Compis: Five Tribes (15 page)

“I'm going to stay here and instruct Agga on what to feed you during our mealtimes. Why don't you go up and get settled in. Have a good rest, and then we'll go down into town for supper.”

Nikka nodded and managed to make it all the way up the stairs and into her room, before she collapsed on the bed in a heap of tears and wrinkled bedding.

His journey to the new settlement was an uneventful one. Zyander took three days to leave the forest and another four crossing the wide meadowland, refusing to push his horse, telling himself that he had plenty of time. He'd brought his tent with him, the smaller one, in case of inclement weather, but he wouldn't use it until he had to. He preferred sleeping under the stars when he was traveling. There was something about laying out in a warm pallet, and staring up at the night sky—it gave him peace and took away his troubles for a time.

His favorite time to sleep under the stars was during
Astra Cida
, when the falling stars began. Every night was magical then. When he and Alea were young, they shunned the house, laying out dozens of pillows and blankets in the yard so they could count the shining rays of light and make wishes on the brightest.

This time, he looked at the stars and imagined Nikka's hair, bouncing and twirling in the sunlight. Her hair was so bright that it looked like a million stars lived in its silky tresses. Or instead, he imagined her smile and how it blinded him. The stars were in their seasonal positions, his favorites were the
Dancing Maidens
, and the
Dark Horse
. Soon, they would be making way for
Cyclotes
and
Mira
and their many children.

The long and solitary ride was also peaceful; he moved out from the forests and the deep lush greenery and into the meadows and open places, where New Settlement was. It should have been called the remnants, as there was nothing new about it. On the outskirts of what was formerly Labaria, one of the large cities in the Ignis territory, was where they had built it.

Labaria was abandoned now, empty and ghostly in its crumbling majesty. The people had left it and those that had slowly come back refused to dwell within its limits. They didn't have money to commission Aeris builders to come in, and they had no magic to do it for themselves, so instead they had salvaged any fabrics to be found within Labaria and made tents out of them. The result was a moving village of patchwork domiciles, a kaleidoscope of colors and fabrics that would have been nauseating if the sun hadn't faded the colors to a blend of pastels.

His friend Alys lived in one of these tents and worked as a goatherd most days, so that the Ignis could have all the cheese they desired.

Once, after a scavenging trip in Labaria, Zyander had gone to visit his friend out in the fields while he watched the goats.

“How can you do this all day? You're educated and intelligent,” Zyander said.

“Yes, and what good has it done any of us, education? Most of us sit in our homes, wringing our hands or trying to make babies. We can't make things any more. These goats are the best hope for our tribe right now,” said Alys gesturing across the field to the large herd wandering around. Their bleatings and thumpings made a wild chorus in the warm air. “We can drink their milk, and preserve it in cheeses. With them around, we will never starve. Therefore, I laud them and pamper them, and coax them to continue their great work. Meanwhile, I sit here in the meadow with my simple tent and my book and read the day away.”

It was a better life than Zyander's at times. His days were filled with trying in vain to get the simplest of his spells to work, and listening to the elders drone on and on about the “great and glorious past” of the Ignis. Sometimes he wanted to shake things up, and try something new. Thanks to the glory of politics, he now had a reason.

It was almost the end of the seventh day when he saw the familiar towers of Labaria and as he drew closer, he was finally able to see the tents, sprawled out in the meadow like the herd of goats they surrounded. He smelled the familiar scent of sweaty fur, along with the tangy odor of sour milk. Nose wrinkling, he halted Twitchfoot near a group of other horses, wandering free near the range of tents, untethered. He left the horses with a request for Twitchfoot to
behave himself
and wandered off to find Alys, who it turned out was lounging under the only tree for miles around, reading one of his endless stream of books. Iam only knew where he got them from.

“Well, hello there, Alys. Lost in another book, I see. You know you'll only be able to bring what you can carry on our trip.”

Alys stood and grabbed Zyander in a tight embrace.

