Aegis Rising (27 page)

The large male sprinted at the bear head-on, spraying foam everywhere, and lunged at the massive creature. The bear reared on its hind legs and now stood taller than two men. The cat tried to halt when it saw the bear rise but couldn’t stop its momentum. The bear came crashing down onto the smaller animal, crushing its body. The mountain lion hadn’t even had time to make a single sound before its swift and merciless death.

The bear turned to look at the other two deranged cats and roared again. The men behind the tree winced and covered their ears. If there had been any creatures around that hadn’t already vacated the area, they would have been completely debilitated just from the shock of that sound.

The cats yowled again and fled; though the sickness that had pervaded their bodies drove them to kill, they feared the gigantic death instrument on paws and did not want to be trampled.

The bear stared after them for a few moments, making sure they had left the vicinity, then turned and lumbered over to the men. The men stepped out from behind the tree as the bear drew to a halt in front of them. Rikèq and Aydar gazed up at it with reverence and rightful fear, knowing that this was one of the five Guardians. They murmured a few words of gratitude. The Guardian snorted, almost as if amused. With a shine in its dark eyes that seemed to tell the men to stay safe, the bear brushed past them and disappeared into the trees.

*  *  *

Breyas and Keno, the other two men who were tracking the source of the illness, had heard the roar. They exchanged glances and kept walking along the Mayet River. Only the Guardians could produce such a resounding sound. Whatever problem that had arisen must have been dealt with by now if a Guardian was around.

Breyas had volunteered for this outing because of his father, who had come down with the illness; he wanted to do
something
to stop the progression of the malady, and he figured this would be as close as he would get. Likewise, Keno, who was Fiotez’s brother, wanted to help stop the spread of the disease and prevent more horrific deaths. He hadn’t been around to witness the demise of his brother but he’d heard the stories and was shaken. The funeral the village had held for Fiotez two nights before was a somber one. The villagers were in deep shock, as they’d never had such a violent death occur to one of them. Many started to truly fear the illness and, although the Elders attempted to insert a calm reassurance, many were still apprehensive.

As Breyas stooped down to retrieve a sample of the water, Keno said, “Why do I have a strange feeling that in order to find the source, we will have to hike all the way to the Ayen’et mountain?”

Breyas emitted a sound of dismay. “Oh, please do not say that. I would rather not have to walk the entire length of this river only to find out that the source is actually in that accursed mountain.” He dropped the crystalline gel into the jar and the men regarded it closely. They watched as the translucent crystal gave way to color. “Still contaminated,” Breyas muttered. He tilted the jar and let the water sample drain back into the river, along with the crystalline gel.

Keno shook his head. “I am telling you, we should just pass along this entire river and head straight up to the mountain.”

Breyas grunted but otherwise said nothing. He was not keen to get too close to the Ayen’et. As a child, he had never had any good memories while visiting the mountain. He looked up at the sky and said, “Let us walk for another two intervals, and then we should put up for the night.”

Keno agreed. The hours passed quickly enough, and the source of the contaminant remained unfound. The men set up their tents and built a fire, then sat around it whilst eating their packed food. They talked of unimportant things, trying to forget the strange sickness that kept attacking their people, before turning in for the night and silently praying that they would soon find the origin of the terrible disease.

29

A
ari and the others were sitting outside on the grassy hill beside the boys’
neyra
that overlooked Esroh Lègna, the beautiful emerald river that rolled through the valley. The friends were relaxing after their dinner, discussing their day in the training area with their crystals. They were stupefied by the fact that they had all been successful in finding an image in their crystal; all except Kody, that is. Aari and the others listened to Kody as he grumbled about his problem.

When the Elders had come much later in the day to retrieve them, they’d asked the five if they had seen anything and were jubilant when told that they had. Jag’s image was that of a lone paw print of a wildcat; Mariah’s was a full moon over a crest of wave; Tegan’s had been an image of the eye of an eagle; and Aari’s had been a silhouette of half a dragonfly. Kody had stood there, unable to provide an answer. He’d briefly contemplated making up an image, but cleared that thought. The Elders had complete trust in the five—he could not forsake that simply because he felt left out and embarrassed.

