Page 9 of Darik's Quest

“Welcome to my encampment.” The high chief picked up a goblet and drank deeply. “Come, sit at my table and dine with me. I would know more of your story for I tell you frankly, I know of no ‘northern clan’ and certainly not one which counts men like you among its members.”

“Yet we exist,” Darik said, moving to take a seat in a chair which was hastily brought in by a servant. “Do you doubt I am Badari?”

Th chief poured him a serving of whatever the beverage was and handed him the goblet. “I have no reason to doubt your tale but clearly there’s more to it and I’m most curious.” He directed his attention to the soldiers, who were waiting at the entrance. “You may go. The warrior and I will be fine as we break bread and talk.”

They won’t go far, Darik thought as he watched the men file out of the tent. Taking the goblet, he sniffed. A fruit-based wine, he guessed. His Badari Warriors didn’t drink anything alcoholic under strict orders from Aydarr. The long-term effects of imbibing were deadly for his kind. But in the here and now Darik figured he’d have to break the rule. He didn’t need to insult his host. Raising the glass he said, “To the Great Mother, who watches over us all.”

The chief clinked cups with him and both men drank. Wiping his lips, his host said, “So you’re traveled a long way to join us here?”

More than you’ll ever know. “According to the healer, I have yet many more miles to go,” Darik said, deflecting the question.

“You consulted Imgraye?”

“She was most helpful.” Darik’s mouth was watering at the array of foods the servers were carrying in, with several platters of roasted meat as the focus and bowls of stewed and steamed vegetables as side dishes. There was crusty bread as well, fresh from the oven, and as the chief served himself, Darik broke off a hunk of the bread and spread butter and jam across the surface. Javon carved several massive slices of the roast and placed them on Darik’s plate.

“We Badari are known four our hearty appetites,” the chief said. “And a man such as you must eat double the amount to satisfy his needs.”

“I was hungry,” Darik admitted. “I appreciate the hospitality.”

“What brings you here and what help did Imgraye provide?” Javon gave Darik a sideways glance. “The price of your dinner is information. I’m not as suspicious as my men—I believe your claim the Great Mother sent you on a quest, for that’s exactly the kind of thing she would do—but I need to know more.”

Having already told his story once to the old healer, Darik recounted it again to the chief. Javon paid close attention, sipping his wine and making serious inroads on the dinner as he listened. Darik hated having to unpack his personal tragedy for strangers twice in one day but talking to Javon was like being with his own Alpha in a way. At Javon’s request, he got out the map Imgraye had drawn for him and the two men pored over it, shoving the dishes aside. Javon called for a set of his own maps, which a soldier brought at a run and then added details to the original.

“What she gave you would get you there, but it’s best to have as much information as you can gather,” Javon said when the topic was thoroughly thrashed out and Darik rerolled his map.

“Thank you for the help. I’m under a time requirement from the Great Mother as well,” Darik said. “I might have had to do serious backtracking without your intel on the best place to ford the river and the safest pass to take through the mountains.”

“Imgraye is good and has traveled widely but she’s not a soldier,” the chief said, pouring himself more wine. Darik declined a refill. His head was spinning a bit and friendly as the chief had been so far, this wasn’t an ideal situation in which to overindulge. Not used to drinking, he wasn’t sure how much the wine would affect him. It was a relief to know his body was busy breaking down the compounds already. Sitting in a deceptively leisurely pose, Javon fixed his gaze on Darik and asked, “What do you know about the lights in the sky?”

Fork already on the way to his mouth with a portion of roast, Darik chewed and swallowed. He suspected this was the core of the chief’s desire to dine with him. “I hadn’t heard about those.”

“Strange lights, seen over remote villages and by hunters. Tales of travelers disappearing from their tents, never to be seen again. The latest word is of an entire settlement found empty by traders come to sell at their monthly fair. No sign of any living thing but starving pets. Even several recent graves were dug up and emptied. Men, women, children, all gone with no slightest clue left.”

