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“Water” by Utunu (part 2 of 2)
Keth, the young jackal suddenly shouldering a burden he did not expect, accompanies his tribe into the desert to challenge their rival tribe and its champion, Aram.
Today’s story is Part 2 of “Water” by Utunu (@WildDogUtunu), a painted wolf who creates games for a living but enjoys worldbuilding and writing in his spare time. His published work has appeared in Heat, and soon FANG.
Read for you by Khaki, your faithful fireside companion.
Transcript
You’re listening to The Voice of Dog.
Speaker:I’m Khaki, your faithful fireside companion,
Speaker:and Today’s story
Speaker:is the 2nd and final part of “Water”
Speaker:by Utunu (@WildDogUtunu), a painted wolf who creates games for a living
Speaker:but enjoys worldbuilding and writing in his spare time.
Speaker:His published work has appeared in Heat,
Speaker:and soon FANG. Please enjoy:
Speaker:“Water” by Utunu (Part 2 of 2)
Speaker:The hours sped by,
Speaker:and the journey was over before Keth realized.
Speaker:His thoughts had been his own the entire time,
Speaker:and the suddenness of their arrival had taken him by surprise.
Speaker:Now it was afternoon,
Speaker:and the whirl of events had brought him here,
Speaker:to this gathering place of ritual and ceremony.
Speaker:What am I doing here?
Speaker:He stood, his paws firm upon the red rock as
Speaker:swirls of sand wove around and between his legs.
Speaker:Small zephyrs formed from the ever-shifting desert winds created whorls that skittered across the flat tablet of stone.
Speaker:The rock was far from featureless.
Speaker:The ebb and flow of the tides of harsh sands
Speaker:had left their mark,
Speaker:the centuries of erosion having decorated its surface with pits,
Speaker:grooves, and shallow bowls
Speaker:rubbed smooth by the whims of the winds.
Speaker:The scarred rock face
Speaker:crested up from the desert
Speaker:as if it were some titanic beast of stone,
Speaker:buried so deep that its sloped back barely broke through the sands.
Speaker:The sun crept lower in the sky.
Speaker:Are you watching, Ur?
Speaker:Keth shifted his weight from one paw to the other,
Speaker:struggling to summon calm
Speaker:as Meket had taught him,
Speaker:trying to retain the focus that had kept him silent on their trip over the desert.
Speaker:I should have been speaking to them.
Speaker:Across the stone,
Speaker:perhaps twenty strides away,
Speaker:awaited his enemy.
Speaker:Keth lifted his head briefly
Speaker:and watched as Aram strode back and forth,
Speaker:beating his chest
Speaker:as he exhorted his many followers sprawled behind him on the sand.
Speaker:Their cheers and jeers
Speaker:drowned out those from Keth’s own tribe,
Speaker:seated in a small crescent at his back
Speaker:near the edge of the stone.
Speaker:They are so many…
Speaker:and we are so few.
Speaker:A sudden gust of hot wind and sand brought tears to Keth’s eyes,
Speaker:and he turned his head to the side, catching a brief blurred glance of the remnants of his tribe.
Speaker:They sat waiting,
Speaker:faces turned towards him with calls of support and trust,
Speaker:but Keth could hear the desperation,
Speaker:the wavering, the slight tremolo of uncertainty.
Speaker:Atoth tried to talk to me as we walked.
Speaker:I don’t even remember what he said.
Speaker:More tears pricked his eyes,
Speaker:and he turned back towards Aram’s mocking display.
Speaker:His opponent’s scorn added a bitter taste to the hurt in Keth’s heart,
Speaker:and a flare of anger curled his lip
Speaker:as a snarl shaped his muzzle.
Speaker:He does this to bait you.
Speaker:Stay calm. Keth relaxed his clenched fists
Speaker:and took stock of his opponent.
Speaker:Aram was Bweha like himself,
Speaker:his jackal face strong and confident,
Speaker:his body muscled and solid.
Speaker:Ur has blessed him.
Speaker:The grays and beiges of his fur were marred only by a long scar across his chest,
Speaker:a memento of a storied fight from years past.
