Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Tother Hand, Chapter 7 part 2


She took one camel and some provisions back along the road her father and she had taken to get there. It took several days to travel, and during the time she planned her revenge on her traitorous uncle. At night, she preferred to sleep alone out in the open under a blanket, sleeping against her camel for warmth and shelter. This way, she would not have to meet anyone close up and blow her cover as a farmer boy.

When she came near the metal making compound a few days later, she veered off the road far into the adjoining pomegranate orchard on the side of the road. She walked a long way around the area, hiding between patches of trees and huts. She tied her camel to a tree some distance downwind of the bloomery. She would use the smell of the fires to guide her to the compound after dark.

She waited until the quarter moon had moved overhead, which indicated midnight. She removed the turban and used her female headdress to cover her face and head. There was just enough light to manoeuvre and she tested the air to make sure she was headed in the correct direction. She came up to the back of the bloomery where they had secured their camels previously. She paused for a long time, listening for any movement or people about. It was perfectly still.

Her father said: Do not do this.

She started and looked around. She asked: Why are you still here?

He said: You did not curse my body. My _fravashi_ does not know where I am. I did not get scared away from the worldly arena and now I follow you around.

She said tearfully: Father, I miss you.

And: I’m scared.

She felt him nod. He said: My brother did not mean any harm. I am sure of it. He did not betray us. I believe he meant to warn the Masked Ones and the Elders. He did not mean for them to ambush us and kill me. I think he is innocent.

9001 felt the anger and shame building in her from her encounter with her uncle. She said: He is a bad man, full of _druj_, deceit, and lies. I do not believe he is innocent. He must be guilty of harming you. He did send a messenger ahead of us to set a trap to get us killed. That must have been his intent. He delayed us with the new blade he created, which was false and he gave specific information about how to prepare defences and when we would arrive and who we would target.

9001 suddenly sneezed, twice in succession.

Her father said after a long pause: My brother was right. You are not a Healer. I must have made a grave mistake when I chose you.

She asked: You chose me? You said the Elders chose.

She waited for a response. After a while, sensing his presence was gone, she gripped her triangular bronze blade and drew it out in her right hand. She pulled her headdress wrap more closely around her face and snuck around the wall, peering each way and behind her as she moved noiselessly. As she rounded one corner of the clay walls, she peered into the compound and could see and hear nothing moving inside. The fires were all covered with sand and dirt, but provided enough gentle light to verify the place was empty.

She entered and searched the workbenches for her father’s original iron blade. She wondered where it could have been. She focused her mind and crinkled her forehead in concentration. She unexpectedly entered the space between light and darkness, but something was different about this spell that she had created. As she looked around, she saw the same compound scene before her, except it was too bright. It seemed to be early morning.

She saw her uncle and one of his younger apprentices walking away from one of the clay bloomeries and reach down to a table to pick up a piece of dull grey metal. This was her father’s original rondel, she realised. He placed the blade into the bloomery with wooden tongs while his assistant operated the leather box they used as bellows.

Each movement was slow and watery, as if viewed from a distance, but still perceived close by. There were orange and blue waves of light rippling at the edges of her vision and she could not look away to see other things in the periphery of her vision clearly.

Her uncle turned in the slow methodical motion of the vision and she was shocked to see herself and her father entering the compound. Her uncle waved a casual greeting to her alternate self and her previous father, then he brought them over to another table and showed them something.

The spell ended abruptly and 9001 nearly fell to her knees, breathing heavily.

Her father said softly: You have achieved the Perfect Sight. I misjudged your talents.

She spat out venomous words, saying: Do you see now, father? Your uncle did betray you. When he presented the blade he was working on, he had already destroyed yours. Do you not see?

Her father said: The Perfect Sight allows you to see things as they were, not as you wish them to be. I cannot argue with that.

9001 exited the compound and followed the edge of the road to the house where her uncle lived with his wife. The moon was lower in the sky to the west. It indicated almost two hours had passed. She moved around the house to the front entrance and prepared to enter.

She took two deep breaths and forced herself into the space between light and dark just after she had blinked. She had entered the frozen time almost perfectly. The light from the moon was bright as midday. She moved with perfect timing and rhythm to lift the deer hide curtain across the doorway. Inside, the orange glow of the fire spirits dancing in the wood gave the hut enough light to navigate.

