Energies: Part I

Something was making my teeth rattle, which was highly uncomfortable since I thought my brain might be leaking out of my ears. The left side of my skull throbbed in time with my rattling teeth; in other words, almost constantly. I wasn't sure I had any appendages, but I was painfully aware of my shoulders. It felt like I had been hanging from them for the past decade. My mouth felt like a bucket of sand.
Eyes cracking open, I found myself haphazardly stuffed into a corner, my head leaning at an awkward angle against a metal wall which vibrated. At least I knew why my teeth were rattling.
Trying to sit up, I realized my arms had been tied together behind my back at the elbow then secured to a tether attached to the wall. My whole weight was placed on my shoulders and knees. I must have toppled over while unconscious.
I lifted my head to look around, the twinge in my neck complaining. I swayed slightly trying to gain my balance before I realized I was sitting in something that was moving. There wasn't much to look at. Slopping metal walls were at my back and side going up to a low ceiling and stacked crates obscured the rest of my vision. It was mostly dark except a small vent where hot air drafted in a few feet in front of me.
Painfully I tried to wriggle my way into a better position, only managing to topple to my right when my numb legs didn't respond. A small whimper escaped my lips but it couldn't be heard over the rattling of the metal space. My head throbbed another complaint. The wall beneath me, I discovered, was incredibly hot. With a sudden hiss, I wrenched myself upright before it could burn my skin further.
An assault of images sent pins through my mind.
...okay?
"Ow," I whispered, wanting to cradle my head in my hands. I managed to pull my legs out from under me, they tingled painfully as blood rushed into them.
The images came again, softer this time. Are you okay?
I frowned. Was Larii still communicating with me? Didn't distance hinder her strange speech at all?
Larii? I asked wearily.
I almost felt her relief. We've been so worried.
My head was reeling. All I wanted was to sleep.
"We?" I asked out loud.
A slew of pictures came at me. Friend carrying something large and white across his back. A boat. People I didn't know. Larii as she wrapped bandages around Demaren's wings...
"Demaren!" I practically shrieked. On impulse, I attempted to shoot up to my feet but was jerked back down by my leash. The back of my head collided with the wall.
Dizzily, I sent a babble of discombobulated pictures.
Demaren. Falling. Killed. Maybe. Pain. Lots of pain. You. With helping him.
There was a pause in our conversation. I waited for the boxes to stop dancing before my eyes.
He's going to be fine, she finally said.
A breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding rushed from my lungs. I almost giggled with happiness. Tears clouded my eyes.
Who were those people you showed me?
An impression of safety came over me. Friends of Demaren's. The man's a Shadow Reader.
That explained it, I supposed. If Larii trusted them, I would have to as well. It wasn't like I had much choice...
Did he hear what I told him? About going to Grayman?
Another pause.
I don't know, I got a contrived picture of her trying to unsuccessfully talk to him.
Make sure he knows, I insisted. DO NOT let him come to Eryn.
Pictures filled my mind of the images I had seen from Eryn's main city. Guards everywhere. Impenetrable and imposing.
Larii's version of laughing sarcastically was with an image of her tying Demaren to the ground.
If you have to, I replied with a shrug that I immediately regretted. My shoulders laced with fire.
Be serious. He will not leave you. And neither will I.
I felt my heart rise in to my throat. No! Larii listen to me! He CANNOT come here and neither can you. You have no idea of what these people are capable of. If you saw anything of what happened in Velt, in their own land the Erynese are ten times worse. And I will not let him...
A few tears onto my cheeks and I tried to wipe them way on my shoulder.
Please. I can't let him die like Berrik...
Larii paused again from our pictured conversation. If she had been here she might be looking me up and down with a measured expression.
I'll tell him, she consented. A burden lifted from my heart.
Thank you.
I felt Larii depart from my mind as if she were walking into another room. She was still there, only just out of sight. With a sigh I leaned back.
