24. Fistova

Black withered hay crunched under Thorasco’s boots as he strode through the once lush ameythr meadows. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes shone clear in his tanned face. His hair was tied back, and he wore a white tunic trimmed with silver.

At the oak tree, he stopped and sat down with crossed legs and a straight back, his lips quivering with a secret smile. Only his eyelashes fluttered when the tread of boots came from the forest behind him. The footsteps came close and then stopped. All was still.

“Don’t tiptoe about, Brogo. Come out of the shadows.”

A figure in a brown tunic, stepped out from the trees. His face was obscured by a shawl. “I came as soon as I could, Excellency,” he said, bowing stiffly. He pulled back the shawl, revealing a large head with sparse brown hair. The man’s feature’s were broad and coarse; a boxer’s face.

“I was concerned that you had forgotten what I required of you.” Thorasco said, turning to stare at Brogo with lightly raised eyebrows.

“Excellency, how could I forget? But as I had already picked the cream of my crop to go to Pendelethe as your raseen, finding the calibre of men you specified, took some time. But it is my humble opinion that you will be satisfied with my selection.”

“I have no doubt, my friend. “ Thorasco smiled as he rose to his feet. “Where are they?”

“If it please your Excellency to step this way…” Brogo ducked his head and indicated an expansive hand towards the forest. Thorasco followed him to a cart covered with a black cloth. with a swift motion, Brogo swept the cloth aside, revealing a dozen men huddled together.

“Rise up and salute your Emperor!” Brogo cried.

The men clambered awkwardly out of the cart and formed a straggled line. They saluted and murmured, “Excellency.”

Thorasco tilted his head to one side as he walked slowly past the men, looking at each one carefully. Dressed only in a loincloth, each man’s head had been crudely shaved. Ragged bits of flesh were all that remained of the prisoner’s ears, signifying that all had been convicted of violent crimes. But there was no sign of defiance in their faces as Thorasco scrutinized each one. They kept their eyes downcast.

Finally the emperor stood back. “Has your governor told you of the opportunity I am offering you?” He addressed his question to the man standing closest to him.

The prisoner, a powerfully built man, shook his head slightly, and said “No Excellency.”

Thorasco looked thoughtful. “Well Brogo, tell them.”

Brogo smirked. “With pleasure, Excellency.” He straightened up to his full height, and stepped up close to the men. “Opportunity of a lifetime boys.” The briefest of looks was exchanged between some of the men, but it was enough for Thorasco to see the contempt they had for their governor. His lips twitched as he rubbed a thumb along his chin.

“You don’t need to know all the details now,” Brogo continued. “But your life sentences of hard labour in the quartz mines, will be overturned if you agree to train for, and join the Emperor’s army for a period of four years.”

The prisoners’ eyes flickered up to look at Brogo’s face. They had not expected this.

“It should be an easy task for you boys,” Brogo said with a sneer. “Doing those things that come naturally to you, the things that landed you in my dungeon in the first place.”

One of the men, the smallest at the far end of the line, glanced at Brogo. His chin quivered.

“Oh that reminds me.” Brogo spoke in a disparaging tone. “After the last shipment for the raseen, we only had eleven prisoners remaining that were suitable for what you need, Excellency. So I have personally been preparing this one,” he pointed at the smaller man, “to make up the dozen. It is a bit of an experiment, and we will soon see if he is up to standard.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

“He has endured five organized beatings from the men he stands beside. And I promoted him to Chief administrator of Floggings and Amputations. Valuable training. Turns a boy into a man, and a man into a beast,” he sneered, with a sly glance at Thorasco. “And leaves them wanting more blood.”
A nerve pulsed wildly in the prisoner’s cheek, but he did not move. “How many floggings have you personally carried out, Denta?” Brogo barked suddenly.

“Twenty eight floggings, sir.”

“Speak up. And how many ears and thumbs have you personally amputated?”

The prisoner swallowed hard. “Eighty seven pairs of ears and..”

“Speak up!”

“Fifty four thumbs.”

