7Yaaay! Another chapter down! And many thanks to Mama Varie for reviewing the story thus far. In answer to your question; yes, I have studied some of the gods and their backgrounds. If it interests you, you'll see that the name of the world, Ansuz, is actually the name given to one of the Viking runes. It means 'A God', I believe. Avenger's God, Mithras, is a Roman god of light, and therefore the evil brother, Erebus is a god of darkness, Greek if memory serves correct.
And also a big thankies to KaizerFinalFantasy for your review! You think my lil Avenger is cute? Blows a kiss Thank you very much!
Chapter 4 – Business
"The sun wilt lend thee energy, Nathaniel," Taen told his elder kindly, brushing the silvery locks from the Elusian's shoulders to make way for the beloved sunshine, which cut through the canopy of trees just beyond the mouth of the pit. Truth be told, Taen doubted anything but Dierdra's return would restore Nathaniel's vitality.
Nathaniel's well-being was but one of many reasons Avenger had to help them rescue Dierdra. Time was running out fast, and Taen knew only too well that the ninja was their last hope. Secretly, the Elusian doubted seriously that the fiery-tempered young man would ever co-operate with them.
Taen and Nathaniel watched silently as the bands of purple-blue lightning illuminated the pit, lifting the unconscious ninja like a gigantic sling. Just ten more feet and the creature would be above ground.
In anticipation of his arrival, the Elusians had cleared out the rocky passage days before, when they had left the stubborn ninja to his climb. The opening had been little more than a badger hole when Nathaniel had first sensed the presence of a strong, magical life force far underground. At Nathaniel's insistence, they had widened the abandoned hole to allow the comfortable passage of their own fluttering wings. It was now a small crater, which would allow the exit of the bigger creature below ground.
The Elusians jumped back as the sizzling, buzzing bands of electrical energy bearing the ninja rose above the gaping mouth of the pit then levitated him to the side. Signalling with a tapered digit, Taen commanded the lightning to follow them through the jungle. The trail was swathed wider by the burning lightning singing the vegetation and undergrowth.
Almost a league from the pit, the Elusians led their burden through the last of the dense jungle vegetation. A wide field, which stretched as far as the eye could see, was pounded by the sun, the horizon only broken by the occasional tree and in the distance, the temple of Chac clawed its way skyward. Grasshoppers and meadowlarks sprang from the path at their passing, purple bull thistles, goldenrod and lacy wild carrot swayed in the breeze. Well into the grasslands, the Elusians halted. The ninja-bearing lightning hovered momentarily, then gently lowered its burden into the stiff, late summer grass. Abruptly, the buzzing claws of lightning receded into the Ruis Ball, which hung, imperceptible in the sunlight, at Nathaniel's side.
"He be gravely injured," Taen observed, walking a path in the head-high weeds around the crumpled form of the young man. Crimson trails of blood cut through the dust on Avenger's skin showing deep mocha through the torn black outfit. The mask covering his face had been tugged down under his chin, revealing what was perhaps once a boyishly handsome face, but now a bruised, swelled and blood smeared mess. The soft flesh of one nostril was split all the way to his lips which were pulled back in a grimace that revealed pearly teeth. On his hands, much of the soft flesh was split open between his fingers; some fingers had only exposed raw flesh, the skin torn away by sharp rocks. His knees were completely skinned, long gashes colouring his shins red. Worst of all, his right arm was bent unnaturally, obviously broken.
"Wilt he live?" Taen asked Nathaniel gravely.
The elder bent over the ninja, pressing fresh leaves of the lady's mantle plant to his wounds. The astringent juices of the circular, blue-green leaves helped to stanch the blood flow. Taen knew that if the elder Elusian was trying to save the man with his herbal skills, there had to be hope.
When Nathaniel had finished, the small creatures struggled to straighten the ninja's bent arm into proper position. Taen was glad that the human remained unconscious through what had to be excruciating pain.
Suddenly, Taen felt something grasp a hold of his tunic and hoist him from the ground. Legs dangling, gasping for breath as his clothing constricted his chest, he looked over his shoulder and saw golden eyes watching him accusingly.
Avenger became suddenly aware of the dull aching in his fingers that grew sharp in the hand that held the Elusian. He dropped the green-clad creature as if burned.
"Are you fairies trying to kill me? There are easier ways you know…" Struggling to keep his head off the ground, he glanced back at the silver-haired Elusian. He was busily attempting to secure a straight, thick branch to his arm with a length of vine. Though Nathaniel frequently tossed concerned glances over his shoulder, he did not stop his ministrations. Avenger winced from the stinging pain beneath the creature's hands.
