A Hollow Mountain (The Brightest Shadow Book 2), page 7
"So, where are you going?" The leader never seemed to lower his voice, so Tani could easily hear his conversation with Melal.
"North! To destroy the Deathspawn once and for all, first I must journey to Mount Tmil!"
"You're meeting the Sage, eh? This path veers west, y-"
Melal grasped the raider by one of the strips of cloth around his neck. "You know of the Sage of Tmil?"
"Of course I do." The raider lazily struck Melal's hand away from his clothes. "The Sage was one of the Stillmarrows once, before he started getting strange ideas. But he has a guardian - Aganomu is the strongest man the Sotunn Mountains have ever seen! So when the Sage built his own clan up on Tmil, none dared fight him."
Veron stepped up beside them, wiping off her sword. "How far west are we?"
The leader gave her a slightly odd look, but answered after only a short pause. "Mount Tmil is in the heart of the Sotunn Mountains. All the lowlander paths are to the west or east, because they didn't dare pass through the highest peaks even before we gained dominance."
"Then you must take us there!" Melal struck a fist into his palm as if it was the obvious solution. The leader nodded along with him, but his eyes hadn't been captured by the Hero's light.
"Tell you what, kid: if you can really kill the Deathspawn, we'll help you out. But we weren't out here to fight you: there's supposed to be an important Deathspawn caravan further west. We were going to raid them, then head east to the Bloodskin village. That will get you part of the way to Mount Tmil, and maybe you can convince some men to make the climb with you."
For several heartbeats Tani was concerned that Melal would attack and begin the fight again, but then he grinned. "Why not? We'll help you kill some of the Deathspawn, then you can guide us to our destination. What's your name, friend?"
The leader introduced himself as Gatoda, a somewhat important member of the Bloodskin clan, though not their chieftain. Apparently that was all the negotiation they needed, because the whole group set off into the mountains. Tani retrieved her throwing knives and followed, uncomfortable but unable to pin down an exact reason... there were too many potential answers.
She walked near Veron and kept her thoughts to herself as they moved, just listening to the conversations. The raiders with Slaten only seemed interested in battles fought, and he had stories they liked, but they carried strange assumptions she didn't understand. Instead she paid more attention to Gatoda and Melal.
Judging from their conversation, the Bloodskins hated the mansthein, but it struck Tani as a rather superficial hatred. They were nothing like the Coran resistance, fighting to regain their homeland: they were first and foremost opportunistic raiders. Given how they seemed to value strength, she wasn't sure why they didn't respect the mansthein.
As they walked, they left the main path and passed into rougher ground. It was difficult going at first, but eventually they reached a smaller trail. Though it was so narrow that the trees obscured it from the wrong angle, it was far easier to move along the worn path than to struggle over true wilderness.
Based on overheard conversations, Tani knew that they had a great distance to travel. Most of the others walked far away from her in the line, while Slaten was nearby but busy with one of the other raiders. Though Tani tried to think about them more humanly, they were still more raiders than Bloodskins to her. To resolve that tension and alleviate her boredom, she increased her pace to walk alongside a man she judged to be roughly her age.
"I am Tani of the Nelee." She smiled as she spoke, but the Bloodskin man barely looked at her.
"Wagoge. I am a man of the Bloodskins."
"I am glad to meet you, Wagoge. If we're going to travel together, I hope we can learn from one another."
"Learn what?" It was difficult to work through his accent at times, so she couldn't be completely certain that she'd understood the derision in his voice. His face certainly gave no hint.
"Perhaps we could trade sein arts with one another? I do not know what else we might have in common, but in my experience warriors always c-"
"Women are not warriors."
He spoke with such confidence that Tani was taken aback. Until that moment, she hadn't thought anything of the fact that the group of raiders happened to be all men. Perhaps that was no coincidence. "What do you mean by that? Veron and I are obviously warriors."
In response, she got a dismissive snort. "Don't be foolish. I mean it in the way we say 'Men have two legs.' Cutting off a man's leg does not change the truth."
"Women have two legs too."
"Are lowlanders incapable of understanding anything? I know you have many wrong ideas about the power of the blood."
"You mean sein?" Tani meant to ask in a neutral voice, but surprised herself with her vitriol. She had thought Corans could be frustrating, but no one had ever said such things to her, much less declared them with such invincible certainty.
The raider shrugged as if it could not matter less. "Whatever you name it, there is hot sein and cold sein. Men create hot blood and release it in battle, while women create cold blood and release it in childbirth. This is the way of things."
She wanted to snap something about the nature of blood, but the last time he hadn't understood. Resolving not to let herself grow angry, she simply asked another question. "Are you saying that women who fight are as unnatural as men who cut off their legs?"
"You understand a little, then! Just as men draw cold blood from women to heal, some women draw hot blood from men and waste it on fighting." He looked over at her, for the first time eyeing her body instead of dismissing her. "You are a fiery one... how much heat have you taken from men, I wonder?"
"None from men like you."
"Hah!" His laugh was scornful, but he looked away from her again. "I much prefer proper women myself. Borrowed blood can never be as strong as natural blood."
