Seers of Verde: The Legend Fulfilled: Book One (14 page)

2

The watcher broke from her trance and stretched to loosen the muscles in her legs. She was stiff from having been in a meditative cross-legged position for more than three hours. A young aide offered her a goblet of water, as was the custom when a Tarylan Seer came out of a trance.

Eraphia frowned at the interruption, but took a few hasty gulps then hurried down the hallway to report her troubling vision. High Seer Yseni listened to the report with keen interest. Despite barely being of age, the young woman was an experienced Seer.

So far, Eraphia twice had been the first sentinel Seer to detect Tanlian marauders. She had helped deter them from entering Verde Valley and guided them toward the unfortunate others on the other side of the mountain.

Yseni frowned. “Very curious. You say there are eleven hunters starting the trek up Mt. Kiken?” The descendants of the colonists in the large valley called themselves Verdans. They had named their side of the mountain “Kiken.” It meant “danger” in old Earth Japanese.

Eraphia nodded, “Yes, High Seer. I took my time when I felt their presence. The hunter I saw through looked at his group many times. I was able to reach all of them except the female.”

Yseni did not like the change in pattern. For the past two centuries, the Nuvens, which the others on the opposite side of the mountain called themselves, had ventured up Mt. Kiken in groups of ten. All of them were always men. The Seers had been successful at confusing the climbers into seeing things that were not there.

Many times the Nuvens were forced to give up, convinced the fog they thought they saw made the mountain impassable. A few stubborn climbers tried to venture into the imagined fog, but a misstep sent them tumbling to their deaths or serious injury. While regrettable, these incidences helped spawn the belief among many in the hunter society that the mountain was too dangerous to climb.

The Nuvens on the other side of Mt. Kiken were not the only people the Seers monitored. The psychic women also monitored those among their own people who wished to climb and reunite with the “lost ones.”

Despite the Seers’ best efforts, the story of these lost people from the colony seeder ship
Colonia Nueve
had become the stuff of legend among the common Verdan folk. Children were told of the others’ sacrifice when the Tanlians had attacked for the first time. Many youngsters fantasized about climbing the mountain to “rescue” their long-lost comrades.

In an effort to control these overzealous adventurers among their own people, the Seers established the tradition of “blessing” the climbers. In doing so, each climber unknowingly became bonded with a Seer.

The Verdan climbers met the same fate as their Nuven counterparts. The terrible imagined fog and seeming impassible ravines always drove them back to their valley, dejected and defeated. Despite this record of failure, it seemed every generation produced more young Verdans wishing to attempt the dangerous but heroic trek.

These numbers of new climbers had started to put a strain on the Seers’ ability to keep their minds open to sense any Tanlian attack and to monitor those annoying Nuvens, who also insisted on scaling the mountain. And now, a change in the hunters’ pattern was not a good sign. More troubling was the fact that the talented Eraphia had been unable to reach the eleventh member, a woman.

It was unusual for the Nuvens to travel with a woman during a dangerous climb such as this. The Seers never had trouble reaching women in the hunter society. Yseni wanted to know who this female was and why she could not be reached.

“Until we learn more about this group, we will use standard procedure for the climbers,” the High Seer ordered. “Pick the ten best Seers to follow the males and control them when possible.”

Eraphia bowed, but could not mask her confused look. Yseni smiled, “Don’t worry. I have a special task for you, my dear. I want you to continue to try reaching the woman. So far, no hunter has been immune to our ‘sight,’ no matter if they are men or women. Remember, it is vital that all the members of that climbing party be convinced the mountain is too dangerous for them to continue.”

Eraphia nodded. “Yes, High Seer, I understand. I will try my best.” Bowing, she paced out of her superior’s chambers, fully intending to carry out her orders.

Yseni rose from her chair and walked to her window. She gazed at the comings and goings in Fortress Bryann, but her mind was occupied by this strange incident. The High Seer was so deep in thought she did not hear another person who had entered her chambers.

“What is it, Yseni? You look troubled,” a soft voice said behind her. Startled, she began to scold the intruder, but chuckled when she saw it was Zasha, her old childhood friend and confidante.

