Conflagration

The heat has been positively oppressive. Hot, dry, with no sign of any kind of relief in sight. The children are all cranky and out of sorts, especially the girls. They boys have taken to wearing nothing but their leathers and padding around in their bare feet, their bodies turning even deeper shades of brown from the exposure to the hot, unrelenting rays of the Central Fire. I have even been letting the girls run around within the confines of our circle of wagons in just their nappies, and have been very vigilant to see that their tender skin does not burn, slathering them with salves. I also try to see that they all take naps, or rest during the hottest part of the day, and have not gotten much flack on that. It is almost funny to see them lounging around in the shadows afforded by the wagons, in a state of languorous ennui.


I have to admit, that I envy them the ability to get by with less clothing, not so for me, or the other women in camp. But I have been seeing more vests, less tunics. I only have the one vest, the one that Ba'atar had made for me. The one time that I wore it, I had mixed feelings. It was too tight, too revealing for my taste, but on the other hand, it made me feel......pretty. How odd. These days it is not quite so tight, so I do wear it around the wagons, but not when I go work with the kaiila. I am just not comfortable in it. I need to get over that.


With no healer to hold me back, I have been taking rides with Rook out into the herds. The grass is almost depleted, and you can see deep cracks in the soil where the heat has leached all the moisture from it. I have even noted that the water levels of the streams have began to drop dangerously low. I also see the worry in the faces of others. We all know that this is a poor situation for not only the herds, but for us. I think this weighs heavily on Ayguili. He has put an edict out that all wager barrels at the wagons are kept full, and that no unnecessary fires are to built, especially out in the herds.


Today, a few clouds drifted in, dark and almost ominous. But they did not have that swollen look of clouds that held life giving rain, which was a disappointment. But by the late afternoon, they held something more dangerous. Flashes of lightening could be seen jumping from on to another, followed by low rumbles of thunder. It was the streaks of light that went from clouds to near the ground that seemed to have the attention of most.


Ayguili had announced that we would be moving the herds, so I tried to help Rook and Gabriel to gather up our bosk teams, to move them closer to the wagons so they were ready. I am like any other Tuchuk, and attuned to the moods and attitudes of the animals. There was this sense of unease in them, even in Ciegue. The quite almost stoic beast was antsy, watching the plains with that blind eye. Rook too was uneasy, and had us turn to return to the wagons.


Suddenly there seemed to be lightening every where, the kind that brings a smell of sulfur in its' wake. Then another smell caught my attention. The smell of burning grass. I turned in my saddle, and I cannot even describe the sense of dread and fear that I felt, seeing those first tendrils of smoke. It all happened so fast, that I still have a difficulty in understanding it. From out in the herds, the flames began to grow higher, and the bosk began to run, the outriders having trouble containing them. Rook reached to slap the flank of my kaiila and shouted for me to go, and to go fast. I did not hesitate, I rode towards the wagon, the only thought in my mind was the safety of my children.


I only have snatches of memory of what happened next. The children were gathered, put into wagons and Rook and Gabriel began to hitch teams to them. I was riding around, trying to gather the slave, have them to watch over the children, then I remembered the penned kaiila. All I could think to do was to ride to open the gates, to throw down the fence posts so they could be allowed to save themselves.


Riding back to the wagons that were now slowly moving, I realized that Tug was not with us. He was still in the herds. Turning Ciegue, I rode back towards the fire, in search of him.


I am not sure what happened then. All I know is that there was the stench of burning flesh, screams of pain and horror, flames leaping into the air, consuming everything in its' path. The heat was overwhelming, and I found myself stopping, looking around at what was happening, and my mind flashed back to that barren plains of my dreams, of the death, destruction and devastation there, that was now here.


Tug was gone. Lost in the conflagration, just as Ba'atar had been gone in that other place. The pain I felt was physical, that knowledge of loss, more than I could bear.


And then, I knew nothing more. I was gone.