Book III
Chapter Twenty-Four
FESTERMOON, AGAIN
Na’la was asleep, at last.
It was a sleep she’d waited for, for six long moons.
Six moons of nothing.
Six long moons of no emotion.
No joy.
No sorrow.
No stimulation.
And now, she dreamt, and all that pressure came flooding back into her.
She only slept from dusk to midnight, when she screamed herself awake.
The wretched dream had gone in real time.
* * * * / * * * *
to tell you of beginnnnnnings…
you mmmust first…
be shownnnn…
the FESTERMMMMMOOONNNNN—!
red
nnno clouds
sunnnnnn
annnnnd all the girls
beside himmmmm
take the mmmmmany nnnnnames of
death
thirsty roots starve
desire is finnnnally dead
do it
take vennnngeance
call it mmmmercy
do whatever it is you mmmmust but
DO
IT
NOW
NOW
NNNNNA’LA
KILL HIMMMM
NNNNNOW
SEVER
SEVER
SEVER AND SAVE
…thennnnn…
“No,” Na’la muttered in her sleep, whimpering.
nnnno mmmmmore tears.
nonnnne left.
too dry.
too red.
nnnnno clouds.
big, old sunnnnn,
behinnnnnd
the thinnnnn, old sonnn.
Kaye
Knnnneels,
hannnnds and nnnnneck stuck
innnnn the cradle
of a gibbet.
are you still watchinnnnng?
have you had ennnnnough yet?
you ride innnnnside Ba’ku’ra’s skin.
his withered hannnnnnnnnd.
his hateful grinnnnn.
“Forgive me,” he’ll tell to you,
but that’s nnnnnot ’til after it’s donnnnne.
he takes the formmmmm.
he mmmmmorphs.
he grows.
becommmmmes
The Soul Eater.
he bites,
and he pulls, yanking,
yanking, yanking, againnnnn, until
his prey’s head commmmes aw—
* * * * / * * * *
Na’la’s eyes shrieked open.
She launched bolt upright in the bed, breathing heavily.
Both her hands had clasped her mouth, which was just the Soul Eater’s maw. She was trying to hold the maw shut.
She was alone, but the cramped sleeping chamber she found herself in had eight other empty beds. It was the middle of the night, which meant that orcs and goblins were in the noon of their waking hours. Only Na’la was still sleeping, and she had no idea where she was.
She whimpered, too shocked even to weep, as the sensations of the vision tumbled over her.
Her eyes were so wide, they trembled.
The room she woke up in was not in the pyramid.
The room had a wooden roof, with crisscrossing beams all over. Not the stone egg she’d been trapped in.
The walls were brick, and the floor was hardwooden.
An arched wooden entranceway seemed fit for a door, but a curtain hung there instead. A black curtain.
When she’d gone into the Mag’luh Cage, perhaps a year ago, they’d taken the moonthread robe her Gran had made for her.
Her rage made her think of Ba’ku’ra, which made her think of her dream again.
Many, many years ago now, she had called it a tangle. This intrusive vision, where she was Ba’ku’ra, at this specific point in his horrible future.
you cannnnn stop himmmm, U’gru hummed within her.
Na’la’s lips quavered behind her shaking palms.
only you, said the goddess.
Na’la shook her head. I… can’t. I can’t kill him. I can’t do it.
‘twould be a mmmmmercy, nnnnna’la.
She knew. She knew that. Really, she did.
But she also knew herself.
Deciding to be strong, Na’la clenched her teeth against her tusks, and tried to stop her lips from shaking. She dropped her hands, threw herself back onto her bed, and laid on her side.
She gripped the pillow, and forced her eyes shut, shutting out her inner visions, her humming goddess, her everything. Part of her wished she could be numb again.
A small part of her.
That was the thought that broke Na’la’s strength.
She knew that wasn’t true.
She never wanted to feel like that again.
She just didn’t want to feel this, either.
The goddess hummed, shhh shhh shhh…
…mmm mmm mmm…
Just a dream, Na’la thought to herself.
mmm… hummed the goddess. yes… get sommmme rest.
She knew it wasn’t true, but her heart was exhausted.
She stifled her near-silent sobs, and the goddess of death rocked her back into a dark, quiet, restful sleep.
* * * * / * * * *
Book III
Chapter Twenty-Five
LEFT HAND of a KING
When Na’la woke again, all she felt was tired.
It was dusk the next day. She’d slept nearly two full nights, without stopping, but the restfulness had not quite made its way to her yet.
About half the beds were filled now. Nal’kuth’ra was making her bed, Pa’ka was still sleeping soundly, and it seemed like he…
Na’la rubbed her eyes a few more times, and looked again.
Pa’ka was holding Rowan. Her head was against his chest, and they both heaved in an almost-unison, peacefully sleeping. Rowan’s left hand was entwined with Pa’ka’s right.
