The Vulture King by Nikki Turner

Author:Nikki Turner [Turner, Nikki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BLKDOG Publishing
Published: 2020-05-18T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

In the days that followed, the gulf between Aram and Bina and their companions only grew deeper. Aram refused point blank to apologise to Tai for his accusations, and now neither boy would speak to the other. Bina occasionally attempted to bridge the gap between them but was met by cold silence. Bayre didn’t appear inclined to intervene and now spent most of his time walking with Tai.

As they walked Aram started to play a strange game. If he could reach that bush without stepping on a stick, his mother would live. If he could hold his breath until he’d taken a hundred steps, he would get to her in time to save her. Each night was broken into a hundred small victories and losses, his mother’s life hanging in the balance again with each new game. Whenever he slept, he watched her die again and again. She fell from the back of a cechua. The king struck her down in a rage. And the worst one of all, she drew on her power just as he reached her, only to find it was the last of her magic. She crumbled away to dust while he stood there, helpless to save her. He would wake sweating and shaking from these nightmares to find Bina stroking his back and humming to him.

They passed the occasional kraal, but Bayre skirted them widely. They were managing to gather just enough food as they walked, and he didn’t feel extra supplies were worth the risk.

As days turned into weeks, Aram found his fear of what was to come growing. Bina tried to reassure him it was all going to work out in the end, but he couldn’t seem to believe it himself. Terror for his mother’s safety gnawed continually at his gut, and sleep was no longer an escape. Exhausted and afraid, he stumbled onwards in a daze, losing track of exactly how far they had come.

So, when they reached the edge of a plateau near sunrise one day, his mind struggled to comprehend what lay in front of him. As light crept across the eastern sky, it bathed the stark landscape in red and orange. As far as the eye could see, there stretched dusty plains unbroken by any type of vegetation. Occasional outcroppings of rock were all that broke the monotony of the view. It was as bleak and unwelcoming a place as any Aram had ever seen.

Bayre stood close to the edge of the drop-off and flung out one arm. “Welcome to the Barrens.”

The children joined him and stared out, overwhelmed by the sight. Tai was the first to break the silence. “How do we get down?”

Bayre pointed off to one side where they could just make out the start of a very faint path. “We head down there. Watch your step, it’s little more than a goat trail, and a fall from this height will be the end of you. Once we’re down, we must stick closely together. Most

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