Blood of the Lost

Tathar flew southward, away from the city and the borders of the empire he knew. For days he passed over the lands he had helped to conquer, and he looked on the scarred earth and the empty villages and felt a shame he would not have expected. He had gone to war for the old emperor, defeating armies, and sending his Skylords across wide expanses of territory to burn and ravage. He had always believed that the people driven from their homes would return, like vermin, yet they had not. He had never been back to see, and now he felt himself the perpetrator of a crime.

He saw fallow fields and wandering animals, unfenced and unherded. When Zakai hungered they flew low, and the great bird blooded his talons and feasted on meat. He saw no sign of humanity, no well-kept roads, nor any huts or keeps that were not burned out and empty, blackened by years. The red sun blazed down on abandoned country, and he wondered at it. Surely not all of the inhabitants of this place could have been slain.

After many days he flew across a great river, and he began to look less and less behind him. He had feared that the rest of the Skylords would pursue him, and he well knew that Kurux would command it. But he was only one bird and rider in a vast land, and now he flew over lands where the empire had never held sway. The ground rose higher, away from the open grasslands, and became jagged and stony, with sharp ridges and peaks jutting up from the soil. He saw the remnants of the ruins of the ancient ones. Places where the ground was scarred in straight lines and rusted steel columns thrust up toward the sky.

On the seventh night, under the blazing stars and the jagged shards of the shattered moon glowing silver, he smelled the sea, and he turned Zakai slightly eastward to seek it. It came in sight like a vast, roiling shadow, the shore glimmering red with a spectral gleam. He saw the shadows of sea-beasts swimming beneath the surface, and falling stars flashing on the water like diamond cuts. Beyond, rising up from the waters like a skull, there was a dark island, towering like a castle above the waves.

Zakai gave a cry – a long, jagged growl like grating metal – and Tathar looked down and saw below him, upon the white shore, the shadow of another great bird. His breath caught as he realized it was another of his steed’s kindred, only black of wing and larger. A full-fledged female, and a beautiful one, with glossy feathers and a bright, fierce eye.

She swooped low over the open expanse of the beach, casting her deadly shadow over the tidal pools and the rocks left by the low tide. He heard her hunting scream and knew she was close to making a kill. Looking down, he wondered what manner of prey she sought, and then he saw the girl.

He could not make out very much, even with his sharp eyes. He saw dark skin and pale hair in the broken moonlight, saw a lithe form dodge in among the rocks as the eagle swooped low, striking sparks with her talons. Frustrated, the bird rose up, beating her wings and screaming. She began to wheel around, low, to make another pass, and Tathar had to make a choice.

He urged Zakai downward and lifted his lance. The weapon thrummed in his hand, and as the great eagle drew closer to her intended prey, he loosed a great bolt of lightning that shrieked through the air and struck a high rock peak, shattering it with a great roar of thunder that echoed out across the sea.

The eagle screamed and veered aside, startled, and Zakai swooped low and gave cry, beating his wings to brake his dive. The female eagle screamed and rose up, flashing her talons at them, and Tathar sent another bolt lashing skyward, splitting the night with a blade of light and thunder, and the other eagle gave way. Howling her rage, she banked away and flew away over the sea, the tips of her feathers skimming the wave-tops. Tathar watched her until she was gone from sight, and then he let out a breath and relaxed.

Zakai was weary from days of flying with little rest, and he spread his wings and glided down to the wide, white shore, his talons gouging huge furrows in the smooth sand as he came to earth. He shook out his great wings and growled at the night, and then he began to hunt in the tide pools and devour the small things he found there, cracking shells with his mighty beak.

Exhausted, Tathar unbelted himself and slid down from the saddle, wincing at the stiffness in his legs. He had never been in the saddle for so long, and for a moment he was not sure he could walk. He bent his knees and flexed them, trying to work out the stiffness. He planted his lance in the sand and used it as a support as he bent against the pain in his legs and his back.

He left Zakai to his foraging and sat down on a rock, dug in his belt pouch and ate the last of his food. He had not expected to become an exile, and so he had not brought supply for a long journey. He would have to hunt for himself now, as well as Zakai. He looked out to sea and wondered at the other eagle. He had known that some wild ones still lived, but he had never seen one. He hoped there were more.

When he turned back the girl was peering at him from between the rocks, and he jerked with surprise. He had almost forgotten her, and that said much about how tired he was. She was beautiful, with silky dark skin and hair white as spun moonlight. Eyes like jewels glittered blue in the darkness.

She saw that he saw her, and she drew back, but he held up a hand. “Wait. I mean you no danger.” He wondered if she could understand his language. With his helm and armor on, it was possible she did not even know he was human. Slowly, so as not to startle her, he reached up and unclasped his helmet, pulled it off. The sea air felt immeasurably good on his face, and he rubbed at his week’s growth of beard with his fingers.

He set the helm down and looked at the girl again. She wore clothes made of leather and fur and had a long knife at her belt and a quiver of arrows. For a long moment, she watched him curiously, then she took a tentative step closer. Zakai garbled as he ate, and she looked at the giant bird with a mixture of amazement and sheer terror.

