Aftermath

I stayed up quite a bit later than I intended to, writing this. Once I started, I just couldn't stop. Everyone just fit into place and did their thing and then moved on and it was flowing so nicely ... that I missed how long I spent on this.

Tanek is a character who has been on the back burner for quite some time. I adore him and I also adore Ayan's explanation of him. Before you ask if a people would say that, read who taught him the phrase. Not everyone is all nice wording and not swearing in slang every chance they get.

Odd how everyone called Ayan little one... because they couldn't tell the difference between him and his brother when they went through before... or another reason?

Points for getting Raya beat up just by mentioning his name. Well. Not really beat up so much as roughed up. He does love a good challenge.

Read, Review and Enjoy.





The people of the village were happy. Each person Ayan introduced to Durth knew automatically that Durth was new to the troupe. Introductions amongst older people, those old enough to have lived and worked in the old world, included old occupation and grumblings about the difference between then and now. The few people Durth had met, and been properly introduced to, had complained bitterly about how hard life was after the fall.

These people were happy. One woman was in her thirties, a screaming child on her hip, hair mussed up down one side and an inky handprint on one of her breasts where one of her seven children had caught her off guard, was beaming and proud as she introduced each of her children by name and their future occupation. Each child politely greeted Durth and wandered off before their mother very quickly told Durth how amazed she was at how happy she could be without all the computers and metal and day in and day out of working for nothing that you could visibly see. She had been about to explain something else but had to rush off to stop her children from bothering Tara.

“Leave that poor woman alone, Aluen, Tasht, don’t encourage him!” she was gone in an instant.

Yet still happy.

Several large, wide, taller than he was, men approached him. Prison tattoos down their necks and bared arms. One was missing a tooth as he growled at Durth and laid down the rules of the village. Durth nodded numbly along, afraid to say anything to the man who looked like he was part of a drug gang.

“We used to be prisoners. Assault, robbery and murder,” the largest of them said, “now we’re Deaths. Serving the people, protecting the people. Ask the little one here, he remembers us, don’t you?”

“I do,” Ayan said with a nod, “Omphre robbed his old boss, bashed a police officer’s head in and took to drugs because he couldn’t wrap his mind around civilization. There was no place for him there. Una found him and Lisher and Ump here all wandering outside of a penitentiary, the only survivors.”

“This little one was riding in Una’s lap at the time, probably saved our hides.” Omphre laughed heartily, “Una had that cane of his out and all threatening like, Sidhe up top the trailer hissing and growling away and there was the little one. Giggling and laughing at the sight of three grown men babbling like idiots. Una offered us a ride for hard labour. We settled here when the old warden and one of the priest holders from the prison we were at recognised us and offered us a better position.”

“So, you three are Deaths.”

“Full on, trained to kill you more ways than you can come up with.”

“Are you happy?”

“As could be,” Omphre said, “you were just speaking to my mate, wanted to make it clear, she’s spoken for.”

“I didn’t figure a woman with that many children would be free,” Durth said quickly, “and I am gay.”

“My children,” Omphre leaned close to Durth, “are spoken for also.”

“He has no interest in children, Omphre,” Ayan said in a tone that made Omphre flinch away, “I know this man through and through, as I know you through and through. If you are feeling aggressive, the new singer is a warrior, take your lot up with him,” Ayan motioned with his head towards the stage, “be liberal with the beating.”

“Why are you trying to get Raya slaughtered?” Durth snapped at Ayan.

“Ray…”

“..a…?” another finished before all three grinned and went off immediately.

“Don’t tell me they know the name,” Durth sighed out, “why does everyone know about Raya besides me?”

“Not everyone,” Ayan corrected, “just the Deaths of this specific village, wherein they have had Rahl-ta’s blessing and thus were spoken to by Rahl-ta himself.”

“What’s the one got to do with the other?”

“Rahl-ta is somewhat jealous of a certain someone and his mate,” Ayan said, marching off quickly.

Durth got the feeling Ayan was neglecting to mention something. He followed after the young man anyhow, and was introduced to the villager’s healer.

“Amay,” she said, smiling sweetly as she shook his hand, “Amay Talen. No occupation before the end of the world, I was a psychiatric patient. Delusions of grandeur. Tara and I were in the same ward. Much could be done to reverse what was done to me because I am a natural born healer, but Tara there, well, as you can see, she is still quite mad. I don’t think she much notices though, that’s good.”

Person after person in the village was happy as could be that the world had ended. Each had been brought to the village, it seemed, and Durth could never find the original settlers. None of the villagers said that they had been there first. All of the villagers were more than happy to share their pasts and their present life with Durth, who, in turn, nodded and smiled and tried not to seem confused.

