The House of Stoon
The fields of sedge grass seemed endless. The distant horizon offered nothing new for the eye to see. It was just a dreary drawn-out continuation of the monotonous plains that they have been contending with ever since they left the house of Kray. Chiapos found himself longing to come across a tree again. Remembering how he was weary of the Tester and its relentless onslaught of timber, he wondered if all of Mallog’mor’ach was such an all or nothing place. It was either all trees or all grasses. Wasn't there some place where one could have a pleasant mixture of the two? It was all feast or famine that he had seen thus far.
For three whole days it was nothing but traversing these sedge grass prairies. He had not come upon any other homestead in this time. As the sun was getting ready to set in the west on the third day out, he asked Samarin why they had not come upon any other ranches. Samarin's response surprised him. "We will, eventually. We are still on Kray's property."
"But we have walked three entire days. We never stopped to rest except at night! And you are telling me that this land still belongs to Kray! No man should have so much land!" Chiapos blasted. They had walked the equivalent of all the land of a thousand Rainwaters and all of it belonged to just one man. Chiapos felt outraged.
"All the prairie men have about as much land as Kray. He was no bigger a landowner than the rest of them," Samarin answered. He was munching on a piece of waybread that served to remind Chiapos that the magic of Cenan's milk was still very strong in him. He had not desired any nourishment whatsoever in all of this time.
"They all own as much as this!" Chiapos cried. "All land like this?"
"If you mean do they all own land that is comprised solely of miles upon miles of sedge grasses, then you are correct. But do not worry we don't have to cross all of their properties. In a week's time, we will have cleared the prairie by taking the shortcut that I know."
"You mean a highwayman's path, don’t you? We would be robbed and beaten in the space of an hour!" Chiapos remarked sarcastically.
"Not as long as you have your Redeemer with you, we won't," Samarin replied nonchalantly. He added, "If we don't take this route, our journey to Tanejul would be lengthened by at least a month."
"A month?"
"A month of walking through lands that differ very little from what we have crossed today. I would venture to say that even a week of this kind of terrain would be enough to drive you mad from what I have witnessed of your temperament today. I would hate to think what a month would do to you."
"But your road sounds like it may be a dangerous one," Chiapos complained. "It would be rife with villainous, murderous sorts that would think nothing of quickly dispatching us to our fates."
"Monotony can kill too!" Samarin chortled. "You are on a Challenge, for land's sake! It is not supposed to be a casual stroll in the countryside. Besides, you are equipped with the most lethal weapon I have ever come across. No one is going to slit your throat as long as you have your Redeemer."
Samarin's arguments rang true to Chiapos and he wondered why he would even consider taking such a lame choice as wandering through dreadfully dull terrain for an entire face of the moon. "I guess you are right," he admitted. "We will take your road."
The highwayman grinned. "You won't be sorry, my friend. I guarantee you that you will find it exciting and invigorating and worth your while."
The next four days were anything but exciting and invigorating and worth Chiapos' while. The land was interminably flat and lacking in any interesting geological detail. It was flat. It was covered with prairie grasses. They came across only small rodents that lived in huge numbers. The small creatures had pocked the ground with thousands of burrows. Samarin explained that these were prairie dogs and their expansive living quarters were known as prairie dog towns. He said that they were quite tasty and with their plenitude in numbers, they would not have to worry about going hungry again. Chiapos reminded him that hunger was no longer a problem of his. Cenan's milk had taken away that need in him. This produced the comment from Samarin that perhaps Chiapos himself had evolved away from mortality and was now some ethereal creature such as an Aura himself. That made Chiapos laugh but made him secretly wonder if this was not true . All natural, earthborn creatures require sustenance and bodily evacuation whether they be meager earthworms or the giant blue whales that were said to swim along the coastal waters outside of the May Shores. He no longer required food. He was not part of the natural chain of events any more. What new kind of chain of events did he now belong to? Did Cenan know what she was doing when she fed him from her breast? Had she picked him out to be a champion for humanity over the blight of the Aura in Ascension? Only time would tell and time was going by slowly in these interminable prairies.