Speaker:The setting sun glinted fiery orange off the conchoids of blade-sharp obsidian piercing his nipples,
Speaker:and at his ear hung a band of heavy gold.
Speaker:He wore a loincloth of decorated leather,
Speaker:its color the dark red-brown of dried blood,
Speaker:and in his right paw he held his kukri,
Speaker:its vicious arc exactly as Keth had pictured it
Speaker:the night before.
Speaker:Would that Ur had blessed me too.
Speaker:Aram’s form brought Ur’s perfection to mind.
Speaker:While I, I am just a distorted copy -
Speaker:like still water disturbed by desert winds.
Speaker:When you shaped me, Ur,
Speaker:with your celestial kukri, why did you make such crude cuts?
Speaker:Keth glanced down at himself,
Speaker:painfully cognizant of his simple loincloth of dark brown hide.
Speaker:No adornments decorated him;
Speaker:he had no trophies to show.
Speaker:Across the rock, Aram strutted with his tail held high.
Speaker:His muzzle was parted slightly,
Speaker:fangs white and sharp,
Speaker:and his ears were perked forward as he locked his eyes on Keth,
Speaker:not breaking the stare as he paced back and forth.
Speaker:The sharp tang of his scent,
Speaker:a mixture of confidence,
Speaker:excitement, and arrogance,
Speaker:drifted with the winds to Keth’s waiting muzzle.
Speaker:It is just posturing.
Speaker:Ignore it. Yet fear pricked at Keth’s mind
Speaker:and his muzzle dipped,
Speaker:a small surrender against his will.
Speaker:And that was enough.
Speaker:The calm he had fought so hard to retain dissipated,
Speaker:picked up like so much sand
Speaker:and scattered. With its absence,
Speaker:panic and submissiveness flooded in to fill the void,
Speaker:and Keth hated himself for it.
Speaker:Aram would sense it now.
Speaker:Gripping his kukri,
Speaker:clenching his paw tightly around its hilt,
Speaker:he forced himself to tilt his muzzle back up.
Speaker:Aram’s dark eyes met his own
Speaker:and held them, his brutal-edged blade in his paw.
Speaker:Oh, Meket. A smile curved Aram’s lips,
Speaker:and as his jaws opened to speak,
Speaker:Keth hurled his own words out into the winds.
Speaker:“I, Keth, challenge you,
Speaker:Aram. Beneath Ur’s watchful Eye,
Speaker:I challenge you. And let Ur judge us both.”
Speaker:Is that citrus I taste?
Speaker:Ur, are you there?
Speaker:Aram’s jaws snapped shut with an audible clack,
Speaker:and his eyes narrowed.
Speaker:Keth was vaguely aware of the excited voices of those gathered,
Speaker:talking amongst themselves
Speaker:of the break against tradition,
Speaker:but all his focus remained locked upon Aram’s eyes.
Speaker:Fury smoldered there;
Speaker:by denying him the ritual’s first words and challenging him outright
Speaker:Keth had given clear insult,
Speaker:and he watched calmly as Aram struggled to tamp down his anger.
Speaker:“I, Aram, accept your challenge, Keth.
Speaker:Beneath Ur’s watchful Eye, I accept.
Speaker:And let Ur judge us both,”
Speaker:Aram spat, teeth gritted.
Speaker:“How shall you back your challenge?”
Speaker:“Water shall b—” “I refuse,”
Speaker:interrupted Aram,
Speaker:the ritual words now all but disregarded.
Speaker:“Blade.” It was expected,
Speaker:though he had hoped differently.
Speaker:A frisson of fear made Keth shudder,
Speaker:the gnawing in his gut
Speaker:tempered by the thrill at the barbs he had planted in Aram’s confident calm.
Speaker:He knew it would be over soon –
Speaker:he was no match for Aram’s skill with the kukri –
Speaker:the only control he had now was to die well,
Speaker:so that his tribe would be subsumed within Aram’s own with honor,
Speaker:rather than subjugated or slain.
Speaker:He sent a final glance back at his friends and tribesmates,
Speaker:then started forward to meet his enemy.
Speaker:Aram wasted no time.
