Prologue Previous Chapter

Kito

He was flying. Flying across the peak of the mountain, the tan stone falling away beneath him as he soared across the sky. A cloud of golden dust hung in the air before him, and he fearlessly dove through it, feeling a mild tingle against his skin. On the ground below a ring of fire spread across the land, like a ripple of light spreading across the surface of a pond. He flew north through the smoky air, towards the glowing crater at the center of the ring. As he closed, the air was filled with steam as the heat from the spear’s strike burned away the river.

Spear? What Spear?

But he remembered, flying amongst the clouds, watching the spears slip through the night sky. He remembered the great golden spear, and watching it fall towards Red Cave hill.

Wait. What? When did this happen? He shook his head, bewildered.

Last night. I tried to warn everyone to get under cover. Kito tried to help me.

Wait. I am Kito.

No.

“Get out of my head.” He tried to shriek, but the words wouldn’t come, and he fell, flailing madly against the air as the world spun around him. She was confused and scared. He was terrified and angry.

“Get out of my head.” She cried silently, her voice echoing through his thoughts.

No, you are in mine. The ground rushed towards him, as she fell, unable to stop, unable to fly like before. Kito, help me!

“Shara. Get out.” He shook his head violently, trying to clear away the madness as the dark bulk of Guardian mountain appeared in the darkness. He could see the Watching Stone on the north side, and then a few scraggly pine trees. Patches of grass. A notch in the stone, running down the south side of the summit, curving swiftly towards the cliff-like edge as the sun rose again in the east.

The stone reached up and grabbed at him, embracing him in dust.

Kito sat up, gagging on his tongue, swaying woozily in the weak light of dawn, surrounded by walls of stone stretching up towards the hazy blue. He collapsed sideways, catching himself with an arm that burned with a faraway pain that lulled him to sleep. When he opened his eyes again, his arm hurt even worse, and the sun was right overhead, burning his face. His armbones ground against each other as he tried to shield his eyes, and he lowered it again, fighting to keep from vomiting across the sloping stone as jagged white shards cut through his skin, letting blood drip slowly against the ground below.

I hope it gets better soon. He thought, staring dumbly at the rivulets of ichor that meandered lazily down the rough stone. He could hear the gentle plopping sound as the blood hit the rock, soothing, peaceful, lulling him to sleep.

With a start, he opened his eyes again, the sun burning into his skull. He raised his arm to shield his face from the glare and then stopped, staring at his skin, unbroken, unbloodied. What a strange dream. It seemed so real. Long reddish-brown trails of dried blood stained the rockface in front of him, running past Shara and down the edge.

“Shara?” His voice was thick and dry, and the dust caught in his throat, sending him into a fit of coughing.

Gasping, she sat up suddenly, her long black hair whipping through the air. All at once, she began sliding down the crevice towards the cliff. Eyes bright with fear, she flailed out with her hands, her fingers grabbing uselessly at the stone. Kito lunged forwards, catching her leg in his hands, feeling the sand and dust grate against his belly as her weight pulled him towards the precipice. Instinctively, he started to let go, to slow his fall, but she clenched his arm in a death grip, baring her teeth, hissing as she stared at him. His feet slid on the worn stone as she pulled them both towards their doom. He whimpered as his legs splayed out across the rough, the pitted surface ripping the skin from his feet.

“Shara… let go.” he whispered, but her hands seemed tightened even farther on his arm if that were possible, as the two of them began to slide faster towards the edge. In desperation, he pushed out with both feet, catching the edges of the narrow canyon, his tendons screaming as his feet pressed against the two stone walls.

“Climb over me” he grunted after a few quick breaths, but she didn’t respond. Already, his legs ached from the effort of holding both of them in place. Gritting his teeth, he kept pushing, certain that if he slipped, they would both plummet down the mountainside.

“Shara. Climb over me. Shara.” He shouted, and she jerked suddenly, shaking her head and staring at him in wonder.

“What happened?” She asked, eyes wide.

“Climb over me… hurry, please.” She stared at him dumbly for a moment and he groaned inwardly. But then she nodded and pulled hard against his arm, straining his legs as she tried to shift her weight. His foot slipped from the unexpected force, and he lurched forward a hands-width before his feed found the walls again “Too fast. Go slow.” he gasped, leaning down to press his head against the rough rock, digging his cheek against the floor of the canyon.

