Yana's Story: Shores of Uen
© Tiffany Dunn

Yanamai awoke with sand in her mouth, salt in her eyes, and an aching body.  She lay where she was, and felt water surge up over her legs, then pull away again. It wasn't hard to figure out that she had landed on a beach.

The hard part would be figuring out where.

Last she remembered, a storm had seemingly erupted around the ship out of nowhere, drowning them in rain and darkness.  It had been nighttime already, and they’d quickly lost sight of any stars or even the moon.  The ocean had gone berserk, and the next thing Yana knew was the jarring of her very bones as the ship had rammed into something hard and immobile.  One of the masts had swung down and smacked her in the back, and she’d toppled into the cold water of DragonsTooth Ocean, named for the very reefs they had just run into.  A large, floating piece of wood had saved her from drowning, and she had passed out, letting fate take her where it wanted.  She’d been through too much to do otherwise.

Now as she tried to wipe the salt water from her eyes, Yana thanked Lioshae for saving her.  She couldn't swim, and she knew if she had fallen off of her makeshift boat then she never would have made it back.  ::But where am I?:: she wondered, squinting her eyes open.  Wherever she was, it was nighttime again, or still, and her heart began pounding in fear.  This was Urtoth's time.  Everyone knew it was madness to be outside at night, when Urtoth roamed the lands, looking for the unwary.  She had to find shelter, fast.  Struggling to her knees, she groaned as her muscles cramped.  Her back felt like one throbbing bruise, and her arms and legs were like dead weights.  Fear was more powerful than the pain, though, and she managed to rise to her feet.

Her slitted sight didn't allow her to see much but the darkness, so she forced her eyes open, letting out a small yelp.  The salt had crusted at the edges, and fell into her eyes when she opened them.  Yana rubbed at the edges of her eyes, trying to get as much salt away from them as she could.  Even with a wider gaze it was still dark, clouds covering the sky.  Dark and very unfamiliar. She glanced upwards, looking for Urtoth even though it was said that no one could see him until he struck.  She shuddered again and stumbled away from the beach towards whatever the darker mass ahead of her was.  ::Please let it be an empty building:: she begged, knowing it wouldn't be.  Terians had enough trouble farming the valleys, no one would build a house out here.  And if they did, there would certainly be people inside of it, and strangers were second only to thieves in a Terian's estimation.  ::Thieves and y'kesh:: she reminded herself bitterly.  It was why she had boarded that twice-damned ship in the first place.  Urtoth take the whole lot of them.

::But he already has.::  The last she’d seen, they had been fighting to save the ship even after the hit.  And Yana heard no voices or human noises in the still night air now.  At an unsteady pace she continued up the sloped beach, her bare feet feeling the changes as she walked. First the wet sand of the shoreline, then soft sand that coated her skin, then sharp rocks that she had to slow down to cross.  The dark mass appeared to be much bigger as she got closer, stretching out as far as she could see to the right and left. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the moonless dark, until she could make out the tall, silent forms of trees.  ::A forest?  Next to the beach?::  There was no forest like that in Teria, as far as she knew.  She must have landed in a neighboring country.

Yana stopped a few feet from the forest's edge and stared around wildly.  "Another country?" she breathed to herself.  She would never be found now.  She would never get back home, either.

"My home is gone, my family dead," she said aloud. "Urtoth take you, Roltan." Her voice choked on his name, thick as bile. Surging hate filled her soul, pushed out everything else.  Time had neither dulled the feelings nor made her forget.  She would go back, one day. And she would make him pay for what he did.

Warmed and encouraged by her hatred, she stormed into the even darker shelter of the forest, her hands out in front of her as a protective barrier.  Wherever she was, she would find her way back.  Yana tripped over a stray root, landing hard on the packed dirt, frustration fueling the bonfire raging inside of her. "Burn you!" she shouted, her voice startlingly loud in the silence.

