Rue learnt gradually that the woman was named Luania and her husband Farsu.
They were farmers of the northern plains at Drowned Man's head, a desolate
desert of bitter shrubs and hot winters. Apparently, it was good for
growing pears. Although Rue didn't know what pears were, she listened to
the conversation and assisted Karm with the healing process. It was true
that Farsu was in a very bad way. It seemed that his nose was permanently
damaged due to a combination of many broken bones and many battles. His leg
was bad too and Karm had to 'operate' on it. It wasn't a pleasant
experience. Karm sliced his flesh open and inserted some fresh herbal
compounds and, although Farsu was drugged heavily with sleeping stuff, Rue
could see him twitch every time Karm tweaked a nerve.
Luania had to be dragged outside so she could stop screaming. She screamed that Karm was a murderer and she regretted ever letting her in her home. Rue could only restrain her and make shushing noises to calm her down. But every half-sunstep, she would launch into a new explosion of screams. It took most of Rue's strength to keep her seated for the rest of the evening.
When Farsu's leg was splinted and his nose covered in a complex bandage, they sat in the back of a cart while Luania coaxed their stubborn mule up a hill. In the back of the cart, there were some of the fruit she called pears. Rue munched on one happily as the mule trudged reluctantly up the hill, admiring the sweet sugary substance beneath the skin compared to the soggy vegetables they received at the Echorium. Karm seemed relaxed and willing to tell Farsu everything about the Echorium and their journey. When she reached the episode with the merlee, she decided it was time for another lecture on half-creatures and she invited Farsu and Luania to listen. They were both intrigued.
Then it was time for fohl, a substance she recognised. Still cautious of it, she sipped it in small doses, noticing that Karm continued to fill Farsu's gourd repeatedly until he was snoring. Rue asked why.
"Although fohl can usually do nothing good to a body, it is surprisingly healing when the body suffers injuries like this one has." She glanced at Farsu and the silhouette of Luania arguing with the mule against a pearly moon and perfect sky. Content, Rue began to feel the effects of the fohl herself and, before she even knew it, she was walking the corridors of dreams.
*
It was dawn before she awoke. The mule was still plodding placidly up the steep hill, which had grown considerably since the night before. Rue could now see it was a mountain they were climbing with broad pathways eroded into the side. Luania must have done something severe to tame the obstinate mule up the mountain.
Farsu was still slumbering peacefully on the sacks of pears, covered by an empty one. Karm was seated up front with Luania. They were talking cheerfully. The girl prodded Karm between the shoulder blades and jumped beside her. Startled, the healer turned round instinctively and saw Rue grinning.
"Oh. So you're up now. It's nearly noon, you know! And we need you for the next bit."
Luania felt around behind her while still controlling the mule. She thrust an aged parchment at Karm who showed Rue.
"This is a map of the Quetzal Forest. I know what you're thinking. We are going to the Isle of Slaves and I can tell you that Counticus Jeremia lives on the banks of the Black River, near River Meet, down south. We're going to the Quetzal Forest because Luania says she has something that could help us: an ancient species of half-creature, the naga, has now moved to the Quetzal Forest and has observed the behaviour of the quetzals there. She has also visited the Isle of Slaves. She could tell us a lot." She guided Rue's gaze with her finger, northeast to the source of the Red-River and off down a minute stream to the centre of a huge forest. "We shall be taking a boat into this lake, here." She paused to indicate the lake. ".This lake is called the Nasiacorttquos. In old Horselord times, the name meant 'Home of Serpent-People' and we assume the 'Serpent-People' are the naga. There used to be a great many half-creatures around the Purple Plains and the Western Sea but our ancestors could only save the remaining few with the Treaty - you remember the Half-creature Treaty, yes? - The mainlanders captured them, killed them and traded some of their valuable body parts for good money. It took some persuading to stop them.
"Anyway, the naga were affected most by the slaughter. They were believed to have legendary powers and any that possessed even a scale from the creature would have eternal luck. This was nonsense, of course. But the most gullible of men sought them and nearly destroyed there species. Naga live for a long time, several centuries, in fact. They have the knowledge that could help us stop the quetzal on the Isle of Slaves."
After she had caught up with the explanation, Rue questioned Karm as to how she could help, for Karm herself could communicate with half- creatures. Karm shook her head.
"You forget that I am part of a pentad, Rue. I am trained to protect the Second Singer so I have been here before. Maybe not in these areas but I have tried to talk with the naga before. They can't understand me. They will probably understand you."
'How do you know?' she asked.
"I just do." For the rest of the day, Karm continued to lecture Rue on the naga and the merlee whilst tending to Farsu and his injuries. The mule, Obstik, was calm and obedient from then on. Eating pears, the party travelled until dark settled on the mountain and an opaque mist seeped around them mysteriously. Obstik lost his nerve and began to complain and stop occasionally. Everyone was tense, even Farsu in his condition. If Obstik strayed too near the edge they would all scream and Luania would jerk on the reins and guide him back to the path. Staying close to the mountain, Farsu squinted at a map through the fog and tried to direct Luania to a safe place where they could rest.
