Primitive

This being an account of the events leading up to and succeeding the arrival of the aliens within our fair Empire, as has been recounted by the venerable physician of Hozu.

Book The First

The earth shifted beneath my feet, I laboured to quicken my pace for the nebulous skies promised downpour and, as I was afoot, I had to make good time, as treacherous as the soil then was, it was nothing compared to the mires which would form once Zotush, god of the sky, wept upon the earth. I hastened, clutching onto my robes to prevent the wind from pushing against me and thereby delaying my advance; I unsheathed my sword, in acknowledgement of pursuant footsteps.

"Who approaches?" I asked loudly, hoping dearly it wasn't a brigand or some such person.

"Forgive me, revered physician. It is I; I come bearing an urgent message." A familiar raven-haired youth, long of locks, panted as he came parallel to me, his medium-toned skin dull in the waning sun.

"Yes, Ponutuuki?"

"A fitful patient, in a state of severe terror, and with deep lacerations, is at Ozkatuulin, and awaits your care."

"Most grave, dear Ponutuuki." I sighed.

"A pity I have no mount." I informed him.

He whistled shrilly and two black coursers, with diaphanous coats, galloped towards us; he handed me my brown-leather reins, and seized his own, both of us mounting.

"I was so told, my lord. That you have no mount. It is your custom, is it not? To so amble in the wilds?"

"It is. I make my own medicaments, and a good physician knows his country, for the need is great everywhere. From who have you heard this tale?"

"Imperial Coastwatchmen, and numerous town-dwellers. I have an extensive network of informants, you well know."

"Espions, he means." I thought.

"Yes, I'm aware, O' court messenger, and how fares your family?"

We were on familiar terms, as I'd been his poetry instructor at the Institute of Arts and Methodical Thought in Gotraki Zighnesh.

"Everyone is well, I thank you for your concern, my lord; Matraaknaktaan excepting, she was in a state of birth-hysterics after the delivery, but has since been in slow convalescence."

"I commiserate with thee, my friend, she shall recover, I know it, she's a strong woman; have her tincture of dream-plant, it will soothe her agitations."

"I shall do as you suggest, good physician."

"You might also make a habit of drinking willow-water yourself, that affliction is contagious, not only to the post-gravid, but also their male relations."

"Oruki bless you with longevity, goodly physician."

"And thouten, fleet Ponutuuki. How do you fare?"

"Pleasantly, I've no cause for any concern."

"This pleases me."

"A fortune I've my tools on my person. But I'm sure your watchers informed you of this as well."

He grinned at this, looking up.

"You've heeded Atraaknaakza's good counsel, in hastening your pace, it seems; a deluge shall soon be upon us." The sky, which he'd been examining, grumbled in protest as the wind, all but lifting our steeds, gathered up some sombre clouds, before whirling about the assorted trees arched on either side of our mud-path.

"That much is evident, but, Ozkatuulin is, as the vulgars say, a spit away." He chuckled at this.

Within a dove's flight, we arrived at the town stables.

All windows had been shuttered and no one stirred, everyone safely enclosed for the oncoming deluge, which were oft dangerous during these seasons. We stabled the coursers within an Imperial Stablehouse, available for public use, maintained at the expense of Amdaki VII himself, we kicked at the dust, about to turn to mud, with our soft sandals, which made no sound, as the youth guided me to an edificial granite wall, which we scaled and descended on an arborescent-grass ladder; this being the sole means of ingress and egress, so as to prevent the running abroad of patients in a state of distemper, this, too, was maintained at the sole expense of Amdaki VII.

Within were three crudely-designed huts, of verdure make, roofed with light yet firm arboresecent-grass poles, these huts were spaced two horses apart each from the other, and were surrounded by an ornamental hedge of Forest importation; the rest of the grounds had been employed as a perambulation-garden, to calm the patients and ease their recovery, it had all manner of floriage from red-roses to pink-orchids, a stream, artificially coursed from the Azruki River, watered this garden; replenishing a two-horse wide and ten deep pond with lilies and lotuses in it, situated behind the three huts; one seasonally frequented by geese and cranes, migrating out of the Western Mountains, in search of warmer climes.

