The Brightest Shadow, page 40
She wasn't the only one following, as a powerful stranger in the center of the tribe would always draw attention. Before Tani could follow too far, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was one of the older women in the tribe, the one who was assisting her with the knives.
"Do not concern yourself with it. Master Olorafor desires to speak with him."
"I see." Tani looked back at her to be polite, but the stranger still drew her attention. "Is he a friend of the Nelee?"
"That is none of your concern, child. You have not lived with us long enough to demand such answers." The other woman's eyes flashed angrily. Before now, Tani and her instructor had been at least polite with one another, but it seemed she had gone too far. She lowered her head in humble apology.
"Forgive me for my impertinence. Master Olorafor sent me to you to practice throwing, so should we begin?"
They started their lesson, the other woman being less helpful than before. Had Tani truly caused offense, or somehow brought up a difficult issue? She tried to set the matter aside and focus on what she meant to learn.
She stood at a line on one side of the clearing, throwing knives at a target on the opposite side. An actual target, not merely a piece of wood she had set up. What made this training worthwhile enough to spend some of her money on was the tree in the center. Its bark was scarred with the knives of those who had thrown before her and failed.
It was a small comfort, when Tani tried to throw and her knife simply shot out at the wrong angle. In theory with the proper concentration, she should have been able to make her knives arc around the side of the tree and strike the target she couldn't see. In theory.
When she threw her knives with a spin, she could manage a slight curve, though she thought that had more to do with the throw than with the sein in her arm. But she had mostly practiced straight throws amplified by sein, and spinning throws like that were incompatible with her attempts to throw multiple knives at once. So she kept throwing and failing, her instructor offering sharp advice on what she was doing wrong.
Clearly, she couldn't focus today. Possibly because of the stranger, who she resolutely set out of mind. Instead, Tani held her next knife in between both hands, closed her eyes, and tried to focus on her technique. Let mint and spices fill her, memories of home and this tribe. Gather them all together in the knife so that it would fly true...
And yet, that wasn't what happened. Tani found herself thinking not about home, but about the people she had left behind. Slaten practicing with her. Eraes rolling her eyes. Laeri hugging her after healing a minor injury. Celivia with her hair falling over her face, her smile just barely visible. Even Melal and his boasting. Acting on instinct, Tani brought her hands to her lips and breathed all her memories into the knife.
Then she threw without thinking about the technique even slightly. Her knife glittered as it flashed out... and disappeared behind the tree. Tani was so astonished it took her a moment to go after it, move around the tree and see that she had struck the target. Nowhere near the center, but she had definitely curved the knife around the tree.
Her instructor gave her a grudging nod and Tani happily went to retrieve her knife. Maybe she had unknowingly been falling into old patterns, chasing the form of sein practice instead of the practice itself. She had changed as a person, after all, so her form needed to change as well.
Tani tugged the knife out of the target, her smile fading. She wasn't sure how to feel about how she'd succeeded. There was no shame in drawing strength from her friends, it simply left her with strange feelings she didn't entirely know how to balance.
"Not bad." Her instructor appeared beside her, examining the hole her knife left. "Your basic skills are solid, you're just having a difficult time with the sein. Most likely because you've been dabbling with other methods of training. Keep practicing until this isn't an exception."
Heading back, Tani did exactly that. She wanted to keep going until a full set of six knives all curved, but it soon became obvious that was beyond her. The best she could manage was four out of six, and some of those were lazy throws that curved but didn't hit the target. Still, it was the first breakthrough she'd had in several days, so she let herself be satisfied with that.
When she finished their session, her instructor left without saying anything else, leaving her alone again. Her fingers trembled and her sein swirled oddly in her arms, the smell of burnt mint in her nostrils. There was no point practicing any more physical skills that day, so perhaps it was best to go back to her previous plan.
Inside the house, she found that life had gone back to normal. Master Olorafor was no longer meeting with the stranger, so she approached him again. He had his eyes closed, almost as if he was sleeping, but when she approached he looked at her sharply.
"Welcome again, child. What do you desire?"
"I would like to see another of the texts. I believe I must draw lessons I have learned from outside the tribe into the path I have chosen."
"A wise choice. You have the payment?" Tani retrieved her last few Silver Eagles from her pack and offered them to him with both hands. Master Olorafor scooped them up without touching her hand, gnarled fingers still deft, and then rose. "Follow me, child. We will keep this text within the chamber and you may read it there to your heart's content."
She followed him into the small room, lit with soft light that filtered through the window overhead. The window was covered in a hide so thin it was almost transparent, casting the entire room in a pleasant glow. In the center of it lay the case of texts, ceremonially locked by wooden chains. Not that anyone would dare to open it, given how it sat here protected by most of the tribe.
Master Olorafor opened the wooden case and moved through the hides swiftly before finding the text she wanted. He turned and handed it to her reverentially. She accepted it with both hands and retreated to a corner to sit down and read the sein techniques in depth.
