Book of Seth: Home: A Fallen Chronicles Book Page 2

  “Seth,” spoke the man clearly enough. His deep brown eyes were a striking contrast to the others.

  The other four stood in a line behind him.

  He pointed first to me. “Seth.” And then to himself. “Tiken.” Then, he pointed to the first hunter in line and went down the line in order, a word for each of them. “Yeru. Mikl. Dren. Kile.”

  I nodded my head.

  Tiken merely looked at me; he was waiting for a response.

  I raised my hands into the air, palms facing out, trying as best as I could to convey that I had no weapon and wished no violence. Moving past them slowly, I made sure not to turn my back to them and slowly paced back toward the rocks. They watched me go cautiously. They hunched slightly in anticipation, but remained where they stood as I shuffled back beneath the rocks once again.

  I scrambled forward once underneath the formation again. Grasping my planedge, I tied the sheath around my waist. The noise woke both Ryan and Summer; they both sprung to their feet. Fredrick stirred as well, but he merely turned over in his fabrics, leering at me for waking him. Leane did not stir, but her hoarse breathing scared me. Her chest moved barely as she lay on her side. I leaned down and pulled the fabrics over her shoulders, making sure she was warm in the chill of the early morning.

  “Seth, what’s going on? Why all the noise?” queried Ryan as he raised himself onto his arms, Summer still leaning against his chest.

  I pushed my back up against Leane, trying as best I could to hide her from view.

  “We have visitors, Ryan,” I replied calmly.

  He tilted his head to the side and upon seeing their shadowed figures, he leapt to his feet. I restrained him by grabbing his arm. He looked at me, his eyes wide. “What in the name of the Believer, Seth?”

  “There might be more. Attacking them could bring them down upon us.”

  “Bring what?” queried Summer, rising to her feet slowly and pulling the fabrics with her.

  “More of them,” replied Ryan, pointing at the shadows no more than a stone’s throw from our encampment.

  Summer stared off into the distance, her shock of white hair having grown since we departed from the Fallen. The uneven length fell over her shoulders. “They are human,” she replied simply, not taking her eyes away from the shadowed figures.

  “How can you tell that?” replied Ryan.

  “Bipedal, upright, too small to be Umordoc,” rationalized Summer easily.

  “They tried to communicate with me. I could not really understand them. The first one that came called himself Tiken, I think.” I looked back into the distance, the shadows having not moved at all. They were like statues on the plains. “I am going to go back out and try to talk with them. Perhaps we can come to some kind of understanding. They might have a better shelter.”

  “Agreed,” replied Ryan as he stepped in line with me.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “With you,” he replied and then flashed me a sly grin. “You didn’t think I was going to let you go back out there alone?”

  “Indeed.”

  “Do you wish for me to accompany you as well?” queried Summer, stepping forward.

  I turned away from Ryan and looked at Leane. Her troubled sleep worried me. “No, watch Leane.” I replied without inflection.

  “Understood.” She turned away and bent over Leane.

  I pushed my brother forward playfully and he glared at me as we set out toward the shadowed figures. My heart pounded in my ears. The clouds above had cleared during the night, but it seemed that they would return. As we reached them, Tiken looked at us from under his hard eyes, his jaw muscles flexing beneath his taut skin.

  “Home,” he grunted ferociously.

  “What?” I replied.

  The words seemed hard for him to enunciate.

  “We go home…now,” he called again.

  I was shocked by his sudden articulation.

  “Tiken, this is Ryan.” I pointed to Ryan and spoke again. “Ryan.”

  “Hello…Ryan,” replied Tiken amiably enough.

  Ryan looked at me in surprise.

  Tiken turned back to the others and they conversed with one another quickly. They appeared to come to a consensus. He turned back to us and pointed into the distance, farther southeast. The distance was nothing more than a dark horizon. “Home….”

  “You want us to go with you to your home?” I replied.

  “Home,” he reiterated, pointing again into the distance.