It reminded her of Urtoth's nighttime hunting, and she quickly muffled the rest of her cursing. She started to roll onto her back, but the roots dug into her bruised muscles and she had to stop on her side, panting, cursing still.  ::I'll make him pay:: she vowed to herself for the thousandth time.  ::For all of it.::  Thoughts of what she would do to Roltan accompanied her as she drifted off to sleep.

Rolling her neck in a circle to limber up, Yana shut her eyes, going through the warm-up routines that Naneh had taught her.  ::My body is like wheat in the wind, my mind smooth as well-loved wood, my soul calm as an early spring morning:: she repeated over and over, feeling the words.  Naneh had taught her many things in her early years with the y’kesh.  How to cook, how to clean, and later, how to perform the tumbling acts that let her stay with the group.

This routine was just part of the act, the part that the audiences never saw.  Here in this strange forest, Yana rolled her shoulders in time to the rustling of the leaves, and let her movements distract her from her fear.  Some time later, she opened her eyes again, surprised to find the forest brighter than it had been.  Her stomach growled, reminding her that it had been over a day since she’d eaten.  With a looser gait, Yana headed further into the forest, determined to leave the ocean behind.  What she was looking for would not be behind her. Her path lay further inland.

The walk was pleasant enough, if sparked with moments of absolute terror.  Though she’d never spent much time outdoors in Teria because of the cold weather, she knew that many of the birds she saw were not native to her own country.  The plants, too, looked different, staying her hand from picking any of their berries.  And the trees…she’d never seen trees so tall.  It was in these moments, when her future seemed most uncertain, that violent, frightening chills overtook her, and she had to stop and lean against the nearest trunk until they passed.  Then the bottomless loneliness would leave her, and she would push on, making good time though she followed no path.

It was afternoon before Yana first heard the sounds of human inhabitants, off to her left.  She had veered that way all morning, hoping it would lead her out of this endless amount of trees.  She’d wondered if the entire country was covered with trees.  Now she would find the answer to that question.  Voices calling to one another, their tones friendly though their words were indistinguishable, beckoned her further onward. The dimness of the forest lightened, until fewer trunks blocked her path and she paused as she neared the edge.  Staying protected behind one of the larger trunks, Yana poked her head around the side to see whom she had encountered.

The sight took her breath away.  A village, larger than any she’d seen before, lay spread out before her like a painting.  She was at the top of a low hill, staring down at buildings clustered together near the shore of Dragonstooth Ocean. People, more than she knew could live together peacefully, walked back and forth along the streets, and even more streamed along the shoreline and outskirts of the village, going about their daily business.

Yana stared down at the people and considered her options.  A village that large surely had room for a traveling entertainer, that was her first thought.  ::But if I’m not in Teria anymore, who knows what these people are like? Do they kill strangers? Would they even acknowledge me?::  She was still too far away to make out words or clothing, but she had no experience with anyone not from Teria anyway, and she knew it would do little good if she could hear or see them now.  ::Perhaps I should sneak in? But then if I get caught, only Lioshae knows what would happen to me.::  She rubbed her sweaty palms down her thighs, surprised to feel them touch skin.  She looked down at herself, only just realizing the extent of her tattered clothing.  The thick, sturdy limko garment she’d been wearing had been ripped asunder during her ocean travel, and though the shirt still covered most of her, her pants were hardly long enough to be decent.  But her stomach still ached with emptiness and it was that that made her decision.  Hunger was at least a problem she could fix.  Head up, arms hanging loosely at her sides, Yana strode down the hill towards the village as though she’d done it a hundred times in the past.

As she got closer, she felt eyes drawn to her, watching her walk past, and her skin began to tingle unpleasantly.  Something was not right here.  She risked a glance at the people, stopping them as they whispered between themselves.  She heard a word she didn’t understand, and her hands grew sweaty again, and a thin trickle of sweat slipped down her back, another down the side of her face.  Something was very wrong.  The closer she got, the more people bunched up at her back, closing her in on all sides until she felt surrounded by an impenetrable wall of flesh.  The closeness began to suffocate her, even though the sky was bright and blue above her, and ocean birds cried and called to one another in the distance.  Her heart was running madly in her chest, and her breaths came sharp and short.  Yana’s gaze darted all about her now, and her hands had bunched into tight fists.  She couldn’t fight them all off, but she wasn’t about to let them take her down without a fight.  And then the crowd parted and a tall, tall man strode forward, hands on his hips, and his features angry.  Yana stopped, spreading her legs and loosening her whole body, prepared to attack.  He stopped three arm lengths away from her and planted his feet.  His gaze traveled from the top of her head down to her bare feet and back, his long brown hair whipped by the sea wind.

