14
Mesh of Faith
The waters outside Baneal
Morning light shimmered pink and powder blue, rippling through the water births above as Maanta approached the place he assumed was Sift’s realm. As he approached, he felt the natural beauty his surroundings possessed – pure and rough, like that of a cooling lava stone. This was not a place of elaborate splendor; but a homely place.
Towering mud pillars stood above the ocean floor before him. Far off, black skinned men and women swam from holes dug out of the mighty goliaths, looking like tiny fish in the distance. Maanta’s heart jumped as he realized he also saw groups of people riding the backs of whales and standing guard about the pillar dwellings. With tiny harpoons mounted upon bows, they appeared to scour the outward waters within their sight.
We should have been prepared like this, alert at all times, Maanta thought. If we had been more careful maybe we could have protected ourselves, or at least more of us could have escaped. Water currents licked his shins as Lola slowed beneath him. Their approach to the looming mud towers was quick, and soon four dark skinned men atop fish like Lola shot toward him, emerging from holes in the stone walls.
One man bore a helmet carved from bone, and armor fashioned with the same design. “Who are you?” he questioned in a low, resonating voice. “For what reason has Lola brought you to us? You must be a friend or else she could never have been convinced to bring you. Is Sift in need of our assistance?”
Another of the men whispered softly. “Is he alive?”
“Do not dare to question your leader’s wit and skills,” the first man replied as if reprimanding the second. “Rest assured he is alive.”
“Don’t worry, he’s alive,” Maanta quickly answered the second man’s question. The idea of Sift being dead sent chills through his body. “He came to my people’s realm, Meridia, to warn us of the treachery of the tailfinned beings. But few of us escaped their wrath in time, and now my people wait, frail and few, in a place we call Orion’s Birth. It is many leagues distance from here, and Sift remained to defend them while I came to request assistance from you. They need better protection if they are to travel here to your realm.”
As the bone helmeted man took off his helm, a look of deep thought and sadness displayed itself like a scar upon his face. “My son died bringing us the information of what was to occur in Meridia and I have feared this whole time that what we had learned had come too late to save that place.”
Maanta felt for the man. “I am alive because of what your son has done. It wasn’t all for nought. There are others like me at Orion’s Birth, but surely the tailfinned beings are searching them out as we speak. Surely there are others still alive also in Meridia who need rescuing.”
“You are right. In these past days you yourself have endured more than I. We must tally our losses, pray and move forward to prevent the loss of other lives. It seems as if there is little time to spare. The tailfinned ones could be upon your people at any moment. Our warriors must assemble and leave for Orion’s Birth immediately.
“Cole.” He turned to a slim bald man behind him. “Assemble the harpooners and trident wielders and tell them to quickly meet here with their fastest riding fish. We are leaving to rescue Sift. There is much to prepare and little time to do so.” And then he turned toward Maanta in a moment of curiosity. “You never gave me your name, boy.”
Cole pivoted and shot with his riding fish toward a series of larger holes in the massive brown structures.
“I am Maanta.” He shook the man’s bone-armored hand.
“Like the manta ray. What a majestic fish. When I escaped Sangfoul, the city where the tailfinned ones dwell, I swear I saw one following behind me to this city. It was warming to feel I had company. I am pleased to meet you. You have been given a fantastic name.”
“Thank you.” Maanta smiled. “I hope I can live up to your appreciation for the animal.”
“You came to us alone with nothing but a riding companion to accompany you on this long journey. That is a good beginning. Come to think of it, that is how many of us arrived here, on a journey, alone, to escape the race of Sangfoul. My name is Tao.” The man’s facial features showed he was again thinking of the tragedy befalling Meridia. “How many tailfinned beings are there within Meridia’s walls?”
“I was unconscious during the siege and witnessed the last of it only from a distance, but Sift seemed to think there were no more than fifty of them. They swept in on us so quickly. Evanshade came first with a boy called Venge, using the guise of peace.” Maanta burned hot with anger as images of the evil looking boy swimming off with Illala came to his mind.
Waters swept about the bone mask façade as the dark skinned man placed it once more over his face. “I hate to say it, but you’re lucky it was Evanshade and not Venge’s father or the Dark One. They are more brutal and wicked than him. That’s probably why Venge was sent along, to watch and prod Evanshade. That boy is slick like an eel and bites like a shark.”