  I leaned over to Ryan. “We need shelter.”

  “We don’t know anything about them,” challenged my brother.

  “Leane is sick. We need a place for her to rest.”

  Tiken watched our exchange back and forth, his mouth a thin grim line.

  Ryan hesitated before speaking. “I will follow you, brother. If there is any sign of trouble, then I have a very succinct response in mind.” He flashed the faded steel of his sidearm and nodded at me with a lopsided grin.

  “Agreed.” I gestured to all of us, including Leane, Summer, and Fredrick sitting beneath the rocks. Then, pointing back toward the horizon, I made sure that Tiken saw what I intended. “Home?”

  “Yes…home,” he replied quickly.

  The others hunters dispersed in a flash. They disappeared into the darkness and only Tiken remained. His tight grimace was slight now. He extended an arm forward, as if insinuating that I should go before him. I moved past Tiken, bowing my head in thanks. Ryan did the same; his eyes never left Tiken. We gathered Leane and the others and packed our supplies once again. All the while, Tiken stood steadfast with his hands clasped behind his back. Once we were ready to go, he led us toward the horizon––to the place he had called home.

  THE SUN HAD ALMOST DISAPPEARED for a second time before we made it to the village. I had expected a crudely-constructed mass of homes spilling over into one another, but what I saw gave me pause. Even from a distance, it resembled something far more complex than I would have believed possible. The outer wall was made of clear stone, almost glossy in the fading sun. Each corner of the wall had an extended platform with another reinforced wall enclosing them as well, creating a lip along its edge. Several figures watched us approach from these lookout points. Their faces were veiled in dark, hardened masks that made them appear faceless.

  They looked down at us as we approached and then disappeared from view as we passed beneath the arch of the wall. Steel gates opened inward. Tiken had remained ahead of us for the majority of the journey; the other men dispersed into the city like ghosts.

  The buildings were perversely large. Some of them were taller than the combined height of ten or twelve men. The people who walked the streets did not resemble Tiken. Instead, they were clothed in even-patterned garments; the pressed material fit loosely over their bodies. Their hair was not long like mine, but instead cut short to fit their skull. They looked at us we passed, each one different from the other. Such diversity astounded me considering the closed community the Fallen had been for the better part of our history.

  Tiken stopped in front of me abruptly and I clumsily ran into him, jarring him.

  He turned and glared at me.

  A man approached us, his frail body dressed in tan pants; his feet were covered in a slick, rubber-looking material. His features were more like my own: pale and drawn. He limped slightly off of his right foot and carried a cane in one hand. His long gray hair hung around his shoulders and his long face was drawn thin.

  “Welcome to Duirin, City of the Forgotten.” The man looked me straight in the eyes as he spoke and stopped for a moment. “By the Believer….”

  I shook my head and looked to Ryan. The intensity with which the man was looking at me unnerved me, but I had to admit that he looked familiar. Something about his eyes reminded me of someone. “Do I know you?”

  “Seth? Seth Armen?” he whispered.

  “Huh?”

  “You’re Evan’s son. I can see it in your eyes. By the gods, it really is you,” he continued and then turning to Ryan. “And you must be baby Ryan. I suppose you no more look like an infant than your brother does a child.”

  “Wait. Hold on just a second. How do you know our names? Or my father’s name?” I asked.

  “Forgive my impertinence. I should have introduced myself. I am called Y’re by the people here. When I was among the Fallen, I had been called Dean Armen. I’m your uncle.”

  Tiken looked at the man who called himself my uncle carefully.

  The old man waved him away and the hunter obeyed. He bowed his head as he departed.

  “You are father’s brother?” whispered my brother, stepping forward.

  Summer stood back with Leane by her side. Fredrick stood the farthest away.

  “Yes, his older brother. I imagine not much was spoke of me. I was your father’s senior by almost ten years,” replied Dean.

  “Father’s older brother,” I mouthed incredulously.

