Chapter 23. The Mecharmy
They came out of the encampment of tents and stepped upon a wide swathe of green grass several tens of metres wide that ran all around the edge of the lake. Groups of nomads stood here chatting, mostly women with water skins or other containers. Some voiced their greetings to Alicshea who returned them, a couple of times they stopped to talk with a particular person as they made their way around the edge of the lake. Once Alicshea seemed to get into a lengthy conversation with one woman in particular who Alicshea introduced as a relative of some kind. They were obviously going to sit and chat for a while so Nar’Allia excused herself and walked down further towards the edge of the lake.
As she approached the water, she could see that there was no beach or indeed any way to easily step into the water which she hoped she could do, for to swim and feel cool water after all these weeks of travel would be such a treat. But as she looked around, her eyes followed the edge of the lake right the way around until they returned to the point upon the bank where she stood. She realised that the lake sat in a basin with vertical sides, the surface of the water some three or four meters below the edge of the basin where she stood. She thought it looked like the waters sat within a great barrel or bowl.
The rock that formed the edges of the lake almost looked although it had been cut that way, it certainly didn’t exhibit any of the characteristic erosion like the mountains that surrounded them did, but then she supposed that this valley area within the Mountains of Mornost was most probably kept well sheltered from the forces of the Rust Desert beyond these peaks. She looked into the clear blue waters below her, she could see down deep into the lake for its surface was perfectly still like a silvery-blue mirror laid flat, as if it had been laid upon the grass, surrounded by a rocky frame. The depth of the lake was unfathomable, although the rock edges could be seen continuing smoothly downwards many metres, nothing could be seen of any levelling off of the vertical sides or any hint of a bottom to the lake. The blue near the surface just became steadily darker as the depths loomed until all vision was lost in an inky blackness where the light could penetrate no further. She watched for several minutes, but she was surprised for no fish, or any other form of life in the waters could be seen, the waters almost looked sterile. Nar’Allia found herself stepping backwards a few steps with a feeling of unease, almost of foreboding.
“Don’t step too close to the edge milady, for if you were to fall in you would never be able to get back out without a rope and some aid from our men folk.”
Nar’Allia turned and there addressing her was an woman carrying a thick leather water bucket to the handle of which was tied a length of rope. She smiled for there was the women she had spoken to before, the one called the Sage.
Nar’Allia stepped further back and the Sage smiled as she threw the bucket out over the edge. There could be heard a splash and ripples radiated out over the lakes surface. The woman hauled on the rope and soon she had recovered her bucket full of the cool clear water. She produced a cup from somewhere within her robes and placing the bucket on the grass she dipped the cup and handed it to Nar’Allia nodding as she did so. Nar’Allia took the cup, she sniffed at the clear liquid and finding it had no aroma at all she placed the cup to her lips and took a drink. The water was sweet and cool and very refreshing, so she took another few gulps. She was about to drain the last of the water when the women took hold of the cup gently and threw the last remaining dregs back into the lake.
“It is customary milady to give the last back to the Leviathan. He gives of his waters freely during the Jethrent and it is only right that we should give some back in thanks.”
“The Leviathan?”
“Yes, the waters here become crystal clear this time of year, which is why we come here when we do, it is a time of plenty and a release from the otherwise hard life in the desert. The Leviathan is the keeper of the waters; we may drink here freely for now. But in a week or so the Leviathan will tire of our presence and poison the water. The waters will cloud and become undrinkable.”
Nar’Allia looked into the depths again wondering at what the woman had said, how could it be that the waters were drinkable now yet remained a poison at all other times? But she then asked another question that was in her mind, “who or what is the Leviathan?”
“It is said that a great and terrible creature lives deep in the lake, a dreadful monster, benign most of the time, perhaps even at rest, asleep maybe. But if woken, quick to anger and change into a terrible destructive power, breathing down fire and death all around, especially if the appropriate respectfulness is not afforded him.”
