Earthdaughter

By L D Gerry

Copyright 1992

All Rights Reserved

Chapter One

They galloped along the pathway, reveling in the feel of the wind and the freedom inherent in the act. No saddle or bridle bound the bicorn stallion; the human stayed aboard strictly due to her expert horsemanship and a handful of glistening black, flowing mane. The human shouted joyfully into the wind and the black stallion shrilled a brassy challenge. The sky was blue and the day beautiful, the sun flashing off the gentle curve of the bicorn's naturally polished ebony horns and the human's long, flowing red hair. It shone benevolently down upon beast and rider, and warmed them through.

The deep bonding of human and bicorn allowed the human to feel the singular joy of running faster than most creatures. The feel of muscles flexing and lungs laboring. It was a complete communion that allowed each to share the other's joy. Sometimes, they found it difficult to separate which sensation came from oneself or the other, not that it really mattered.

Finally, the bicorn and his rider came to the forest's entrance and were forced to come to a halt, much to their mutual dismay. Merann Earthdaughter leaned over to kiss the bicorn's salty, lathered neck and whisper a thank-you into the stallion's ear. The bicorn pranced and crab-stepped a bit, rebelling at having to cease his headlong, joyful run.

There's no reason we couldn't just run all the way through it, you know. Calypsus said eagerly, his telepathic tone as rebellious as his manner. The human snorted in reply to the bicorn's impetuous suggestion and told him how much she loved him. The bicorn replied with a warm, musical nicker.

Merann stroked her friend's ebony throat and stared warily at the path ahead. 

The High Council of Sweetstream Village had requested that Merann Earthdaughter travel to TriRock Fen to trade for sufficient quantities of thaal-silver to perform the Ceremony of Maturity. Seven youngsters were scheduled to become legal adults at the end of the year, and thaal would have to be smelted and ice- molded into the proper amulets for each individual.

Each amulet was as unique as its wearer. They were freeform pendant sculptures, imbued with some of the life force of each person and that person's home village. Folklore said that the amulets would enable the wearer to always find his or her way home safely. Thinking about this, Merann fingered her own amulet and said a short prayer. Due to the magic, which went into the production of the precious object, Merann's crudely resembled a merged bicorn and human head. She had only received her own personal talisman in the past year.

Unfortunately, the journey required Merann and her mount, Calypsus, to travel through the Tanglethorn Forest, which was said to be inhabited by horrendous and evil creatures. Now they had come to it, and Merann felt a shiver pass through her body. Calypsus snorted and pawed the ground uneasily, his hooves making raw gashes in the soft earth.

The Tanglethorn Forest loomed before them, dark and foreboding. Its grossly twisted and misshapen trees seeming to give Merann a leering invitation to enter. Every fiber of Merann's being shrieked at her to flee the place, and only her sense of duty overrode it, though the place horrified her.

As a healer, Merann was the only member of Sweetstream village who could trade for thaal silver, as payment for the precious magically imbued ore was never in coin or barter of physical objects. She would have to spend at least a fortnight at the village to heal whoever might need her services. Should that duty last her a few months because of some extended treatment; there was no avoiding it. It was said that the Gods would look with ill favor upon anyone who tried to make a profit on the trade of thaal silver, and so no one dared try, but that did not prevent the people of TriRock Fen from taking every last ounce of strength and medicine out of the healer who came for it. Pushing one's relationship with the Gods seemed to be a normal part of everyone's existence. Survival depended on how tolerant one's God really was.

Peering at the sun, Merann decided it was lower than she liked. It was never wise to be caught in the Tanglethorn at night. The denizens of that forest liked to hunt at night, and the two of them would make a nice tender, juicy, and tasty -- she clamped down hard on the rest of the thought. Turning around, 

Merann and the bicorn decided to spend the night a safe distance away. It wouldn’t hurt to be cautious under the circumstances.

After a bit of searching, they managed to find a somewhat sheltered area on a small hillock. From this vantage point, they should be able to see the dark outline of the forest, even at night with only a half-moon riding the sky. A ridge of large boulders would guard their backs as they slept.

