The Tribes of K'haren - Completed

Chapter 12.1

'You have made a mistake.' The voice in Nume's dream spoke. 'You have risked it all by telling them.'

The voice wasn't talking to her, it was directed at Raf'ney-krush. Nume just stood and watched.

'Then why did you tell them to go on telling even more people about it?' Raf snapped back.

'Because the harm is already done. A curse lies upon this prophecy. I may speak it for I am old enough to remember its origins.'

'So am I.'

'No, you are not. The man who told you was, but you aren't.'

'Then why don't you go to every single person and tell them yourself? After all, with your magic that shouldn't be too hard.' He hissed.

'It is too late now anyway. The curse only strikes once. I must know, who was around when you first told the prophecy?' the voice demanded to know. Nume thought it might be Sethara's but she wasn't entirely sure, everything sounded different in her dream. And despite being aware of being asleep she couldn't shake it off. Something told her to stay.

'Only the Outcast.' Raf admitted

'Then you have done even more harm than you know!' the voice shouted at him.

'What will the curse do?'

The voice hesitated before it spoke: 'It will claim the life of one of you three.'

Nume sat up in shock. She was shaking badly and had lost all sense of orientation for a moment. Breathing heavily, she looked around. Kran was asleep nearby and Raf was sat up just like her. One look into his eyes sufficed to convince her that the dream had been real and in his head, too.

He turned his face away, stood up and walked away. Nume waited and watched. Kran didn't move and the goat-man, whose name was Tarlequin, was nowhere to be seen. But that wasn't unusual, he had come with them, refusing to ride on either gseirut or baymout and so he had run with his goat-like legs, easily keeping up with Luthi's speed. At night, he always slept somewhere out of Bay's sight for he feared her way too much.

They had now been on the road for two days so this was their third night. Nothing had happened while they travelled back into the heart of K'haren, heading towards the mountains in the north.

Now Nume couldn't bear to wait any longer, she got up and walked out into the bright night. Both the blue and the red moon where shining high above her head. The low light sufficed for her to see Raf's silhouette moving away slowly. He didn't seem to be in a hurry.

When she caught up with him, he jumped and threw her to the ground. But when he realised it was just her, he bent down and helped her get back up.

'What are you doing here?!' he hissed instead of apologizing.

Nume considered giving him some stupid answer to his rather pointless question but, seeing the anger in his eyes, she decided against it. 'You've heard it too, haven't you?' she asked instead.

'I don't know what you're talking about.' He turned around and walked away. Nume had to hurry to keep up with him now.

'Yes you do. I've seen it on your face. That was Sethara speaking wasn't it?'

'Leave me alone.'

'She said the prophecy was cursed. Did she mean the song?'

'Go.'

'But she's mentioned something like this to me before. When I first met her, she told me I couldn't tell my friends. She said they had to find out for themselves or...'

'Or what?' he said in a bored voice.

'Fate will change and we may lose.' Nume said. Raf looked at her for a while, he'd stopped walking.

'It's not just the song. It's any kind of telling the prophecy. Only those old enough to remember may speak it.'

'Then how come everybody knows about it already?' Nume said. 'I mean, the dwarves knew the melody to the song and they knew what you meant when you said Outcast. And in the tavern, nobody seemed especially surprised either. All you did was tell them that the time had come.'

'The wizard.' Raf replied. Nume looked at him in confusion. 'He was one of those old enough to remember. One of the last alive. That's why I was looking for him. He's spent all his life spreading the prophecy. This whole thing is so much bigger than you might think. You're a phraio, you are the only ones who don't know. That's why Sethara was to tell you. Nobody speaks about the prophecy, not ever. There is no talking about it, no bed time stories including it, no drunken idiots telling others what they think about it. Because they can't. They were all spelled. In order to prevent the curse from happening. Only the phraio weren't for they were never supposed to know in the first place.' Raf explained. Then he cursed.

'Then how could you tell us?'

He ignored her question and asked: 'Tell me, before you met me, after Sethara told Kran, did you two ever talk about it?'

Nume thought about that for a moment. She wasn't entirely sure. 'I don't think so, no...'

'Are you sure?'

'No. I can't remember.'

'This is important, you have to try.' He urged.

Nume sighed, closed her eyes and thought back. Sethara had told Kran, they had been standing next to a river. Then she'd told them to go south and meet Raf. That same night, he had attacked them. For a moment, Nume once again felt anger rise in her when she remembered how badly hurt Kran had been. Ever since, she'd tried not to think about it and luckily, he'd been getting better quickly. But now she hated Raf again when she remember Kran's beaten up face. Without hesitation, she opened her eyes and slapped the man.

Raf was caught unaware. He had not been prepared for this. Swearing violently, he was just about to grab her by the throat when she hissed: 'That's for hurting Kran.'

Nume was shaking badly. She'd never slept anybody, well, not since the boys her age had grown to be stronger than her. Then she added: 'We did not talk about it. We didn't get a chance, you know, we were attacked in our sleep.'

'Good.' He said, turning around and walking back.

'Hey!' Nume shouted and ran after him. 'Why is that good? I thought you were just hoping for the curse not to lay on you, too.'

He didn't reply.

'So?' she demanded. 'Why is it good?'

He turned once more in anger. 'Because' he whispered. 'this means that the curse might claim my life and leave you two fools be so you can do whatever you seem to be so important for. If I die, the prophecy may still be fulfilled. If you do, it won't. That's what I am here for, I am your protector, your guardian.' He hissed the words full of disgust but Nume could swear she'd also heard a hint of sadness in them.

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