The Seventh Mountain (15 page)

Jamal said, “That’s the Tongue of Balaam,
the ability to speak to animals. Not ten Magi in all the world have
had that ability in the last thousand years. That’s amazing.”

“I want to keep it a secret for now. People
think that I’m weird enough as it is, having dreamed about me and
everything.”

The waitress came back to the table. It was
Shana. “You ready to order?”

Mark looked at Jamal. “What’s good to eat in
Ethiopia?”

“Oh man, you have to try the dabo kolo; I
call them Ethiopian cookies, very spicy. They are little fried
biscuits with pepper; they are so good. The yedoro watt is chicken
with a berbere sauce; it’s tremendous. If they let you, try the
tej. It’s like a real weak honey wine.”

Mark looked at Shana. “What he said, if
that’s okay, and a side of gazelle.”

“If they have a no alcohol version of the
tej, would you like that?”

“Yes ma’am. If not, then just a lemonade
from anywhere that is convenient.”

“How do you want your side order of gazelle
cooked?”

“I don’t want a side order of gazelle, I
want an entire side of gazelle, you know, like a side of beef.”

Shana titled her head and chuckled. “I have
to ask, why in the world would you want a whole side of
gazelle?”

“I met one of the game keepers and I told
him that I would get some gazelle for one of the lionesses. She
just had cubs and he just found her. He’d been looking for her for
a week.”

“So, you want me to give him the
gazelle.”

“Yes ma’am, please.”

“Which game keeper was it?”

“He didn’t tell me his name, but he’s got a
rough looking face and bad teeth.”

“That’s Albert, the head game keeper. It’s
unusual that students ever meet him; he keeps to himself and the
animals mostly. How’d you meet him?”

Mark didn’t really want to tell her but he
could see no way around it. “If I tell you, can you keep it a
secret?”

“I don’t know; it depends on what it
is.”

Mark motioned for her to lean in close and
she did. He whispered the story to her.

Shana said, “That’s very unusual. I’ll have
to tell Mrs. Shadowitz at least. I’ll keep it secret from everyone
else though, if that’s what you want.”

“Yes ma’am. That’s what I want.”

“Okay then, I’ll remanifest with the gazelle
over to the game preserve and give it to Albert.”

“Thank you.”

Shana left and Tim came up to the booth. His
toothy grin was shining through his beard. “You guys get the rest
of the day off. Be back here at seven tomorrow morning. You can do
whatever you like, but I suggest that you explore a little. You can
go back to the barracks and socialize if you like. Just be back
here tomorrow morning at seven.”

Mark pulled out his map of the first
level.

Nick said, “I looked at the map of the first
level. There’s a swimming pool, a gym, bowling alley, skate park, a
movie theatre, a game room and a bunch of other stuff here.”

“What’s this thing outside called The
Island?”

Nick said, “That’s for flags matches, it’s
where the bonus flag is.”

“What’s a flags match?”

“It’s kind of like football on horseback
except there’s a flag instead of a ball and four teams instead of
two.”

Chenoa said, “It’s nothing like football.
There’s no downs, the field isn’t marked, there’s no quarterback or
anything like that. The object is to get the flag and keep the
other teams from getting it. That’s all.”

“Hey, I didn’t mean to cause an argument. I
just asked a question.”

Nick said, “Okay, well, let’s go see The
Island and we can explain it better.”

“After we see The Island, maybe you can show
us where that lioness took you.” Chenoa smiled at Mark.

“Okay. Maybe you can look for footprints or
something. I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”

“No. I believe you. I just want to see where
she went.”

They went out the door closest to The Oasis.
The Island was supposed to be on the other side of the mountain,
according to the map. They started walking toward it. After a few
minutes, Mark stopped and pointed toward the distant wall. “What’s
that?”

Nick said, “It looks like a dust devil. We
get them all the time in Kansas.”

After watching the cloud of dust in the
distance for a few moments Chenoa said, “That’s not a dust devil.
It’s horses. They’re coming straight at us.”

