Maliha
Chapter 26: Her Tribe

“Concentrate Maliha.”

The husky voice of Makula infiltrated through Maliha’s calm and made it impossible for her to focus.

“If you can hear me, then you aren’t focussed enough.”

The woman’s snappish tone droned on as she spat at Maliha, and Maliha could hear every word proving that Makula was right. She wasn’t concentrating but how could she when the sun was beating down on her body and forcing large rivulets of sweat to glide down her skin. She was sweaty and hot, and she felt disgusting. Added to her bodily discomfort, was the fact that the tribe were being themselves, loud and boisterous. As she kept her eyes closed and sucked breath after breath of hot sweltering air, her frustration grew.

How was she supposed to focus when all she could hear was the noise of those around her? Children screeching, adults chatting, animals chewing... It was too much; her senses were bombarded by noise and Makula’s rants were not helping.

“Maliha.”

Maliha’s eyes snapped open in a mutinous glare. “How am I supposed to concentrate when everyone is so loud?” She growled forcing the growing strands of her hair from her eyes.

What had once been short blunt strands now hung in thick waves around her face. Her was still nowhere near as long as it would need to be to show she was interested in taking a partner, but it had come heaps and bound from what it had once been. Her hair was thicker and shinier, it curled around her ears in subtle waves, making her face appear softer than it had in quite some tone.

Makula’s deep sigh? Pulled Maliha from her musing.

“What are you focusing on?” She questioned.

“I am trying to be still. To be calm.” Maliha murmured softly, her voice imitating hoe she was attempting to feel inside.

“Silly woman,” grunted Makula.

“you do not heed my words.” Her finger wagged in Maliha’s face as she reprimanded her heavily.

Maliha’s face burned at the snickering that Makula’s words caused. They tried to be quite but Maliha could hear their laughter and it only compounded her embarrassment further.

“T’la,” snapped Makula. “I don’t remember any of you doing better in your first try.”

Both Darsan and Enzo’s snickering abruptly halted at Makula’s heavy reprimands. The old woman was in top form, not one person was free from her berating. Once they had been heavily chastised Makula’s intense gaze focussed back on Maliha.

“Now show me how you listen,”

The elderly woman had told her to close her eyes and listen to the energy, how the hell was she supposed to listen to the energy when everyone was so loud

Maliha huffed a puff of air out before sliding her eyes closed and trying to still the noise around her. Her heart thudded in her ears as she tried to close out the noise of the tribe and listen to the world and energy around her.

“Stupid.” Makula’s snappish tone was accompanied by a sharp flick to Maliha ears which had her jerking forwards.

“You do not listen with these.” Makula grunted before moving her hand to hover above Maliha’s face.

“You listen with this.” She pointed to Maliha’s forehead.

Maliha remained confused, not understanding how her brain was supposed to help her with tapping into her dahasmani and the energy of this world.

“You do not shut out noise, energy is not still it is alive and vibrant.”

Makula’s fingers pointed down to the ground and in the ruddy sand a small green plant began to take form, slowly rowing towards her fingers. Once the plant was large bough, she clasped Maliha’s fingers and made her feel the plant, feel its energy.

As Maliha’s fingers made contact with the plant, she felt a strong surge of energy strumming through her fingers reminding her of the feeling she had received when she was in The Ishanu. The plant had its own essence, its own sort of frequency that spoke to Maliha’s unconscious mind. The fine tendrils of the plants essence kisses d her fingers and kindled around her being in a gentle stroke like that of a lover’s caress.

“Do you feel?” Makula murmured, the rough timbre of her voice jolting Maliha from her trance.

“Yes.” She gasped, eyes wide as she started at the plant that dangled bear her fingers.

“Good, now follow me. Close your eyes.”

Maliha followed Makula’s instructions and realised get ryes.

“breathe out, and in”

She ducked in a large breath full of air, regulating her breathing until she had a steady flow of her heart thudding in her ears. Her hands relaxed along her thighs as she wicked in all the scents that permeated the Der Surjaz land and then breathed out all of her tension.

“Good.” Makula crooned quietly.

“Now I want you to envision the tribe. I want you to see the children playing together, young Talah crying for her mother. Can you see?”

Maliha did as Makula asked, her senses closing down until she could practically see what her ears had picked up the. Young Talah with her chubby cheeks and short frizzy hair stood by the river crying for her mother, farah, which washed the clothes. The water bubbles around the tops da the water sloshed at her hands.

“I can see.” Maliha nodded, hearing the grass crunch beneath Farah’s feet as she climbed to her feet and gathered her daughter in her arms.

“Good. Keep breathing.” And she did, sucking in more air. With each breath, more of the sounds that filled her ears, became clear in her mind.

“I want you to see the grass, how the wind by the river whips at its blades even though the air is stifling.”

Maliha could see that clearly, the long grass strands whipped back and forth at the strong wind that forced its movement. The dark green strands were damp with reissue of swishing river and the children who had been dipping inside its cooking waters.

“What does it feel like.”

“It’s soft, and damp?” Maliha Muttered, her fingers tingling with the slight drops of water.