"Well, Calypsus, since we'll be staying the night here, I'll go gather some firewood and then set up camp. There's no time to pass through the forest today and still perform a proper evening Rite. Tomorrow we can travel through in the bright, cheery sunlight. Things should look much better with 

Amara high in the sky." I hope. Merann finished silently. Hearing her thought, the stallion snorted a nervous affirmative, dipping his shapely head in a nod. Keeping a secret from a bicorn was a lesson in futility.

May Amara be thrice blessed, he replied fervently.

Merann slipped from the bicorn's silken back and pulled her bulky pack and scabbard from her sore shoulders, gratefully lowering her things to the ground. Merann released the pack's lashings and removed a bedroll. The long sword she replaced across her back as she prepared to strike out in search of tinder. Calypsus swiped playfully her. It was part of an ongoing game.

"Oh, you big oaf! Go find your dinner! Don't stray too far, though," Merann told him.

As if I would, Calypsus snorted, pretending to nibble at her shoulder, dancing away as Merann delivered a stinging slap to his neck, and then laughing as his friend stalked from the camp in mock fury.

Merann found a small stand of trees a short distance away with enough deadwood to carry them through the night. Gathering an large armful, she headed back to camp where she deposited the wood in a neat stack before going back for another load. "This would all go so much easier if you'd help me, you know."

I'm sure that stuff contains all manner of parasites that would just love to take up residence inside my hair. Anyway, you're doing alright on your own. You're the one who wanted to prove she could do this kind of thing. The bicorn reminded Merann. She glared at him for his unwelcome but pointed reminder, and continued to gather the wood. After the bicorn's comment, Merann was sure she could feel itching in her hair.

Some time later, after returning to camp with the last load of wood, Merann made a small fire then pulled a small bundle of ground root and sweet stalk from the pack. She closed her eyes, meditated on a simple mantra, and began to compose her mind for her evening prayers.

"Aaaaaaaah!" she yelled, nearly jumping into the fire as she felt a moist, whiskery touch between her shoulder blades. She whirled, fumbling for her sword and then saw Calypsus standing behind her. Laughing. His eyes sparkled with merriment.

"Don't sneak up on me!" she snarled, holding a hand to her chest, feeling her rapidly thumping heart and gasping for breath.

"Here," Merann said, forcing a smile between clenched teeth and waving her sword at the bicorn. "I can really scratch that itchy place between your horns with this!"

The bicorn gave her a stare of wide-eyed innocence and moved a safe distance away. Merann growled at him and slid her long sword back into its scabbard, which she took off and laid next to her bedroll.

Careful not to turn her back on the mischievous stallion, Merann reached into the bundle of vegetables and pulled out a ground root, which she held out to Calypsus, who took it gently between his velvety lips and crunched it loudly, making appreciative comments as he ate.

"Go away, I have my prayers to attend to. I don't have time to play. Besides, I have better things to do than banter with you," Merann told him. Calypsus made wet, popping noises with his lips, which Merann was supposed to take for blown kisses, but which sounded more like someone pulling his feet out of the mud.

Like what? The bicorn laughed at her and galloped away, flicking his long, silken tail at Merann's backside where it connected with a smack. Merann yelped with surprise.

"Ingrate," she grumbled, chuckling.

I heard that!

Merann shook her head and sat down on the loamy ground. She allowed herself two ground roots, two sweet stalk and a generous hunk of dried meat before she rewrapped the remainder and put it back into the pack. Merann ate her dinner slowly, to fool her stomach into thinking it was getting more than it was. The jerked meat was flavorful, marinated as it was in hot peppers, garlic, and other spices, both sweet and sour. It often was a welcome addition to the occasional stews Merann cooked for herself. The combination of spices and peppers used to jerk the meat virtually guaranteed it would be free of vermin until used. Sometimes the smoker man got a little too enthusiastic with his peppers, and the dried meat would have to be soaked for quite a while before it was even vaguely palatable.

After her Spartan meal, during which the bicorn returned, she put on some water for tea in a dented old teapot. Soon the water had reached a merry boil, and she poured it into a battered tankard with a silver tea ball inside, which was filled with sweet cinnamon-mint tea. Calypsus laid down beside her and Merann leaned against his warm body. The bicorn leaned his head surreptitiously closer to her shoulder.

"Lick me, and I'll be forced to share my tea with you," she said, sweetly. The bicorn laughed softly and nuzzled her cheek. There was a constant banter between Merann and her friend that was as natural to them as breathing. The kind of banter one often finds between very, very old and good friends.