"Ouch!" I hissed, the bare part of my arms touching the hot walls.
I realized I was sweating. My chemise-like shirt was half soaked as well as the my pants at the back of my knees. What was I in? An oven? Shimmying forward as much as my leash would allow, I craned my sore neck to look through the grated vent. Waves of orange and red ran by.
"The desert..." I said to myself, needing to hear the sound of something other than the insistent hum of my cage. I wondered idly if I was in one of the moving boats I had seen going to the Spurt with Berrik.
Quickly, I recoiled from the thought of my brother. If I thought about him, I might think about other members of my immediate family. And I really didn't want to think about her.
Sitting back, but this time away from the walls, I attempted to lean against the boxes to my right. My leash kept them only just out of reach. My head throbbed again from the spot where the Erynese struck me. Somewhere between between being tired and incredibly uncomfortable I lost my patience. Frustrated, I kicked out a foot and managed to knock over the column of crates. Over the hum of the sand-boat I heard the distinct sound of cracking wood.
I smiled grimly to myself. Maybe if I broke enough boxes I could find something to help free myself. At least I would have the satisfaction of breaking things that belonged to my captors.
Almost within range for another well placed kick, I realized we were slowing down. The boat's humming was less insistent and beginning to diminish. I could hear movement above me, people walking around. Trying to see out, I scooted back over to the vent. All I could see was red sand.
A cracking sound from the wall with the vent had me scurrying back. I bumped against the wall at my back, ignoring the burning on my skin. I drew my knees up to my chest where I sat, ready to kick at someone if need be.
The door opened to become a ramp, the weak light of evening pouring in and making me squint. The minister from Velt strode up the entryway, glancing around as if searching for something. His narrow eyes fell on me as if seeing me for the first time.
Larii was suddenly in my head again. What is it?
Shh... I responded, shaking my head slightly as if she were there.
"'Ello," he said, coming over with a clear tube in his hand. "We ave stopped for te night."
He squatted down beside me and held out the tube slightly. I tensed automatically.
"It will not bite, little dear," he chuckled. "Aren't you tirsty?"
He twisted one end and held it out to me like a long, thin cup. Once I saw water dribble off the top, my lips constricted around it like an air line under the sea. I gulped it greedily for a few moments until the minister started to laugh again. I pulled my lips away and glared at him.
He sat back on his heels a little, tilting his head and eying me.
"You do not look... comfortable," he finally said, struggling with the last word.
I bit back a laugh but made no attempt to hide my feelings.
"You stuck me in an oven. How did you expect me to look? Medium rare?"
He smiled his yellow toothed grin. "You are making jokes. Still plenty of spirit!"
"Untie me and I'll show you some spirit," I almost snarled. My hands were itching to set nail marks in his pasty skin.
"Actually, I tink I will," he said, surprising me by leaning in and untying the rope from it's hook.
He turned quickly away from me walking with the tether in his hand, making me scramble to get up and follow or be dragged. My feet struggled to obey after a day of awkward sitting. I tripped over the grate on the ramp and would have face planted into the dirt if he hadn't caught me. The feel of his arms holding me up made me want to vomit. Though that could have been the fact that I hadn't eaten recently.
The minister turned me slowly away from him to look around. I had been in one of the sand-boats I had seen before, and several more were spread out in a low space between the tall dunes. Erynese men were out and about building fires and tents in the remaining light of day.
I shuttered as the minister's mouth came close to my ear. "So you see, you cannot run. Yes?"
Stubbornly, I didn't answer; I gritted my teeth together instead. He seemed to see my determination.
"We will be passing trough te razor sand tomorrow," he said conversationally. My head snapped up to look at him. It should have taken a little less than a week reach the razor sands. How long had I been out? The minister pretended not to notice my reaction. "And once we are past te boarder to Eryn, tere is no ope for you. You will not leave Eryn again."
