Chapter 10

Argimos the King?

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Baran-Dak Toi. The very term set her blood to boil. What Prim even had the right to deem another Prim, any other Prim, as a carrier of tainted blood? The very idea was insidious because only the very first, and original Prim were absolute purebreds, but they had also been barren, like every Prim since, and the only way for a Prim to become pregnant was through the magic and seed of a wizard, and all wizards were human, so how could any Prim, human mother or not, be considered a Baran-Dak Toi, carrier of tainted blood? The term made no sense to her.

Jo-Laina’s clan had continued up the mountain and they were getting close. The Minh was not concealing his shadows, but she wasn’t convinced of whether or not that was a good thing. Soon they would find out, and soon they would find out why these two Minh wanted them all together within the same space; for the second Minh, accompanied by the two Prim that had been pursuing them, were close behind and making ground.

They rounded one last corner, as the sun was just beginning to set along the horizon, and as they had finally made it to the other side of the Dead Mountains. It was the first time in her life that she had been able to see what lie on the other side, and she was surprised to see a barren sea of sand. Her eyes could not find a single stitch of green among the tan. It appeared that the land on this side of the mountains was as dead as the Dead Mountains were themselves, but a reality hit her as her eyes soaked the sight of the desert into her brain. This was why they were here. The positioning of their meeting at this very point was no coincidence. For some reason seeing this stretch of sand meant something. This fact clicked into place immediately. Jo-Laina felt that in the core of her gut, and if there was anything that she trusted more than her gut, then she didn’t know what it was.

“I wanted you to see this at least once before your death, Prim,” a new voice called out. Jo-Laina had known that the Minh was within speaking distance, but her mind had been so taken by the vast view of the desert that she hadn’t bothered to look for him. As his voice came through her bolainin’s ears, she turned her meerkin’s head toward him, in time to see him rise from sitting, standing on all fours, a slight smile (it seemed) on his dog/bear face, and his slithering tale swinging behind him. “I am happy to see that dinner has finally arrived.”

The rumor like stories that she had heard since the earliest memories of her childhood were true. The Tso-Tsa-Minh, or Prectock, actually did exist and the descriptions of them were not far from the truth. This particular Prectock still seemed to be in his adolescence, standing about human height, muscular in his overall feline like appearance. His mane had just begun to change from the tan color of his youth, filling slowly in toward a bright maroon color, and his dog-like face did have a slight resemblance to a belly bear, mixed in. His body had large diamond shaped scales that had a bronze color, but the bronze was beginning to turn as a leaf does in autumn, going from bronze and oozing toward purple. His tail was long and slithered behind him as he stood their majestically, his chest puffed outward with pride. At the end of his tail was a sharp spiked spire that looked as deadly as his gaze did.

“Save it, Minh. I know better,” Jo-Laina retorted defiantly.

“You know nothing of the sort. I brought you here because I wanted this to be your last resting place,”

“You didn’t bring us here. We came here. We were not forced,” she said. As she said it, she couldn’t help but notice the tremendous pile of bones off to one side of the plateau that surrounded them. The pile itself was tremendous, standing at least two body lengths high. There were skulls, and ribs, all the bones of hands, ribs, legs and arms, but Jo-Laina didn’t have to wonder who those bones belonged to because, next to the pile of bones, was a pile of weapons. All of which were correllium. Those bones had all belonged to Prim and possibly the guard that they had brought with them.

“I did bring you here, because you could not have made it here without my shield!”

Jo-Laina closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She hadn’t noticed it before, but she could actually sense the Minh’s shield in a similar way to how she could sense his shadow, the shadows of her clan, and those of the other Prim and the Minh, but she could sense something else as well. Something significant and important, but she couldn’t be sure if it was really what she thought.

Unless...

“Then eat us already and be done with it! I’m not in the mood for games.”

“In time...”

“NO! NOW!” she demanded as she began to approach the Minh. “Open your mouth, Minh. Open it and do what you brought us here to do.”

Have you gone crazy, Jo-Laina? Jo-Vanna asked in her sister’s head.

Let us hope not, she replied.

“If I open my mou...”

It was all she needed. As soon as the Minh’s mouth was open wide enough to allow it, she bent, and stuck her head inside of it.

“Now chew, Minh. Quit stalling, quit playing games and eat me!”

“Uh, huh wewa wo weh woo weh,” the Minh tried to speak with her head in its mouth, but even as he was trying to speak, Jo-Laina was crawling further into the Minh’s mouth.

“What’s that, Minh? I can’t really understand you when you are trying to speak with your mouth full, but I’m half way in now, so eat up! Start the chewing! Come on, boy!” she said, but she had already found out what she needed to know. Even if the Minh decided to eat her, she wouldn’t become his meal.

The Minh wrapped what lips it had around Jo-Laina and blew her out, like a child blowing out a bad tasting vegetable.

“I said...”