Speaker:He swung hard and high,
Speaker:sunlight glittering off the metal,
Speaker:and it was all Keth could do to bring his own kukri up to block.
Speaker:Again he struck, and pain shot up Keth’s arm at the jarring impact against his blade.
Speaker:Keth was forced to give ground quickly.
Speaker:He stumbled slightly,
Speaker:the uneven surface making footing dangerous,
Speaker:and barely dodged the bigger jackal’s next attack.
Speaker:Another parry, a desperate scramble,
Speaker:and Keth’s back paw slid off the edge of the stone,
Speaker:deep into the sand.
Speaker:Lunging sideways and scrabbling for purchase on the sand-slick rock,
Speaker:he managed to right himself,
Speaker:the jeers of Aram’s tribe ringing in his ears.
Speaker:Glancing up at Aram,
Speaker:Keth felt the flush of heat
Speaker:as shame washed over him.
Speaker:Just die well. Do that for them.
Speaker:And Meket. Aram continued to advance,
Speaker:his confidence palpable,
Speaker:and flicked a bored gaze over his slighter opponent.
Speaker:His assuredness, his disdain, his dismissiveness –
Speaker:they took the heat of Keth’s embarrassment and condensed it,
Speaker:tightened it into a colder fury.
Speaker:Detachedly, Keth felt himself snarl,
Speaker:and then he leapt toward Aram, slashing out blindly.
Speaker:He felt something bite his shoulder,
Speaker:tearing, ripping out fur and flesh, and the blow knocked him sprawling to the side,
Speaker:his grip still tight around his kukri
Speaker:as his knuckles scraped along the stone.
Speaker:Prone and stunned, Keth stared dazedly at the deep gash in his shoulder where Aram’s weapon had left a vicious cut.
Speaker:Blood welled forth,
Speaker:vibrant crimson against the muted red of the stone,
Speaker:and Keth pushed himself across the uneven surface,
Speaker:claws scratching and sliding with the effort.
Speaker:He glanced back, panicked,
Speaker:certain that Aram would be upon him shortly.
Speaker:Aram had not moved.
Speaker:A glint distracted Keth;
Speaker:next to his foe’s left paw,
Speaker:a shard of obsidian reflected the orange of the setting sun.
Speaker:Ur? His mind, fuzzy with pain, suddenly cleared
Speaker:as realization dawned,
Speaker:and he lifted his head up,
Speaker:following the trickle of blood
Speaker:up Aram’s belly to his chest.
Speaker:The tip of Keth’s kukri
Speaker:had sliced away one of Aram’s piercings,
Speaker:and it was as if a churning darkness hovered
Speaker:just beneath the surface of Aram’s face,
Speaker:his muzzle twisted in rage.
Speaker:Meeting his gaze,
Speaker:Keth smirked, his tongue lolling in a panting grin.
Speaker:Marked you. Go ahead, kill me now.
Speaker:My tribe will live. Aram surged forward suddenly,
Speaker:his wordless shout drowning out the spectators’ scattered cheers,
Speaker:and Keth leapt to his feet to meet him,
Speaker:swinging his blade wildly,
Speaker:the tip trailing blood droplets in its wake.
Speaker:The stronger jackal simply caught his wrist,
Speaker:holding him there effortlessly.
Speaker:He watched for a moment as Keth struggled and then,
Speaker:with his other paw,
Speaker:smashed him across the side of the muzzle with his fist.
Speaker:Again he struck, and Keth stumbled,
Speaker:tasting iron and darkness.
Speaker:Aram gripped tighter,
Speaker:and something in Keth’s wrist
Speaker:gave way – he gave a cry as his kukri clattered to the stone,
Speaker:the sudden ringing of metal against rock loud against the uncertain murmurs of the gathered tribes. Aram squeezed,
Speaker:and Keth yielded an involuntary whimper as he felt the bones in his wrist grind together.
Speaker:Aram leaned in, his breath shuddering in intensity and fury.
Speaker:“I will not just kill you,”
Speaker:he whispered, his voice a heavy thing,
Speaker:gravid with intent,
Speaker:tight with promise, like a thunderstorm about to burst.
