by Davis Ashura
“That’s not all,” Ms. Sioned said. “That’s only part of what you want. You’ve not mentioned what you want for yourself.”
What did she want?
Saving Travail and Fiona. Raising Selene. Spending her time farming, sailing, or surfing. Add in the occasional game of enrune … Were those the entirety of her desires? Was there nothing else? What did she want for herself, and more importantly, what did she want to give others?
“I don’t know,” Serena said. “I don’t know if I ever will.”
Ms. Sioned shook her head in disgust. “The ignorance and arrogance of youth.”
February 1988
william joined Jake and Jason and a crowd of hundreds as they overflowed the Village Green in preparation for the Chinese New Year. Electricity coursed through the throng, and William buzzed with the excitement of it. He imagined Times Square might look and feel like this on New Year’s Eve … if Times Square had glorious waterfalls, majestic, awe-inspiring statues of magi from throughout history, and a massive escarpment that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. Even those who didn’t want to deal with the hassle of the horde up on Clifftop held celebrations in their homes every bit as raucous as the one up here.
“Follow me.” Jason called to get their attention and gestured. He led them off the Village Green and into an alley, where the noise rapidly diminished. They could actually speak to one another without shouting.
William breathed out in gratitude. While he had liked the energy of the New Year’s crowd, the tumult and the music blaring from the gazebo made it hard to think. “That’s better,” he said.
Jason pointed. “It’s Lien and Daniel.”
William searched where Jason gestured. Lien and Daniel faced one another and slowly swayed in time to the music.
“You think they’ve finally fessed up and admitted they’re seeing each other in a romantical kind of way?” Jake asked.
“Why are you interested in their love life?” William asked.
“I’m not,” Jake said.
“Yes, you are,” William said. “I swear, Mr. Zeus is right, you are a gossip.”
“Jason’s the one who brought it up,” Jake protested.
“Never mind what I brought up,” Jason interrupted. “Check out how Jean-Paul and Thu are dancing.”
They looked, and Jake laughed. “Thu is graceful, but Jean-Paul dances like he’s having a seizure.”
“Lien and Daniel are coming over,” William said.
“What are you guys talking about?” Lien asked when she and Daniel arrived. They held hands, and William caught the knowing glance shared by Jason and Jake.
“People who shouldn’t be dancing in public,” William answered.
“You mean, like you and Serena?” Lien asked with an arch of her eyebrows.
“What do you mean?” William asked, trying not to blush and not knowing why Lien’s question bothered him so much.
“Speaking of, there she is,” Daniel said, giving William a nudge and a wink. “You going to ask her to dance?”
William feigned a look of cool unconcern. After he’d finally relaxed, he’d enjoyed dancing with Serena at the tree lighting, but he didn’t want to seem too eager in front of the others.
“I think he does,” Daniel said with a knowing leer. “Maybe he’s thinking about the horizontal bop.”
“Gross!” Lien exclaimed.
Daniel spent the next few seconds apologizing profusely to Lien, trying to mollify her. Meanwhile, William rolled his eyes and sighed heavily, as if he needed an extra dose of patience to deal with Daniel. However, his attention remained focused on Serena.
She hadn’t seen them yet, and he watched as she swayed through the crowd. She danced amongst them, gently twisting to avoid everyone. Her movements were graceful, and her lime-green dress hugged her form and swirled about her legs. She smiled every now and then, her expression open and warm.
He sighed in appreciation.
Several weeks after the Chinese New Year, Serena and William biked the gravel trail toward Rukh and Jessira’s cabin. They talked about Selene, his training, and Blue Sky Dreamer, but she avoided any discussion about the Chinese New Year. She’d seen William there, but he’d been surrounded by his friends.
Normally that wouldn’t have stopped her from approaching, but something in William’s features when he’d looked her way had given her pause. She hadn’t been entirely sure what she’d seen. She still wasn’t. But whatever the reason, in that moment Serena had recalled Ms. Sioned’s admonition not to hurt William.