Rushingly, I plunged a peacock feather, withdrawn from my silken sash, into a smooth iron cylinder, one with crocus spice-filled suet-fat, inset in the birch door of the farthest hut on the left, screeches and howls escaped into the night, the red of the flames from within dispelling some of the ensuing dusk, and keeping the interior warm and tepid, as a counter-act to the chill and mists that came on the drizzle preluding rain, bringing this annointed feather out of its cylinder, I placed it within a recess by the door, and recited the following purging prayer: "Oruki hawaakai atiharuuki ildaaztaknuur murtuuk'huduush fiktaaknurook awaaztikzaaknaali dituurakiin iweektanaruuk awee'arook.", consecrating the space around the hut, and banishing malevolent spirits of the Nether, who may have, failing this, attempted to torment my patient, and who, no doubt, played a part in his initial discomposure.

Removing my sandals, as is customary upon entering a consecrated place of healing, I brought my bare feet upon the red-silk tapestried earth of the interior and approached my patient, a ruddy-haired man, peraunter fourty seasons my junior, of fairly, though not overly, dark complexion, and scant of beard; he was being held down by six infantrymen, unarmoured and unarmed ones, who visibly strained in doing so, for the youth was strong, stronger than most, and wild of soul. Four women, all dighted in the green-linen raiment of nurses', were also present; they assisted in maintaining the huts, they were experienced herbalists, and would serve as midwives most of the time; depended from the roof, upon a gold-wrought chain, was a clay pot, in which burned sandalwood and rose oil, by a small fire, enkindled within a cleverly-constructed chamber thereof, perfuming the air and soothing the patient. The air thickened with this fragrant smoke, which tasted of acid upon the tongue; the channeled river-water was heated in a silver duct, set into the Western wall, a copper basin was filled with hot water from it, once a silver flap was opened by the nurses; the patient's feet were then dipped inside; by the four windows sheenly burned four tallow candles, one on each birch windowsill, fervent because the wicks had been masterfully-cut and because air was in good circulation within the hut. I filled a silver-fitted birchen stoup with the hot water; then carefully examined the patient. His chest had, indeed, been marred by deep yet clean-cut cicatrices.

These would be easy to mend, the damage to his soul not so much.

"Hand me two bits of cloth."

Zetani, a senior nurse, who'd delivered the scion to the aurous throne of Meldek himself, placed two woollens of a similar size in my extended hand, these I washed and scrubbed in steaming-hot water, wrung, then coated with an unguent, I cleaned the areas around the wounds with this unguent, placing red-leaf inside the wounds to destroy any organic corruption that might therein break out; he ceased wailing, and his breathing stilled, his chest heaved up and down slowly, as he lay unmoving; I mixed starch paste, derived from the roots of chives, with honey in a mortar using a birch withe in lieu of a pestle which I had not on my person, my horse-bone pestle was beneath my bed at home, I lined the frays of these cloths with this mixture, which I then stuck to his chest.

The cicatrices would heal of their own accord, fading out gradually, and not dehiscing, without needing to be sewn shut; for he was young and they had not yet putrefied, which was always a good sign.

"How do you feel now?" I brought a blue-glass phial of mint-extract to his lips.

His response was unintelligible.

He drank the mint lupinely.

After he'd emptied the phial in his cavernous throat, I motioned to the Army musician, who was a player of the tenzut. This is a lengthy pipe, covered in precisely-bored holes, apertures which are calculated with deliberation after the method of the calculators of Gotraki Zighnesh; its sound is soft, shrill, and incomplete; it cannot be heard over great distances, and has a mysterious, haunting quality to it; the sort of sound that transports one on a journey, of soul, into the liminality betwixt wake and sleeping, betwixt life and death. These are the conditions requisite for an examination of the soul.

I splashed some cool water onto his face from another birch pail, rousing him from his wakeful reveries, I, then, soaked his hair; scrubbing and lathering each strand with brugnon juice, setting it all in a hair-crown, called "chignon" by the fashionable people in Gotraki Zighnesh, employing a nut-pomade in so doing; this after disentangling each individual lock with olive oil, before setting his hair firmly in place using a cow-bone comb, that I'd had with me; I once again repeated my query.