Speaker:“I will destroy you.
Speaker:The sands will drink
Speaker:your tribe’s blood.”
Speaker:Straightening, Aram spat with disdain,
Speaker:tossing his own blade to the side.
Speaker:“Water.” The declaration rippled through both tribes.
Speaker:The susurrus of mutterings grew louder and discordant,
Speaker:realization and understanding giving febrile voice to both taunts and anger.
Speaker:Ah, humiliate me by killing me with my own choice of weapon?
Speaker:Keth let the insulted cries of his infuriated tribemates speak for him.
Speaker:He tried to set aside the pain of his wounds, surprised to feel the clarity he did.
Speaker:Atoth’s voice rang out amid the cacophony,
Speaker:and Keth grasped at it.
Speaker:Slowly, he stood. “I,
Speaker:Keth, accept your choice,”
Speaker:he said formally,
Speaker:another barb thrown Aram’s way
Speaker:as he spoke the ritual response.
Speaker:Aram gestured as he walked back towards his side of the stone,
Speaker:and a number of his tribemates stepped forward,
Speaker:drinking skins and bladders heavy in their paws.
Speaker:These they unstoppered,
Speaker:lifted up, and tilted,
Speaker:and the streams of water gushed forth to splash on the red rock.
Speaker:Spreading out, the rivulets found the channels
Speaker:and depressions, some ritually carved, sigils
Speaker:and glyphs subtly worked,
Speaker:some simply formed from erosion and the endless desert winds.
Speaker:Soon all the water collected into several small shallow pools
Speaker:across the surface.
Speaker:Keth watched, eyes absently following the ripples and undulations as he attempted to shut out the pain,
Speaker:thinking back to the times when Meket would show him how to take water,
Speaker:that ever-important source of life in the unforgiving desert,
Speaker:and mold and sculpt it to his will.
Speaker:The thrill of that first time,
Speaker:when he had called the water, coaxed it,
Speaker:pleaded with it, and it had finally listened –
Speaker:the memory was as strong as ever.
Speaker:As Meket’s successor
Speaker:he had been taught much,
Speaker:from the subtleties in threading the magic,
Speaker:manipulating the strands in counterpoint,
Speaker:to strengthening his rapport and commanding more of the element.
Speaker:Keth had proven clever –
Speaker:certainly not as strong as Meket himself,
Speaker:yet able to force water to his bidding
Speaker:in ways that surprised even his teacher.
Speaker:Cries of derision and the answering fury from the muzzles of his own tribe pulled
Speaker:Keth from his reverie.
Speaker:The last trickles of water had flowed into the waiting hollows,
Speaker:ready for him and Aram to wield against each other.
Speaker:Aram, meanwhile, had walked over and lifted up his loincloth,
Speaker:his gaze locked on Keth,
Speaker:and urinated on the rock next to the smaller jackal’s paws.
Speaker:Keth calmly stepped back,
Speaker:but he felt the heat rise in his face
Speaker:at the mocking cries from the other tribe.
Speaker:He had had enough;
Speaker:focusing on the closest pools,
Speaker:Keth reached his a-mna out,
Speaker:feeling for the water,
Speaker:to bring it to bear against his opponent.
Speaker:A mental slap, and Keth’s connection dissolved.
Speaker:His watersight showed the connection that Aram then formed,
Speaker:the thick line ethereal,
Speaker:faintly glowing and pulsing with power, as he cradled all the water in the closest pools
Speaker:and lifted it up.
Speaker:It hovered there,
Speaker:a sphere of water rippling and undulating.
Speaker:Keth stretched for the other pools,
Speaker:his connection snaking quickly forth to grasp it,
Speaker:only to be rebuffed yet again
Speaker:as Aram claimed them.
Speaker:He is so strong. How am I supposed to do anything?
Speaker:He sent out another tentative and testing strand,
Speaker:immediately severed.
Speaker:Soon there were two almost identical globes,
Speaker:floating there, shackled to Aram’s power.
Speaker:Again Keth reached,
Speaker:to no avail. How, Mna?
Speaker:He has it all, and I am not strong enough to pull it away.