Serena was glad to have William as a friend, but she couldn’t let him think there might be something more between them. He planned on going back to Sinskrill, and she didn’t want to be the distraction that caused him to fail at his mission. Maybe afterward—
She cut off her line of thinking.
“This is an unexpected surprise,” Rukh said, standing on the front porch, as they approached the cabin.
Jessira stood beside him and smiled. She had her honey-gold hair pulled back in a ponytail. “But a welcome one.”
As always, Serena found herself intimidated by Jessira. It wasn’t simply because of her features, which were striking if not beautiful. Nor was it her physical presence—taller than most men and obviously fit and strong. It was her completeness, the manner in which she carried herself. Jessira moved with unmistakable self-confidence, a certitude in herself and her skills that couldn’t be overlooked. However, rather than arrogance, Jessira’s features usually held kindness as well as an offer of friendship.
In many ways, Jessira was the kind of woman Serena wanted to become.
“What brings you out here?” Jessira asked.
“I was hoping to train with you,” William answered.
“It took you long enough to accept our offer,” Rukh said.
William smiled wryly. “I’ve been busy. You know, mastering the Elements, learning the skills of a raha’asra. That sort of thing.”
“Of course,” Rukh replied, with a wry smile of his own.
Jessira lifted an eyebrow in both question and challenge toward Serena. “And you?”
“I’m guessing she wishes to train with us as well,” Rukh said. He lifted an eyebrow in an expression identical to Jessira’s, but that was where the similarity between the two of them ended.
Rather than warm but deadly, Rukh had always struck Serena as simply deadly. He possessed a strange mixture of a bared blade and a hammer. Strength, courage, and indomitable will poured off him, but also danger. Handle his cutting edge incorrectly and suffer the consequences. Treat him with courtesy, and no greater ally could be found.
“Has the cat stolen your tongue?” Jessira teased, and Serena snapped out of her reverie.
“It’s been a long time, but yes, I came here to train, too,” Serena answered.
“You use a jian, correct?” Jessira asked.
Serena nodded. “Is that a problem?”
“No. We have a training sword that should suit you.” Jessira went into the cabin and returned with a wooden blade, black in color and similar in shape, size, and heft to a jian.
Serena accepted the practice sword with a nod of thanks and gave it a few swings to test its balance.
“Come with me,” Jessira said.
Serena followed her to a flat area about twenty feet in diameter and ringed with stones. She was about to step within the circle, but Jessira held her back.
“When we enter the training circle, we fight,” Jessira said. “The rules within it are simple. A touch is a loss. A fall is a loss. Leaving the circle is a loss. Understood?”
Serena nodded. Only then did they enter the training ring. She took a moment to study the other woman’s stance and the angle of her blade.
Jessira held a practice sword shaped like a katana but with a simple crossguard rather than a tsuba. She lifted it to middle guard.
Serena brought her weapon up. “Ready.”
Jessira nodded. “Begin.”
> Serena sent an exploratory thrust. Jessira easily blocked it. Serena tested with a diagonal slash, and it was effortlessly parried. A combination of an overhand swing, a horizontal cut, and a thrust were all smoothly shunted aside. Another combination came no closer. Jessira had barely shifted her feet, and Serena disengaged with a frown.
She hadn’t practiced with the sword since coming to Arylyn, but even at her worst Isha couldn’t have turned her sword aside with such ease. She flicked her gaze up and down Jessira’s posture and remembered the stories about what had happened in Australia. About how Rukh and Jessira had run through eight mahavans like an axe slicing saplings. Maybe those stories hadn’t been an exaggeration.
Serena decided on a different approach. She didn’t attack. Instead, she allowed Jessira to act as the aggressor. Serena would then counter.
She didn’t have long to wait.
Jessira’s sword whipped forward, whistling as it sliced the air. Serena desperately threw herself aside. Before she could regain her composure, she felt Jessira’s blade land against her shoulder.
