The Tribes of K'haren - Completed

Chapter 16.2

'They wouldn't let us help.' Kran said.

'Why not?' Nume asked, looking over to the fresh grave the other phraio had dug for the dead woman.

'They said she was a witch... said she was dangerous and being buried by those responsible for her death would reawaken her soul and cause destruction for all.' He explained.

Nume rose an eyebrow and asked who exactly had said that. It seemed too particular to be something the whole group would have come up with. Kran pointed to a woman standing a little bit away from the grave, obviously scared to get closer. So Nume walked there to talk to the woman.

'Hello.' She greeted. The woman just stared at her. 'I was told you knew this woman?' Nume asked, looking over her shoulder to the grave.

'I did.' The woman's voice was coarse.

'Then I'm sorry for your loss.'

'You're not sorry for it, you're responsible for it.' The woman hissed at her.

'We didn't mean for anybody to get hurt. It was an accident.' Nume said calmly.

'You brought this beast here.'

'But Bay wouldn't hurt any phraio!' Nume insisted, quietly wondering why she was so sure about that. The woman just gave her a startled look. It took a moment until Nume realised she'd said the baymout's name.

'You've come here for the boy, haven't you?' the woman asked. The question surprised Nume.

'No.' she replied. 'We were captives just like you all. We haven't come here for a reason, we were brought here.' The woman didn't seem to believe her. 'Why would we have come for the boy? What's so special about him?'

'He's the son of a witch.' The woman said. Now Nume felt even more guilt lying upon her shoulders. She looked over to Kran who was still with the boy, holding his hand while talking to Raf and Tarlequin.

'So he's a wizard then?' Nume wanted to know.

'Not yet. But he will be.' That was all the woman replied. Then she just walked away.

It was nearly nightfall when everything was finally arranged. There had been many things needing to be discussed but now everybody seemed to know what to do next. Tarlequin would stay with the former captives, he'd help them travel away from the path on which they might be found. Many of them didn't have a home to go back to, they'd been sold after committing crimes or because they just weren't needed in their own tribes. Those who had been taken away against their will but still had a home obviously wanted to go back there. Since none of them trusted Nume, Kran and Raf after seeing them with Bay, the three decided to travel on by themselves.

'What about the boy?' Kran had asked. He and Nume felt responsible for the child but Raf made it clear that taking him with them would only slow them down. Nume wasn't exactly sure why, though. After all, he'd just sit on Luthi's back with them. But Raf insisted on leaving the child behind.

In the end, Tarlequin promised to look after him. With the help of the other phraio, they had reorganised the remaining carts and umeno so they could all travel on together. They weren't very fast once they left the road because the carts were not made for uneven ground but they still moved on steadily.

Meanwhile, Raf and Bay stayed on the road and Luthi carried Kran and Nume just above the others. He refused to fly higher and Nume assumed he was afraid to lose one of them again. Luthi already didn't seem to be very happy with leaving Tarlequin behind but he did his best to stay close to the others.

They did not get very far before it got too dark for Luthi to see but still further than Nume had expected. Within just a few days of being away from them, Luthi had grown a bit and gained a lot of strength and persistence. During their flight, Nume and Kran talked about several things, including the boy, the dragons and how Tarlequin had managed to hypnotise the whole city. But when Nume explained how she'd found him after recognising a tent with a dragon drawing on the entrance, Kran suddenly looked up.

'Did you see the dragon drawing on the rider's forehead?' he asked curiously. Nume shook her head. 'It's strange... Most phraio fear dragons yet they didn't even blink when we first arrived in their town. And all those drawings...' Kran muttered, speaking very fast now.

'What are you going at?' Nume interrupted him.

'The dragons said something about trading with them, didn't they? When we were waiting, I mean... What if them selling us to that tribe wasn't a special occurrence at all? Might they have formed an alliance?'

'The dragons? With one tribe of phraio? Why would they do that?' Nume doubted his theory but she too thought it was strange for the phraio to have drawings of dragons that didn't include the latter being slain by some hero...

'The prophecy shall no longer be needed, that's what he said, isn't it?' Kran asked, referring to the dragon king. Nume nodded. 'So what if the dragons plan to get rid of us phraio in some other way?'

'But why would that tribe help them if that were the case? And how would helping one tribe cause the rest to change or go away?' Nume asked. She didn't like there being so many questions.

'I don't know.' Kran admitted. But then he went on elaborating on the theory he was forming. He suggested the dragons might have promised one tribe power, maybe even over all other phraio. That tribe was known for selling phraio thus they surely did not mind gaining control over a few more. And if in return the dragons had asked to be let back into K'haren without being attacked...

At some point, Nume stopped listening. There were too many open questions and unlikely assumptions in the theory. And yet it worried her. But if the dragons had found a way to elude the prophecy, would that be so bad? If it still saved K'haren, that could mean they could just go home. Except they weren't welcome back home and the plan, if it were anything like the theory Kran had come up with, it would include slavery, poverty and suffering. That, of course, they could not allow.

Nume wished she could talk to Sethara about it. She would know, Nume thought to herself. Then she paused, they hadn't talked to Sethara since they had met her in the cave. Nume had completely forgotten about the danger Sethara might be in because of the dragons. After all, they knew where she was and, according to Tarlequin, they hated her. So if they didn't want the prophecy to come true, getting rid of Sethara looked like a rather simple way to achieve their own goals.

But the dragons wouldn't fit through the many tight gaps on the way to Sethara, so they couldn't actually hurt her, Nume thought. On the other hand, they traded with the phraio. Could a phraio hurt a siren? Or maybe just force her to leave her cave? Now Nume was convinced she had to find a way to warn Sethara. She told Kran about her worries and prayed it wasn't already too late.

// So many questions... Don't forget to vote and comment ;)