Read Lakhoni for Free Online Page B

sleep,” she said, her voice
soft and difficult to hear over the tumult outside.
    She
left and the animal skin door fell back into place behind her. Lakhoni turned
and peered at Corzon in the dim light of the hut. Corzon stood and Lakhoni
realized that this man was the tallest person he had ever seen. He must have
been nearly a full hand-length taller than Gimno.
    Corzon
smiled and made a sound of disapproval. He moved to the doorway and hooked the
skin to the side, letting more light into the small home. “I’ve got to be able
to see what I’m doing,” he muttered.
     In
the better light, Lakhoni watched Corzon go to a large stone box and dig around
in its contents. Corzon was not only the tallest man Lakhoni had seen; he also
had the largest nose imaginable. It was magnificent; it jutted out nearly
straight from under Corzon’s eyes, then dropped like the side of a cliff. It
then came back to his face in another straight line.
    “Lakhoni,
is it?” Corzon said. He sucked his upper lip into his mouth, working it for a
moment. “Well, let’s take a look.” Corzon stepped back toward Lakhoni. “Go on,”
he pointed at a smooth stone, “have a seat.”
    Lakhoni
obeyed, trying not to stare at the incredibly skinny man’s nose.
    “Give
it up,” Corzon said. “You’ll never tear your eyes away from Nose Mountain.”
    It
took a moment to sink in. Lakhoni burst out laughing.
    “Yes,
it’s quite the feature. A gift from my father,” Corzon said. He lifted
Lakhoni’s right arm. “Keep it up please.” He prodded gently at the wound in
Lakhoni’s side. “Keep your eyes open; the Mighty Nose sometimes forms its own
weather system. You might see clouds.”
    Lakhoni
snorted. Then he hissed as Corzon found a tender spot.
    “Right.
This is going to need some sewing up.”
    Lakhoni
sat quietly as he watched Corzon putter around in his box again. When the tall
man returned, he carried a small pouch and a drinking gut. He handed the gut to
Lakhoni. “Why doesn’t it just fall off my face? That would be a gift from my
mother. No woman would marry this nose, so I will always be my mother’s baby.”
    The
aroma from the drinking gut hit Lakhoni hard. Some kind of fermented fruit
drink. “What’s this for?” he asked.
    “Take
the pain away. The sewing will hurt. A lot.”
    Lakhoni
lifted the gut to take a swig. He stopped just before he got there. I will
take this pain . This is my consecration. Nothing will stop me from
saving Alronna. And if revenge will bring justice, I will do that too. Taking
this pain is the sign of this oath.
    He
lowered the gut. “I can handle it.”
    “No,
you can’t,” Corzon said. “Drink the wine.”
    “No,”
Lakhoni said. His voice sounded harsh to his own ears and he worried he might
offend Corzon. “No, really. I want to feel this,” he said.
    “You’ll
still feel it with the wine in you. But you won’t pass out from the pain, and I
need you to stay upright until I’m done.”
    Lakhoni
considered for a moment. No . He had to show his dedication. His people
had died painfully and he had survived. This wasn’t a penance, but a sacrifice of
his own blood on the altar of justice. He stared straight ahead. “Just do it.”
    Corzon
rested an angry gaze on Lakhoni. “You will scream like a pig, cry like a baby,
and then faint like a woman.”
    Lakhoni
met Corzon’s eyes. “My village was destroyed. My family murdered.” He forced
his muscles to relax. “Do your sewing.”
    Corzon
shook his head and grimaced at Lakhoni’s foolishness. He handed Lakhoni a strip
of leather. “Bite that. Try not to faint.”
    Lakhoni
put the leather in his mouth. The first poke of Corzon’s needle in his side was
not bad. The sensation of the thin twine sliding through his skin was a little
worse.
    It
was the pulling of the two sides of injured flesh together that sent the
blackness before Lakhoni’s eyes. NO! He fought the darkness away, trying
not to think about the gouts of flame-like