Nar’Allia looked back at the waters as if searching for a pair of bright eyes looking up at her from the deep depths. But as before nothing could be seen below a certain depth just the impenetrable blackness. She thought to herself with an inward smile, no wonder tales of monsters grew around this place, the depths must have remained a mystery for millennia and many a fanciful mind must have looked down there imagining all sorts of things. Nar’Allia turned back to ask another question of the woman, but the Sage was already walking back up the slope away from her, back to her clan family no doubt. Nar’Allia stared after the woman and then started in shock as Alicshea took her arm, shaking her from her thoughts. They made to continue their journey and strode off around the edge of the lake once more.
Nar’Allia spoke to Alicshea, “that woman, the Sage, she mentioned a creature, the leviathan she called it and how it is supposed to live in the lake.”
Alicshea responded. Smiling she said, “there are many tales of such a thing, I have never seen such a creature, and no one I know has either. Perhaps it is a myth. Perhaps long ago someone decided upon a story to tell their children and the tale grew out of all proportion, who knows.” Alicshea smiled, “in the stories the creature does have a name though. It is called ‘The Battel el cruza’,” Alicshea had some difficulty forming the words in her mouth, the name was obviously not of the common tongue or any other that Nar’Allia was aware of, she guessed it to have its origins from within the same language as the ancient unknown one that the clan banners had written upon them.
But Alicshea continued talking, “it is supposed to be guardian of this place and if so deciding, may emerge out of the lake, from beneath the waters. It is told amongst the clans that this creature can rain fire and instant death down upon our enemies and may disgorge fearsome spawn to cover the earth and devour all those that may seek to harm us his people.” She waved her hand and laughed, “but you must ask my friends they are members of the Mecharmy Clan, they know more about this than do we, they can tell you the whole story of you like.”
Eventually after walking around the edge of the lake, Nar’Allia found herself walking back through the sea of tents until they came upon the clan group that Alicshea was obviously searching for. “Here we are, this is the clanmeet of the Mecharmy Clan,” she said.
Nar’Allia had stopped dead, her mouth was open in a gasp, she stared ahead. She was looking at the banner of the clan in front of which they stood. The banner was of a circular face with slit eyes and a slit mouth. She pointed at the flag and turning to Alicshea said, “of course this is their banner.”
“Yes, remember my father said so?” Alicshea looked at Nar’Allia questioningly, with a slight look of amusement upon her face.
The banner was the same device that is depicted upon the Dolan that she had found.” Nar’Allia continued to stare as a young man ran forward from between two tents and picked up Alicshea spinning her around several times as she giggled, her hands placed upon each of his shoulders supporting her. Nar’Allia was pulled from her thoughts and smiling at this touching reunion crossed her arms.
Alicshea said, “oh, Daffid, it’s wonderful to see you,” the young man put Alicshea down on the ground but kept hold of both her hands in his. Alicshea looked deep into his eyes a broad smile upon her lips. She tore her gaze from his and looked towards Nar’Allia, then she said, “oh,
Daffid please let me introduce you to Nar’Allia, a new friend we met out in the desert.”
Daffid looked towards Nar’Allia, he seemed somewhat surprised, “a new friend indeed and a long ear no less. Well I am pleased to meet you Nar’Allia. But come where are my manners. Come, you must have some caffeen in my father’s tent, please come.” So dropping one of Alicshea’s hands Daffid walked swiftly up the road and into the encampment of the Mecharmy. Nar’Allia faltered on the edge of the encampment remembering Vaughnal's reluctance to enter the encampment of another clan uninvited.
“Come, come milady Nar’Allia, you are invited formally into our camp.” He bowed to her.
So Nar’Allia stepped forward and followed them.