"Who are you and what has happened to you?"

Yana’s jaw dropped at the babble coming from the man’s mouth.  Why was he talking like that?  Apparently upset by her reaction, the man repeated his nonsense, louder and fiercer this time.  Then from her side came another voice, sharp and rough, and the man instantly began to look apologetic.  Yana glanced over her shoulder and saw another man coming towards her, his eyes darting angry glances past her.  He was obviously upset with the taller man, who seemed to be cowed by it.  She shifted her body so she could face both men at once.

The new man, who had short dark hair and a weathered face, smiled at her, holding his hands out to the side as he began to babble at her.  Yana shook her head, trying to let him know that his magic, or whatever it was, wasn’t working.  The man’s smile fell, and was replaced by some emotion she was too frightened and tired to figure out.  Something was terribly, horribly wrong.

Then the crowd began to murmur, all speaking the same language, all of the words meaningless to her.

"ship?"  Yana perked up, looking at the woman who had said that.

"Zhip! Zhip!" she repeated wildly, gesturing at the ocean.  ::She knows of the ship!::

The woman backed away from her, her hands held out in front of her protectively. Yana stopped her approach, and repeated, "Zhip?"

The group’s murmuring grew louder, and someone shouted a word at her that she didn’t understand.  She shook her head, no, again.  Another word came from behind, then another to the side, then everyone was shouting words at her at once.  The barrage felt like a hail of stones, like the hail of stones that had driven her y’kesh from their last city.

"I DON’T UNDERSTAND!" she finally screamed, helpless to do anything else.  Silence swallowed up the group’s voices, and in the quiet only the ocean and the seabirds made any noise.  Yana exhaled sharply, pinned down by the strangers’ stares.  Some wary, some wondering, some just confused.  And then before she could try again, the older man lay a hand on her shoulder, gripping it firmly.  She tried to struggle free, but his hand was like iron as he began pushing her through the crowd, shouting something to his companions.  Yana’s heart dropped into her feet as he led her towards her unknown punishment for her uncertain crime.  The man continued pushing her along, leaving the endless chattering of the voices behind them.  She walked along quietly, all of her senses attuned to where his fingers gripped her shoulder.  She felt the grip loosen ever so slightly, and she wrenched free, running down the road.

Though it was where he had been leading her, she had nowhere else to go.  He was shouting something, but even if she could have understood it, she didn’t care.  She had to get away from here.  She’d only run a short distance before three new men ran towards her, boxing her in and grabbing her arms again before she could get loose.  They dragged her, kicking and growling, to a small, wooden building, where the door was opened for them from inside.  They pushed her in and the door slammed shut behind her.

Yana crouched, her hands held ready, as she glanced around her new prison.  The inside of the building was packed full with strange smelling plants and vials, and a small fire burned in the corner, a pot full of something bubbling over it.  An old woman stood at the door, arms crossed over her chest. Thin, she had an imposing air about her, one that spoke of authority.  Yana wondered if she was a kigothka, or whatever magic users were called here.  The girl quickly stood, though her body remained tense.  She sniffed the air, her nose crinkling at the odd smells.  It reminded her of something, but the woman’s sharp voice interrupted her recollection.  Frustrated at these people’s continued, fruitless attempts at talking to her, Yana turned her back on the woman and began examining the heavily laden shelves.  When the woman wasn’t watching she would run for the door, but for now she’d see if there was anything useful to take with her.  Yana reached to touch one of the plants when suddenly the old woman was standing next to her, and smacking her hand away with a small wooden dowel.  Yana spun, her eyes narrowed and her hands clenched, but the woman was smiling at her and pulling the plant down from the shelf.  Utterly confused, the girl simply stood there, uncertain of what to do.  First they had surrounded her and yelled at her, then the man had tried to help her, then they had gotten angry and shoved her in here, then the woman had hit her, and now she was smiling?  Her legs began to wobble, and darkness gathered at the edge of her vision.  Yana put a hand out to steady herself, but she was falling backwards, the old woman’s shock her last view as she fainted away.