Serena rubbed the area of impact, more out of embarrassment than pain. She’d hardly seen Jessira’s sword move. One instant the woman had been still, the next, a cobra-strike of motion.
They reset and went at it again. Once again, Serena came no closer to landing a strike. Jessira smoothly slipped the attacks, calm and unreachable. They kept on, and Serena quickly lost track of how many times Jessira landed a touch, pushed her out of the ring, or tripped her to the ground. The losses left Serena bruised and humiliated. It felt like she’d never before held a blade.
Worst of all, Jessira offered a steady commentary of corrections in position, form, or technique while they fought. She taught, and still managed to effortlessly defeat Serena over and over again.
“Break,” Jessira called after Serena’s latest trouncing. “Wait here.” She stepped out of the circle and went inside the cabin.
Serena’s shoulders slumped, and she shuffled to the porch before collapsing upon the steps. Sweat dripped off her, making her shirt stick to her skin. She let the sparring blade fall from her tired fingers.
“Break,” Rukh called out shortly thereafter as well.
He and William had been sparring in a nearby training square, but Serena hadn’t been able to pay them any attention, not with her own struggles. She watched William trudge toward her, breathing every bit as heavily as she was.
“Any touches?” she asked.
“Against him?” William shook his head. “No.” He collapsed next to Serena. “Against me? More times than I can count.”
Jessira returned with four mugs of water and passed them out. Of course, she and Rukh didn’t look like they needed any. Only a thin sheen of perspiration beaded their foreheads.
“Thank you,” William said, sounding grateful.
“How can you fight like that and not be tired?” Serena asked them.
“We’ve had far more practice at this than you,” Rukh said.
“That, and you’re too fast and too strong,” William said.
“Skill can overcome those advantages as well,” Rukh said.
William sighed. “I doubt I’ll ever have your level of skill, either.”
“Maybe not,” Jessira said, “but continue training with us and you’ll have more skill than anyone else.”
Serena flicked her gaze from Rukh to Jessira, and a question lingered in her mind. “Which one of you is better?” she finally asked.
“Rukh,” Jessira answered without hesitation. “If you ever see him fight with full effort, pity his opponent.”
“You mean this wasn’t him fighting with full effort?” William sounded aghast.
Rukh grinned, which was answer enough.
Serena’s stomach lurched when Blue Sky Dreamer dropped into the trough of a wave. An instant later, her insides jellied when the boat’s prow bit into the crest of the next wave on the line. On they went, smashing and slicing across the waters of the Pacific as they raced northward.
The sun shone brightly, the wind rushed true, and salty spray glistened like a million rainbows in Blue Sky Dreamer’s wake.
A perfect day for sailing, and Serena whooped as her heart bubbled with joy.
They rose and fell over another wave, and Selene shouted in delight as well. She crouched in the prow, ready to trim the sail, while wearing a grin as wide as a banana laid lengthwise.
William stood close by, his face every bit as joyous as Selene’s. They’d christened Blue Sky Dreamer a few days back, but today marked the first time they’d actually taken her out for an extended trip. It would also be William’s first time piloting the dhow, and based on his laughter, he already loved sailing.
Serena smiled. “Do you want to take the tiller?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” William replied.
“Make sure to keep Arylyn’s western shore to starboard,” Serena advised. “It’ll make it easier to learn how to steer if you have a steady landmark.” Only then did she slide out of the helmsman’s seat, retaining hold of the tiller until William had control of it. “Watch the tell-tales,” she advised. “You have to trim the sail depending on which way they shift.”
“You want us to keep going straight?” he asked.
“I want us going north,” she corrected. “Always know the direction you’re heading.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” William said.
“No problem, Blackbeard,” Serena told him drily. “In a few miles we’ll swing east. Right now, that’s starboard. Then we’ll come around south.” She glanced at the tell-tales. They were shifting. “Wind’s veering,” she said. “Bring the helm a-starboard,” she told William. “Sheet in, Selene.”