The two finished the evening by watching the bright colors of the blazing sunset darken to soft pastels as the sun slowly slipped away. Merann sipped her tea and absently scratched the bicorn, her hand lingering in some places on his sculptured head.

When it was time to sleep she straightened her bedroll and fell asleep, with Calypsus still lying beside her and sending loving thoughts to her as she slipped into warm, happy dreams.

"Uhmhmmm," she mumbled, smiling sleepily, Calypsus’ tender thoughts enfolding her.

Calypsus nuzzled Merann awake, nickering softly and lipping her nose. Merann mumbled in response, wrinkling her nose and making a face. Calypsus farrumphed at her, blowing Merann's tangled and gleaming tresses around her face. He rested a hoof on Merann's chest with the lightest of feather-touches.

"Alright, already! I'm awake, you bloodthirsty carnivore," Merann grumbled sleepily, swatting at Calypsus' broad cheek. The bicorn gave a mental chuckle and lightly nibbled at the tip of Merann's upturned nose before leaving her. Merann squeaked in indignation at this affront to her delicate sniffer, and sat up, theatrically rubbing at her chest where Calypsus' hoof had rested.

Let us get into and through that abomination as quickly as possible. I've already been sharpening my horns this morning. Merann could see several trees nearby whose bark had been shredded during the bicorn's efforts to put as sharp a point on his horns as possible.

"We can only hope you won't have to use them."

After breaking her fast with one of the few precious fruits in her stores, Merann spent some time brushing out her hair and then braiding it carefully before fixing it in a tight bun at the nape of her neck. She then rolled her bedroll into a compact bundle and returned it to her pack.

Merann made a face as she downed part of the contents of a leather flask. The herbal tonic was a body cleanser and had an invigorating effect upon her, as well as providing several vitamins and some minerals to her system and was a staple of many a traveler's diet. However, the taste left much to be desired.

Before they left, Merann scattered the ashes of her fire and then scuffed dirt over the fire pit before reverently giving thanks to her Goddess.

"I thank you, holy Amara. My thanks to you for a quiet night and I ask that you guide my steps in the Tanglethorn." The sun seemed to blaze momentarily. Merann felt a sudden emotional warmth, knowing her prayer had been answered.

Merann gathered up a handful of Calypsus' mane in her hand and swung nimbly up onto his back, settling herself as comfortably as she could with her long sword in her hand. Calypsus stalked carefully into the Tanglethorn, head up and ears flicking this way and that, aware of everything around him.

The Tanglethorn was crushingly oppressive, and Merann deeply wished she could be anywhere but here. The trees were twisted into horrendous shapes that suggested agony and despair, yet also promising horror and mayhem greater than could ever be imagined.

Things shifted and moved within the Tanglethorn as Merann and Calypsus passed. The hair at the nape of Merann's neck stood on end, and she worked hard to resist the urge to shiver, because she was afraid that once she started, she would be unable to stop. The Tanglethorn was not particularly large, but it seemed to go on forever. Merann grasped her sword tightly, hoping she was ready for any kind of challenge and praying it would never come. Her skill was not what it should be, and she knew it. 

Unfortunately, the attack she feared was not long in coming.

A nameless dark hairy beast shambled out of the shadows and swiped at Merann, trying to knock her from the bicorn's back. Quickly ducking sideways, Merann could feel the wind from the passage of a clawed hand. As the adrenaline surged through her body, she swung her sword backwards while mouthing a silent but desperate prayer to her Goddess. To her amazement, the sword cut a deep slash in the monster's forearm. The creature gave an awful keening noise that made her stomach tighten. It had obviously not expected the human to fight back. Merann hoped it would give up its attack, but such was not the case.

The beast continued to advance, making an awful gurgling noise in its throat. Calypsus half-reared and struck at the creature, with a screaming hate-filled challenge. Merann nearly tumbled from his back, barely managing to keep her seat. Calypsus' hooves struck the creature full in the chest, only to slide off the thick oily hair, pushing the monster backward several feet.

The thing recovered quickly, however, and as the bicorn started to charge, it took a vicious swipe at Calypsus' nose, causing the bicorn to shear away with a jerk of his head, and unseating Merann, who had just regained her balance and was in full swing with her sword, preparing to strike at the creature. 