Samarin did feast on the prairie dogs. He killed dozens of them by simply running them down to their holes and placing burning grass at the portal of the burrow. Invariably the small, squirrel-like animals would appear at a nearby adjacent hole, where the highwayman would quickly snatch them up in his hand and snap their necks in one, swift, cruel movement. After eating his fill, he skinned the remainder of his kill and treated the meat to the smoke and some salts that he carried. Then he would store the animal away in his pouch for some future meal. Upon seeing this, Chiapos was rather glad that he was not part of the feeding world any longer.
On the seventh day after setting out from Kray’s, they came upon another homestead. "This would be Stoon's ranch," Samarin said. "It looks like there is nobody here either." The house was almost identical to Kray's, it was made of the same wood and stone and the same thatched roof.
"You didn't rob Stoon too, did you?" Chiapos asked, mockishly.
"Can't recall if I did or not," Samarin answered sacrosanctily. "I had been drinking quite heavily the last time I passed by this place. I remember that I was intending to take some things from here but that is all that I can remember."
"You drank so much that you can't remember?" Chiapos exclaimed. He had heard in the Challengelore about beverages that affected the behaviour of people. The Challengelore stated that it made these individuals act silly and sometimes violently and that if enough of this beverage was consumed, the person would end up in a stupor and sometimes even in death. He found it strange and exotic. There were no such beverages in Rainwater, the villagers had deemed that its importation would be an offence to the community and it was a strongly held taboo to which all Rainwatermen adhered. He had never seen anybody drunk nor had even known anybody to have been drunk. Samarin was the first. "What kind of beverage did you drink?"
"Ah, I had forgotten about the pious Rainwatermen and their obsessive need for sobriety!" Samarin scoffed. "If one of you ever tasted the fruit of the vine, you would rid yourself of this silly temperance rigor. It was wine that I drank, sweet delectable wine. It makes my mouth wet for its sublime taste even just speaking about it."
"If you have any of that wine with you, you can consider our partnership dissolved at once," Chiapos morally descended upon his companion. "Look what it has done to you! You can't even remember if you robbed a man or not! That is no way to conduct your affairs!"
"Some day I will watch you drink wine with me and you will make a toast to me, thanking me for your introduction to it. Stoon thanked me."
"Stoon?"
"The man that ran this homestead. Stoon had been a sober man all of his life until I came upon his home."
"To rob it," Chiapos added.
Samarin scowled. "I came here and had found Stoon near death at the side of his well. It was that year where the rains had failed for nigh on three months. I don't know if you remember that year or not."
Chiapos shook his head. The climatic conditions in Rainwater had been the same as long as he could recall.
"I didn't think you would. Your people are so sheltered from the rest of the reality in Mallog’mor’ach that you could hardly be considered its citizens," Samarin commented. His earlier prejudices against Rainwatermen were starting to rear up into the conversation again. It reinforced Chiapos' opinion that if it were not for the Redeemer Samarin would have done away with him way back in the Tester.
"At any rate, I found Stoon lying by his well. His lips were parched and his skin was withered and dry. He was dying of thirst. I gave him some of my wine to revive him and the next thing I knew I spent the next three days with him drinking my wine. He said that they were the best days of his life and that if he had a chance to live it over again he would certainly include wines and beers as part of his daily regimen. He was a kind, old man, different as night and day from that Kray."
"Did he have sons like Kray?" Chiapos asked.
"He had five of them. All of them were in Tanejul at the time I was visiting. According to Stoon they were all giving him grandsons on that occasion. So I never did get to meet any."
"I wonder if they are all dead too," Chiapos pondered as they got close to the house.
"I wouldn't doubt that. This Aura in Ascension of yours is a very evil spirit. For all we know we might be the last people alive in the world."
