Project - Prometheus Ch. 07

Alex cocked an eyebrow before looking at Valessa for confirmation. A slight nod of her head gave it to him and he gestured with his arm, having her fall in line with the rest of them. Opening the door, Lumi led them out as the honor guard of the chieftaness walked back inside. They took their positions around her as Valessa stretched out and paced.

Much was running through her head as she processed the events of that night. 'The Sareetahl clan, returned after all these years! The mighty Yahk'shurt, finally defeated! My daughter brought back to me, unspoiled and safe! All because if these warriors from the stars!' Her thoughts continued to churn around the new guests of her clan.

There was so much that had changed and there would be much more that would continue to change. Though many of her people had wanted things to remain the same, life seldom was so. That was one thing that Faal'Dahr had taught her, when they were young. That was before her father had died facing the Yahk'shurt in a skirmish over hunting grounds. Before Luminia had been born, she had to rise to become the new chief of her clan.

It was a position and burden she had never wanted, but her elder brother was killed in the same skirmish. Being the last blood relative of the line of chiefs, it fell to Valessa to lead them. Though she had fumbled through the first few years, she had held the Ahl'kanin together. With Faal'Dahr by her side, she never doubted herself as he never let her. She had actually built up the Ahl'kanin over the years and they had become a force to be reckoned with. Up until Lumi had come back that day, dragging her father's sword, bloodied and near death.

She spent the better part of a month fussing over her daughter and making sure she survived her injuries. When she could finally speak, Luminia spoke of a massive Tashkuun beast, who had engaged her father and though he fought valiantly, the beast was too clever and had wounded him. She recalled how Dahr had told her to run and that he'd hold it off. The fact that Lumi had not only evaded the beasts hunting her, but how she'd walked back across the tundra, was a miracle in itself.

She was always left wondering, what would have happened that day, if she had gone with them. They had both told her it would be fine, as the beasts were roaming elsewhere that time of year. They hadn't counted on a new alpha rising up and claiming that barren section of land as their new home. Since his death, Valessa had forbidden anyone to go near it, to prevent anyone dying recklessly.

After his funeral, she had been given time to mourn Faal'Dahr's passing, and she had. When her mourning was done, many men from within the clan and without, had come forward hoping to court Valessa. They all hoped to catch her attention and look upon them favorably, but she saw it for what it truly was. They all sought the power that was associated with the position of a consort to the chieftaness. They didn't care for her; they cared only for power.

Even Vahlteim, for all his bravado and bluster, had thought he would win her over. He was severely displeased when she turned him down flat. He had started make subtle threats to her clan, until she thrashed him handily, proving that she was not a woman to be trifled with. It wasn't long after that, the various offers had dried up. False rumors spread that she would try to beat down anyone who thought to court her. She knew the truth though. They saw the position, not the woman. No man had looked at her as a woman, but tonight, two men had.

She had caught the looks from Captain Tomisic and he was handsome enough. Though she didn't know him that well, and he was apparently mated to the dark-skinned woman called Natalya. The other oddly enough, was the defeated warrior, Sohlkris. He could have sworn himself to her with a lesser and she would have accepted it. Finding a way for the other chiefs present to accept it was another matter, but she would have managed it.

Swearing a Blood Oath though, that was something that was not done lightly. Few Artucian alive could even recall what a Blood Oath was, let alone how to say it correctly! Sohlkris and his warriors had done it without hesitation and then there was the way he had looked at her. Oddly enough, she thought she was being looked at the way that Dahr used to look at her.

Shaking her head, Valessa tried to clear her mind of this foolish fancy that had taken root. She paced some more and tried to think of other things, but her mind kept going back to Sohlkris. Huffing in frustration, she looked at her honor guard. Many of them had been her friends growing up, all of them sworn to her service and to keep her secrets. There was nothing she could do, shy of outright clan betrayal, that they would speak of without her consent.

A thought then entered her head and though she tried to brush it away, it had held fast and would not go away. Growling, Valessa resigned herself to at least try this manner of thinking and see what would happen. Better to try and fail than to sit here wondering I guess Valessa thought to herself as she steeled herself for a decision she was sure was a bad idea.

