A Warrior's Path (The Castes and the OutCastes) (20 page)

He encompassed Bree in the glow of his Lucency, and her grin faded.  A look of firm resolve took its place.  “Thank you,” she said, her voice sounding flatter than usual.

“You’re more than welcome,” Jaresh said, “especially if you can do what you say you can.”

A fleeting smile graced Bree’s face before quickly fading.  “Call the attestant.”

Step Lindsar, the Shiyen who had performed Suge’s autopsy was recalled to the attestant’s stand.  The physician was in his late forties and sloop-shouldered.  His hair was pleated in long braids but his lean, angular face was clean-shaven.

“I cede the lectern to my daughter, Bree Shektan.  She will be the
one to question Physician Lindsar,” Dar’El said.

Bree stepped forward to the lectern, pausing to clear her throat.  “You mention in your report a blue tinge to Suge’s fingers and toes
as well as dilated pupils.  Do you have any explanation for such a finding?” Bree asked.  “Any herbs or something along those lines?”

“No
thing other than poppy-based drugs,” the physician answered.  “But none were found in Suge’s body.”

“Nothing?”  Bree asked.  “You’re sure?  No drug that can do
all that and also turn the whites of a person’s eyes a barely detectable shade of blue?”  Bree seemed to be holding her breath, as though she already knew the answer and was willing the Shiyen to come up with it as well.

The physician thought for a few moments before shifting in his seat, looking uneasy.  “There is one,” he said, hesitantly.

“And it is…?” Bree asked after a moment’s silence.

Lin
dsar grimaced.  “Snowblood.”

The gallery exploded into bedlam as the Arbiter hammered his stone gavel for order but to little effect.

“Outrageous!  This is a travesty! It was my son who was murdered!” Hal’El shouted as he roared to his feet.  “These despicable Shektans shamelessly seek to strip Suge of every last shred of his dignity.”

Jaresh was held frozen in shock.  Snowblood?  It was a powerful hallucinogenic stimulant meant to induce euphoria
and a substantial increase in the speed and strength of the user.  But, when coming off the high, the drug was known to cause paranoia and rage, as well as a loss of co-ordination and reaction time.  Those stupid enough to try it were often addicted within several weeks of regular ingestion.  They eventually wasted away as the drug burned them up, leaving them without an appetite for anything but their next use of the drug.  Most ended up as skeletal husks, frequently dying within a year of first trying snowblood.  As a result, the drug had been banned long ago, and use of it carried a terrible stigma.  Jaresh’s lips curled in disgust. Suge using snowblood?  What a degenerate.

It still fell to
Bree to prove her accusation, but if she could, there was no way Jaresh would be found guilty.

Jaresh
shared a tight-lipped smile of triumph with Nanna, and glanced to where the Shektans sat.  They were openly smiling, shaking one another’s hands and doing little to hide their joy.  His mother’s eyes were shiny, and she wiped aside a tear or two.  Even old Durmer Volk and Garnet Bosde were laughing and gave Jaresh a fist pump of encouragement.

It took some time, but
the crowd quieted once more with whispers of conversation still rippling here and there.

“I demand
that no more questions about snowblood and my son be allowed.  He is not facing the tribunal here.  The Sentya is!” Hal’El shouted, hot and angry.

“Sit down, Hal’El,” the Arbiter said in irritation.  “I know how
you must feel, but
we
must know the truth.  Continue,” he said to Step Lindsar.

Physician Lindsar explained the history of the drug and its effects, including the reason it had been banned.

“Your account tells us all we need to know about the drug, but not why Suge might have been using it,” Bree said.  “Is there anything else you can offer?”

“Well, along with the emotional changes and metabolic changes – by this I mean the temporary increase in speed and strength followed by a terrific fall off – it also causes characteristic physical findings, and among these are
dilated pupils, peripheral cyanosis – blue fingers and toes – and a blue tint to the sclera – the whites of the eyes.”

“We’ve heard it said how Suge greatly improved his skills as a warrior over the past few months.  Is that a known side effect of the drug?”

“Yes,” the Shiyen replied.  “But it just seems so unlikely.  The drug’s been banned for decades.  And the son of an ‘El…”

“I can understand your skepticism,” Bree said.  “Who among us would believe such a thing?  However, I asked your assistant to test Suge
’s body for snowblood.  Would the findings be accurate given how long he has been dead?  Two weeks?”

“They should be.   We Preserved him, and the drug has a very long half-life, so if it was there, we would know.”

“I see,” Bree said.  “She handed the physician a rectangular piece of parchment, an official looking document.  “Would you please verify this report as being from the City of Ashoka Medical Investigation Division?” Bree asked.