Realizing that she would never get through to a fool, Tani turned away from him. He didn't seem to care, but at that moment she just needed a comrade. She wished that she had someone to discuss the conversation with, but none of her options were perfect. Veron would be scornful, Laeri might understand... Slaten would do.
She found him not far behind, no longer talking to one of the other raiders. When she made eye contact with him, he moved up to walk beside her, but said nothing.
"Did you hear?" Tani asked. He simply nodded in response. "Such an infuriating argument... as if sein is so simple that it can be divided into hot and cold!"
"It does seem strange, but many view sein differently." Slaten didn't quite look at her while speaking, as if lost in his own thoughts. "According to Oken custom, sein is divided into different paths. Those with sein best suited for swords cannot be healers, and the reverse. Perhaps this theory of hot and cold sein is based on a similar understanding."
Tani stared at him, trying to figure out if he was serious... but it was Slaten, of course he was serious. She scowled at him to vent all her frustration from the conversation. "Surely you don't think such a simplistic idea can have any merit. They're obviously wrong about women like Veron!"
"Yes, but their survival depends on using sein. Surely they would not survive if they believed in something wholly wrong."
Though Tani started to snap back, she forced herself to remain calm. Thinking back to her master's lessons, she tried to watch herself from the outside. Once she did, she realized that she wasn't angry with Slaten, she had simply asked a question when she truly wanted support. Slaten being Slaten, he had answered the question.
"Not every idea about sein can be true," Tani said, more calmly than she felt. "Surely you agree with that. I've seen many different beliefs about men and women, but this... there's no other culture in this world that believes something like this."
"I'm not sure." Slaten's eyes were on the peaks to their left, but his gaze was much further away. "The mansthein might teach similar things about women, based on what Celiv-"
"I don't want to talk about her."
The words came out in a flood of rage and pain and Slaten immediately shut his mouth. For a time they walked in silence, Tani burning hotly with anger, but she noticed that he still walked beside her. Her anger didn't fade, but she did find growing shame within herself for lashing out at him. Slaten was often the only person she could rely upon when it came to the Hero and she didn't want them to argue like this.
She knew that he would never be the one to try to resolve what had passed between them, so she took a deep breath and calmed herself. Perhaps it would be best simply to be direct with him. Tani formed her thoughts for some time before asking the right question.
"Do you really believe their view of the world is true?"
Slaten was silent for a time before he answered quietly. "It seems difficult to believe. But I would like to understand why they believe these things to be true."
"That's admirable and ridiculous at the same time, Slaten." Tani found herself giving him a fond smile. "If you met a man who said that the sky lay below our feet and the earth arced overhead, would you try to understand his truth as well?"
"Of course. Perhaps his people have truly unusual beliefs about the earth and sky. Or perhaps some deformity of birth has made his eyes grow upside down."
Tani laughed out loud. Slaten smiled with her, but his expression held a bit of awkwardness that suggested his last sentence might not have been a joke, which made Tani laugh harder. She had to grab his arm to avoid falling over as the laughter took her over some rough rocks, but he stabilized her.
By the time she caught her breath, all the humor slipped from her mind. Melal had made an alliance with a clan of raiders on a reckless journey to a dangerous mountain range, all in a faint hope that this was the Legend's path. She followed him in the hope that she could forge something better from the unyielding light. On top of that, it seemed the raiders would never truly respect her.
If she had told herself everything she would face when she followed Melal north, she might have made a different decision.
Chapter 5
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"Text: North of the Chorhan Expanse lie the stupendous Sotunn Mountains, the largest mountain range on the continent of Breilin, a freezing wasteland in which no traveler can survive. Even I - Telekrainas the Great - struggled to climb those great peaks. And when I reached the other side - woe! - there was naught but the stupendous Sotunn Desert that can be crossed only by one of the two great rivers of the north.
Gloss: Telekrainas avoided both mountains and desert by taking a ship to Hettin Island around the western side of the continent, so his information must have come from traders. Though mostly accurate, his account says nothing of the wet forests and riverlands just south of the mountains."
- excerpt from The Annotated Travels of Telekrainas the Great
-
The wind rustled past Celivia's body, swaying the branch on which she sat. Though she was ostensibly scouting, she kept her eyes closed, focusing on the breeze itself. She had long heard sein in the form of the wind, so she began with that, but she tried to feel it deeper within herself. First she tried to smell the wind, though she found herself focusing on the scents it carried. Then she tried to focus on the way it moved the world around her, from her branch down to the needles on the tree.
Eventually she opened her eyes, having completed her exercises but not having deepened her understanding in any way. Slightly strengthening the sein flowing through her was only a minor step compared to comprehending it in a more profound way. She feared that her current position was well-suited to the former but not the latter.
After many days ranging across their region of the Sotunn Mountains, Celivia had gained deeply mixed feelings about her position. On one hand, it wasn't what she'd feared. After they'd developed a series of camps and she'd delegated duties among her band, it wasn't as though she was overwhelmed with administrative duties. She had all the time in the world to train.
