The Mountains Rise (26 page)

The next morning she returned, bringing with her another She’Har. The newcomer was
male, and also of the Illeniel Grove.

“My name is Byovar,” he said, introducing himself. “Lyralliantha has asked me to
teach you our tongue, Tyrion.”

“That would be a help,” admitted Daniel.

“While you learn our language, I will endeavor to teach your owner some Barion,” added
Byovar. He repeated his words in their language and then spoke to Daniel again, “The
first thing you should learn is the name for our language, ‘Erollith’.”

“Erollith,” repeated Daniel dutifully.

From that point Byovar began to school Daniel in a variety of nouns, expanding his
vocabulary greatly. As he taught each word
,
he repeated its name in both Barion and Erollith, which helped Lyralliantha learn
the corresponding term in Barion.

After a couple of hours
,
Byovar called an end to the lessons, declaring that they would resume the next day,
to give them time to assimilate what they had learned.

Before he left, Daniel asked him a question, “Pardon me, but can you tell me what’s
going to happen to me?”

Byovar lifted an eyebrow, “That depends entirely upon Lyralliantha.”

“But, Syllerond, surely there will be a trial or something,” said Daniel.

The She’Har man frowned, “Trial? Do you mean a test?”

It took Daniel a moment to explain the human concept of justice and judgment.

The She’Har laughed, “No, we have nothing like that. The Gaelyn Grove has already
paid the Prathions for their intrusion into Ellentrea
,
and Lyralliantha has paid the Gaelyns for the loss of Syllerond.”

“Paid?” asked Daniel.

“In ‘shuthsi’,” said Byovar. “It isn’t quite
like the human concept of money;
we don’t use it to pay for property or food. It is more a measure of respect and
status between the groves.”

Daniel wasn’t entirely sure of the concept of ‘money’ either. In Colne they had traded
goods directly with one another. The closest thing to money they had possessed was
the record that Tom and Alice Hayes kept of what each person was owed by their store.

“What is money?” asked Daniel.

That set Byovar back for a moment, but he took up the challenge, “It was a medium
of exchange used by the ancient humans. They used tokens to represent valuable items.
Everything was assigned a value in tokens
,
and people would trade them to gain the items they needed. The idea was powerful
enough that some preferred to possess mainly a large surplus of the tokens.”

“What were the tokens like?”

“
Most were
metal discs, but they also kept records on paper and in their machines. We were
so fascinated by the concept
,
that we later developed the current system of shuthsi based upon it,” explained Byovar.

“So shuthsi is your name for money?”

“It is similar, but different. We do not trade tokens, nor do we keep a personal
tally of shuthsi. Each grove has its own tally
,
and that is increased or decreased by the actions of those
who
belong to that grove,” answered the She’Har.

“Those
who
belong—you mean the children of the grove?”

“Like
me
, or Lyralliantha, yes, we belong to the Illeniel Grove. The baratti affect this
also, for you belong to a child of the Illeniel Grove. When you killed Syllerond
,
you incurred a debt of shuthsi on our grove, but the blame for this does not fall
on you. It falls upon Lyralliantha.”

Daniel felt as if he was starting to understand, but some things still didn’t make
sense to him. “But she wasn’t even there. The blame should be mine.”

“You are baratt, an animal, property—you have no standing in our society. Your actions
can only gain or lose shuthsi for the grove that owns you,” said Byovar.

“And Lyralliantha cannot possess shuthsi either? It belongs to her grove?” asked
Daniel.

“Yes, she belongs to the Illeniel Grove. Children are property of their grove. Their
purpose is only to grow the shuthsi of their grove
. If they are successful and space permits, they someday grow to join the grove,”
answered the She’Har translator.

So they don’t have a system of justice, or true ownership, except in regard to animals.
And apparently their children are not much better than the baratti, other than their
potential to someday become true She’Har adults.

“Does this mean that I have reduced Lyralliantha’s chance of becoming an adult?”

Byovar smiled, “You are beginning to understand. When she took you in, she lost standing
within the Illeniel Grove. Our grove has refused to take baratti for pets. We do
not participate in the games. Our shuthsi has dwindled
,
and our grove has remained small.”

“Why is the grove small? I’m confused,” said Daniel.

Byovar sighed, and then spoke directly to Lyralliantha. After a brief exchange he
addressed Daniel again, “She says I should explain, but this is complicated. I do
not know if you will understand. Please listen until I am
finished
.”

Daniel nodded and Byovar proceeded.

“When the She’Har lived in the world before this one, and the world before that one,
we also used the arena, but there was no shuthsi. Merit was decided by survival,
and the children of the She’Har fought for the right to exist. Those
who
were successful became adults. Those
who
were very successful became lore-wardens and helped to guide the children before
becoming adults themselves.
”

“Your world possessed its own sentient species, the ancient humans
,
and their battle to prevent us from claiming this world taught us much respect for
them. We adopted their idea of money, creating the shuthsi system
,
and we adopted their forms for our children. In the beginning
,
we continued the old ways, letting the children fight in the arena
,
but later
,
some of the groves began using their pets as proxies, to fight for them.”