“Easy, he will not harm you. Treat him with respect, and he will not return evil.” He looked at her. “I am Tathar, can you understand my speech?”

“Yes,” she said. “Who are you that rides upon a great killer?”

“I was what is called a Skylord. I was the master of the Skylords. We served the great emperor in the north, but I have left his service.” He smiled at her. “I do not know what land this is. Do your people dwell here?”

“Yes, the Karuda. We live in the hills, but we seek pearls in the sea here, among the shells, at night when they open.” She came closer, still hesitant. “But sometimes the sky killers see us and hunt our flesh. Many have been carried away and devoured.” She looked at Zakai. “How did you tame one?”

“The Skylords tamed them long ago. Zakai was handed down to me. He is far older than I am.” He loosened the straps of his armor and eased himself, wincing. He was very sore.

She looked at him with her electric blue eyes. “You drove the killer away. I owe you a life.”

“Tell me your name, and take me to where I can find food, and I will call that debt paid,” he said. He felt uncomfortable having her owe him, and wished to divert her attention.

“Suara,” she said. “Let me find my bow, and I will take you to my village.” She looked at Zakai. “I will have to explain, so your steed does not frighten them.”

“Is it a long way?” he said.

“It will take much of the night to walk back,” she said.

“Well then,” he said, picking up his helmet. “Let us go another way.”

She blinked at him, and he held out a hand. “Come and ride with me.”

o0o

Suara clung fiercely to the saddle as they rose above the earth, and then she laughed as Zakai turned and banked over the sea to gain height. Tathar kept watch for another eagle as they rose up and up, and then he nudged his passenger and had her point the way.

It did not take long for them to fly inland, over a spiderweb of narrow streams and dark-forested hills, away from the seashore. Some of the hills were strangely shaped, and he saw the glint of artifacts of the ancients there, buried under the greenery.

He kept them low and slow, Zakai glad of the easy flying, until the girl pointed down and he saw a village there in a narrow valley, a stream pouring through it and the ends blocked with wooden palisades. He wondered what manner of enemies they faced in this country. He knew so little of what was here. It gave him a dizzying sense of how huge the world was, and how little of it he had seen.

Zakai circled downward lazily, and he guided her to roost on a rocky outcrop on one end of the vale. People were already streaming from their longhouses, and he saw the gleam of torches. Suara twisted in the saddle and touched his arm. “Let me go and speak to them. They will be afraid.”

He nodded and she slid down from the saddle and touched lightly on the ground. Tathar hefted his lance and waited, watching the crowd draw closer. He did not wish to have conflict here, but he could not allow them to injure his eagle. He had to make certain no one with a bow came too near.

He watched as Suara intercepted them, and they stopped as she spoke. He wondered if they used a different tongue, as her speech was accented to his ears. He had a moment to worry that they would turn against him and take him unawares, but he pushed that thought away. He was only tired from his long flight. If these people allowed him rest, that would be good enough.

It seemed to take a long time, but then Suara came back, leading a handful of others. In the silver moonlight, Tathar saw they were as dark-skinned as she was, only their hair was different. Some had black hair, some a reddish color, but only hers was silver.

“I told them you saved my life,” she said, cupping her hands to call to him. “You shall be welcome here.”

He thought for a moment, then swung his leg over and slid down to the ground. He climbed down the slope and stood facing the other members of this tribe or clan. They made small gestures, touching fingers to their heads just above the eyes, and so he returned it. “I thank you,” he said. “My eagle will harm none if he is fed. He needs rest as much as I, as we have both traveled very far.” He gestured to the wall at the end of the valley. “Is it safe in this place? Who do you fear?”

“Those who come from the forest attack us sometimes,” Suara said. She took his hand and pulled him along. “But not tonight. Tonight you are safe here.”

o0o

They took him into a great longhouse, half-buried in the earth to keep it warm in the winter chill. A great fire was stoked in the center, beneath a smoke-blackened chimney, and he gratefully sat down and allowed them to feed him. They made stew with venison and wild roots and mushrooms, and drank a kind of beer made from fermented honey. He took care not to eat too much, for he had been hungry for several days, and did not wish to make himself sick.

The people were very curious of him, and he thanked them for their hospitality. They asked about where he came from, and he told them such stories as would not frighten them, for there was no need for that. In this wilderness, they might never have reason to fear the empire.

When he had eaten, he went out into the dark, and Suara followed him. It was cool, but pleasant after the close warmth of the house. He walked up to the ridge and saw to Zakai, easing his harness and seeing to it he had been fed and watered. He brushed his feathers and soothed him, and Suara watched with wide eyes until he beckoned her closer. “Come, he will not harm you.” She came close and he put her hands on the great bird, taught her to gentle him.

“Do you see the great birds often?” he said. “They have not lived wild where I come from for many ages.”

“They dwell on the great island in the sea,” she said. “We see them circling there, high on the rocks above the water. It is dangerous to go to the shore when they are out. Today the great one surprised me. I did not expect her to be hunting.”

He thought on the island as he had seen it, rising sheer and high above the waves. It would make a good natural eyrie, if there were caves in the basalt for the birds to shelter in. Protected from land, there would be no easy way for hunters or predators to find vulnerable eggs or young. “It is autumn,” he said. “She must have hungry chicks back at the nest. She was hunting for them.”