It looked although the Mecharmy camp was much the same size as Vauhgnal's, in fact it looked pretty much the same apart from the different banner. The preliminaries of hospitality were the same, drinking the caffeen, the thick black hot liquid she had first tasted in the tent of Alicshea’s father. Nar’Allia savoured the flavour thinking she must find out how it is made and if possible take the ingredients back home with her. She started to daydream once more. Home, so far away, already it seemed like a lifetime since she was there, it seemed that much still lay in her way before she could even think about returning to that place. She looked at Alicshea and Daffid, silently observing the customs of their people, yet their eyes for each other unmistakably conveying so much. She thought of Lo’Rosse, his wounds probably healed by now. She thought of the way that he looked at her, she found it slightly unnerving, a little frightening perhaps. Not frightening in a way that said she was scared of him, she smiled inwardly at this thought, she could not be frightened of him. But she was frightened of something else, something that Lo’Rosse stood for. She found this thought a little suffocating, as if to give into it would mean her giving up something of great value, losing it forever. What that something was she did not know, at least not now, perhaps that was the most frightening part. She thought how she might miss something, loose an experience that she would enjoy; have to give up something important. But then she may gain as well, replace something lost with something gained, maybe something far nicer, something far more worthwhile. She shook her head in confusion. How her life had changed already since leaving their village in Gel’Te’Ertenya, would it ever be the same again? She thought of Minervar, how she had told many times her tale of adventure. Had the same things, the similar thoughts occurred to her? Was the same happening to Nar’Allia now? What seemed at the outset to be a simple, obvious thing to do yet like Minervar she had some serious thinking to do, some serious decisions to make if in fact she ever did return home.
She heard her name being called, it seemed far away to start with, almost like Minervar calling to her for a meal or to undertake some chore, but then the connection was made and her mind jumped back to reality.
“I’m sorry, ummm I was miles away, day dreaming, sorry I err.”
Alicshea laughed, she was now sitting next to Daffid, they held hands. But neither of them had spoken Nar’Allia’s name it seemed, they were too wrapped up in each other. Nar’Allia looked around, one of Daffid’s brothers was looking at her questioningly, his name what was it? She had forgotten.
It was obviously he that had called to her. “I’m sorry, how rude of me, you must think me so rude.” She lowered her eyes from his gaze.
“No milady, do not fear, I often day dream at times like these, perhaps some more caffeen?” The brother smiled and reached for the tall pot that sat in the middle of the table. Nar’Allia felt more at ease. So she found herself asking the question that she had meant to ask at the first opportunity. “I ummm, Alicshea that is, told me your clan knew the old legends about the Leviathan in the lake, is that true?”
The brother smiled at her and handed her a full cup. “Ah, yes.” he stood and came over to sit by Nar’Allia’s side, he took up the caffeen pot and brought it with him. “Our clan, that is the clan of Mecharmy have our ranges closer to these mountains than do any other clan. We live in the shadow of the Mountains of Mornost.” He gestured with a wave of his hand in a circular movement as if suggesting the mountain range that surrounded them outside the tent and beyond their encampment. “It has been this way for many hundreds of generations of my people. Although we never enter this valley but once every ten turns, as do all at this time of Jethrent. Once long ago there is a story told that strangers entered our lands, they were welcomed as visitors.”
He started to stare at Nar’Allia in a peculiar fashion, she felt slightly uncomfortable at the intensity of his gaze. He smiled and continued, “actually more in appearance as you, for the stories tell clearly of a fair race of people who had your ears, your long pointed ears. The teachers we called them.” He went to touch Nar’Allia’s ear but stopped himself before his fingers reached there. “They taught us many things, how to survive in the desert. They gave us many gifts, things that would help us greatly. Here he frowned. “But we were deceived, for they sought something that we did not know about. These fair folk were in fact of evil intent.” Here he stared deeply into Nar’Allia’s eyes.
For the first time she felt a deep sense of unease as he looked at her. He seemed to reflect what Alicshea had said, but he also called them evil. She was confused. Why would her people help these humans and then deceive them?
