Treespeaker (30 page)

Jakan scanned the room again. He grew colder. “Roduph, where’s Tashi?”

Roduph shut his eyes for a moment, flinching at the sob that rose from Merida. He blinked back tears of his own. “She’s in there.” He pointed at the door of the sleeping quarters. “Hekja’s with her.”

Jakan swallowed back the nausea that rose in his throat. “What…? May I see her?”

Roduph sighed and nodded. Signalling for Varyd to come with him, Jakan opened the door. Inside, the room was dimly lit with a lamp sputtering in the corner. Jakan saw Hekja first. She leaned over the bed, her head down, her shaking hands holding her healing stone over a small lump under the bedclothes. Tashi! Jakan strode across the room and fell to his knees at the bedside.

Tashi looked tiny. Her face, once so full of life, was white and her lips were almost colourless. Beads of perspiration glistened on her forhead. Jakan stared at the bedclothes praying that they would rise with her breath. They did, but so slightly he thought he might be imagining it.

“What happened, Hekja?” His voice broke.

Hekja’s eyes glistened. She looked tired and old beyond her years. Her gnarled hand reached across and took his. “I can’t do anything. I’ve tried and tried. I just can’t do it.”

Jakan could feel the tremor of her hand on his. “But what happened?”

Hekja sighed and wiped her eyes with the back of the hand that held the healing stone. “After you’d gone, Beldror sent a rat to finish what the hawk was meant to do. I knew about it. I’d been up to your village.” Jakan stared at her, but said nothing. He put his other hand on hers and squeezed it, urging her on. “I told Roduph to set a trap. He did and the rat went into it.”

Jakan gazed at Tashi’s face. “Go on.”

“Unfortunately, Tashi was the first to find it. The rat wasn’t dead. Being Tashi, not able to watch an animal in pain, she freed it. It attacked her and bit her several times. This magic was designed to kill.”

Jakan frowned at Hekja. “But why? If it was meant to attack me, why attack her? I thought you were going to get rid of everything…” He stopped. Hekja was under enough strain without accusations.

Hekja bit her lip. “We cleaned this place of every trace of you we could find. We didn’t count on Tashi having slipped the sling you made her into her pocket. The rat must have recognized the smell of it it as yours and thought she was its target. Roduph came in shortly afterwards and killed it, but it was too late.”

Jakan pulled his hand from Hekja’s and covered his face. “There has to be something you can do,” he said through his hands. Suddenly he turned to Varyd, who had stayed by the door. “You could do something.”

It could have been a question or a statement, but Varyd shook his head anyway. “Not if the rat is dead. I need both ends of the spell.”

Hekja remained silent. Jakan glanced at her and was surprised to see her staring at him, a look of excitement in her eyes. “I can do nothing,” she said, “but you could if…” Her face fell. “You haven’t regained your Treespeaking skills, have you? You have extra power, but can’t use it.”

Jakan glanced at Varyd. His friend gave a slow shake of his head. “No, Jakan, we’re still too far away.”

Jakan pushed himself to his feet and faced Varyd. “But the need is there! And the forest is only miles away.”

“Yes, but…”

Jakan swung around to look at the tiny figure in the bed, then back again to face Varyd, his heart beating fast. “I have to try.”

Varyd’s face twitched as he tried to find the right words. “Jakan, if I unravel the spell here, there’s a chance it will only last a short time. Then it will recoil and you’ll never be Treespeaker again.”

Jakan’s mind reeled. His breath came in unsteady bursts. “How long would it last?”

“A day or two if you’re lucky, no more.”

Jakan turned to Hekja. She wiped Tashi’s head with a cloth, glancing up when she felt his eyes on her, but she offered no advice.
Hekja, what do I do? If I leave my people without a Treespeaker…

Hekja shook her head and went back to wiping Tashi’s brow. “It must be your decision.”

In frustration, Jakan ran his hands through his hair. He took some long slow breaths to calm himself and walked back to look down on Tashi. The red woollen blanket covering her hardly moved. In his mind he remembered her, the sling in her hand, staring in horror at the dead hawk.

“Do it, Varyd.”

Varyd looked pale as he came toward him. “Jakan, I don’t think…”

“Do it. Please!”

With his face set in a worried expression, Varyd stepped forward. He lifted his hands and placed his fingers on Jakan’s temples.

“Relax.”

Varyd’s voice was cold with disapproval. He shut his eyes and increased the pressure of his fingers slightly. A warm breeze seemed to blow through Jakan’s mind, winding in slow movements round and through his thoughts until, at last, it vanished. His eyes filled with tears as a whispering voice flowed into his soul, lifting him out of the silence he had endured so long. It was like being wrapped in a warm fur after a prolonged time in the cold.

It took Jakan a few moments to realise that Varyd had stopped and stepped away. When he did, he shook himself a little, afraid to believe his communion with Arrakesh had been restored. He nodded at Varyd. No words could express his thanks at the moment and Tashi needed help.

He turned and rushed to the bedside, dropping straight down onto his knees. Before he could think to reach for the healing stone out of his pouch, Hekja had pressed her own into his hand. She stood up and went to stand beside Varyd.

Jakan took a deep breath and placed both his hands, the lower one holding the stone, over Tashi’s heart. With a quick prayer, he stepped off into her pain.