"We art… trying to…. set thy… arm," Taen gasped. "Thou must have broken it trying to climb to the surface."
"The surface," Avenger repeated in wonder, looking around with some difficulty. His expression turned abruptly stormy at the realisation he had not arrived there by himself. His last memory was of falling headlong from the ledge and he instinctively reached out with his good arm to touch his sword. It was still there, the sheath scratched and the straps severed. He'd seen a light though, lightning… He'd thought it was Mithras calling for him. "How did you bring me up?" he demanded harshly.
Taen nodded toward the glowing Ruis Ball hovering at Nathaniel's side. "We art uncertain of the physics involved, but we simply instructed the Ruis to catch thee, and-.."
"You should have commanded it to leave me in darkness," Avenger interrupted darkly, unimpressed. His keen eyes, long used to the dank cave squinted at the bright sunshine.
"The light of the sun be healing. Shadows foster infection," the Elusian stated emphatically. His companion bobbed his silvery head in agreement.
The confident tone reminded Avenger of their conversation below ground. His gold eyes narrowed. "I presume you believe that I am now indebted to you and will feel compelled to rescue your friend?"
"Actually, we-…"
"I didn't call for your help, or ask you to tend my wounds," the young man snarled. "I don't need anybody's help, understand? And I especially didn't ask you to bring me here in the open where anyone could see me and tell the Grandmaster. You could have ruined my chances to get away from here. For that alone I should kill you." His golden eyes opened wide in a mock show of tolerance. "However, I will acknowledge your aid, although unwanted and unasked for, by letting you live."
Expecting a show of gratitude, or at least fear, Avenger was surprised to feel Nathaniel still wrapping his arm, the chestnut-haired Elusian silently watching him, arms crossed, and expression unconcerned.
Irritated, Avenger snapped his arm to his side, ignoring the pain it caused, sending the elder Elusian flying. He tried to pull himself to his knees. Locking his jaw muscles, he summoned the last of his strength, more determination than physical power. He pushed his head and chest off the ground with his left arm, locking the limb, and attempted to roll to his hip. Resting for just a moment and trying to pay no attention to the stinging in his legs from the raw flesh coming into contact with the dirt, he planted his knees on the ground. Pushing his feet under him and driving upwards, he managed to stand briefly to his full almost six foot height, his lips drawing back in a mocking smile. Then he teetered and wobbled, and crashed back onto his chest.
Avenger sucked in a shuddering breath through nostrils pressed to the sun-warmed dirt. Reluctantly opening his golden eyes, he saw pity in the faces of the two Elusians. "Get away from me!" he bellowed, then weakly scraped his left arm over the grass in a try to bat the creatures away.
"Thou hast brought on the bleeding again," Taen scolded. When the elder Elusian began applying more leaves, Avenger did not protest. Instead, he closed his eyes and tried to listen to the noises around him: locusts buzzing, birds singing, wind rustling through leaves. It was something he practised often when training, attuning himself to block out the background din to hear the all-important approach of enemies, to detect anything out of the ordinary or hear a clumsy attacker in hiding. And so, the sounds were neither familiar nor unfamiliar to him. Now he focused on it, using it to drown all other thoughts in his muddled brain. Maybe if he kept his eyes closed long enough, all of it – the Elusians, the elements that had conspired to trap and weaken him – would disappear, and he would not feel so… defenceless. That thought made him want to lash out again, but he knew he hadn't the energy.
"Food wilt restore thy energy." Taen pulled several worms from the humus underfoot and laid them proudly before the starving ninja. "Here, I hath found thee something to eat."
The scent by his face made Avenger open his gold eyes to regard the worms in distaste. Curling his lip, he closed his eyes again in annoyance.
"Art the worms not acceptable?" Taen asked in surprise.
"I'm not a bird, you know," Avenger grumbled. "I will not eat worms when there is fruit and meat around." He opened his eyes and regarded the creature warily. "But I don't need to owe you for anything else. I can hunt for myself." Avenger attempted to roll to his hip again, but he couldn't even manage to push his torso off the ground this time.
Taen saw exhaustion in the gold eyes and pale complexion. "We canst discuss the details after thou hast feasted," he suggested. "What dost thou require?"
Avenger sighed inwardly. Since it was blatantly obvious he would be unable to hunt for himself, he might as well test the limits of these creatures' skills.