"Summon Sohlkris, leader of the Sareetahl clan to my presence. I will await him here," she dictated to the guards standing near the doorway. Placing their fists to their chests in salute, the two women ducked out the door to retrieve the man.

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"So, you are a machine, that thinks, inside their suits?" Luminia wondered as her eyes goggled.

"I'm not a machine in that sense," Jaesa chirped in reply. "I was created using a machine in that respect, but strictly , I am more... ethereal."

"Like a spirit?"

"In a way, I suppose, but more like one who can help as opposed to one who may or may not be there," Jaesa continued as she explained herself.

"So, it is because of you, that Korsa, Alex and everyone can speak as an Artucian can?" Luminia asked, voice shrouded in awe.

"After a fashion. I listened to your words and established a baseline translation for your language. Once I had the baseline, I had to run various algorithms to determine the correct accent and idiom for how your people would speak. The more I could listen, the easier it became to narrow down the correct algorithm," Jaesa finished.

"What is this, 'algorithm'?" Lumi asked, bewildered.

"It is a way of solving a problem or question by using what you know to determine what the answer is," Jaesa stated quietly. The hologram of the AI looked at Lumi as a schoolteacher might do to a disruptive student. Lumi colored slightly as she looked about the main hold of the drop ship. Everyone from the Perseus had nearly passed right out after boarding the Hermes, but they stayed awake long enough at least to get their suits off and make themselves comfortable.

Almost everyone in the group had paired off with someone to snuggle with. Taal'ani was burrowed in Korsa's side, the massive woman's snores being the loudest sound in the ship right now. Natalya had cuddled up with Alex and the cute pair was sleeping soundly, as were Inari and Priya, though Pree kept shifting her sleep. Lumi supposed that the burns she had seen on the woman had something to do with her discomfort.

Kasumi however, had opted to sleep by herself. The steel eyed warrior was half propped up against the bulkhead dozing away, despite trying to stay awake. It was quite warm inside and though she didn't think they were needed, she had obeyed the Captain and gave everyone a heavy blanket that was stowed in the ship.

She had felt the material as she had passed them out and had made a mental note to ask Alex about acquiring some of these blankets for her own people. Not only were they of fine make, but they were amazingly warm! Blankets like these would be highly valued, if they had enough to trade.

Alex had introduced Luminia to Jaesa before retiring for the evening, as her inquisitiveness was driving her to stay awake. The adrenaline of discovering such marvels was the only thing keeping Lumi up at this hour and she was feeling its effects waning a bit. She resolved to plow on though with as many questions as she could. Lowering her voice, Luminia continued her questions.

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Vahlteim ground his teeth in agitation, furious with the current turn of events. He schooled his face as best as he could but some of his frustration leaked out, which some people around him took as anger and hurried away from him. The path back to his guest quarters was a short walk from the place they were to meet for the negotiations. He threw aside the door and stormed inside, having his guard leave him be. They stood outside and held their posts as the chief slammed the door shut.

All of that careful planning! Everything I had prepared and coordinated with such painstaking detail, ruined! He thought to himself as he quietly raged inside the dwelling. As much as he wanted to vent and rage, he had to be careful. Some of his own guard he was certain could not be trusted, not by him in any stretch. Those that he could trust, lay dead now, their blood upon the snows.

For many seasons, he had carefully planned out the assault on the Ahl'kanin, meeting in secret with Dahr'khash. The two of them had a vision of what they would do with the Ahl'kanin, then the rest of the Artucian people. To have them all groveling at their feet, with them as their masters. It had been a blissful vision, that Vahlteim had always dreamed of and with Dahr'khash by his side, he would have achieved his dream.

It had been many years since he had been thrown out of his old clan, for trying to usurp the old chief. He had wandered aimlessly, out in the snows, until he had found the Darhourt clan. It was pure chance that a couple of their hunters had stumbled upon him while he was passing through their hunting grounds.

