Chyna, Daughter of Storek
"My name is Chyna, daughter of Storek, son of Stoon," she said. "Your friend Straye is part of the reason that I have come out here to my grandfather’s place again."
"Please Chyna, don't tell me any more. You need to gather your strength, you need to rest." Where was Samarin with the water, Chiapos wondered. How far away could that brook be?
"No, I'm fine," Chyna said. "After the ordeal we all went through back in Tanejul, your partner's attack upon me can be considered minor."
This remark lit up Chiapos' eyes. He had viewed Samarin's assault upon Stoon's granddaughter as very vicious. What could have happened in Tanejul to make this seem ‘minor’ to her? And what had happened to Straye? He recalled Samarin's comment about how the Aura seemed to take on only the forms of the dead and he was starting to wonder if there just may be any veracity in this speculation. "You may consider it minor but I assure you that my so-called partner is going to pay dearly for that unprovoked and unnecessary attack."
"These are bad times, Chiapos. Everybody is under strain. Don’t be too harsh on your companion." Chyna spoke unselfishly and her altruism was endearing her into the Rainwaterman's heart.
"Are you sure you are strong enough to talk?" Chiapos asked. "I would prefer that you get some rest. How far is it to that stream anyway?"
Chyna smiled weakly. "Nothing is close on my grandfather's ranch. Your friend will be an hour at least before he gets back."
"It sounds like you know this place well. Why is it? I thought that women were forbidden to come out to these lands."
"That is the case at most of these homesteads out here," Chyna answered. She seemed to be gaining strength. "But my grandfather was different. He did not always observe the rules that govern the others out here in this forlorn country. I have been coming out to Grandfather's farm ever since I was a little girl. My mother did likewise. We consider the prairie our second home."
"So Tanejul is your first?" Chiapos noted how Chyna seemed to brighten up whenever she mentioned her grandfather.
The brightness in Chyna's face dimmed at the question. "Tanejul was my first but now I don't know if I can consider it home. I don't know if anybody could consider it home any more." Tears were beginning to grow visible at the corners of her charcoal eyes. "It is terrible what is happening out there Chiapos. If I were you I would go back to your village and abandon your Challenge. At the least avoid Tanejul. They will give you nothing but trouble there."
"I won't give up my Challenge. I have come too far," Chiapos spoke proudly about his accomplishment of making it this far out. He had cleared the Tester, something that nobody else from the village had done in the last eighty years outside of Straye. "And I must go to Tanejul to find out what has happened to Straye and hopefully be able to help her out."
"Straye might be beyond help," Chyna said, sinking her head.
Chiapos saw this as a statement of affirmation. "Then she is still alive!" he cried.
"She was still alive when I left the town to come out here but there were those who were trying to hunt her down and I have no way of knowing if they had found her out or not."
"Who was trying to hunt her down? Why would anybody try to hunt down Straye? She is harmless!" Chiapos was beside himself with anxiety. His worry for his fellow-villager was outweighing any concern about Chyna's fragility.
Stoon's granddaughter was proving to be more resilient than her frailty may have suggested. "Tanejul is not the same town that you might have come to expect from your legendary tales any more," Chyna responded. "There is a free-floating hysteria hanging over the town and the people are no longer thinking clearly. They believe the worst about anybody and this belief is bringing out the worst in them. Full-fledged wars are breaking out of the minutest of squabbles. Neighbours are turning on neighbours and people are dying from a rage that should not exist in the first place. Your Straye, I'm afraid, because she is a stranger is the most vulnerable to this terrible hostility. I have heard some claim her to be a witch, others call her a wanton harlot, and still others believe her to be some evil spirit. They all want to kill her." Chyna's eyes were glistening in tears. "And she would have been dead already had it not been for my brother, Everan. Everan hid her away when a mob had come to lynch her. They wanted to tie her to a stake and set her afire."
Chiapos felt his hands tremble at the description. He wanted to be in Tanejul by Straye's side to defend her against the crazed hordes. By Samarin's calculations they were still three days away from even coming upon the highwayman's trail into Tanejul and that dangerous path would take more than a week to traverse. He felt unimaginably helpless in not being able to get to her side any earlier. She would have to fend on her own or at least with the help of Everan. "Can your brother keep her hidden long enough for me to get to Tanejul?" His desperation was betrayed in his quivering voice.
"Everan is a brave man and has a good heart just like my grandfather possessed. But he is just a man, a young one at that, and I don't know how long he can keep the townspeople at bay. Already he has been branded a traitor in the eyes of some who suspect him of duplicity concerning the strange woman."
This did not satisfy Chiapos. "He has her well hidden away, I hope."
"He has taken her to some safe location within the city whose whereabouts not even I know. The townspeople will never be able to find this location without Everan's help. And believe me, my brother will never reveal this willingly. But he is just a man and he may succumb to their coercive tortures or even worse, their madness may sink upon him and make him a raver as well," Chyna replied. She held her hands tight together trying to wring out the anxiety that she all too clearly possessed.
"Why hasn't your brother succumbed to the madness? For that matter, why haven't you?"
