The flyers came at dawn.
Ma woke Kati when it was still dark. She loaded four bags of clothing, food and utensils over the rump of her chestnut while Kati was dressing. Kati came outside to hang her single little bag from the horn of her saddle and say good morning to Sushua. They went back inside to roll up the wall tapestries and wrap them in hides for burial. The tapestries were too bulky to carry along, but they had been with the family for several generations and could not be left to the scavenging of the Emperor's troops. Ma seemed certain they would have to leave, and so they wrapped up the tapestries and Ma broke down her altar, placing the elements of it in a coarse woolen bag. They took these things to a grove of trees a hundred meters from the ger, and Ma used her hands to sweep aside the carpet of needles covering wood slats that were the roof of a stone-lined cairn set into the ground. Four of the Emperor's rifles lay within the cairn, wrapped in oiled leather. They put the tapestries and bag in with the rifles and covered it all up again.
The ger looked barren without the altar or the colorful pictures on the walls. There was only the stove and the low table, with a few water bags, plates, bowls, utensils remaining. Kati was suddenly aware of how few possessions they actually had. Ma moved silently in flickering lamplight, firing up the stove, and cooking their barleycakes and tea.
Kati felt her mother's sadness. This ger, this ordu, had been home for most of a generation. The old people had been children here. Still, Kati felt excitement about moving west to the sea where it would be warm all the time. And Edi was there. She could not feel sadness for herself, but only for Ma.
They ate their cakes, and drank tea, and the hot fire within the stove warmed them. The first light of Tengri-Khan streamed in between the door-flap and the walls.
And then the flyers came.
The whine of turbines came from east, north and south, and was suddenly right over them. Someone screamed outside. Ma's eyes were wide and yellow in an instant. "Stay here," she said, then jumped up and ran outside while Kati sat at the table, stunned. She heard Ma call out.
"Get the horses to the trees!"
The whine was deafening, and Kati clapped her hands over her ears, and then there was a bright flash lighting up the walls of the ger from outside. People and horses screamed, and Ma called out, her voice a shriek.
"Kati! Get under the table!"
Kati's breath was sucked away, and she was filled with fear at the sound of her mother's voice. Cups and cakes on a plate spilled to the earthen floor as she squirmed to get under the table, but it was too low to accommodate her with her bulky tunic and all she did was push it up at an angle. Bright light flashed again and again before her eyes, and her hands clawed at the floor, trying to dig a space. The screams outside were high-pitched and horrible, especially from the animals, screams of pain, and agony. Kati gasped a breath, her chest aching, and sobbed as tears gushed from her. The table was pressing on her back, and she burrowed into the dirt beneath it.
And then there was a terrible flash, very near, lighting up her darkness beneath the table. There was a loud cracking sound, and the walls around her creaked, then moaned, then gave way. The roof of the ger came crashing down all around her and on top of the table, pressing down on her and pushing her face into the dirt in sudden pitch-blackness. Dirt was in her mouth and nose. She jerked her face to one side, spit the dirt out, and snorted. The weight on her back was horrible, and she struggled for a breath, scrabbling with her feet to push forward until her head was pressed against the table. She got her knees beneath her and pushed up, and suddenly she could take a breath. She sucked it in, and then she was crying. "Ma!" she screamed. "Ma, I can't move!"
There was no answer. A horrible silence just outside the ger, yet Kati could hear shouting from a distance before another flyer came over to drown the sound out. Everyone had run away, and she was trapped here beneath the heavy canvas and hides of her collapsed ger. The weight was too much for her. Her back and legs hurt, and there was sharp pain in her knees. If she relaxed even a little, the weight pushed her down in the darkness, her face so close to the dirt she could smell it. "Ma! Help me!" she shrieked.
And then she smelled smoke. At first it was just an odor: wood smoke, mixed with the smell of smouldering wool. She sucked in a breath with shock. The stove. It had been filled with wood, burning hotly to warm them while they were eating, and now it was covered with canvas and hides. It was burning the ger! "Ma! Someone! There's fire, and I can't get out. Someone help me!" she cried.