When he was brought back to their village, he had endeared himself to the chief, an aging and trusting fellow, called Gahltur. He was welcomed with open arms and had hoped that no one had heard of him. He was again granted that stroke of luck as no one had. His former clan had moved away from their ancestral lands in search of better hunting grounds, which worked out to his advantage.

It wasn't long before the old chief had trusted him with his life and was his most trusted advisor, which worked to Gahltur's detriment. Soon after, Vahlteim had worked out a plan which saw the old chief dead by 'accident'. Since there was no one who could step up to fill the void, he had placed himself in that position, being his chief advisor. He had been so close with the old chief that no one dared to argue. A few of the warriors and some females were unhappy with this turn of events, but he believed they were inconsequential. Or so he thought.

As it turned out, one of the females favored by old Gahltur when he was alive, was pregnant with his child at the time of the chief's passing. When the child was born, a healthy baby boy, Vahlteim had tried many insidious plans to have the child brought to him, but the brat's mother never let the boy out of her sight. That was more than ten years ago.

In that time, under Vahlteim's leadership, other outcasts were taken into the Darhourt clan and he was careful in his selections of whom to trust. Eventually he built himself enough of a power base with which to claim supremacy within the clan. Sadly, for him, Zaelina, the boy's mother, had been busy as well. She had also built up her power base, by directing her people to find and bring in good people to the Darhourt clan, mostly through marriage.

Because it strengthened the clan as a whole, there was little that Vahlteim could do to stop her. Especially after several of the men she brought in as husbands to her sisters, were Ahl'kanin warriors, among their best. The laws had prevented him from acting or lashing out in any manner. After allying himself with Dahr'khash, he had hoped that he would have been in a position to change the stubborn laws that guaranteed the Artucian people fairness.

He wanted nothing less than the total control and domination of his clan and any clan that would dare oppose him. He almost had attained it, but those cursed sky warriors had ruined everything! Not only that, but their leader, their 'Captain' had dressed him down as though he was nothing more than an impudent boy! He had struck him with such fear, that he had outright pissed himself in front of the assembly of chiefs! It was the greatest of all disgraces he had ever endured! He would be sure that this 'Captain' would answer for such an insult!

He had to calm down; he had to think. His mind was his greatest weapon and because of it, he had attained the position he had held within this clan. Though it was a temporary one as long as the boy survived. Once he came of age, within six years, Vahlteim would no longer hold the position of chief and he would be exiled once again. Of that he was certain! He had to drum up a plan that would ensure and cement his position as chief! He calmed down, and he sat there, thinking quietly, letting his mind wander among the myriad possibilities of what he could do. Ever so slowly, a plan formed in his mind.

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Valessa had been waiting for nearly fifteen minutes before she heard her guards' approach. The doorway opened, and they came though, with Sohlkris standing between them. The man looked only slightly miffed at being roused from his accommodations at this hour, but otherwise, he looked solemn. Being summoned by the chieftaness wasn't something that any guest said no to. Especially, one in which you swore a Blood Oath to.

"Thank you, my friends. That will be all. I will speak with Sohlkris alone," Valessa stated. The guards looked at each other, then Valessa, then Sohlkris. Looking back at each other, the guards shrugged, then gestured to the other four who had lined the room.

The remaining guards looked like they would protest, but a hard look from Valessa sent them scurrying away. They shot hard looks at Sohlkris, who knew that they didn't like this, but they trusted their chieftaness' word. Once they had all shown themselves out, Valessa let out a breath and opened her mouth, but Sohl spoke first.

"I am here as you have asked, chieftaness. I am truly grateful for what you've done for me and my clan, by taking us in and sparing our lives," the man said as he bowed his head.

"I am the one who should be grateful, Sohlkris. You and yours, pledging yourselves to the service of the Ahl'kanin and with a Blood Oath no less! Such a thing hasn't been done in ages!" Valessa blurted out, almost like she was a fawning little girl. She shook herself mentally as she continued speaking to him.

"I would honestly like to hear the tale of how you came back to these lands after so long," she asked, her voice full of questions. Nodding, Sohlkris asked to be seated and Valessa told him to do so as she sat as well.