Roaring with triumph, the thing surged forward to close with the two, drooling hungrily, only to be met by the cold steel of the sword, with Merann in tow. The sword plunged point-first to the hilt in the belly of the creature, closely followed by Merann, who plunged headfirst into the hairy chest with a look of astonishment on her face. As Merann fell to the ground, still clutching the sword, the thing's wound tore downward. Shortly thereafter, a hulking hairy body followed as the beast lurched forward onto her, writhing and screaming.

Calypsus spun to meet the creature, horns prominently displayed as he lunged forward, nearly tripping over it. Muffled screams and invective raged in his head from Merann as the screaming creature drowned out Merann's histrionics. Bending his head, the bicorn used his horns to push the beast off the hapless girl. The hideous creature's internal organs showed bright and slick through the gaping wound in its gut.

Merann lay on the ground, gasping for breath while the creature continued to writhe next to her, screaming.

Turning towards Merann, eyes filled with hate, the thing extended a hairy paw to claw at her, its gaping jaws dripping bloody froth. Calypsus leapt over Merann to land atop the creature, stomping and horning the thing in an terrible maddened frenzy until, out of breath, he stood, lathered and shivering with exhaustion. Calypsus felt the monster shudder once, and then move no more, though he gored it once more, just to be certain.

Merann and Calypsus stood staring at each other for a moment, then Merann got to her knees. Slowly, Merann began to shiver, then shake, and clutched at herself. Suddenly, she leaned over and violently threw up. Sometime later she regained control of her stomach and managed to pull herself to her feet. 

Merann started to wipe her mouth before realizing her hand was covered with blood, as was the rest of her. Her stomach lurched and she tasted bile, but managed to regain control. Stumbling to the monster, she held herself up with her sword handle. Then, bracing herself with one foot on the monster, she pulled out the sword, grimacing at the wet sound it made as it emerged.

"Goddess! I have to find somewhere that I can wash!" She gasped as she gingerly touched her matted, blood-smeared hair. Calypsus nudged her with a feeling of great respect.

"To tell you the truth, Calypsus, his death had nothing to do with planning. When you zigged, I zagged, and this is the result. Can you smell any water nearby?"

Well, the Sweetstream does parallel this forest. However, I don't think this is the place for a wash-up. You'll have to wait until we get through the Tanglethorn. Merann could see that Calypsus had no intention of allowing her to bathe yet, and didn't argue the point.

So it was that Merann remounted and they continued on their way. Calypsus wisely quickened his pace to get as far away from the monster as he could. It was fortunate that they had not tarried near the monster, because many of the forest's denizens came out of the shadows to pick at it rather than attack the bicorn and Merann. Occasionally they heard the sound of creatures fighting one another over a choice bit of dead monster, and were thankful none of the scavengers cared to follow.

They made it through the rest of the Tanglethorn unmolested, though they felt they were being watched constantly. Merann and Calypsus felt as if hundreds of concealed eyes were upon them as they stopped to collect interesting specimens along the way. They had earned the respect of the Tanglethorn's denizens.

At one point, Merann noticed an unusual plant growing alongside the pathway and felt compelled to pick it and a quantity of its seeds for further study. The herb had a tiny lavender flower and small shiny, dark-green leaves, all supported on an impossibly long and thin stem and a sticky brown substance oozed out from the stem when picked. It also had a peculiar fragrance reminiscent of lemon and mint that set her mouth to watering. The combination suggested it might be good for inflamed throat tissues. As most herbs had a use of one sort or another, Merann felt confident she could discover the plant's secrets. If not, the flower had an undeniably lovely fragrance and would make an excellent perfume.

Such a fuss over such a tiny thing. Really, Merann! the bicorn teased, showing a wealth of amusement and humor in his peripheral thoughts and feelings. He had apparently begun to relax from the encounter in the Tanglethorn. Calypsus did, however, stand vigilant guard when Merann finally stopped to bathe.

Merann and the bicorn had been together since the beast's tragic foaling six years before, and the bicorn stallion knew her as no other living thing did.

Human and bicorn had worked together since the beginning of recorded history, though until recent times, always in the position of master and servant. No attempt had been made to assess the bicorns and their potential contribution to society as a whole. That is, until Merann reached her twelfth year.