I gulped down the response that I would rather die. If he let me near a sharp object I would do it myself.
Larii was on me the second the thought passed through my mind.
Don't you dare! she all but shrieked, making me wince. She threw pictures of the devastation it would bring to Demaren, Friend, and herself.
Seeing me wince, the minister guessed I was in pain.
"Wy don't we see about getting you cleaned up?"
He turned me to face him and reached out to tilt my head and get a better look at lump behind my ear. I pursed my lips together, hating his touch. Carefully he cleared some of my hair away to look at the lump.
It was totally unexpected when he suddenly reached up with the hand that held the leash and gripped at my hair and neck. Pain shot through my shoulders as the leash pulled tight and fire crackers exploded over my eyes as he maliciously tightened his grip over the wound on my head. I had shouted out, not getting a reaction from any of the Erynese soldiers near by. The minister tilted me back awkwardly, making me put more weight into his hand at the back of my head. A few tears escaped my eyes but I bit the rest back.
"We will ave no eroics, yes? We will be friends now," he stated, certainly.
"I would rather befriend a--AH!"
His fingers contracted. Larii flitted worriedly through my mind.
"My name is Tomic Entark, Minister of Eryn to Gaea," he smiled down at me as though nothing was wrong. "You may call me Minister Entark. I will call you Asling. Just like friends."
"It's Ashling! There's an 'H' in it you ignorant dope!" I screamed at him.
With only a slight frown Minister Entark--my new 'friend'--pushed me up right then down into his rising knee. I only turned the front of my face away in time to spare a broken nose. It collided with the right side of my face instead, just below the cheek bone.
Stunned I slid to the ground, dangling slightly from the leash before he let me fall completely into the sand. He dropped the tether and walked away from me, though I hardly noticed. My conscious was still floating somewhere above me. As it slowly descended to rejoin my body, feeling started to come back. A fuzzy sensation was hovering around the right side of my face.
Don't tell Demaren, was the first thought to pass through my head.
Larii was going round in circles. Too late! she replied, frustrated at her lack of action.
My face rebelled painfully as I tried to frown into the sand.
You acted that out?
No, she said, still frustrated. I saw a picture of a little girl on the boat. Larii playing with her.
She can hear you, too?
She mentally nodded at me.
Interesting. At least I'm not the only strange one, I said, thinking of Demaren.
I curled my legs up where I lay. Night was approaching fast and my stomach was gnawing at my insides. But I'd be damned if I asked for food from these wolves.
You shouldn't tell him things like that, tiredly and fast loosing conscious. He'll never pick up and go to Grayman otherwise.
Exactly, she said fiercely.
I was fully awake.
No, Larii! You have to tell him not to come. Please. I'm begging you. Please, please, please. It's the only thing I can do for him! I begged.
Whatever. Shut up and rest, she growled.
Somewhat mollified and all too tired to argue further, I lay back down. By midnight, my right eye had swollen shut.
I lay in the sand in the same spot Entark had left me, shivering as the desert temperature dropped. Most of the soldiers were asleep, except for the few on guard duty who paced between their designated posts around our perimeter. No one so much as glanced my way. A few times I contemplated running, counting the time it took for the guards to go from one post to another. But there was no cover near enough for me to run to without being spotted. So in the sand I stayed.
The last rays of the sun and residual heat in the sand had let me sleep for a little while, but the night had stole the warmth away and now my teeth rattled making my head and face ache. I tried to pull my arms in as close to my body as possible, but the ties just above my elbows prevented it. My lower arms had lost most of their feeling anyway.
A thin hissing sound of shifting sand made my body stiffen, my jaw clenched tight so my teeth wouldn't rattle. Someone was walking close by; I squinted my left eye closed to feign sleep. I felt sand moving slightly around me as someone came up close behind me. A small hand pressed lightly over my mouth.