"The pain has remitted." He responded with relative ease, his eyes at long last present and his lips expressive.

"Oruki haw'aatkai hikuui garooganuu hezeweedi atoorooknetuuzi waktaanuu heshaapi wezsheraati payaaktuu payktaanuu wazuushi zindorooktweeni awakpuu zshimpkitaruuki." I intermediated between Oruki and his troubled soul, thereby casting away the guileful trammels laid upon him by the Nether Ones.

"What is your name?"

"Rimpaki, sired by Kokouatuuki, who was in turn sired by Alitatraaki."

"O' son of Kokouatuuki, grand-son of Alitatraaki, are you present?"

"Yes, I am present." His voice indicated he had his senses about him; in any case, he was no longer in a state of bewilderment.

"What came to pass for this misfortune to have befallen you?"

"Migha'atai." He responded wildly, eyes darting about as if searching for a hasty exit should the referent somehow materialise.

"Migha'atai?" I knew the blackheart of whom he'd spoken, an Ayghdaan knife-man hired as a mercenary during the Great Nomadic War, whose reputation for butchery, rape, rapine, and oath-breaking preceded him. A dastardly sort of man, not to be trusted. He was one to be feared in peacetime, and kept close at wartime. The Emperor had not beheaded him, for, I suspect, as ally to the Empire on sensitive assignments, he would be of far greater value than dead and rotting on the plains, as is the custom of his people; who leave their dead for the corvids and wolves to claim.

"The Ayghdaan mercenary who fought with us during the Northern battles, he accosted me in the market, as I was unable to complete due payment on a sum he'd loaned me, I would've been exsanguinated on the spot, had it not been for the timely arrival of some King-Tiger's, about their daily patrols." He recounted lucidly. He'd sat upright, feet treading the water leisurely.

"At that moment, what did you sense?"

"Blood-thirst. His eyes glistened with bloody intent. I felt at once perplexed, disquieted, and exasperated. Have I to flee? I wish not to depart from Hozu. My whole life I've spent in that city. Amdaki VII's own abode of tranquility."

"No, young warrior, fear not. The King Tiger's will report this to the High Centre in Gotraki Zighnesh, and the Emperor's very best riders shall cut him down if necessary. He is a low knife-man, and you're a veteran combatant of urban residence. He's run afoul of the law, son of Kokouatuuki, and shall receive his just deserts." No law-breaker, of whatever description, no matter how well-born, could harm an artisan or a soldier, least of all one as prolific and recidivistic as Migha'atai, he would be run through sooner rather than later. At any rate, the Lizaan Fierd was a force to be reckoned with, and the strongest arm of the Empire, and he could never hope to escape it, even if he fled amongst his people, to some Far-Northern rathole. Furthermore, Rimpaki had been a Sagittary of Aluuzan, part of an elite group with specialist and lifelong training; he himself had been picked out in his early youth, Sagittaries are not easily replaceable, and are privy to many Imperial secrets, and military techniques. A Sagittary is proficient with not only the bow and horse, but also the long-spear, Lizaan sabre, and silver-shield.

"You are in need of rest and healthsome toil. Consume no dairy products, nor meat, nor eggs, additionally, must you offer prayers, at first light and dusk, without fail, to Oruki, god of healing. You should see an amelioration before the season has passed." When I said this, his fear seemed to wash right out of him, and my previous speech had somewhat emboldened him.

"Thank you, doctor."

"Pray, what are you called, senior one?"

"Zotushna, son of Alemzgir. Dispense with the formalities, I am not far your senior." I always felt rather quaint whenever I was called "senior".

"I shall take my departure now, son of Kokouatuuki, bathe yourself presently, Ponutuuki shall accompany you to your home at daybreak."