“Zyan, my friend,” he exclaimed, letting him go only to drag him to the large tent nearby. “I wondered when you'd arrive. Your message indicated such haste that I figured I'd see you within days of its arrival.”

Zyander grimaced and ducked through the tent's entrance. “Yes, I know. I was a bit irritated with my father at that point in time.”

“Let's have some supper and you can tell me all about it.”

Supper consisted of cheese, a wonderful fruit preserve, and soft flat bread that seemed to melt—along with the cheese—inside his mouth. While they ate, Zyander told Alys everything that he'd neglected to in the short note he'd sent days ago. Alys listened in silence, then in his typical fashion, said nothing about Nikka or Adjudah. Instead, he asked the obvious question.

“What do you expect to find at Abira?” Alys asked.

“The question of the evening—of many evenings I suspect, since I have no idea,” said Zyander. “You will call me crazy for the only reason I can think of to travel to the forgotten city. I don't think anyone has been out there in hundreds of years or will be again. I have this idea, strange idea that there is something located in the city that will help me.”

“Help you what?” asked Alys.

“Save our tribe.”

The boy who asked what a Praete line was had the name Joah. He was also the only other boy who'd been formerly Aeris, as Luka himself had been. There were more than a few girls, too, off by themselves in a gaggle, whispering about him, probably.

Luka found that he was quite the topic of discussion, especially among the girls, who thought it was romantic that he and May had been torn apart in such a public fashion. He remembered May's screams, and didn't find them romantic at all. That didn't stop the girls from giggling whenever he passed them or approaching him to introduce themselves. It was a sore point for him, having to suffer the attentions of the others while he was still nursing his own heartbreak.

Most of the boys gave him a hard time, but not Joah. He seemed to understand that Luka needed some privacy in regards to the girl he'd left behind and managed to protect Luka from the curious questions they seemed to be bursting with. They were traveling back to the Terris' main city, Akme, where the Initiates would be housed until Induction. After Induction, or so he'd been told, they would be given a job according to their skills and moved to the city that most suited the job they'd been assigned.

“Hey, Luka, I think we're going to reach Akme tomorrow. I heard the Duor talking about it today.”

“Why don't they ever tell us anything?” Luka wondered, not for the first time.

“Maybe they want to help us hone our spying skills,” said Joah, laughing.

“I don't understand why I'm Terris—or you for that matter. You don't seem stodgy at all,” said Luka.

“Maybe it's the tribal magic that does it. Maybe changing into an animal changes your thinking,” said Joah.

“Then I hope I never acquire the skill,” said Luka.

“You don't mean that,” said a voice behind them. They were jostling in an open wagon, and the boys had all been assigned shifts for driving it. Right now, it was Joah's turn and Luka was sitting with him. He enjoyed looking around at the terrain surrounding them. He still didn't know what Praete Lines were, but he was glad they hadn't used the mysterious mode of transport, because it gave him time to put off facing his future. He sighed, feeling that he had no true future without May.

He missed her as he would miss any part of himself that had gone missing. He had seen her every day when he was still in the same tribe as she was. He had a hard time going through a day when they didn't talk. Wanting nothing more than to hold her one last time, Luka instead sighed and turned to face the speaker.

It was Grem, formerly of the Aquis tribe, who'd sent quite a few of their tribe over to the Terris this year.

“Let me ask you something, Grem,” he said, “Do you really want to look like Duor Hama or even Duor Etho, for that matter?” Duor Etho looked like a small forest deer, with beautiful liquid black eyes, soft brown ears with white tips, a small stub of a white tail, and hooves for feet. Oh, and a tall pair of antlers to top off the facade. She was the nicest of the Terris that he'd met so far, and didn't seem as conservative as Duor Hama or High Council member Koen.

“I don't think I'd mind if I had the chance to become a bird and fly high above everyone else here. Or a deer and run like the wind through the forest,” said Grem. “And maybe the old ones are a bit stuffy, but there's nothing to say we have to be. I bet there are those similar to us, who don't side with Duor Hama on everything.”

