Chapter 2
I can’t see, ElspethInnle, and my ears hear only ringing. The mindstream quickens and I must follow the call.
We have fought so long! Donot give up now!
Silly funaga sentiments. Donot forget. Longsleep is nature. Lonsleep will be rest for this battered body-
Then I willcome with you!
No. You must wake.
Stop telling me what I must and mustnot do!
Wake!
Elspeth woke.
Her skin tingled and stang sharply, as though someone had rubbed lemon juice into a million tiny open wounds. She winced, her back arching, her forearms digging into the piercing little rocks she was lying on. Her eyes, still closed, felt gravely. Her teeth, clenched together to keep from crying out, felt gritty and she tasted sand, salt, and a strange, spicy tang. There was ringing in her ears, but even as she noticed this, it began to fade.
Her body began to heal. She wondered at this from underneath the stinging – she’d never been aware of it before. How was her body healing – wait! Atthis had done something. No, Nerat had done something to her for – Oh Lud.
Memories cascaded her mind as the stinging acidic feeling ebbed.
Atthis had saved her moments from longsleep – why? The Agyllian had revealed everything to her, the plotting and playing with lives, etched with remorse and shame on the Elder’s part. Elspeth knew that Nerat had taught her body to heal itself while she’d been at the Ken Agyllian Eyrie. She had thought it had been a gift. But Nerat had taught her to heal, because she had been the only one with the correct combination of power and gullibility to carry out their ruse.
“I am not gullible,†Elspeth’s mind angered. “I was only trusting.â€ÂÂ
So, they needed her because she was trusting.
Elspeth felt wetness at her feet. She could hear water crashing on rocks nearby. There was a sharp, chilly wind trying to blow folds in her sopping clothing but succeeding only in creating a freezing air-bubble along her backbone.
She remembered the unforseen longsleep. Everyone had died in the blast, except her for some reason. Atthis still needed her. She remembered snatches of a chaotic, watery journey.
“I made it to shore.â€ÂÂ
Elspeth moved gingerly, wiping her hands on the threads of her tattered green tunic. It had once been a fantastic gypsy creation; embroidered with black and gold.
She forced the sentiments that arose from the connection between the tunic and the maker of the tunic aside, sealing it in the back of her mind to deal with another time.
Wiping as much grit as she could out of her eyes, Elspeth rose to her full height and surveyed her surrounds. She was on a beach made of black crystal-like sand. The beach gave way to cliffs directly in front of her. Either side of her, more cliffs rose. She was lucky to have been washed up in one piece, if at all.
Though it reminded her of a small, shadowed Templeport, she didn’t recognise the land, but given the black, glassy-like sand of the beach she’d been marooned on, Elspeth thought with a dull certainty that she had to be on tainted ground.
“Strange though…taint emanates static…and…â€ÂÂ
Elspeth sent out a farseeking probe without hazard. No blackland static. She withdrew her probe quickly, realising she’d been stupid to send anything, not knowing where she was, being as depleted in energy as she was.
The situation took a turn for the worse as Elspeth turned back to the ocean - and looked up at two moons; one blue, one green.
Elspeth blinked slowly. She was seeing double.
No…there were really two moons.
You are on the Ashlings, where anything is possible...
“Oh, I am not,†Elspeth jaded her inner voice, her voice as gravely as her eyes felt. She was whole – body and spirit. She was alive. She was on an untainted, blackland beach looking at two moons. Obviously, Atthis had had a hand in this.
Elspeth wanted to send her mind out screaming “Where are you Atthis!â€ÂÂ, in fear as much as anger, but her energy levels were far too low, and since when had screaming for Atthis made the Agyllian explain anything? She’d need all the energy she had left to make it through the night without freezing. The healing ‘gift’ from Nerat would keep her alive to a point – but you couldn’t heal an empty, frozen corpse.
Elspeth shuddered as she turned away from the moons, and felt hot tears in remembering dear Maruman’s pet aversion. She had never found out why he had hated the moon so. There hadn’t been time…
“Stop it Elspeth,†she scolded, hugging herself and grimacing as her fingers soaked into the wet cloth on her arms. She needed a fire.