The smoke was getting denser in the pitch-blackness before her face, and it burned her eyes and nose. She closed her eyes, and took quick, shallow breaths. The agony in her legs and knees was now awful, but she was locked into position by the great weight above her, and she could only move her arms. She took a deep breath of choking smoke to summon up another scream, when suddenly she heard something: horses' hooves on hard rock, a clattering, metallic sound, first a trot, now a gallop, drawing nearer. Someone had come back! She waited until the horses were right by the ger, took a deep breath to cry out, then stifled herself with a muffled choking sound.
Something had passed through her mind for just an instant, a presence she had felt before. And then she heard his voice.
"Well, they were certainly thorough about it. How brave they are. Tell them we've arrived, so they don't select us as new targets."
"Yes, Chosen One. I've done that."
"Tell them also not to fire on those who flee. If they do so, I will know, and I will have their heads for it! They are in enough trouble as it is with the Brotherhood. They were supposed to attack only if the people refused our demands to leave, and they didn't even wait. We could have been killed by their fire, as close as we were. Tell them that, Hung!"
"Yessir."
The sound of a horse galloping away, but others trotting nearer. Kati was choking from the smoke she'd inhaled. She tried to take a breath, but it was smoke, not air. Stars danced brightly before her eyes, and her chest hurt.
I'm trapped here, and there is fire, and I can't breathe. Please help me. Someone help me!
"There is someone here," said the man outside.
"There—smoke coming from the rubble. Something is burning there. Put it out."
"We have no implements for that, sir."
"Then use your hands. Throw dirt on it, but put the fire out! Use your rifle to cut away the canvas."
I'm in here. Please don't kill me. The fire is close, and I CAN'T BREATHE! The stars were colorful now, and Kati felt herself slipping away. But now she heard the sound of feet trampling the pile of canvas above her, then a long hiss. A sharp odor brought her near consciousness, and then the men were shouting.
"Here. A burning stove. Bring dirt!"
Feet were trampling all around her. You're stepping on me. I'm here, beneath a table. Please hurry. Please don't hurt me!
There was the sound of ripping canvas, and another hiss, and then light flooded her place, and the weight pressing down on her was suddenly gone. The table above her was ripped away, and she fell forward on her face, moaning. Rough hands gripped her beneath her arms, lifting her up, and there was a gentle voice softly in her ear.
"By the eyes of First Mother, it is you, and you're alive. Come to me, child."
You are safe, but there is a terrible thing to see here. You must keep your eyes closed.
NO! The light was bright, and Kati's eyes still burned from the smoke. She blinked rapidly as the man swept her up into his arms. She clutched at the leather armor on his chest, and his face was near, but it was only a blur at first. "Put me down!"
"Bring my horse," said the man. "I have what we came for, and we must leave quickly!"
Kati struggled in his arms, reached for his face, but he grasped her hands hard and held them. "Ma!" she cried. She blinked again, and her vision was clearing. He was walking away from her ger; she looked over his shoulder and saw the ruins of her home still spewing smoke, and a body lay near it. The body of a boy, groin and stomach scorched black. He lay on his back, eyes open. It was Abaka. Beyond him lay several sheep, and a horse, their bodies burned horribly.
Kati moaned, and writhed in the man's arms. The gush of tears stung her eyes, but cleared them. She twisted herself, trying to look over his other shoulder, but he turned, handed her to a soldier who took her beneath her arms and held her at arm's length away from him as the Searcher mounted his horse. The soldier lifted her up, as the Searcher growled, "Careful, fool!"
She was facing the Searcher, and he was an older man, much older than Da. The huge bulge in his forehead was purple with veins, and his hair was grey. He lifted her, trying to turn her around in front of him, but she grabbed his armor at the collar and hung on grimly, for now she knew what he didn't want her to see.
