Moirai
Chapter 7

It was an unexpected sense ofcoolness that awoke me. Unexpected because I knew that when I had blacked out,the sun had been beating down heavily upon the world. But, sure enough, the sandbeneath me was nearly cool.

I lay on my back. I was relievedto replace that the sudden exhaustion was gone. The pain in my leg was also gone.I tried to scour my memory to work out if I’d missed something. The Erkingattack wasn’t just a dream, was it? Surely the gash in my leg should be atleast aching. But I trusted my memoryand what had happened was definitely nota dream.

It slowly sank in that I had usedmy aura again. Again. And again, ithad been an almost undeniable aid. As far as I knew, what I had done could’vesaved our lives. Deep down I couldn’t deny that Mayran would not have been ableto get rid of the rest of the Erkings without becoming seriously injured, orworse. I really resented that, because it challenged the belief that had existedwithin me since I was a child: ‘real’ magic, was nothing but dangerous. But nowI had seen several examples of good magic.

An explanation as to why my legwas no longer hurting presented itself to me. Mayran probably healed it withhis own aura. Being around him every day, without him really doing anythingwith his aura, made me forget that he was an auraic as well.

As well…

The thought had formed unbidden.I didn’t like it one bit, but it was true. From now on I had to be morecareful. I spent a few more minutes pondering on how the incidents had occurredand came to the conclusion that it had something to do with being in adangerous situation and that urgent need for survival that made me wish forthings, like for the axes and the Erkings to disappear. Perhaps it could be assimple as controlling my thoughts.

Opening my eyes, another thingwas also explained. Mayran’s coat was propped up with some sticks as a sort ofshelter above me. That was why I felt cooler than expected. I crawled out from underneathit, further registering the lack of pain from my shin, and looked around.

Loni was tending to the horses,who looked quite spooked from their encounter with the Erkings. She didn’tnotice me. Mayran was sitting on the top of a dune that began a few metresaway, gazing out at Okanto.

I climbed up and sat down next tohim. I opened my mouth to accuse bring up his healing of my leg, but stoppedwhen I noticed the expression on his face. His eyes, well, the one I could see,were like deep black pools, contrasting with their pale blue colour. He lookedutterly devastated about something.

“Mayran?” I said questioningly.

He closed his eyes briefly andglanced over at me.

“You’re awake. Good. Do you feelalright?” he asked, his voice a dull monotone.

“I’m fine.” I said impatiently.“What’s the matter?”

“Look.” He indicated the city.

I did, and was horrified by whatI saw; Okanto had been destroyed. I realised now why the city looked so strange;almost all of the buildings had been razed to the ground, leaving only a metreor two of crumbling stone. And from this distance I could see that it wouldhave once been beautiful, for the city was built out of stone in various shadesof orange and red to blend in with the desert surroundings.

Something told me that, somehow,Indina was responsible. No other person, surely, had enough power or enoughevil to destroy an entire city and its people.

Mayran confirmed it.

“Indina’s work.” His voicemaintained the lack of emotion. “I can tell. I knew someone there.” He added.

“Who?” I asked after a moment’shesitation.

He looked down and finally a hintof sorrow coloured his blank tone. “A woman who was more of a mother to me thanmy own parents.”

He didn’t elaborate, so I didn’tpush him.

“So…are we still going to passthrough?” I asked him.

He sighed. “We must. There’salmost no chance of any survivors…but I couldn’t just go past.”

“Oh! You’re awake, Alnya!”

Loni’s sudden jovial tonestartled us both. I turned around sharply to replace her grinning as she walked upto us. I could see that the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, althoughprobably someone who didn’t know her as well wouldn’t have noticed; she had seen the city, she was just tryingto cheer Mayran up.

“Leg all cleared up? Mayran did areally good job; you can hardly see a scar. He did say though that some of theinternal damage may have been beyond his abilities so if you feel any painstill just say so, don’t try and be a martyr.” She continued in a rapid-firemanner, proving my thought.

