Chapter 337 - Irema part 3

Shortly before nightfall, I heard another scuffle of movement. Pebbles showered, plinking and clicking, down the face of the cliff we'd sheltered in. Somewhere to the east of us, someone—or something-- was wandering around outside.

It was much too close for comfort, and much too large to be another curious crab. It was, in fact, a man-sized thing. I could tell by the sounds of its movements. Was it a fisherman perhaps? A passing mortal hunter? If it was either of those things, the poor chap was about to have a very unpleasant evening. As soon as Irema caught his scent, she'd fly from this cavern like a ravening demon-witch, all glinting eyes and champing fangs. She was far too starved to restrain herself if she caught the scent of mortal blood. She'd attacked the nosy crab without even waking from her sleep. A passing mortal would fare no better.

I eyed the cave entrance. Outside, the sea glistered orange and red, looking very much like the hot coals of a fire. The sinking sun had dyed the heavens the color of milk thistle blossoms. I hadn't caught a scent yet, which was unusual for me. Ordinarily, my senses are very fine, but I did not have lungs to draw breath through my nostrils, so I could not sniff the air to identify the intruder. An instant later, I heard another scuffle of movement, and then a low curse.

Had I thought we'd escaped the God King's minions? It was a mistake to stop for rest!

A moment later, I smelled blood. Mortal blood. But not, I thought, a man's blood. Something else. Some other type of living creature.

I tried to think of some way to alert Irema. I couldn't yell. I couldn't even roll myself over. Then I thought of a way to make myself heard. It was silly but perhaps I could rouse her.

Squeezing my lips together, I pushed the air from my mouth with my cheek muscles, making a farting sound. I did this several times in rapid succession until Irema stirred and opened her eyes.

"Grandfather?" she said groggily. Then she smelled the blood and sat bolt upright, her upper lip peeled back from her fangs, her eyes slitted and ugly with hunger.

A moment later, there was a thump, and an enormous immortal with long, shaggy red hair dropped down outside the entrance of the cave. He was standing with his back to the light so that I could not make out his features, but he was large-- very, very large!-- a giant really, and he had across his shoulders the carcass of a red deer. He had to stoop a little to peer into the cave opening, such was his height, and I saw that his arms were nearly as big around as my thighs. Well, the thighs I once possessed. It was a monstrous, powerful immortal. A juggernaut. Very nearly an Eternal.

I was making farting noises as quickly as I could. With my expression I urged the girl to, Run! Run now!

This giant was much too large to fight. He would tear Irema limb from limb!

Instead of fleeing, Irema smiled. "Tapas!" she cried.

Tapas? I knew that name.

He shrugged the deer carcass from his massive shoulders and she leapt into his arms. Laughing, he enfolded her as she pressed her cheek to his chest, hugging him fiercely. "It was very hard to find you, little mouse," he said. "I've been looking for you most of the day."

"I'm exactly where I said I'd be," Irema purred, lapping deer blood from his throat.

"It was your witchery. I could not see the entrance of the cave, even though I knew what I was looking for. My eyes slid away from it, as if the sight of it was made of ice. "

"Sorry, my love," my granddaughter said, dropping finally to her feet. "You know I cannot control it."

"Yes, I know."

Irema turned toward me, "Grandfather, this is Tapas, my husband. Tapas, this is my father's maker Thest."

"We have met," Tapas said, approaching. He squatted and lifted my head from the ground. Rising, he turned me so that he could look directly in my eyes. He was smiling, but it was a pitying smile. "Three times over and again today," he said. "I told you this, wife." And then to me: "Ah, Thest, it pains me to see you brought so low. But they say you can be made whole again. I hope this is true, for all our sakes."

He had rough-hewn, big-boned features, a large nose, full lips, protruding brow. A wiry, bright orange beard obscured the lower half of his face. He would have looked a perfect brute if not for his eyes. He had kind, intelligent green eyes.

Yes, I knew him.

The first time I met him was at the village of the Ground Scratchers. The Oombai elders had trotted him out at the feast they had held in my honor. A horse-hung Neirie slave at the time, he had copulated with beasts for the entertainment of the villagers. Not a thing he did willingly, mind you. Their whips had sculpted the flesh of his back into a grotesquery over the years, scars laid upon scars so that it was painful just to look on him, imagining the agonies he must have endured at the hands of his Oombai masters. They had called him Halforeh Tapas, which I believe meant The Beast Tapas, and he did indeed appear beast-like with the thick pelt of curly man-hair that covered his body from neck to ankles, but he was no animal, and his rough-hewn features belied a nimble mind and tender heart.

Later, after I destroyed the elders, he had led the Neirie uprising against the decadent Oombai. I met him again on the field of battle, as the rebel slaves made war with the remnants of the Oombai's military forces. I had helped the Neirie vanquish their foes, tearing their Oombai oppressors to pieces. After the skirmish, I agreed to escort the slaves back to their homeland, lest their former masters try to recapture them.

They didn't.

Finally, Tapas was the one who had carried the news to us that Ilio had impregnated the Tanti woman Priss. That was the third and final time I met him before today. I cannot say that we were ever very close, this Goliath and I, but we had both acknowledged our mutual respect for one another before parting ways. We felt a kinship, the kindling of a friendship that we thought at the time must remain unfulfilled. Tapas had gone on to search for the Vis'hantu, his former tribe, while I followed the Tanti home and, ultimately, joined them.

I wondered if the hulking man ever found the wife and children he had lost when the Oombai took him captive. I would ask him that when I was restored. It was obvious he had quite a story to tell me, as he was a blood drinker now, and had somehow managed not only to find his way to my granddaughter but win her affections as well. I wondered if he would Share with me later. It would be interesting to experience the winding path that fate had led him. I was very curious how he had come by the Blood… not to mention the love of my granddaughter.

But there was no time for such indulgences. Not tonight. We were only three days from the God King's capitol. Curiosity must wait. Tapas said as much, reinforcing my belief that we were kindred spirits. Placing my head reverently back on the ground, he bid Irema to feed upon the deer. "You need to eat," he said to her in a scolding tone. "You're barely more than skin and bones." Irema kneeled beside the beast, putting her mouth to its neck. Tapas waited until she was finished, then fed from the animal as well.

"Can you feed, grandfather?" Irema asked, wiping her lips with the back of her arm.

I did not blink once or twice. I did not know if it was possible to take blood in my current truncated form. Mortal blood had not passed my lips since I was Divided.

Irema lifted my head and carried it to the deer carcass. Pressing my lips to the animal's dribbling throat, she held me there for a moment as I lapped experimentally at the blood. I could not swallow, but I felt the Living Blood absorb the fluid from within my mouth. It eased the pain a little and I lapped up some more of it. I closed my eyes, not so much in pleasure as at the diminishing of my torment.

"Is it enough?" Irema asked, lifting me away from the deer.

I blinked once, licking my lips.

"I'm sorry but I have to return you to the sack," she said contritely, carrying me across the cavern. "My powers conceal us from the God King's Eye, but his warriors are still following our trail. We need to move on before one of them discovers our hiding place."

I blinked once. I understood.

As Tapas looked on, standing by the mouth of the cave, Irema placed my head gently into the rucksack. I felt her rise, and then she slipped her arms into the straps of the leather sack, settling me between her shoulder blades.

"Are you ready?" she said, though she knew I could not answer her.

I blinked my eyes anyway.

A moment later, I felt her take flight.