“Yes, now see the river, sloshing at the river bed. Rocking back and forth”

The clear body of water was clear in Maliha mind the depths of it calling to her to swim in its ripples.

“Good.” Makula’s sighed. “Now can you feel it. Feel the water?”

Maliha’s head nodded noncommittally as she envisioned the river lapping at her toes and then her ankles.

“Good.” Makula hummed. “Breathe in.”

Makula’s voice is as disjointed, muffled by the buzzing current of the water and all the life and energy it housed.

“Now tell me what you feel.”

“Energy.”

Maliha gasped, her hand burnt as a flickering flame of molten lava pulsed between her fingers. It winged against the water that had kissed her tips, thick plumes of steam rose around her hands as the churning, lava bubbled around her fingers.

“Can you feel the fire beneath our feet. Fire that is molten rock beneath our feet. Can you feel it?”

She could, her body broke out into sweats as the fire that flowed beneath her feet flittered through her noisy, burning through every cell in her body.

“Call it.”

Makula’s words were like a whispered in the wind, ghosting over her body and splitting Maliha’s mind open. Her soul was filled with pure white light that bathed her in its luminescence from the inside out, the energy pulsed beneath her feet and then shot its way all the way to her mind. Circling through her body, until she was forced to see with ryes that she had never seen through. Everywhere she looked sparks of energy should t throat go the land, in some places the energy was in muted colours of pale yellows or greens and in others it was curling waves of blue, twisting vines of luminescent green and roaring flames of red sparks.

“With your dahasmani, call it. Call the fire to kindle within.”

At Makula’s words, a lock within Maliha splintered open. The black dining light that had previously forced her mind open, rippled and her whole body thrummed within. The white life got that had once been concentrated to her mind, gushed through her being and rippled away from her in a cloud of white light.

“Yes.” The hiss that left Makula’s lips let Maliha know that she was close.

Her being felt open as if everything that she had gone through in her life no longer matters and had been wiped clean. She felt as if she was starting against being washed clean by a holy light that touched her in every level.

Ever so slowly, Maliha opened her eyes to see what it was that Makula was seeing,

The moment her eyes opened, she noted that everything around her was tinged in a red and orange hue, as if she was walking through the blinding light of fire.

“No centre it Maliha, call it to your palm.” Maliha’s head whipped to the side in confusion, not confusion that Enzo and Darsan stood by Makula’s side.

Through the flames, Maliha could see their grinning face but the confusion remained heavy in her mind. Every cell in her body called to the fires Energy, she had no idea how to force the lambert flames into just one part of her body when it wanted to flow freely through her.

“Open up your dahasmani, Maliha. Let it guide you.”

Maliha had no idea what that meant but instead of worrying over Makula’s words, she retreated inside her body. Her consciousness floating as tapped into her dahasmani and whispered her command. The small white light that lay furled in the centre of her head rippled in rejection. Frustration creased her face as she attempted to force her dahasmani to comply, but with every silent command it rippled away from her.

Swear glided down her body as the flaming energy wrapped around her in angry strokes.

"Listen”

Maliha’s was eyes snapped closed as the voice that wasn’t Makula’s washed over her.

“Listen.”

The voice repeated those words like an until Maliha was forced to silent her mind and just listen. When her brain had stilled and all she could do was feel, she was able to note that her dahasmani was cooking tighter. The pale light that was inside her collapsing in on itself until it was nothing but a ball of light.

“Now call”

Maliha sucked in a sharp gasp of air as she felt her body vibrating in preparation of something.

Words blurted from her lips until she was calling the fire from around her body to the palm of her hand. The ball of light rippled and flew to her palm, sucking the flames from around her body with it.

When Maliha opened her eyes next, she was surprised to see the world was back to its normal sandy hues, all except for the tiny ball of fire light that sparked in her palm.

“Good.” Chuckled Makula.

“Now call the water.”

A frustrated huff of air gushed from Maliha’s lips in trepidation.

How the hell was she supposed to call the water when she didn’t even know how she called the fire?

And how the hell did she send it back?

By the time it was the final meal of the day, Maliha was beyond tired. Every inch of her body ached like never before. Her head pounded, and she felt weak and limp. Her stomach rumbled with its need for food, but it wasn’t ready yet.

A deep bone-weary sigh tumbled from her lips as she sunk onto her log and watched the fish and vegetables cook over the fire.

After she had finished calling three of the main elements no less than five times each, she had then taken Enzo and Darsan with her to gather root vegetables in the forest. Once they had gathered a large amount of potatoes and other tuberous roots, they also gathered a bunch of edible plants and leaves for Maliha to not only cook but to also use in an exchange for goods. She had noticed that most of the meals the tribe ate were wheat based, they were made from the few plants they grew in the fields of vegetation that they cultivated.

Her plants that they had scourged from the forest were both a mystery and a pleasant relief for many of the tribes, it gave them a break from the similar textures and tastes of their usual meals. Maliha sold as many of the tuberous plants as possible, exchanging six for a small clay pot that would allow her to steam their food. She also traded some of the plants she had gathered, with materials and had also given those who had traded with her tips on how best to cook the vegetables and what complemented them best.