They were all exhausted and damp from the mist to watch anything closely. Even Obstik was wandering and no one stopped him. To Rue's horror, she was the only one awake nearly a sunstep after dark. Luania nodded and swayed, letting the reins gradually slither away from her hands. Rue squeaked and lurched forward, trying to catch the reins. Obstik grunted as she caught them and tugged them abruptly back. In surprise, he trotted to the right and collided with the mountain. Something shattered beneath the cart, the wheels collapsed and the whole timber structure tilted precariously. Pears bounced around the path and dropped over the edge in their dozens.
Rue tumbled off the cart and attempted to gather the pears into their sacks again but they just kept toppling off the edge, cavorting in the air briefly and disappearing into the layers of mist before she could catch any. She could now here distant thuds as the pears splattered in the forest below. Squeaking despairingly, Rue shook Karm vigorously to try and wake her with one hand and steered Obstik away from the edge with the other.
Obstik snorted and thumped the ground with his large, powerful hooves, unfamiliar to his new inexperienced handler. With a roar, he trotted swiftly to the left and accidentally plunged over the edge with another flood of pears.
Rue knelt among the pears and sobbed. All of Farsu's lovely pears springing off the mountain in torrents and now his mule! Every time she blinked, the scene replayed in her mind. Before she could pull herself together enough to see that the cart was being dragged slowly after Obstik, she too was tumbling off the mountain with all the pears. A plump, very hard fruit thumped her on the skull as she fell and she remembered nothing after that. Everything was dim and vague but she was sure it wasn't just the mist.
*
It was painful to open her eyes when she flooded back to consciousness. She was limp and fragile, but she felt comfortably slumped on something soft and bouncy that seemed weightless. She was back in her cabin on the ship and none of the awful episode on the mountain had ever happened. She had just followed the Second Singer back to the Wavesong and slept through the night.
Happy and relaxed, Rue shifted position in her sheets and prepared to fall asleep again. But a relentless cramp in her neck stopped her. Then her left leg began to twitch and ache. Her entire torso began to throb next and soon it was impossible to lie still for a matter of seconds without something hurting. Irritated, she pushed herself out of bed and began to walk towards the door. But no floor met the soles of her feet. Instead, she began to tumble down again. Assuming it was another nightmare, she flicked open her eyes and tried to shake herself out of it. She saw random streaks of green and brown, like bad soup. It wouldn't go away.
Now she was scared. Silently screaming to her lungs capacity and cart wheeling in the air, she fell. Then something did meet her, so abruptly that she couldn't feel anything after the impact. Nothing was as hard as that something. No floor was that hard.
After a few minutes of reconnecting everything in her body with her senses, she stirred. She hadn't felt such agony since she had deliberately stamped her anger on the floor at the Echorium and her foot had 'snapped'. It was so painful that she refused herself and lay there for another few minutes. She thought she could lay there forever.
Eventually, everything began to twinge painfully again. Rue slowly clambered to her feet, feeling unstable and giddy. She sat down again and checked that nothing was broken or sprained. To her relief, it seemed nothing serious had occurred during her fall. She looked up and gasped.
Above her, a solid roof of foliage layered the dark skies until only small beams of moonlight sprinkled the forest floor. The canopy was so high above her that she was temporarily shocked that anything could stand that tall. She couldn't believe that such flimsy trunks could hold the huge mass of leaves and endless branches sweeping across the sky. The shock was helped by the fact she had never actually stood in a forest before, because she was used to the beach, wind and sea.
The past began to return to her, not unlike how she had recovered from the merlee incident. Miserable, she inspected the debris of cart littering the floor and all the squashed pears. Taking a mildly squashed one, she absentmindedly chewed it and pondered on what to do. What worried her most was that she couldn't see any of her friends, Luania, Farsu or Karm. It scared her badly.
She anxiously thought back to when she had fallen, barely awake and still thinking she was on the Wavesong. She remembered something soft and comforting, like cushions, and a weird smell. After thinking for some time, she realised she must have been resting on the canopy, unbalanced herself and plunged to earth yet again. She gazed upwards and winced. It was a huge drop from the lumps of leaf overhead but the trees had saved her and her friends so she should be grateful. She silently thanked them.
She thought of how to get them down, surprisingly calm. It was probably that she was in enough trouble that it couldn't get any worse. The only logical thing to do was climb up the nearest tree and carry them down separately.
Her first attempt was unsuccessful. She simply tumbled down the tree and got even more bruised than before. Her second was easier and she just managed to save herself from another direct fall by grabbing onto twigs as she dropped like a rock past the flimsy trunks. Her third was even worse. But she managed to reach the canopy on her fourth effort and locate each of her friends laid peacefully in the branches. Then she had to get them down. From the dizzy heights of the canopy, Rue surveyed the landscape before her. The peaks of the forest, like a green floor below her, continued to dominate the land for several miles in each direction. There was just a sliver of aquamarine on the horizon to suggest that the coast could be nearby. The treacherous mountain loomed threateningly as usual. But it seemed safer at its huge base.