“I feel fine.” I reassured her.Then, realising that I hadn’t acknowledged that Mayran had healed me yet, Iturned back to him and said quietly, “Thank you. You didn’t have to.”

The corners of his lips twitchedlike he wanted to smile, but he didn’t. “It wasn’t too much trouble, andbesides, it would have made your leg pretty much unusable for a few days atleast.”

There was silence for another fewseconds, before he stood up with a sigh. Loni and I took that as our cue, followingand mounted our horses.

The ride to Okanto was equallyquiet. There wasn’t really anything anyone could say. I could see that the lifehad just gone from Mayran’s eyes. I wondered who the woman was who he hadmentioned and mentally cursed Indina for what she had done. The journey torescue Renenta from her oppressive ideas suddenly became much more real.

It was late afternoon by the timewe entered the outskirts of the now crumbling city. Even now the city stillheld a strange beauty; the rich reds and browns of the buildings stood outstarkly against the golden sand surrounding the city. The roads, now litteredwith rubble, were otherwise spotless and the sandstone they were made from wereall even. Here and there doorways hung open on their hinges, revealing tidysitting rooms and kitchens still fully furnished, unless the roof had caved inupon the room.

The strangest thing was that eventhough the city was deserted, there were no bodies. Not in the streets or inthe houses could a single prone figure be seen. I didn’t know whether that wasa relief or a cause for concern; for if they weren’t here, then where werethey? Taken by Indina for her to experiment on, like the beings that attackedKasanda’s house? Or something, if possible, even more sinister.

The silence was eerie. Once, Loniscreamed as a section of a house collapsed right next to her, and the soundseemed to echo throughout the city, coming back to us a million times, amillion screams.

All along, Mayran remained mute.His empty eyes glazed over the wreckage as though searching for something thatwasn’t there. When we reached what appeared to be the centre of the city, heheaved a great sigh as he looked around and seemed to collapse in on himself.

The charred remains of what wasobviously a bustling marketplace surrounded us; scorched carts, the odd fabricor item of jewellery that survived glinting or fluttering in the hot breeze.

I jumped slightly when Mayranspoke. “I remember coming here as a boy. Younger than you two.” He whispered,his voice carrying an air of sacredness. His eyes seemed to be seeing somethingonly he could see. “The colours, the scents, the flavours, the sounds. Yes,this was one of my favourite places. It held such life, and I was nothing morethan a young boy who had…” he sighed again, letting the sentence trail off.

A voice finished it for him.

“…come to Okanto with an elderlywoman as his only companion, eh?”

I jumped again. It was a rough, oldwoman’s voice that came from somewhere to the right. I looked, but all I couldsee were shadows, until the voice’s owner appeared from within them. She was slightlybent over and holding a stiff-looking walking stick, her clothes dull-colouredand draped around her like a cloak.

She peered up at Mayran. “Littlerunaway, is that possibly you?”

Mayran’s sorrowful mask shatteredas though a rock had been thrown at it. Surprise and shock replaced it,followed by an immense relief and an intense array of several other emotionsthat I couldn’t identify. In a second he was embracing the wizened old woman,such an expression of pure joy on both of their faces that tears sprang to myeyes.

“Eldaline.” He gasped, which Ipresumed was her name. “Oh, Eldaline, how…why…how is this…”

He was struggling not to cry.Though I had only known him for little over a week, he had not struck me assomeone brought easily to tears and that alone impressed onto me the gravity ofthis moment.

The old woman was smiling andreturned the hug, a twinkle in her eye. “Hush, little runaway. Have you grownweak in the many years since we last met?”

He chuckled, but it sounded morelike a hiccup. “Not at all, Eldaline. It’s just…” he trailed off once again.

I couldn’t stop the grin thatgrew on my face as I watched the reunion. Seeing Mayran the happiest I had seenhim seemed infectious. He had obviously been through hardship in his life andso I had little doubt that he deserved happiness.