The foundling human and orphaned bicorn foal had taken to each other almost immediately after the beast's foaling. Merann had refused to watch the fragile creature die so soon after his dam had passed into GoldenGates. The Elders had allowed her to bottle feed the colt with the admonition that the animal was not likely to survive. The Elders were mistaken.

Merann tirelessly experimented with various healing herbs and milk from cooperative mares. She fed the result to the weakened colt and watched as it strengthened and grew.

As with all children, the colt managed to get himself into all manner of scrapes, which Merann would somehow manage to heal, using the knowledge she cadged from the various goodwives and goodmen around the village. The colt thrived under Merann's gentle and loving care, growing to become her devoted companion and protector.

Merann had spent every spare moment away from her womanly studies with the bicorn, to the consternation of the Elders. Animal husbandry had always been a male-dominated field. The care of the home and related duties had always been the task of women and girl-children.

Merann rather naturally gravitated toward healing once she finished raising the bicorn. Villagers began to call her in whenever they had a problem with one of their own beasts. With time, they began to beg her to intervene when a family member was ailing, over the objections of the old village healer, Timony. 

Merann had shown far greater success than the old healer in recuperating her charges. The old man went to the Elders to complain that Merann was practicing without training, but he got no support. 

Finally, the old man stormed out of the village in a huff, going to live with a daughter in the nearby fishing village of Umtallow. For some reason, the villagers did not seem to regret his leaving much.

The Elders welcomed Merann as a burgeoning healer once they realized what her gifts truly were, and benignly forgave her eccentricities concerning the bicorn colt. A betrothal to a certain young man of the village had been in the offing for many years until Merann had shown her true Gift for healing. However, healers were never expected to pair in marriages not of their own choosing, in the belief that healers needed to be free to travel where they had to without having to consider the care of children and home. 

So Merann was freed of the obligation, much to the unhappiness of the young man.

When the Elders realized that Merann was telepathically linked to the beast, they were a bit shocked. It had always been known that the bicorns were telepathic, but the bicorns rarely used that ability to the benefit of humankind. The Elders had never considered utilizing the telepathic abilities of the bicorns, but it suddenly made sense.

Occasionally, a bicorn might alert its rider to forthcoming danger, but they were generally reticent where their riders were concerned. Calypsus was clearly an exception to that rule. He and Merann were more playmates than anything else, and managed to get into trouble frequently enough to prove that simple fact.

A group of Elders was commissioned to address the bicorns and assess the situation. After exhaustive investigation and one on one conversations with the equinoids, they determined that the bicorns were equal in intelligence to an adult human of average abilities, and that it was potentially immoral, if not illegal, to hold an obviously intelligent creature in bondage. The bicorns had then been rather ceremoniously set free to wander where they would. Some few with attachments to certain villagers stayed on, but as companions, not as slaves. From that point on, bicorns wore neither saddle nor bridle, only an occasional blanket.

Merann and Calypsus had taught the villagers a valuable lesson in interspecies relations they would not soon forget. There were perhaps twenty bicorns who stayed on at the village. Some were really too old to forage for themselves, and the village Elders had promised the Herd Stallion and his mate that the elderly bicorns would be cared for as long as they lived, with no expectation of servitude.

The others were younger colts and fillies that had attachments to either elder bicorns or humans who lived in the village. Strangely enough, the bicorns who kept company with humans seemed to pair with unusual people, people who would have perhaps stood out in any case in any village.

A filly by the name of Taurysus was the boon companion of an artistically gifted young woman named Ysabel. The young stallion Uthysus was enamored of a young girl named Hannah Sundaughter. Hannah had been mute since birth, and her own parents and the villagers had considered her possibly mentally impaired as well until Uthysus gave her the gift of speech, and it was proved that in ten year old Hannah was the very intelligent and creative soul of a poet. These were only a few examples of the special pairings in the village of Sweetstream, and both were among those due to receive their amulets with Merann's next delivery.

When she traveled to well-populated areas, Merann put a halter with reins on Calypsus to avoid misunderstandings with passersby or the authorities, which often saw the dangerously sharp horns as a matter of immediate concern. The authorities did not know that the halter and reins would break at a sudden jerk of the bicorn's head. At a certain point on Calypsus' head, a very slender webbing only held them together. A couple of times this had saved Calypsus from being stolen by those who coveted him.