A Rarefied View At Dawn by David Farland (ereader with android .TXT) 📗

Bann realized suddenly that the teacher had arranged this whole experiment just for him. It was the teacher's way of showing what he needed to do.

He cringed, thinking of the pain that he would have to endure, but he knew that he'd do it. He didn't want to let the poison keep running through him. The thought of hitting Maya, of hurting her, was too repulsive.

"Now," teacher said, "let's take a break. You can go outside, but I'd like each of you to think about what you learned from our experiment. Maya, you stay in here with me. I would like to speak with you privately."

Bann got up and walked under the willows for a moment there in the dome, letting their fronds caress him, inhaling the bitter scent of their leaves. But he felt an overpowering need to escape. He rushed out the door, then stood with his back to the doorpost, hidden, thinking hard.

He heard a girl inside beg the teacher. "Can we keep the chicks?"

"Of course," the musfayed said, ever generous. "All but the ones that have testosterone poisoning."

"And what will we do with them?" a girl asked.

"Put them to sleep, let them die peacefully. There isn't much more that we can do."

"Can't we just put them in a cage, let the testosterone wear off, until they get better?"

"No," the teacher said sadly. "Even a little testosterone ruins them for life. It doesn't wear off. And they don't really ever recover."

"Even Bann?" Maya asked. "Even if he becomes a woman?"

"He has lived with testosterone poisoning since his conception," teacher said. "That's what made him a boy in the first place. It poisoned his brain as he developed. That's why he must be the first to raise his hand every time I ask a question. He can never truly overcome it. Still, for his own sake, and for ours, we must encourage him to try." Bann felt stricken. He heard the girls leaving the dome, and he hurried to the sandy courtyard where the thin winter light filled the bowl of the sky. Darkness would soon fall.

He could see the Valkyries patrolling the walls of the sanctuary. Their grim weapons were legendary, as was their tenacity in battle.

Bann wandered near the wall, in its shadow. A spigot shot out of the wall, dripping precious water. A great red rose bush grew beside it and around it, its blossoms coloring the sandstone like blood.

Bann almost missed hearing them coming. He heard the single scuff of a shoe, turned, and saw the girls from his class--all of them but Maya.

"Oh," he grunted in surprise, just as one girl clasped both hands together and clubbed him in the stomach. He collapsed to the ground, holding his stomach, trying to imagine what he had done to deserve such treatment, when the girls circled him and attacked.

Some fell on him and clawed at his face. One girl his arms. Others kicked at his exposed parts. Bann curled up in a ball, trying to protect himself, and shouted, "Hey? What's? What's?"

But he didn't ask the question. He knew why they had to do it. And so he bore the pain and tried to wait it out. The girls did not beat him in anger, but did so silently, the way that a craftswoman will work at her weaving or pounding out her dough.

He was a danger, and they were removing him. They scratched at his eyes and kicked his ribs until he could hardly breathe. Some of them wrestled his arms behind his back, thin arms that almost looked like porcelain, and a girl produced a pair of scissors from the classroom, which she used to hack off his long hair.

The girl with the scissors shouted, "Spread his legs for me. Spread them. Let's get rid of the cock!"

And suddenly the were trying to pull his legs wide. He locked them together.

Bann gritted his teeth, and considered fighting back. He knew that he was stronger than most of the girls.

But they got his legs spread, and the girls were still kicking and scratching, and the girl with the scissors--Amayah--came for him with a malicious gleam in her eye. White hot anger flared in his chest. Bann reached up with a foot and fended her off, no longer caring if he hurt her.

"How many?" he growled, grunting. "How many pecks for you, and how many for me?"

One of the girls who was holding him down and biting gasped and backed away in horror. Another loosened her grip. But others still fought him.

Bann shouted louder. "How many pecks for you, and how many for me?"

Others backed off, but still three tried to hold him down. Amaya lunged with her scissors, and he used his foot to push her back. He threw the girls off and climbed to his feet, roaring, "How many pecks for you, and how many for me?"

The girls looked at him, their faces drawn and pale from shock. Bann felt wetness at his nose, wiped with his arm, and saw that it was bleeding. He silently took stock of himself. A few bruises and scratches, a bloody nose, bite marks on his arms and cheek. The girls had not done any serious harm, only surface damage.

Then one of the girls screamed, as if afraid that he would kill them all. Suddenly the girls were fleeing, scattering like sparrows from a cat

Then they were gone.

Bann felt almost no anger toward them, only bewilderment, sadness, and a void.

He went to the spigot by the rosebush and wiped the blood from his face and from the scratches and bites on his arm. He could not get them clean, so he gave up.

He went back to his classroom, and found the muysafed still talking with Maya, her arms around the girl, as if to offer comfort. The teacher looked up at him as if in shock, but he knew that there was no surprise in her eyes.