Serpent's Lair (The Forgotten: Book 1)

CHAPTER 3

  Katya’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness of the interior of the Chamber. The vine door swung closed behind her with a resounding thud and Marak squeezed her tight for a moment as though jumping at the sound. Looking around the large rotund room, she saw that it was filled with rows of people sitting in benches around the outside. News of her arrival must have spread fast. There was a column of light filtering in from a circular window in the middle, and it illuminated a disk shape on the floor in the center of the structure.

  A woman in long flowing robes and braided hair that extended past her waist flitted over and ushered her farther inside.

  “Welcome, Katya of the Dena’ina tribe, we are honored to have you here.” She gestured towards the circle of light and Katya obliged her, going to stand within it. The brightness shining down on her made it more difficult for her to see the faces around her.

  That was likely the purpose.

  The woman was staring at her expectantly.

  “I fear that I was a bit of an outsider, even with my people,” Katya confessed after an awkward moment, hoping that this would explain her lack of knowledge of whatever procedure they were expecting her to perform.

  The woman gave her a sympathetic smile and relaxed almost imperceptibly. “That would explain why you answered our summons.” Katya stored away this information. So the Dena’ina tribe was not friendly with the others. Lorcan had done a greater service than he knew by suggesting she was from this tribe. The woman continued. “The tribes have had limited contact since the time of the Massacre, so there are certain precautions that we need to take in order to ensure that you are not a threat to our way of life. One can only imagine what would happen if news of our survival reached the Lands of the Lost.”

  Katya nodded when the woman paused, giving her a solemn look. She could only assume that the Lands of the Lost were Gelendan and Treymayne. Did these people really treat them as though every inhabitant was ‘lost’? Her curiosity grew and she refortified her mind shields, masking her talent further. Since traveling among the Ferryn Plains, she had learned to ‘bury’ part of her talent within her so that it was not affected by the chaos. It had the side-effect of making her talent appear much less than it actually was to those around her. She had also become quite adept at subterfuge while under the influence of the collar, and many of those skills would come in useful today.

  “Please hold your hands outstretched and repeat after me.”

  Katya obeyed and watched intently while the woman placed several herbs within her palms. Another person came forward, though Katya could not tell if it was a man or a woman, and stood ready with a pitcher poised above her hands. Steam rose from its mouth and Katya eyed it warily.

  “Mein’i Anja, jenta fam’bra…” the woman orated and Katya tried her best to imitate the completely unfamiliar words, wondering just what it was that she was saying. As she concentrated on the task, she was taken by surprise when a boiling liquid was poured out onto her hands. She fought not to withdraw them and gagged as a noxious odor rose to her nostrils with the steam.

  Distracted by the words, the pain from the heat, and the smell, Katya almost stumbled backwards when she was hit by wave after wave of mind-probes thrown at her from all directions. The first few were automatically deflected off her mind shields, but she let a few penetrate, seemingly unconsciously, to reveal only what she wanted them to know. The effort made her perspire uncontrollably, and Katya was glad for the steam already coating her face with moisture and covering the effort.

  Katya sank to her knees, exhausted by the drain of energy required to meet the attacks, one after another on her mind. Just when she thought she wouldn’t be able to repel another invasion, they stopped. Someone helped her up from behind and the herbs were pried out from her hands, which had clenched shut around them.

  She met the woman’s eyes before her with apprehension. These were some of the strongest mages she had ever come across save Layna and Gryffon and, of course, Nathair. She feared they had seen through her disguise.

  The woman was smiling, however, a satisfied and friendly smile and Katya relaxed slightly.

  “Thank you for enduring the Ordeal so graciously, Katya of the Dena’ina tribe. We welcome you to the Myaamia tribe.” More people rushed forward and Katya was draped in a robe, had a wreath of flowers put over her head, and was handed a beverage which she drank thirstily once determining that it was nothing more than sweetened water.