Still considering how to get everyone down, Rue contemplated on the situation. There was no possible way in their current position to reach Counticus Jeremia in the next few days. There were usually remote coastal villages fishing for trade around every few miles by the sea. If they were lucky, there might be one around. Then they could get help. She also yearned to see the ocean again. She didn't know why.
She carefully scrambled over to Karm. Apart from a few grazes, she seemed unharmed. Relieved but cautious, she began to carry her down. Rue held her limp body with knees slung over one arm and arms over the other. This way, she could still use her hands to clamber down.
She was exceedingly surprised at how easy it was. Although she was petrified of slipping, it seemed that she manage Karm's weight effortlessly. And it wasn't just that Karm was slim.
She descended the tree in pure stiff terror which didn't help her climbing abilities. When she finally reached the bottom, Karm was murmuring and recovering rapidly. She deposited her in the splintered remains of the cart and nudged her gently, blowing on her face. Karm muttered again before tenderly opening her eyes and massaging her temples. Joyous, Rue tried to explain but she just waved her away.
"Not now, Rue. I can't think. Can you bring me a pear, please?" Hurt, Rue plodded around and discovered a collection of good pears under one of the trees. After faithfully dropping some pears into her lap, she watched Karm suck the moisture from a few and gnaw on the skin, juice escaping from her mouth and down her chin. Relaxed and settled, she began to talk.
"What happened, Rue? Where are we, where's the cart and where's Luania and Farsu?"
Ashamedly, Rue related the story and answered Karm's questions. She was preparing for a good scolding. And she knew she deserved it.
"Oh well. It was an accident. But I don't know what we can expect from Farsu. We've practically destroyed everything: his cart, his trade, and we don't even know where Obstik is. It's a bit of a disaster, isn't it, Rue?"
Rue protested vividly that it was her fault entirely and she should be punished. Karm smiled sleepily.
"That's very honourable, Rue, but I'm sure they'll understand. They're good people and these aren't the days when masters thrashed their slaves." She leant forward and clasped Rue's tearful face in her soft, warm hands. "Anyway, I'm not your master and you're not my slave." She paused and relaxed. "If you really are feeling honourable, scout around for some water, a small stream would do."
Rue asked about Luania and Farsu. Karm soothed her and assured her they would be fine until she had enough strength to help. Rue jogged into the forest on a quest for water.
She listened to the sound of the forest. It was sunrise. Little cheerful swallows were cavorting like the children of the merlee in the bright skies. Slowly, the animals stirred and the nocturnal creatures retreated to their homes, away from the sun. Rue thought happily that she could grow to like the forest. It was a very musical place, with the birds chorusing and the leaves nudging each other and conversing in soft whispers. It was like the First year's laughter as they rolled around on the beach on sunny days.
She did find a stream. It wriggled out from under a huge rock like a serpent and continued to wriggle until it stopped at a huge lake. Rue was very surprised to sea the huge lake. She wondered if it was possible that it could be Nasiacorttquos, the home of the naga. She shook her head. It couldn't be.
She tasted the water in the lake and discovered that it was clean and thoroughly refreshing. It was like the sweetest dessert to her lips. As she knelt greedily by the lake and slurped the water from her cupped palms, she received a distinct feeling that something was nearby. Flicking her head up and searching the forest around the lake, Rue noticed a figure between the trunks. Waving frantically, she approached it, smearing the water around her mouth with her sleeve. The creature darted away with surprising agility.
Rue pursued it in a wide circuit around the lake, exercising her stiff muscles. It seemed to wait for her behind trees until she noticed it and then dart on. She thought this suspicious. She wished she could shout something threatening to make it stop because she knew it couldn't be an animal, even a deer. She could see the silhouette of a human head on it's shoulders when light forced it's way through the compact spaces between the trees.
Eventually, she stopped exhausted. The thing was too darn fast for her. Disappointed but very tired from the chase, Rue didn't realise the thing had stopped in front of her until the last moment before it escpaed again. It was very close. As it tried to sprint away, she snatched it's wrist and yanked it back. It whinnied and moaned and protested. Oh no you don't! she yelled triumphantly, or rather tried to in her head. I've got you now!
Twohoof please let go! Won't play any no more! It panicked frantically, thrashing her shins with accurate kicks from dozens of legs. She squeaked. No! Stop! she screamed. She collapsed on the loamy forest floor, breathing heavily. She hurt so much around her legs that she wasn't even sure they were there. The feeling there was distorted .It gave a few more blows as she lay there in defeat. Then it stopped.
Twohoof well? it enquired. There was possibly a note of worry in their voice. She thought it was a stupid question to ask after it had just kicked her senseless but she lay there, muttering in her head. That hurt, oh, HURTING! Leave me alone, you great leggy rabbit! How many legs have you got, anyway? Ten!