“As we escaped, Venge took one of our party and took off with her before we could stop him.” Is Illala even still alive? Maanta pondered. Surely there is something more we should have done to rescue her.
Tao’s fists clenched upon his fish’s riding stones. “Then they must know where you were going. If they haven’t already arrived they could besiege Orion’s Birth before nightfall. We must move quicker than I thought. There is no time to talk.” Tao’s bone-masked eyes shimmered as he spoke to Maanta. “Have you eaten on this journey? I fear there is no time to properly show you our city and to provide you with the nourishment I’m sure you well need.”
“I’ve had some to eat.” But I wouldn’t mind a freshly cooked meal, Maanta thought, his mouth watering as he predicted the various foods he might be served here, had they the time to spare. “The day before I left for your city, I took down a whale for us all to feast upon. Sift wrapped leftovers for me and tasty morsels to tide Lola over.”
“A boy as young as you took down a whale on his own?” Disbelief entered Tao’s voice.
“Yes. But surely anyone else could have done the same if they had tried.”
“That is modesty in your voice, young Maanta. I can see why Sift sent you to us. A soul like yours will be an asset in days to come.”
It was surprising, Maanta thought, how quickly Tao and his warriors prepared for the journey. Within the time it took to feed Lola and eat a portion of the whale meat Sift had prepared for him, the trident wielders and harpooners had formed a spherical traveling group all around him. Their riding fish were massive yet slim like Lola, with a look of wisdom and age in their eyes. Maanta turned to look into the eyes of the riding fish behind him; there was sharpness there like in the irises of an eel.
There must be ten or more warriors in all directions about me, Maanta thought. What a force. Surely this will be enough to hold back the tailfinned ones. Maybe we can retake Meridia.
A boy almost his own age swept about them handing spiced seaweed wrapped pieces of octopus and squid to the warriors, each man or woman thanking and blessing the boy while taking their share.
As the boy reached Maanta he handed him a wrap of each. “Are you the man they’re saying has come from a foreign land to ask our help in rescuing his people?” the boy asked in an admiring fashion. “I told my father that I want to come with you to defend your people but he says I’m too young.”
Wow, Maanta thought. This was the first time anyone had called him a man. This boy can’t be more than a year or two younger than me. Surely there is so much more for me to experience before I am a man. If I had a father, would he have said I was too young to come here alone and find people to save us? What would I be like if I was raised with a father, or if mother was still around? Maanta had gone wandering off into his own thoughts again, until he caught the boy arguing his case to come along.
“I would be a great help. I mastered the spear many leagues of time ago. See?” A sharp pointed sha
ft slid from the youth’s bag while his small hands grasped it in the water’s smooth currents. Forcefully pressing his fingers upon grooves along the shaft, he opened it up. It sprang in to a larger spear, which he lunged, accurately toward a large stone protruding below. “Surely father will listen to you because you are the one who’s come for our help. I know I am young, but I could greatly help your people with my skills.”
Maanta knew the boy’s father wouldn’t change his mind, even if asked to, but he found it humorous that the boy was actually more skilled than he knew most Meridians to be.
The boy looked anxious. “Will you ask him for me? I could be your personal guard.”
There was no way the boy would be given permission to come. He’s more skilled than I myself am, though, Maanta thought. What could he say to his fellow youth? There was a look in the boy’s eyes. He so wanted to come.
But the female warrior behind Maanta, who rode the eel eyed fish, called to the youth. “Do you know, Sebastian, that I talked with your father myself about whether or not to allow you to come. He thought it would be best to have you here while we are away, to help protect our people in case we would be attacked. With the warriors gone you and a few others will be all that’s left to protect this place. It is a big responsibility.”
“I didn’t realize that,” the boy said and bowed. “I would be honored to do that for our people.” He turned to Maanta again. “It was a pleasure to meet you, sir.” And with that, the boy was off again delivering his remaining food parcels.
“You may think that I was pacifying young Sebastian,” the stern-faced female warrior spoke to Maanta. “But it is true. With our warriors leaving to protect your people, he and a few other skilled youth will be all that’s left to protect our own city. He has talents I’d love to have along with us, but there has to be someone left here to protect this place. He is the son of Tao. Either Tao or Sebastian I would gladly have by my side in battle. The son learns from the father.”
