myself after listening to everything that Reyla had been through, but I couldn't help it. When the tears came, I no longer tried to hold them back and let them roll freely down my cheeks, knowing that in the inky blackness, no one would see.

  Every now and then, either Oches or Isrelda would come back to check in with me, to make sure that I was okay and I hadn't seen anything unusual. And I hadn't seen anything or heard anything and neither had they. It gave me hope that maybe we'd left all the Orlogs behind, although Reyla's story had convinced me differently.

  At some point, just before I thought I would go mad from my racing thoughts, coupled with the sheer physical horror of trying to keep my eyes forced open, Oches came to the back and told me it was time to switch. He woke Reyla and Kahj and the two of them went to relieve Isrelda. I left my post at the window, and moved to the corner of the wagon, where Jalya had curled herself
in a tight little ball, like a frightened caterpillar.

  "Time to wake up, Jalya," I said softly.

  She yawned and stretched out to her full length. "Are we there yet?'

  "No, no, not yet. Oches says we're almost to Lock Up though."

  "Sheesh, it's cold," she shuddered, pulling the blanket snugly around her shoulders. She moved to the spot where I'd just left, and I wondered if she would spend hours tormented by her own thoughts also. "How am I supposed to see anything out there?"

  "Well, if you look really hard, you might see some grass." I fell into the pile of blankets enthusiastically and wrapped one of them tightly around my body like a cocoon. Sleep was going to feel so good. Isrelda took a long look at Wagna, before laying down next to me.

  "How is he?" I asked.

  "Bout the same."

  "How much longer until we get to the bridge?"

  "Oh, I think we be there by morning, first light maybe."

  "Oh, good," I said, but felt an underlying sense of dread. I felt like when we got there, someone from Lock Up would see me and recognize that I belonged there. Maybe word had gotten out that I'd run away and they were waiting there, watching in case I came by that way. It seemed oddly self-important to entertain such notions, but there was so much that I didn't know about my situation that any scenario seemed possible.

  "Try to sleep now," Isrelda urged as he closed his eyes.

  I yawned and curled into a ball for extra warmth. The wagon rocked on, and lulled me to sleep. For the first time tonight I felt happy, as I succumbed to the delicious feeling and let my heavy eyelids fall. As my consciousness waned, however, I felt a barely perceptible feeling of unease....a tension in my neck, a familiar pressure building on my left side.