CHAPTER ONE
His breath came in ragged gasps as he fought exhaustion in the dark cold cavern. Sensing the awful presence of his enemy; the winged leader of the Cuc, he fought the despair in his heart. Remruc, Chieftain of the united San Clans, gripped his battle axe and struggled to his feet. He was their last line of defence, their last hope. The fetid breath of the Cuc clawed its way into his lungs, and he coughed.
A soft step behind caused him to turn; he saw Eriya, the beautiful Chieftain of the Nemn and his only love, making her way into the cave, a torch in her hand as she peered through the gloom. He tried to speak but his mind felt numb, no thoughts came to him as he projected with all his telepathic ability on all the channels available, trying to warn her, trying to turn her back.
To his horror he saw his twin brother Curmer, with his mate Sorta clutching her babe to her chest following behind. He felt panic rise within him. Remruc struggled to raise the axe, his limbs felt heavy, and they moved slowly, unable to act quickly he saw his beloved Eriya scream as the Cuc lunged down on her, biting her in half and swallowing her violated body. The torch fell to the floor, rolling in the dirt, its light dancing madly around the cavern.
Through the flashes of flame, Remruc could see his brother dying as he defended Sorta. Their babe fell to the ground silent and still. “Noooooooo” his mind ripped apart as he felt the pain of his family’s death, then the Cuc turned on him. Blind fury drove Remruc but to no avail, he stared down the gaping jaws of his enemy as he was engulfed.
The screams of the Cuc jolted him awake and slowly he realised it was his own mind shouting out in fear. Remruc stumbled from his sleeping platform, reeling in confusion his mind in turmoil. Standing breathless in his room he slowly realised it had been a dream. He was panicking, breathing hard and clutching his sword which lay, as always, at the side of his platform. His beloved mate Eriya watched him with pained eyes.
“Remruc” Eriya’s gentle thoughts coolly flowed into his still jumbled head. “It is fine, you are safe now.” She could barely hear the reply as he turned away,
“It was so real… I was there once more, in the cavern on Surn…I saw…” he could not finish, instead he went into the bathing room to soak in the pool of steaming water. He still limped from his injured leg, the wasted muscles slowly rebuilding themselves.
Eriya rose and began to dress, this was becoming a frequent occurrence, almost every night he would wake, afraid, trembling and falling from his platform ready to do battle with the Cuc. She had even tried slipping sleeping drafts into his water before he retired but to no avail. Sighing in frustration that she, a master healer, could not fix the hurt in Remruc’s mind, she fixed her flowing locks of auburn hair into a fashionable plait.
“I have to meet with Lenta early today,” she said, “we will be setting out a training programme for Deyka and Mora” hoping he would believe her small lie she slipped out of the room and their house and walked along the dusty roadway as dawn crept over the horizon, lost in her worried thoughts.
Curmer woke with a start, he sensed the panic in his brother’s mind and his heart raced, then, it was gone. He realised that Remruc must have had another nightmare. Curmer too had been there, through the battles, he had seen his brother, near to death, being dragged back into their city. Returning from the Tarl clan’s territory with the Cuc hot on his trail.
Curmer thought it was strange that he, a healer and not warrior trained, seemed to be unaffected by the memories of the terrible battles fought on Surn. He suspected that the Idor had something to do with this. Ever since he asked Thr to heal Remruc he had felt different inside, calmer, more assured, almost detached from the emotions of his memories. He nudged Sorta his mate into wakefulness, “Sorta…wake up…” She grunted and buried her face into the furs, “Remruc is still having terrible dreams, he even woke me up it was so bad.”
“And now my love you have decided to wake me.” She said, a little disgruntled.
Ignoring her ill temper, he sat up, “It is getting worse, almost every night.” He swung his legs onto the floor, unable to find sleep again. “I just don’t know what to do. Eriya and I have been administering sleeping drafts, but it doesn’t seem to work. How do you take the pain of what he suffered away from him?”
“And have we not also suffered?” she replied quietly, sorrow and grief colouring her thoughts. Curmer reached over and held her close,
“I am sorry… I didn’t mean to …” he again, seemed emotionally detached from the death of his son and the near death of his mate at the claws of the Cuc, but Sorta still held that pain deep inside even as the new love of their adopted son Deyka slowly numbed the rawness. Every so often the pain would arise to the surface and now he had accidently stirred it into her heart once more.