Only paces behind him, a woman was stretched out on the ground, arms flung to either side of her, a terrible hole burned in her chest. Even in death, her eyes were open and blazing red. One arm of the woman was draped over the flank of a little horse, grey with white spots and black mane. The stomach of the horse had been exploded by a burst of fire, and its entrails had spilled forth, still steaming in the morning cold.
Kati screamed, and held out her arms, kicking at the saddle, and into the Searcher's groin. He grunted, then firmly yet gently twisted her around and seated her in front of him. Still she struggled, trying for one more glimpse of what they had done to Ma and Sushua, but the Searcher wrapped his arms around her tightly and began walking his horse away from the scene.
You should not have seen that. I cannot change what has been done to you, but you are safe with me.
Kati struggled for breath. It seemed as if a hand had clutched her heart, and was squeezing it. Her sobs came in spasms, tears streaming down her cheeks. That one brief glimpse of what they had done burned bright in her mind. She was vaguely aware of the sight of other bodies along the way, and other collapsed gerts, but they were forgotten in a moment.
Kati writhed in the man's arms and screamed her agony, but it came out a muffled choke. The hurt inside had reached her throat, constricting it, and the force gripping her insides was increasing, bringing numbness to her chest.
First Mother, what can I do? We have made a mess of this, and I don't want to hurt her. The strength of her pain is awful. It tears at me.
Kati moaned, leaned back against the Searcher's leathered chest, and looked straight up at him. His eyes were fixed straight ahead, and tears glistened on his cheeks.
You have killed Ma, and I have done nothing to you. And now I will die.
The fist in her heart squeezed harder and harder, and she gasped for breath, unable to cry further. Her forehead was suddenly icy cold, yet sweaty, and her vision clouded.
Perhaps this was death coming, and she would be with Ma and Sushua soon.
First Mother! I cannot deal with this! Show me what to do!
The Searcher squeezed her, then shook her gently, but she closed her eyes and wished for blackness to come. And suddenly there was a new voice in her head—the voice of a woman.
Kati. Kati—my child.
Kati stirred within her darkness. This was not the Searcher, but someone new. Never had she felt such a powerful presence, and it seemed she was warmed from the inside, from where her heart was. Her skin tingled powerfully, the sound of horses hooves and wind in the trees suddenly gone, and in her mind the blackness was now filled with purple spots of light like distant stars at night. "Ma?" she said out loud, her eyes still closed.
No, my dear. Your mother is gone, and I can do nothing to change that. But you must trust the one whose arms hold you now, and believe that he will keep you safe. He and his brothers are my children, and I place you in their care, for there are things I would have you do for me when you are a woman.
"Who are you?" whispered Kati, and it seemed the Searcher's arms were suddenly tighter around her. And then she gasped, for out of the night sky of her mind there suddenly appeared a thing she had seen before—two slanted eyes, blazing emerald green, opening up before her with incredible brightness to fill the void.
I am Mandughai, Kati. I am First Mother, Empress of Tumatsin and Hansui. I am Empress over all the peoples of Shanji. I was with your grandmother, and your mother, and I will be with you.
You take the thoughts away, thought Kati.
Only for a little while. Your grief must run its course, but now you must rest. Sleep, now, and know that I am with you, always.
The eyes closed, and for a moment the purple stars were back, flickering together, a slow, rhythmic pulsation in Kati's mind. Then only blackness.
The Searcher's horse stumbled on a stone and Kati was jerked awake. For one brief instant she thought it had all been a bad dream. She would open her eyes, and there would be flickering lamplight in the ger, Ma busy cooking cakes on the stove. But what she saw was the neck of a horse, and they were coming down into a broad valley on a narrow trail, a steep dropoff to one side. The Emperor's great city loomed ahead, jutting out of a sheer cliff, covered with a transparent spherical tent glistening like ice in Tengri-Khan's afternoon light.
The Searcher's arms were loosely around her, but warm. He leaned over, and whispered to her, "At last you're awake, just in time to see your new home. It's very large, and further away than it seems. Are you hungry?"
No. I will not eat your food. I will not eat anything again.