Brun, fully dressed, bed made, sat on his bed and stared out the window.
When he heard Rowan rustle, he smiled so wide, he looked like he could burst.
“Hello!” said Brun, brimming with energy. “How’d you sleep? I thought tonight, we could get you some new clothes… I can show you around Goblintown, and… Everyone here knows you!”
Na’la rubbed her eyes, and pushed herself up. “What? How?”
“Well,” smiled Brun, “we’ve been telling everyone stories about you.”
“We?” she said.
Nal’kuth’ra nodded. “All of us. But mostly Brun.”
Nal’kuth’ra looked sad, serious. She spread the blanket over the bed with a billow, aiming the fabric as it fell. Then, when it landed, she smoothed it with a sad hand, lingering on the edges.
“All kinds of stories,” said Brun. “About how you can teleport, through shadows. About how…About all kinds of things. All your… powers. About all those times you saved us, all of us!” Brun beamed. “You remember that big storm? At the very edge of the desert, that sand storm? With the face of an old goblin wizard? And then you, uh… I’m not even sure what you did!”
Brun laughed.
“But you did something, you like… touched the storm, and then it just… broke. It just stopped. And then all was peaceful. That story gets thrown around a lot. And— …What?”
Na’la was smiling at him.
Brun cheesed, chuckling, flustered.
“What is it!”
“Nothing!” Na’la said. “Nothing, I just… No one’s ever told a story about me before.”
Brun made a funny face then, almost a judgemental face.
“That’s not true,” said Brun.
Na’la rubbed her eyes, not sure of how to respond to that.
“I first heard your name,” said Brun, “from a story the Emperor told.”
“…The Emperor? Oh.” Na’la put it together. “You mean Ba’ku’ra.”
Brun nodded, grinning. “He said you once stopped a shapeshifter from killing him! Said you sliced it to ribbons.”
Na’la thought of Blinker.
She missed home.
That moment still haunted her.
Brun kept going. “He said you… Actually, he said that you fought once. When you were very young.”
Na’la nodded, touching the scar on her neck. “That’s true.”
“And that you won,” said Brun.
Na’la looked at him. Brun was so happy to see her, but now, Na’la spun down and down, through the memories of her life.
“No easy feat!” said Brun. “In fact, I… heh, don’t judge me for this, but… at first, I didn’t believe him. I didn’t see how anyone could beat a… I don’t even know what to call the Emperor, honestly. How could someone beat the… Messiah of Fire?”
He shook his head softly.
“But now,” he marveled, “I can see it. Everyone can.”
* * * * / * * * *
Nal’kuth’ra was hasty to leave.
“Nal’kuth’ra!” said Na’la. “Where are…? Are you okay?”
Nal’kuth’ra smiled as she shook her head, like it was some kind of joke.
“Ul’druk is missing,” she said. “We searched the pyramid, but…”
“Missing?” said Na’la.
The goblin nodded. “Taken. In the middle of a crowd, just… taken.”
“That’s horrible.”
Nal’kuth’ra nodded. “But I remember their faces. And we got one of them. The apes, that took him?”
Na’la winced, but nodded.
The look in her friend’s eyes frightened her.
“What are you going to do?” asked Na’la.
Nal’kuth’ra looked her in the eyes.
“I’m gonna find out where he is.”
Then, the goblin opened the door of this cramped curiosity shop.
As the door swung open, the sounds of the city flooded in.
Without the sound of rain, the conversations and footsteps were what made it into Keeper’s Wand Shop.
Then, Nal’kuth’ra waved.
“Bye, Na’la. See you soon.”
Na’la waved back. “See you soon.”
She shut the door, and the shop was quiet again.
“Ready?” said Brun. He was grinning, with the sword at his hip, and the shield slung over his back.
“Are we gonna fight anyone?” Na’la said.
Brun made a face. “No. Not at all. Wh…? Oh, these? They’re sort of my… uh, my symbol. The sword and the shield!”
Brun gave a laugh, but she could see that he was embarrassed to say it out loud.
Na’la gave him a smile, though. “That makes sense. King Brun, right?”
Brun smiled. “Not yet. Tha’seng said there still needs to be a coronation, but…”
“Who said that? Sorry, I missed it.”
“Oh. Tha’seng. Tha… seng ; he’s a tailor. Goblin tailor.”
Na’la nodded.
“You’ll meet him today. I figured that an archmage might need a new cloak!”
“Oh?” chuckled Na’la. “You know one? I’m not even sure I know what an archmage is.”
“It… is a title,” said Brun. “In the Kingdom of Old Gudd’rj, the archmage was the highest sorcerer in the court of the King.”
Na’la tongued her tusk.
“What do you say?” said Brun. “You’d be one of my generals. My closest advisor. My left hand.”
Na’la didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to say yes. She didn’t want to say no. She just wanted to go back to sleep, and never wake up.