  “Who do you have with you here?” he queried, moving toward Leane. Despite his cane and busted leg, he moved with the same simple grace that had defined the tundra people for generations.

  I stared at the man, unsure of what he said. He knew of the Fallen and of my father; there was no way an outsider could know such things. I turned back to the others slowly, grasping Leane’s frail hand as I did so, supporting her weight as best I could.

  “Leane,” I replied warily.

  “Well, isn’t this a surprise? Leane, I remember you as a little girl. You used to stand at the entrance and watch as Seth, his father, your father, and I departed for the tundra. You have grown into quite a beautiful woman,” he marveled, placing one of his hands on her damp face. He grimaced when he felt her skin. “She is on fire. Has she fallen ill?”

  “I feel a little dizzy is all,” she replied half-heartedly and then collapsed against my arm, her legs no longer able to support her weight. I pulled her legs out from underneath her and carried her in my arms. Her eyes were barely open and her breathing hoarse.

  “Do you have a healer?” I asked.

  “Of course, follow me,” he replied, recognizing the urgency.

  He placed his cane in front of him and hobbled ahead of us, turning back over his shoulder every few seconds to make sure I was still behind him. He stopped in front of a building and motioned for me to go in. Depressing a panel beside the door, the gray exterior parted to the side and I slipped through.

  Leane’s eyes had closed and her breath slowed dramatically.

  “Leane, hold on. Don’t slip away, please,” I muttered as I held her head close to mine. I navigated through the room, stopping at a counter.

  A portly woman resided there; her hard eyes watched me disapprovingly. “Can I help you?” she snarled, her face a perpetual scowl. Upon seeing the worried look upon Dean’s face, she jumped from her seat and opened the door behind her. “This way.”

  The door slammed behind us.

  The narrow corridor had a series of doors on each side with a glass window. I watched each of them pass, waiting for some kind of response from the old man. “Which one?” I yelled impatiently.

  “The one at the end of the hall,” he replied exasperatedly.

  The rooms blended together as my mind spun. The hall possessed no turns and no corners; instead, it ended, rather abruptly, at an unmarked door. I tried in vain to reach the handle before slamming my foot into the handle.

  Dean cringed behind me. “There was no need for that,” he said with a sigh.

  I turned around and around in the white room. There was nothing in it: no doctor, no healer. There was only a bed at the center and white cabinets along each wall. “What is this place? I thought you were bringing me to a healer.”

  “I have,” he replied, walking past me and pulling a frock from one of the drawers. He draped it over his neck and then produced a cylindrical tube from his pocket. Depressing a button on the end, a small beam of light appeared. “Place her on the table and let me have a look.”

  I nodded and placed her gingerly on the table, her hair falling over the sides. My worried eyes went immediately to Dean’s nimble fingers as he placed his hands on her stomach. Pressing lightly, he touched her throat and then rubbed the sides of her neck. “What are you doing?”

  “Checking for abnormalities,” he replied.

  “I did not know that you were the doctor.” The words felt stupid.

  She seemed so frail and vulnerable on the table. The very thought of her sickness made me sad with grief.

  “I ascertained as much, young Seth,” he replied, looking up with a smile. “Perhaps it would be best if you waited outside.”

  I did not want to leave Leane’s side.

  He could sense my apprehension. “She will be fine, Seth. I will take care of her.”

  “Thank you, Y’re,”

  “Please call me Dean. I’m your uncle after all. We’re family.”

  “Thank you, Dean,” I stammered.

  I slipped out the door and then back down the hall. My worry grew with each step and uncertainty ate away at my soul.

  DEAN WALKED THROUGH THE DOOR hours later. His head was lowered and his spectacles were in his hand; he cleaned them with his free hand. I pushed myself from my seat and moved toward him.

  “So, what is wrong with her?” I implored, the moments passing painfully.

  “She is with child,” he replied simply, replacing his glasses upon his face.

  “With child?” I mumbled unbelievingly.

  “She’s pregnant?” interrupted Ryan, coming close to us as he spoke.