“Naturally, the baratt
i
never prevailed against true children of the She’Har, but it gradually became apparent
that by using them
,
we did not need to die to prove our worth. The groves used shuthsi to determine
where their trees could grow, and the children used the baratti to determine their
worthiness. The idea of using humans to fight in our places became very popular,
until all of the groves stopped letting their children fight.”

“Our grove did not support this change. The Illeniel Grove felt that it was wrong
to use animals to fight in our place. They were opposed to the suffering this created
in the baratti. Since they refused to take pets and use them, the Illeniels have
not earned much shuthsi since coming to this world. Our grove has remained small,
while the others have grown to encompass most of this world.”

“When Lyralliantha took you as her pet, she brought shame on herself for disregarding
our stand against the practice,” explained Byovar.
“We do not keep livestock.”

Daniel raised a hand to interrupt, “I think I prefer the term ‘slave’ to ‘livestock’.”
I can’t believe I just said that,
he thought to himself.

Byovar acknowledged his suggestion, “Very well, slave then, we do not keep slaves.”

***

Daniel’s days settled into a new routine. Byovar would return each morning and spend
a few hours instructing him and sometimes Lyralliantha, in their respective languages.
The afternoons he spent alone
,
and in the evenings Lyralliantha would return with food
,
and they would eat together.

After the first day
,
she brought a larger variety of vegetables for him, including carrots and onions.
She also found salt for him, which greatly improved the stews he made. She sampled
some of it, but she could never get over her reluctance to eat animal flesh. Daniel
later learned that the She’Har used the bodies of their children and other animals
to help fertilize the ground near the great trees, but it was considered disgusting
for one of the children to eat the flesh of another animal.

He was also gradually becoming aware that being a child of the She’Har was not much
better than being a baratt. Lyralliantha owned nothing, other than Daniel. All other
property belonged to the groves
,
and the groves decided the distribution of land and growth based on shuthsi.
Since the Illeniels refused to participate in the new system
,
they had become the equivalent of paupers.

Their lives were not particularly valuable either. The She’Har children were merely
potential ‘seeds’. Until they took root
,
they were just property. The groves could produce more children as needed, and they
were born with all the knowledge they needed. Children were a plentiful and easily
replaced asset.

He began to realize that this difference was largely behind the way the She’Har treated
the human children in their special camps. She’Har children required no rearing,
no love
,
or nourishment. They were born complete and ready, whether to compete with one another
or to take root if the need was immediate. The idea of educating and protecting children
was foreign to their race.

It was because of this that they failed to understand why their captive humans turned
out to be so inferior to their parents. Without love and nurturing
,
they were violent and mentally stunted. They understood the basics of human learning,
but their solution had been to simply lump the children together into pens so that
they could share information.

Love itself had no meaning whatsoever.

A few months after his removal from Ellentrea
,
Daniel was able to ask Lyralliantha questions more directly. Both of them had improved
their language skills
,
and they were beginning to be able to handle more complex conversations by switching
back and forth between Erollith and Barion.
When their words weren’t enough
,
they sometimes added mental images.

“Why did you give me clothes? Does this make me a warden?”

“Yes. It is a sign that you have been removed from arena combat,” she answered.
“It also means that you may move freely within the Illeniel Grove.”

Having spent more than three months living on a single platform
,
Daniel felt rather stupid for never having asked before.
After living in that tiny room for years
,
it never occurred to me that she would let me move about on my own.

“I am allowed to travel?” he asked.

Lyralliantha nodded, “So long as you remain within the borders of our grove. If you
wish
,
I will show you tomorrow. If you are to go beyond that border
,
you must have my permission first.”

“Why do you no longer wish for me to fight in the arena?” asked Daniel. “Is it because
of the Illeniel belief about baratti and suffering?”

“Yes,” she responded. “Thillmarius told me that it was in your nature. He has been
caring for the Prathion baratti for a long time. I trusted his judgment
,
until I saw you with that woman.”

Amarah,
corrected Daniel silently. “How did that change your mind?”

“He had told me that humans were naturally violent. That it would be a cruelty to
keep you from the arena. When I saw you holding the dead woman, I reme
mbered the vision you showed me
of your family. I knew then that Thillmarius was wrong
,
and that you were suffering. I still do not understand your social interactions,
but I could see the pain in you. Her death caused it, and you fought Syllerond because
of it.”

Daniel hesitated before his next question, “Thillmarius said you wanted to put an
end to me.”

“I thought it the best way to end your suffering,” she replied honestly. “Thillmarius
convinced me to wait, but if you disagree
,
I will allow your death.”

Remembering the Prathion She’Har’s threat
,
Daniel kept silent for a moment. “I think I prefer to live now, but at the time
I would have welcomed death.”

“What has changed your mind?” she asked, staring at him with pale eyes. Her face
held little expression, as usual, but sometimes he could see hints of emotion in her
aura or faint changes in the muscles around her eyes.

“Life here is not so bad. Humans live to learn and grow. Ellentrea was bad, but
now I see that perhaps the future is not too dark to accept,” he answered.