Yet it wasn't enough. A narrow-minded focus on strength would never lead her far enough, but she was lacking in anything to stimulate her to new approaches. In the absence of human raiders, the mountains were utterly dull. The beauty had entranced her for a time, but she could only stare at it for so long when there was so much more to be done.
"Yo, band leader!" It was Little Ragh, kicking the base of the tree. Celivia felt a flash of annoyance, but suppressed it to listen to what he was saying. "Brifik shit his pants again!"
The response was a gale of laughter, though Celivia didn't think it was directed at her. In fact, after days of keeping her at a distance, the fact that her band was involving her in a joke was an improvement. Part of her wondered if it was also mocking her, suggesting she should play a mothering role... but Little Ragh wasn't all that bright. Probably not.
Celivia dropped off the edge of her branch, landing beside the camp hard enough that wind swept in all directions. Brifik had been objecting and the others laughing, but all of them paused as she straightened.
"Is that why they have you in charge of cleaning all the equipment, Brifik?" Her question led to another burst of laughter from the band. Not because it had been particularly clever, but in surprise that she had played along.
She noted that two didn't laugh. Fijn just rolled his eyes, while Splinters had looked down with a surly expression as soon as she landed. The latter had always obeyed orders, but she had to wonder if he just hated everyone or if he would be a problem.
"Do you want a drink, Kaen?" Krafan extended a flask toward her with a broad smile and Celivia thought hard about how to respond.
Her time in command had left her with mixed feelings about her band as well. They didn't look down on her the way men would have in central Fein Karnak, but the relationship was uneasy. Most likely they viewed her as a typical Seinan woman, both admired and hated from a distance. She'd been concerned about trying to force things, but this was an invitation...
"Why not?" Celivia gave an easy smile and casually took the flask from him. As she did so, she circulated sein through her body as a ward against drunkenness and also against poison. It tasted like whiskey to her. She took a deep drink before sitting down and handing it back. "Thanks."
"I'm not letting the band get drunk," Ghasfik said stiffly. Celivia just acknowledged it with a wave.
"We all need to be on our guards, but we're far enough out that we don't have enough to drink for that to be a problem."
"You can say that again," Big Ragh said. The large man tossed a small stone at Fijn. "Can't you get us any booze out here?"
Fijn just let the stone bounce off him. "Unless you can distill alcohol from tree bark, we don't have a lot of options. Of course, you probably would drink something like that."
"Hah! If you figured out how to make it, I'd drink it!"
"What about one of those little human villages?" Little Ragh piped up, gesturing vaguely to the west, where there weren't any villages. "Couldn't we just take theirs?"
There was a bit of a pause and Celivia wondered if she needed to speak up, but Ghasfik saved her. "We don't have a strong enough presence to fight every group of humans, idiot. The raiders are bad enough."
Though Little Ragh grumbled and looked down, Huthur spoke up from where he was working beyond the fire. "Could we trade with them, though? Would that go against orders?"
Some looked to Ghasfik, but at least some looked to her as well. Since the older mansthein stayed quiet, Celivia answered. "The company leader never forbade it, but we should be careful. Some of the local villages have sympathies with the nearest raiding clans."
Her words set off a new buzz of conversation, the band speculating about what food they could potentially buy from local villages. They spoke about the humans with considerable reserve, like they were unfamiliar enemies, but it wasn't the raw hatred she had expected. Then again, not many soldiers on a quiet front could muster the hatred that propaganda demanded.
She accepted some of the food they gave her, thinking much too carefully about how she bit into her meat before deciding that it didn't matter. They ate like savages and didn't seem to pay much attention to how she bit anything. Still, she sat along with them to learn their patterns.
Mostly Celivia just stayed quiet and let them talk around her. Some, like Fijn and Ghasfik, were extremely aware of her presence. Krafan focused on her, regularly offering drinks. Brifik and the Raghs seemed to have forgotten about her and told increasingly reckless jests. Two weren't by the fire: Splinters had slipped away in protest, while Huthur continued working on the camouflaged blind they'd discussed.
"Maybe if you paid a human whore, you could get your dick wet for once."
The words brought Celivia back sharply into focus, though no one else seemed to notice. Brifik was mocking Little Ragh, and the small man immediately bristled. "You think even an ugly bastard like me would fuck a human? Naw, that's disgusting. They're nothing like a good woman, all..."
He trailed off and more than a few eyes fell on her as some members of the band remembered that she was there. Celivia had absolutely no idea how to navigate through that mess. She didn't want them to think about fucking her, but condemning them could lead to backlash. Pausing before answering could make her look weak, so she went with the question that automatically came to mind.
"Why wouldn't you fuck a human?" When her question produced a bit of confusion but seemed to get them off the previous track, Celivia decided to press on. "Their eyes are the wrong color, but they're not that different from us."
Her statement immediately provoked a storm of objections. Brifik spat on the ground in disgust, the Raghs shook their heads, and only Fijn put his objection into a coherent form. "They're similar, but so much about them is just wrong. The eyes, I could look past, but the rest?"
"You don't need to look at her eyes!" Big Ragh said with a laugh. Celivia decided to let that go and watched Fijn as he kept speaking. He was often sarcastic, but not this time.
