The Tale of Outh'n Durr

Chapter 9: Help

The scratch of the stiil went on for much longer than Outh'n would've thought it necessary. When he couldn't stand it anymore, the question inside him suddenly filled the room, sounding far more forceful than he'd planned. "How long does it take to jot down a simple warning?"

Seth Yi'in barked a laugh. "Little you know, youngling. The correct words are needed for such a missive to be believed. As a Guardian, I cannot lie or I would be misusing my position. This requires careful wording." He rolled the small piece of linnel and sealed it with sepi, stamping it with the seal of Mt. Charan Shrine. "Follow me, please," he urged as he rose and opened the door.

They walked all the way back down the hall. When they reached the entry room, Outh'n noticed intricate mosaics decorating the upper portion of the walls. "The glashiin work and mosaics are beautiful here."

"Mhm." Seth Yi'in headed for a doorway on the left. This hallway was a bit higher, but the panoramic artisan work continued.

So the Guardian didn't want to talk about them? Outh'n kept silent but studied the subject of each section as much as he could. Something strange caught his eye, though, and he found his tongue had other ideas.

"That one there," he pointed up and to the left, "what's in the trees branches?"

"Not a tree, or a 'that', Outh'n Durr." Seth Yi'in finally stopped his quick march to explain. "She is Edrea, one of the Terreilia of old. She sacrificed much during the Great Cataclysm. Of all who lived, perhaps she gained the most knowledge of love and loss, of sacrificing self for the good of all others."

Outh'n couldn't be sure but he thought the Guardian's eyes turned glassy. "She was very brave then?"

The small man nodded and sniffed before waving them to follow as he continued down the hallway. They turned into an open archway on the left. A door made of wooden bars divided the large room into two sections, the inner much larger than the outer.

"Arkyna? Laryn? Are you here?" There was a shuffle and a burly woman whose shoulders were wider than Kurg'l's stepped through the barred door.

"What can I do for you today, Guardian Yi'in?"

"I have a message for the Durr family at Prichud Village. It must arrive in three dawnings, Laryn. Can I count on you?"

The woman's eyes had settled on Outh'n's mark and she scowled. "For this miscreant, Honored Guardian? Why?" Her soft, almost hypnotic voice became an acidic hiss as she spoke of Outh'n.

He couldn't help it. He rolled his eyes. And recieved a backhand in his stomach. Not mean, but just enough to remind him Seth Yi'in was the only reason he hadn't been sent away immediately. He sighed and bowed his head, mumbling an apology to the Guardian.

"This man is a tiav'yag, yes, but he is also my guest, Laryn. You will show him the proper courtesy." The words, though soft, were cast in obsyn stone.

"Yes, Honored Guardian. My apologies Honored Guest," she hissed 'guest' but Outh'n let it go. He understood the why and her opinion mattered little to him as long as the message got to his seistri.

"Now then, Laryn, who is your fastest rider?"

"Meren but he's out."

"Didn't I just see him in the outer hall?"

"Perhaps you did, Honored Guardian. If so, he hasn't checked in with me yet." She turned back toward the larger section and loosed a whistle that rang in Outh'n's ears and set Oowah to whining.

"A wuveia?" Laryn asked in horror. "Honored Guardian, why would you allow that creature in here?"

"He will not harm any creature in these walls."

"But they are natural enemies, they and the arb'la," Laryn sputtered.

"I will not tell you again, Laryn. This man is our guest and his friend is also our guest. They know there are rules here and neither has give me any reason to doubt they will follow them."

"Yes, Honored Guardian," Laryn's voice was subdued and respectful but her blue eyes promised swift retribution if her arb'la were harmed. Arb'la were the swiftest of the domesticated cattle in Shinnoah. Outh'n felt sure his missive would arrive in time.

"Laryn, you called for me?" The willowy young maid that stepped through the barred door next had a voice like rain bells. Her eyes were the same blue as Laryn's but her hair was a much lighter shade of brown. Rather than having it cut short at the shoulders like the broader woman, she'd let hers grow long and had plaited it over one shoulder.

"Arkyna, go to the entry hall and find Meren. Send him to us, please."

"Yes, Laryn." The girl glanced at Outh'n, appreciative at first, but then apprehensive when she spotted first his brand, then his wuveia friend. She scurried out of the door without a backward glance.

In no time, she returned with a short, wiry lad bearing a shock of white-blond hair. Dirt smudged one cheek and a streak of red arched over the other.

"What happened to you young Meren?" Seth Yi'in asked in that clipped way he had when Outh'n had first arrived.

"Ah, a prickly branch snuck by my hand and left its mark on my lovely face, Honored Guardian," he joked. "It's nothing a bit of Alyss' salve won't cure," he shrugged it off.

"Other than that, would you be ready to ride again?" Seth Yi'in was taking no chances that Laryn or Arkyna would interfere with the instructions. Outh'n breathed deeply in relief and reached out a hand to scratch between Oowah's ears and behind them.

"Eiya! You've got a wuveia, Honored Guest?" There was no mistaking the gleam of admiration in the lad's eyes and Outh'n smiled in return, waiting for the moment when Meren spotted the brand scarring his cheek.

"I don't. He is my friend and has chosen to stay with me. He's free to come and go. I would never cage a beast of the wilds."

"May I touch him?"

Outh'n looked first to Laryn whose eyebrows rose in dismay, though she said nothing. Arkyna paled and Seth Yi'in simply nodded his own ascent. "Well, I don't know. Just hold out your hand and see if he's alright with you touching him." Outh'n trembled inside as Oowah took a tentative sniff, snorted, and nodded. "Go ahead. He particularly likes being scratched behind his ears."

Outh'n stepped aside so Meren could proceed. Oowah crooned at the youngling in pleasure and butted him when he stopped. Meren laughed. When he looked at Outh'n again, he spotted the brand. The happiness in his eyes dimmed but instead of censure, sadness replaced it. He gestured to the wound. "What happened?"

Not 'what did you do' or 'why should I help you' but 'what happened'. A sound he'd never made before wobbled in his throat. He cleared it before answering. "They said I killed the woman I loved with all my heart."

"Your life-mate?"

Outh'n shook his head. "I never got a chance to ask her," he answered in a hoarse half-whisper as his eyes burned with tears he couldn't shed here. "She slipped on a tree branch and fell from too high up. I couldn't get to her in time to catch her. She was dead before I even got to her side. I couldn't even bid her farewell." His brow furrowed and he turned his face to look up at the skylights high above.

A sudden touch at his sleeve startled him. Meren jerked away. "I meant no harm, Honored Guest," he soothed. "I just wanted to say I was sorry."

"My name is Outh'n if you care to utter it," Outh'n took a risk. He shrugged nonchalant and turned his branded cheek away.

"Outh'n, I'm Meren and pleased to meet anyone who calls a wuveia "friend"." Meren smiled broadly.

"So where's this message, Guardian Seth?" Meren turned to the thinner man, an eyebrow raised in query.

"Here," he snapped as he lifted the missive. "But I forbid you to leave if you haven't rested since your last ride. This message cannot fail to arrive. Come," he motioned to Outh'n and Meren. "Outh'n and I will walk with you to see Alyss and get your lovely face taken care of."

"And I can tell you how the last ride went," Meren added.