Page 61 of Taken to Lemora
“You were misinformed. There’s no human with the Egama. There are only two Egama warriors and they’re in…they’re in a bad state. I’ve never seen anything like it. The ship they arrived in has clearly been tampered with. Their route tracks away from Kor, but oversixtysolars ago, and that’s the last location registered.”
“They lost their flight data?” I frown, but Merquin’s already shaking her horns.
“Nob. It seems like they haven’t stopped since then. They haven’t docked.”
“They haven’t docked? Is that even possible? What about stores? Food? Water?”
“Exactly. They’re severely dehydrated and malnourished. I’ve never seen an Egama look in such a bad state. They’re hardly coherent. They had to be carried off of their ship, Raingar and worse…”
Her voice, which had been steadily rising with a panic I’ve never heard Merquin betray before, drops all at once. She steps towards me and grabs my shoulder, guiding me into the keep. Against one stone wall, she turns towards me and whispers, “They’ve beentortured.”
“Tortured!” I shriek.
“Shh!” She hisses, “I don’t want to start a panic. But I need you to return to your keepnowand pass by Reyna and Tana’s keeps along your way. Gather the healers. All the healers. They will need to work together on this. We aren’t prepared for Egama’s in such a state. I’m not even sure about their anatomies… It’s…”
“Tortured how?”
“Burns, cuts, bruises, broken bones. One of them is missing all but three of her fingers, the other is missing both ears.”
“FINGERS? EARS!”
“Shh! Get the healers. Meanwhile, I will reach out to the Council of Egama Warriors and explain to them what happened. We can’t have it circulating that these Egama were harmed in such a monstrous way on Lemoran soil. The Council will want to come collect their warriors, too, I’m sure, and we need to prepare something special for this delegation as a show of our support.
“Afterward, I’ll need you to contact Rhorkanterannu of Kor and see if his pirates have any logs detailing what could have happened to the Egama within Kor or after they left it. My guess is that all of their injuries occurred after they left Kor’s soil, but we need to be sure. It’s not like Rhorkanterannu to let something like this happen in his territory without his knowing and if it did, he will want to know to make an example of the guilty parties.”
“If? You think they were injured in the skies? That they tortured one another?” I scoff, throwing out my arms.
“SHH!” Her spittle flies all over my face and I don’t give an ohr. Not when my three hearts are pounding like this, making me think that I should already be back on my pad pad and returning to Essmira. Nob, Merquin assigned me tasks and I need to fulfill them. Yeffa.
Nob. Nob, nob, nob. Go back to Essmira.
I shake my head, trying to focus. “Can’t you ask the Egama what happened to them?”
Merquin grimaces, her cheeks clenching beneath her eyes, striated in purple colors. Heat flares from her skin and her grip on my arm becomes punishing. “Their tongues were cut out and the translators they wear behind their ears were cut out, too, and not cleanly. They’ve lost a lot of blood and desperately need our assistance.”
I firm, steeling myself as the skies start to open. Ohr. What an ohring event. Lemora is a peaceful place, not known for violence. Our Niahhorru enabled shields cost us a pretty pouch of kintarr, but it was worth it. We are rarely attacked and haven’t seen combat or violence on these grounds since the Lemoran clan wars of rotations long past. So long ago, they’re more like fables in our history that teach small children about the importance of being accepting and good and noble.
We don’t have creatures that cut the tongues out of other creatures. This horror is something we’ve never even heard of.
“My miriga and I will return as soon as we’re able. She might be able to provide assistance — comfort, at the very least for the Egama.”
Merquin blinks at me, surprised. A small smile flits across her face before her earlier resolve returns. “Good. Thank you, Raingar. Your and your miriga’s help will be most welcome.”
As I turn to clumsily chase after the Asgid leading my pad pad to the stables, she calls at my back, “You know, we may make a half-decent clan chief out of you yet!”
“Pagh!”
The rain starts to truly come down on my journey from Reyna’s to Tana’s keeps. My pad pad slows, but not considerably, and I’m undeterred, determined to be back to my mate quickly. Like Merquin, Tana’s keep is surrounded by water though, unlike Merquin, not on all sides. It’s more like a lake that I have to go around or cross with one of those infernal floating contraptions.
It takes a little extra time and when I make it around, I find the doors open to me. I find it strange that they are. Stranger yet is that there are actually creatures on the walls at the lookout posts that I have not seen occupiedever, not by Tana or by the chief who came before her, or the one that came before that.
I’m spotted and one of the Lemoran females atop the walls turns around and shrieks, “He’s here! Raingar is here!” Feet squishing through mud is the sound I hear next before I see Tana herself emerge, a small fleet of Lemoran behind her.
And they’rearmed.
“Raingar! Thank the stars! Come quickly!”
“What’s happened?” My voice strangles on notes of distress. I’m not used to seeing my clans folk upset and I don’t like it. I don’t ohring like it one bit.