Speaker:Desperation and panic started to push at him,
Speaker:and the pain of his wounds scrabbled at his mind, trying to get in.
Speaker:Meket always said I could find water in the oddest places.
Speaker:I need something!
Speaker:Frantically searching nearby for other sources,
Speaker:Keth’s watersight quested out and around,
Speaker:delving into the sand,
Speaker:testing the air, touching feather-light amongst the gathered tribesfolk.
Speaker:Nothing. All was concentrated here,
Speaker:on the weathered tablet of stone on which they fought, and it all hung heavy in the air in Aram’s powerful grip.
Speaker:Still scanning desperately,
Speaker:a flicker in the periphery of Keth’s vision screamed a warning,
Speaker:and he flung himself to one side.
Speaker:Glinting shards of ice,
Speaker:formed just moments ago but already sweating in the desert heat,
Speaker:thrust through the space Keth had vacated.
Speaker:Sharpness, piercingly cold, brushed across his thigh,
Speaker:and he felt the new wound brim with blood.
Speaker:As quickly as the ice slivers had appeared,
Speaker:Aram pulled them back,
Speaker:swallowing them within the great globes of water he held.
Speaker:His pain momentarily forgotten,
Speaker:Keth was now focused fully on his opponent
Speaker:and survival; as Aram formed his ice daggers anew,
Speaker:Keth was ready. He is too slow,
Speaker:he is holding too much.
Speaker:The facets of sun-sharp water,
Speaker:frozen and diamond-hard,
Speaker:sprang forth. Keth dodged again to the side,
Speaker:easily avoiding them,
Speaker:and watched intently as Aram swung them to follow.
Speaker:Their thrusts were almost ponderous,
Speaker:and Keth chanced a glance up at his enemy.
Speaker:Aram’s muzzle was a rictus of fury and strain,
Speaker:and the shards dissolved,
Speaker:droplets falling to the thirsty sand.
Speaker:Discarding the flick and finesse of frozen blades,
Speaker:Aram roared, and Keth was almost bowed by the intensity of his presence.
Speaker:Aram’s anger and dominance pushed at him,
Speaker:rippling outward,
Speaker:the heavy spheres of water shuddering with Aram’s rage.
Speaker:Struggling against the demand for submission,
Speaker:Keth again forced his gaze upon Aram,
Speaker:locking eyes with him.
Speaker:It gave him a glimpse of intent,
Speaker:just enough warning to throw himself flat upon the sandy rock.
Speaker:Abandoning precision,
Speaker:Aram had resorted to brute force.
Speaker:From one of the spheres he had extruded a thick,
Speaker:undulating shaft of water.
Speaker:Amorphous and imprecise, it swung through the air, barely missing the prone Keth.
Speaker:Pushing himself up to a crouch,
Speaker:Keth dodged as it curved back to lash at him.
Speaker:Yet he was unprepared for its twin –
Speaker:pushed out of the other sphere,
Speaker:it caught him heavily in the chest,
Speaker:the mass of the water and force of Aram’s control
Speaker:conspiring to knock him sprawling.
Speaker:Stunned, gasping, Keth struggled to rise,
Speaker:pushing himself up with his uninjured shoulder.
Speaker:He was too slow; his vision blurred and refracted as,
Speaker:at Aram’s guidance,
Speaker:one of the water spheres enveloped his head.
Speaker:Panicking, he jerked his muzzle to the side, but the water hugged him tightly.
Speaker:Scrambling, claws skittering as his paws attempted to find purchase on the rock,
Speaker:slippery with sand,
Speaker:Keth lunged desperately, haphazardly, trying to escape.
Speaker:Oh gods oh gods… focus!
Speaker:Calm yourself. Aram’s image wavered before him,
Speaker:distorted. Yet his watersight was still clear;
Speaker:he could see the lines of Aram’s control pulsing,
Speaker:thick and raw with strength,
Speaker:connecting him to the spheres.
Speaker:A tentative reach towards one of the globules resulted in the expected parry,
Speaker:languorously disdainful.
Speaker:I need a source… ah!
Speaker:An idea formed; but a distraction, a feint was needed.