The sky's wailing had somewhat abated by then, the rain had been reduced to a light, intermittent trickle. The wailing would not cease until I reached my home, a weak torch sputtered above the doorpost, I slapped the courser on its thigh and it galloped off after its master, no true Lizaan horse could ever get lost, before checking up on my own mount, an Imperial steed, black of coat and mane, called Ozü, "strong" in the archaic tongue of the Ayghdaan, he'd been comfortable despite day-long stabling, and had eaten the wheat I'd left for him in mounds by his trough, which I'd filled with water, this had been mid-way cleared, I re-filled it, patted his mane, and whispered words of praise after greeting him; surrounding his enclosure with dried grasses, thereafter, to fight the chill, and re-adjusted the dark-wood kindling in the brazier that I'd kept inside his stable to maintain his warmth, before entering my house, and falling asleep, with great ease.

I awoke nearly instantaneously at first light, unwrapping woollen bed-vestments from my frame, I then clothed myself in a dark-cotton under-dress; proceeding to draw an incensed blue-silk torso-concealer over my right shoulder and a thicker gray wolf-hide over my back, this being also incensed. Finally, I fastened a copper-hued, bejewelled tiger-hide coat to my shoulders, and hung it over the rest of my vestures, covering the remainder of my body, down to the knees; with slight exertion, I shut the metal hinges of my door, arriving soon thereafter before an intricately-carved and awe-inspiring temple of marble, dressed in gold and sparkling gems, for the glory of gods and Empire.

Fellow worshippers had already congregated outside the First Baths by then, in preparation for the Lavations, similarly raimented as was I for the early morn-administered Haybara ceremony. "Cleanse thyself, O' ye who art assembled." Began a priest, all garbed in gold-chased gray-cotton robes, in the archaic priestly tongue; called "Hieratic" for simplicity.

We purified ourselves, as bid, in the frigid bath, sinking and rising up again in sequences of seven at each turn, as is the custom of our land, then rushed, subsequently, into the second bath, and proceeded in like manner; we moved to the third bath, where we remained, whilst the priests swayed rhythmically to an arcane chant and growled, baring their teeth menacingly. "Thou art banished, fiend. For thy cruelty art thou cast from the land. Thy mother should'st thou go to. May the gods banish thee thither, as meet thy erring ways by which thou hast wreaked havock and tumult in this our land bequeathed us by the divinities." They so repeated multiple times, of which I took no count, in accordance with the formulæ, unchanged since ancient times.

They, then, sprinkled a fine white powder over us, whose constitution I knew and know not, thereafter beseeching Ge'eyaki, our mother goddess, to watch over and fortify us.

Leaving this hallowed place, I set foot to granite, descending the steps therefrom, and coming onto the Imperial Road, also of granite make, and started down it.

As I made my way back to town, a certain noblewoman, covered fully in white habiliments, signifying that she was of the family Goordooki, which is that of the Emperor, approached me, faintly smiling.

"Zotushna, son of Alemzgir, grandson of the Protector of The Signs?" She examined me inquisitively, holding a sheet of wool over her outdrawn right arm.

"I am he." I wondered at her intent, waiting for her to state it.

"You are summoned before the Sagacious, the Infallible, Amdaki VII, ruler of the Meldek Empire." She concluded his titles as succinctly as possible.

Two horsemen appeared by her side, each one seated on an unblemished white horse, of the Imperial Pen; a horseman, swarthy and as hairless as is a barbarian, extended his hand, helping me mount his animal, and regarded me with ominous black eyes that promised evil should the need arise; the woman, unpartnered and of Imperial blood, was carried with ease by the other, a strapping youth, with honey skin and pale-brown eyes, tresses of light-brown hue flowing freely down his back. This one, it seemed, by his carriage and physical strength, was a Sagittary.

We overleapt a minor rivule, a short while later, entering in the midst of a wholesome and verdant meadow, well-watered; in it were apple trees, in bloom, all well-nourished and with bountiful fruit, olives, lemons, brunions, and earth-coloured citruses. I had previously supposed that the Emperor's grounds were surrounded by insurmountable and impregnable walls as were the ones of Azghulaki, but now I could see that this was not so. A wonder that no one made unlawful entrance thereto. We waited for a short while, holding petty conversation on inconsequential matters.