Read Doira'Liim (The Beautiful Whisper of the Goddess Saga) Online
Authors: Krystal Orr
Arizira made not a sound as she made her way to the exit of the cave. Her movements were smooth and flawless. Once at the open end of the cave, she crouched and peered out into the darkness beyond. The blade in her hand, beautifully crafted as it was, shined with an eerie light. Talliea remained where she was. She was unsure of exactly what had put Arizira on alert. Several minutes passed as the woman continued to look out at the darkened landscape. Finally, she stood and made her way back toward the fire pit.
"We are not alone. Two of your people are out in the weather. They move in search of something unknown to me, possibly you. Their feet do not lead them with strength in their direction. They are aimless, but they move this way. Douse the fire quickly and follow me," Arizira said, sheathing her blade.
Talliea was unsure what to do. Should she make herself known to the men heading their way? They were most likely looking for her, having noticed her absence. She was surprised they had ventured so far out. How much land had her clan explored? One part of Talliea thought it best to not risk exposing Arizira, while the other part of her wished no part in being led back to her camp like a beast.
"Tah-li! We must cover our being here. This is where you make a decision." Arizira was next to her once again. She leaned down and picked up her tanned cloak and fastened it around her neck. Dousing the flames of the fire, she turned back and her eyes glowed in the sudden darkness. "What do you choose, Tah-li? There is a passage in the back of this cave we may take. It will lead us to the outer edges of your camp where it opens into another cave."
Talliea struggled to control her rising panic. Everything was happening too quickly. Just mere hours ago, she'd been lying in her dwelling thinking of her life and Arizira, and then she'd been dashing through the forest with the cold nip of the wind at her back. Now, her people were delving deeper into the woods around them searching for her and heading in her general direction. Arizria watched her, her sight not hindered by the pitch black around them. Her ears continued to track the footsteps of the approaching Esu. They were getting closer.
"We can not linger here, Tah-li. Stay if you must. Your people will not react kindly to the knowledge of my presence. I must go." Talliea shook herself from her thoughts and turned in the direction of Arizira's voice. Reaching out blindly, she was gratified to feel a soft hand take her own. "I will follow you, Ahmanae."
The two of them quietly headed farther into the dark corners of the cave.
* * * * * *
"Here!" Lao'dahn called over his shoulder. The rain was beginning to calm, and through the failing sheets of rain he could easily make out the outline of a shadowed cave. "What is it?" a voice called against the weather. "A cave. It may provide us shelter while we decide on our course."
Markahn stepped up next to Lao'dahn and peered up the side of a steeply rising hill. When he'd crossed by Talliea's dugout on his nightly patrol, he'd hoped to find her awake so that the two of them could speak of their imminent joining. What he'd found was an empty sleeping roll with no trace of his betrothed.
Standing tall and powerfully built, Markahn cut an impressive figure. His skin was dark, enriched by the sun, but not nearly as deep as Talliea's. Dark black hair, pulled back into a short braid, fell against his back. His eyes were unusual for an Esu. Instead of the brown worn by so many, his were an eerie shade of grey. Dark tattoos crossed over his chest and spanned across his back. The black ink also colored his face, vertical lines falling over his eyes and down his cheeks.
To many of the Esu women, he was pleasing to look upon. A fine provider and future father he would most assuredly make. That he was intent on mating with Talliea caused much strife between several of the women. They viewed Talliea as unclean and unworthy of one such as Markahn.
"She would not be so far out, Lao'dahn," Markahn said in a voice that was both deep and carefree. "With the moon being blocked by the storm, she would have stumbled in the dark. There are no signs of her having come this way." Lao'dahn sighed, rain dripping from his brows down the steep slope of his nose. His features were lean and cut. His nose was slightly hooked and his brown eyes were a smoky almond shade, giving his long black hair, pulled into a tail, a darker hue. Shorter than Markahn, but more compact in stature, he was a strong man and a boon to the Esu clan.