“It is fine,” she lied, “I am fine. It’s just that I don’t understand why Remruc is haunted by this, he is a warrior, trained to fight from a young age. He has been in many battles and has never had this problem before, why should the Cuc return to his mind now?” Sorta resigned herself that she too would need to get up and get started with the day. Curmer didn’t say anything, but he suspected there was more to this than met the eye. He dressed slowly, pondering on the possible reason behind his brother’s anxiety. “Well?” He turned to see Sorta staring at him, “Aren’t you going to tell me?”
“Tell you what?” he asked.
“My mate, do you really think you can hide anything from me? I know your clever mind is turning over possibilities and I want to know what you suspect.” Sorta frowned and folded her arms in annoyance, this just made Curmer laugh at her pretty face all scrunched up. “Stop it!” she demanded, trying not to smile, “tell me.”
“Alright,” he said, “Remruc is more sensitive than you think, he has a highly developed sense of danger and threat, if he is having bad dreams then it may be that deep down, he senses something, something bad or dangerous that may harm us all. His mind is trying to warn him to be prepared for something, an attack maybe.”
“An attack?” said Sorta, “From whom? You don’t think the Cuc have found the crystal ring and are trying to follow us here!” she suddenly exclaimed, her mind tinged with fear and panic.
“I don’t know, maybe…” Replied Curmer; not believing for one moment that the threat came from the Cuc, “I could be wrong, but I am going to try to find out.” He turned to leave, “Why don’t you wake Deyka and meet up with Eriya and Mora, maybe discuss teaching sessions with Lenta when she rises.” He didn’t wait for a reply, he was dressed and ready to leave, intending to head out of the city, into the forest where he could not be seen, and he was going to speak to Thr.
Lenta dozed fitfully, she was getting old, and her body refused to listen to her anymore. Giving up trying to sleep she sat by her window in a comfortable chair carved by the Nemn from the trees in the forest, it was padded in all the right places, and she could watch the torches in the city flicker and dance in the gentle breeze that wound its way around the streets below.
She had made a promise to her mate’s sons, a promise to be fair and just when training their children but she was still uneasy. There would come a day when the San people would want to choose and that may yet still cause unrest and division amongst the fragile culture now developing. The Chieftains thought they had solved the problem but in reality, they had just delayed it.
Sighing she tapped her gnarled hands on the armrests and did a mental scan of her body, her heart was failing and failing fast, deep in her mind she had started to feel an old and familiar prescience. She could feel her long dead mate Storn calling her from the void, and she knew it would not be long now before she joined him. She worried that she would not have enough time to do her duty, what then? How would Remruc and Curmer cope without her guidance.
In her eyes they were still the children of her sister mate Sadelna, running around her skirts, getting in her way, and filling their world with joy. Now look at them, look what they had achieved. They were fully grown with mates and children of their own, they had experienced more in their short lives than any other San and had overcome so much. Lenta smiled to herself, they would be fine, they would find a way to make it work, they always did. She closed her eyes, her heart faltering slightly then regaining its steady beat, “Not long now” she thought to herself as sleep finally caught up with her.
El, the great leader of the Idor had gathered his people around him. By his side as always was Thr and they both surveyed the vista of chance swirling around them. The Idor were an enigma, they were the builders of worlds and much, much more, they existed on many different plains of reality simultaneously and their vast minds could view the time streams of possibility that writhed and tangled itself around and through all these realities.
Their difficult task was to choose the best route that would benefit all life in all of their intricate existences and steer the many universes to an unseen goal. The arrival of the San on this world that they had built and hidden outside of time itself, had been unforeseen. This was troubling the Idor, this had never happened before and now all the pathways had changed.
El, the most senior of their race and the most powerful, was carefully calculating the best way forwards to bring them back into balance. The bodies they wore in this reality were strange and exotic. They walked on four spindly legs having no need for hands as they could manipulate matter itself with their minds. Their necks were long and covered in shaggy silver hair and their heads sported a row of horns with a larger central horn between their eyes, but it was their eyes that were the most mysterious of all.
The pupils were many, constantly spinning and circling around each other, never still, always changing colour and mesmerising to watch. “I think you are being summoned.” Said El to Thr, “Curmer is calling for you in the forest.”
“I know, he is so perceptive, he senses what we are about to do.” Replied Thr, “I suppose we should begin.” He quipped as he vanished from their city to materialise in the reality of the San.
“Thr!” shouted Curmer, his mind projecting at maximum capacity, knowing full well the Idor could hear him, “stop ignoring me…” He turned in a circle staring at the trees, “I need to speak to you now!”
“You are up early.” Was the familiar thought from behind him as he turned to see the Idor staring at him.
“What is going on?” asked Curmer, “What is going to happen?” Thr looked at him in surprise,
“How can I know what is going to happen, it all depends on what is done now.”