“What you say makes no sense, Minh. You are not here to eat anyone and you know it! If you wanted to eat us, you would have done it weeks ago. You’ve been following us around and watching us. I am not a moron. I am not a child. Speak your intentions and be brave. Be up front!”

“You are correct, Prim. I have not brought you here to eat you.”

“Better,” Jo-Laina said. “You brought us here to show us that,” she added pointing out toward the desert. “What I don’t get is why. It’s just sand.”

The Minh crinkled its furry brow. “My ancestors were right about one thing. The Baran-Dak Toi are not like normal Prim!”

“DON’T YOU EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN!” Jo-Laina screamed.

The Minh grinned wide. “I will continue to call you what you are, but this is not a term that you should be ashamed of, Prim. Indeed not! You should be proud to wear this label!”

“I should be proud to wear the label of ‘carrier of tainted blood?!’”

“Who told you this?” the Minh asked.

“Everyone told me this. That is what Baran-Dak Toi means!”

“Lies! That is not the meaning.”

“The Prim do not lie! The Prim...”

“PTAH, and PTOOEY! The Prim say whatever they feel serve them best at the time! The meaning of Baran-Dak Toi is carrier of blood from the grey! You have been honored, Prim! Your entire life is a blessing to this world!”

“My blood is not grey. It is red, like a human’s blood!”

“And here I was just about to call you smarter than a normal Prim. If you think that the term is referring to the color of your blood then you are as stupid as the rest of the Prim,” the Minh said, but he quickly turned his attention from their conversation to the second Minh, who was approaching, with two Prim close behind him.

“I brought din...”

“Save it, Belimos,” the Minh said to his brother. They had rounded the last curve as the Minh was speaking and Belimos immediately began to make his planned announcement. “They have already figured out that we are not going to eat them.”

“That’s too bad,” Jo-Viel said. “For I am only smart enough to be food anyway. I was so looking forward to finally being able to serve a purpose.”

Jo-Laina’s attention was drawn to the Prim who had just spoken and she was glad for her meerkin because the sun was beginning to disappear beyond the edge of the world. Even without the light of the sun, her meerkin’s eyes could see everything with crisp clarity. She had never seen this particular set of Prim before. She would have remembered them because, as Prim, they were both particularly beautiful. They did, of course, have the signature grey skin of a Prim, but both of them had a slightly softer color grey than most Prim. They wore their shiny silver hair long, which was rare. Most Prim preferred to keep their hair short; some shaven on one side, the other’s shaved on both sides of their heads. These Prim had no shaven hair but instead, they wore their hair braided and looped multiple times behind their heads. They each kept their eyes silver, despite the fact that they were obviously joined with their bolainin, which meant that they could both thread their bolainin, and the tri-fingered antennae that formed along the upper ridge of their ears were long, but still straight, a sign of significance among Prim. Neither Jo-Laina nor Jo-Vanna had these antennae because it was not a trait that more fully human Prim carried. The most notable thing about these two Prim was their height. They each stood a full seven feet tall. A full foot taller than the average Prim and they looked as powerful as they did sleek and fast. Everything about them was beautiful, and commanded a respect, and it was a respect that Jo-Laina was more than happy to give.

Her clan, however, did not feel the same. She could feel their tension as the two Prim neared the place where they were standing, she could see, through the eyes of Picket, the slight raising of their shoulders, repositioning of their feet, and readying of their weapon-hand.

“If one of you makes even the slightest offensive move, it won’t be those two Prim that you have to worry about, for I will kill you myself,” Jo-Laina said. Then she turned her attention back to the Minh, and another realization hit her. “You called your brother Belimos, but we have yet to learn your name.”

“Argimos,” the Minh replied matter of fact.

“And how common is it for a Minh, a ... Prectock, to have a twin?”

“Very astute of you to notice so quickly, for we are not exact copies of each other, but again you are correct, and it is not common at all. The last time it happened...”

“Was the last time that a Baran-Dak Toi was in charge of the Prim,” Jo-Laina finished.

The eyebrows above Argimos’ eyes rose with intrigue. “Correct,” he said with a note of disbelief.

“And let me guess,” Jo-Laina continued. “Their names just so happened to be Argimos, and Belimos?” Things were beginning to fall together in her mind. She had heard enough of Panpar’s stories, in addition to what she had just learned from him, to be able to figure this part out. It was a relatively simple puzzle to her.

“Are you Muntarian, Puntarian, or Prim?” Argimos asked.

“Apparently I am Baran-Dak Toi,” Jo-Laina answered.

“Like that’s something to be proud of,” Jo-Viel cut in.

“Nobody...” Panpar began, but as soon as he began to speak, Jo-Laina raised her hand to him and immediately silenced him.

“You know better, Pan. Only the highest ranking individuals should speak during a negotiation.”

“Who said...”

“Shut up, Belimos. She is correct again,” Argimos said, silencing his brother.