“How did you know what to do?” William asked.
Serena pointed to the tell-tale. “The wind veered, so we had to alter course and trim the sails to keep from luffing.”
“Ack!” Selene cried out when a curl of spray caught her in the face. A moment later she was laughing again.
“I love seeing her happy,” William said. “It’s a good thing.”
“Yes, it is,” Serena said with a smile of agreement.
“So, to turn to starboard, I actually move the tiller to port?”
“That’s right. Port your helm a little, and watch the leading edge of the sail.”
William followed her advice, and the bow came around. The motion of the deck changed. Selene flicked an anxious glance at the sail, looked back at Serena and William, and grasped a cleat more tightly.
Serena pointed. “See how the sail quivers and flutters?”
William nodded.
“Now watch. Bring the helm starboard. The sail should draw the wind.”
William did as instructed, his face tight with concentration. His eyes shifted from the sail to the deck to the waves, and a moment later, he broke into a grin. “She moves easier,” he noted. “More graceful, too.”
Serena smiled, pleased at how quickly he was learning.
William’s brow furrowed. “Is it me, or is the tell-tale shifting clockwise? Isn’t that called veering?”
Serena looked at the masthead. The tell-tale was actually shifting counter-clockwise. It was backing, not veering. She was about to correct William just as he winked at her. Then, with a fiendish grin, he put the tiller over, juking the dhow into the path of an oncoming wave. Serena had time to squawk before a wave swept over the hull and engulfed her.
William guffawed as he put the tiller over to ease the sails.
“You jackass!” Serena yelled at him. Water drenched her, streaming down her face and into her mouth.
“You should have seen your face,” William gasped, barely able to breathe.
“Or heard your shriek,” Selene cackled.
Serena flicked her gaze from one to the other. “Oh, shut up,” she said, but a smile tugged at her lips.
“I want to go faster!” Selene shouted.
Serena called out trim changes to Selene, and
explained to William what adjustments to make with the tiller.
The sail boomed like a bass drum, and they raced east, toward Arylyn.
Serena laughed with delight, holding her arms out to the sides and riding the rolling deck with only the balance of her legs. A wild stallion couldn’t have been as untamed. The wind gusted against her face. It soon dried her soaked hair and clothing. Salty spray from by their passage sounded like a rushing cascade.
The shore rushed closer, and Serena called out more orders. “Sheet out,” she said to Selene, closely watching the tell-tales. “Hold it there.”
William had anticipated her orders and already shifted the tiller. The dhow slowed as they swung northwest.
They continued in the same direction for an hour, and they all felt it when they punched through the border of Arylyn’s saha’asra.
“Ugh!” Selene said.
“Don’t you have a nomasra?” William asked her.
“Yeah, but it’s not the same.”
Serena felt the same way. The nomasra the Village Council had loaned her contained only a thimbleful of lorasra in comparison to the one she’d used in Cincinnati.
“I want to go back,” Serena said. “Can you get us there?” she asked William.
William nodded and called out orders. A shift to the tiller and they swept a long turn to starboard, now on a southeasterly heading. “Sheet in to port,” he said to Selene. “A little more.”
The sail luffed, and the bow bit into a wave. The dhow shuddered and slowed.
“Too far?” William asked.
Serena nodded. “You should have left the sheet out.”
She called orders out to Selene, and seconds later the sail filled again and Blue Sky Dreamer leapt forward. She picked up speed, and the wind of their passage blew in their faces. Serena’s eyes teared. Salt spray splashed into her face, and she blinked to clear her sight.
An idea occurred to her, and she startled at its simplicity. Serena sourced her lorethasra, and from a braid of Air, Earth, and Water she formed dark, protective lenses that floated in front of her eyes. There. Sunglasses. Why hadn’t she ever thought of it before?