My left eye flew open and I turned to kick whoever it was but quickly stopped as I took in a small, dark skinned boy with a finger pressed to his lips. Giving me a stern look to make sure I wouldn't scream he took my hand away and smiled. I merely stared at him with my good eye then glanced around, making sure no one noticed.
"Salue," he whispered, his teeth and eyes were the only thing that stood out in the darkness of the moonless night. I didn't recognized the language.
"Hi?" I barely mouthed, turning my face in his direction and eyeing him suspiciously.
When I turned my head he was able to completely see my face. He sucked in a breath sympathetically and bit his full lip, I could only imagine how bad it looked. It was hard to make out details in the dark, but some emotion was waring over his face. His smooth brow puckered slightly as he frowned and he tugged slightly at the rope around his waist that served as a belt over his dark colored jumper. I saw the resolution set in his jaw as he seemed to make some sort of decision.
A small knife barely flashed in the night as it came toward me and I didn't have time to scream. But he didn't cut me. Instead, I felt my arms fall slack as the bindings fell away. Painful tingling crept down my arms as I brought them around in front of me and wrapped them around myself. Gingerly, I reached up to touch my face and cringed when my fingers found the length of my cheekbone swollen. I looked back at the boy.
"Thank you," I whispered, he grinned at me. He couldn't be more than ten, I thought.
"Yah girl, welcome," he said, as I sat up a little. "And yah chilled."
From behind his back, he pulled a thin blanket. Eagerly I reached out to take it then hesitated.
"I-is this yours?" I asked. He shook his head mischievously and glanced around before leaning in.
"Is from supply tent."
I nodded my head carefully, accepting it and throwing it around my shoulders.
"What's your name?" I ventured.
"Jamis," he replied, he was pulling something from the sleeve of his shirt. Something thin and long. He held it out to me.
I took it curiously and my mouth started to water when I realized it was a roll of thin, bendy bread wrapped around another water tube. I crammed the stretchy dough into my mouth. The boy--Jamis--watched me, seemingly proud of himself.
"Is good?" he queried when I started chugging the water.
I nodded, wiping my mouth on my arm.
"I'm Ashling," I offered. Jamis seemed to already know this.
He nodded vigorously. "Yah are energy."
I blinked. "Energy?"
"Soldier men say yah are," he shrugged, looking at me curiously as if I might tell him more about it.
"I don't think so," I said with an apologetic smile. "I'm just a girl."
"A slave?" he asked, leaning in eagerly.
I frowned. "I will never be a slave."
Jamis seemed to deflate a little.
"Soldier men say yah are," he said, disappointed. He scratched at something on his palm.
Impulsively, I reached out and took his hand. It was hard to see in the dark, but across the right palm was a thick, shiny scar. My eyes watered and I held out my own hand. Jamis brought it up to his face for inspection and started bouncing around with excitement.
"Yah like me!" he whispered, grinning.
"Lots of people have scars," I said. "But it doesn't make them slaves."
"Not this scar," he said, holding up my own hand for me to see. Then he pointed at the side of my face. "This one means soldier men can do that."
I frowned, and grimaced as the action brought pain to my face. The water tube was still in my hand, though empty, and was still chilled. I brought it up and carefully placed it along my cheek bone.
"What house yah in?" Jamis asked, not liking my silence. I wondered if any of the Erynese talked to him.
"I don't belong to a house," I told him, sighing. Without hunger or thirst to keep my body occupied, it had gone back to giving me a throbbing head ache.
"No brand?" he asked, his eyes getting wide. He pulled down the neck of his over sized jumper and showed me his upper right arm.
I couldn't see it in the dark, so I reached out. Almost at the socket of his shoulder was a ridged, angling figure that had been burned into his skin.
"Belong to military," he explained. My heart contracted as he said it with pride.
"Listen to me, Jamis," I said, quietly. "Neither of us belong to anybody. We are not property. Remember that, okay?"
Jamis looked at me quizzically, but nodded all the same. I wondered how long he had been a slave. Maybe he had never known anything else. I felt sick at the thought.