“Stop talking in riddles, you know full well what I mean.” Said Curmer, more than a little frustrated.
Thr looked at him for a very long time, his strange eyes whirling at a dizzying speed,
“Oh, you mean this…” Curmer saw a flash of light then nothing, he was enveloped in darkness, his mind blank.
CHAPTER TWO
“It is done” said Yln
“That was quick and efficient Yln, you have done well.” Was El’s response.
“Are their minds separated and their bodies empty?” replied Thr.
“Yes”
“All, none have been missed.”
“Do we have the right to do this?” Murmured Yln.
“We have every right Yln, it will be for the best.” El replied. “Idor, take your positions now.”
They were in the strange realm of light that served as the Idor city and Thr motioned to the images of Remruc and Curmer floating past them. “El, the bodies of my chosen are scattered apart.”
“You take Curmer, I will take Remruc.” El’s command was definite. Thr looked at El in surprise, this had not been agreed, El had never shown any interest in these beings before. What had he seen?
“El”
“Yes”
“You understand that these are simple creatures. You will be careful, won’t you?” El regarded his companion with mild amusement.
“Thr, I am El, powerful I may be, but I have not forgotten how to feel. I will not hurt your animals more than necessary.”
Thr accepted El’s response, but he did feel a small stab of pity for what would lie ahead of Remruc.
Yln’s moved forwards to El, “My chosen will be difficult, she is strong willed.” She looked sad.
“Yes, but this is something you must learn. Try to work with her, do not be too demanding.” He turned and commanded that they begin.
He could not tell how long he had been aware of the sound, this feeling. Who was he? Why could he not remember? He listened to the feeling again, it became stronger, more persistent. It reverberated through his body. No, not his body. He realised he had no body; he was sure of that.
There were just his thoughts, alone, yes that was what was wrong, he was alone. Where were the others? My name is Remruc. An awareness grew, yes, he had a name he could remember his name. He could not see, he had no eyes, he could not hear, he had no ears. No that was wrong, he could hear, he could hear that thrumming he could feel the vibration, it was nice. It was comforting.
For a time, he just listened. Slowly he began to remember. He began to remember everything. As his life memory came back to him Remruc began to feel once more. He still felt the anguish, the love and the joy of being alive. Then he realised what was wrong, he had been in his home, Eriya had left with Mora and there had been a flash of light, then nothing. Was he dead? He did not remember dying. “This must be the void” he thought, “This must be death.”
“No” The response came from nowhere and everywhere. Remruc was afraid, who was there with him, what was there with him. It did not feel like anyone or anything he could remember.
As fear grew in him so did the sound, this vibration, it grew larger than his fear, it drowned it out until the fear was gone and all that was left was Remruc. “You are not dead.” Again, the thought moved through him. Remruc felt tired, how could this be, he had no body, yet he felt exhausted. He felt himself begin to fade, to disappear. “Stay here, I wish to talk to you.” Against his will Remruc was dragged back to this dark place of nothing.
“Who are you?”
“I am El. I am one of the Idor, this is our world.”
A wave of emotion covered him, a faint memory niggling at the back of his mind but giving no substance, he seemed to know this creature, but how? There were so many questions, demands, that he needed to express but he could find no voice. “Be still.” Again, the thrumming, the emotion left him and Remruc was empty and helpless.
“Am I dead? I don’t remember dying. Why do you keep me here, let me go.” Remruc pleaded.
“I want you to understand something important, why we are doing what we are doing. It is important that you know our reasons.”
“If I am dead, you must let me go, if you don’t then you are cruel and vicious you are no better than a Cuc!” Remruc’s confusion and fear of what might have happened poured from him, it spread across the nothing, touching everything. The thrumming sound changed, moved to a different rhythm.
El felt the sorrow, the anguish and the confusion from Remruc wash over him. He felt the rhythm change, the fabric of the world echoed Remruc’s thoughts. He realised that this creature was struggling to understand. “Remruc, you will listen to what I say then you will make your choice.” El’s will forced Remruc’s disembodied mind to obey. “Can you feel the song of this world? Can you hear it sing to you?” Remruc was confused. The San did not sing, they made no music, and he therefore had no concept of what El was trying to tell him.
“What is song? What is sing? You speak in riddles, let me goooooooo!!!!” his anguished plea fell on deaf ears. El paused, this may be a problem, he thought for a moment and considered many options, he observed many different paths in a millisecond then proceeded.
Remruc felt nothing and silence took him. The other voice was gone and something else, yes, the sound, the vibration it too was gone.
