The Brightest Shadow, page 52
These days, he mostly just sat against the side of his shack and waited for the young teeth to ask his advice. Did alright most of the time, these hills were rough territory. But if they built that new road straight through the Anseln Mountains like he heard tell... well, that would probably mean the end for this little huddle of shacks. Him, too. Though Bakkago was too old to care about whether the Laenans were getting uppity or not, that new road left him a bit sore.
Pushing himself off the ground, he ambled across the mud road. Old Kelinna sat in her chair, rocking back and forth and sucking on her gums. No teeth at all left, he wasn't sure how she made it through. Seemed to have young folks taking care of her, but they couldn't be her children.
Rumor had it she'd been the mistress of some senator up in the city. Either he still took care of her out of some old promise, or he'd just forgotten he was paying for her care. Those really rich types had more money than they knew what to do with. Either way, she didn't answer any questions, just kept rocking and staring out over the hills.
Bakkago walked up nearby and leaned against the wall of the shack. Not to look casual, but because his back hurt like hell. "Storm's comin'."
Kelinna sucked on her gums in a way that might have been acknowledgment. Hard to tell sometimes.
"You reckon they'll get the crops in?"
She shook her head side to side. That was a better response than he usually got, so Bakkago decided he was making progress. Wasn't sure what he was trying to do, but at least he'd have somebody to talk to if all the young teeth left. Just the two of them, sitting there until they were done... well, there were worse ways to go.
Before he could think to say anything else, Ukanndo came trotting down the road. Had his face all done-up in red paint, thought it made him look ferocious. Bakkago had never been much for fighting, but he had seen some real ferocious teeth in his day. They didn't need any fancy paint.
"Yo, old man!" Ukanndo didn't come closer, eyeing Kelinna with a strange look. Didn't know what to think of her, most like. Young teeth out here didn't see a lot of women. Only knew the ones in the pits way beneath them and the ones on the city streets high above. Wasn't much place for an old woman like Kelinna. Not much place for somebody like Bakkago, either, but Ukanndo was better than some. "Hurry up, I need ta talk to ya!"
"No rushin' now, lad." Bakkago forced his old bones to move again and walked out to the road. Ukanndo was shifting his weight back and forth, clearly all bothered about something.
"I shoulda listened to you. Everythin' they said about new jobs, new work... nothing but a pack o' lies! They told me we'd get the shipments soon, ta stay ready to work with them. But they kept saying the same thing every day, then one day they weren't there no more."
Bakkago shook his head and sighed. He'd told Ukanndo that nothing would come of it, but the young tooth hadn't listened. But now wasn't the time to rub it in, young boys had real fragile pride. "If it had come through, maybe you coulda gotten a leg up. But you can't trust people from the city. They ain't on your side, not really."
"But why would they do this?" Ukanndo stared at him with real bitterness in his eyes. "Just some game to make funna us?"
"I reckon not. No, maybe they just talked up this new operation, pretended they had a new mine to look good. They got their pride, same as us. But for them, it's all about the appearance. They gotta keep the respect of the other highborn Seinan, otherwise they'll lose their seats. Or maybe they thought they had somethin', but it turned out to be nothin'." Could have been some Seinan young tooth making a stupid mistake too, but Bakkago kept that to himself.
"Shit. Maybe I should just enlist. I been training."
"You'd do well, young tooth, I'm sure ya would." He'd be chewed up and spit out by the war machine. Bakkago had seen enough warriors go past him that he knew the boy didn't have the talent or the determination. "But you just think about how much you'd be givin' up. Once they've got ya, they've got ya for years. You want to fight all your life, never do anything else? All that money don't do you no good if you're off in some Lord-forsaken human country."
That got through to Ukanndo, but he wouldn't give it up just yet. Instead he looked away, muttering. "They say they're letting the best new soldiers use the breeding pits. For free. Some of the humans are killing us, so we need new warriors."
"Aye, so they say."