"What house yah want?" he asked, still full of questions.
"It doesn't matter."
"I know which," he said mischievously.
"How do you know so much?" I asked, laughing a little.
"They talk," we waved a hand toward the soldier tents. "I listen. Yah go to palace!"
This seemed to excite him, and he beamed at me as if it should excite me too. My mouth went dry as my jaw tightened, making my cheek bone scream under pressure. Jamis took in my face and frowned at me.
"Yah not happy? Treat slaves well there," he said, patting my hand comfortingly. A ten year old slave was trying to comfort me.
"No," I said quietly. "Not happy at all."
He looked slightly taken aback but swiftly recovered. "Yah see. They good."
With that he patted my arm and walked swiftly away, his figure no more than a shadow in the dark. I watched him until I couldn't distinguish his form from the tents before laying back down.
Jamis had given me a lot of things to think about. How the poor child could possibly think of his oppressors as 'good' for one. But before I knew it dawn had broke and a large hand was shaking me awake.
"Awaken, ma pelue," cooed Minister Entark. The sound took away any appetite I may have built up over the night.
"Are you more willing to cooperate today?" he asked.
I glared up as him with my good eye and ground my teeth together so I wouldn't say anything. He regarded my blanket and empty water tube from my night visitor, Jamis.
"Someone as made a friend?" he asked, squatting down.
I averted my eyes. Would Jamis get in trouble if Entark found out? He took the tube and placed it under my chin like a knife so I had to look at him.
"Eiter you made a friend or you stole it," he said coolly. He took the tube and ran it along the edge of my swollen bruise. I suppressed a shiver.
"We sould tank your benefactor," he continued, deciding I hadn't stolen the items.
My eyes flitted around, searching among the moving soldiers for Jamis. I didn't know what I would do if I saw him; maybe I could warn him with my eyes.
Entark opened his mouth to say something--probably demand to know who had helped me--when a soldier came up beside him speaking in rapid Erynese. The minister stood up to talk with him, frowning and saying something in brisk tones. Still on the ground, I sat up straighter to try and spot the little boy.
Suddenly, out of the moving crowd, Jamis appeared at the soldier's side. He glanced my way and gave me a wink before interrupting the two men. Jamis spoke to the soldier politely in Erynese before the man nodded absentmindedly and gestured toward me. I blinked at the gesture. It was the fist time anyone besides Entark or Jamis had acknowledged my presence in two days.
Jamis bounded to my side.
"I am helping!" he said happily. He reached down and took my hand to make me stand up.
"Er," I said nervously, looking at Entark who was talking angrily now to the soldier. "Helping with what?"
"Yah!" he said, swinging my hand a little before leading me off toward one of the sand ships.
I glanced back sharply at Entark who was shouting at the soldier now and gesturing at me angrily.
"Um. Are you sure I'm allowed to go with you?" I asked.
"Yes," he said with a giggle, leading me up a ramp into the ship.
It was a completely different part of the ship than I had been in yesterday. The day was starting to get hot outside, but in this room is was pleasantly cool. Soldiers were going about, looking at blinking lights and flashing panes of glass. I had never seen anything like it.
Still leading, Jamis pulled me though a small door in a corner and walked me down a skinny hallway barely wide enough for two men to pass through. Every few moments, we had to squeeze by another soldier going the other way. He would nod and smile faintly as we pressed by. These little attentions were beginning to disturb me.
Finally, Jamis darted through a thin door, pulling me along behind him. Once inside, the door swished closed at my back, making me jump. Jamis dropped my hand.
"Yah room," he announced, holding out his arms happily.
I looked around the little space. There were no windows. A short bed took up one wall and behind a white curtain was a bath area. Everything was mostly shaded in gray tones.
"My room?" I clarified. Jamis nodded. "Why would I get a room? I'm supposed to be a slave."