"As I said; I need fruit, vegetables, or meat. I will not eat insects if I don't have to," he warned. How these tiny creatures would go about meeting his requirements when what he considered one meal would probably feed both of them for several days was not his problem. The ludicrous vision gave him his first amusement since waking. They shouldn't make promises they can't keep, he told himself smugly.
Nathaniel touched Taen on the shoulder, slipping the Ruis into the neck of his tunic, hefting a sack of woven spider-webs onto his shoulder. Taen nodded and they left in search of food.
Darkness had long descended, and Avenger was sleeping fitfully by the time the Elusians returned. The glowing bands deposited the hoard of fruit and vegetables before him. As the scent penetrated his dreams, the ninja's red-rimmed eyes opened in disbelief.
He gazed at the creatures momentarily, the surprise in his face almost amusing, before attempting to scoot into a sitting position. The creatures fluttered away, apparently leaving him to eat in peace. He watched them for several long moments, then reached for the food.
"Art thou fit enough to speak now?" asked Taen after a time. He was sitting cross-legged in the centre of a three-foot wide seed pod, low enough to the ground to be obscured by the surrounding tall grasses. It's soft, waxy sections fanned out around him. Nathaniel was similarly seated in another of the giant pods. Avenger lazed on his side beside a fire Nathaniel had made for him. Fireflies flitted about on and off across the field, a small benign swarm even settling at the fringes of their camp.
Avenger sighed. "I'm feeling generous," he replied lazily, leaning on his left elbow. "Go ahead and name your price for your unwanted aid and I'll consider it."
Taen looked mildly surprised by his attitude. "Elusians do not embrace the concept of indebtedness," he replied. "We helped thee because it was mutually beneficial."
Self-interest. Here at last was a human trait he could relate to at some level.
"We intend to pay thee for thy services."
Avenger's dark eyebrows raised in surprise. He couldn't think of anything that they could pay him that he would value. The ninjas of the Way of the Scorpion that were up for hire would probably be paid off with gold or jewels. That would be useful if he was going to be travelling. He felt a stab of shame for even considering it, but shook it off with thoughts that the Elusians, unadorned as they were, probably didn't have that in mind anyway.
"Art thou interested?" Taen pressed insistently.
"You don't waste much time, do you?" Avenger replied.
"We hath none to waste," Taen said, suddenly grim-faced. "Dierdra be dying."
Avenger sat up, crossing his legs. "I'm listening."
"First, watch the Ruis," instructed Taen, then nodded to Nathaniel. The silver-haired Elusian stepped up before the ninja and cupped his slender hands. The bright globe slipped between them. As Avenger watched, a moving picture began to form where before, bolts of purple-blue lightning danced.
The image of an Elusian in a white dress and bodice appeared, curvy and golden-haired, obviously female, with the same backlit glow of the others. There was an etherealness about her that instantly engendered in the ninja a noticeable urge to touch the Ruis Ball. Avenger looked to Taen.
"Dierdra," the dark-haired Elusian supplied. "Mine betrothed. Watch closely," he commanded with an insistent gesture toward the globe.
Dierdra knelt at the bank of a stream that appeared to cut through the grassy plain. Lying on its side in one of her tiny hands was a hummingbird. It's head sagged as it gamely sipped water Dierdra had scooped into her other palm. With the Ruis barely visible at her shoulder in the daylight, Dierdra touched her finger to the bird's diminutive, iridescent breast. Sparks flew, and Avenger thought she had killed the thing. But the creature, more butterfly than bird, sprang up, and its wings began to beat so swiftly they to blurred.
"Dierdra heals animals. That be her gift. As herbs art Nathaniel's," Taen explained.
Avenger's eyes remained on the Ruis. In the globe, a smiling Dierdra tossed the rejuvenated hummingbird into the sky, and it flew away. The Elusian pulled herself up to her bare feet and turned away from the creek.
Four creatures sat above her on horseback.
"Human males," supplied Taen, noting the ninja's interest.
The ninja sighed, rolling his eyes. "I know my kind when I see them…"
The men were obviously impressed with Dierdra, their stares entranced, covetous. Dierdra blanched, flabbergasted by their unexpected and unwanted presence. Diaphanous wings sprang from between her shoulder blades. She had cleared the bank when a fine net dropped upon her. It's weight knocked the Elusian to the ground. Two of the men slid from their horses and reached for her, to secure the net and simply to touch. The two still on horseback closed in on either side and waited.