A few heartbeats later she tried again, but more slowly this time, leaning forward, shifting her legs back and pressing her toes against the dusty granite. Gingerly, she let go, leaving bands of white on his forearm that swiftly turned bright red. They locked eyes for a moment before she pressed her feet against the ground and heaved, forcing her way back up the hillside one toe-length at a time.

Kito didn’t dare move as she climbed past him to safety, certain that death would follow even the slightest mistake. Instead, he stared at the green and brown grasses to the south beyond the mountain, sweat pouring down his face in the hot sunlight, stinging his eyes.

Somewhere behind him Shara coughed, and gasped for breath. “Are you ok?” he asked. “I can’t hold this for much longer.” She didn’t respond, wheezing loudly. “Shara… can you help me?” The rock was starting to feel loose and slimy beneath him as his sweat drenched the stone. The cliff wall beckoned.

“Shara.” He shouted. “I am going to die if you don’t help me right now.”

“Grab my hand.” She said, her voice thick with dust and fear. He considered trying to glance back, but his legs were trembling with exhaustion. I’m running out of time. “Where is your hand? If I try to look back I’ll fall.”

“Over your left shoulder.” She said.

With a deep breath, he shoved his hands against the stone, flipping backwards, stretching out his arms as he tilted his head back to find her, even as his feet slipped from the rocks. his fingernails scratching at the stone. For just a moment, he hung there, staring at her upside down before the ground slid out from under him, sending him sliding towards the edge.

She launched herself forward, catching his wrist in her hand, stopping his slide. Ever so slowly, she drug him back up the slope as he shoved his free hand against the stone, trying to help her any way he could.

“I’m telling you, I heard something over here!” A voice drifted in from far away, and they both froze.

“…and I’ve told you we checked this area already. There’s no-one here.” Another voice.

“It was dark then. We may have missed something.” The voices were coming closer.

“H-hey!” Kito called, but all that came out was a dusty gasp. He coughed and choked for a moment. “Hey!” Still weak, but stronger.

“Did you hear that?”

“What?”

“Over here.” Shara called, her voice bubbling with joy. “Over here.”

“Shara? Kito? Where are you?” The voices were coming closer.

“Down here.” She said weakly, choking on the dust that caked her throat.

“Shara?”

Exasperated, Kito started yelling as best he could. “We’re down here.”

In a few moments, two heads appeared above him, a man and a woman, strangely familiar. Both of them leaned down into the crevice, each extending a hand. Shara grabbed at one, and they both tugged on her, pulling both of them a little further out of danger. Immediately, the larger one jumped down into the canyon, grabbing Kito’s hand and pulling him upright. “Are you ok, Kito?”

Kito nodded slowly, staring at this maddeningly familiar person. Why can’t I remember his name.

“They’re down here.” The girl called. “We found them.” She turned, and helped Shara climb out of the crevice, and the man did the same for Kito, nearly shoving him up and out onto the mountaintop. Kito laid on the stone, staring at the sky, unwilling to move.

“Kito, what happened to your skin?” The girl asked. Her hair was curly, and her eyes had just the faintest hint of blue. U-something? He stared at her, trying to remember her name. She returned his stare for a moment, and then frowned. “Kito? Your skin?”

Dumbly, he looked down, and stared at the tiny flecks of gold dust that decorated every inch of exposed flesh. Turning slightly, he glanced at Shara as she lay on the ground next to him, her skin shimmering in the sunlight as she breathed.

Odd. He thought, before the world went black.

=-=

“Kito, are you awake?”

He opened his eyes, squinting against the afternoon light, and nodded slowly.

“I looked at the crevice you were in. It is a wonder you survived. How did you end up in there?” Armis asked. He was surrounded by others.

Armis. And Tohm, and Oola. Barak… Reya… I remember now. Suddenly, he felt better. “I don’t remember.” He said, shaking his head. “I remember a bright white light, and then…” He paused, remembering the strange dream, the shared thoughts, and decided against trying to explain it. “…And then I found myself in the crevice with Shara, and it was the next day.”

His throat caught on the dust, and he coughed hard. “Can I have some water?”

“Carefully.” warned Armis as he handed Kito a half-empty skin. “We don’t have much left.”

He drank thirstily, and forced himself to stop, handing the skin back to Armis. “We had a bunch of water. What happened?”

Armis frowned. “We did. But several of the bags are gone, destroyed by the fire-cloud I guess. Mika and Din are out looking for puddles right now.”