The text spoke of power and efficiency, which would be useful. Tani still found herself somewhat disappointed. She had hoped it would address deeper matters, as she remembered from some of the advanced Yevee texts. They spoke of strengthening one's sein not for the sake of power, but to become oneself more truly.
Tani closed her eyes and brought together everything she had learned. She was Tani of the Nelee. The fact that she had learned other skills did not change that, did not fragment her identity. She was Tani of the Nelee. Her self was vast enough to encompass many things and flow without a ripple.
She was Tani of the Nelee. She hoped she would remember that, if she faced a Hero again.
"You young warriors are a delight to watch." Master Olorafor spoke softly, his fingers touching the hides with care. "Everything is so new to you. All that is contained within is so familiar to me, at times I feel that I do not see it. As much as the old can teach the young, youth has lessons to teach us as well."
Not sure how to respond to that, Tani remained silent. She reread the parts of the technique she couldn't remember perfectly, but it seemed straightforward. The issue was not understanding it. Instead her problem was finding a way to live out that simplicity.
When she rose to return the hide, she found Master Olorafor leafing through the hides with an unreadable expression. His fond smile from a moment ago was gone, and in his eyes she saw a hint of the warrior he must have been in his prime. She paused with the hide still in her hands, wondering what she sh-
"Treachery!" Master Olorafor's voice boomed so loudly that she jumped. For a moment she feared that he meant her, but he simply snatched the hide from her hands and stormed out of the room. She followed hesitantly as others gathered around the door curiously. "Where is our guest?"
"Gone, Master." One of the younger warriors bowed, prompting a hiss from Master Olorafor.
"Summon everyone trained in tracking and prepare to hunt him down. That man is a thief of the worst order."
Tani's eyes widened as she started to understand. She drew back while everyone began to move about in preparation, nowhere to go but into the main chamber. Master Olorafor came in after her, his gaze furious. Normally she would step out of his way, but she had little space to move and just bowed to him.
"He tried to pay to examine our texts, but I refused because he was not of the Nelee." Master Olorafor set the case in place and restored the wooden chains, fingers shaking in anger. "He argued long and loudly with the stubbornness of youth, and I thought that was the end of it. But he returned to steal from our deepest secrets."
"How, Master Olorafor?"
"Through the window - do you not see the disruption?"
Looking up, Tani didn't notice anything amiss in the delicate hide, at least at first. Slowly she realized that there were a few places where it had torn along the edges, and one of the clasps that held it in place was not perfectly straight. Those would not have raised any concern normally, but now she could see they were hints of how someone had removed it in order to slip inside.
The act was astonishing. Not the theft through the window, which was like something a foolish child might attempt. But to walk into a tribe in the middle of the day and steal their most sacred texts... she remembered the man's eyes, and how the Yevee texts had gone missing as well. She was no longer surprised.
"What was his name, Master Olorafor?"
"He called himself Subenor of the Telnaa, though that may have been a false identity. This slight against us cannot be allowed to stand."
By the time they left the chamber, a group of warriors had gathered. Not as many as Tani would have hoped, but this was not a large Nelee tribe. According to their reports, Subenor's trail split in several directions after it left the camp. It took them only a little discussion to confirm that they would pursue him until he could be hunted down and brought to justice.
Tani followed after them as they left the village and no one stopped her. Perhaps this was her place. She might not be part of this family, but she was still Nelee. As they moved, Tani felt anger growing within her. If he had also been responsible for the theft of the Yevee texts, then this Subenor had offended her twice over.
Running her hardest, Tani managed to keep up with the main group, though not the warriors who sprinted ahead. It took sadly little time for them to leave the forest and return to the plains of the Chorhan Expanse. The grasses were greener here and broken by more trees and shrubs, but it still reminded her of the endless gold she'd spent so much time crossing. Unfortunately, the land had enough hills that they couldn't simply locate Subenor via sight.
When they caught up to the scouting group, they found them waiting at a location that looked much the same as the others to her. One of the masters rose to her feet and addressed the others. "He knew we would be tracking him and split his path into five here. Each time he backtracked to the original position, but he also backtracked on his true path."
That set off a brief but intense argument about which was the true path. Tani could barely find the five paths, as Subenor was apparently too skilled to leave any obvious traces. All she could do was wait, catch her breath, and try to circulate her sein to recover. After so much training, she wasn't at her best.
In the end, the sides arguing over the most likely paths split to take the ones they preferred. That left two paths that were less likely and one that was generally agreed upon as a fake. They still sent a group of warriors down each one, with wooden whistles that would sound to alert the others in case they had chosen incorrectly.
No one gave her any orders, as the other Nelee split up into groups familiar to them. Tani hesitated for a moment, but only a moment. Then she went after the group of five that went down the least likely path.
As she ran after them, Tani wasn't entirely sure why she'd made the decision. It would be logical if she took it as the safest path, but she didn't think that was the real reason. Part of her believed that if this one seemed unlikely, it must be the correct one. After all, if Subenor was confident enough to steal a text like this, his skills must be impressive. Yet if they were that impressive, wouldn't he anticipate what she might think and use one of the other paths?