She moved towards the wooden divider behind which her uncle and aunt slept. She planned to kill them both if necessary; it would be very difficult to keep the frozen time long enough to move around the hut and she needed to escape afterwards. She noted a large man sleeping next to a slighter person under several pieces of hide stitched together.

A lonely wind blew across the plain. It meant: Behind.

She struck swiftly and too viciously at the necks of both people. She had lost her concentration and the glowing lights flickered dangerously. Her eyes had begun to close in the space of one full blink. Black bands moved slowly, sped up, slowed down, and then covered everything as she fell out of the spell.

A bright light exploded in front of her and she fell to the ground. Her training kicked in before she realised she had been hit. She vaguely realised her blade had fallen onto the floor somewhere. She rolled over onto her shoulder and drew her knees up. Someone collapsed on top of her, grabbing at her neck. She was grateful for the training her father had taught her because this was exactly the same escape she had practiced several times.

She reached across to her attacker’s far shoulder with the arm closest to the ground. She pulled the shoulder and arm down against her opposite ribs, trapping the elbow and upper arm. Then she used the leverage of her other hand to push against the ground and used her bent knees to push off the ground with her feet. Her attacker lost all contact with the ground and rolled onto his face with her now on top of his back.

She quickly reached under the armpit and reached under his chin to grab his opposite shoulder. This formed a triangle arm choke across the neck. She gripped her wrist with her other free hand and pulled back as far and as hard as she could lean. Her attacker tried to gain leverage with his legs and arm, but lost consciousness too quickly.

She held the choke for far longer than she thought possible, pulling as hard and leaning back as far as she could. Sweat stood out on her forehead and rand down her armpits. The man jerked several times, until he stopped moving completely. Only then did she let go. She quickly scrabbled for her blade and found it in the dark. She plunged it into the back of the neck of the attacker, pointed at his eyes to drive the blade into the brain stem.

She collapsed onto the floor and knocked over the divider. After catching her breath, she stoked the fire in the middle of the hut and examined the area. The two bodies she had struck behind the divider were merely wooden blocks carved to be round and the size of a human head. The man that had attacked her was unusually large and heavyset. His long bushy beard was unmistakable as her uncle.

Her father said: Breathe. Clean the blade. Curse the body.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Tother Hand, Chapter 7 part 1


Chapter Seven


9001 woke up slowly to the sounds of goats bleating and hot breath on her face. She sat up in the hay and startled two goats who bleated and bayed loudly. A farmer boy nearby dropped his wooden rake.

He called out _druxš_, which means demoness.

9001 responded: Not demoness. I am just sleeping here for the night.

The boy asked: you are the one who came by here with your father?

She responded: Yes, son. I have returned sooner than intended and I need to return with one of our camels to fetch some help for my father.

The boy ran back to the hut and the family came out apprehensively. 9001 dusted herself off and presented a story she made up on the spot.

She said: Mother and father, forgive me. My father and I came by the day before today. We left our three camels, do you remember? My father has gotten sickly and I need to get our supplies from a settlement nearby. I ask that you let me get one of my camels to make the walk there. I need to get some medicinal herbs to save him and I will be back this way in a few days.

The farmers were very apprehensive, for a woman must not travel unescorted. They would need to be responsible for their guest and her safety. 9001 argued that she had her father’s _patu_ so that she would only need to borrow a turban to pass as a boy. The farmer finally agreed to lend her his _lungee_ and cap. It was clearly a farmer’s _lungee_ but that would provide excellent cover for her story. The farmers finally agreed to her plan and felt indemnified of any wrong doing.

Monday, November 20, 2017

Tother Hand, Chapter 6, part 4


A wind blew through the trees and leaves rustled. It seemed like the phrase: Follow me.

9001 waited, unsure. The other woman held out her left hand as an offering. 9001 knew that back of the hand from somewhere. Something seemed trustworthy about the woman, so 9001 took the offered hand with her right and they scuttled around a corner and up a dark alley. It was very dark in the narrow street and it was nearly impossible to see with her head covering. However, the stranger never seemed to waver, even with that impossibly impractical veil.