Four. And Sord not rabbit! Sord centaur! There was pride this time. It took a little thinking for Rue to catch up and realise that the creature could understand her. She was struck with immense excitement. Something could understand her? Even if it was dumb, it still could.
Can you understand me? Rue asked slowly in her head, hoping she hadn't lost the ability to communicate already. She had her eyes closed and her face pressed into the leaf litter but she could hear it still, clearly.
Yes. Course Sord understand. Twohoof one of centaurs. Didn't know?
What? Centaurs don't exist. And I'm not a centaur. Now she was really puzzled.
But you talk Herd. Why twohoof talk Herd if not centaur?
I don't know! I haven't got four legs, have I? There was a pause, as if the 'centaur' was inspecting her legs. You are really twohoof.but you no kick! You.Sord don't understand.
Yeah, well, if you're being nice then could you just help me up? You kicked most of the life out of me.
To her surprise, a small clammy hand tugged her to her feet. She looked at the sprightly creature and automatically felt like keeling over again. It was a centaur. It had four thin legs, like a horse, and a human torso sprouting weirdly from where it's neck should have been. It was coloured lilac with a round, gaunt face like a young boy. It was smaller than she had expected. But it was still very scary to see something so strange, which such huge eyes.
Sorry Sord kick twohoof. Centaur instinct. It was obvious that the centaur was just and infant. He stumbled over the word 'instinct' although Rue thought it could have been his queer accent.
I didn't think centaurs existed.but.you must be a centaur. What else could you be? The two species looked at each other warily, not sure about each other.
Don't speak twohoof speak! Sord no understand strange twohoof when twohoof speak long funny twohoof! Speak Herd. You centaur! Sord know!
I'm not a centaur! Just because I can speak with you doesn't mean I'm your species! And I'm not strange, you are!
Sord normal centaur! Twohoof.well.twohoof! Twohoof strange.
I'm not strange! Shuttup! The two scowled menacingly, each understanding little about the other. Rue decided to stop arguing and try and calm things down. She didn't want to repeat the strange kicking section of their conversation.
Sorry. I suppose we are just different. That's why we don't understand each other. I'm Rue, a human. And you're Sord, yes?
Sord's huge scary eyes glared at her. Suppose. Yes.
You can kick well. Very hard too. Rue decided to lower her vocabulary when talking to Sord. It seemed he was very young.
Sord looked proud and he stamped and twirled his sleek black tail.
Sord champion kick! See flying snake! He flailed his two fore hooves while balancing skilfully on his hind legs. Rue was impressed.
Wow! What else can you do? Kicks, I mean, she exclaimed, deciding to humour him while she controlled the situation. But she couldn't help being impressed.
Errr.snake. He demonstrated. Flying snake. Hare. Double hare. And Dragonfly. He performed each one and waited to see Rue's expression. Rue grinned and nodded each time. Sord's pride seemed to swell.
Canyon! Canyon use for Herdstones! Crack mountainside and Herdstone fall out! Can't proper Canyon yet. Not big enough. At this he seemed miserable. But he soon perked up again and showed her an impressive Canyon attempt. She could feel the rock beneath her tremor disturbingly. This got her thinking. Sord knelt like a horse would do and watched her.
What do twohoof do? Any kick?
No. We don't kick. We.use our hands mostly. She held her palms out and explained. We use our hands for lots of things. We write and work things and.um. She was desperately trying to match Sord's display but it didn't work. Twohooves do nothing really. But we use technology!
Tequwanollooogee.
Yes! Something like that. Um.like this! She produced some knitting needles and thread from her Echorium clothes and began to prepare the knitting. See! You pull this through here.like that.and then this loop.like that.and.there! Stitches.
Sord looked incredulously at the beginning of her knitting. What it do? Kill animal like twohoof sharps? Rue bowed her head. I've never used anything sharp like that. Never want to. It's horrible and gruesome. I'd never understand if a.twohoof killed another creature.
But twohoof not creature. Centaurs creature. Animals creature. But twohoof not creature. Twohoof barbacy.
Humans are not barbaric! And we are creatures! We just.misunderstand other creatures. Here, look! She seized Sord's slender lilac hand and compared it to her own. He visibly flinched. See! We are not that different. Except you have four legs and we have two! I will agree, some twohoofs are barbaric but some aren't. I would never kill and animal. Or you.
She realised that she was still holding his hand after the speech and she released it embarrassed. Sord was looking thoughtfully at her. Show Sord what them do, he asked quietly, pointing to the knitting needles. For hours it seemed, the two young creatures compared their lives, like Rue had compared their hands, while she knitted. Her knitting got quite long by the time they ran out of conversation. By then she thought of Karm, still lying in the forest amid the cart. She thought of something suddenly. Do you have anything like a gourd? Something you carry water in? Anything? Sord shook his head. Oh. Well, here. She finished her knitting with a few knots and passed it to Sord. We call it a scarf. It keeps the cold out. You wear it round your neck, see? She looped it round his neck and he smiled. Great twohoof gift! Sord keep forever! Thankyou.