Those thoughts would just lead her in a circle. Such thinking was what her master criticized as useless speculation. There would always be a rationale for any possible position. Unless one had intimate knowledge of the opponent's mind, such arguments were little more than guesswork.
One of their group gave a cry, clutching the spear that had gone straight through her chest.
No, not just through her chest, through the whistle. It was a Rhen throwing spear with black wrapping, so it could only be from one person. Tani drew her knives, catching up with the others as they turned to look at the source.
Subenor stood at a distance, several spears stuck in the ground beside him and one in hand, ready to throw. His body was completely motionless, coiled like a predator. Though the throw must have been powerful to strike a trained warrior so forcefully, she didn't see brute force there, only control. There was nothing in his dark eyes but focus.
The others acted before she could react, one drawing a bow and the other three rushing forward. Subenor hurled one of his spears and had it deflected, but he'd already picked up the next and thrown it with surprising speed, cutting through the side of the warrior who had deflected the first. The man staggered but didn't fall, then the three of them converged toward Subenor.
At which point the ground fell out from underneath them. The injured warrior dropped into the pit and let out a cry, while one dodged back and the last leapt up.
While she hung in midair, Subenor hurled his last throwing spear directly at her chest. Tossing aside her weapon, the warrior managed to catch the spear with both hands, yet the force of it knocked her backward and sent her skidding over the ground. The last of the Nelee warriors leapt over the pit, lashing out with a sword.
Subenor picked up the last spear, long and robust instead of built for throwing, and easily deflected the attacks. The younger warrior didn't even get close. Tani had drawn her throwing knives but now hesitated to release them. She had grown used to warriors being able to close the distance between them, yet Subenor used the superior range of his spear so expertly it might as well have been a wall of flashing steel. The Nelee swordsman couldn't get anywhere close, then fell with three quick jabs to his legs and side.
Hearing a bow loose, Tani began to throw before she even saw the arrow. She hurled her first two knives as fast as she could, one at the head and one at the stomach. The archer was quickly nocking arrows as well, yet Subenor calmly deflected all the projectiles with sweeping movements of his spear.
Recognizing that they had little chance of piercing his defenses, Tani stopped and focused fully on one of her remaining knives. The battlefield was the worst place for this, yet she felt certain that throwing her knives normally was nearly useless. There was still one warrior, now jumping over the pit to meet him, and the archer still had plenty of arrows.
Tani watched in desperation as their attack did little more than keep Subenor pinned down. He fought without any particular style, yet his every movement was reminiscent of Rhen techniques she had seen before. No, she couldn't let herself be distracted by that.
There was no time for polish. Tani drew in a breath and let her sein flow with all of her anger and confusion and loneliness. Then she brought her knife to her mouth and breathed it all out into the blade. The nearest fighter had just been beaten to the ground with a strike from the back end of the spear, so she had to act now.
She hurled her knife, saw the spear spin to intercept it, reaching the correct position before her knife arrived. Though she couldn't move it from a distance, Tani found herself throwing all her will out toward the blade as her sein finally surged.
Her knife curved upward, rising above the spear shaft and heading straight for Subenor's head. She saw his eyes widen in surprise... but his free hand snapped up, catching her knife just before it could reach his face.
Though Tani drew her sickle knife, she didn't see much hope of winning. As if to mock her, Subenor flicked her knife into the pit between them.
Then without warning he lunged to the side, his spear lashing out. Tani flinched even though it wasn't aimed at her and only saw the archer go down out of the corner of her eyes. She knew the spear was going to sweep back toward her, anticipating it by ducking, and still felt it whistle just above her head.
Somehow there was a spear point poking into her neck.
Tani pulled back, but the spear point moved with her, always just at the edge of drawing blood. She glared at Subenor as he lifted the spear until she was on the tips of her toes, trying to pull away from the spear point that threatened her. A cruel smile appeared on his face and he knew he could kill her at any time, yet he dragged out the moment.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Why?" Subenor pulled the spear back just slightly, letting her gasp a deep breath. "That is a stupid question. If you are such a stupid child, maybe I should kill you now. Answer your own question, or I will."
"You..." Tani swallowed and backed away a little more, this time allowed to do so. "You want to sabotage relations between Yevee and mansthein."
To her surprise, Subenor laughed at that. He shook his head as if greatly amused, though his arm and the spear didn't budge even slightly. "Were you there when I stole the texts from the Yevee? No, no, that was just for my amusement. But I suppose that is not so stupid of an answer after all. Maybe I will let you live."
"Then why?"
"Power, child. Power is the only reason these texts exist, as much as some try to deny it. Power is our purpose in everything. Human or mansthein, our goal is always power. Anyone who doesn't understand that is a child."
"The masters are all older than you, and none of them agree."
Subenor sneered. "The masters are children who gained gray hair and wrinkles without ever growing up. Now that war is coming to our home, they will see just how childish their ways are. No, the time has passed for old children to hide away powerful techniques as forbidden. I am only taking what is mine by right."
