Fan Fiction ❯ The Keeper of the Orbs ❯ The Harper's Daughter ( Chapter 17 )

Chapter Seventeen

The Harper's Daughter

 

The sound of water running softly over smooth rocks, reached Sala's ears. She smiled softly at the memory of this place. A very sad smile. Only one other time had she been here. In the shadows of the trees, Sala could see the ghosts of father's tall frame walking alongside her scrawny one. Her tiny hand was cupped in his as they neared the sound of the Silver River.

 

"Sala?" Frax asked uncertainly.

 

The woods were darker than the open land had been. Though a full moon hung high overhead, only slivers of it found a way to sneak through the tangled boughs. Sala ignored him. Let the worthless human fear common darkness if it be his wish. Kale moved up along side of her and tossed a sly grin her way.

 

"Why do you hate him so now?" he asked in Draegan.

 

Sala waved her hand. "He is a coward." she said in the same growling language. "I have no use for cowards."

 

Kale laughed. Sala smiled slightly. She thought that she may have had some use for the human, but when he'd shown his own ignorance, Sala realized how much she despised the weakness of humans. For too long she had been a victim of human ignorance and fear. People in her own village had hated her for her mixed blood.

 

Sala ground her teeth and clenched her fists to her side. Humans were nothing more than vile creatures that feared the things that they had little, or no, knowledge of. It was for such ignorance that they died in the flames of the black dragon. The worthless fools were no better than she was.

 

She shook her head at the thought. She was better than they were by far. They had judged her as a monster when they knew nothing of her. All of her early childhood had been spent being tormented by the children in her village. Never once had any human ever looked at her in adoration or anything akin to loving feelings. Her own father had been distant to her until he realized her gift of music.

 

"Father." she whispered.

 

Kale looked towards her. "Huh?"

 

Sala shook her head. Her thoughts were wandering too much. That part of her life was over. Now she had other things to worry about. Staying alive and saving the Draegan race were her top priorities now. That was all that mattered now. Humans were not her problem anymore. They could take care of themselves.

 

The group entered a small clearing. A tiny hut stood to the right edge of the clearing and in the center was a tiny fire. Beside the fire sat a tiny, gnarled old man. Long white hair hung down to his waist as he stooped down by the crackling flames. Sala motioned the others to stop and stay put. She moved towards the old man and hummed a gentle tune. He looked up at her and smiled.

 

"Sala." he said he said in a strange language..

 

She nodded. "You remember me." she said in the same tongue, smiling back at her. "I'm glad to see that."

 

The old man nodded. "How could I forget the little girl who stole my heart all those years ago?" he asked.

 

Sala blushed. "I'm glad to see you again, Tichuga." she said.

 

Tichuga rose to his feet. His joints creaked as he rose up to his full height. Sala smiled when she realized the old man was barely high enough to reach her chin. She'd remembered him being a lot taller when she was younger. Tichuga looked past her at the group of men and smiled.

 

"Tell your come and sit by the fire." he said.

 

"Actually, my old friend, we won't be here long. " Sala said.

 

Tichuga cocked an eyebrow at her. "Oh?" he asked.

 

"I need a reed from the Silver River to make a pipe." she said.

 

The old man nodded. He moved away from the fire and towards his hut. Tichuga disappeared inside and when he emerged again, he six silver reeds in his hands. He handed them to Sala, smiling gently at her. Sala held the rare reeds in her hands. It had been so long since she'd held the Silver River reeds in her hands.

 

"Care for these better than you did for the last one." he said.

 

Sala nodded.

 

"Oh!" Tichuga exclaimed, vanishing back into his hut.

 

He came back holding a carry sack. "Take this, too."

 

Sala flung the strap over her shoulder and smiled. "Thank you." she said, placing the pipes inside.

 

Tichuga nodded. "The supplies to make a multiple pipes are in there so it won't be hard for you this time around." he said.

 

Sala bent and kissed his gnarled forehead. She jerked her head to her companions and began walking into the woods. As she walked through the forest she could hear her first set of multiple pipes on the wind. Tichuga had once told her that these woods held every song ever played by a musician and the wind played it for him at night. He'd told her that her own song would also dance on the wings of the wind for the rest of her life.

 

Night fell and they made camp. By the flickering light of the fire, Sala made herself a new set of pipes. Kale, Frax, and Yent sat watching her as they ate the rabbits that Kale had killed earlier. She tied a bit of sinew around them deftly and conjured up at bit of fire on her fingertip to burn the sinew in place.

 

"Seaweed is much better when it comes to binding a multi-pipe." she said to no one in particular.

 

The three of them looked up at her. It was the first thing she'd said since they'd left the old man's hut. Kale looked at Yent.

 

The Giggat swallowed a mouthful of rabbit. "Play for us." he said.

 

Sala looked at the ugly little critter. He was kind and much more courageous than his master. It would be very rude to refuse a request from him when he'd been nothing but kind to her. She nodded and played a merry tune. As her lips touched each pipe's mouth and breathed the breath of life into her music, different pitches rose and fell. The wind around her carried the tune through the boughs of the trees and they danced to her happy tune. When she finished, Sala closed her eyes as if playing a happy tune pained her.

 

"What is it?" Kale asked.

 

Sala opened her eyes and smiled. "When I was little, my father taught me that song. It was how I won his respect." she said.

 

"Your own father didn't respect you?" Frax asked. "Why?"

 

Sala shot him a look. "Not all of us are privileged to grow up in homes where their parents give them everything that they want and tell them how proud they are making just by being who they are." she growled. "My father feared me because he wasn't sure how Draegan children acted. He distanced himself from me as I was growing up. When he realized that I had a great gift in the musical arts then, and only

then, did he open up even a little bit to me."

 

Kale nodded. He knew how she felt, but he would never tell her that. Yent took another bite of rabbit and kept silent. Sala took up her portion of the dinner and ate in silence. The rest of their waking moments that night were spent in silence. When Sala drifted off to sleep she smelled the scent of smoke being carried on the wind and heard her song being played by the wind to lull her to sleep.