The physician looked over the paper, glancing at its contents.  “It is from
my office,” he replied.

“And it relates to?”

Physician Lindsar looked up from the parchment.  “You know who it relates to.  It’s about Suge Wrestiva.”

Jaresh glanced at Hal’El, wondering how he was taking this.  The head of House Wrestiva looked like he was going to be sick.

“And can you please read the contents, specifically the results of the drug screen on snowblood in Suge Wrestiva.”

“Must I?  His soul is in Devesh’s hands.  What good will any of this do?”

“I know you don’t wish to impugn a dead man’s reputation, but my brother’s life hangs in the balance,” Bree said softly.  “You must read it.”

Physician Lindsar studied the parchment
.  He cleared his throat, clearly stalling for time. “You must understand, the tissue analysis for snowblood can have a false positive in some circumstances…”

“Please read the report,” the Arbiter interrupted.

Physician Lindsar frowned and stared at the parchment once again.  “Tissue was taken from four separate sites on Suge’s body, and the analysis was done three times on each sample,” he begain.  “According to the report, all the sites had…”

“There will be no need
to proceed any further, Arbiter,” Hal’El Wrestiva said, rising to his feet and interrupting a relieved appearing Physician Lindsar.  “I withdraw my claim.”  He turned to the members of his House sitting in attendance.  “I am willing to state, here before this tribunal and my fellow ‘Els, my unbiased belief that my son, Suge Wrestiva, was killed with justification by Jaresh Shektan, and further, neither I, nor my family nor my House will ever seek retribution upon him or his.”

Hal’El’s final words were nearly drowned out by the shouts of joy from the members of House Shektan.

Amongst the Humans, they say a mother’s love knows no bounds.  She will do all in her power to see her children safe.  Can such a dream be true?  Our Mother’s love is barren.

-From the journal of SarpanKum Li-Charn, AF 1
752

L
i-Dirge stood on a stony plateau south of the Privation Mountains, where the land sloped along a series of jagged hills before flattening out into the Hunters Flats.  The air was warm and heavy in the late evening, even here in the heights, but it was a mere hint of the summer to come.  The sun set quickly in the foothills, streaking the sky with bands of violet, red, and orange.  Bats darted in the air, turning sharply in ways no bird ever could.  If not for the smell of roasting meat and the raucous shouts of the Chimeras camped at the base of the hill, it would have been peaceful.

Li-Dirge
was a Bael, one of the feared commanders of the Fan Lor Kum, the Red Hand of Justice.  However, he was no ordinary Bael.  Li-Dirge was the SarpanKum, the general of the Eastern armies of the Queen, Mother Lienna, She who the Humans named Suwraith, the Bringer of Sorrows.

He considered the events from the day prior, when his Chimeras were engaged in battle with
an Ashokan caravan.  He switched his tail in annoyance as he listened in on the casualty report.  So many brothers dead.  The battle with the Ashokan caravan had ultimately been successful, but it had been costly.  The Humans, all three hundred of them, had been utterly annihilated, but they had not gone down easily.  The price for their deaths had been steep; almost five thousand Chimeras lost from what had originally been a full Shatter of fifteen thousand.

He glanced down at the fires
below where the Fan Lor Kum were encamped, celebrating as they feasted on horseflesh, the meat of the Human warriors, and even the bodies of their own brethren.  The additional food was most welcome.  In general, the diet of a Chimera consisted of Chauk, a thick stew made from whatever grass was available and the boiled meat of a Phed, the beast Mother Lienna had created specifically to feed her Fan Lor Kum.  She must not have worried over much about the taste since Phed in any form resembled dirt and bitter roots.  Mother had also proscribed the hunting of any other game, but She had relented when it came to eating those who had fallen in battle.  As a result, meat of any other kind was a delicacy.

Thus did the Fan Lor Kum gorge themselves on the plunder of yesterday’s kills.  But then again,
in their minds, they had earned their feast.  Many of their crèche brothers had died, and today had been difficult as well.  Li-Dirge had pushed his warriors hard, wanting distance from the site of yesterday’s battle.  They had covered over forty miles and were exhausted.

Let them eat their fill.

Tomorrow would be no easier than today.  Li-Dirge wanted to regroup with the rest of his forces.  All told, he had sixteen Shatters under his command, over two hundred thousand Chimeras – the Eastern Plague of Continent Ember.  While most of his forces were widely dispersed, there were three full Shatters gathered far to the southeast, in the Hunters Flats.  He needed to reconnect with those warriors.  He felt vulnerable out here in the hills, no more than a few weeks journey from Ashoka.  There was little chance any force from the city might come for his Chimeras, but there might be another caravan nearby, a larger one and one led more competently.  And besides, why take any chances?  Humans were unpredictable.