“Tanek!” Ayan rushed through the crowd, leaving Durth apologising to the village’s blacksmith as he followed the young man. Past an older couple slow dancing and around the heavily pregnant woman, Durth slammed into a wall of muscle.

He stumbled back and groaned, holding his head.

“Boyo, what little treat have you brought me?” a deep voice tinged with humour murmured as Durth straightened and blinked the blur from his eyes.

The man before him was not as large, nor as wide as the three Deaths. Older, old enough to have gray hair speckled with white, the man had more worry lines than laugh lines on his face. Gray eyes pinned Durth with a look as Ayan grinned and linked arms with the man.

“I love him!” Ayan declared, hugging Tanek’s arm, “he’s like a can of whoop-ass.”

Tanek’s eyes narrowed, “who taught you those words?”

“Omphre!” Ayan squeaked out very quickly.

“Hello,” Durth said, making a small hand motion in greeting, “Tanek, I’m assuming, my name is Durth.”

“Durth, what an odd name,” Tanek looked down at Ayan, “are you playing games again?”

“No, no games,” Ayan wilted against Tanek, giving the older man the sick puppy look.

“That look has never worked on me, Durth,” Tanek looked up at Durth, authority rolling off of him, “tell me, what were you before the end of the world?”

“What were you?” Durth countered, “I was just a child then.”

“Just a child. A child ended the world. For the better, don’t get me wrong,” Tanek pulled his arm out of Ayan’s grip and wrapped it around the young man’s shoulders instead, “I was a prison warden when the world ended. My Deaths were prisoners and guards under me. Working together in harmony and peace now but if you had asked me, fifteen years ago, did I think such at thing possible?” Tanek shook his head, “I would have told you, you were crazy.”

“Who were the original settlers? Besides yourself?”

“None of us are original. The village was an old time amusement park type of thing back when the world ended. The workers stayed for a bit until it became a mail outpost for those like Una to leave messages that had to go a way they weren’t going. Una brought someone in to keep the mail man, the guy that protected the mail when the messengers weren’t about, company, learn the trade. Then he brought the company a woman. And then the woman got pregnant so Una brought Amay, the healer in. Well Then Amay needed a mate so Una left a man for her. The outpost was attacked just as I drifted through the area with my second in command. We had stuck together, after the end, on account of neither of us having a family and all.

“Well, we couldn’t leave the poor women to defend themselves. The men were off hunting at the time. So we did what was necessary. We stayed for a while and Una came through and noticed us. Offered to bring us women if we stayed. It’s a nice enough place, we thought, and we stayed on. Soon Una brought us both women and then a Whisper to teach the young ones. Well through the years, Una’s brought priests in and prisoners and guards. Each of us have travelled with Una at least some distance. Had proved to be hard workers, peaceful enough people to get along with one another.”

“Una chose you all.”

“No, boyo, we chose each other. Una just gave us the chance that no one else would. End of the world happened and within ten months there were forty attempts on my life. I tried settling elsewhere but it never felt right. People would talk, you know, behind their hands. Call me daemon and monster and crazy. Eventually we’d have to move on for fear of our lives. Coming here was like coming home. It just fit. I just fit. For the first time in my life.

“The little one’s probably given you the tour already, so you know the stories. We were the rejects of society, those who hovered on the outside, never invited in, never allowed to feel comfortable. The end of the world was a horror for a good many people out there and for good reason. But you would be hard pressed to find someone here who would want that world back. You’re too young to remember walking into a store and having to chose between good food or enough food to feed you until your next pay. You’re too young to recall the hospital line ups or the taxes you had to pay but never saw any action. The bad police officers, the drugs and crime on the streets. The fathers whoring out their daughters because the fathers think the daughter is already a slut anyhow, what’s a few more, especially when they’re willing to pay.

“Concrete buildings and drones everywhere, never any peace, never any quiet. I didn’t even realise that my irritability was caused by the sound of society. I thought I was just an irritable kind of guy. But then everything shut down. And there was a glorious silence all around me. Just like. Like the world had actually ended, like I had died and was floating in nothing. Do you remember that part at least?”

Durth thought back and he could recall that deafening silence as everything shut down, of the feeling of floating in the darkness that was his bathroom as he waited, in the tub, for the power to come back on. He had thought the same thing: ‘am I dead?’

A tall, thin man stepped up beside Tanek, clouded eyes squinting to make out Durth, “another one? We’ve no houses left. Unless he’s a carpenter, Una shall have to take him back.”

“Durth, this is our Whisper, Whisper, this is Durth,” Tanek said, raising his voice a bit, “Una’s not brought him to settle. And he’ll bring a carpenter as soon as he finds one, you know that. I know, your son needs a house, but finding a man, or woman, who knows how to build houses is a bit difficult. Think of the world when it ended. How many men could build a house from the ground up with their own two hands?”