Looking around the beach, she was certain it would never happen. The moisture generated by the spray of the ocean, and the swift, sharp breeze carrying that obscure citrus scent, would make sure of it.
She made herself walk. If there was a beach, there would have to be a weakness in the cliffs somewhere that she could shelter herself in until morning. Then she would be able to dry herself, and try to work out why she was here.
Because Atthis always had some reason.
“I will not serve you this time,†she promised nobody.
***
She hadn’t been able to sleep. Cramped in a small fissure in the cliff-face, Elspeth had spent the night staring at the ocean, the two hated moons, and the alien starscape above her; gazing, but not really seeing. Her mind rested.
The moons had both risen over her and disappear behind the cliff face while her teeth had chattered and her arms had clenched – perhaps frozen – to her arms. Then the sky had begun to lighten.
The grey of pre-dawn warmed a little to reveal a pastel – hued landscape. The sky was clear, and slightly purpled. The ocean reflected this, breaking into darker, indigo waves. The rock she had embedded herself in was dark; and the beach was black – but even in this muted light, Elspeth could see it sparkling slightly.
She noted the sun rise, though she didn’t see it from her position. She was more concerned about what came after the shadows had been officially broken.
Voices.
There were people chanting, or singing, above her. She couldn’t make out their words. Caution warned to remain hidden. Hunger, desperation – and curiousity - won over, and Elspeth climbed out of her fissure and faced the full strength of the morning breeze and blood-red sun.
Two moons, a red sun – why not?
Elspeth turned away from the alien sun and loosened a Farseeking probe. The wind played with the voices, distorting distance, and the cliffs created echo. It was a little eerie.
Elspeth’s probe found them. There were twenty or so people, climbing down the cliff, to her very beach. The first mind she encountered was closed to Elspeth – not by a natural mindshield, but a drug induced haze. Elspeth didn’t dare search them out with anything but a probe. What kind of people walked down a cliff and onto a beach at sunrise – while drugged? She would monitor their progress and once the strange people had left, she would trace their path to the top of the cliffs and-
Then what?
Elspeth checked each mind of the progression again, swaying her probe with the drugged mind signals in an attempt to break through the haze. She tried mind after mind, seeking one who was perhaps not so affected as the others.
She swallowed a scream as a mind reached out to her.
Her first reaction was to slam down her shield. Immediately, she sensed the inquiring probe was weaker and carried no coercion – and was a she beastmind. Her heart soared and Elspeth let the othermind through her shield.
Instantly, Elspeth felt pain in her abdomen. She clutched her stomach, doubled over, and opened her eyes in shock, sending;
“Why do you attack me?â€ÂÂ
The message fell from Elspeth’s mind. She was in a blue-tinged darkness, and there was a large man with a furry hat and stubble on his chin leering down at her.
“Biting!!†a He-mind sent. There was a human-scream and Elspeth saw blood.
Elspeth pushed the othermind from her, stilling the chilling story, and slammed her shield down once more to protect her mind. The She-othermind emitted horror, sadness, remorse. It was crying out to her.
“Fiennamind?!†the She-othermind sent.
“Who are you?†Elspeth sent at the same time.
There was a moment’s pause. The She-othermind subdued and withdrew a little, politely waiting Elspeth’s answer, rather than attempting to dig for the information herself.
Elspeth hesitated. She would address the beast as she would any other that arrived at Obernewtyn, each with their own horror story to deal with.
“Greetings littlesistermind. I am ElspethInn-,†she paused. Innle had only been part of her name while she’d been the Seeker. No more.
“I am Elspeth,†she corrected. “What name/shape/form may I call you?â€ÂÂ
Another pause. The She-othermind was weighing an answer, Elspeth could feel.
“I am a mother and a daughtermind. You are no fienna. You mindspeak strangely, though I am surprised that you mindspeak at all,†She sent.
“I am lost, sistermind,†Elspeth replied with simple truth, alarmed at the strength of the She’s projection.