Once she had traded all she could without leaving too little for her fire, she then went to the river where she attempted to catch fish. She slowly taught Enzo and Darsan how to fish, Darsan taking to fishing with an alacrity that shocked Maliha and put both her and Enzo to shame. Darsan’s limited sight meant that the girl could hear better and in a hushed whisper, Darsan had admitted that through her pale eyes she could see the aura of every living creature and plant.

They had only caught a few fish due to the loud playful screeches of the children, but Maliha had been satisfied with their catch. She had retreated with the five fish and then headed back to the forest with Enzo, where she had gutted the fish and began pulverising the intestines with some other plants she had gathered.

Once the fish had been cleaned and the intestines blended down into a pulp, she had then began washing her skin, forcing Enzo to wash his skin to rid them of the strong scent of fish oil that clung to their skin and clothes. Their washing time turned into another chore in itself and by the time they were done Maliha was knackered.

Her day had been full of things to do, and now she was ready to rest her head on her pallet but there was still so much more she needed to do before she could sleep.

Kamir was sitting by their fire for another night, but this time Maliha would prompt Xiuri to speak more, if she could replace the energy to stay awake.

“Can I stir?” Enzo’s hopeful voice, Jarred Maliha from her tired musings.

“Of course, be careful not to break up the fish.” She handed him the small spoon she had traded, amongst other things, for one of her five fish, and then stood over his shoulder as she watched him stir. She even allowed him to sprinkle in some seasonings, which Enzo enjoyed immensely.

She had made a fish stew with chopped potato and cassava, she had made a side salad with the edible flowers and plants, and the fish intestines had been fried into tiny little meat cakes that would go well with the bread that Kamir was bringing.

“That smells lovely, Maliha.” Called Kamir, his arm stretching over her shoulder and squeezing it in thanks before he handed her the bread.

The thing about warriors were, though they were probably the highest ranked people in the tribe, after the council, the same rules seemed to apply to them. If they did not participate in the up taking of the animals or the hunting of the meat, then they could not be allowed to eat any part of that meal. As a result, many warriors paired up with a non-warrior, who they could split chores and food resources with, ensuring they had full meals. However, Kamir had no partner as most of these matchings went beyond just food sharing, and often included sexual needs. As he was interested in Xiuri, he had no choice but to forgo that partnership and only eat the few resources he helped cultivate, such as the wheat farms or occasionally the large hunts. Though, with Ujarak and a select few of the warriors gone, it seemed that the warriors had not been hunting as frequently as they usually did.

By inviting Kamir to their fire that was shared with other females of their station, Maliha was creating a sort of partnership between the two of them, but it was one based upon a friendship and desire to see the same ending. Xiuri Happy, and preferably with Kamir.

As the food cooked for all four of them, Maliha made small talk in hope that when Xiuri came the tense energy would have dissipated but that was not the case. Kamir’s gaze was riveted to Xiuri as she finally entered the circle and took her seat. Maliha climbed to her feet and began dishing out the food. Piling up Kamir’s plate as she was unsure when the man had last eaten.

Kamir barely spoke as he ate which was a welcomed silence to Maliha. She he wasn’t sure if she had the energy to try and replace topics for Kamir and Xiuri to speak on, but from the look he kept shooting Maliha over his bowl of food, Maliha had no choice. Sighing in resignation, she picked up some fish whilst thinking of conversation starters.

“So, Xiuri, what did you get up today?”

Xiuri’s head snapped up quizzically before she mumbled her response. “Just meditating and then I helped Ciur gather food. Her daij is due soon.”

Maliha could easily see that, Ciur’s belly was fully round like the coconuts that lined the der Surjaz land. Ciur could birth her young any day now.

“Do you meditate often?” Kamir questioned hesitantly.

Xiuri’s cautiously looked up at him, before glancing down at her food. Maliha could see the lines of worry and confusion that furrowed along her face. Her teeth sunk into her lip as she contemplated whether she should speak or remain silent. Just as Kamir’s shoulders began to drop in defeat, Xiuri spoke up.

“I try to meditate every day, but as of recently I have needed it more.”

A deep breath of relief slipped from Maliha’s lips as the lovers began talking to each other, Kamir shifting closer to Xiuri so they could speak more intimately.

Enzo made his way over to her and then say by her feet, his head resting on her thighs and his arms draping over her knees. Then he lightly pulled at the sleeves of clothes in a telling sign that had Maliha chuckling to herself.

Maliha sat her unfinished food to the side and then began playing with his hair. Her nails lightly scratching in his hair and making patterns that she knew would send him to sleep in no time.

As the fire flickered in the cool night air, Maliha smiled to herself. This was what she had been missing all those years. This feeling of peace and kinship.

She loved nights like this. Nights where the air was filled with aromatic foods and smoking pipes, nights when laughter and sounds of pleasure carried lightly over the drums.

Nights with the people she had begun to care for.

This was bliss and Maliha wanted a lifetime of nights just like this.