"I don't have a clear answer to that question. I have a feeling that it is something in the air over Tanejul and that you have to be breathing it for some time before it takes hold of your thoughts." Chyna paused to clear her throat. Where was Samarin with that water, Chiapos wondered. "My brother grew up here on the prairie. He was only in Tanejul to settle some business concerning this farm. He was not exposed to the air of that forsaken town for very long. Me, I have spent most of the past three years out here as well. My grandfather Stoon had taken ill and he died in the summer past. Since my father Storek and his brothers were all killed in the firestorms three years ago, that left just me and Everan to look after the farm."
"Firestorms?" Chiapos had never heard mention of such a term before.
"Three years ago at the height of the summer, there were a series of very bad thunderstorms and tornadoes that swept through the prairie. All the sedge grasses had caught fire and were fed by tremendous winds. The whole prairie was threatened to be burned down."
Chiapos thought of what he had seen of the prairie thus far. He thought of the sedge grasses and the homesteads of Kray and Stoon. These were homes made of wood, surely they would have burned to the ground in such firestorms. He had seen no evidence of fire. Chyna guessed his question. "The burning took place to the northeast of here. Ten prairie homesteads went up in flame. All the men from all the farms out here went to stop these flames and many of them died. All of Kray's family perished in the fires as did most of my grandfather's including my father and all my brothers except for Everan. All that was left was just him and me and grandfather Stoon who was too sick to go fight the fires."
The tale of the terrible tragedy struck a chord of deep sorrow in Chiapos. He could not imagine losing his whole family at one single blow yet he was astounded by the strength in Chyna to relate this story of excessive personal woe to him especially in her weakened condition. He asked her not to tell him any more but Chyna replied that time does make one able to deal with the past in a less emotional way. She continued, "I stayed on with Everan even after grandfather died about two years later. There was too much work out here for one man. As our herd grew ready to cull, we made the drive to Tanejul to sell them off at auction. That is how Everan and I ended up in town and met up with Straye."
"I haven't seen any livestock out here on the prairie at all," Chiapos commented. "You took them all in to town?"
Chyna nodded. "Ours. Regreed's. Draypri's. Kray's. Donkons'. Everan and I took them all. There was nobody out here to look after them and we needed the barter to rebuild the homestead. Everan is more determined than ever to stake out a life out here just to honour Stoon and his father Lak. I do not know if I share that same determination as my brother but I shall stay out here on the prairies as long as there is work to do." She chuckled, "By the looks of things, that may well be the rest of my life."
"And may it be a long, long life," Chiapos said with encouragement. Stoon's granddaughter had given him a wealth of information and he was very thankful that he had this conversation with her even though some of it was discrepant with what he had come to believe. According to Chyna, Kray's family had been wiped out by fires and not by the murderous hand of the Aura in Ascension. This blew a deep hole into his theory that the Aura could only take on the form of those that he killed. Yet the Aura was something above a mortal creature, he could make use of weaponry far beyond the ability of human beings. Was it too stretching to conclude that the Aura in Ascension could make use of the weather and make it his weapon to exact his blows? To be in control of the winds and the rain and the lightning, one could subvert their nature and make them turn on the people who lived at their mercy. What a swift and sure method to wage one's battle across a broad scale and inflict countless tragedy in a relatively short time. Chiapos was sure that the Aura was behind the firestorms of the prairies as much as the Aura was behind the hysteria in Tanejul.
When he turned around and looked at Chyna, he saw that she had regained her feet. She looked pale and weak and he realized that he was placing too much demand on her by asking all of his questions. Yet she was willing, almost eager, to answer him. She needed the water. Samarin should have been back by now. "I'm going out to look for my partner," he told her. He was wondering if the highwayman had decided to run away. In a sense he was hoping that he did. There were far too many complications and problems for him to deal with without having to keep a guard on his back because of the untrustworthy Samarin.
But no sooner had he contemplated this wish when it all blew wistfully away as the highwayman returned with a large gourd of water strung to his back. Sweat was dripping from Samarin's forehead. "That is quite the trek to get a cup of water!” the highwayman wheezed through a strained breath.
Chiapos took the heavy clay gourd from him and brought it immediately to Chyna and started to pour the water into her hands. These were not held together and the cool brook water spilled on her shift and onto the floor. Samarin laughed out loud. Chyna was also amused somewhat. "There are cups in the pantry," she smiled.
"Don't mind Chiapos," Samarin snorted, "He's from Rainwater, they don't have such modern luxuries as cups in that backland!" He retrieved a wooden mug from the shelf and handed it to her.
But she refused to take it from him. She ignored him altogether. It was very plain that she was not about to forgive him for his transgression. Samarin sheepishly handed the cup to Chiapos who looked at the hollowed out chunk of wood with curiosity. He did not really have any notion how this object was associated with the act of drinking water.
"You pour the water into the centre," Chyna said with caring affection. "The cup will hold the water and allow me to take it directly to my lips."
Chiapos poured the water into the cup and watched it fill to the top and then over the top. "You can stop now, Chiapos," Chyna said. "Don't feel silly about it, your countryman Straye had the same problem herself." She took a long draught from the cup. "Ah!" she sighed. "The water from the prairie! There's nothing like it. Here, have some Chiapos! You must be parched too!"
"No, thank you. I'm not thirsty," he answered. He was not about to make the same mistake he had done with the imposter Straye by mentioning Cenan's milk. That had the effect of instilling a cool jealousy in the imposter. He did not want to alienate Chyna. She had the potential of being his first bona fide friend along the Challenge.