  “She’s about three months or so along, not due for some time. However, the journey you undertook has worn her out. She’s suffering from severe malnutrition, as is the child. She needs care,” continued Dean, concern evident in his aged eyes.

  “With child,” I repeated again, pacing away from both Ryan and Dean. Leaning up against the wall, I covered my face with my arms. I couldn’t believe those words. “Can I speak to her?”

  “Not just yet. We have her under sedation,” replied Dean, placing a hand on my shoulder for comfort.

  “I do not know what to think of all this,” I replied distantly.

  “Fatherhood is truly a blessing, Seth. You will warm up to the thought in no time,” he explained.

  “It is not that. I am happy to have a child, overjoyed even. It is this place. How can any of this be here?”

  “I would imagine you have many questions,” he mused.

  “Where are Summer and Fredrick?” I asked Ryan.

  “Looking around the city. They both disappeared when you rushed Leane here. I honestly don’t know. I doubt they could have gone too far.”

  “You should look around, Seth. Draw your own conclusions of Duirin,” suggested Dean, his wrinkled face a jovial smile. “Perhaps you will find a home here. I know that your father would have wanted that, for you and your family.”

  “I have many questions, Dean, but I shall do as you wish. I will look around this place you call home,” I conceded begrudgingly.

  “And I shall answer those questions for you, Seth Armen, son of the Fallen; but, for now, I need to attend to my duties here. Meet me at the inn tonight, after the third bell. We will discuss these things that plague you so,” he replied amiably, nodding his head and reaching his open hand forward.

  I gripped his hand and returned his nod. “Agreed, Dean Armen.”

  My brother stood and watched, his silence unnoticed. “I shall see you later, Y’re,” spoke my brother slowly.

  “Please call me Dean, unless that name makes you uncomfortable.”

  “No, that would be fine, I guess,” returned Ryan.

  “We shall see you later.”

  My brother’s mood seemed to have darkened.

  I felt as if the day had grown brighter with a new child, a new family.

  THE SUN SHINED DOWN on me and I felt its warmth. I reveled in its comfortable embrace and I began to understand what Dean had spoken of; perhaps this place could become my home. Ryan’s mood had not improved. Mostly, he brooded and looked north. The night was colder than the days and for that I was grateful. A possibility of changing seasons seemed too much to ask upon the tundra, but here it was a pleasant reality.

  We sat in the night, Ryan and me, and watched the starry veil that covered the darkened skies. It had been four days since we had arrived in Duirin and Leane had not woken. Her comatose state worried me; the possibility of complications scared me.

  “Ryan?” I called.

  He sat near me, but his mind was a million miles away. I could understand his distance. The time spent in this place had begun to make me feel more and more removed from everything I had known. Dean’s history of the place, though a revelation, was difficult for me to hear.

  “What is it, Seth?” he replied with an annoyed sigh, his demeanor as sour as ever.

  “What has come over you? You seem to have become angry with this place,” I replied, trying as best I could to keep things cordial.

  “This place is not our home. Summer has been acting strangely, as if she no longer knows me. She is scared of something and she refuses to share it with me.” He paused for a moment. “I miss father.” He lowered his head in defeat.

  “As do I, Ryan, as do I.”

  “I don’t him,” he added bitterly.

  “He has been nothing but honest with us so far, Ryan.”

  “Father never talked about his brother. The people here are too different. I don’t trust them.”

  “Let us be patient, Ryan. He has done nothing yet to shake our confidence in him. He has provided a place for us to stay and has cared for Leane. If the time comes that he betrays our trust, I shall deal with it accordingly,” I reasoned.

  Ryan stood angrily. “This will never be home.”

  We had been sitting upon the ledge of the outer wall, the placement perfect for watching the cycles of the sun. Ryan stalked ahead of me. He jumped down the stairs instead of descending them and then melted almost immediately into the half-light of the buildings. I stopped on the edge of the town, watching the sky above me.