"It started with Kazhdarck, the great chief of generations ago..." and he went on about how in those days where the Sareetahl were still strong and had believed themselves nigh invincible. Many in their clan and outside of it had believed it as well. How their chief had believed that it was past time they conquered this world and became its masters.

They left their lands, leaving its stewardship in the hands of Kazhdarck's youngest son and how they had traveled across the wastes, seeking new lands to claim. How they had, but they weren't as grand as what they had left behind. The small spaces they claimed couldn't feed the whole clan, so they had to migrate between areas constantly, so as not to deplete the resources they found.

How they were eventually chased out by great beasts that would break out from beneath the ice and swallow their people whole. The clan had continued to wander for several generations, going from place to place, finding no real respite. They continued on throughout the generations, living as nomads. Eventually, when Sohl had come of age, his father had claimed that there was nothing out here, that Kazhdarck's grand vision was folly and that they should return to their ancestral lands.

He then told of how they came back to find that everything that was left behind was gone or claimed by the Yahk'shurt. His father had been outlining a plan for where they could go when they were attacked. With their children and women taken from them, they had little choice but to bend the knee to their oppressors. Here though, he was glad that they were gone and that they now served the Ahl'kanin, who were fair and just allies to them in the past.

His tale enraptured Valessa, and he was a natural storyteller, going into detail when needed. He had also stood and made various gestures to help tell his clan history, which she appreciated, but it also showed Val a few other things about him. Sohlkris was a strapping man, with no extra flab or skin hanging though his skins and furs he wore. He stood easily at about six-foot two, with soft, kindly features, as though he had seen and endured much in his lifetime, which he had.

"I am curious though, why you made the oath in the first place. You could have pledged yourselves to a lesser oath and I would have been merciful. Yet you made a Blood Oath. Why?" Valessa asked the man standing before her.

"Being the son of a chief, I learned at my father's feet about things that a chief should do and not do. About the weight he carries, being responsible for all those in his charge, for all that have pledged themselves to the clan," Sohl explained. "I also learned about the various situations that a chief, or chieftaness, can find themselves in."

"As I was taught these things, I could see that my declaration of us as Sareetahl had inadvertently put you in a difficult position. You were torn between sparing us or sending us into the snows," the man went on. "You comport yourself well and I had a hard time spotting it, but I could tell that you did not want to send us out with the Yahk'shurt. You especially didn't want the children to be bereft of their fathers and mothers."

Valessa stared at the man as though seeing him for the first time. She had been taught to be a chieftaness since she was old enough to understand what it was to occupy such a position. She had learned from both her father and brother about what it meant to actually be one. And here, this man had pierced the mask she wore for the sake of her clan! As far as she knew, no one except Luminia could see that side of her!

"So, I made the decision as easy for you as I could. I was at a loss until that...'Captain'... had spoken at length of honor and strength of character. It was his words that led to me remembering the Blood Oath. Although it meant certain slavery for my people, I gambled on the hope that you would be kinder than the Yahk'shurt had been to us. It was the only way I could see for us to save our lives and retain some semblance of the honor we once held," Sohlkris finished.

"Was there any sort of oath you had made to the Yahk'shurt, that would have bound you in such a way?" Valessa asked cautiously.

"They forced us to a similar oath when they had us at their mercy, but there was a flaw in the oath itself," he nodded resignedly. "Dahr'khash had us swear the oath to him and him alone, so that any orders he gave us would not be questioned. A warrior such as he was, would not have been easy for us to overcome, so we gave it. We all believed that he could never be felled, and he believed it as well. That is, until he crossed paths with that war goddess."

Valessa allowed herself to smile at that thought. Not only had Korsa put down that errant bastard handily but had done it such a way that evoked poise and grace. Like engaging in battle was an elaborate dance, and she was a master at the dance. Such fluid form combined with a strength mightier than even their greatest warriors, made for a deadly and beautiful opponent. She would have to see if this 'Korsa' could be persuaded to teach at least some of her warriors how to fight like she could. Focusing back on the matter at hand, Valessa held Sohl's gaze as she replied.