"But special," the boy said, turning to the curtain area and twisting some nobs in the wall. Water started to spurt out into the shallow tub.
I frowned at him. "I'm really not."
"Soldier men think yah are," he shrugged. Steam now rose from the water. Jamis turned to me. "Yah get in."
I looked from the boy to the bath and raised a eyebrow.
"You have to leave first."
He shook his head. "Am to be with yah."
"Well, turn around at least!"
He sighed, but complied, crossing his skinny arms over his chest.
"Am supposed to help."
"You're being very helpful," I assured him, stripping my filthy clothes and sinking into the water. It was hot on my skin and felt delicious.
Once I was in, I pulled the curtain closed and began to rinse myself. I looked around but couldn't find any soap.
"Um. Soap?" I called.
A dark hand appeared around the curtain's edge with a light yellow bar. I took it, thanking him. I was about finished when the hand came around again, this time with an amber colored bottle. Taking it tentatively, I looked it over.
"What's this?" I asked.
Jamis' voice called through the curtain. "Yah hair. Makes it smooth."
Curious, I twisted off the cap and let some of the cream fall into my hand. It smelled nice, a little bit like lavender. I rubbed it into my scalp before rinsing my hair once more.
Standing, I peeked around the curtain. The boy was standing there, a large fluffy towel in hand. He smiled as I took it and came back out with it wrapped around myself.
"Yah feel?" he asked, walking over to the bed where some clothes were laid out. I didn't see my old clothes anywhere.
"Much better, thank you."
He smiled even wider, his bright teeth standing out against his dark lips.
"But do you know why they're doing this?" I asked.
Jamis frowned, taking in the uncomfortable way I held the towel around me like I was using it as a shield. He got up brought over the dark green garment across the bed.
"Don't right know," he admitted. Without warning, or seemingly any thought, he pulled the towel away.
I squeaked in surprise but he had pulled a long shirt over my head at the same time. I tugged at the fabric which only came down to my thighs and glared at him.
"Don't do that!"
He giggled, bringing over tight fitting dark pants and a thin, flowing over coat.
"Yah sit," he ordered.
I pursed my lips, but obeyed, folding my legs under me on the bed. He seemed to be enjoying this new found authority. Jamis jumped on the bed as well and moved behind me with a comb. Gently, he started brushing my hair.
It felt nice, and he was extra careful of the tender lump that still pulsed behind my ear. He had it up in several braids before long.
"Lovely!" he pronounced, jumping off the bed to survey his work from the front of me.
I smiled at his obvious delight. Maybe I could be as happy as he was with his lot in life someday. The thought left me cold and made my chest hurt.
The next few days passed in much the same manner. The bruise around my eye diminished under my young companion's tender care and was nearly gone before the week was out.
I never really left my room, and could barely tell when the boat was moving. Jamis only left me for brief periods. He even slept in the room across a pallet that was stowed under the bed during the day.
Having the child there at night, being able to hear his steady breathing and shuffling in sleep, made things easier. Most of the time I woke up searching for the comfort of glossy feathers and warm arm at my back. I only cried at night, when Jamis was completely taken by sleep. I hugged the pillow to my chest and bit down on my fist to keep from crying too loud. I missed Demaren so much.
At these times, a comforting mind would enter my awareness. Larii hush me mentally and show me easing thoughts through pictures. I fell asleep to the sound of her mind.
Unfortunately, this consolation didn't last.
Half way through one night, I awoke to an emptiness in my head.
Larii? I called, sleepily. There was no answer.
I gave myself a headache trying to call to her the rest of the night. By morning my eyes were sore from crying and my head felt like a hop had been bucking through my brain in the dark.
Jamis came bursting through to door with a large smile on his face, his hand clasping mine in excitement.
"We're here!" he said.
"We're where?" I asked, cringing at his shrill voice.
"City of the Eye," he said in a hushed voice that could barely contain his enthusiasm.