The men's hands fell upon the two-foot Elusian crouched under the net. Dierdra's mouth opened in a shriek, though the image in the Ruis was silent. Two bolts of blue-edged lightning shot from Dierdra's body. The twin flashes slammed into the chests of the men who'd touched her, tearing gaping, black-rimmed holes in each and tossing them high into the air.
Their comrades on horseback looked stunned but unafraid. One had vivid green eyes, and shoulder length brown hair. Lashed behind him on his horse was another human, his hands and feet bound. The other horseman was small and wiry with slanted eyes. They pulled their horses back just slightly. The green-eyed one waved and pointed toward Dierdra. Abruptly, a number of oddly coloured creatures, much taller than the humans, streamed into the Ruis's field of vision for the first time and rushed the netted Elusian.
"Ogres," Taen supplied.
"Why doesn't she stand and use the lightning bolt again?" demanded Avenger as Dierdra collapsed under the net.
"Dierdra didst not do it intentionally the first time. The electrical bolt is our involuntary response to contact with humans and others like them…"
"Excuse me, but I'm human…" Avenger broke in.
"Ah, but thou art a magical being also. Dost thou not know how to cast spells…? To extinguish the light and produce a flame in thy hand?"
Avenger cocked his head slightly. How do they know that…? "Well, so what if I can...?"
Taen had already moved on. "Thou art human, and yet not like them. Humans cannot help but touch Elusians when they see us, and we canst not help but harm them when they do. The contact with them so drained Dierdra's energy that she fell unconscious herself."
Avenger remembered the tingling he'd felt whenever coming into contact with the Elusians. Shuddering, he glanced back at the Ruis, where a large drawstring sack of rough weave was being lowered over Dierdra. The Elusian was carefully hoisted up by the strings of the sack. With that, the green-eyed horseman put two fingers in his mouth, blew, and the entourage set off toward the south, horsemen in the lead. One ogre carrying the sack at arms length. The picture in the globe then blurred to the usual yellow.
Watching his daughter's kidnapping in the globe had etched deep worry lines in the elder Elusian's face, and determination into Taen's eyes. "We hadst heard that humans, ogres, and e'en red dragons wert rising up in the region but we didst not realise that they hadst encroached so far into our forests." Taen sighed raggedly. "Hadst we known, we wouldst not have left Dierdra even for the few moments it took to gather berries and water for the morning meal."
"I don't understand," Avenger spoke up. "Why did the picture stop?"
Taen shrugged. "The Ruis Ball is not sentient. Dierdra was unconscious, and it hadst no direction. Nor didst we. Nathaniel and I searched for Dierdra all that day. Finally, when darkness fell, we sighted her Ruis glowing across a field where she hadst been kidnapped. It was several more days before we realised that the Ruis had recorded her capture."
Taen could see that the ninja found the Ruis's ability to project moving images fascinating but had not been convinced to help them.
"We do not ask thee to rescue Dierdra simply because she be Nathaniel's daughter and mine betrothed." Taen paused, as if he too were just fully understanding the impact of what he was about to say. "We art the last of our kind. Without Dierdra, Elusians wilt die off entirely."
"Why don't you use the Ruis to find her and rescue her yourselves?"
Nathaniel coloured noticeably at that question, but remained characteristically silent as always.
"We knoweth where she be held." Taen struggled with the words to explain to the ninja. "Dierdra sends … feelings, for lack of a better word, to Nathaniel. Those feelings led us to a village in the North." His brow furrowed. "When I was sleeping, he slipped into town to free her."
"What went wrong?"
Knowing that the subject was painful to Nathaniel, Taen searched for gentle words. "In his desperation to free his daughter, Nathaniel walked into the human settlement unmasked. Thou canst guess, from seeing Dierdra's capture the impact Nathaniel's presence hadst on the humans there. When I realised where he hadst gone, I covered mineself with clothing I borrowed from a farmer's wash line. I managed to find him, but not before he too had been rendered unconscious. That energy drain, as well as the sadness over losing Dierdra hath brought on his muteness."
Taen saw the ninja's disgust at their ineffectual attempt at rescue. "We art neither warriors nor mages, nor art we physically strong. Thou art all of these things."
Avenger stood to his full height momentarily, stretching his stiff muscles and ignoring the stinging pain of fresh wounds before resettling before the fire. "Let's assume that I'm interested in rescuing Dierdra," he mused, watching the Elusians through heavy-lidded eyes. "What could you possibly possess that would I would value as payment?"
