The Tribes of K'haren - Completed

Chapter 6.1

Waves were licking on Nume's feet as she walked along the beach. It was dark and cold and she didn't know where she was. Something was wrong, she knew that, but she couldn't figure out what exactly it was. Nume walked on for a long time until she heard a voice from afar. The words were lost in the sound of the waves but she recognised the speaker anyway. It was Kran, of course. How did she forget about him? Quickly now, she walked on and on but she didn't know where she was going. She still couldn't see anything, but the water around her feet felt colder now. The voice called for her and she followed it into the dark.

A sudden stroke threw Nume to the ground. Breathing in sharply, she was sitting upright on a hillside. Her left cheek felt hot and Kran was staring at her worriedly.

'Are you alright?' he asked. Nume wanted to give him an answer but the slow realisation that her socks were waterlogged required her full attention. How was this possible? 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you, but you just wouldn't wake up...' she heard Kran say.

'What?' was the only thing she managed to reply.

'There was that woman who called for you from up the hill, she kept calling but when I went there, there was no one there. I just couldn't wake you up, had you not been breathing so heavily, you could as well have been dead. And then there was that stream coming down the hill...' Kran was talking very quickly now and Nume couldn't quite keep up but she had already got the information she needed. It had been Sethara again, like so many nights before.

After their meeting on the hilltop when Sethara had told her to go back, Nume had refused to listen. They had kept travelling north and Sethara's voice had been in every single one of Nume's dreams. Whenever possible, Nume had convinced Kran to camp on a hillside instead of anywhere flat. She believed that it would make it harder for Sethara to reach her since the woman always appeared with her magical pond, and Nume had been right. But they had all slept badly and Kran was becoming more and more concerned and curious. But Nume simply couldn't find the words to tell him about the mysterious woman.

At some point, she even started to doubt herself. Maybe Sethara was just in her imagination and not real at all... But the water in her socks was proof enough to her that the woman and her prophecy were very real indeed. Nume knew she had to tell Kran something but she kept putting it off. If they could just reach the mountains, she thought. Maybe then Sethara would leave them alone. After all, they didn't really have anything to do with it. Had Nume not stumbled across her on the day she first ran away, Sethara would certainly have recruited somebody else instead.

'Are you even listening?'

'What?' Nume looked up to her friend. Kran sighed. Of course she wasn't listening, he thought. 'I'm sorry...'

'Oh no, it's alright, go ahead ignoring me and keeping secrets, I mean, there are so many other people you can ask for help around here, why would you tell me anything?' he spoke angrily. Then he walked away.

Nume stayed behind, her mouth wide open. Never before had Kran acted like this. In all the years they had known each other, he'd never just walked away. Of course he'd been angry with her every once in a while but they usually just talked about it. Now she didn't know what to do.

The sun was still hidden behind some hills but it was bright enough for her to see him walk further and further away. For a moment she considered following him but there was no point to it, after all, he would have to come back in his own time anyway. The gseirut was still sleeping close by and the stream was growing bigger again so Nume gave in and walked up the hill where Sethara was waiting for her.

'No, I will not listen to you!' Nume started. Sethara blinked in confusion. 'Why would I listen to somebody who refuses to tell me anything that might be of any use at all?' she didn't wait for an answer and continued shouting at Sethara.

The woman was still motionlessly hovering above the magical pond when Nume finally finished her tirade. Now a strange silence filled the air. Not a single bird could be heard, as if no creature dared to break the silence. When Sethara didn't say anything, Nume sighed and plunked herself down on the ground. She felt horrible and very tired.

'I have chosen you because you were the only one mad enough to listen. The only one who dared to break rules and change things, at least I thought you would.' Sethara finally whispered. 'But I can now see that I am asking too much from you. Your mind is so full of your own problems, you just can't stop thinking about your own future.'

Nume didn't like being presented as such a selfish person but Sethara didn't give her a chance to interrupt her and say anything. 'If there was anybody else in K'haren, I would go find them, I really would. But nobody else is ready yet... It might take them years to reach the point you are at now...' Sethara continued. She now seemed to be talking more to herself than to Nume. 'But maybe...'

Within the blink of an eye, she was gone. Nume stared at the spot where the pond had been only moments ago, then she gave an angry shout and turned back to their camp. Kran had returned and was packing all of their stuff onto the gseirut again. Was he going to leave without her? No, he would never do that to her, she thought, but she couldn't resist walking a little faster than usually when she went back down to join him.

She attempted to say something but he didn't deign to look at her. To her surprise, he himself took the stick with the flag to guide the gseirut and waited for her to sit down on the creature's back. Then they left. In the beginning, they turned some circles because Kran wasn't yet used to guiding a gseirut but Nume kept her mouth shut and soon they were on their way again. She turned around to look out over the gseirut's long tail.

Inside her head, everything was in motion. There were too many things she needed to think about for her to concentrate on anything so she closed her eyes and enjoyed the sun's soft warming touch on her face. Very slowly, she then started calming down. She knew what she needed to do first. Kran was more important than any prophecy. Nume knew that saying sorry wouldn't be enough this time. He had questions, too, and she knew he deserved some answers. Somehow, she had to tell him what was going on without mentioning the prophecy. But how could she explain what Sethara wanted from her without hitting that topic?

It was pointless, Nume concluded. She still didn't quite understand why she couldn't just tell Kran about the prophecy. After all, Sethara had told her about it just like that, too. And Nume could just not mention what race they were supposed to fight, if that were so important for everybody to find out for themselves... Then she had an idea. She got up to walk over to Kran and tell him to land when she suddenly realised something. She turned back again and looked over the gseirut's tail once more and stared right at the sun that was still rising behind them.

Behind them.

They were flying back.

Kran had turned the gseirut around and changed their path without telling her. Might it be a mistake? No, that was completely impossible. Nume was stunned.

'What are you doing?' she shouted. Kran ignored her. Angrily, she ran the short distance over to him, whipped the stick with the flag out of his hands and tried to tell the gseirut to turn around. Kran stared at her but remained quiet and didn't attempt to take the stick back. 'What's going on with you?' Nume was still shouting. The gseirut made a squeaking sound and turned sharply wherefore Nume stumbled and fell to her knees to catch a grip on the construction on the creature's back. For just a moment, she let go of the stick, but it was enough time for it to fall out of reach and off the gseirut.

'Well done.' Kran said. 'What's the rest of your plan now?'

She glanced at him angrily.

//Here we are again, the first part of this chapter is rather dark... What did youthink about the dream/nightmare in the beginning? Do you ever dream anythinglike that?