Dragonfly: A Tale of the Counter-Earth at the Cosmic Antipodes by Raphael Ordoñez Page B
Authors: Raphael Ordoñez
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confusion. Quickly I slipped down the far side, ducked under the dewlap, and climbed up where I had before. Now my leash was looped around the behemoth’s neck. I stood upright, pulling against it for balance, tightening the iron noose.
The monster began to buck and rear, but I held my place, rocking back and forth on the chain. Its attempts to dislodge me became more and more frantic, but the loop only drew tighter. Soon it was swaying in place. For a moment it stood there, shaking its head from side to side, as though trying to remember where it was. Then its legs folded slowly. I stepped down its ribs to the floor as it rolled on its side.
The cheering reached a crescendo. A guard on the wall tossed me his spear. I took aim and threw. The point entered the beast’s hide between its forelegs. I leaped forward and drove it further in, leaning against it with all my weight, seeking the behemoth’s heart. Suddenly a torrent of black blood gushed out, drenching me. The thick legs stiffened, then relaxed. The beast was dead.
The crowd was deafening in its applause. Rods of silver and gold fell like rain. My handlers came out with buckets, rinsed me off, and toweled me dry. They led me out between them. There was no talk of cages now.
10 The Handmaiden
All at once I was a champion. Granny even tweaked my cheek when she saw me. Talan was all but forgotten.
They led me back to my cell, and I stretched out on my cot, lost in thought. A guard appeared in the passage with a slim figure, unlocked the gate, and let her in. I rose to receive her.
She was large-eyed and hazel-eyed, with auburn hair gathered loosely about her head and fastened in back. Her lips were soft and pink and gently cusped. She wore a gown of byssum streaked with green and blue and purple. Long earrings dangled from her ears. She was a little taller than me, as were all the Enochites, and had a womanly, wasp-waisted figure. She was no helot, that much was certain. I judged her about ten years my senior.
“My name is Seila,” she said. She began slipping the straps off her shoulders.
I stopped her. “Am I an animal?”
She colored. “I’m no animal myself. A woman has to live as she can. I don’t ask questions about the work I receive.”
“I meant no offense. I’m a stranger here. Where I come from, we don’t lay by those we don’t intend to take into our household. And, as you see, I have no household.”
“So it once was where I was born. But we’re in Enoch now, the great world-city, where there are arts to free women from nature’s burdens, so that they’re free to live for the pleasure of others.”
“Is life a burden, then?”
“It can be,” she said. “And burdens shouldn’t be laid on the unwilling.”
“Who wills himself to be?” I asked. “My life is a burden, but it’s one I wouldn’t gladly lay down.”
“Ah! You must be happy, then. What is your name?”
“Keftu.”
“Listen, Keftu. You’re like none of the slayers I’ve met here. If you don’t rut like the rest, they’re going to think something’s wrong with you.”
“I’m not concerned with that,” I said.
“Perhaps not. But they’ll take me away if they think you’re wasting their resources. It would be good to have a rest for one day at least. Do you mind if we lie down together?”
“N-no, I suppose not,” I said. I stretched out along the wall, and she got in beside me. The cot was very narrow; her breasts were pressed against my chest, and her hand rested on my back.
“I have an ulterior motive,” she whispered. “You remind me of home, and of my half-brother.”
“Where is your home?”
“Don’t tell me you haven’t guessed. How long is it since you last saw the Deserits?”
“But I’ve never heard of the Deserits.”
“Then—where are you from?”
“There’s no use telling you,” I said. “No one here has heard of it, and anyway, I’m the only one left alive of it.”
Her face was pale. “Tell me.”
“I
The monster began to buck and rear, but I held my place, rocking back and forth on the chain. Its attempts to dislodge me became more and more frantic, but the loop only drew tighter. Soon it was swaying in place. For a moment it stood there, shaking its head from side to side, as though trying to remember where it was. Then its legs folded slowly. I stepped down its ribs to the floor as it rolled on its side.
The cheering reached a crescendo. A guard on the wall tossed me his spear. I took aim and threw. The point entered the beast’s hide between its forelegs. I leaped forward and drove it further in, leaning against it with all my weight, seeking the behemoth’s heart. Suddenly a torrent of black blood gushed out, drenching me. The thick legs stiffened, then relaxed. The beast was dead.
The crowd was deafening in its applause. Rods of silver and gold fell like rain. My handlers came out with buckets, rinsed me off, and toweled me dry. They led me out between them. There was no talk of cages now.
10 The Handmaiden
All at once I was a champion. Granny even tweaked my cheek when she saw me. Talan was all but forgotten.
They led me back to my cell, and I stretched out on my cot, lost in thought. A guard appeared in the passage with a slim figure, unlocked the gate, and let her in. I rose to receive her.
She was large-eyed and hazel-eyed, with auburn hair gathered loosely about her head and fastened in back. Her lips were soft and pink and gently cusped. She wore a gown of byssum streaked with green and blue and purple. Long earrings dangled from her ears. She was a little taller than me, as were all the Enochites, and had a womanly, wasp-waisted figure. She was no helot, that much was certain. I judged her about ten years my senior.
“My name is Seila,” she said. She began slipping the straps off her shoulders.
I stopped her. “Am I an animal?”
She colored. “I’m no animal myself. A woman has to live as she can. I don’t ask questions about the work I receive.”
“I meant no offense. I’m a stranger here. Where I come from, we don’t lay by those we don’t intend to take into our household. And, as you see, I have no household.”
“So it once was where I was born. But we’re in Enoch now, the great world-city, where there are arts to free women from nature’s burdens, so that they’re free to live for the pleasure of others.”
“Is life a burden, then?”
“It can be,” she said. “And burdens shouldn’t be laid on the unwilling.”
“Who wills himself to be?” I asked. “My life is a burden, but it’s one I wouldn’t gladly lay down.”
“Ah! You must be happy, then. What is your name?”
“Keftu.”
“Listen, Keftu. You’re like none of the slayers I’ve met here. If you don’t rut like the rest, they’re going to think something’s wrong with you.”
“I’m not concerned with that,” I said.
“Perhaps not. But they’ll take me away if they think you’re wasting their resources. It would be good to have a rest for one day at least. Do you mind if we lie down together?”
“N-no, I suppose not,” I said. I stretched out along the wall, and she got in beside me. The cot was very narrow; her breasts were pressed against my chest, and her hand rested on my back.
“I have an ulterior motive,” she whispered. “You remind me of home, and of my half-brother.”
“Where is your home?”
“Don’t tell me you haven’t guessed. How long is it since you last saw the Deserits?”
“But I’ve never heard of the Deserits.”
“Then—where are you from?”
“There’s no use telling you,” I said. “No one here has heard of it, and anyway, I’m the only one left alive of it.”
Her face was pale. “Tell me.”
“I
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