“And you relished your job…”

“Enough, Brogo,” said Thorasco, shaking his head with a fond smile. “Now gentlemen, if you agree to join my forces, Brogo will take you to the underground training camp, where you will be tested for loyalty, and trained for leadership. You have been handpicked to become officers of my troops.” He chuckled at their stunned expressions. “The New Order that you will command is not human. The commanders that you will work alongside are not like any creatures you have ever seen. I need brutal men, who are not fainthearted, to serve me in this capacity. Are you up to the task?” The prisoners nodded as one.
“Good, then climb back into the cart and you will be taken to the training camp. Good fortune to you all.” He turned on his heel and left. “Oh, and Brogo,” he called back. “You’d better wash them down with vinegar before they get to the camp, or they’ll be mistaken for lunch.”

***

Saka lay in speechless agony, his body twitching. His eyes bulged out from their sockets, and he sucked in his breath with a sharp hiss. Tien was rooted to the spot, staring down at him in horrified fascination.

“Tien!” She started at Fen’s sharp tone. “Get your cloak and put it on the ground.” She hurriedly pulled it out of her pack and spread it out on the grass. Fen and Flip eased Saka onto it. When Saka had first fallen, Flip immediately started searching the area he’d been in, and now he returned to this task. After a moment, he uttered a triumphant ‘aha!’. He eased the pack off his back and opened it up, his face flushed as he selected a long set of tweezers and elbow-length rubber gloves from his equipment.
“Fistova!” he called over his shoulder. “That is what got him. No wonder he is in such pain. I’ll use its poison to make a quick tonic. It should reduce the deadly bloating that the fistova can cause.”

It seemed to Tien, that the drops from Fen’s vial greatly eased Saka’s pain. But his entire leg had inflated, straining against the seams of his trousers, and the section of his leg that was visible had swelled and turned the mottled purple-green hue of a nasty bruise. Beneath the discoloured skin, a pale fluid bubbled thickly, like a pot of boiling soup. Tien looked at it in disbelief. Was the fistova’s poison alive, and taking over his body?

“Tien, you hold the pant fabric up while I cut it off him. Yes, that’s it, as high away from his skin as you can.” Fen held aloft her sharp blade, dropping with a start, as Flip yelled out loudly. Then, as he waved to show he was all right, she clucked her tongue, picked up the knife and turned back to her task. Saka’s movements were weak now and his body shuddered with silent sobs.

“What kind of insect or animal is this fistova, that it can do this to someone?” Tien whispered, her eyes brimming with tears. It was a nightmare to watch Saka, and not really be able to help him. What he was enduring must be even worse than the pain she’d had after her branding. Tien wished she could erase suffering with a snap of her fingers. Now that would be a useful magic, she thought fleetingly. Better than a stupid roll of paper that causes dreams.

Fen shook her head in response to Tien’s question. But what Flip carried back in the fast ebbing light, held out away from his body, was neither insect nor animal. It was a creeper plant, whose flowers were fluid-filled sacs with hooked tips. They reminded Tien of a scorpion’s tail. Even though the fistova had been uprooted, its flowers twisted around with slow, wormlike movements, as if they were trying to reach up and sting Flip. He dragged his pack away from the others with his right foot, and then scuffed off his sandal so he could use his toes to pick up a knife. He placed the writhing fistova on the pack, and cautiously sliced off a flower. After wrapping the rest of the plant up in a piece of fabric, he severed the hook from the flower and drained the flower’s juice into a little mixing goblet. That done, he relaxed. He set to work opening and adding drops of various bottles to the concoction. When he was satisfied with his brew, he poured some of the mixture into another, smaller goblet. He briskly stirred it all together and carried the first goblet over to where an unconscious Saka lay. He handed it to Fen, who tilted Saka’s head up and poured it carefully down his throat.

“That will get rid of the bilious poison in his system,” Flip said in a hushed voice, as Fen gently laid Saka’s head back onto the cloak. He went back to the pack and briefly consulted his notes, before opening a bottle of strong smelling liquid. Tien watched him pour a generous amount of the liquid into the smaller goblet that he’d set aside earlier. This he poured into a glass bottle with a small amount of white powder in it. Flip put the lid on and gently swirled it around. Brown bubbles foamed and frothed thickly as the powder dissolved. Flip looked at Tien. “This rubbing lotion needs to be massaged into Saka’s affected leg every few hours, to reduce the bloat and prevent gangrene.” He held up a large pair of leather gloves. ”We’ll wear these gloves when we do the massaging. Their texture will help the skin to absorb the lotion quicker.” Tien nodded.