Speaker:Keth sent forth another hopeful tendril,
Speaker:immediately dashed by Aram’s strength.
Speaker:Again, he sent it -
Speaker:it was expected now.
Speaker:A slice and his grasp dissolved once more,
Speaker:but that did not matter.
Speaker:It was occupying Aram.
Speaker:As calmly as he could,
Speaker:he quested out with another connection,
Speaker:dividing his mind between the two:
Speaker:one repeated, blatant,
Speaker:obvious, tasting of desperation and panic and defeat,
Speaker:reaching hopelessly towards the other sphere
Speaker:only to be easily severed by a nonchalant slash
Speaker:of Aram’s will, the other
Speaker:thin and quiet, hidden,
Speaker:sliding obscured along the length of Aram’s own channeling,
Speaker:out of view of his watersight.
Speaker:He made the connection –
Speaker:it was a slender,
Speaker:fragile, subtle thing,
Speaker:but it was there,
Speaker:and Keth started to pull.
Speaker:Bright pinpricks of reflected sunlight warred with the telltale black spots of imminent unconsciousness in Keth’s vision.
Speaker:He had gone too long without air,
Speaker:and the distortion through the water was not enough to hide his view of Aram’s triumphant sneer.
Speaker:But then – droplets.
Speaker:Tiny beads of water formed on Aram’s muzzle,
Speaker:appearing there from the fur beneath.
Speaker:Trickling, pooling, coalescing,
Speaker:they pulled away,
Speaker:joining myriad other small droplets
Speaker:hanging suspended in the air,
Speaker:barely a whisker’s length away from Aram’s body.
Speaker:The sneer turned to confusion
Speaker:and then realization.
Speaker:Like so, Mna? Deftly,
Speaker:Keth tapped into Aram’s own connection and the idle power there begged to be used.
Speaker:I thirst, Aram. Keth focused all he had,
Speaker:and his connection thrummed and quivered with strength.
Speaker:Aram’s eyes filled with fear,
Speaker:and he battered at the thread, slashing chaotically at it with his will,
Speaker:but Keth held. Aram kept the watery sphere around him,
Speaker:drowning him, but the desperation of having but moments before oblivion strengthened Keth’s resolve.
Speaker:So he pulled. He pulled,
Speaker:and the world grew black. ***
Speaker:Shuddering, heaving in gulps of air,
Speaker:Keth laid sprawled across the stone,
Speaker:his fur soaked.
Speaker:He slowly and shakily got to his feet,
Speaker:blood dripping down to mingle with the water around him.
Speaker:The pain was severe -
Speaker:the shattered wrist and rent shoulder burned his thoughts -
Speaker:but the ritual had to be done properly.
Speaker:So he gathered the water to him,
Speaker:pulling it from his fur
Speaker:and from where it had fallen,
Speaker:and coaxed it back into the shallow pools of the stone.
Speaker:All was strangely quiet,
Speaker:and Keth looked up and around.
Speaker:Both tribes sat, silent.
Speaker:He could scent joy among some,
Speaker:but there was the prickly scent of uncertainty and antagonism as well.
Speaker:There was still work to do. Keth
Speaker:made his way over to Aram’s body.
Speaker:It lay there desiccated -
Speaker:a husk, dry and taut, nothing more.
Speaker:There was no Aram left.
Speaker:Pulling all his confidence to bear,
Speaker:and pushing his muzzle high and proud,
Speaker:Keth turned his gaze to the gathered tribes.
Speaker:They watched as he slowly crouched down on his haunches,
Speaker:leant forward to grip his dead enemy’s ear in his jaws,
Speaker:and ripped. Keth stood then,
Speaker:straight and tall as his tribes gave voice,
Speaker:and Aram’s earring hung heavy from his teeth,
Speaker:bright and ruddy-gold in the setting sun.
Speaker:This was the the 2nd of 2 parts of
Speaker:“Water” by Utunu, read for you by Khaki,
Speaker:your faithful fireside companion.
Speaker:As always, you can find more stories on the web at thevoice.
Speaker:thevoice.dog, or find the show wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker:Thank you for listening
Speaker:to The Voice of Dog