They followed the street for a few tens of metres, then the stranger pulled 9001 left towards a low entrance, down some stairs. They entered the basement of a house or part of a cave entrance. 9001 felt the stranger move away and let go of her hand. Panic started to rise in her core as she stood in the darkness. Once, twice, three times sparks flew through the air and then a small flame sputtered in a niche near the wall. The Masked One lifted her veil to blow on the flame and 9001 came closer to look, but the woman was too fast and dropped her veil.

She took two candles and lit them from the kindling fire, then let it die out. She handed one candle to 9001.

9001 asked: What is this place?

The Masked One said: It is a _kariz_. This is an underground tunnel that brings water to the plains outside the walls. This entrance is an air shaft for this building that cools the house. Hot air spirits rise up to the top of the high ceilings above the sleeping areas and pull in the cooler air and water spirits from the _kariz_. All the houses along the access shafts use the _kariz_ for water and cooling in the summer. In fact, this house stores ice below us, brought down from the mountain in the winter.

As an afterthought, the Masked One offered 9001 her father’s blade. She had stolen it some time when they were in the dark. 9001 took the rondel back sheepishly.

The Masked One said, do not be embarrassed. Your father was very skilled but the blade is false. I saw the attack but I was keeping watch on the other side of the house. We knew you were coming. A Miner sent a messenger two days ago. He told us he would take your blades and switch them with lesser metals. The blade I handed you is merely some slag and muck. It looks and feels like _seric_ but it is not. I have seen real Damascus blades. That blade is just flint for lighting fires. Look, it is broken.

9001 looked closely at the blade and realised it was indeed shorter by several centimetres.

She continued: Your blade seems to be real. My father was killed by two strikes to the groin. We anticipated false blades, so my father wore precious stone jewellery in necklaces, bracelets, and studded on his clothes. We did not anticipate your attacks and blade.

9001 held her father’s blade forward in the bridge seeking position. She said: How can I trust you, then? I should send you to Ahriman now to be healed like your father.

The stranger did not flinch. She said: I could have defeated you already outside. I could have killed you inside the house or before the wall if you did not run so quickly. I could easily kill you with your own weapon and bring you back to the guards. But I have a secret motive. My father was not willing to let me rule. He was a controlling man and I am seeing a beneficial outcome from his death. So I am not angry and I can see something special in you that you cannot see. Please put down your weapon and I will show you how to escape.

2711 said: Go with her.

9001 wheeled around. The strange woman said: What is it?

9001 asked: Did you hear it?

The Masked One cocked her head inquisitively. She said in hushed tones: Perhaps it is the guards. We must move.

The stranger pointed at a carved and steep passage that led further down.

9001 objected: How do I know you will not lead me down and kill me if I go first? Then you will let me float out the tunnel to meet Ahura.

The other woman laughed and her veil danced and flapped. She said: I would not poison my people’s drinking water and block up the _kariz_ with your body. We do not have much time. The shaft to the tunnel is narrow and there is no room to turn around or travel in pairs. You will have to go ahead and I will give you directions at the bottom. Then I must come back up.

9001 relented and entered the steep tunnel. The tunnel was uneven in its steepness and varied in height. In some places, it was so narrow she had to turn sideways. And in others, it was so short that she needed to nearly crawl, which was very difficult with a candle. As she travelled about 20 metres, she could feel the cool breeze of air spirits moving against her up the shaft. She could also hear the dripping and burbling of a stream ahead.

Finally, she felt cool moisture in the ground and stepped into the edge of an underground river that flowed downhill. She turned around to face the Masked One.

The stranger said: Go with the water. It will guide you out to a reservoir at a farm past the wall. It is about 300 metres. You cannot fail or get lost. There is only one passable way to go. You must move quickly though, for it will be light soon.

She abruptly turned and left. 9001 walked along the tunnel, scrabbling along the wall with her free hand. The _kariz_ tunnel was larger than the shafts that led to it at regular intervals. 9001 could count her progress as she passed each shaft. Soon, the tunnel levelled out even more than the gentle slope higher up. She suddenly found herself wading out into a pond. She gasped when she recognised the very farmer hut her father and she had left that morning.

Exhausted, she made her way to the pens where some goats lived. She covered herself in some hay and slept.

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