Bakkago had so much he wanted to tell the young tooth, but it stuck in his mouth like mud. He'd thought like that once, just thought of females as a place to stick it. But when he got older, he started to understand why they usually kept the women separate, didn't let the fathers think about what they'd spawned.
Things hadn't gone according to plan and he'd been there. Saw all those little babies come out of their sacs. A lot of the others his age left, joined the army or tried their luck in the city, but he'd stayed.
He'd seen those little babies grow up into new mansthein. Two of them had been girls, so full of smiles and always reaching up to hug him. Ever since then, he'd never been able to think about the pits again without a sick feeling in the bottom of his stomach.
Not that he could do a damn thing about it. Hadn't done too much with his life. But at least he could keep young Ukanndo from throwing his life away.
"I reckon you probably talked to a nice Feinan fellow, huh? Had some decent armor and some good scars? Talked about how good life in the army would be?"
Ukanndo gave him a strange look. "That... yeah, it was like that. Why?" Good. He was real young, but he had a bit of a head on his shoulders.
"It was no accident that they sent somebody like that. What they don't tell ya is that his job is to go around and recruit young teeth just like you." Bakkago shook his head. "But they ain't like you, not really. He's been given everything he wants, to do that job. They don't treat the average soldier like that, believe me."
"Then you think I shouldn't go?"
"I ain't gonna tell you what to do, young tooth. But ya got other options, don't ya?"
"Well..." Ukanndo folded his arms and scowled into the distance. "I heard they're buildin' a new road through the mountains. Going to make it easy to cross all Orphos, even for normal folk. But it's all under that new Zeitai, and I don't like workin' with Laenans."
Bakkago's heart flopped and he forced himself on. "Now think this through. Job like that will pay well. And you'll get damn strong lifting all those rocks and breaking mountains and whatnot. You do this now, you can get good pay. If you ever change yer mind about the army, you'll be stronger for it. You hear?"
"Yeah, that's a good point. Yer right." Ukanndo grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. "You always know the right thing to say, old man. You need anything these days? I could drop by some food on my way back."
"Nah, old Bakkago is doing fine on his own. Don't forget to stop by the shrine on yer way out, you understand?"
"Okay, old man. I will." But the way he said it, Bakkago knew the young tooth would run straight off.
Young teeth didn't have respect these days. When it came to him, Bakkago could let it go. He was an old man who'd made nothing of himself. But the young teeth didn't ever go to the shrines. They said they respected strength but they didn't care unless it was right in front of them.
While Ukanndo trotted off, Bakkago made his way to the shrine. Nothing fancy, just one left over from when these huddled shacks had thought they might become a village. It was usually quiet. He'd spend more time there if his knee wasn't acting up so much lately. But today, he felt like he had to go.
It was just a stone ring off the side of the road, beside the big tree. Bakkago wheezed as he got down to his knees, let his eyes fall onto the marble carving of the Dark Lord. The eyes had been rubies a long time ago, but they'd been stolen. No respect at all.
Bakkago stayed there in silence for a spell. He didn't ask for anything, didn't believe like that. The strong ate and the weak died, that was the way of things. Why would the Dark Lord or the Zeitai bother to interrupt the natural order? But it did him some good to stare at that face and imagine that somebody out there was in control. Things might not go so well for him, but they'd turn out alright in the end.
He sent his thoughts toward Ukanndo and hoped the boy turned out well. Everything about getting strong for the army had been a lie. Once the boy got into a job, experienced some more things, made some mistakes... well, hopefully he'd learn a little bit and make his own decisions. He'd better, because Bakkago probably couldn't help him for much longer.
Getting back to his feet was a struggle. Bakkago stared down at the statues of the Zeitai as he did so. Used to be he always knew the statues there, but now there were new ones. Didn't feel right to him, even if it had been done all formal like. Shaking his head, he finally heaved to his feet and limped back to his shack.