Thankyou to you too. And they departed from the forest in separate directions, each thinking solemnly about the other and wondering whether they would ever meet again.
*
Luania had to be dragged outside so she could stop screaming. She screamed that Karm was a murderer and she regretted ever letting her in her home. Rue could only restrain her and make shushing noises to calm her down. But every half-sunstep, she would launch into a new explosion of screams. It took most of Rue's strength to keep her seated for the rest of the evening.
When Farsu's leg was splinted and his nose covered in a complex bandage, they sat in the back of a cart while Luania coaxed their stubborn mule up a hill. In the back of the cart, there were some of the fruit she called pears. Rue munched on one happily as the mule trudged reluctantly up the hill, admiring the sweet sugary substance beneath the skin compared to the soggy vegetables they received at the Echorium. Karm seemed relaxed and willing to tell Farsu everything about the Echorium and their journey. When she reached the episode with the merlee, she decided it was time for another lecture on half-creatures and she invited Farsu and Luania to listen. They were both intrigued.
Then it was time for fohl, a substance she recognised. Still cautious of it, she sipped it in small doses, noticing that Karm continued to fill Farsu's gourd repeatedly until he was snoring. Rue asked why.
"Although fohl can usually do nothing good to a body, it is surprisingly healing when the body suffers injuries like this one has." She glanced at Farsu and the silhouette of Luania arguing with the mule against a pearly moon and perfect sky. Content, Rue began to feel the effects of the fohl herself and, before she even knew it, she was walking the corridors of dreams.
*
It was dawn before she awoke. The mule was still plodding placidly up the steep hill, which had grown considerably since the night before. Rue could now see it was a mountain they were climbing with broad pathways eroded into the side. Luania must have done something severe to tame the obstinate mule up the mountain.
Farsu was still slumbering peacefully on the sacks of pears, covered by an empty one. Karm was seated up front with Luania. They were talking cheerfully. The girl prodded Karm between the shoulder blades and jumped beside her. Startled, the healer turned round instinctively and saw Rue grinning.
"Oh. So you're up now. It's nearly noon, you know! And we need you for the next bit."
Luania felt around behind her while still controlling the mule. She thrust an aged parchment at Karm who showed Rue.
"This is a map of the Quetzal Forest. I know what you're thinking. We are going to the Isle of Slaves and I can tell you that Counticus Jeremia lives on the banks of the Black River, near River Meet, down south. We're going to the Quetzal Forest because Luania says she has something that could help us: an ancient species of half-creature, the naga, has now moved to the Quetzal Forest and has observed the behaviour of the quetzals there. She has also visited the Isle of Slaves. She could tell us a lot." She guided Rue's gaze with her finger, northeast to the source of the Red-River and off down a minute stream to the centre of a huge forest. "We shall be taking a boat into this lake, here." She paused to indicate the lake. ".This lake is called the Nasiacorttquos. In old Horselord times, the name meant 'Home of Serpent-People' and we assume the 'Serpent-People' are the naga. There used to be a great many half-creatures around the Purple Plains and the Western Sea but our ancestors could only save the remaining few with the Treaty - you remember the Half-creature Treaty, yes? - The mainlanders captured them, killed them and traded some of their valuable body parts for good money. It took some persuading to stop them.
"Anyway, the naga were affected most by the slaughter. They were believed to have legendary powers and any that possessed even a scale from the creature would have eternal luck. This was nonsense, of course. But the most gullible of men sought them and nearly destroyed there species. Naga live for a long time, several centuries, in fact. They have the knowledge that could help us stop the quetzal on the Isle of Slaves."
After she had caught up with the explanation, Rue questioned Karm as to how she could help, for Karm herself could communicate with half- creatures. Karm shook her head.
"You forget that I am part of a pentad, Rue. I am trained to protect the Second Singer so I have been here before. Maybe not in these areas but I have tried to talk with the naga before. They can't understand me. They will probably understand you."
'How do you know?' she asked.
"I just do." For the rest of the day, Karm continued to lecture Rue on the naga and the merlee whilst tending to Farsu and his injuries. The mule, Obstik, was calm and obedient from then on. Eating pears, the party travelled until dark settled on the mountain and an opaque mist seeped around them mysteriously. Obstik lost his nerve and began to complain and stop occasionally. Everyone was tense, even Farsu in his condition. If Obstik strayed too near the edge they would all scream and Luania would jerk on the reins and guide him back to the path. Staying close to the mountain, Farsu squinted at a map through the fog and tried to direct Luania to a safe place where they could rest.