But he looked away and continued, “they asked many questions, but seemed to anger at our lack of knowledge, some of our young warriors took offence at this and a fight erupted, the teachers fought back but we managed to fight them off and the teachers retreated, for there was but few of them. They fled into this place, the place of Jethrent, we followed but halted outside for our traditions forbid us to enter here at all times except for the time of Jethrent. We stood a guard outside for several moons, waiting for them to return, for there is no other way out unless the cliffs are climbed. But never did any of them return or seek to come out again. Then one night a terrible shaking of the ground occurred and bright lights shone out from above the mountains, we stood in wonder for never had we seen anything like this before. Then a vast monster flew up into the sky from within the circle of the mountains, it seemed to hover in the sky for a while before it flew around in circles it was silent and seemed to fly effortlessly. Eventually it flew over our camp, it stopped above us and suddenly fire rained down upon us, we fled but many were killed in the flames, burnt to nothing in an instant, the heat so intense that nothing could be found of the bodies afterwards. Then from the belly of the beast dropped its spawn, smaller demons with weapons that also burnt, we fought them, we called for the other clans to aid us, those that were near came and we managed to overcome the deadly spawn upon the ground we hunted every one and killed them, for we daren’t leave any alive to infect the land further.
By this time the beast had gone, it flew away into the east and we have never seen its like again from that day to this. But we fear that the beast, this leviathan, may have returned without our knowledge, or perhaps another like it still lives beneath the deep waters of the lake. This is why we respect the waters, not only for the generosity of life but also for the leviathan guardian. For the long-ear teachers obviously awoke the monster and it destroyed them before flying to attack us also. We do not wish to awaken the beast again. So we are careful how we take the waters from the lake, or the Cistern as it is known to our clan.”
He stood and offered Nar’Allia more caffeen, she declined, holding up her hand, her head hurt and she felt a little dizziness, perhaps too much caffeen was not good for her system. The brother may have misinterpreted this gesture for he took her hand and pulled as if to aid her rise. Before she knew it Nar’Allia found herself outside in the cool of the night air, she gasped, where had the time gone? She turned to return to the tent, but the brother still held her hand, he grabbed her tightly around the waist and drew her to him. She squirmed, confusion in her mind. She could smell him close, the aroma was not unpleasant, then she felt his lips up
on hers. She struggled, but then a feeling came over her that she had not known before, she felt a sense of curiosity, of ….. pleasure. She relaxed a little and his lips sought hers with renewed passion. She suddenly felt a great pang of guilt, she thought of Lo’Rosse, she jerked backwards, what was happening to her, she struggled and managed to break free of his grasp and in doing so fell to the ground. He looked down at her and wiping his mouth on his sleeve, spat onto the ground at her feet and scowling turned and re-entered the tent.
Nar’Allia was shocked at this behaviour. She was torn between leaving to go back to Alicshea’s tent, or going back inside the one that the brother had returned to. She felt confused, a strange feeling had come upon her, she felt a kind of wrongness in her being, as if she had just committed some crime. The brother, he had obviously heard of T’Iea before, the story to which he had referred described the pointed T’Iea ears clearly. She was one of them, yet he had called them, called her, evil. Was that why he thought to kiss her? Did he think this was some act of revenge, or some kind of way to make her realise that he was not afraid of her, didn’t even respect her? But then it occurred to her that there was one section of the T’Iea race that could be capable of such. The T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran, the Dark Brethren. Perhaps they had been here many years ago. They looked the same as she, these people would not be able to tell the difference physically for all T’Iea looked much alike. It was only in their nature that they differed. If the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran were the only T’Iea these people had met, then it was not surprising perhaps that they would expect other T’Iea to behave similarly. She resolved to walk back to her tent, but should she leave Alicshea here?
“Nar’Allia, where are you going?”
She stopped, it was Alicshea coming out of the tent. Nar’Allia felt she should tell her about what just happened, but then that may only serve to upset things between Alicshea and her betrothed’s family. So instead she said, “I, I, feel tired, I think I’ll return to the tent, my head, it, err my head hurts.” It genuinely did and she had a thumping headache behind her eyes. She stumbled when she took a step. Alicshea was by her side helping her with her arm under hers.
“Come then I’ll take you back”.
“But you must stay here, you haven’t seen Daffid for so long.”
“There will be plenty of opportunities to see him again, but for now, let’s get you to bed. Caffeen can have this effect if you’re not used to it.” Alicshea smiled as she led Nar’Allia back down the grass pathway and down to the lake, or the Cistern as the brother had pointed out.
