Chapter Three
Bannack could hear the warriors behind him shouting as he broke out of their formation and started back toward the compound. He just couldn't stand there with the rest of the warriors anymore. He couldn’t stand there and look at the kneeling women, the stoic king and queen, and the confused, hurting human women. He couldn’t stand there and stare into the purple water, part of him waiting for Jem to simply swim to the edge and climb up out of it with his usual smile on his face, the funeral rite and the funnel of water somehow resurrecting him from his resting place in the reflected sky and allowing him to return to their number. He needed to get away.
He continued into the compound, picking up speed as he went so that he could put the lake and the entire ritual behind him as fast as he could. The emotions churning through him were too dark and too difficult for him to cope with, and he felt like he was losing control. Deep down, however, he knew that this was not all about Jem, or the battle. There was something else at play and it was pushing him ever forward toward the brink of his control over himself. He didn't know what was pushing him or how far he could go, but the thought of what may exist just beyond that threshold of control scared him.
"Bannack!" Pyra yelled from behind him as Bannack made it back into the center of the compound.
Bannack stopped and turned to face the other warriors as they streamed through the compound and joined him. He knew they were going to be angry with him. Leaving a funeral like that was not only extremely disrespectful to the fallen warrior, but to the rest of the tribe that relied on every member to band together during these difficult times and offer each other as much strength and support as possible.
"What?" he demanded as the massive, powerful warrior approached him.
"What the hell do you think you are doing storming out of the funeral like that?" Pyra shouted at him.
"I couldn't just stand there anymore, Pyra. With everything that just happened yesterday, how can we just stay goodbye to Jem and honor his death, and then move on like nothing happened? Like just because the Klimnu are gone, everything is perfectly fine and we should just go about our lives all happy and wonderful."
"What else would you want us to do, Bannack? The Klimnu are gone. The threat is over. It is horrible that Jem had to give his life for that to happen, but any of us would have. He sacrificed himself so that we could continue on with a future that isn't filled with all of the fear and pain and battles that they have put us through over the generations. We owe it to him to acknowledge what he did and honor him by continuing on with our lives."
"Pretending that there is nothing else that could threaten us is not honoring Jem, or anything that the rest of us went through. Jem is not the only one that suffered. We all put ourselves through brutality and pain to protect the clan and the compound. Now you just want us to think that that was it, that the Klimnu are all that could possibly ever want to get in our way or take over our land. What about the mirror world where Jem died? Can you explain that?"
Pyra fell silent and Bannack could see him stiffen. The warriors didn't want to think about that anymore. They didn't want to think about the strange, unexplainable place that none of them knew existed just beneath their feet, and what it could mean for them. Bannack saw Pyra look over his shoulder at the king and queen, who were approaching them quietly, their faces showing that they were as curious about what the warriors had gone through during the battle as Bannack was eager to talk about it and try to figure everything out.
"Is this the mirror world that the women told us about?" Creia asked.
Pyra nodded.
"We haven't heard very much about it."
"Tell them," Bannack demanded, "If you are so sure that there is nothing else to fear now that the Klimnu are gone, why don't you tell Creia, Theia, and the women about what we saw when we were down there?"
He wasn't used to standing up to Pyra like this, and usually he would expect for the head warrior to react strongly, even violently, but Bannack didn't care. He was tired of feeling like he was crawling within his own skin and that he was being ignored. It seemed ridiculous to him that they were all so willing to think that just because they had gotten rid of one source of threat in their lives that there would be nothing else. To him, the battle was only the beginning.
"I'm willing to talk about it," Pyra said slowly.
Creia nodded and turned to the others, who waited several feet away, not knowing what they should do. Eden stood slightly in front of the others, one hand rested over her growing belly protectively as she stared at her mate as if she could control his behavior just by staring intently at his back.
"Those who wish to know what the warriors and our brave human women experienced in the battle may come into the meeting hall with us and hear. Those who are not interested are welcome to go home and do what they please until dinnertime."
There were a few seconds where it seemed that the other warriors, the Denynso women, and the human women seemed to contemplate within themselves, and then with each other, whether they wanted to join in on the conversation about the battle. Some seemed to immediately know that they wanted to know what had happened. Others drifted toward the back of the center of the compound, drawn toward their homes where they could put the mourning behind them and continue forward in the Klimnu-free future that they had dreamed of for their entire lives.
Finally Bannack turned and climbed the stairs into the building, letting the others fall into step behind him. He walked into the main room of the meeting hall and took his place at one of the long tables positioned around the center of the room. Most of the other warriors, all of the human women, and a few of the Denynso women, along with the king and queen, made their way in after them and joined him at the tables.
"Tell us what happened," Theia said as the last person settled into place at the table.
They all had their eyes focused on Bannack, but he turned his gaze to Pyra. No matter what type of anger, frustration, and aggression he was experiencing, he knew that it was his position to respect Pyra. He had already stepped out of line so far that he deserved severe punishment, and it was time now that he relented and resumed the position chosen for him, which meant handing over the control of telling the story of the battle to Pyra.
"Do you remember when Zuri, Samira, and the other women went into the cave and discovered the tunnel that led down to the strange world that they described, where they saw the Klimnu?" Pyra started.
Everyone at the table nodded.
"Of course. That's why you created the battle plan as you did in the first place."
Pyra nodded in return and continued forward, describing the holes in the forest floor that were covered by moss, concealing them, explaining how they used the vines in the trees to attack the Klimnu, and recounting again the last horrific moments of Jem's life. Though Jem had gone into his death courageously, and even joyfully, it had been a crushing moment for everyone that was there. It was especially difficult for Ty, who had tried so hard to save him and who had made the decision to honor Jem's wishes and release him so that he could perform his final feat of heroism.
"Tell us what you're thinking, Bannack," Pyra said.
Bannack looked up and realized that everyone at the table was staring at him. He didn't know how long it had been since Pyra had stopped talking. He had been staring at the dark surface of the table, letting the images of the mirror world cross over his eyes again and again. He couldn't fight them, so he relinquished his mind to them, allowing himself to review them over and over so that he could clarify the details and commit them solidly to memory.
"Who made that mirror world? Was it the Klimnu, or did they steal it like they wanted to steal our compound?"