They watched while four horses galloped up
to them and stopped. Three of the horses kneeled. The black
stallion walked straight up to Mark and reared. Mark somehow knew
that there was no danger and reached his arm out to the magnificent
animal. The horses were wearing headdresses. The stallion had
twelve different gemstones on his headdress. The other three had a
single emerald stone in each of theirs.

“Wow, you are one beautiful horse. What’s
your name?” Mark paused for an answer. There was no sound like with
the lioness. An image simply formed in his mind. The mental picture
was of Mark and his companions riding the horses.

“I think they want us to ride them. I’ve
never ridden a horse before. How do you get on? There’s no saddle
or anything.”

Chenoa said, “I can get on by myself. I’ll
help you guys up.” She went over to Mark and clasped her hands
together between her knees. Mark mounted the stallion with her
help. She helped the other two boys up and then she mounted the
remaining horse herself. “Grab the mane, gently, and hold yourself
on the horse with your knees.”

“They must have come to us for a reason.
Maybe they want to show us something.” Marked leaned forward and
spoke to the stallion. “Take us to where you want to go.”

The stallion responded by starting to walk
toward The Island. The other three horses followed.

Several groups of students had left for The
Island before they had come outside. They all looked like freshmen.
Evidently, a lot of them wanted to walk over to The Island. Every
one of them stopped, dead still, watching when Mark and his friends
sauntered past them.

Fifteen minutes later, about half way out to
The Island, another horse and rider came galloping up to the group.
This horse was saddled. This new horse was a wearing headdress,
too. It had a single gemstone in the headdress. Mark could see that
it was striped and multi-colored. The rider was someone that he
recognized, Gerod.

“Where did you get these horses?”

“They came to us when we came out of the
school and started walking to The Island. We’ll get off if we’ve
done something wrong.” Mark wasn’t sure what was going on.

“This is very unusual, very unusual… Mark,
you have been summoned to the Council of Elders. They will probably
want to see you three as well. Follow me back to the school.”

Apprehension grabbed Mark’s stomach and
pulled it tight, then twisted it into a knot.
I’m in trouble and
I don’t even know what I did wrong. Riding the horses felt so
right.

The four horses followed Gerod and his mount
without having to be directed.

“Oh, we are in trouble now. We are summoned
to the Council of Elders. They only handle the most important
matters.” Jamal sounded nervous.

“I don’t think that we have done anything
wrong. After all, the horses came to us. We didn’t steal them or
anything.” Nick sounded nervous too.

“There is no need to worry about it. They
will tell us what it is all about soon enough.” Chenoa sounded
confident, but Mark suspected that she was nervous as well.

They rode back to the school and dismounted.
Gerod said, “The horses will go back to the stables on their own.
Follow me.”

The council chambers were in the center of
the school on all levels. Level one and two were used for hearings
and judgment. Level three contained offices adjacent to the healing
ward. Level four and up served various administrative functions.
Gerod had taken them to the level one entrance, the entrance for
someone to be heard and judged.

Mark’s stomach tightened more.
We’re
being put on trial and we haven’t done anything wrong.

Gerod ushered the group into the Council of
Elders’ Chamber. They entered and saw that it was one big, empty
room. A single area in the middle of the floor was all that was
illuminated in the stark court. The elders sat high above, looking
down on their victims.

“I have brought Mark Young before the
Council as commanded. I have brought his companions as well. Recent
events testify about these four.”

A female voice sounded from above. “What are
these events that you speak of?”

“These three have been pre-chosen by the
Emerald Equestrian Captains. Mark Young has been pre-chosen by… The
General himself.”

Silence. Mark thought,
Pre-chosen, what
does that mean?

The female voice from above said, “Never in
the history of The Seven Mountains has a student been pre-chosen by
an equestrian. Never, until…” The voice had been about to say
something and suddenly stopped.

“Balaam was pre-chosen by a donkey.
Balshazar was pre-chosen by a camel. An ox pre-chose Wong Lee.
Never has anyone been pre-chosen by a horse, let alone a general.
It also has been more than a thousand years since a Magi was
capable of Rooack Dabar, spirit speak, a very rare gift
indeed.”