So, Nar’Allia and Alicshea returned to their own camp. On arriving Nar’Allia found JDC, Amndo and Jonas, she told them the story she had heard in the camp of the Mecharmy clan. They discussed this for a while, but none could come up with a plausible explanation over what Nar’Allia had been told. This Leviathan beast was clearly something vast and terrible, but JDC said he had not seen anything like it in all his travels in the Rust Desert. Clearly this was a complete mystery, but something must have happened that day.
Jonas said a little sarcastically perhaps, “if this story is true it’s surprising that the nomads return to this place especially if they fear the monster reappearing.”
Nar’Allia lost interest in the conversation, she found herself once again thinking about Daffid’s brother and his actions towards her. She thought how strangely disrespectful he had been, so unlike what she had expected from these nomads. She found herself greatly angered how dare he try and take advantage of her in that way. Anger welled inside her and she suddenly felt the need to get away from here, away from these nomads with their strange ways and customs. So she said to her companions, “we waste our time here. We have not found any clear link to Minervar’s whereabouts yet and all this talk of Leviathan monsters has put me on edge, I would rather not have any dealings with any great beasts unless of course they are linked to Minervar’s disappearance but I cannot see how.”
Amndo held the Dolan in his hand toying with it in thought, “perhaps we should show this to Daffid and to the Mecharmy clan? Maybe they can shed some light as to its use; it’s worth a try at least?”
Nar’Allia calmed somewhat, she was about to say that they should leave as soon as possible and not show anything to these disrespectful people, but her anger passed and she felt more subdued. She had a sudden thought. If the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran were here like the story of Daffid’s brother suggested, then maybe they had found or stolen the Dolan from this place? After all, if it had ended up in Tezrin's possession, he could have quite possibly gotten the thing from the T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran, perhaps even from one of them that had been here in the past. Perhaps he had even been here himself! Suddenly she thought that maybe more information could be gained from these people. Perhaps they just had to hope for the right opportunity or discover the right questions to ask. After all, perhaps there was a link here, some small piece of information that may aid them in their search for Minervar. Nar’Allia therefore found herself agreeing that Amndo should present the Dolan to the Mecharmy clan at the first opportunity.
One morning Alicshea said she would show them around all that was going on, give them a guided tour of all the sports and other attractions and many diversions that were taking place. The Jethrent it seemed was also a time of great celebration and as they walked through the camp they could see various activities were starting up all over. There was music and dancing; merchandise of various sorts for sale in many kiosks; jewellery and clothing; household utensils and many other things. Lots of stalls selling food stuffs of every sort, they tried many different and very tantalisingly wonderful smelling snacks. All thoughts of the Dolan and the slant eyed emblem went from their thoughts as they enjoyed the celebrations going on around them.
Where the tents ended at the outer edge of the tent city, numerous pens had been set up to house the thousands of Duagnuats, there clicking noise was very loud as Nar’Allia and her companions wandered around the edges of the pens. A race track had been set up beyond the pens and various trials involving the riding of the Duagnuats were being staged.
There were areas set aside for wrestling, for shooting competitions and all manner of tests and activities that allowed those who were good at them, or thought themselves good, to compete with each other.
After a few days of witnessing all this Nar’Allia had all but forgotten about her suspicions and misgivings and found herself enjoying the spectacle. There was even a wedding attended by what seemed to be the whole gathering, for there were so many nomads there. Later Nar’Allia learnt that a Headlord's son was getting married and the clan had sent out an open invitation to everyone attending the Jethrent. As the ceremony progressed, Nar’Allia looked around at the sea of faces attending the ceremony. One face in particular caught her attention for this face did not look forward to the happy couple themselves but was focussed upon her. She looked away quickly, it was Daffid’s brother, she saw him staring at her through the well-wishers crowded around the wedding ceremony. She could not help but look once more towards him, he was still staring at her a slight smile upon his lips. She felt a little unnerved by it, she was going to mention it to Jonas but thought better of it, she did not want to risk causing any trouble especially at this time of joy and merriment.