Tegan scooted over so she could sit behind Kody and rested her chin on his shoulder. “Hey, remember that little song your mom made up when we were all sleeping over at your place when we were kids?”

“Which one? She made up many.”

“The one about the little sea lion who felt left out because he was unable to fish as well as the other little sea lions.”

“Oh, sheesh, please don’t go there.”

Jag grinned and started to hum the tune. Aari joined in, then Tegan started to sing along with Mariah. After the first sentence Kody was rolling away, covering his ears. “Spare me!” he yelped. “Please!”

“We’re not going to stop singing until you give us the moral of the song,” Tegan threatened.

“What? No way. Scram. Get outta here.”

His friends sang louder and repeated the song as if they were a broken record. Kody, sure that his ears would begin to bleed any second, finally gave in. “Alright! Alright! I get it! Don’t give up, and don’t give in to self-pity because others achieved something you didn’t. I got that. Now just
stop!
”

His friends beamed victoriously. From his jeans’ pocket Kody pulled out the small crystal the Elders had lent him until morning in hopes that perhaps he would get his image yet. He bounced it in his palm and then held it up to the sky to gaze at it. “How on earth did you guys manage to get your images, anyway?” he asked.

The other four looked at each other for a few moments, hesitating. Mariah shrugged. “For me, it kind of just . . . happened. I can’t explain it.”

“Same here,” Tegan agreed.

Kody looked a little discouraged. “What kind of thoughts did you have before you saw your image? Did you go all Zen? What did you guys do?”

“I really don’t know, Kody. All we did was focus, just like we were told to,” Aari answered. “Initially, there was a lot of noise, a lot of distracting thoughts, but it eventually got easier with practice. At a certain point, there would be total silence. It was brief, but that’s when we saw our images.”

Kody got up and paced back and forth, holding the little crystal in front of his face and staring at it in disgust. “Who knew that some of the anguishes in my life would come from an inanimate object that isn’t even the size of my thumb?” He snorted and stood in silence for a couple of minutes, then said, “Think I’ll turn in early.”

Though the sun had only just set, the friends didn’t protest. After wishing them good night, Kody walked into the boys’
neyra
. Aari leaned back on the grass, propping himself up with his elbows. “Poor kid,” he commented. “I wonder why the rest of us got our images and he didn’t?”

“You know how he is,” Jag said. “Boring stuff doesn’t suit him well.”

“We all found it boring,” Aari replied. “But I do get what you mean. The guy has less focus than we do . . . But still. Even Tegan managed to get an image, and you know her—Miss Ants-in-her-pants. She can’t sit in one spot for too long.”

Tegan smiled slightly. “I feel like I should be offended, but I can’t because I have no argument there.”

*  *  *

It was the middle of the night when Kody bolted upright in his sleeping bag. “Got it!” he whispered triumphantly. He held the small crystal that he’d been gazing at under the lamp up over his head.

When he’d entered the shelter to sleep almost six hours ago, he’d fallen into his sleeping bag and slumbered off. Something had woken him not long after, though he did not know what. Blinking sleep away in the darkness, he could just barely make out Aari on his right and Jag on his left, and could hear them snoring softly. Unable to fall back asleep, Kody had lit the lamp a couple of feet away from his head and turned over to lie on his stomach. Facing the light, he’d pulled the small crystal from his pocket. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been staring at it, but the image suddenly flashed in the crystal: a five-pointed star woven from twigs.

He now sat in his sleeping bag, too excited to sleep. He didn’t know if he should leave to find Huyani and Akol and tell them, or wait until morning. He shifted impatiently but decided to wait until daybreak. He grinned at the crystal and muttered, “And you thought you could evade me, you deceptive piece of
rock
.”

Aari cracked open an eye but quickly squeezed it shut when the light’s glare hit him. After a few seconds, he eased both his eyes open and raised his head. He saw Kody. Trying to get his vocal chords to work, he mumbled, “Kodng . . .”

Kody looked over at him, quizzical.

Aari tried again. “. . . Kody.”

“Yes?”

“What are you doing?”

Kody grinned and showed the crystal. “I found the image,” he replied, keeping his voice low so as not to wake Jag up.