“You don’t have to answer now!” Brun said. “I… I didn’t even mean to… Tha’seng said to, to wait, to wait until you’ve had your… until the ground is under you. And the coronation night comes, and… And then you’ll see, you’ll see it. You’ll see what we’re gonna make of this world. You don’t have to answer right now.”
Na’la nodded. “Okay.”
“Come on,” Brun said, trying to brighten the mood. He sidled past her, careful not to knock anything over with his shield or is sword in the cramped wand shop. “Let’s go. There’s so much to see! So many people to meet!”
* * * * / * * * *
Book III
Chapter Twenty-Six
WHERE she WISHED to BE
Before taking her to the tailor’s shop, Brun brought Na’la to the Chandler’s Court.
It had only been two nights since the Lich’s defeat, but already, the city had begun its many metamorphoses.
The nights were clear, and a new past-time had erupted all over town : stargazing.
Singers began to name the shapes they found.
Map makers began to pen star charts.
After centuries of rain, the petrichor smell would never go away. Not until a drought came, and that was decades away.
Nearly all the humans in the city had either evacuated, or holed up in their homes. The one exception to this was the addicts who milled about Goblintown, shambling for work on the docks, or huddling in clumps to numb away the horrors.
Even the addicts were in good spirits, though. Some must not’ve known how much danger they were in, being human in the city-once-named-Ne’jum.
Na’la gaped as they walked.
Goblintown was dense with life. Shouting. Smiling. So many people waved down Brun, and nearly everywhere they went, people cheered for him.
She studied Brun in these moments. He looked genuinely happy.
“They love you,” said Na’la.
He looked at her.
“The people love you.”
A bashful grin got on his face. “I just lucked out. All of this is Tha’seng, really. That’s the main thing I’ve learned.”
“It’s not Tha’seng that baker waved down,” Na’la said. She smiled. She liked to see him happy. It helped her forget about his proposition. So much responsibility. And for what? What was the point?
And just like that, her smile faded, and died.
“What’s wrong?” said Brun.
Na’la shook her head. “Nothing,” she lied. “Where to next?”
* * * * / * * * *
They stepped into the Chandler’s Court, and the fullness of the rebellion was made clear to Na’la.
This wasn’t just a small band of fighters, trying to defeat an impossible foe.
The entire district of Goblintown had been mobilised. She saw it here, inside of a gigantic warehouse, at the heart of the city.
All of the stores that were friendly to humans were at the very front of the market. Even these were doing illicit activities in the eyes of the Lich…
The cloak shops made flags for the sword and the shield.
Potion shops sold sling belts and powder bags, but also darts and dart blowers. There was violence in the air, and (though there were no humans left) the merchants had readied their best cutting glares.
They went deeper, into the court.
Brun led Na’la into a wide tent, that acted as a gatehouse. There was nothing significant in the tent ; just obstacles. Furniture, mostly. And sheets. Sheets draped over the furniture… Over paintings… Draped from the ceiling of the tent, as if it were for sale, though no seller was here. The floor was covered in clothes and toys and carvings and cooking bowls… It was incredible tedious to get through.
On the other side, the wide courtyards of the blacksmith and the warg-tamer had been repurposed for sword-and-shield training.
Half-a-hundred young fighters sparred in the yards.
“Don’t have many teachers yet,” said Brun. “They need a lot of work. But I’ve told them : train as I trained! To fight with a shield, you must p—”
“Pick up a shield!” one of the youths said, completing Brun’s sentence. The voice drew the attention of all who were training.
“Brun!” shouted a young goblin man.
“King Brun!” shouted a goblin woman, perhaps early thirties.
Then, the whole district was roaring, and clapping. A song started to be sung.
They coaxed him to spar, and (grinning) he obliged them.
As he unlatched his shield, the crowd roared in excitement.
His sword sung from its sheath, and he dropped into a stance.
Na’la smiled. Brun was in his element.
He sparred with a student, and Na’la noted that the blades were real, which meant that the blood would be, too.
He easily bested them, and immediately moved on to another challenger.
It went on like that for a long while. At one point, Na’la wandered off, leaving Brun to his glory.
* * * * / * * * *
She wasn’t sure where she was going, but she wanted to get out of this place.
Grateful that it was night, and that everyone’s eyes were elsewhere, Na’la slipped into the shadow, and appeared outside of the warehouse.
The night was beautiful.
Clear.
But she missed home.
The purple trees.
The golden apples.
Golden cherries, too.
She missed Gran, and Mama, and Blinker, and Aunt Kaj’rj.
She wondered how they were…
And…
Why not? she thought. Easy as skipping a shadow.
Na’la disappeared again, and the night took her westward, west and west and west, and spilled her where she wished to be.
hommmme.
* * * * / * * * *
Link to Orcish-English Dictionary
Wanna hear the music of NALA SAGA?
* * * * / * * * *
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.