For example,
consider what had happened during the battle.  It had not gone at all as Li-Dirge would have wished.  He frowned in remembrance of the day’s events.  The Ashokans had fought hard and fought well, but unfortunately, their commander had been a lackwit.  The man had trapped his warriors on a high mountain ridge with no way off.  If not for the Human commander’s decision, some of his men would have surely escaped the noose the Fan Lor Kum had thrown about the Ashokans.  In fact, Dirge had been counting on it.  If the Queen had not been watching – for the past month, She had been strangely lucid – Dirge might have even managed a means by which most of the column might have survived.  Sadly, such was not the case.

He recalled the battle and wondered about the four he’d seen fighting so fiercely, especially the one who tore through the Fan Lor Kum like an engine of destruction.  Those four
had
escaped.  Li-Dirge had seen to it himself.  It had been a great risk, but one he had been all too happy to take.  The SarpanKum only wished more of the Ashokans could have fought free of the Chimera trap and fled into the night.

He sighed.  The battle had been a success, but still, the Bael wished things could have gone differently.  Better.

Most Chimeras had been created by Mother Lienna millennia ago from the twisted wrecks of many species.  She had shaped fertile breeders for each of Her various types of warriors, but those made for Her armies were all mule males.  From snakes and ferrets, She had made the Braids; from Shylows and monkeys, She had formed the Tigons; Ur-Fels were a mix of dog and rat; while the Balants were a disgusting blend of elephant and baboon.  No one knew the inspiration for the Pheds or the Bovars.  Of all the Chimeras, they were the only two breeds without the gift of speech.  They were dull creatures, empty of thought, although none of the Chimeras could really be said to be intelligent.  All of them were irredeemably stupid as far as Li-Dirge was concerned.

Except for the Baels.  The Baels were unique.
Born like all other Chimeras in groups of five – a crèche – they had been the unexpected offspring of the bovine Bovars.  But unlike their brethren, the Baels were not merely powerful, they were also intelligent.  They were everything Mother had sought since the creation of the Chimeras.  Prior to their birth, the Fan Lor Kum had been disastrously led by the Tigons.  It was with the rise of the Baels that Her armies became far more lethal, and the Human caravans became far easier to kill, their cities easier to sack.

And centuries ago, the Baels had rebelled.  Their very intelligence, so prized by their Queen was the reason for their betrayal.  They eventually came to understand Mother Lienna’s pogrom against Humanity for the evil that it was.  Their awakening had changed the Baels,
every last one of them.  As a race, they had chosen to stymie the Queen’s will at every pass, never hinting at their hatred for Her.  They no longer hunted the Humans to extermination.  Instead, at great personal risk, they ensured casualties amongst the caravans were as limited as possible; generally no greater than one quarter of the Human warriors.  They would have managed even lower losses, but Mother Lienna insisted on a tribute of Human heads every six months, a pile as tall as a Balant.

If only his fellow Chimeras were capable of understanding the truth.  It was a pity, but they remained slavishly devoted to the Queen.

Thus, the Baels were alone in their rebellion.  And no one could learn of it, most certainly not Mother Lienna.  If She ever became aware of the true feelings of Her Baels, She would extinguish them.  Beyond simply killing them out of hand, without Mother Lienna’s blessing, all Chimera breeders were infertile.  Only the Pheds and Bovars could procreate without Mother Lienna’s direct intervention, but She could simply kill the bovine Chimera beasts of burden out of hand.  The extinction of the Baels would occur through simple lack of reproduction.

Li-Dirge put aside his thoughts.  He sensed the approac
h of his Queen, Mother Lienna.

Li-Reg, his SarpanKi, his aide and brother – they had been born from the same crèche – hissed warning. 
She
was nearly upon them.

Li-Dirge schooled his unruly thoughts to silence, focusing instead on the prayer all Chimeras spoke at night, re-affirming their lov
e for Mother Lienna: the Prayer of Gratitude:

By Her grace are we born

By Her love are we made

By Her will are we shorn

By Her
fire are we unmade

And are reborn once more

A storm – a
sound of thunder and coruscating lightning – was the harbinger of Her arrival.  Her voice was a howling scream carried on the wind.  A calm and warm Mother she was not, although She believed otherwise.