The Searcher squeezed her gently. "Very well, but I think you will change your mind. Let me know if you want something."
I want to go home. I want to find Da and my brother, and be with my own kind.
The Searcher squeezed her again, but said nothing.
They rode slowly, for the trail was dangerous. The huge valley below had been harvested, only stubble remaining. Three large machines sat at the edge of a plowed area, and man were swarming over them, making repairs. Closer to the city there were fields of dry grass, and cattle eating from bales of feed scattered there. There were no goats, or sheep, only cattle to be seen. No people, or gerts, no dwellings of any kind. Everyone must be living in the city.
And it was the city that held her attention as they drew closer. She had only seen it before from a great distance from her place within the pinnacles, and there it had seemed to sparkle like a jewel. Now she could see why. The transparent tent was not one piece, nor was it a true sphere. It was made up of many flat squares connected together by a network of beams like the web of a spider. Not all of the squares were clear, but colored in hues of blue, red and green, and beneath them the city rose in curved terraces, with tall buildings having every color in a rainbow. The terraces slanted upwards towards a summit, where there was a building with a golden dome glistening in the light of Tengri-Khan.
Closer still, Kati could see lines of open space between the tightly packed buildings, lines radiating downwards from the one with the golden dome, and patches of green spilling over the terraces like waterfalls. And ahead of them was an enormous gate of what looked liked polished wood, black and glistening, set into the base of the all-encompassing tent, and it was opening to receive them. The Searcher leaned over and again whispered in her ear, "This is only a small part of what there is to see. The rest is beyond the mountain. You see the gold dome up there? That is the Emperor's palace."
Kati craned her neck to see the dome as they approached the gate on a wide, dirt road lined with unlit torches and sparkling rocks. Several troopers were at the gate, and more to either side of it, watching their approach. The troopers at the gate bowed respectfully, and waved them through the gate while Kati gawked at the colorful buildings packed together on the steep slope before them. She heard a flyer's whine, and looked straight up to see it hovering far off, above the city's tent. A blue panel, twice the size of the flyer, slid aside; the flyer descended through the opening, and drifted until it was out of sight beyond the gold dome at the summit of the terraces.
Inside the tent it was suddenly warm, and there was no breeze on her face. There were odors of animals, food cooking, and human sweat, a sudden closed-in feeling that bothered her. Sound filled her ears, a dull roar like rushing wind coming from every direction.
They crossed an open space paved with white, flat stones fitted tightly together, to a pagoda shading several benches, now empty. Beyond the pagoda, pairs of metal columns connected by rails rose up the steep slope towards the golden dome, the rails seeming to come together in the far distance. And hanging from those rails, sliding down towards them, was a box, painted red, surrounded by windows. The machine drew near and Kati saw one man standing inside, looking out at her.
The Searcher stopped his horse in the shade of the pagoda, dismounted, and lifted Kati down from the saddle. Only one trooper remained with them; he took the Searcher's horse, and rode back towards the gate without a word. The red box came down soundlessly, stopped before them, and a door slid aside.
Kati's hands were clenched at her sides. The Searcher took one fist in his hand, squeezed it gently and said, "We will ride this car to the Hall of Ministers at the top of the city, then you will rest, and have something to eat if you wish. There is a fine view of the city while we ride."
She followed him inside where there were many empty benches, one man standing before a panel of lights. The man's fingers moved over the panel; the door slid shut, and the car began to move as Kati's heart thumped hard. The Searcher stood her on a bench, so she could see outside in all directions, and they rose at a steep angle, the gate quickly dropping away from them and beyond it the fields, the great wall of rock, the first mountain peaks showing clearly above its edge, and then, in the far distance, a summit she recognized. The pinnacles, the place where she had seen the Emperor's city—with Sushua. She looked out at the mountains, and the horror returned. She began to cry softly, and the tears were hot on her face.
I feel your pain, child, but it will pass in time. Your life out there has ended, but a new one is about to begin.