“Do you remember maybe ten harvests ago or so one of our Seers discovered a Nuven girl we were unable to reach?” the High Seer asked.

Zasha nodded. “Yes, a young girl, a strange one to be living among the hunters. We deemed her to be harmless. What is it? Why do you mention her?”

Yseni repeated what Eraphia had told her about the newest group of hunters attempting to climb Mt. Kiken.

Zasha frowned. “Oh my, a woman with a group of hunters, and unreachable as well! It must be that girl. But why did they bring her with them? This is very out of character for the others,” she said. “I understand why you look so worried. However, Eraphia is one of our most gifted Seers. She certainly will be able to reach her.”

Yseni reached out and clasped her friend’s shoulder. “If Eraphia cannot reach the hunter woman, I want the most talented Seer to try. Those climbers must be stopped.”

“Of course. I will give her every chance before I step in,” Zasha said, gazing out the window. “I do not want to discourage her. Eraphia has shown great promise so far.”

Yseni shook her head while the ramifications of an unreachable hunter coursed through her brain. “If this woman is truly unreachable, we have no other alternative than to have our guards kill the group. They must not discover the pass and find us. That would put all Verdans in danger from the Tanlians.”

Zasha was stunned. Never before had the Seers been faced with such a quandary. The hunters had always been turned away. But, to deliberately send out a troop to kill them was a shocking thought.

“Surely we don’t need to resort to those measures,” Zasha entreated her friend. “If the hunters find their way here, then we can protect them as we have done our own people.”

Yseni shook her head. “No. If the hunters leave their valley then the Tanlians will grow suspicious and be more determined to find where they escaped to. Besides, we have been killing the hunters ever since we settled Verde, though maybe not by our own hands. They have served as our sacrifices to the Tanlians. As unpleasant as it is, the safety of our society depends on the hunters staying in their valley.”

3

The young Nuvens had been climbing for eight days and now were leaving the tree line. Even though the oxygen was growing thinner the higher they trekked, the climbers kept a constant steady pace. This endeavor came naturally to them. Raaf Vonn’s group had the benefit of having descended from a long line of climbers.

They were unaware every time an ancestor strained himself during a climb that the preceding generation was born with the ability to more easily withstand the stress, thanks to the adapator genes they inherited from their clone ancestors. Much to the surprise of Raaf and his circle, Darya kept up. The young woman never complained and even had to be reminded to take necessary sips of water from her canteen when they took breaks.

It was midday when the group neared the summit. The day had begun as bright and sunny, but now the young men were complaining about the darkening skies and the infamous cloud bank that had stopped so many parties of climbers before them.

Raaf and his circle slumped on nearby rocks and cursed their luck. Darya stopped, too, but looked puzzled. “Time for break again?” she asked. “Darya not tired. Want to go.”

Her brother shook his head. “No, Darya, the clouds look threatening. It is getting too dark. We will pitch camp and see what morning brings.”

Darya cocked her head, trying to understand his words. She gazed up the mountain then turned back and looked at Raaf. “I see no clouds. We can go now,” she said matter-of-factly, then set off up the mountain. Raaf muttered an oath as he rose to fetch her.

Darya’s reluctance to take orders and her lack of ability to comprehend basic survival skills were the reasons he had not wanted her to accompany them. However, just as he reached her, she stopped and clasped her hands over her ears. She whirled around, an uncharacteristic frown on her face.

“What is it, Darya?” Raaf asked, forgetting his displeasure with her. His sister looked up at the sky and shook her head violently. Then she looked plaintively at Raaf.

“Make the voice stop, please,” Darya moaned. “Sky not cloudy. Sun is bright. Why does she lie?” Raaf gently put his arm around her and led her back to the group. His circle brothers looked at her quizzically, but went about the business of making camp.

They all had grown up with Darya and were familiar with her unusual abilities and shortcomings. As surrogate brothers, each one of them gladly would have defended the eccentric girl if the need arose.

“Let’s rest and eat,” Raaf said to her. “Maybe the air is making you dizzy. We will try again in the morning.” Darya stumbled over to a rock and sat down. She swayed back and forth with her hands still over her ears.