He and Li-Reg fell to their knees, followed instantly by thirty others of their brother Baels.  Here were gathered all the
surviving Vorsan and Sarpan, the leaders of the Fan Lor Kum.  All their foreheads were pressed to the dirt, and they silently incanted the same night prayer Li-Dirge had used a moment earlier to cleanse his thoughts of treason.  The rest of the Chimeras, including the junior Baels remained encamped on the northern outskirts of the Hunters Flats, awaiting the return of their commanders.  And not for the first time did Li-Dirge wish he were amongst them, safe from Mother’s scrutiny.

Her attention was always dangerous.

“My SarpanKum: to Ashoka you will send Our most trusted child,”
Mother said.  Her voice was the sound of nails on glass.  It tore into Li-Dirge’s mind.
  “One there, a servant of Mine will venture forth, past the accursed city walls and greet him.  To this servant I instruct you to give him this trinket.”

A knife, small and plain with a dark, wooden hilt fell from the sky and into Li-Dirge’s han
d.  He had a moment to study it.  What he had initially taken to be dark wood was actually maple stained with blood.  Further inspection would have to wait for Mother’s departure.

“And how shall I know him?” Li-Dirge asked in a firm tone, with no hint of a quaver and
no sign of fear.  Mother genuinely believed Herself to be gentle and loving.  Should one of Her children display even the merest wisp of trepidation toward Her, Mother considered it a cardinal sin.  She dealt with such heresy accordingly.

She spoke once more. 
“He will be the SuDin to their Sil Lor Kum.  He will use the trinket to unlock the gates of Ashoka so that I may lay it low.  I will smash her tall towers into the ground such that no brick will be left standing atop another.  And then will I turn my gaze to proud Hammer and finally bring an ending to that cursed city as well.”

Li-Dirge held still,
no longer surprised by Mother’s inconsistencies.  Hammer had fallen centuries ago, and yet the Queen persisted in believing it a threat.  Early on as a young Bael officer, Dirge’s seniors had explained the situation to him, but he had not fully grasped the magnitude of Mother’s tenuous grip on reality until he rose through the ranks and had direct contact with Her.  Often were the times when She mistook living cities as being dead and dead cities as being alive; not to mention Her irrational demands and paranoid fears, most of which had no basis in fact.  Dirge knew the truth, as did all the Bael: Mother Lienna was insane.  Not that it mattered because She was still their Goddess, and they had no choice but to obey Her dictates, despite how contradictory and difficult they were.  However, they often dreamed, in the deepest depths of their hearts and souls, for matters to be otherwise.  They dreamed of freedom and a world without their Queen.

“Now.  Go forth and rend My will!”

With that She was gone, taking the whirlwind and the raging storm with Her.

“That was
most unpleasant,” muttered Li-Urge, one of the Sarpans, the commander of one of the two Dreads of the Eastern Plague.

“Is it ever
anything else?” asked Li-Brood, the other Sarpan.  “Something not unpleasant, I mean.”

“Never,” Dirge sighed.

“What did she give you, brother?” Li-Reg asked, glancing at the unsheathed knife in Dirge’s hand.

“I don’t know, but I
don’t like the feel of it,” Dirge answered.  “It tingles against the skin as if it is unhealthy.”

Brood snorted.  “Nothing from Her hand is clean.”

“Even us?” Urge asked.  “We should simply lay down our lives then if we believed so.”

Dirge silenced them with a hiss and
an angry lash of his tail.  “Mother had our birthing, but not our forging.  We were an accident She was tempted to abort.”  He shook his great black head, his bright feathers jangled as his ebony horns caught the last of the sun’s rays.  “It was Hume who had our forging.  We are his creation more so than Hers, cleansed by his charity through the love of Devesh.”

“
Yet he charged us to find a way to pass on his heritage,” Urge said.  “Generations of our brothers have failed him. 
We
have failed.”

“Since Hammer fell,” Brood said.

“But we will find a way.  His heir will be found,” Dirge promised.

“His heir will be found,” the other Baels intoned.

*****

F
ar above the world, Lienna, Mother of the Fan Lor Kum, the Mad Queen and Bringer of Sorrows, floated amongst the racing winds of the high heights.  She wondered about Her life thus far, measured in long years and millennia.  Though She was ancient now, She was but a child compared to Her parents.  She shied away from that memory.  Mother and Father were best forgotten.  It was wise never to think of them at all, else they might speak to Her as they too often did.

Instead, She recalled
Her recent conversation with the SarpanKum of her Fan Lor Kum.  She smiled.  The Bael was a fool.  So trusting and noble.  So humble and devoted to Her.  The Baels had always been Her greatest creation, but they were also Her greatest failure.  They were too much like the detestable Humans, and so in the end, She would have to end them as well.  For now, however…they had their uses.