Darkness enveloped him. Coldness held him so tight he thought he could not move. Arrakesh urged him on, encouraging, cajoling. Out of the blackness a rat appeared, huge, red eyed and squealing. It bared its yellow teeth at him, but he stood firm, refusing to move. It reared in attack, then disappeared into a million shining stars, fading away into the dark.

Jakan shivered. The cold air cut at him. He tried to move forward, but something blocked his way. He could see nothing yet he could not proceed. A wall, icy and impenetrable, obstructed his path. How had Tashi lasted this long? This place offered no hope, no chance of recovery, yet she held on. Even an adult would have had difficulty, let alone one so small.

Despite the wall, Arrakesh still urged him on. Somehow, he had to get through. The answer came, warm liquid in his mind.
Use the strength of the Keshfahzan.
Of course. This was as far as Hekja had been able to come. To save Tashi, he must force his way beyond.

Jakan took a deep breath and concentrated his mind on the stone. With a huge effort, he summoned all his strength and drove his mind against the wall. It shuddered a little, but did not give way. Jakan drew back, taking time to recoup his energy. Once again he forced himself forward, willing the barrier to break. It did, with the sound of cracking ice. Jakan’s body warmed and the blackness became daylight.

With a surge of relief and thudding heart, Jakan opened his eyes and looked down at Tashi’s face. A tinge of red coloured her cheeks and her lips were pink. Beneath the blanket her chest rose and fell in regular rhythm. Jakan buried his head in the bedcover, taking time to regain his composure. He was aware of Hekja opening the door, excited voices and rushing feet. When he looked up, Roduph, Merida, Brod and Evyn stood at the end of the bed, looks of elated disbelief frozen on their faces.

***

“You must stay and take a meal with us.” Merida, holding her sleeping daughter’s hand, smiled at Jakan with unmistakable gratitude.

Jakan shook his head. The relief of healing Tashi had given way to a sense of foreboding. Something was going to happen soon in the forest. He needed to get home, and quickly.

He shrugged. “I’m sorry, we can’t stay. But I hope when Tashi is better and our troubles are over, you will visit us in the forest?”

Roduph’s eyebrows rose. “Is it allowed?”

“I’m sure Arrakesh will let you in and Hekja can show you the way.”

Hekja gave a slow nod. “There’s something you should know before you get home.” Jakan went cold, but Hekja’s face was impassive. “Your son…”

“Dovan! What’s wrong?” Jakan stepped backwards, leaning on the door for support.

Hekja came forward and took hold of his arms. “He’s fine, but he’s not the boy you left. I think you will be proud of him.” Her eyes twinkled as she waited for the implications of what she said to sink in.

Warmth flowed through Jakan’s veins. Could it be so? The voice he heard when Beldror attacked him, had it been Dovan? Jakan grabbed Hekja’s arms, an uncertain smile twitching on his lips. “Treespeaker?”

Hekja nodded.

He put his hand over his mouth to stop the twitching and blinked back the tears. His son, following in his footsteps as he had always hoped. Then his joy died. “Beldror. Does he know?” A glow of anger began to burn as he thought of the possibility of what Beldror might do if he knew.

To Jakan’s relief, Hekja shook her head. “Megda knows, and Putak of the Second Tribe. When I left, no one else knew.”

“But why didn’t you tell me? When I…” Jakan stopped and turned to look over Hekja’s shoulder at Tashi. “If I’d known about Dovan…”

Hekja squeezed his arms. “You had to make the decision for the right reasons, Jakan. I don’t know what’s happened in the forest since I left.”

The feeling of dread resurfaced in Jakan’s mind, making him nauseous. He could feel Arrakesh urging him to leave. Releasing Hekja’s arms he glanced at Varyd. “We need to go.”

Jakan moved to the bed and placed a kiss on the sleeping child’s cool forehead. He squeezed Merida’s hand. “She’ll be fine. She just needs to rest now. Tell her I look forward to seeing her.” Without waiting for a response he walked over to Roduph and shook his hand and nodded a farewell to Brod and Evyn.

Hekja still stood by the door. “May Arrakesh give you strength,” she whispered as Jakan hugged her. He nodded without speaking and strode through the door. He needed the strength of Arrakesh, for he felt no more confident about beating Beldror than he had before he set off. Varyd, now following him out of the door, had been his one hope, but it seemed his purpose remained limited.

***

“We will leave you here, Jakan.” Kel landed with a slight bump at the top of the hill at the forest’s edge. He folded his wings and squatted a little to let Jakan climb down. Cree did the same for Varyd a short distance away.

“Here? But I’d thought you could help us against Beldror.” Jakan did not move, watching Varyd slide from Cree’s back. Would every plan he made fade into hopelessness like this?

Kel ruffled his feathers a little, turning his head to look at Jakan. “It would certainly make sense, but it is not what Arrakesh wills.”

“Why not?” Jakan jumped from Kel’s back and twisted to face him in a movement that would have made his old body ache a few days ago. Impatience burned his cheeks. “Why must Arrakesh make everything so complicated?”

Kel lowered his head and gave Jakan an admonishing look. “Is it Arrakesh that makes it complicated, or simply you who doesn’t understand? We are creatures of your mythology. It would not do to suddenly become real.”

“But I…”

“Yes, you know us, but have you not wondered how so many Arrakeshi have travelled Carlika without coming back with tales of the creatures of Dralgo?”

Jakan frowned. Until now, he had not thought of it. “How?”

“If an Arrakeshi is in need of our help, we will always help them, but their memories of us fade quickly.”