Kito nodded. “What about Red Cave?”

Oola and Tohm frowned, looking away. Armis shook his head. “We can’t see it in the smoke. But it was near the place where the star hit.”

“Spear.”

Everyone turned towards Shara as she struggled to sit upright. “It was a golden spear. I saw it.”

Barak frowned. “If it was a spear, who threw it?”

“The spirits.” She said, quietly.

“Of course it was the spirits.” Reya said bitterly. “Any fool can figure that out. But why? Why did they do this?”

Shara shrugged and shook her head.

Reya leaned forward and slapped Shara hard across the face. “Don’t you care? Our families are dead. Your family is d-”

“No!” Armis said, firmly. “They are not dead. We will find them when we return home.”

Barak and Tohm looked away. They don’t believe him, Kito thought. He hoped they were wrong.

“Kito?” Pak tugged at his shirt.

“Yes?”

“What happened to your skin?”

“I’m just dusty.” He said, trying to brush away the glittering dirt. When it wouldn’t come off, he licked his thumb and tried again, wiping carefully at a spot on the back of his hand, to no avail. “It won’t come off.”

Alarmed, he looked up and glanced at Pak and the others, realizing that all of them were glittering slightly in the sunlight. “You’re dusty too.”

The boy nodded. “Yeah, but not like you and Shara are.”

He looked over at Shara as she sat on the stone, looking off towards the north. She glowed in the sunlight, bright yellow-orange flashes rippling down her side with each breath, like the sunlight glancing off of a still lake. “It’s just dust.” Kito said, uncertainly, staring at his own glittering arms. “It will wash off.” He rubbed again at the spot on his arm, giving up after a short time.

“Barak, no.”

Kito looked up, startled at the vehemence in that cry. Armis and Barak were staring angrily at each other, hands clenched into angry fists as they slowly circled.

“Everyone is here. It is time to return to Red Cave.” Barak growled.

Armis jerked his head angrily. “The plains are still smoldering. There is smoke everywhere. We need to wait.”

Barak stiffened. “Then I will go by myself.”

Armis paused for a moment, opening and closing his mouth before turning away. “Fine. Go.” He muttered, his back to Barak.

Barak sneered and turned away, beginning his walk towards the path that led down the western slope..

“Barak, wait.” Shara called, scrambling to her feet, fishing in her pouches.

Barak stopped, and turned around, glowering. “What?”

“Here.” She said, carrying a bunch of herbs in her hands. “Take these, and rub them on your skin.” he extended his hand, and she dumpbed the bits of leaves and seeds into his hand.

“Why?” He asked, “What will they do?” His fist closed around the gifts as she walked back towards Armis and the others.

She turned again, and smiled. “You’ll be tastier for the wolves this way.”

Kito involuntarily snickered. I had forgotten about the wolves. Several of the others chuckled with him.

Barak’s face twitched a few times, as he stared at everyone, his facing reddening. He stared at them all for a moment, before turning away, walking towards the Watching Stone.

As if nothing had happened, Armis turned towards the rest of them. “Then it is settled.” He told them. “We stay here until the smoke clears. We have plenty of food, and a few days of water.” He looked up at the sky. “If it rains, we will be able to stay longer if we need to.”

Kito sat up, the screams echoing in his ears. Instantly he rolled out of his bedskins, scuttling towards Shara’s bed. She sat upright, sobbing, burying her face in her hands. Kito knelt down next to her, resting his hand gently on her shoulder. “Shara? What’s wrong?”

She jerked her head up, and hugged herself tightly, shivering in the cool night air. “Our people… burning…”

He rubbed her shoulder awkwardly. “It was just a dream.”

She looked up and lifted her head, her eyes searching the stars. “Just a dream.” She whispered, repeating it over and over like a song. “Just a dream…” She took one long, rattling breath, and her shoulders relaxed.

He glanced around as the others returned to their beds. Barak shot him a venemous glance before laying down again, facing away from the fire as he always did.

“I hope you’re right.” she said, rubbing her arms briskly. “They were walking.”

Shara shook her head, and fell back into her skins, shivering slightly before closing her eyes. “Goodnight.” She murmured, her voice thin.

Next Chapter

Tuesday, March 21st, 2006 at 5:37 pm.
Filed under .
Subscribe to RSS 2.0.
Leave a comment or trackback.