It was a subdued group that settled around the fire and nibbled leftover bread and maize. They decided to sleep in shifts, so that they could massage Saka’s leg. He slept heavily, but moaned and tossed in fits of discomfort. The swelling in his leg went down quickly, which made the massaging much easier. Both Tien and Fen found the gloves too big and cumbersome, and used their bare hands instead.

Tien didn’t mind that the others were all asleep while she sat and looked up at the star-strewn blanket of darkness above them. The vastness of the night sky made her feel small but safe. Somewhere under this same sky, her family was also asleep, and she felt closer to them. She counted three hundred large stars before giving up. Yawning, she reached over for the lotion. Saka snored gently as Tien began to massage it in.

****

They slept in the next morning, for heavy storm clouds had formed overnight, dimming the sun. Saka slept peacefully now, Tien noticed, as she looked over at him from the snug warmth of her cloak and blanket. She lay there contentedly. There was no need to get up, none of the others had stirred. The fire had all but gone out, and thin spirals of smoke curled up from the grey lumps that remained. A fly settled in the corner of Tien’s eye and she raised a hand to brush it away.
The back of her hand felt limp and heavy, her fingers dragging across her eyelid like pieces of overcooked spaghetti. Tien’s eyes widened as she pulled up her other hand and held them both out in front of her. She screamed in fright.

Her palms flopped backwards over her forearms like wilted flowers drooping on their stalks. She flopped them back so she could see her fingers. The limp digits hung lifeless. She tried to wiggle them. Nothing. Panicked, Tien shook her arms, and the hands slapped back and forth. She looked desperately around at the others for help.

Fen was on her knees, her head oddly pressed onto the ground. She struggled to raise herself up. Something was very wrong. In the end, she rolled over onto her back, and sat up slowly, straining her back and scissoring her legs. Then Fen looked at her arms to see what was hindering her. Her hands were wobbling like a pair of gloves.



Saka sat up. He looked in sleepy stupor at the girls’ flaccid hands for a moment, before his mouth dropped open and he reacted. Throwing off his cloak, Saka rolled forward onto his knees, but as he attempted to stand up, his right leg slithered free from his kneeling position, and lay stretched out behind him, wobbling slightly. He rolled onto his left leg and the right one slid over onto it, dangling over his shin, like the trunk of a dead elephant. He bellowed in confusion.

Flip must have been out on an early morning stroll, for he came racing back with his notebook and a net clutched in his hands. When he saw the three of them, his expression was one of dismay rather than surprise. As he flung a guilty look towards his massage oil, Fen yelped, “What have you done! Can you fix this?”

“Oh no,” Flip moaned to himself. He looked thoroughly miserable. “I can barely read my own notes in the daylight, what was I thinking of last night? Uhh..just wait there.” He flashed a nervous smile at them. “I can make it all better.”

As he fumbled with his pack, knocking his tools and ingredients over in his haste, the others sighed and lay back down to wait. What else can we do, Tien thought as she experimentally flipped her palms back and forth, and watching as they slapped against her forearms like wet laundry. Yelling at Flip wouldn’t help. He seemed to be clumsy at the best of times. Under pressure, who knew how much worse it could get? Tien thought of Flip’s awkward behaviour around Berry, and smiled to herself. Thank goodness Berry wasn’t here, she thought, because Flip’s self-conscious clumsiness around her may have caused a cataclysmic event.

“Oh my,” Flip exclaimed, from where he knelt by his pack. “ That’s what I’ve done! I thought that was what it was, when I saw your …ahh….” he stole a shamefaced look at Fen’s hands. “I’m so silly,” he went on. “Andron kept telling me to get individual bottles, so that no two ingredients could be mistaken for each other. And I meant to, but buying them in sets of six, all one shape, is so economical.’