They were all exhausted and damp from the mist to watch anything closely. Even Obstik was wandering and no one stopped him. To Rue's horror, she was the only one awake nearly a sunstep after dark. Luania nodded and swayed, letting the reins gradually slither away from her hands. Rue squeaked and lurched forward, trying to catch the reins. Obstik grunted as she caught them and tugged them abruptly back. In surprise, he trotted to the right and collided with the mountain. Something shattered beneath the cart, the wheels collapsed and the whole timber structure tilted precariously. Pears bounced around the path and dropped over the edge in their dozens.
Rue tumbled off the cart and attempted to gather the pears into their sacks again but they just kept toppling off the edge, cavorting in the air briefly and disappearing into the layers of mist before she could catch any. She could now here distant thuds as the pears splattered in the forest below. Squeaking despairingly, Rue shook Karm vigorously to try and wake her with one hand and steered Obstik away from the edge with the other.
Obstik snorted and thumped the ground with his large, powerful hooves, unfamiliar to his new inexperienced handler. With a roar, he trotted swiftly to the left and accidentally plunged over the edge with another flood of pears.
Rue knelt among the pears and sobbed. All of Farsu's lovely pears springing off the mountain in torrents and now his mule! Every time she blinked, the scene replayed in her mind. Before she could pull herself together enough to see that the cart was being dragged slowly after Obstik, she too was tumbling off the mountain with all the pears. A plump, very hard fruit thumped her on the skull as she fell and she remembered nothing after that. Everything was dim and vague but she was sure it wasn't just the mist.
*
It was painful to open her eyes when she flooded back to consciousness. She was limp and fragile, but she felt comfortably slumped on something soft and bouncy that seemed weightless. She was back in her cabin on the ship and none of the awful episode on the mountain had ever happened. She had just followed the Second Singer back to the Wavesong and slept through the night.
Happy and relaxed, Rue shifted position in her sheets and prepared to fall asleep again. But a relentless cramp in her neck stopped her. Then her left leg began to twitch and ache. Her entire torso began to throb next and soon it was impossible to lie still for a matter of seconds without something hurting. Irritated, she pushed herself out of bed and began to walk towards the door. But no floor met the soles of her feet. Instead, she began to tumble down again. Assuming it was another nightmare, she flicked open her eyes and tried to shake herself out of it. She saw random streaks of green and brown, like bad soup. It wouldn't go away.
Now she was scared. Silently screaming to her lungs capacity and cart wheeling in the air, she fell. Then something did meet her, so abruptly that she couldn't feel anything after the impact. Nothing was as hard as that something. No floor was that hard.
After a few minutes of reconnecting everything in her body with her senses, she stirred. She hadn't felt such agony since she had deliberately stamped her anger on the floor at the Echorium and her foot had 'snapped'. It was so painful that she refused herself and lay there for another few minutes. She thought she could lay there forever.
Eventually, everything began to twinge painfully again. Rue slowly clambered to her feet, feeling unstable and giddy. She sat down again and checked that nothing was broken or sprained. To her relief, it seemed nothing serious had occurred during her fall. She looked up and gasped.
Above her, a solid roof of foliage layered the dark skies until only small beams of moonlight sprinkled the forest floor. The canopy was so high above her that she was temporarily shocked that anything could stand that tall. She couldn't believe that such flimsy trunks could hold the huge mass of leaves and endless branches sweeping across the sky. The shock was helped by the fact she had never actually stood in a forest before, because she was used to the beach, wind and sea.
The past began to return to her, not unlike how she had recovered from the merlee incident. Miserable, she inspected the debris of cart littering the floor and all the squashed pears. Taking a mildly squashed one, she absentmindedly chewed it and pondered on what to do. What worried her most was that she couldn't see any of her friends, Luania, Farsu or Karm. It scared her badly.
She anxiously thought back to when she had fallen, barely awake and still thinking she was on the Wavesong. She remembered something soft and comforting, like cushions, and a weird smell. After thinking for some time, she realised she must have been resting on the canopy, unbalanced herself and plunged to earth yet again. She gazed upwards and winced. It was a huge drop from the lumps of leaf overhead but the trees had saved her and her friends so she should be grateful. She silently thanked them.
She thought of how to get them down, surprisingly calm. It was probably that she was in enough trouble that it couldn't get any worse. The only logical thing to do was climb up the nearest tree and carry them down separately.
Her first attempt was unsuccessful. She simply tumbled down the tree and got even more bruised than before. Her second was easier and she just managed to save herself from another direct fall by grabbing onto twigs as she dropped like a rock past the flimsy trunks. Her third was even worse. But she managed to reach the canopy on her fourth effort and locate each of her friends laid peacefully in the branches. Then she had to get them down. From the dizzy heights of the canopy, Rue surveyed the landscape before her. The peaks of the forest, like a green floor below her, continued to dominate the land for several miles in each direction. There was just a sliver of aquamarine on the horizon to suggest that the coast could be nearby. The treacherous mountain loomed threateningly as usual. But it seemed safer at its huge base.