Chyna accepted his decline without pursuing the matter any further. Samarin however said, "I wouldn't mind a pull at some water myself. A man develops quite a hefty thirst hauling that gourd all that distance," he spoke the words to the woman. And once again, Chyna acted as if he wasn't there at all.
Chiapos wishing to avoid an uncomfortable moment handed Samarin the gourd. "Here, drink from this," he said. "Quench that thirst because we are leaving very shortly."
While Samarin gulped from the gourd, Chiapos turned to Chyna and asked, "So are your plans to remain here and wait for your brother's return?"
Chyna was watching the highwayman guzzle the gourd with the ravenous thirst of a dried out buffalo. "No, that is not my plan." She would say no more.
"What is your plan?" Chiapos asked. "Are you going back to Tanejul?"
Chyna was now ignoring him as well. She started to straighten out the wooden statuettes made by her great-grandfather, Lak. Chiapos could see that she was counting them, making sure that all of them were still there. It was evident that she did not trust Samarin but why was she suddenly not being responsive to him?
He approached her and whispered, "It's him, isn't it?" he indicated Samarin.
She flinched her dark eye ever so slightly to show him he was right. Chiapos felt a warmth in the pit of his stomach that he was not being ostracized by her. For some reason, he had taken quite a shining to Stoon's granddaughter. He needed to know what she was planning. He did not like the idea of leaving her out here on the prairie alone. She would be too vulnerable. He wanted her to come along with him to Tanejul even if that meant that Samarin would no longer be coming along.
"What is inside that room over there?" he spoke loud enough for Samarin to hear him.
Chyna gave him a queer look to associate with the queerness of his question.
"Could you show me that room?" he asked again.
"There's nothing interesting in there, it is just an indoor latrine that we use in the dead of winter," she replied.
"An indoor latrine, what's that? I have got to see." Chiapos wanted her to take the hint that he wanted to speak to her alone and thus far he was failing in his attempt.
Samarin laughed out loud. "I told you that these Rainwater folk are very backward!" he snorted. "They all still go over logs back in the bush in their village."
Chiapos had no idea what Samarin was laughing about but he did not care. "Can you show me that room please, Chyna?"
"You are a strange one," Chyna commented and then added, "Very well if you must see a privy, I will show you it." She opened the door to the room and all that Chiapos saw was a dark tiny room with a wooden bench running from one wall to another. There was a hole carved in the bench’s center.
"What is that for?" he asked out of genuine curiosity. He had never seen anything like it.
Chyna blushed and smiled, displaying a wonderfully kept set of teeth. "You are a backward man, Chiapos. You truly don't know what that is for?"
"No, I don't." Chiapos didn't care that he might be making a fool out of himself. He was proud of his background and would always consider himself fortunate to be one of Rainwater's sons. "Show me how it works."
Samarin was howling, his hands clutched to his belly and tears streaming from his eyes. "That is something you don't ask a lady, my friend!"
"You stay out of this!" Chiapos snarled at the highwayman. "Come on Chyna, show me!" he winked his eye at her, hoping that she could detect that he had an ulterior motive.
This time she did connect. "Very well, I will show you. Mind you, that we only use this latrine in the worst of weather when going to the outside one is impractical." She stepped into the room behind Chiapos.
"I don't believe what I am seeing!" Samarin cried as the door was shut before him.
The Fox That You See
As soon as the door was shut, Chiapos whispered, "I thought that you would never get my hint."
Chyna whispered back, "What is it that you want? Your friend is not naïve. He will know that no civilized woman would show a man how to use a latrine."
"Why won't you come to Tanejul with us? You don't have to worry about Samarin. As long as I have the Redeemer, he will never make a move upon me nor you if you come along." Chiapos had placed his hands upon her shoulders and he sensed that there was tremendous strength concealed within her petite, lithe frame.
"Your Redeemer sounds like it is a very formidable weapon."
"It will protect the both of us along our journey from situations far more dangerous than any that Samarin can ever devise." With the door shut, the light in the room had dimmed greatly and he could barely see Chyna's face in front of him. Even still, he felt himself being drawn into her deep, dark eyes. "You must come with us."
"Remember I told you that I had come back to the prairie for a reason. I have not done what I have come back to do. I can't leave here until it is finished." Chyna spoke passionately. "I would love to have your company back to Tanejul, but I'm afraid I can't have it. What I have to do is too important."
"What is it that you have to do? I can help you with it." Chiapos spoke out loud and then quickly diminished his voice so that Samarin hopefully would not hear him.
"I'm afraid that what I have to do will take the better part of a month with your help or not. Your friend Straye cannot wait that long." Somehow Chiapos felt that Chyna was not speaking in earnest.
"What could possibly take a month to do out here?" he exclaimed in a loud whisper. "I mean there are no livestock to attend and the growing season is over. I can't see you leaving your brother Everan in jeopardy just to attend to chores that really don't need to be done until someone is actually living here again."
Chyna's mouth was agape with the suggestion that she was withholding the truth and Chiapos felt bad that he had challenged her but he could not see any possible reason for her to tarry about the homestead while her only living relative needed her help desperately back in town.
"I don't want to travel with your friend," she admitted at length. "He's a known thief and what I want to take back to Tanejul will only drive him into a conniving frenzy."