On the way he glanced toward Ith Silvaros in the distance again. It was still bright over there, storm clouds hadn't come in. But it was getting dark here. Even if he couldn't smell the rain, his teeth definitely reminded him.
When he got back to the shacks, Kelinna might have nodded to him. He nodded back and sat down in the dirt. Just being able to lean and rest his back felt better than anything he'd ever imagined as a young tooth. But the comfort didn't last long before other pains reminded him that they existed, worst of all his remaining teeth.
So they were building that new road after all. Building through the mountains seemed rough to him, but he reckoned they'd do it. That new Zeitai seemed real keen on getting things done, no matter what it took. So they'd have another road away from the city and there'd be no reason for anyone to pass through this way.
Bakkago sat back and rubbed his teeth. Kelinna rocked and sucked on her gums. Storm was coming in.
Part 4
Bitter Loyalty
Chapter 39
-
"Uncle, please listen to me. For the first time in my life, I have a true purpose - I know what I must do. The Legend is not a mere story, it is the reason we draw breath. All we must do is unlock its secrets and trust in its path, then everything will be made clear."
- excerpt from a letter written by Lady Karerela of East Corah
-
The corpses had been cleaned up, but their stain remained over the broken earth. Kolanin could still see the mansthein and human bodies lying together in his mind's eye as he walked through what remained. Though most of the buildings remained intact, the systems that had given them meaning had been torn down. Ith Ire would not recover from this.
Perhaps most importantly, Kolanin suspected that its reason for existing had fled. Though he had done his best to contain the phenomenon, he had been glad when the Hero escaped. Had he remained, the battle would have been far bloodier. Now the surviving humans could be sent home. The surviving mansthein...
He stopped in front of the primary mine entrance, staring into its unlit depths. Part of him wanted to go back to Senator Ildariel and demand to know if he had ever been sincere, but there had been no word and he had no way of returning to Orphos. Besides, he doubted he would be given satisfying answers.
Better to focus on what they could do next. Before Kolanin could consider this topic for long, Hakkiv emerged from one of the burned out buildings and approached.
"When do we leave, Seinan?"
"We need Seinan Aryabaus to retrieve his soldiers first." Kolanin examined the Catai carefully and saw the man was now wearing a new uniform untouched by the conflict. "Most likely he'll pull them back, leaving us shorthanded for our journey out. How many Catai do we have left?"
"Myself, Rhuvab, Loravasik... the new one from Aryabaus, can't remember his name. And you, of course, though I don't think that was what you were asking."
"I see. The soldiers and lesser warriors took heavy casualties, so we'll have to rely on our Catai to prevent potential attacks."
Hakkiv frowned and folded his arms over his chest. "Prevent attacks from bandits, perhaps. But shouldn't we be more concerned about the humans rising up on the way? We've been keeping them captive for over half a year, after all."
"If some flee, we can tolerate that. If they try to fight... I hope they won't, as most of their strongest are gone." Kolanin turned to look at Hakkiv and saw the tension in his eyes. "Are you truly so concerned?"
"They feel no shame in spitting at me when my back is turned. And when I stand further from them and expand my senses, I have overheard many troubling conversations. The Hero may be gone, but they still speak of him. And now I hear many speaking of the Legend alone, separate from the Hero. A fire has been lit that cannot easily be put out."
"It's possible that the one they call the Hero is still among them."
"No." Hakkiv's answer came surprisingly bluntly. "No, I am nearly certain that it was that boy, Melal. I saw him only from across the battlefield, but I believe he is the Hero now. Or was the Hero all along. However this Legend works..."
Kolanin looked toward the Catai with alarm, seeing a distance in his eyes that hadn't been there before. "Catainan Hakkiv... what do you mean when you say he might have been the Hero all along?"
"I don't know. This is all madness. Worse than the previous ones. I need time..." Hakkiv turned inward and moved away, so Kolanin left him to his thoughts.