“Damn you and your sensible words,” said Joah, wrinkling his nose.

Luka laughed. He appreciated these fellows and their ability to pull his head from the thundering clouds they'd been stuck in of late.

“Not too long before supper now,” he said.

~~~~~

The wagons always halted at dusk, and the Initiates, about fifty in number, scrambled to finish their assigned chores. For some it was setting up the tents, for others gathering firewood, still others managed the animals, each taking the job assigned and finishing it as quickly as they could so there would be plenty of time to linger at the fire.

Every night there was a bonfire and the Initiates ate foods that could be cooked over it, grilled vegetables and pieces of fruit, snap beans that popped when warmed over a hot pan, and tasted crispy and sweet, warmed drinks of many kinds—juices and wines, especially. The Initiates ate their fill and chatted like morning birds, loud and happy, when they were through. Sometimes they sang the songs they'd been taught as children by the Divinaris, to help them remember the importance of the tribes and their new families or the power of Iam.

When the Initiates were winding down after a round of songs, Duor Hama stood. After settling everyone down into silence, he spoke about the subject on everyone's minds.

“I know there has been a lot of talk among the Initiates today about when we will arrive in Akme, and what we will be learning. Rather than allow a good deal of silly talk and speculation to circulate, I will tell you all a small part of what you will have to look forward to.

“We will indeed be arriving in Akme tomorrow, around the noonday, if we are similar to the many other groups of Initiates who have made this journey. When we do, you will be taken to your respective dormitories, girls in one area and boys in the other.

“You will spend the next season learning the common magics we are required to teach you under the law of the Five Tribes. At the same time, we will be teaching you the most important and fundamental spell of our tribe—you've been discussing it endlessly—the spell of transformation. It is the method we use to become connected to our Lumenta: the beast of our soul.

“It is a lengthy process, as you'll discover in the next few days, but if you're fortunate, you'll find out something about yourself that you didn't know before.

“So go to bed and get some rest, tomorrow will be a long day.”

When Nikka had cried her last tear of the moment, and pushed herself up from the bed, she spent the remainder of her time unpacking her belongings and deciding what she was going to put in her letter to Zyan.

She had decided the best thing to do, while she was feeling upset, was to write and tell him what a coward he was. It would help her to feel she could leave him behind and concentrate on the business at hand—deciding which tribe she would make her own.

Walking over to the desk across from her bed, she sat down and took a sheet of paper. Just as she was lifting the pen from ink to paper, there was a knock at her door.

She went to the door and it was Jilli.

“Are you recovered enough for supper, my dear? Oh, Nikka, my dear, have you been crying? What can I do to help?”

Nikka felt uncomfortable. She had the feeling she wasn't supposed to be showing any weakness to the person who was probably trying to manipulate her in every possible way. She decided a partial truth was the easiest to dismiss.

“I think every person who has changed tribes in the space of a day feels overwhelmed and emotional. I miss my little sister. I was just getting ready to write her a letter when you knocked.”

“Do you want more time? We can leave a bit later, if you wish,” said Jilli.

“No, it's fine. I'm feeling much better. I can write my letter when we return. I'm anxious to see some of the other Initiates. It's strange being sheltered.”

“Of course it is! This is strange for all of us! I wasn't here when Compis Samain was an Initiate, but I imagine all of the High Council Members were at their wit's end trying to deal with the situation. A Compis doesn't come along often.

“However, I think you must have forgotten that the Initiates don't arrive right away. They have rather a long journey, I fear. They won't arrive for another seven days, I'm sure. I've arranged with my sister to have dinner with her. She has young children, so she is used to making a bit more of a mainstream diet. The dietary needs of our young are similar to those of Initiates.

“I've also arranged for you to tour about with my nephew, Jerem, and some of his friends this week. I'm afraid the first week after Induction is a busy one for me, so I won't be around the house much except to sleep.