"I told you Samarin is tame because of the Redeemer. He wouldn't try anything foolish as long as I am around." Chiapos tried to be persuasive.
"He won't try to do anything foolish with you perhaps but as soon as he catches wind of what I will be carrying on my person, his fiendish mind will work out some elaborate scheme to make off with it. I can't take that chance. My brother and your friend's lives depend on it."
"What is it that you are going to carry?" Chiapos had not seen anything of true significance in Stoon's house and property that could be considered a life-saving entity.
"I really don't even want to mention it to you. It is not that I don't trust you. It is just that I would feel a great deal safer in knowing that I was the only one aware that it is going to be taken to Tanejul. Suffice it to say that what I am going to take back to the town will buy Everan and Straye's freedom. Please trust me!" she pleaded. Even though it was dark and he could not really see anything at all, he sensed that she was crying.
He thought about what she had said. His curiosity was edging him to beg Chyna to let him in on what it was but he was able to overcome the urge. He still was not able to overcome his desire that the prairie woman should come along with him to Tanejul. "If Straye's life depends on what you are going to carry, I would prefer to be traveling with you to safeguard against it being stolen," he proclaimed.
"Then you could see the danger in having your companion coming along with ..."
Before Chyna could finish the sentence, Chiapos added, "I think it would be in our best interest that Samarin travel with us rather than separately. When he is with us, we know where he is. I suspect that he would be far more dangerous to us if he were to be sneaking along behind us."
"The fox that you see can never take your chicken," Chyna quoted an ancient metaphor that Chiapos had heard several times in the Challengelore. It surprised him to hear the familiar proverb coming from somebody outside of Rainwater.
"That is the analogy. Are you going to come with us then?" he took hold of her hands within his. Her fingers were long and thin and cold to the touch.
She did not answer him at first. It seemed that she was reveling in the touch of his hands as well. He wondered what she was thinking. Was it the same thoughts that ran through his mind? He had come to grow very fond of her in such a short, short time. Finally she pulled her hands away from his, "Very well," she said. "It goes against my better judgment but we will do it your way."
"Then you will come with us?" Chiapos spoke excitedly, he felt flushed within his body.
"I will as soon as I get my item." She stepped forward and hugged him momentarily. "You must distract our villain while I fetch it and then we can set off. Every moment counts." She let go of him and opened the door from the latrine.
The first thing Chiapos saw in the rush of light was Samarin's face. He had seated himself at the table with the ornaments made by Lak. At once, Chiapos felt that the highwayman had eavesdropped on the entire conversation. It was a suspicion that he could not bring out into the open.
"I counted each and every one of them. They had better still all be there!" Chyna snarled at Samarin.
"Oh, they are young lassie," Samarin said with a joviality in his voice. "I trust that our Rainwaterman now fully understands the workings of an indoor privy."
"That I do," Chiapos replied although he was still ignorant of what the purpose of that dark little room was. Before Samarin could ask him a question on what he had learned, he said, "You and I must go outside now Samarin and prepare our things for the road. Chyna will be with us shortly." It was a flimsy reason and he was not surprised when Samarin challenged it.
"There's nothing to prepare. We have everything we need right here on our persons," the rogue retorted, changing his glance back and forth from Chiapos to Chyna.
"The grain carts are behind the barn," Chyna said to Chiapos. She was quick to improvise on the Rainwaterman's lack of preparation in concocting a story for the highwayman. "Bring them to the front of the house and I will throw the supplies into them there."
Chiapos nodded and nudged Samarin to come along with him. When they got outside Samarin complained, "Grain carts? There are no buffalo here. She's not seriously proposing that we haul the carts like dirty beasts of burden all the way to Tanejul, is she?"
"I guess she is," Chiapos answered. He, too, was not that keen on the proposition of pulling a wagon all the many miles to the town. Inside, he was hoping that it was just a ruse by Chyna to get them away from the house while she cached her secret object upon her person.
"That is preposterous!" Samarin bellowed. "Does she not know what distance we are to travel and across what kind of terrain? There are hills between here and Tanejul, hills so tall and steep that it takes all your breath away just to try and cross them empty-handed. Young men would be severely challenged to haul a cart over them, I'm not young any longer!"
"You don't have to come with us Samarin. Nobody has asked you to come with us. If you don't want to help, then be off with you!" Chiapos snapped back. They rounded the corner of the barn that still bore a strong pungent odour from its former animal occupants. There were no beasts there now within the building.
"There they are," Chiapos said. Along the backside of the barn were two wooden carts, each about four feet in length with a width of about two feet. They sat upon wooden wheels that were not completely circular. A long pole served as a yoke. All in all, the carts appeared to be very decrepit and totally unable to perform the kind of task that Chyna proposed for them.
At the sight of the carts, Samarin cried, "You have got to be kidding! Those wagons couldn't even get us a mile!"
When Chiapos saw them, he had to concur and he was certain now that the wagons were meant to be only a dodge by Chyna to buy herself some time and keep the highwayman from watching her moves too carefully. He had to carry out the charade so as not to draw Samarin's suspicions. "If you don't want to come with us, that's fine," he said as he grabbed the yoke of one of the carts. He lifted it from the muddy ground and started to pull. It creaked and it protested, but it did move and roll. "But if you do come with us, you had better take a cart yourself. I will not have you malingering while Chyna and I do all the work."