"Don't say that!" Chiapos said very angrily. Samarin had touched a soft spot in his hierarchy of superstitions. It frightened him to think that all of the people in Rainwater could be dead. "Don't you know that what one speaks can come true !"
"You might have to be prepared for that possibility," Samarin said somberly. "We haven't come across anybody living yet in our travels. That is very odd for in the olden days there was somebody always crossing my path."
"Keep your morbid thoughts to yourself. I firmly believe that all the people in my village are alive and well and waiting for my return." Chiapos spoke the words more to convince himself than to convince his counterpart. He entered Stoon's house without saying another word to Samarin.
Stoon’s home was as different as night from day from Kray’s. The dwelling had a light, airy feel to it. One could sense that this was the house of a cheerful, caring man. It was not a dark and oppressive homestead such as Kray’s. It was hard to believe that Stoon could live by the same tough principles as Kray. A man that could live in a house like this would not steal his children away from their mother. A man that could live in a house like this would be anxious to make it a home for his wife and his daughters. The eating table was ornately cut from sugarbush maple wood. It contained carved designs that Chiapos could recognize as symbols from the Challengelore. There was a lavish scene of a mammoth with his trunk ahoist amidst the forest guarding over a multitude of smaller woodland creatures that were scurrying about playfully under his care.
"The old man's father carved that fifty years ago," Samarin commented. "Stoon said that his father, Lak, was a very talented man with a love for creating pictures out of wood."
"It is quite amazing," Chiapos agreed. "I can't believe the detail that Lak, you said Lak right, went to in this table. You would almost think that it had to be made from some higher source."
"Given the knives and chisels that Lak had at his disposal, this is more than amazing, it is absolutely remarkable!" Samarin ran his fingers along the gouges that made up the tusks to the mammoth. Once again, Chiapos felt that his counterpart was thinking of stealing an artifact from these prairie homes. But the table probably weighed more than three men put together, there wouldn't be much chance Samarin could thieve it away.
There was a pit in the corner of the room that contained some charred logs. Behind the pit were rectangular stones piled alternately upon each other. These climbed up to the ceiling where a hole was cut out. Chiapos had never seen anything quite like it. "They have fires inside?"
Samarin nodded. "Nothing like an indoor fireplace. It is ideal for cooking and warmth, especially on the cold, cold winter days that they have out here."
"Aren't they afraid that they are going to burn down the place?"
"There is a chance of that and it does happen from time to time but with the proper ventilation and a careful eye, one need not be too afraid."
"But the roof to this house is of thatch - dried grasses! Nothing goes up as fast as thatch!" Chiapos could not believe that people would risk their lives by using an indoor fireplace. Back in Rainwater, all the cooking was done outside of the hut. Animal skin and an ample supply of grass were all that was needed to ford off the cold.
"The roof is treated with fire-resistant resins that the prairiemen procure from some far off place. Flames don't seem to last long on these roofs," Samarin explained. He was roaming about the house looking at the small, moveable objects. There were many. It appeared that Stoon's father, Lak, had a penchant for creating wooden statues of practically every kind of bird that existed. There were figurines of dozens of birds - ospreys, eagles, hawks, finches, sparrows, and woodcocks. The sight of the bevy of woodcocks put a shock to Chiapos. His thoughts immediately turned to Martok. That imp had been here, Chiapos could feel it. The thought gave him a cold, gloomy chill that dislodged any warmth that he felt earlier from the cozy surroundings of Stoon's home. "Don't take anything Samarin! I warn you! This place should be left as a shrine to the good men who lived here. Our visit is over."
"Don't worry, my friend. This place has been touched by evil. I don't want to have any part of it." Samarin concurred.
"You can sense it too?" Chiapos caught the woodcock figures in the periphery of his eyes. The stubby long-billed birds had always traditionally been held in high regard by his people. But now they had taken on an onerous disposition to him thanks to the Aura.