Aari laid his head back down and closed his eyes. “Congrats,” he snuffled tiredly. “Do you mind turning that bloody light off now?”

“You’re so grumpy when you’re groggy, you know that?” Kody said as he reached over to turn off the lamp.

But Aari was already fast asleep. Kody rubbed his eyes, feeling suddenly tired. He snuggled back down into his sleeping bag and fell asleep with the small crystal clutched in his hand.

30

T
he next morning, the five stood with Akol and Huyani outside the large wooden gate of the training grounds, anxiously looking at each other, waiting for the Elders to emerge from the temple. They were curious and keen to find out what stage one held for them. The Elders had briefly given them a general idea: Basic physical and mental training.

The Elders had been overjoyed when Kody told them earlier what image he’d seen the night before. In fact, they seemed
more
pleased than Kody felt, which slightly puzzled the five.

Huyani and Akol smiled at the friends now, urging them to calm down. “You will have your mentors soon enough,” Huyani said.

“Will they be people we haven’t yet met?” Mariah asked.

Akol shook his head. “The Elders themselves will be teaching you. Each one of you will be assigned to one of the Elders. The training ground is more or less divided into five sections, each fitted for the development of your individual skill, and there you shall practice alone with your mentor.”

The five sighed impatiently. It was another ten long minutes before they spotted the Elders walking up the grassy knoll toward them. When they reached the teenagers, Nageau greeted them and said, “Aari. Ashack will be your teacher throughout your training. Akol and Huyani will rotate translating his instructions for you.” Aari nodded.

“Jag, you shall train under Tayoka. As with Aari, either Akol or Huyani will be translating his words for you.” Jag glanced at the red-haired Elder and nodded.

“Tegan, Tikina shall be guiding you.”

Tegan smiled; of all the Elders, she was happy to have either Nageau or Tikina train her.

“Mariah.” Mariah looked up as Nageau addressed her. “Saiyu will be working alongside you to hone your skills.”

Nageau then turned to face Kody. Kody grinned. “Guess I know who my mentor is,” he said.

Nageau smiled. He looked over at everyone else and nodded. “Once you walk through this door, younglings, stage one formally begins.” He clapped his hands once. “Let us begin.”

The Elders opened the wooden gate. The five glanced at each other, nervous and eager, and stepped forward. They were still unclear what to expect, but they had a growing feeling that it would be incredibly beneficial to them. They all wanted to excel in life but had never been sure how or where to begin. This could be a groundbreaking start.

The Elders and Akol and Huyani walked in after them and shut the gate firmly. At once, each Elder walked away from one another. The five stared after them, unsure what to do. The quick glances Akol and Huyani lent them were enough to give them direction and the friends jogged off in pursuit of their individual mentors.

31

K
eno and Breyas had trekked for three days along the Mayet River, hoping to come upon the source of the illness. So far they’d had no such luck. It was now nearly midday, though the sky was dark and overcast.

“I wonder how the other two are faring,” Keno sighed.

Breyas took a small sip from his water pelt, then wiped aside the shaggy hair that was matted to his forehead. “Knowing Aydar and Rikèq, they must be plowing along just as we are.”

A few birds were flying back to their nests, cawing. The men looked up warily, wondering if any one of the creatures had ingested the poison. With a desperate need to pin the blame of his father’s illness on something, Breyas muttered, “I really do hope we will not have to travel up that mountain. It has been a curse to our community.”

“Breyas!” his companion reproached. “Nature is our friend. No misfortune shall taint that relationship.”

Breyas grunted in response. Although Keno attempted to persuade him that nature was what they made of it, he was still convinced that the Ayen’et mountain was the demon’s spawn of bad luck in the forest.

By the end of the hour, the two men had reached the point where the river branched off from the one Rikèq and Aydar were tracking. They tested the water there and found it to also be contaminated. Disappointed, the men sat down on a couple of boulders and pulled out their lunches. They were only a few bites into their meals when they heard their names being called out. Rikèq and Aydar were making their way over to them, waving their hands above their heads. As soon as the four men reunited in a friendly greeting, Rikèq and Aydar sat on the boulders to eat with their friends.