"Either way, we need shelter from the storm. The rains are easing but the respite could be short lived." Markahn conceded and followed his fellow up toward the cave. Peering inside, his eyes were met with nothing but tenebrous and foreboding blackness. He held his hand out in front of him and closed his eyes. Muttering a near silent invocation, a soft and dim light began to form around him. It engulfed his body and lit up the area immediately inside the cave. Lao'dahn, upon noticing the action, placed the torch he'd been carrying against the lip of the cave.
If anything was inside, two hands bore better chances of victory than one. "Let us go," Markahn said, walking inside the cave. The light around him continued to illuminate his path.
* * * * * *
Arizira stopped against the wall of the narrow path she and Talliea were traversing and turned her head back toward the center of the cave. She felt Talliea collide into her back. "Why have we stopped?" the Esu woman whispered next to her ear.
Arizira allowed several moments to pass while she listened intently. Faint sounds could be heard coming from above. Voices were speaking but their words were muffled. Turning to look back at Talliea, she paused when she realized how close the other woman was. Her companion's nearness set Arizira's body aflame with sensations.
"Your people are sharing space with us, Tah-li. They now venture where we have parted." Talliea's body seemed to sink into itself as tension sprang inside her. She was suddenly fully aware of the trouble she'd gotten herself into and in no way found it amusing. What was wrong with her? She was acting rashly, even for her! Her life may not have been ideal, but it did offer stability. Her late night excursions and obsession with a woman she barely knew, let alone understood, had landed her in a world of uncertainty.
Yet...
Despite knowing the dangers, the thrill and excitement in the whole matter could not be denied. Talliea found her time with Arizira exhilarating. The bright glow of Arizira's eyes was looking back at her, and their shine offered Talliea a brief bit of illumination. Her entire body was flush against the smaller woman's back and her right hand was still confidently held in Arizira's left. "What do we do?" she asked, speaking as softly as she could.
Arizira listened a moment more. One voice, deeper than the other, exclaimed about something she could not make out. Footsteps picked up once again and grew louder by the second. "They have grown agitated," she said, staring into Talliea's eyes. "Their steps are heavy and move with purpose. They are coming."
* * * * * *
Markahn entered the cave and moved cautiously inside. The light glowing about his body afforded him an unchecked view of the interior. A few paces in front of him, he noticed what looked like a recent fire. Stepping closer, he paused when he heard Lao'dahn step behind him. "This cave has been used before," Lao'dahn noted.
"It would appear that way. Have any of our men come this far?" Lao'dahn shrugged. "I am unsure. Only a few small scouting parties have attempted to spread into the woods." Markahn grunted and turned back around. He stepped once again in the direction of the fire pit he'd noticed. A deep shallow had been dug into the dirt and several smooth faced rocks and stones encircled the area. The smell of smoke dying away assaulted his nostrils.
"A fire burned here not long ago," he said. Lao'dahn looked around the low walls of the cave wearily. Slipping his hand behind his back, he deftly removed the long bo-staff that hung there. "None of the
Lat'sa'val
have been out tonight," he said, eyes still taking in every shadow and curve of his surroundings.
Markahn held his hands over the forgotten fire and studied the area with the light provided. He noticed a tall torch set into the ground, its life also having been snuffed. Someone had been in the cave.
Recently.
Very recently.
They could very well still be in the cave. Looking around on the floor bed of the cave, Markahn scanned the vicinity for any footprints. Very quickly, he noticed an unusual set. They were not deep, nor were they easily read, but they were present. The person they belonged to appeared to have shuffled and moved around nervously. Could it have been Talliea? Had she ventured out into the storm and sought shelter in the cave? If she had, where was she now?
Markahn followed the few fleeting prints in the dirt until they stopped suddenly a little further into the back of the cave. "Someone was here. The tracks are hard to read, but they lead in this direction. Come! It could be Talliea."