Darik knew the Shemdylann pirates had assisted the Khagrish in studying the planet’s people before they were all kidnapped and the planet destroyed but he had no idea how long the early phase of the invasion had gone on. The Khagrish worked on a long timeline. “Sounds ominous,” he said, although he longed to tell Javon exactly what was going on. The knowledge would do the man and his people no good. Spears and swords against high tech blasters and other weapons were going to be of no avail. He couldn’t even counsel the Badari to hide because the planet itself was going to be blasted by the end of the atrocities, leaving no one alive. “Trust in the Great Mother,” Darik said, for his packs’ healers had told of how she pledged the Afterlife to all the Badari who were going to perish at the hands of the alien enemies. One of his brothers had even met some of the ancestors in a vision and seen for himself how the goddess had honored her word. “And…fight, as hard as you can, for as long as you can,” he added.

Javon stared at him. “Foreboding words, stranger. I think you know a great deal more than you share with me.”

Darik toyed with his goblet, unable to meet the chief’s eyes. “It…I—I’m forbidden by the goddess to say more. Believe me, I’m not withholding anything which would help your cause. On my honor as a Badari.”

“Long ago I received a dire warning,” Javon said. “I fear the time is fast approaching when the events which were foretold to me will sweep us all up in the whirlwind.” He downed the dregs of his wine and set the goblet next to his plate with a thump. Rising to his feet, he said, “I think it best if you are on your way now, Darik of the North. I’d thought to offer you lodging for the night but I’m no longer so inclined. May the goddess grant you success in your quest.”

Darik rose to his feet, upset and grief stricken at the secrets he was holding. This gallant man and his people deserved a much better fate than the one which was coming. “Thank you for the dinner and for your help with the map.”

“Go out the rear of the adjoining tent,” the chief said. “Make your way out of the encampment and circle back to the road. Don’t linger. There are rumors and whispers about you flying through the gathering. Talk of ancient legends and curses. I don’t place any belief in them myself having broken bread with you at my own table but even I must admit there’s something not right about you and your tale of a northern clan which simply doesn’t exist. The goddess may or may not have sent you but your presence creates unease and unrest.”

Unable to refute anything the chief said, Darik watched in silence Javon left the tent. He gathered his spear and the sack and followed, finding the next, connected tent room already empty. There was an open flap at the rear as promised and he slipped outside. The single guard he passed dipped his spear and nodded without speaking. Heading for the tree line, Darik moved at full sprinting speed and reached the safety of the forest without there being any outcry behind him.

Once he’d circled the camp and made it to the trail, stretching endlessly before him in the moonlight, he took a drink of water, pivoted and stared at the gathering from the slight elevation where he stood. Part of him wished he could return to the high chief’s tent and reveal all the details. He’d gladly fight beside the man to save these people, but it was not possible. This was all in the long ago past and he was from the far future and couldn’t change a thing here. He was the result of what was going to happen and all he could do was take revenge centuries later on their behalf.

“I pledge to you,” he said into the night, “My brothers and I will avenge the wrong that is soon to be done to you. We won’t stop fighting until the blood debt has been paid. We’ll dedicate our lives to honoring your memory and living the best future we can, as you would have done, had you been left to flourish.”

When he got home to Ushandirr he was going to share every painful detail with his brothers and sisters of how he felt in this moment, staring at the doomed ancestors, and the promise he’d made for all of his Badari. He’d ask them to rededicate themselves to the war effort, not only for their own futures, but to avenge these good people.

Chapter Four

The passing of time held no meaning for Nicolle, sitting beside Darik’s bed in the hospital. Her focus was solely on him. Food was brought to her and she ate. People came and went, checking on her mate’s condition and chatting with her a little but her interest was only in Darik waking up which he showed no sign of doing. Dr. Garrison came and insisted Nicolle spend an hour outside in the hospital’s garden each day to get fresh air and sunshine. Under direct orders from Jamokan, she did so, running inside the second the hour was up.

On the second day, when there’d been no change at all in Darik, a meeting was held between Aydarr, Jamokan, Timtur, Dr. Garrison and herself and she’d agreed extremely reluctantly to allow the doctor to put him onto a life support system. Not the full set of services, because he was breathing and his heart was beating normally, if slowly, but to deliver nutrients and remove wastes and monitor all his systems.

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