Still considering how to get everyone down, Rue contemplated on the situation. There was no possible way in their current position to reach Counticus Jeremia in the next few days. There were usually remote coastal villages fishing for trade around every few miles by the sea. If they were lucky, there might be one around. Then they could get help. She also yearned to see the ocean again. She didn't know why.
She carefully scrambled over to Karm. Apart from a few grazes, she seemed unharmed. Relieved but cautious, she began to carry her down. Rue held her limp body with knees slung over one arm and arms over the other. This way, she could still use her hands to clamber down.
She was exceedingly surprised at how easy it was. Although she was petrified of slipping, it seemed that she manage Karm's weight effortlessly. And it wasn't just that Karm was slim.
She descended the tree in pure stiff terror which didn't help her climbing abilities. When she finally reached the bottom, Karm was murmuring and recovering rapidly. She deposited her in the splintered remains of the cart and nudged her gently, blowing on her face. Karm muttered again before tenderly opening her eyes and massaging her temples. Joyous, Rue tried to explain but she just waved her away.
"Not now, Rue. I can't think. Can you bring me a pear, please?" Hurt, Rue plodded around and discovered a collection of good pears under one of the trees. After faithfully dropping some pears into her lap, she watched Karm suck the moisture from a few and gnaw on the skin, juice escaping from her mouth and down her chin. Relaxed and settled, she began to talk.
"What happened, Rue? Where are we, where's the cart and where's Luania and Farsu?"
Ashamedly, Rue related the story and answered Karm's questions. She was preparing for a good scolding. And she knew she deserved it.
"Oh well. It was an accident. But I don't know what we can expect from Farsu. We've practically destroyed everything: his cart, his trade, and we don't even know where Obstik is. It's a bit of a disaster, isn't it, Rue?"
Rue protested vividly that it was her fault entirely and she should be punished. Karm smiled sleepily.
"That's very honourable, Rue, but I'm sure they'll understand. They're good people and these aren't the days when masters thrashed their slaves." She leant forward and clasped Rue's tearful face in her soft, warm hands. "Anyway, I'm not your master and you're not my slave." She paused and relaxed. "If you really are feeling honourable, scout around for some water, a small stream would do."
Rue asked about Luania and Farsu. Karm soothed her and assured her they would be fine until she had enough strength to help. Rue jogged into the forest on a quest for water.
She listened to the sound of the forest. It was sunrise. Little cheerful swallows were cavorting like the children of the merlee in the bright skies. Slowly, the animals stirred and the nocturnal creatures retreated to their homes, away from the sun. Rue thought happily that she could grow to like the forest. It was a very musical place, with the birds chorusing and the leaves nudging each other and conversing in soft whispers. It was like the First year's laughter as they rolled around on the beach on sunny days.
She did find a stream. It wriggled out from under a huge rock like a serpent and continued to wriggle until it stopped at a huge lake. Rue was very surprised to sea the huge lake. She wondered if it was possible that it could be Nasiacorttquos, the home of the naga. She shook her head. It couldn't be.
She tasted the water in the lake and discovered that it was clean and thoroughly refreshing. It was like the sweetest dessert to her lips. As she knelt greedily by the lake and slurped the water from her cupped palms, she received a distinct feeling that something was nearby. Flicking her head up and searching the forest around the lake, Rue noticed a figure between the trunks. Waving frantically, she approached it, smearing the water around her mouth with her sleeve. The creature darted away with surprising agility.
Rue pursued it in a wide circuit around the lake, exercising her stiff muscles. It seemed to wait for her behind trees until she noticed it and then dart on. She thought this suspicious. She wished she could shout something threatening to make it stop because she knew it couldn't be an animal, even a deer. She could see the silhouette of a human head on it's shoulders when light forced it's way through the compact spaces between the trees.
Eventually, she stopped exhausted. The thing was too darn fast for her. Disappointed but very tired from the chase, Rue didn't realise the thing had stopped in front of her until the last moment before it escpaed again. It was very close. As it tried to sprint away, she snatched it's wrist and yanked it back. It whinnied and moaned and protested. Oh no you don't! she yelled triumphantly, or rather tried to in her head. I've got you now!
Twohoof please let go! Won't play any no more! It panicked frantically, thrashing her shins with accurate kicks from dozens of legs. She squeaked. No! Stop! she screamed. She collapsed on the loamy forest floor, breathing heavily. She hurt so much around her legs that she wasn't even sure they were there. The feeling there was distorted .It gave a few more blows as she lay there in defeat. Then it stopped.
Twohoof well? it enquired. There was possibly a note of worry in their voice. She thought it was a stupid question to ask after it had just kicked her senseless but she lay there, muttering in her head. That hurt, oh, HURTING! Leave me alone, you great leggy rabbit! How many legs have you got, anyway? Ten!
Four. And Sord not rabbit! Sord centaur! There was pride this time. It took a little thinking for Rue to catch up and realise that the creature could understand her. She was struck with immense excitement. Something could understand her? Even if it was dumb, it still could.
