Through Shadows Falling

[Komi Banton]

Komi ran.

She held the screaming, weeping Fable in her arms, and she ran. Tavin and Nerra ran just in front of her, her son continually glancing back at her, as if worried she?d be left behind.

Her lungs ached and tears coursed down her cheeks. The wound in her thigh from her battle that morning burned like fire, slowing her down. The sack with her drum thudded against her backside, from where she?d tied it to her belt earlier to leave her paws free.

Cracks spider-webbed over the walls. Dust hung thick in places where the walls had crumbled. She stumbled over a piece of rubble, nearly falling, and staggering in order to catch herself.

?Mum! Mum! Here!?

She looked up to see Nerra dart through the kitchen doorway and Tavin waving with her spear to make sure she saw. Something crashed loudly behind her and a gust of air and dust struck her back. She pelted through the kitchens, past clanking pots and pans on their hooks and abandoned knives, spoons, and chopped vegetables.

Then she burst out the next door and into the evening air outside the Crater. Before her, Nerra and Tavin continued running until they were well away from the walls that formed the outside of the arena.

As soon as she reached them, Komi collapsed, gasping raggedly. She clung to Fable, who struggled and fought against her, crying for Minerva all the while.

?Mum?!? Tavin cried, his voice edging on panic.

?I?m okay,? she choked, waving one paw weakly, and nearly losing her grip on Fable. The otter pup wriggled like a trout, nearly getting out of Komi?s exhausted hold.

?Mummy! Mummy! Let me go! I want my mummy!? the otter pup wailed.

?Fable,? Komi could hardly talk around her gasps for air and her own sobs that wanted to sneak out. Later, she promised herself. Mourn Min later. ?Listen to me. Shh?? She changed her grip on the otter, still holding her secure, but going to more of a cradling hold and rocking her in a way that she hadn?t done since Tavin was a kit. ?I?m sorry. I?m sorry. Your mother?s gone. She?s gone, Fable. We can?t go back for her. I?m sorry.? Her voice broke and she bowed her own head until it touched Fable?s. ?I?m so sorry.?

She felt paws on her shoulder and raised red eyes to look at her son, who knelt beside her. ?I?m sorry, Mum,? he whispered, his face contorting with his own guilt. ?It?s my fault.?

?No,? she said, and put one arm around him, pulling him close to her. ?Never, ever think that. Min made her choice on her own. You didn?t make her do anything.?

The three of them stayed there in a secure embrace, Fable weeping loudly, and silent tears from Komi?s eyes trickling over her dark fur. Tavin?s breath was warm and soft against her neck.

There was a crash from the crumbling Crater. They all looked up as dust rose from a section where they had been. Komi swallowed down a cry of her own.

Goodbye, Min.

Her breathing was beginning to steady, and a bone deep weariness settled over her.

Fable stopped struggling, and now just sobbed, limp in Komi?s arms. Komi shifted the little otter in her lap, put a paw under her chin, and raised her bowed head.

?Listen to me, Fable. I know you hardly know me, and that?s not fair to you, but your mother told me so much about you. She loved you so much. More than you know.?

The little otter blinked, and two more fat teardrops rolled from her eyes.

Komi continued. ?I know I?m not as good as your mother, but I will take care of you. You won?t be alone. I promise.?

?I want my mummy,? Fable whimpered, her lower lip trembling.

Tavin?s paw reached out and took hold of Fable?s smaller one. ?Aye, and you?ll never stop wanting her,? he said. ?You?ll always miss her, but that?s okay. And it?s okay to cry about it, too. But you have to remember, would your mummy want you to be sad all the time??

The pup shook her head.

?Would your mummy want you to be happy??

Fable hesitated, then nodded.

Komi?s son smiled through his own tears and leaned close. ?You just remember all the things she taught you, all the songs she sang, and stories she told you. As long as you can do that, and remember all the happy times, it will hurt less and less the longer you go on. You will never stop missing her, but you will never stop loving her either.?

Tavin gave Komi a sideways glance, and there was something in those eyes, that looked so much like Alder?s. Komi realized that what Tavin was saying had probably been said to him many long seasons ago, when he thought she had died in the siege at Redwall. She swallowed down a lump in her throat.

?By Martin,? Nerra suddenly said, pointing up toward the collapsing Crater. ?What is that?!?

They all looked, as a massive, furred, eight-legged creature came scuttling out of a hole in a wall, her spiny pelt red in the evening light.

?Bessie,? Komi said, climbing to her feet, though her legs shook violently from the strain. She hitched Fable onto the hip not weakened by her injured leg. ?One of Nire?s monsters.?

?Did you have to fight that?? Tavin whispered, his voice cracking.

?No, I fought a scorpion,? Komi said, as they watched as the spider race along the crumbling rooftop, heading towards the setting sun in the west.

A shuddering rumble ran through the ground, making them all stagger.

?We shouldn?t be here,? Komi said, her eyes scanning the collapsing building before them. ?I don?t know how bad the flooding will be, but we should get to high ground.?

?We can meet up with the rest of the GUOSIM,? Tavin said. ?They were taking the other children away from here. We?ll be safe with them and Fable can see her friends again.? He smiled at the otter, who returned a shaky little smile of her own, though her paws were twined tightly around Komi?s neck now.

A flutter of motion caught Komi?s eye and she turned her head, looking towards the Crater?s main gate. She blinked, not sure what she was seeing. A small figure fluttered from an upper story, flapping hard, but then spiraled down out of sight.

?Kali!? Komi gasped. ?That was Kali! Come on! She must be hurt!?

She hurried across the cobbled roadway that ran by the Crater, heading towards the area she?d seen Kali go down, but then stopped short when she saw the crowd before the Crater?s main gate. Somewhere in the middle of it all, she heard Kali?s voice.

Komi glanced at Fable, then at Tavin. ?I have to check on Kali. I won?t leave another friend behind if I can help it. Take Fable.? The otter pup hesitated to unlock her paws from around Komi?s neck, but Tavin tickled her suddenly. She squealed and he pulled her away. Komi took the spear from Tavin in exchange. ?Stay here!? she ordered.

She turned and elbowed her way through the crowd.