The rest of the ride was blurred by tears. She was oblivious to all the buildings, and the people in the streets below her, even the beautiful hanging garden with its waterfall and pool, which she only glimpsed. Kati saw only the mountains, thinking of Ma and Sushua, Da and Baber, those she loved and would never see again. By the time the car stopped, her sobs were like hiccups, and her chest ached from it.
The Searcher had remained silent. Now he took her hand as the door opened. Another Searcher was waiting there, a boy no older than Abaka had been when they'd murdered him. He was dressed in white, tight-fitting clothing from high-collar to feet. Like all the other Searchers she'd seen, his face was longer and narrower than that of the typical Hansui, and he had a finely arched nose. The bulge on his forehead did not detract her eye, for it was small, a delicate web of blue veins showing there.
Kati decided he was really quite handsome—for a Searcher.
He stepped forward, and bowed. "Mengyao, Chosen One, I came to tell you that Mengmoshu wishes to see you immediately after your return. There is a horrible flap brewing over this incident. Is this the child?"
"Yes. I must first find a comfortable place for her, and see that's she's fed. We've been riding all day."
"I will take charge of her, Chosen One. It will be an honor. Mengmoshu was most insistent. He wants to see you immediately in his offices."
"Then I must go," said Mengyao. "See to her needs, and make her comfortable for the night. This will likely be a long meeting." Mengyao's hand pressed on Kati's shoulder. "This student will take care of you for now, but I will see you again soon."
And he walked away.
The student knelt before her, and she gave him a stony look. In return, he smiled, so that there were little lines around his deep brown eyes.
"I praise First Mother for your safety. My name is Huomeng, which means `dream of fire.' What is your name, child?"
If I'm a child, you are little more than that.
"Ha!" said Huomeng. "What is said about you is true, and so we will speak without words."
I am thirteen, and began my studies for the Brotherhood only a year ago. Mengyao does me honor in seeing to you. Now, what is your name?
I am Kati.
"Kati," said the boy, as if tasting the word. His black hair was cut short, and combed straight back from his forehead to form a short tail at the nape of his neck, held there by a golden ring. He smoothed his hair with a sweep of his hand, looking reflectively at her. "I don't know the meaning of that, but it's a nice name. We need to get some food for you, Kati. Will you take my hand?"
Kati put her hands behind her, and glared at him.
I understand, but now come with me.
He rested a hand lightly on her shoulder to guide her, for he was several heads taller than she. They walked beneath a red awning towards a door guarded by two great shizi made from black stone. The door opened as they approached, closed behind them, and suddenly there were people everywhere, rushing to and fro in a great, golden hall lined with balconies, and a ceiling higher than the tallest tree Kati could remember. All the people, men and women, were dressed in the white, tight-fitting clothes worn by Huomeng. They looked at her curiously, but did not smile, and went their way.
Huomeng took her to a woman seated behind a huge table in the center of the hall, and talked to her in hushed tones while Kati stared about her at her surroundings. The woman picked up a slender instrument, and spoke into it, and then Huomeng put his hand on Kati's shoulder and guided her to another door leading to stairs. "All our guest rooms have been taken, so it's not the best," said Huomeng, "but it will do for a short time. Food is being brought down for you."
They descended three flights of narrow stairs in the glow of yellow, odorless lamps overhead, and came out in a room with a single table, on which slouched a trooper with full armor, a short stick of gleaming metal at his side. The trooper stood up as they entered, and gave Kati a look that chilled her.
"This child is to be kept safely overnight for Mengyao, and food will arrive for her shortly," Huomeng said curtly. "I was told we can use room two."
The trooper said nothing, but went to a gate of metal bars, beyond which was a hallway with solid, closed doors on one side, the other side a lattice of metal bars. "Second door," mumbled the trooper, and he unlocked the gate.
He doesn't like orders from a boy.
He will take them anyway, Kati, because the boy becomes a man, and remembers things.