To his surprise, Chiapos watched Samarin with an expression of aghast misery drawn upon his face, take the other cart. "You realize," the rogue huffed, "that when the other highwaymen see us with these carts, they will be upon us like a pack of wolves."
They pulled the carts back to the house, all the while Samarin whining a series of reasons why it was not wise to be taking them - reasons all of which Chiapos silently agreed with. The wagons would slow them down considerably which meant that it would take them all the longer to get to Straye. He hoped that this was just Chyna's ruse.
But when they got to the house, Chyna had already piled up at the door a number of wares and stores and other articles that were meant for the haulage. She was serious. Chiapos felt his mouth sink into his stomach. She had potatoes, breads, apples and fresh clothing stacked up by the door. She herself was not to be seen but she appeared momentarily later with a box that contained quite a number of the carvings made by her great-grandfather, Lak. When she saw that they had returned, she said, "Start loading the wagons boys, I'll get the rest of the things from inside."
"We are not pack animals!" Samarin exclaimed. "You are not truly serious that we are going to be carrying all this stuff to Tanejul!"
"It is the price that we must pay to ensure my brother's freedom," Chyna remarked and went back inside.
"I don't like this at all Chiapos!" Samarin grumbled. "The sight of the wagons on the Highwayman’s Trail will guarantee that we will be robbed. You have got to bring this woman to her senses."
Chiapos wished that he could but Chyna must have reasons to take all these things. All of a sudden he realized that his travels thus far had come at very little cost in terms of toil. That extravagance was now obviously over. Others in the Challengelore had brought along wagons to tote their supplies. Not all Challengers went by the maxim that the trail would provide all that one needs. It now appeared that he would be towing a wagon himself. He started loading his wagon, carefully making sure that the load was well balanced and that he would not be carrying an excessive share.
Reluctantly Samarin did as well. When he came to take the box with the carvings, Chiapos nudged him aside. "I'll be taking those," he said. When Samarin voiced his complaint, the Rainwaterman reminded him that everybody would feel more at ease by doing it this way. Chyna would not be worried that the highwayman was going to make off with these precious items, Samarin would not be constantly under suspicion, and he himself would not be forced to act as a referee in their dispute.
When Chyna reappeared, she was not carrying anything visible. Chiapos guessed that she must have her secret cache somewhere on her body. He wondered what it was but he would not make any inquiry about it - especially in front of Samarin. "Are we ready?" he asked.
Chyna nodded. "Let's go!" she said, her eyes were focused on the house of her grandfather. Chiapos could not help feeling that she was thinking about whether she would ever see this place again or not. He took hold of the handles to his cart and lifted the load. It was not as heavy as he had thought. It might be bearable.
Samarin on the other hand made a great show of how his load was heavy and impractical. Both Chiapos and Chyna chose to ignore him in his histrionics and soon his mutters were only audible to himself. "We shall take the Highwayman's Trail," Chyna said as they embarked. "It is the shortest route although it is filled with peril. But with two strong men like you, we should be able to overcome any obstacle that might come our way."
Chiapos chuckled at the flattery while Samarin bore a grave expression on his face. Whether the gravity came from what he was expecting or from his discontent in acting like a beast of burden, Chiapos did not know.
A Small Meal of Buffalo Cheese
Their route took them across a field that seemed to stretch endlessly ahead of them. Chiapos would have guessed that this interminable land was flat but the relative easiness in pulling the cart suggested that it was actually a slight downhill slope. However the carts creaked and groaned and made mountains of every slight incline that they encountered. The Rainwaterman had his doubts whether the wagons would be able to stand up to the full journey.
The talk was mostly between himself and Chyna who led the procession. Samarin was in the rear and was maintaining the speed of the others. He was not falling behind as the two others had thought that he might. Chyna pointed out many indescribable features in the country, relating tales that occurred at these places. They were the kind of stories that everybody accumulates over the years about their home. They do not mean much to others but there is a joy for the person in telling them anyway. It seemed that life on Stoon's homestead was an idyllic one where there was a lot of warmth and love between the family members. There was nary a tale from Chyna that had a negative aspect. Either she had led an enchanted life upon the prairie or she chose not to tell about the down side of living in such a lonesome locale.
After several hours of travelling through the prairie, Chiapos could see purple hills looming in the horizon. Was this finally the end of the dreary landscape of the plains? He hoped so. It was at this moment, Chyna suggested that they stop to eat a small meal and rest their legs for an hour or so.
The Rainwaterman discovered that he was not tired at all. The cart had not proved to be a burden whatsoever. If it were up to him, he would continue walking. In the back of his mind, he understood that this was the work of Cenan's milk again. It had given him the power to conquer the constant pestering of bodily needs. But Chyna and Samarin were not under the milk's influence. They needed to replenish the energy that they had spent.
"Finally!" Samarin crowed. "I thought that I would drop down dead from fatigue before you decided to stop. It's far too grueling a pace for an older man that you are setting, my lady."
Chyna smirked. She was still not happy that the highwayman was part of the little traveling company. "What do you want to eat?" she asked Chiapos directly.
"To tell you the truth, I'm not hungry at all," he said, realizing that Chyna was unaware of his special condition. It was something that he did not know if whether he should mention it to her after his fiasco with the Straye imposter.