Though Kolanin wanted to inquire further, he acknowledged that he wasn't doing much good wandering the ruins of Ith Ire. He had told himself it was to survey their efforts in the aftermath, but in truth it was to say goodbye. Admitting that made it feel pointless to keep walking. He was glad when Iralin approached him with several scrolls in hand.
"We're getting messages, Kolanin."
"More than usual?"
"Not that - I've been throwing out the useless and outdated ones." Iralin extended a scroll toward him. "But some of these I think you should see. Starting with this one from Ildariel - does it make any more sense to you than it does to me?"
Kolanin read it quickly, his frown growing. "I don't see how he can be so angry about our lack of results. What did he expect, after this long finding little worth mining?"
"Unless he hasn't been receiving any of your reports."
"Ah." Kolanin looked up at Iralin, wondering if she had specific knowledge of such, but she only shrugged. "It's a worthwhile theory. There are countless ways the messages could be intercepted, especially in Ith Silvaros. And a great many reasons, though those are less clear."
"Can't guess as to the actual reason, but it seems clear that this was all a joke. But there's one more you need to read first." Iralin took a scroll out of her robe instead of the pile she carried and extended it to him carefully. She hadn't opened this one - and he understood why when he saw the black seal.
When Kolanin slid the scroll open with one of his fingernails, he felt a surge of embedded sein. It reached him, then reacted by dissipating. The thought of what it would have done if someone else had opened the seal distracted him for a moment before he became completely focused on the contents. There weren't many words, so he reread them several times.
"Well?" Iralin asked. "Don't keep me in suspense."
"It says 'I apologize for laying this burden on you, especially given how other goals muddied the waters. Your part in this is concluded and what you have sacrificed will not be forgotten. If you conclude your military and political obligations, you will be transferred to a location where you can build without being disturbed.' Nothing is signed, but I'm almost certain this is from Zeitai Teirsan."
"So you did talk to him in Ith Silvaros. Shit." Iralin ran a hand through her hair and stared at him. "I suppose there's not much point asking what that first part was about?"
"Only because I know little. The Zeitai was the one who instructed me to try to contain the Hero, but our meeting was very... succinct."
"That promise at the end... I guess you can't just retire your military commission so easily, but he's offering a transfer if you resolve things?"
"Yes." Kolanin stared at the words again, imagining what that might mean. Though Zeitai Teirsan had been aggressively focused, Kolanin did get a sense that he understood what Kolanin had been trying to do in Bundlin and respected it. If there was really somewhere he could work in peace...
"Do you think you'd be able to take staff along with you?"
"Most likely. The condition to conclude my work in the Chorhan Expanse would likely be one that would dissolve the need for positions like ours." Kolanin looked to Iralin and managed to give a smile. "If we can actually end this... yes, you can come with me. Though I'm not sure where we might go."
"Anywhere but here." Iralin shoved the rest of the papers at him. "These are the documents that actually matter, especially if we want to take all the humans to safety. I'll keep getting rid of anything that isn't essential."
"Thank you, Seinan Iralin."
She didn't answer, just walked back toward the offices. Dealing with such things was not her job, but they lacked proper staff. Kolanin had become more reliant on Eraes than he'd realized until she was gone. Herakin had been less hard-working, but having him transferred away had made their work much harder as well. They didn't really have a functioning office anymore.
Because they didn't need one. Without its role as a prison and with its role as a mine useless, Ith Ire meant nothing to anyone. Not even him.
He should have taken the initiative after the violence and pulled them together, but his exhaustion never left him. After he killed the first Hero, his head had felt clearer, but on that day... he wasn't sure if something had changed or if he was simply tired of it all. But for now he could at least go to the army and check on the remaining Catai, since they were the backbone of his strategy.
On the way he spotted one of Ulviab's cats limping along the side of a building. No one had taken care of them. Thinking about how the gentle man had been butchered forced Kolanin to close his eyes to regain his composure. When he opened them again, the cat had moved on.