"We canst give thee something that will grant thee unparalleled wisdom and strength."
Avenger's eyebrows lifted in undisguised interest. Taen had to be talking about a powerful artefact. The Ruis ball maybe? Its powers were certainly impressive, and how many ninja had something like that at their disposal?
"We canst teach thee the discipline of qhen."
Avenger blinked in disbelief before he realised his face must look ridiculous and quickly altered his expression to as close to neutral as he could manage. "You think a tiny creature made extinct by humans has anything to teach a member of the most feared group of the same in all of Ansuz?"
"It be true that Elusians art on the brink of extinction because of humans. They kill us or wouldst display us as possessions because what they do not ken frightens and intrigues them. Yet those art the very reasons that the ninja have all but vanished too."
Avenger's spine suddenly went rigid and he stood up, leaning over and giving the Elusian an indignant poke in the chest. "We haven't… 'nearly vanished'. After the Great War of the noble clans, our god ordered our sect to go away and…" His voice trailed off weakly, and Avenger felt foolish as he realised how slim the dividing line between disappearing completely and being banished really was. Curling his lip, he frowned at his thoughts. He did not like to feel foolish.
Through his angry musings, Avenger became aware of the Elusian's innocent, expectant stare: that did nothing to pacify him. "What has this got to do with payment for retrieving this missing female of yours?" he snapped peevishly. Leering down at the slight creature, he took some satisfaction in the feeling of power his size alone bestowed.
Taen, however, was not intimidated. "Nothing – and everything - when thou art truly qhen." But the Elusian could see that he was quickly losing the young man's attention to wounded pride and mounting frustration. "Thou couldst use qhen to assume different body shapes."
This time, Avenger's eyebrows lifted with cynical curiosity. He had been learning his first spells, those that extinguish light and create flame when he was a small child. But shapechanging? That was a difficult and highly unusual skill. Perfect to be the first in a long line of newly acquired skills I can display when I return to this island after my travels.
The ninja donned a mask of indifference, but the fact he sat down again indicated his interest. "What makes you think I don't already know this skill?"
Taen's slight shoulders lifted in a shrug. "Thou wouldst have done so to escape the pit."
Avenger inwardly cursed the Elusian's faultless logic. Still, he gave the creature a sceptical glance. "Give me some proof of your own ability to shapechange," he challenged. "Change into a-.." He looked around the field and spotted a creature even smaller than the Elusians on a distant cottonwood tree. "Change into a sparrow."
"I canst not," Taen replied simply.
"You propose to instruct me in something that you have no knowledge of yourself?" Avenger stood again, looking around for the best direction in which to depart for the coast. "Obviously you've wasted my time, so I'll be go-…"
"Male Elusians art the teachers of the race. We art not magical creatures, like thee," Taen cut in, his voice still calm and composed. "Only the females of our kind art magical. Only Dierdra."
Avenger did not take a step, but his gold gaze remained on the distant temple. "But what about that Ruis ball? You use that."
"Only on a rudimentary level," Taen admitted. "It be like having a sword capable of slaying an entire clan of storm giants with one stroke, yet only having the strength of arm to peel apples with it."
Avenger was satisfied with the explanation. If the Elusian spoke truthfully and could give him the ability to alter shape at will his power would be unequalled, even amongst ninja. Besides, if the lessons proved to be a ruse or a bore, he could leave at any time.
Still, he had questions. Keeping his broad back to Taen, he asked, "If Dierdra's so magical and you've taught her to shapechange, then why doesn't she do so and free herself?"
Nathaniel hung his head sadly. Taen's lips pursed together into a pale, thin line. "She canst not employ her skills to escape because the Ruis ball be the source of her magic, and she doth not possess it. I fear even if she didst, she hath no longer the physical or spiritual energy to use it. Her captors hath kept her covered to prevent the compulsion to touch her. Dierdra hath not felt sunlight for too long. She be despondent…"
"This qhen thing," Avenger mumbled, turning around at last, "Will it take long to learn?"
Taen and Nathaniel exchanged hopeful glances. "That be entirely dependent upon thine ability to learn."
Avenger smirked. "If that is so," he said, "Then we'll be on our way before two moons rise." With that, he settled before the fire again for a good night's sleep under twinkling stars and twin moons.
The Elusians sealed themselves within their green pods to protect against predators. In their silent, moonlightless berths, they, too, looked forward to a good night's sleep, their first since Dierdra's disappearance.