"Nonsense! How could you not be hungry!" Chyna barked. "We've walked the better part of the day. I've got plenty of food, so help yourself."
Samarin took this as an invitation to look under the wrapped bundles of food. He found a large chunk of salted goat meat that he immediately started to ravenously devour. Chyna may have not liked him too much but she made no effort to deny him his meal. "There's more meat Chiapos. Go on, take a steak."
Once again, Chiapos mouthed that he did not want any. This led Chyna to rant that if he was not hungry now, he would certainly be hungry later and it was better for him to keep his strength up because the road ahead was not going to be as easy-going as what they had already crossed.
Feeling coerced to take some food, Chiapos thought that he could carry on his charade and take some food, even though he did not require it at all. He found a small chunk of buffalo cheese in the cart that he towed and said to Chyna, "Very well, if you think that it is in my best interest, I will eat. This cheese will be enough. I’m not that big of an eater."
"It would be enough for a small child or a starving soldier on rations but you are a grown man with a big job ahead of you! You will take more than just a chunk of cheese!" Chyna was displaying a maternal instinct that the Rainwaterman was certain would show itself many more times on the way to Tanejul.
He started nibbling at the cheese, feeling its salty texture interact with his tongue and teeth. It had been so long since the inside of his mouth had been exposed to anything other than his breath, that he momentarily was not sure how to go about to carry out the mechanics of eating. Slowly, it came back to him and while he masticated the cheese, he was thinking how fortunate he was that he did not have to eat and how actually vulgar the act of eating really was. The notion of putting something foreign inside of him seemed like he was contaminating himself with a poison.
While he ate, he watched Chyna break a piece of waybread from a loaf that was as large as a groundhog. She retrieved three cups from the wagon and poured water for the company from a gourd. "We must remember to keep the gourd full. Some of the streams closer to Tanejul run dry at this time of year." She passed a cup to Samarin and to Chiapos.
The highwayman gulped heartily, commenting that he was thirsty enough to drink the entire gourd himself. "If you want more water, you will have to fetch it yourself. You have to remember that water is as heavy as anything else and the more you carry the more that you would need," Chyna seethed.
Chiapos sipped from the cup and at once felt its coldness on his teeth and gums. They had been acquainted only with the temperature of his mouth and to come across something that was at a different degree only served to intensify the icy sensation. His teeth and gums cried out in the sharp, stinging anguish of the cold liquid. He spat it out.
"Is the water bad?" Chyna asked. She had not taken a drink yet. The expression on her face clearly showed the revulsion that she was feeling at the sight of Chiapos's poor manners.
"It's cold!" the Rainwaterman cried. "How did you get it so cold?"
Samarin chose to answer before Chyna could make a comment. "The brook where I got the water from is as chilly a stream as I have ever come across anywhere in Mallog’mor’ach and I have been to some of the rivers in the north country. They are not near as cold as that stream on Stoon’s property."
"But you got that water this morning. It should have warmed up by now."
"If you Rainwatermen would have stopped and took the time to truly observe the lands that you traipse across you would have learned some things about the world. Not everything is as backward as the ways of your village. This gourd is made from a metal that is found only in the north of Mallog’mor’ach. Among this metal’s many amazing properties is the ability to sustain liquids at an unchanging temperature." Samarin was once again being facetious and this was getting to be very annoying to Chiapos.
The highwayman was not the only thing irritating the Rainwaterman. His stomach was suddenly feeling topsy-turvy and his vision was slowly becoming blurred. All and all, he was beginning to feel miserable both mentally and physically.
Chyna finished her chunk of bread and carefully brushed away the crumbs that fell upon her shift. Smacking her lips in the final stages of chewing, she said to the others, "We still have several hours before nightfall. We could make some good distance before darkness sets in.”
Samarin groaned his displeasure but got up and grabbed the poles to his cart. Chiapos got up from his sitting position and he was suddenly overcome by a wave of dizziness.
"Are you alright?" Chyna asked. "You are wobbling on your feet. You should have listened to me! You should have eaten more."
"No, I'm fine," Chiapos mumbled, shaking his head to try and clear it from the nauseous tentacles that were taking grip of his senses. He pried up his grain cart and proceeded to walk. "Lead the way, Chyna," he said, hoping that being on the move would get him feeling right again.
They walked through the sedge grass fields, the wagons bouncing and crackling at every uneven point on the ground. There were many and the lay of the land was no longer favourable. They were not going downhill any more. All three members of the company were silent. Chiapos had no idea what Samarin and Chyna were thinking but his thoughts were all focused on how queasy he was feeling. He had a strong suspicion that he should not have ingested anything, that perhaps his sudden uneasiness was due to the food and drink interacting with Cenan's milk.
The hills in the distance were not getting any closer and sometimes they appeared like they were actually moving farther away. Clouds were now hanging over them, clouds that seemed to be composed of vertiginous dreams. Whatever shape that Chiapos’s imagination had originally construe d within them would invariably drift into nauseous scenes of the Mammoth of the Tester suffocating his Appointed Servant, Cenan. The movement was always rapid and uneven making Chiapos react through his guts. He felt his midriff lift and lower like a gaseous bellows. He knew that he was going to be sick.