“You think so?” she said.

He laughed a little. “Otherwise, she would not have bothered with a morsel as small as you.”

They both laughed, and then she caught his hand and drew him away. “Come inside. It is cold. Come.” She led him back into another warm, smoky house, thick with the smells of leather and cooking. She showed him to a small bed piled high with furs in a sort of shapeless heap.

“Is this my bed?” he said.

“It is. It is mine as well.” She moved in the dark, and it was not until she was naked against him that he realized what she intended. Tired to the bone, he was not so tired as to refuse her. His armor confounded her, but soon enough he was naked as well, pressed against her, skin warm against the cool of night, and there was pleasure there in the dark.

o0o

He woke in blackness and could not remember where he was, and then he heard shouts and sat up, felt Suara beside him stirring awake. Someone moved in the longhouse and stirred the fire so there was more light. Then he remembered, and he jumped out of bed, groping for his clothes. “What is that?”

“An attack,” she said, no fear in her voice. She was up and moving, dressing herself. “It seems it is not safe tonight.” She touched his arm and he saw her jewel eyes flash in the dark. “I must go to the wall with my bow. All must fight. Will you?”

He nodded, unseen in the darkness. “I will. Go do what you must, as will I.”

She was gone then, and he struggled into his breeches and his boots, not taking time for anything else. He staggered through the dark longhouse and then out into the night. The stars were bright overhead, the shards of the moon low on the horizon, behind the hills. He heard screams and the cries of battle, and when he looked to the wooden palisade, he saw part of it was aflame, casting an orange glow over the vale.

He heard the clangor of battle, and sound of arrows in the dark, and was suddenly taken by an anger he had never felt before. Always he had taken up his weapons of war for the command of the emperor, to do his will, to fight his enemies. Now he was faced with a battle so small he would not have noticed it, save that the people who fought and died had taken him in, fed him, and treated him well. Now he would lift his lance in that cause, and it felt like a fire in his blood.

He hurried to the ridge where Zakai crouched, ruffling his wings and growling like breaking stones in the dark. Tathar took his lance from where he had left it struck in the earth, and he called for his steed to be ready. The eagle heard the sounds of war, and every killing instinct was goaded and keened by the nearness of violence and the smell of blood.

Tathar climbed to the saddle half-clothed, unarmored, but he feared nothing. He lifted his lance and pulled on the reins, and Zakai beat his wings and hurled himself skyward. The ground dropped away, and the great bird circled to gain height. He saw the fire blazing up, and when they passed over it he felt the lift of the hot air. Faces turned upward to look at him, and he saw the enemy. A mass of dark-armored men with jagged spears and red gleaming eyes like rats looked up at him. They were clustered around the gate, bearing a felled tree as a ram to batter down the burning wall.

Zakai screamed, and Tathar lifted his lance and it crackled with blue energy. He pointed, and a bolt of lightning screamed down to shatter the ram and blast it apart into flaming pieces. Burning men howled and ran from the stroke, while others lay slain upon the dark earth. They flew low over the flames, ripping them up into the sky in Zakai’s wake, and the night coursed with fire.

They banked over the valley, and then flew back toward the battle. There were raiders atop the palisade, and Tathar urged Zakai with a call so the great bird stooped low and snatched them up with his claws. He rose up, wings beating, and cast the bodies down, mangled and raining blood upon their fellows. Tathar pointed his lance downward and struck again; a boiling slash of azure fire hammered the earth, rending men apart, and he ripped it across the ground, scourging the soil, scattering the attackers before it like insects.

Their will broke, and they fled. He saw them running through the trees, some of them still afire, and he flew low one more time, so that Zakai’s screams harried them and the wind of his passage whipped leaves into a storm in his wake. They fled into the night, until all that remained was the sound of fire, and the smell of burned flesh.

o0o

By the light of day, the damage to the palisade did not look as bad, with some of it blackened, but the integrity of it mostly intact. A few days of repair would see it done, and Tathar knew a few secrets of fortification that would help them make it better.

The count of dead outside the gates stood at over thirty, with more possibly too destroyed to be recognized. Only six of the Karuda people had fallen, though there were twice as many wounded. No one could remember a victory so one-sided, and they treated him now with a great and reverent respect. He was a hero to them, though to his mind it had not been a great battle, and he had faced no danger. Yet of all the battles of his life, he had never felt a greater satisfaction than in this one.

Suara helped him clean and feed and care for his bird, and he began, almost without thinking about it, to teach her the ways of the great eagles. She took the small feathers that fell and twined them in her hair, red feathers like a badge of war.

“It will be long before they come to attack us again. You have broken them,” she said. There was a great pride in her now, sharing his bed, unafraid of the great eagle. He smiled to see it.

“They will come again, or someone will,” he said. He looked to the east, where beyond his sight the sea awaited, and there an island where eagles dwelled. “Your people could do far better than to live like this, eking out a life in the forests. I could show you another way.”

“What way?” she said.

He touched her face and smiled. “I could give you the sky.”