“I suppose,” the older man muttered, looking towards Durth’s feet, “it is all we can do, to hope that the light shines on. Who is this?”

“Durth, Whisper,” Ayan said.

“Ah, little one?” Whisper turned towards Ayan’s voice and smiled, “little one! I had not expected to live long enough to see you again.”

Ayan clung stubbornly to Tanek’s side and gave Durth a ‘help me’ look. Durth blinked at Ayan and then looked up at Tanek.

“I. Should. Find Una,” he was making it up as he went along, just make it … Durth flickered a look to Whisper, who was frowning and looking in Durth’s general direction. Not the best time to lie, “Ayan is his ward at the moment and we’ve not eaten and Una would throw a fit if Ayan didn’t eat.”

“Ayan?” Whisper muttered, straightening.

“Yes,” Ayan said, stepping away from Tanek and facing the old warden, back to Durth, “Ayan, Whisper. Remember, you used to call me little one, before I grew up and changed my name? Remember how that was all I used to come to? ‘Little one’ you’d call out, looking for me in the tall grass by the spring ‘little one, where did you get to?’ when you taught me to see?”

“I do,” Whisper smiled for a moment before his frown deepened and his smile fell away, “I thought I had taught your brother to see…”

“No, you taught me,” Ayan said quietly, stepping away from Whisper, “Durth and I need to go now. Una is looking for us. Tanek, take care of him.”

Ayan gripped Durth’s wrist tightly and pulled the man away from Tanek and Whisper. Features set, eyes too carefully blank. Fear tore through Durth’s mind and weakened his legs but he kept going. He kept walking until they found Una.

Una looked from Ayan, to Durth and back to Ayan, “whatever is the matter?”

“Whisper is dying,” Ayan said, breaking down into tears as he rushed into Una’s arms.

“He seemed fine to me,” Durth said, “a bit gone, perhaps, but fine.”

“Ayan is never wrong,” Una murmured, hugging Ayan tightly, “he and Whisper actually learned together. Whisper did not learn to control his powers until Ayan’s father came through with me. They taught each other to use their powers, with Ayan’s father overseeing the training.”

“Well…” it was a bad, bad thing to happen but Whisper was old and… “at least his son won’t be needing a house?”

Ayan hiccoughed and looked over his shoulder at Durth, disbelief playing over his features, “what did you just say?”

Durth bit his lip and shrugged, “stupid, but, trying to look at the upside.”

“But you just. You said that his son won’t need a house. Because he’s dying.”

“Yes,” Durth winced, “cruel of me, I know.”

Ayan frowned and pulled away from Una, “that sounds like Mother.”

“Illuva’s hand could be-”

“Illuva doesn’t concern herself with villages,” Ayan hiccoughed again and wiped his eyes on his sleeve, “that you and Vera hand select. There’s no need to play a part in the,” another hiccough, “villages because they’re already,” a hiccough and another wipe to his eyes, “balanced out. No. God can.” Ayan paused to breath, “If Mother’s awake…”

“Mother has been asleep for a hundred thousand years, Ayan, not even Ayato can recall a time when she was awake.”

“But if Mother is awake…”

Ayan was struggling, so Durth said the only thing that popped into his mind, “less of a chance of me getting squashed?”

The young man waved a finger in Durth’s direction as if he was drunk, “that one. Mother balances, a rabbit has to die so a lynx can live longer. An old man has to die so that his son may take over the house. The two of them can’t live in the same place together so either a new house must be built or one must die.” Ayan looked at Una, “is that not Mother?”

“Could very well be any of the gods,” Una said, “it does not necessarily have to be Mother.”

“What would make it entirely Mother, then?” Ayan sniffed several times and wiped his nose on his sleeve.

Una opened his mouth and then closed it again, looking away as he sighed, “it’s not something that can be explained to one who is not Mother born.”

“I have to agree with Ayan on this one,” Durth said, “none of the gods are overly active in the world of the living at the moment. Their game has been put on hold, you said, they’ve no investment in the world of the living. The only god that does is Ayato and… I somehow doubt this can be counted as the work of that one.”

“Stop that,” Uan snapped, “with your logic and your damned removing what is obviously not possible. You and your damned logic.”

Ayan turned to Durth, “that means you’re right and he’s wrong and he’s just a bit upset that he didn’t think of it first. Come on. Let’s get drunk!”

“I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

“It’s a very pleasant one.”

“But again, not a good one…” Durth said, though his protest fell on deaf ears as Ayan dragged him towards the food and drink area.


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