“As am I,†the She returned with a mental sigh. “But you are strong-minded. I can feel it,†the She countered, with a hint of interest.
Elspeth didn’t know how to respond, and hesitated.
“I will mindspeak with you soon, sisterling,†the She sent and withdrew.
Elspeth came back to herself fully and blinked. That had been odd. She curved her head from her hiding place, her back facing the glowing ocean and the risen, only partially red now, sun, her senses revelling the slight heat warming her back as her mind ticked over and eyes searched. She could see the trail of chanting people, all dressed in black with a bright red emblem on their breasts bar one; a woman, Elspeth judged from her height and form, dressed in a hooded red cloak, who lead the procession.
Elspeth tried to see the beast that had spoken with her, wary now of sending out another farseeking probe. Her eyes were drawn back to the red cloaked figure.
The procession swayed in motion. The red-clad leader stopped in her tracks and, with a fluidity as though underwater, rose her head to face Elspeth.
Elspeth crossed her brows and raised a coercive shield, one that would hide her to their eyes, or make her seem a mere shimmery hallucination of the strange people’s drug.
The red-cloaked leader looked down again, but turned and headed in Elspeth’s direction at her former methodical pace. The black entourage followed, hypnotised.
Elspeth stood as she was a moment longer, before deciding to drop her coercive guise and make a quiet, stealthy move away from the drugged people.
As the plan formed in her mind, Elspeth began to feel cold and woozy. She steadied herself against a nearby rock and quickly checked the progress of the oncoming train of people. The red-cloaked one’s head had risen, and Elspeth was sure it was looking at her. Elspeth stared back as she strengthened her mental defences. Though she could not see the eyes of the red-cloaked woman, there was something hypnotic about her – the same hypnotic ability that Madame Vega had betrayed to Elspeth all those years ago in the tea chamber of the orphanhome, that had in turn betrayed Elspeth a Misfit. Elspeth was fully aware of what the red-cloaked woman was trying to do. She had something akin to empathy, or enthralling, but on a higher level than any she had encountered.
Surprisingly, this calmed her. Elspeth could counter a mental attack. The Talents the woman possessed were intuitive. They wouldn’t hold against her coercion, and if needs arose, there was always the killing power...
No. It wouldn’t come to that, Elspeth promised herself.
The mind of this woman was trying to lull Elspeth into a false sense of security.
Elspeth strengthened her shield, deliberately allowing the woman to feel that she knew what she was doing.
She registered acknowledgement. She registered a withdrawal.
The woman in the red cloak crumbled before her eyes, and fell into the black sand. The entourage of black-clad followers stopped in their tracks.
Elspeth held her breath, wondering what on earth she had done, before sending a quick probe to the woman to assess.
She was dead! Elspeth tried to dig into the woman’s mind, but there was nothing. It was as though she had been dead an eternity, for all Elspeth encountered was Void.
Elspeth came back to herself once more, and leaned against the support rock again. She stared at the line of black-clad people, their heads turned towards their fallen leader, their eyes blinking as though being introduced to daylight for the first time.
The form was broken. A woman screamed, and a number of people rushed forwards to the fallen body. Elspeth was far too close to retreat unnoticed. She wanted to melt into the stone.
Ten steps…ten steps and the nearest of the black-clad people would be on her. But they seemed more concerned with the fallen one.
A stern, older, extraordinarily tall woman spotted Elspeth first, and wasted no time in committing her.
“What did you do to the Draaka!â€ÂÂ
Elspeth pressed her back against the rock as the tall woman and a shorter, stouter and somewhat untidy woman with grey hair, strode over to her. Around the shorter woman’s neck lay what upon first glance appeared to be a dead animal – Elspeth realised it was the She-mind that had contacted her just before the red-cloaked woman they called ‘draaka’ had fallen.
Only the two women had made their way to Elspeth, and she relaxed somewhat. She could see anger – of course – but caution in their eyes, as soon as they were close enough to notice such things. The presence of the sinuous little creature draped casually about the stout one’s shoulders reassured Elspeth.