The trooper closed the gate behind them, then went to a closed door and began unlocking it. The left hallway was all cages, and a few steps away Kati saw a pair of hands grasping the bars, a frightening face dimly illuminated there. The trooper fumbled with the door, started to open it.
"There is space for her with me, Te! Bring her here! I've been without a woman for many nights!"
"Shut up!" snarled the trooper, "or I'll give you a taste of my whip!" He looked at Huomeng, made a circular motion at his own temple with a finger, then opened the door and said, "she should be comfortable in here."
The room was a box, half the size of a ger. Bare walls, a lamp in the ceiling, table, chair and cot, a ceramic seat in one corner that caught Kati's eye. It had a hole in it, and there was water in the bottom of the seat. A fancy toilet, little better than a pot.
The trooper left, but Huomeng stayed with her until a woman dressed in white arrived with a tray heaped with covered dishes, a cup, and a pot of tea. She placed the tray on the table, nodded politely to Huomeng, and left without a word.
Kati's stomach growled at the smell of food, for she had been hungry for hours. Huomeng sat her down at the table, and uncovered the dishes one by one. "Rice, with beef strips, vegetables from our farms beyond the mountain, tea, and some sweet grapes to finish the meal."
The food odors were wonderful, but Kati clenched her hands in her lap and shook her head.
"It's your choice, Kati. I will not force you to eat, but you accomplish nothing by starving yourself. Your life is more precious than you realize, but you must first want to live it."
Huomeng went to the open door, pointed to a thing on the wall. "There's a blanket on the cot. When you want to sleep, you can turn off the light here." He wiggled the little lever on the wall; the light went off, then came on again. Kati blinked in surprise.
Huomeng smiled again. "Please eat, and rest. Either I, or someone else, will be back to get you in the morning. If you need anything else, ask the guard. He is now responsible for you."
Kati glared at the food, mouth watering, but pressed her lips tightly together.
Goodbye, Kati. I hope to see you again.
She turned to look at him, but he was gone. Suddenly, she was alone, in a strange place far from home, with strange foods before her. The odors made her head spin, and her stomach felt like it was eating itself.
Kati sat there for a long time, looking at the steaming dishes, and rubbing her tortured stomach.
If I don't eat, they will force it on me. I cannot hurt them by not eating. I only hurt myself, and I've done nothing wrong. Why am I so important to them? Why am I still alive?
Finally, she could stand it no longer. She looked around furtively, then picked up the wooden utensils on the tray and began to eat.
In half an hour, she'd finished everything.
She lay down on the cot, and tried to sleep. The light was on, the door still open, but she left them that way. The occasional grumblings and clanking of the guard up the hallway told her she was not truly alone, and she did not want to be in darkness.
But even with the lights on and her eyes closed, her mind began replaying the events of the day. She saw Ma and Sushua lying there, Abaka's burned body, his eyes staring. She thought of Da, holding her, Ma's gentle hands in her hair, and Baber getting his horse at the great sea. The memories rushed through her like a wind, and then she began to cry.
She buried her face in the cot, and her body shook with sobs, tears soaking the canvas beneath her face. And suddenly there was a voice from down the hallway outside.
"Little girl! I hear you in there! Are you lonely, little girl? Come down here! I have something that will make you happy!" And then the man was grunting in little gasps.
The guard came by her doorway like a storm, the metal stick in his hand. "If you wish to waggle your limp organ in public, then I will do something to stimulate you!" he shouted.
Instantly, there was the sound of sizzling meat, and a horrible shriek from down the hallway, followed by moans, and retching.
The guard appeared at her doorway, his face an angry mask. "Sorry. He won't bother you again. Now, get some sleep before they come for you." He reached inside to the wall, and the light went off. Then he closed the door.
Kati fell back on the cot, shaking all over. She clenched her hands over her heaving chest and bit her lip, tasting blood. Her fingers found the pendants: the pretty shell, the Eye of Tengri. The remnants of a past life. She clutched at them like a dying person with a precious object, a last touch with life. And far into the night, before sleep finally took her, she keened her grief into the darkness, for all that she had lost that day.