  She was ushered farther inside the gigantic bulb, into an adjoining chamber, and seated around a massive table. Again the furniture seemed to be grown directly from the vegetation around them and as she sat she could have sworn that the leaves seemed to close in around her, making the chair form perfectly for her. People filed in from the room beyond, presumably those who had been seated on the benches encircling her during the Ordeal, and filled in the rest of the places around the table.

  Food appeared, brought by young children who skittered in and out in the blink of an eye, and the woman who had directed the Ordeal took her place at the head of the table, raising her glass. As she did so, silence descended upon the room and all eyes turned towards her.

  “It is a wonderful day here in the Myaamia when we can say for the first time since the beginning that a representative from all of the tribes is present in one place. Since the Dena’ina found their caves, the Dakelh took to the water, the Kanza wandered the Plains, and the Gwich’in created their paradise, never before have we hosted such a diverse group.” As she spoke the names of each of the tribes, a handful of people rose their glasses or cheered as their name was called. It appeared that Katya was the only one who had only one representative present. The different tribes could be easily distinguished from one another by their dress. She glanced surreptitiously down at her own garb and realized just how much she stood out because of it. Perhaps that had been why Lorcan immediately assumed she was from the Dena’ina – the only tribe whose style of clothing he hadn’t seen. It was lucky indeed he hadn’t realized the true implications.

  The speaker turned and addressed Katya directly. “I cannot tell you how pleased we are that you have chosen to join us. The Dena’ina has been estranged too long. It is unfortunate that your expertise cannot be used in the ceremony, but we have already integrated our powers I’m afraid and it would be too late to try and catch you up. It will be a momentous day, nonetheless, for all of us and fear not, your contributions will be necessary and appreciated in the days to come. There will be much work ahead of us. Only by working together may we accomplish the common goal.” She spoke for several more minutes, but Katya was too lost in thought, wondering what ceremony there was to be performed and what the supposed common goal of all of the tribes was. She kept an ear open for any pertinent information, but it seemed that everyone already knew what this ‘momentous occasion’ was already and only spoke of how wonderful it was.

  Katya finally extricated herself from the event and was shown to a visiting quarters. After the woman who had shown her the way had left, Katya gave the room a brief looking-over before she wandered out onto the walkways. She silently slipped through the shadows, flitting in and out among the many enclosures, trying to get some clue as to the type of people she was among.

  Eventually, she figured out the pattern of the set-up and she found her way to where Lorcan had said he’d be in the Fifth Circle. He was the closest thing she had to a friend in this foreign place, and so far he had seemed the least dangerous. She found him standing amongst a group of youngsters proudly puffing out his chest which, as Katya looked closer, she realized now held the tuft of fur in an amulet around his neck.

  She smiled and waved, distracting his attention away from the swarm of onlookers.

  “Katya!” he greeted her, ushering her into the circle. It closed in around them and she felt momentarily overwhelmed. Several girls covered their hands and giggled, and she could
have sworn that at least one glared at her. Apparently the episode had turned Lorcan into an instant celebrity among the children.

  He grabbed her arm and held onto her possessively. “This is the woman I saved from the lion,” he told them all proudly.

  “Hello,” Katya gave the group a collective greeting.

  “He really saved you?” one girl asked, swooning over him.

  “Um, yes, he really did.”

  “Wow, that’s so brave.”

  “Yes, it was,” she agreed before steering the conversation away from Lorcan’s heroism, “So the ceremony is going to be pretty exciting, huh?” Katya stated, hoping to pick up on some more information about it from the children.

  “Oh, it’s all the adults have been talking about for months now,” said one boy with a slight air of annoyance. “They’ve gathered together a special circle of mages to perform it who think they’re pretty special.”

  “Too bad you arrived too late to be part of it,” one of the girls hovering near Lorcan commented, sounding not at all sorry for her.

  “That just means you’ll get to sit with me to watch it,” Lorcan shrugged, oblivious to the pout the girl put on at his words.

  A gong sounded, echoing through the treetops, and the children scattered, squealing excitedly.

  Lorcan grinned broadly at Katya, “And you got here just in time.”