“I did nothing,†Elspeth spoke with a slight rasp.
“Who are you?†the tall woman snapped.
Elspeth narrowed her eyes. “I am not a murderer. I wasn’t even close to her.â€ÂÂ
With a whisper of metal, the tall woman held a dark grey knife at Elspeth’s belly.
“Answer me,†she grated.
“This beach is off limits to civilians,†the stout woman spoke finally, her eyes sharp and narrowed. “Jurass’ orders, and all of Acantha know of it. How did you get here?â€ÂÂ
Elspeth glared down at the knife between her and the tall woman. A coercive probe loosened, Elspeth wove her way into the tall woman’s mind, set on convincing the knife-wielding woman to let her go.
As Elspeth entered her mind, the tall woman’s eyes rolled back in her head, and the knife fell from her fingers into the black-crystal sand. The woman began to shake, and the shorter took a step back, calling out in terror; to whom, Elspeth couldn’t tell.
Elspeth withdrew immediately, forcing herself to continue to stand tall. The blast woman wasn’t Talented, but she was mind-sensitive! She’d been tampered with before!
The tall woman slumped a little, and stared up to Elspeth, breathing heavily.
“She is a demon.â€ÂÂ
Elspeth’s defiance of this woman abated a little as the words travelled to the rest of the black-clad group. The mutinous-looking black-clad group. Could she take them all on if she had to?
“No,†the stout woman with the She on her shoulders stepped back aside the tall woman, her back straighter but her eyes still narrowed. “It is clear what has happened here. The Draaka is dead, and this girl lives, able to bend Prime Wykka’s mind with her will.â€ÂÂ
“The Void Guardian has sent us a stronger servant!†One of the older men of the group sounded positively elated, and Elspeth grimaced at his enthusiasm in the red-cloaked woman’s death.
There was a muttering of excited talk amongst the black-clad people, while the two women – the tall and the stout – continued to regard her warily.
“Prime Wykka,†the stout woman grated. “We must escort the Void Guardian’s servant to the cloister. She will be tested further-“
“Need she any testing if the Void Guardian has already so obviously chosen her?†one of the black-clad called.
The stout ignored the call with an annoyed pause, but this time spoke directly to Elspeth. “You will accompany us to the cloister. If you are a servant of the Chaos Spirit, and his Chosen, you shall take your place. If you bring treachery to our sect, you shall be killed. We shall let the Chaos spirit decide your fate.â€ÂÂ
With that, the stout woman turned her back on Elspeth and began to direct the black-clad people. Two of them scooped up the limp body of the red-clad Draaka. The tall Prime Wykka still stared up at Elspeth, wariness merged with a kind of fear displayed on her features.
“You must come,†Prime Wykka spoke. She was unsure in delivery, but her voice carried a permanent authoritive intonation. Her command had sounded too weak.
Elspeth raised her eyebrows. She didn’t like this talk of cloisters, and these were the strangest Herders she had ever encountered, if that’s what they truly were.
“If I refuse?â€ÂÂ
“If you refuse you will be left on this beach to rot,†the Prime breathed, not skipping a beat. “I do not know how you got down here, other than by the Chaos Spirit’s will. But we are the only ones who know the route to the surface.â€ÂÂ
Elspeth was about to tell this Prime Wykka where to stick her Chaos Spirit when the mind of the She tapped on her shield.
“Sisterling, we are both lost, you and I. I am loathed to be bound but it was my need that compelled me to obey, as does yours.â€ÂÂ
“I have no compulsion to obey,†Elspeth returned. “Come with me, and we shall find what we are looking for away from them.â€ÂÂ
“I cannot leave, for I am bonded to Bayardmind.â€ÂÂ
Elspeth didn’t know what a bayardmind was, but something about the little animal’s message told Elspeth that this was as good a place as any to begin finding answers. And they were wary of her – this told her that they weren’t going to kill her…yet. They were expecting something of her, and had presumed that she served their master, this ‘Chaos Spirit’. Elspeth huffed a bitter half-laugh at the absurdity.
“I will come with you,†she answered Prime Wykka.
***