Crouching down, she looked around, but she could see no one nearby and the only voices were distant.  ::And so I chance Urtoth again:: she thought ironically, creeping out to the back of the house.  The breeze shifted, and this time it held the promise of fresh stew. Yana salivated uncontrollably, and her still empty stomach knotted and growled in anticipation.  Nearly crawling the entire way, she made it several houses down, peeking in open windows as she did so.  Finally, she found an empty house with a fire in the fireplace, and the delicious smells emanating from the pot hanging over it.  All the houses she had looked into so far had been empty, and she thanked Lioshae for the unexpected favor.

Slipping in through the window, Yana tried to find a bowl, but the smell was too much, and she grabbed the handle of the spoon already in the stew.  Heedless of the way it burned her tongue and throat, she swallowed spoonful after spoonful, her stomach welcoming the much-needed food.  Voices made her pause, and the door burst open, revealing several small children laughing hysterically.  Their laughter stopped when they saw her, and there was absolute silence as Yana and the children stared at each other.  Then the youngest began wailing, and Yana dropped the spoon, pushing past the children to run outside.

::No, no, no!:: she cursed inwardly, running barefoot through the streets.  She stepped on something small and sharp, and let out a cry of pain as she stumbled onto her knees.  But the pounding of booted feet behind her urged her onwards and she scrambled back up and began running again.  She ran in a straight line, lost amidst the forest of buildings, until voices from her left forced her to turn the opposite direction.

A building lay before her, its front made of two very large, open windows, the inside burning with the light of several lamps and the heat of a huge furnace.  Yana risked a look back, and saw people rushing after her, forcing her towards the building.  She groaned and ran onwards, leaping through the windows and running headfirst into a man inside.  Her head struck his stomach, but his loud grunt was overshadowed by the sound of breaking glass.  Careening through the shop at a barely controlled tumble, Yana slammed into a shelf, and more glass showered down around her, the pieces bouncing all across the shop floor while she covered her neck and head with her arms.  Her skin was scored with hundreds of cuts, but the noise rang in her ears long after the last piece had bounced to a halt.  A crowd of angry voices jabbered outside of the building, and she opened her arms enough to look around her.

It was chaos.

Outside the building, the villagers had bunched up around the windows, and they were all talking at once, shouting and laughing and pointing and just generally making noise. Inside it was even worse. The man she had accidentally run into lay on the floor, his face, chest, and arms badly cut and bleeding, struggling to draw in breaths. The floor itself was a sea of glass shards, each glimmering in the furnace light like a star.  Yana looked at her arms and legs, and the hundreds of droplets and lines of blood that were beginning to well up along them.

Then a woman screamed, and the shouting and sudden heat overwhelmed everything.  The furnace fire had erupted in the building somehow, catching the wood ceiling on fire.  Beams creaked and Yana scrambled to her feet.  She looked to the man, but he was already being carried out by the villagers.  Pressing her lips together, the girl ran across the floor, the broken glass shredding her feet.  It would be suicide to stay, but by the time she’d flung herself out of the window, her feet were aflame with agony and she could only lay on the ground, whimpering.  Someone hovered over her, a new woman who said something that brought two other men around.  In the flickering light of the fire, she saw they were all dressed the same in some sort of uniform, but she had little energy or will to look too long.  Even when one of the men picked her up, she didn’t struggle much.  They would probably kill her for what she’d done, but she had nothing left inside to fight with.  By the time the man had walked far enough away for the heat to disappear, Yana had fallen asleep, blood dripping from her feet, leaving a path to the Roug chapter house.