I've finally gotten access to my blogger, still don't have access to my hard drive. Eventually I'll get to time to fix my computer, maybe. Until then, I'm working without notes, so spelling may change in the future. The joy of working with an alien language! Anywho~ the continuation of On The Lee Mountain,
D'heri
Bambariush carried the creature a third of the way down the
mountain from the pasture. There an animal trail diverged from the main trail.
The woman pulled the creature behind her on a litter fashioned from branches
and strips of her robe. While she trod through shrubs, branches scratched at
her bare legs and thighs. As she continued walking the morning transitioned
into early afternoon.
A hovel, dug onto the mountain's side, came into view
as she trekked. Sitting on a chair, leaning against the doorway, was an old
man. His skin hung limply from his frame, and flies buzzed around his head.
"D'heri" Bambariush called out to the man.
"Gather your tools and medicine. I have a wounded fairy with me."
The elder's eyes flew open.
"What did I just hear you say, child?" He asked with hushed tones in
Urdu.
The woman pulled the wounded creature closer to the
building. "I said, I have a wounded fairy. I know you have not healed
since you have been banished, but your help is needed!" She stopped three
paces from the elder and lowered the litter. She then stepped aside and
motioned at the creature lashed in place. "Please D'heri."
"Bambariush, this" the old man gestured at
the scaled creature "is no fairy. This,” he grabbed her by the arms “is a
Pari.". He let go, then scurried over to the other end of the litter.
"Quickly, I must see to him at once!"
The two carried the wounded creature into the home of
the exiled healer. Once in, they brought it to the bedroom, and laid it on a
low mat. The old man walked over to a trunk at the side of the room. He opened
it, pulled two packages from it, and returned to the creature’s side.
"Bambariush, you need to know what I am dealing
with here. In the other room I have many books, and scrolls from our ancestor's
time. Treat them with great care, for they are all that is left of our
past."
"So you did steal from the old temple!"
Bambariush exclaimed as she untied the Pari.
"How fares the temple today?" He asked
curtly.
"Empty and bare." She answered quietly.
"Go and learn, I have work to tend to." D’heri
rolled the sleeves of his threadbare robe up while the woman retreated to the
outer room. The exiled elder rolled the creature onto his left side. The Pari's
wounded arm lay exposed on his right side. D’heri gingerly probed the limb, and
the creature groaned. The old man reached into one of his bags and pulled a
simple splint out.
"I'm sorry," he said as he began to set the
bone. "I cannot do better for you. If you had landed nearer a large city,
a modern hospital would be available for you. However, you would have undoubtedly
been captured by a government of some sort."
The
pari opened its eyes, and moved its lipless mouth slowly.
"Frua, pack". While the Pari spoke, it
turned its head and gazed at the object upon its back.
D’heri gently tugged at the parcel attached to the
Pari's back. After two tugs it became detached. The old man held the object in
his hands, turning it around, looking for an opening.
The Pari gestured feebly with its unwounded hand.
D’heri placed the pack on the floor. He then rolled
the creature onto its back, being cautious of the broken limb. He then moved
pack to a place beside the Pari, where it could easily reach.
The creature touched the pack with its good arm. The
area where the fingers contacted moved upwards. The Pari reached into the pack
and retrieved a small tube shaped vessel filled with a blue substance. One end
of the tube went onto the Pari's mouth, then it twisted the tube with its hand.
Afterwards, the blue substance began to ooze out of the tube. A small drop
blobbed into the Pari's mouth. It's pupils dilated rapidly. The tube fell from
the creature’s mouth and it began to speak in a soft sing song lit.
D’heri picked up the tube, twisted it as the Pari had,
and placed it back in the pack.
"I truly hope that you know what you are
doing."
In the outer room, Bambariush poured over the ancient
scrolls and books that D’heri had liberated from the temple.
The tattered pages lay scattered on the floor around
the woman. The hallowed pages held the legends that the Kalasha people had
already forgotten. The stories where about fairies from distant lands, demons
from a great abyss, and gods walking amongst the people. Bambariush's forehead
wrinkled as she read the nearly forgotten language.
With a speed uncommon in others his age, D’heri
crossed into the outer room. He tossed a threadbare pair of pants to the woman.
"You may need these soon."
He then sat cross legged on the floor in front of the
woman. "I fear for you, child." He whispered.
"I am a child no longer, D’heri. I can care for
myself." She replied curtly.
"Yes, you could care for yourself as a woman in
our village. But," he gestured towards the bedroom, "your path has
taken a different track. I hear the sigh of a drawn blade in your shadow."
The old man placed a hand on the page the woman had been reading.
She looked up at him with shadowed eyes. "I
killed a demon," she picked up a scroll from the floor and read "a
jhunitern?" She looked up into the elders eyes.
His left eyebrow arched "Are you sure?"
Bambariush nodded. "The scroll has a description
of it, and called it a demon." She retrieved the small silver box from a
pocket on her hip. "It was crawling towards this as it died." She
gave the object to the old man, then stood up. As she put the pair of pants on,
the elder examined the object.
On one side was a small triangular indent. On the
opposite side was a square indent. The other four sides were each adorned with
a single circular knob.
"Hopefully our guest will know if this is of any
importance." The old man sighed and laid the item on the ground.
"How is, uh, our guest?" The woman paused as
she sat down again. "Do you think he will recover?"
"So you think our guest is a man?" D'heri
chuckled.
Bambariush frowned. "I cannot continue to call
it, IT. That is disrespectful."
"And to be female is less respectful than being a
male." The old man asked.
Bambarirush stared at the floor. After a few moments
of silence, a soft bleating came from outside.
"Ah, it appears as if dinner has found its way
here. I will prepare the goat, if you would slaughter it." D’heri stood up
and walked to the far side of room.
Bambariush got up and walked outside. Along the side
of the trail, eating grass, was one of the goats from the pasture.
"I guess you are destined to be dinner for an
honored guest." She unsheathed one of her swords, and raised it high.
"Farewell."