* * * * * *
"They will overtake us ere we depart," Arizira said and her voice was anxious. She turned her head back and perused the unyielding tunnel around them. A short way in front of her the path split. One way led them into a slightly larger tunnel that would eventually meet the other side of the cave. The other way was a dead end. It was barely high enough to walk through and its sides were more narrow than her current shaft. It also was covered in a great darkness, deeper than normal night, and held a small niche that rock shielded against unwary intruders.
She heard the footsteps of the Esu drawing ever closer and a soft light could just faintly be made out by her perceptive eyes. Quickly, she made a decision and prayed for the best. Ensuring her hold on Talliea's wrist, Arizira tugged the other woman with her in the direction of the dead end path. She heard a slight gasp from Talliea but continued to force them through the tight gap and into the well-placed niche.
There was barely any room for her chest to breathe as she found herself completely against Talliea's front. Leaning forward a small amount, she brought her mouth to the other woman's ear. "We must remain very silent. If they pass this way, our fortune will hold if we draw no attention to ourselves. My eyes will lead them to this section. It will be dark, Tah-li, but I have you. Fear not."
Arizira closed her eyes and the two of them were thrown into complete darkness. Dropping her head, Arizira allowed it to come to a rest on Talliea's shoulder. She opened up her other senses and kept the one arm she could still move wrapped around the Esu woman's waist. The quick thrum of the Esu woman's heart was pounding into her own chest, and she could feel shallow breaths as Talliea fought to keep her breathing under control. The footsteps came closer and no longer sounded muffled. A soft light flared just outside where she and Talliea stood. Arizria, with her eyes still closed, could not see the light fully but was aware of its existence.
Talliea's heart quickened and she felt Arizira gently squeeze her hip. Feeling the Arniran so very close to her, and having her pressed so intimately against her body, was doing strange, yet wonderful, things to her. Talliea could not name the sensations she was experiencing, but she knew she was enjoying them. A sudden voice intruded upon her thoughts.
"Do you see anything?" Lao'dahn asked. Markahn peered into the farthest reaches of the cave that his light provided him. The tunnel they were in was narrow and confining and extremely restricting. His tall frame could not stand upright and he already had difficulty turning around. "No, no...I see nothing. Whoever was in the cave must have long since departed. She did not come this way."
Talliea bit her lip to hold in her gasp of surprise. She recognized the voice of the second person. It was Markahn. He knew she was missing! Her sense of dread rose tenfold. Conflicting emotions coursed through her. Excitement warred with anxiety while despair raged against apprehension. She could feel Arizira's hair as it tickled her nose and smell the calm, woodsy scent. The other woman's head on her shoulder stoked an unknown flame deep within her. Being crammed into a tiny niche, barely able to breathe or move, was less than her idea of a grand time, but being so wonderfully close to Arizira somehow made up for that in small measure.
"We should return to camp. Perhaps she has returned or been found by another," Lao'dahn suggested. Markahn looked around one last time before sighing and turning to follow his friend back up to the center of the cave.
Arizira remained as she was for another long pause. She followed the sounds of the two Esu's footsteps until she could no longer hear them. Opening her eyes, she blinked a few times and looked up at Talliea. The other woman was biting her lower lip and a stricken look marred her features. Arizira moved and slowly eased away from her. "I will lead you back to your people. Mayhap they will arrive once you are safely back."
Talliea nodded but did not move. "They did not notice our presence, Tah-li. I will have you back soon. Tell them you were out by the stream that runs along the western edge of your settlement." Talliea turned her head to look at Arizira. How much did the Arniran know about her people's whereabouts? She had yet to learn if there were any other Arnira in the area. The only thing that kept her to the belief that there was, was Arizira's talk of 'her people'. She did not speak of them in a passing manner, nor did she come across as one who had lived alone for many seasons. She spoke of her people in a way that led Talliea to believe that there was a whole community of Arnira somewhere in the forest. A tribe.