“What did you do to us man? Spit it out!” Saka was trying to heave one of his flaccid legs back onto the cloak he was lying on. The women could offer him no assistance, and Flip appeared too afraid to venture close to his general vicinity. Saka glared at Flip in exasperation. “How long will righting this catastrophe take? That is to say, can you fix it? And I tell you, the answer had better be ‘yes’.’”

“Oh it is. Yes. The answer I mean.“ Flip glanced up from the bottles, looking tense. Tien smothered a grin. ”Well I was almost right, “ He looked hopefully at the trio. They sat in silence, waiting. Flip sighed.

“I put the wrong type of vinegar in the massage oil, you see. I meant to add tart apple vinegar, a little touch I came up with my self.“ He began to chuckle modestly, but choked it back as he remembered that the circumstances were not good. “It helps with absorption,” he tried to explain. “The cherry vinegar looks just like it, but it is much more potent. Cherry vinegar is absorbed straight into anything that it comes into contact with, and it turns bones, or any hard object into flexible, bendable… things,” he finished lamely.

“And?” Saka demanded.

“Oh, don’t worry.” Flip stammered. His hair was standing up like a hen’s frill. “I can reverse the affects of the cherry vinegar. Turin adder venom soaks up toxins from the body, and I have some here in powdered form. I will make it into a paste for you to rub into your affected limbs.” His face suffused with colour, as he looked at their hands and Saka’s legs, and he said, “What I mean is, I will rub it in for you“.

Flip’s hands flew over his bottles and powder jars as he continued, “After your skin has absorbed the paste, I‘ll rub in a new lotion and your bones should soon be back to normal. You know, I have never seen this happen before, so I would very much value your feedback….” His voice trailed off uncertainly.

“Oh, you’ll be receiving my feedback, don’t you worry about that!” Saka growled testily.

Tien burst out laughing. She couldn’t help it. Any way you looked at it, this predicament was hilarious. The others glanced at her in surprise as she giggled helplessly, trying in vain to cover her mouth with her droopy hands. Fen’s lips twitched at the sight, then she chuckled, waggling her own limp fingers in comic disapproval. This set Tien off again, and they were soon both doubled over, snorting and choking with laughter. Saka shook his head grumpily, but their merriment was infectious. For several moments Flip stared in amazement as the three of them rolled around, their limbs flailing uncontrollably and their hoots of laughter ringing out around the plains.

Flip rubbed the paste onto Tien’s arms, and then splashed on a berry juice potion that smelt like fermenting fruit. As he moved on to the others, Tien sat and wriggled her fingers, curious to see what would happen. Almost immediately, she experienced a bizarre sensation in the centre of her palm, which radiated out towards her fingers. It wasn’t painful, nor was it pins and needles. More a feeling of warmth, as though her hands had been frozen and were now thawing. The warmth passed, and then her hands were itching, somewhere deep within the bones. At first she couldn’t scratch, because her fingers were too weak, but as the feeling intensified, she rubbed her hands together frantically, and found that her flaccid bones were hardening.

It took some time for Saka’s legs to be strong enough to bear his weight. Tien wondered if there would be any long-term effects on their bones, but she felt it would be rude and ungrateful to ask.
It was midday before they were back on track and heading for the mountains.

“What is a mar?” Tien asked, thinking how much easier it was to ask these questions without Berry being around, but immediately felt ashamed of herself. Berry’s face had been so sad when she left.

“Let’s let it be a surprise.” Fen grinned at her. “All I’ll say is, they are cute and harmless.” Tien raised sceptical eyebrows at her and smiled back. Fen’s quiet self-assurance and kind nature had changed the way Tien perceived her, and she no longer noticed Fen’s scarred face.

“So what you are saying is that they are safe transport?” Tien persisted. “You know what I am like about heights.” She was only half joking.
“Well, I was only a child last time I was on one, and I sat behind my father.” Saka said cheerfully. He was bouncing on his toes every few steps as if to make sure his bones were not going soft again. “But I felt safe. The mar seemed huge, with a broad back. It wasn’t too bumpy a ride as I recall.”

© 2006 by Shelly Taylor