The Hidden Guardian: Ranger of the Titan Wilds, Book 3 by J.D.L. Rosell

Author:J.D.L. Rosell [Rosell, J.D.L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rune & Requiem Press
Published: 2024-04-02T00:00:00+00:00

39

TAINTED

The patriarch spoke with such conviction she found it difficult to doubt him. Leiyn delved deep within her for a ranger's clarity.

It was Isla who spoke first.

"What do you mean, 'tainted'? You mean he's… part dryvan?"

The former plainsrider stiffened. She felt his esse quiver with uncertainty. The images of his lifemark, so clear before, grew murky.

Oro sounded weary, the vigor from moments before subsiding. "It came during the Culling. Before that, they had only killed. But during that time, they became more… sakilt is the word in our tongue."

"Barbaric," Ketti murmured.

"Yes. Some captives, they tortured. Some they… violated."

Violated. Leiyn swallowed, bile burning her throat. Could it be true? Could an Iritu have raped his ancestor long ago? If Oro could sense it, dryvans certainly could. Which meant they had concealed it.

Ata included.

"We believe this transgression had a purpose: that they sought a way to reproduce without their birthing trees. If they succeeded, we have seen no sign of it, for their numbers have only dwindled, spirits be thanked. When their experiments ceased, they released some of those impregnated back to our ancestors to bear the children. Why, we can only speculate. Perhaps only as another of their cruelties.

"Some of these ill-born were too twisted to survive. Others were ordinary in appearance, or almost so. It was not in our people's hearts to kill a babe, innocent of the crimes that brought it into the world. And so, those with tainted blood passed it down through generations."

Batu dropped his gaze to stare at the ground. Isla neared him, but though she reached out, she fell short of touching him. As if she did not dare.

Leiyn was lost, helpless. She did not know what he suffered or how to reach him. This changed nothing of who he was to her. Why would it? He was the same man he had always been.

And did I know who that was?

Memories flitted through her mind. Batu gifting of his esse as she lay dying but standing moments later. Batu defying the vine jaguar when all but herself were paralyzed by its pollen.

She shook away the thoughts.

"Even if what you say is true," Leiyn said, "even if he has Iritu blood⁠—"

"It is true," Oro interrupted. "I have seen it."

It was a step too far.

"You cannot have seen these crimes!" she spat. "I don't know what you are, but you're not dryvans. You haven't lived for aeons!"

Doubts flickered through her before she squashed them. She had sensed the difference in age between these Etemans and the Iritu. If dryvans and lyshans were like trees, Etemans were mere saplings.

"I have," the patriarch repeated. "The annals do not lie."

"Every history does!" She threw out a hand. "Every person does! The only truth you can know is what you've seen."

"And I have. Our annals are not like yours, Leiyn of Orille. They are the memories of those long departed. Through their eyes, we understand history exactly. I have witnessed the Culling. I have seen the violence of the gallu, the Iritu.

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