He released Eldaline and stoodup, looking towards us. “Alnya, Loni, this is the woman I told you about.Eldaline raised me and cared for me far more than my real mother did. Eldaline,these are my travelling companions. Alnya is…”

She shushed him fiercely. “Nothere! If the rumours I’ve been hearing are true, I think I know who the girl is.Indina’s presence still lingers in the area. If we must speak, and it appearsas though we must, then come with me.”

Without another word, she headedback into the shadows from which she had come. With an amused expression and awary look around, Mayran followed. Loni and I decided we’d better go along aswell, but as soon as I saw where we were headed, I dug my heels in, panicrushing through me.

A block of the sandstone thatformed the streets had been lifted to reveal a gaping hole descendingdiagonally under the city. It was black as night. I was not going in there.

“What’s wrong, Alnya?” Mayranasked once he noticed that I had stopped several metres from the entrance.

I didn’t trust myself to sayanything coherent, so all I did was shake my head.

Loni,thankfully, rushed to my aid. “Alnya’s claustrophobic.”

Mayran frowned. “She’s what?”

I realised that the whole conceptof ‘phobias’ would be alien to Mayran, living his entire life in the ‘bookworld’. He would possibly think that my ‘irrational phobia’...was literallycompletely irrational.

Loni also came to thatconclusion. “She can’t stand being in enclosed spaces. It freaks her out. Makesher think that she’s going to be trapped. A bit like with her fear of magic, itstarted when she was very young.”

“Ah.” Mayran frowned, walkingover to me. “Alnya, you can’t just stay out here.”

Eldaline, who had heard theconversation, also approached. “Alnya, is it? Well, I can assure you that thetunnel’s the worse bit. There are a few down there who share your fear, butthey are fine once they are in the open areas.”

“A few?” Mayran asked,momentarily distracted. “You mean, you aren’t the only survivor?”

“Far from it, boy!” Eldalinesnapped. “The entire city’s down there!”

Hisface filled with even more joy.

Irealised that I had no other choice, so despite how much my mind rebelledagainst the idea, I followed the others into the darkness of the tunnel.

Eldalinelit a torch, which did absolutely nothing to quell the terror that instantlyassailed me. It was a nauseating feeling to be surrounded by so much rock, andconstantly descending further under it. I couldn’t help but think that it wouldbe so easy for it all to collapse in on itself and kill us all.

Mybreathing was shallow, but I didn’t realise how loud it was until I felt a handgrab mine and Mayran’s voice whisper, “Calm down. It’s alright.”

“Easyfor you to say.” I hissed, squeezing his hand and wanting nothing more than tocurl into a tight ball and be taken back to the surface. In fact, after a fewminutes, I froze, unable to build up the courage to continue.

Ishrank against the wall, closing my eyes tightly and shivering uncontrollablydespite the muggy heat. Hands on my shoulders from all sides didn’t help, so Ipushed them away.

“Justtake me back!” I cried; my voice over-loud in the small tunnel.

“Wecan’t, girl! We must continue! You’ll be fine in just a few minutes.”Eldaline’s sharp, rough voice sounded from my right.

“Maybeit would be best for her to wait out there. I’ll wait with her. Trust me, I’veseen this before. She won’t move.” Loni argued. She didn’t say it in anaccusing way, but an understanding way.

Ifelt rather than heard someone move to stand right in front of me, both handson my shoulders.

“Breathe.”He instructed. “Just calm down and breathe.”

“Mayran,I…”

“Alnya!”his voice cut off my weak excuse. When he spoke again, his voice was strangelycalming. “Just breathe.”

Idid as he said, slowly inhaling and exhaling. The tightness in my stomachloosened, and my head seemed to reduce its frantic thoughts.

“Good.”He said gently. “Now for phase two.”

Hisleft hand moved down to grip mine, while his right hand slid around to my backwhere it gently nudged me away from the wall. It was comforting; something Icould hold on to in the world that seemed to be dissolving around me. Withinless than a minute, he got me walking again, although I kept my eyes shut.

“Welldone.” Loni breathed. I obviously wasn’t meant to hear that, but it wasdifficult to hide anything here.