More silence heightened their
foreboding.

The female voice spoke again. “Chenoa Day…
Nikola Poparov… Jamal Terfa… you were presented here today because
you have had an honor bestowed upon you that is far and away above
any honor that this academy could ever bestow. We must confer on
the meaning and the great importance of this event. We will summon
you again when we have reached a conclusion on how to acknowledge
these matters. You are free to go until such time that you are
summoned to appear again before this council.”

The door that they had entered opened. Gerod
led Chenoa, Nick and Jamal out of the chambers. The door closed
behind them leaving Mark alone in the spotlight.

“Mark Young… the honor bestowed upon your
companions is indeed, very significant. Your honor is far greater.
The General commands the twelve equestrian tribes. Being pre-chosen
by The General is an honor beyond words. You too, will be summoned
again before this council when we have reached a conclusion on
these matters. You were originally summoned here to inquire about
your ability with Rooack Dabar. Would you demonstrate that ability
now?”

Whew! I’m not on trial.
“I’m sorry. I
don’t know how it works.”

“Try and recall an emotional event. See it
again in your mind’s eye.”

Mark brought to mind the event of his father
telling the story of how his brother James had lost his
parents.

“That truly is a sad happenstance, Mark
Young. We know the truth of it. James’s great, great, great, great
grandfather is a Magi. It is a shame that his parents could not be
helped. We will consult the Ummim-Thummim Stone on this matter. You
will be summoned here again after we have studied this. Hopefully,
we will be able to shed some light on your destiny. You are free to
go now.”

The door opened and Mark left. Gerod was
waiting for him in the corridor. “Wait here until I return.”

Gerod opened the door and entered the
chamber. It took only a moment for him to return.

“You have been pre-chosen by The General.
Your companions have been pre-chosen by the Emerald Equestrian.
They are of the Emerald Tribe now. Since you were pre-chosen by The
General, he represents all tribes. You are free to choose which
tribe you will belong to. You are also free to choose no tribe. The
choice is yours.”

“How long do I have to think about it?”

“Students are presented to the equestrian’s
captains on the fourth day of orientation. The captain chooses the
student. I would say that you have until the end of that day.”

“That’s okay. I would like to stay with my
friends. I choose the Emerald Tribe.”

“I’ll inform the council of your decision.”
Gerod grinned. He put his hand on Mark’s shoulder. “You can get
your class tunics now. So can your companions. I don’t know what to
say. Congratulations, just doesn’t do it. ‘Wow!’ sums it up pretty
well.”

Mark forced a half-hearted smile. “Thank
you, but why didn’t you tell us what this was all about?”

“That’s not the way that it is done. If you
were in trouble, believe me, you would have known it long
beforehand.”

That’s a rotten way to do things, pull
you into the Council of Elders and not tell you why
. Mark
nodded and instinctively started walking toward The Oasis. He
didn’t stop to ponder the events that had happened to him that day;
he just wanted the company of his friends. He wanted to know what
they were thinking about the event. He approached the entrance to
The Oasis and heard an all too familiar voice, Ralph Lawrence.

“Where’re you going, Mark? I have someone I
want you to meet.”

What is it now, Ralph?
The last time
that someone had said that to him was followed by a stiff punch to
the head and being thrown into a vicious dog’s yard. Mark stopped,
paused, and then turned to look at Ralph. This time, not only were
Ricky and Keith with him, there were three others.

“This is Slone Voif and Bruce Spencer and
Adolph VonBruin.” Ralph pointed them out as he spoke their
names.

Slone was muscular and tall. His long dark
hair hung loose across his shoulders. He smirked and nodded ever so
slightly when Ralph spoke his name. Bruce was about Mark’s size.
His buzz cut blond hair made him look almost bald. He folded his
arms across his chest when Ralph said his name. Adolph was stocky
and thick, not fat, but thick.

Mark thought that Ralph wanted to make sure
that the odds were well in his favor. He recognized this as
conventional bully tactics. He prepared himself for the
confrontation.