"We're not the first ones to visit Stoon's house," Samarin said, his hand reaching out to touch one of the little woodcock statues. "Your imp has been here and has destroyed the happiness that once resided in this dwelling." He lifted the statue and held it close to his eyes, his fingers running along the serrated grooves of Lak's carving. "This is such fine work, so delicate, so detailed. It is a shame that it has become corrupt."
"Corruption is too soft a word!" a feminine voice spoke from behind them. At once, Chiapos and Samarin turned and saw a waifish figure standing at the doorway. They could not see her face because of the glare of the sun that silhouetted her small, thin frame.
"Who are you?" Samarin asked in surprise.
"I might be asking the same question myself," the woman, the girl, replied. "This is the home of my grandfather and I don't recall either of you being members of my family." She stepped forward and became visible in the indoor light.
"You are Stoon's granddaughter?" Chiapos asked. He did not wholly trust the woman, he could see that she was a woman now. She was maybe a few years older than he was. Her hair was jet black and cut sharply at her shoulders. Her eyes were as black as her hair and they betrayed no inner secrets that she might harbour. The woman's nose and chin were pointed but not so much as to make her unattractive. To the contrary, Chiapos found her to be a sight for his sore eyes. Not since he had seen Straye had he come across anything so soothing to his sight.
"That I am, and proud of it!" the woman said with certainty. "I might introduce myself to you but when you are the intruders, I believe that the onus of identification first falls upon you." She was staring Chiapos directly in the eye. The look was strong enough to make him avert his towards Samarin.
"I don't recall Stoon having any granddaughters that would come out this far into the prairie. Only men live out here," Samarin said with suspicion.
"My grandfather invited me out here when he took ill two winters ago," the woman replied with a snap. "Now, who are you before I am forced to run you through!" She produced a jagged pike from behind her back. The expression she held on her face told Chiapos and the highwayman that this was not an idle threat.
"I am Chiapos from Rainwater. I am on my Challenge. This is my travelling companion, Samarin, and I assure you that we mean you no harm," he said, all the while feeling the contagion of Samarin's suspicion. Thus far he had encountered two people who were not who they claimed to be. There was no reason to believe that would be all that he would come across. Yet Martok could not assume the identity of everybody, could he?
"Samarin! I have heard your name before," the woman said, turning her gaze to the highwayman.
Samarin blushed momentarily. "You have heard it from your grandfather, no doubt."
"No, it was not him. I have heard your name back in Tanejul and I must say what I have heard about you is not too kindly." She held her knife a little closer towards the highwayman. "I have heard that you are a robber and a thief and that many a man has come to his final fate because of you." Her eyes were glowering.
"Then it is all lies that you have heard just as you are a liar yourself!" Samarin roared at the woman. "See this lady for who she is, Chiapos! She is your imp! Your Aura in Ascension!" He lunged at her, ignoring the knife, and bowled her over. "I've got her, Chiapos! I've got her!"
Instinctively, Chiapos produced the Redeemer and rushed to his partner's side. He felt a wave of ambivalence rush through him. He rationalized that she was indeed the Aura but his gut feeling did not seem to agree with this quick assessment.
"Come on, Chiapos, kill her before she grows too powerful!" Samarin held her by the neck. The woman's face was growing red from her struggle. She did not seem strong enough to overcome her opponent.
Chiapos held the Redeemer ready to make the blow. If this was the Aura, this would be the time to save the rest of the world from its demonic purpose. But, the Redeemer felt very heavy in his hands as if it did not want to comply with what he was asking of it to do. Was it telling him something?
Samarin’s eyes were popping as he continued throttling the newcomer. He was meeting with less and less resistance. The woman was weakened and could not put up any more struggle. She was not an incarnation of Martok. She was not the Aura in Ascension. Chiapos grew to realize.