“How old was Tao’s other son when he died?” Maanta’s thoughts traveled now. He hoped he wouldn’t offend her by being nosy about the man he had just recently met.
“He was but a year older than the boy you have just spoken with, fifteen.”
Maanta was startled. When he had heard of how Tao’s son had perished while bringing information back to his people of the tailfinned beings’ intentions in Meridia, Maanta assumed that the son had been a young man in his twenties. The differences between my people and Sift’s are amazing. “I had thought he had been much older from the way Sift and Tao spoke of him.”
“In many ways he was.” The woman’s voice had a gentle, musky accent to it as she spoke. “Many of our youth are mentally older than their age. They have to be to deal with the tragedies they’ve witnessed, and constant threat of Sangfoul.”
I suppose it makes sense that the youth here would mature faster than in peaceful waters. It’s been only days since the people of Sangfoul attacked us and yet it seems as if months have passed.
“The presence of the race of Sangfoul haunts my people,” the woman spoke, her eyes hazing over as she thought back to another place and time. “Once, when I was a young girl, they discovered our dwelling caves. You see, before living in this place, we made our homes in carved out cliff holes. Around the time of my birthing my people had just begun escaping from Sangfoul’s slavery, and when I was young, had still not yet established a city.
“The raiding tailfinned beings slaughtered most of us, beheading my parents in front of me before I escaped in a small wall crevice in our dwelling. I felt as if I had aged years in that night as I curled in a small stone space in the wall. Haunting whale songs echoed in my ears and my stomach was dry and famished with hunger. I was certain they would find a way through the wall and murder me at any moment. I remember slicing my finger upon the wall and being nauseous from the taste of my blood about me. That’s one of the reasons I’m coming along to help your people. I’m tired of seeing youth grow old before their time because of the tortures they’ve endured.”
As she finished what she was saying, Maanta noticed Tao spinning and swirling swiftly upon his riding fish, checking and rechecking his warriors so as to make sure they were prepared for the journey.
“Thank you for coming to aid Meridia,” Maanta spoke to the woman as a school of small orange fish glided past them, tickling his fingers while forming to his palm and curling away.
Tao’s voice then echoed in the cool breezy waters through a curved shell. “My people, once more we have been called upon to fend off the dark evil of Sangfoul’s people. This journey is a noble one and must be made swiftly. Guard this foreign boy, Maanta, with your lives and once we reach this place we are heading, a place by the name of Orion’s Birth, be cautious of the people of Sangfoul. If they are not there, then they should be shortly. Remember, the souls of our lost loved ones will protect and comfort us on this journey. Take warmth in your heart because of this. I find peace in that my recently passed son, Ailcalm, rides with me.”
Please protect us, Lord, Maanta found himself praying to Gelu. I know nothing of our dead riding with us but please protect us all. A small glimmering light in the waters a way off warmed his heart. It reminded him of Gelu. And for some reason, in that moment, it reminded him of Anna as well.
Tao finished his words. “For the kind heart of the heavens, may we succeed! Let us ride!” A wailing sound careened forth from the large shell as Tao’s lips pressed upon it, his cheeks puffing with water.
Small fish scattered away in all directions, away from the noise. The riding companions seemed to hum while slowly moving forward in the gargantuan mass. Lola’s slim body rippled quickly beneath Maanta.
With a gust, the sphere of warriors moved forward, shooting with a massive thrust. Maanta’s cheeks pulsed as the water pressure streamers produced by the group’s movements tangled about him. We’re moving faster than Lola was moving me on the journey here, he realized. I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that we’re moving as a group.
A kind of pressure shield forming at the front of the group then caught his attention. It was as if the speed of their movements was creating a moving barrier between them and the water and particles before them. Floating seaweed, coral and sand collided with the natural wall and whipped away and beyond them.
“Have you ever seen anything like it?” The woman he had spoken with hollered from behind him to be heard over the careening water sounds. “They call me Leil, by the way. We should arrive by nightfall.”
I wonder how the riders and fish up front know where to go through this mesh of colors, Maanta’s thoughts wandered. I wonder if it has anything to do with faith.
15