He shook it off ten different times if he had done it once. On each occasion he would find that he was slipping slowly behind the others. Samarin had overtaken him and was now a dozen yards ahead of him. Chyna and the highwayman seemed to be oblivious to the inner turmoil that he was experiencing.
Finally, he could no longer hold it. He dropped the handles to the cart and began wrenching his stomach. He heaved hard and heavy and could not produce anything but a slimy string of sputum that stretched from his mouth to the grass. There were no contents in his stomach that he could expel other than the few chunks of buffalo cheese that he had eaten. The nausea that he was feeling was now being accompanied by severe abdominal pain. His mind was clouded by the miserable messages from his body. He had lost any awareness of where he was and the people that he was with. All that he knew was that he was lying on the ground clinging to the sharp blades of sedge grass. He had never felt this sick before in his life and he wondered if he was going to die.
Everything was getting blurry and he felt that he was going to black out at any second now. He could hear himself groaning and felt his ribs cry out in pain from the expansion of his chest whenever he breathed.
Under A Fully Pregnant Moon
"Chiapos?" a sweet, feminine voice rang out to him. He could feel a warm breath upon his ears.
"Chiapos? Chiapos, are you there?" His face tingled from a gentle touch that dislodged him from a place that he could no longer remember.
He was in complete bliss and soulful peace. The voice and the hand were soothing but they were also awakening other parts of his body. Every part of him felt raw and uncomfortable, more so with each passing second. His stomach was sore. It seemed that his guts might have been gnawed upon by starving scavengers. His chest ached and his temples were beginning to pound.
"Wake up, Chiapos, before the sleep of the dead overtakes you!" the woman's voice had taken on a more urgent tone. He recognized it to be that of Chyna. Why was she disturbing him! All that he wanted to do was sleep, if it was the sleep of the dead, so be it. But she would not let him succumb to this seductive slumber. He felt his shoulders being shaken as Chyna began to speak harshly at him. She was making sure that he would not give in to the fatal temptress.
Finally, reluctantly, and begrudgingly, he opened his eyes and saw Chyna's facial silhouette against a brilliant full moon. He could not see her features but sensed that she was very distressed. He groaned.
"You are awake!" she hailed and then kissed him on the cheek. It was a warm and sensitive peck and it did plenty to make his bodily complaints subside in intensity.
"I'm awake!" he announced in a dry, raspy throat. "It is night!" he exclaimed even though his head thundered from a pain that did not want to relent. "How long have I been asleep?" Up to this point, he did not realize that he had lapsed from consciousness. Whether he could call whatever he slipped into sleep, he did not know.
"A day and a half!" Chyna giggled.
"A day and a half!" Chiapos found that information unbelievable. His mind was suddenly and disturbingly onslaughted with all the accumulated memories that he had leading up to when he became sick in the sedge grass. The scent in the air told him that he was still near the sedge grass but that he was now lying upon some of the blankets that Chyna had loaded on the cart.
For some reason the first thing that he wanted to clear up was the whereabouts of Samarin. "Where is he?" he asked, his eyes searching through the moonlit camp for sight of the highwayman. The rogue was nowhere to be seen. He was struck by how very similar this night was to an earlier night in the Tester when he had first come across Samarin and his cohort, Pitak. Back then he had feared the highwayman and it now seemed that he feared him again.
"It's a long story. I will tell you shortly. But first, tell me how you are feeling?” Chyna responded, looking carefully into the Rainwaterman’s eyes for any indication of a lingering malady.
“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine!” He tried to spring to his feet. His legs got tangled up in the blankets and he tumbled headfirst back into the sedge grass. "He's gone, isn't he?" he asked without missing a beat. He prepared for the incoming pain from the fall but it proved to be nothing compared to what he had already endured with his sickness.
"He's gone and he has taken all the valuables," Chyna lamented as she fussed over him trying to make sure that he had not injured himself.
"The Redeemer? He didn't take the Redeemer, did he?" Chiapos felt an almost hysterical paranoia overcome him at even mentioning this notion that Samarin had absconded with the magical artifact. He knew that he would be in a terrible helpless state if the Wood of Faerie were gone. In the short period of time that he possessed the mysterious staff he had grown an attachment for it that he never felt before towards anything else that he had ever claimed as his own. His eyes darted here and there trying to spot his valuable possession but the moon, as bright as it was, did not cast off enough light to see anything in the sedge grasses.
"I'm not quite sure what you mean by the Redeemer?" Chyna sighed. "If you mean my secret cache that would redeem the lives of Everan and Straye, no, he never took that. For some reason that brute did not think to check my person before he ran off with all of his pilferings."
"No, no, I don't mean that! I mean the Redeemer? My Wood of Faerie!" Chiapos may have puzzled over what secret thing the prairie woman was carrying at any other time but not this time. She never mentioned what it was and he never asked what it was. He didn’t care at this moment because he was frantic. He needed to know about the Wood. He sensed that Chyna still did not catch his drift. "My walking stick, my staff! He didn't take that did he?" He was trying to keep composed but the passions within him were difficult to contain.
"That was the first thing he grabbed when he saw that you were lying comatose and near death. It must have burnt his hands when he first touched it for he screamed in agony and then he used one of my blankets to handle it afterwards. That branch must be your torch, I can’t think of how else to explain why it burned him. But what is it with you men prizing such a nondescript piece of bramble? It would have been the last thing that I would have been interested in!" Chyna sounded perturbed that Chiapos was not showing any concern about what else Samarin may have taken.