Can you understand me? Rue asked slowly in her head, hoping she hadn't lost the ability to communicate already. She had her eyes closed and her face pressed into the leaf litter but she could hear it still, clearly.
Yes. Course Sord understand. Twohoof one of centaurs. Didn't know?
What? Centaurs don't exist. And I'm not a centaur. Now she was really puzzled.
But you talk Herd. Why twohoof talk Herd if not centaur?
I don't know! I haven't got four legs, have I? There was a pause, as if the 'centaur' was inspecting her legs. You are really twohoof.but you no kick! You.Sord don't understand.
Yeah, well, if you're being nice then could you just help me up? You kicked most of the life out of me.
To her surprise, a small clammy hand tugged her to her feet. She looked at the sprightly creature and automatically felt like keeling over again. It was a centaur. It had four thin legs, like a horse, and a human torso sprouting weirdly from where it's neck should have been. It was coloured lilac with a round, gaunt face like a young boy. It was smaller than she had expected. But it was still very scary to see something so strange, which such huge eyes.
Sorry Sord kick twohoof. Centaur instinct. It was obvious that the centaur was just and infant. He stumbled over the word 'instinct' although Rue thought it could have been his queer accent.
I didn't think centaurs existed.but.you must be a centaur. What else could you be? The two species looked at each other warily, not sure about each other.
Don't speak twohoof speak! Sord no understand strange twohoof when twohoof speak long funny twohoof! Speak Herd. You centaur! Sord know!
I'm not a centaur! Just because I can speak with you doesn't mean I'm your species! And I'm not strange, you are!
Sord normal centaur! Twohoof.well.twohoof! Twohoof strange.
I'm not strange! Shuttup! The two scowled menacingly, each understanding little about the other. Rue decided to stop arguing and try and calm things down. She didn't want to repeat the strange kicking section of their conversation.
Sorry. I suppose we are just different. That's why we don't understand each other. I'm Rue, a human. And you're Sord, yes?
Sord's huge scary eyes glared at her. Suppose. Yes.
You can kick well. Very hard too. Rue decided to lower her vocabulary when talking to Sord. It seemed he was very young.
Sord looked proud and he stamped and twirled his sleek black tail.
Sord champion kick! See flying snake! He flailed his two fore hooves while balancing skilfully on his hind legs. Rue was impressed.
Wow! What else can you do? Kicks, I mean, she exclaimed, deciding to humour him while she controlled the situation. But she couldn't help being impressed.
Errr.snake. He demonstrated. Flying snake. Hare. Double hare. And Dragonfly. He performed each one and waited to see Rue's expression. Rue grinned and nodded each time. Sord's pride seemed to swell.
Canyon! Canyon use for Herdstones! Crack mountainside and Herdstone fall out! Can't proper Canyon yet. Not big enough. At this he seemed miserable. But he soon perked up again and showed her an impressive Canyon attempt. She could feel the rock beneath her tremor disturbingly. This got her thinking. Sord knelt like a horse would do and watched her.
What do twohoof do? Any kick?
No. We don't kick. We.use our hands mostly. She held her palms out and explained. We use our hands for lots of things. We write and work things and.um. She was desperately trying to match Sord's display but it didn't work. Twohooves do nothing really. But we use technology!
Tequwanollooogee.
Yes! Something like that. Um.like this! She produced some knitting needles and thread from her Echorium clothes and began to prepare the knitting. See! You pull this through here.like that.and then this loop.like that.and.there! Stitches.
Sord looked incredulously at the beginning of her knitting. What it do? Kill animal like twohoof sharps? Rue bowed her head. I've never used anything sharp like that. Never want to. It's horrible and gruesome. I'd never understand if a.twohoof killed another creature.
But twohoof not creature. Centaurs creature. Animals creature. But twohoof not creature. Twohoof barbacy.
Humans are not barbaric! And we are creatures! We just.misunderstand other creatures. Here, look! She seized Sord's slender lilac hand and compared it to her own. He visibly flinched. See! We are not that different. Except you have four legs and we have two! I will agree, some twohoofs are barbaric but some aren't. I would never kill and animal. Or you.
She realised that she was still holding his hand after the speech and she released it embarrassed. Sord was looking thoughtfully at her. Show Sord what them do, he asked quietly, pointing to the knitting needles. For hours it seemed, the two young creatures compared their lives, like Rue had compared their hands, while she knitted. Her knitting got quite long by the time they ran out of conversation. By then she thought of Karm, still lying in the forest amid the cart. She thought of something suddenly. Do you have anything like a gourd? Something you carry water in? Anything? Sord shook his head. Oh. Well, here. She finished her knitting with a few knots and passed it to Sord. We call it a scarf. It keeps the cold out. You wear it round your neck, see? She looped it round his neck and he smiled. Great twohoof gift! Sord keep forever! Thankyou.
Thankyou to you too. And they departed from the forest in separate directions, each thinking solemnly about the other and wondering whether they would ever meet again.
*