"You are killing her! Let her go!" Chiapos bellowed. He thrust his foot forward onto Samarin's shoulder, knocking him over and off of the woman. "This is wrong, this is wrong!" Chiapos muttered, collapsing to his knees to try and help the woman.
She had slipped into unconsciousness. He had to do something to revive her. Without knowing exactly what to do, he started blowing into her mouth. Perhaps his breath would spark life back into her. Perhaps some of Cenan's magic could be transferred from him into her lungs to make her breathe again.
"What are you doing!" Samarin cried. "Don't you see who you are dealing with?"
"I see that I'm dealing with a brave, young woman who is on the edge of death because of your rash behaviour!" He blew into her mouth again and again but there was no response. If anything, the woman seemed to be weakening more and more and slipping into death's knell. If she died, Chiapos swore to himself that he would rip the flesh from the bones of Samarin's murderous body. How did he end up with such a brute as a companion? His whole Challenge had gone foul because of this amoral vagabond.
Then, there came the faint sound of a breath flittering from the woman's agape mouth. And then, there was a cough and more coughing. The woman's phlegm flew from her mouth like a spider casting its silk. "She needs water," Chiapos said to Samarin. "Find her some water!"
"There's no water here at the house," the woman rasped through a crackling, dry voice. "You'll have to go down to the brook on the other side of the barns.”
Chiapos held her head in his hands. He was wiping the hair from her eyes. "You heard her Samarin. Fetch her some water." When his eyes met his companion's, he could see that there was no remorse in them. If anything there was venom in them. Samarin was no friend, the only reason he was behaving friendly was out of fear for the Redeemer. If he were ever to lose his Wood of Faerie, Samarin would be upon him as fast as the rogue had turned onto this poor waifish woman on the wooden floor.
"I will get the water," Samarin growled, his eyes fiery from the seething boiling within him. "But you be careful, Chiapos. You may not know who you are dealing with but I do."
"Get the water!" Chiapos barked his command. He was not going to let the highwayman make him start to double guess his decision that this woman was not an imposter.
When Samarin left, he said to the woman, "You need not fear, I'm not a killer or a robber. And I swear that I will slay my companion if he ever even thinks of trying to do that to you again."
The woman smiled. "I have heard that Rainwatermen are true to their word and that they are friendly ambassadors from the west."
Chiapos smiled. "Those are the first kind words I have heard spoken of my people since I started this journey. It seems that everybody else holds us in low regard."
"Well, I don't. Recently I have met a woman from your village in Tanejul. Like you, she is on her Challenge." The woman lifted her head but was still too weak from her attack.
At once, Chiapos thought of Straye. Had this woman met Straye, the true Straye, and not the imposter that he had met back in the Tester, the one that tried to lure him to his death in the mountain?
"She was a fine, young woman filled with noble aspirations and dreams," the woman said.
"You speak of her in the past tense. Is this woman still alive?" Fear wrung through Chiapos' heart.
The woman tried lifting her head again. There was strain in her face and Chiapos knew that it was more than just the strain of the exertion of her actions. "Things are not going well in Tanejul. All the people are overcome with fear, suspicion and superstition. They are hearing all manner of tales of what is happening out in the country and they are taking on a siege mentality and don't trust any stranger that arrives into town."
"You have not said if this Rainwater woman is dead or alive!" Chiapos cried. The Rainwaterwoman had to be Straye. There was nobody else out on the Challenge besides Straye. "Tell me is Straye living or dead?" Then realizing that he was being rather rough with the suffering woman, he apologized. "I'm sorry for being so harsh to you. But that Rainwaterwoman, Straye, is my friend."
"Straye is her name," the woman said. "You have a very good friend, Chiapos. What she has done would make you proud!"
Chiapos could see that this woman was in bad need of water. He decided even though he was dying to ask more about Straye, he should let the woman rest. He had only one more question for her before he allowed her to rest. "Could you tell me your name? You know mine."
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