"He has the Redeemer!" A wall of despair fell upon him. That stick was the hope against the darkness - it was the tool to combat the Aura in Ascension. It had kept the imp at bay - now it was in the hands of a common criminal that would only use it for his personal gain or barter it for the optimal possible price.
"Yes, he has your precious Redeemer!" Chyna rasped, "Along with all my carvings and most of our stores!" She began to sob.
Chiapos knew that deep inside the woman was blaming him for their misfortune. He had promised that Samarin would be at his best behaviour while he was in their company. How was he to know that he would get violently sick and fall into unconsciousness? But why was that? It had to be some reaction of the food that he had eaten with Cenan's milk. There could be no other explanation. It was a bitter lesson to learn - he not only did not need food or water, he could not have food or water. To have it could possibly kill him. He would have to tell Chyna about this. She would need to know that he was no longer mortal in the normal sense of the word. And he had to know for himself that he was not immortal either. Food and drink could kill him. And without the Redeemer, he was now especially vulnerable. It would not be there to protect him. He had to get the Wood back!
"How far ahead is that bastard?" he said through clenched teeth. It was so hard to control his rage and he was feeling angry with himself that he had to show Chyna this dark side to his personality.
"He's been gone a day now," Chyna said, obviously trying to shake off the tears that were tormenting her. "He took a cart with him to carry all of his ill-gotten booty. Hopefully the cart should slow him down. He’d lose all of the stolen goods if he chose to abandon the cart. He’s not very strong and the land ahead will not be amenable to anybody trying to haul a load over it. If he chooses to go to Tanejul, that is."
"Oh, it is off to Tanejul, he will go. Those carvings are worthless to him until he manages to pawn them off. And the only place to pawn them off is the city!" Chiapos responded, taking heart in this new bit of information. "We might be able to catch him, yet." He rose to his feet and felt a wave of dizziness lighten his head. He fought it off - there was no time to lose.
"You're not strong enough to go anywhere yet," Chyna commented. "You have to get your strength back before we embark."
"My strength will recover whether I rest or not," Chiapos snipped back. He had to remind himself that none of this was her fault. She was only showing concern for him.
"Pardon?"
And he realized that it was time to reveal his secret to Stoon's granddaughter. Chyna needed to know about his condition. He proceeded to tell her about his encounter with Cenan and the milk that he had drank from her breast and how since then he had not felt any bodily need. He told her also of the Mammoth of the Tester and the Aura in Ascension and the special powers of the Redeemer. He ended his little tale with the new proviso that he had just learned, that he was not able to eat or drink any more.
Chyna listened attentively and appeared to accept everything he said verbatim and did not think anything too incredulous. If anything, it seemed that it helped her gain a better understanding of the terrible affliction that had fallen upon Tanejul and that it wasn't the people's fault but rather some supernatural’s meddlings in the affairs of the mortal. She showed no sign of being offended by what had happened between Chiapos and Cenan. She was completely accepting of his actions but when he finished, she said, "Why didn't you tell me that you didn't need food? If you would have, we would not have been in the situation we are in now?"
"I thought that you would not believe me," he answered. "And I did learn a new rule regarding what I need to do in order to survive and that is to stay away from food." He knew that he was not sounding genuine. This new knowledge was not worth the price of losing the Redeemer.
"But at what cost did you learn this rule!" Chyna blurted.
Chiapos had to agree that the cost far outweighed the benefit particularly when considering that he nearly died. But he maintained, "I still think that we can overtake Samarin. He is not strong and he has the cart. We do not need the cart that we still have. Whatever food you need I can carry in my sack. My needs are non-existent."
"He has the Redeemer though. That would give him extra strength," Chyna pointed out.
"I'm not sure if the Redeemer would be an asset to him. It seems that it has a mind of its own and that it will only allow itself to be wielded for purposes that it deems worthy." Chiapos recalled that the Redeemer had proven to be heavy and unusable when for a moment at Samarin’s goading, he had thought of using it against Chyna when they had first met inside the house of Stoon.
"It allowed itself to be stolen by Samarin!" Chyna observed.
Chiapos rubbed his chin. "Being stolen and being used are two different things." He wanted to add that perhaps maybe there was some good in the highwayman that the Redeemer recognized but he did not do so for that may only incur some doubt and anger in the woman. He added, "It may seek out ways to slow him down and give us the opportunity to catch up!"
"You're more than ready to go, aren’t you?" Chyna smiled. She must have read his mind. He could see some of her face in the pale moonlight and he knew that he had found himself a true traveling companion that would fight by his side and not against him when the time came.
"I'm more than ready. Are you?"
"Just let me grab some of my things from the cart and then we can go." She moved off to the cart and started pulling at the items in there. She settled on two loaves of bread and the gourd of water. "That should be enough."
"You are going to travel almost as lightly as me!" Chiapos laughed.
“My grandfather said that anybody living on the prairie should be stout. I could never put any fat on my bones no matter how much I ate. I might as well learn from experience and only eat that which I can carry!” she giggled.
And with light hearts the two started to move into the night under the bright guidance of a fully pregnant moon.
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