Every few moments, she would mumble, “No, no, stop. No clouds, no clouds.”

Ganick Nels, one of Raaf’s circle brothers, looked over at the poor girl. “Will she be able to continue?” he asked, concerned.

Raaf shrugged. “I’ve never seen her like this before. It must be the altitude. If she continues like this, I may have to take her back down the mountain until she feels better.”

Juban Caleria, another circle brother, looked at the sky and shook his head in disgust. “If we cannot continue, we all will be escorting her down the mountain. We cannot climb if we cannot see where we step. The weather is just as all the climbers have described it.”

Much to his relief, Raaf saw Darya sitting peacefully, watching a small rodent scurry nearby. She no longer mumbled or clasped her ears. His sister looked up. She looked tired, but smiled. “Voice stop. Darya hungry. Eat, please.”

Ganick and the others laughed, relieved to see she was feeling better. Fearing a storm from the ominous-looking clouds, the group found protection under boulder juttings to make camp. Not much more was said as they broke out the rations, ate their fill, and settled in for the night.

In the morning, Raaf and his brothers cursed when they woke up to a thick fog. They had trouble seeing and shouted to locate each other. Darya was the only one who did not respond. Raaf called her, growing more concerned with the unnerving silence with each passing moment. He stumbled over to her bedroll, but found it neatly rolled up. She apparently had awakened and cleaned up according to the usual practice.

Fearing she had wandered off and gotten lost in the fog, Raaf shouted her name as loudly as he could. He tried to search the area, but his eyes could not pierce the gray, misty shroud that swarmed over his eyes.

Raaf’s circle reconnoitered. They fanned out, taking careful steps in an attempt to cover a large area. Each one took turns calling for Darya and then to each other. Without benefit of the sun, the circle could not tell how much time they had been searching. Several brothers were growing hoarse.

Fearing they would lose each other, the circle called all its members back together. With no sign or sound from Darya, they reluctantly made their way back to camp. Famished, the other circle brothers ate in silence while Raaf sat hunched against a rock. He was exhausted and too sick with worry to eat anything.

“She might have wondered off after her toilet and is waiting for us to find her,” Ganick said, trying to ease Raaf’s fears. Raaf rocked back and forth on his haunches and grunted an irritable “maybe” in response.

The others were almost finished with their meal when a soft scuffling sound made them stop. The young men drew their knives as a precaution and stared into the gloom. A familiar voice cut through the fog. It was so close, a startled Raaf jumped up and hit his head on an overhang.

“Darya hungry, too. I eat now, please.” Raaf crept toward the voice and almost bumped into his sister before he saw her standing in front of him.

“Darya, where have you been? We’ve been calling for you for hours,” he said, relieved, but a little angry. Ganick scrambled over and offered her some food. The other brothers also surrounded her, curious where she had gone. The young men could barely contain themselves as she took great care in finishing her meal.

“Why Raaf and others not climb today?” she asked in her usual emotionless voice. “You act strange. Is Raaf sick?”

Her brother was dumbfounded. “You left, but we couldn’t find you in this fog.”

Darya looked at him and shrugged. “I can see. Darya go for walk after I tell voice to stop. I find path in mountain. It’s pretty.”

Raaf gasped. “You can see? How? A path in the mountain?”

Darya said nothing, but pulled out her sketchpad and began to draw. Even in the murky imagined grayness, the circle brothers watched as she traced a mountain and then her sharpened charcoal stick created a gentle gap that sloped down the mountainside.

The young men stared in wonder at the extremely detailed drawing. No one accused her of making up the scene because they all knew Darya only drew what she saw. She was incapable of imagination or interpretation. Raaf did not understand how his sister was able to do such a thing or if she had found a gap through the mountains. Now it was time for the strong twin to trust the weaker one.

“Show me,” he said, taking a deep, trembling breath.

Darya smiled. “I show Raaf.” She took her brother by the hand and led him into the dense fog. The other circle brothers watched the two siblings disappear. Too stunned to say anything, they sat down to wait and to hope Raaf and Darya would be able to return.