An iron pot hangs above the small flame, the water inside already simmering like Maya had been preparing her meal. We watch in silence as she rummages through the shelves choosing a pot and then settles herself on the floor beside the fire, legs crossed and humming under her breath. She starts adding herbs from the pot to the water, and the room soon stinks up something fierce, making my eyes water. I sure hope that ain't her supper.
I study her in between wiping my eyes. Up close, I can see it really ain't Lily. Now that the hood is down I see her hair is bright white with slim strands of color, not like Lily's jet black. But in everything else, she resembles her so much it makes my heart ache. Lily's sister. Why had Lily never mentioned her to me? And how had she ended up here as leader of the muties? So many questions brew in my head, but Maya just hums and stirs her pot. Why ain't she saying anything? I glance over at Mack, but he shrugs at me as if to say, ‘have patience.’
“So many questions, child,” she finally speaks and looks up from her pot of brewing shite. “I can feel your eagerness across the room. Choose your questions wisely for we have much to discuss and time runs short.”
She's the one taking the time to make her gods awful concoction, yet she's rushing me? “Why ain't Lily ever mentioned you to me? Are you a New Blood like she was?”
Her eyes fill with sadness, and I suddenly feel real bad for bringing up a topic that causes her pain. She pauses for a bit in her stirring, as if choosing her words.
“My sister and I parted on less than good terms. Lily didn't agree with my decision to forgo the fight. She was a rebel from the day she was born. Her only goal in life was to see the end of these dark days. I always believed it a lost cause. I never wanted to be a rebel. I just wanted to live in peace, so I chose to escape here to the out lands. Lily considered that a betrayal to our kind. She cut ties with me after I left.” Her words die off as I realize what she's saying—a betrayal of our kind.
“So, you are a New Blood. Why is your hair so white? What does that mean?” My hand reflexively moves to my own since Jax ain't the only one who's noticed the extra white in it lately.
“Like you, I am of the light. This?” She points to her hair. “This is a manifestation of your enlightenment. Only when you've finally mastered and become one with your Chi does this anomaly occur. You are not there yet, girl.”
I let her words sink in. Become one with my Chi? Why had no one mentioned this to me before? I move on to the next question. “How well did you know my ma?”
A small smile creases her face. “We were quite close. Rease, Lily, and I grew up together. We became Mavens of our clan in our own right, I suppose. After the old folk who built our village could no longer hunt and provide, we took over. It was an exhausting challenge for us, since as you well know the sand lands is a fickle mistress. Some years it provided, most it did not. But we made do. It all changed the day your mother was captured. We mourned for her. A captured New Blood was usually a dead New Blood. We believed that was her fate as well. But when she came back, we were ecstatic. Even more so to find out about your existence, even if the father of her child was…” She sends a hesitant look my way.
I give a tiny nod. “It's okay. I know who my pa is. You ain't gotta tell me.”
She continues on, “Not many knew that fact, just Lily and I and a couple of the elders. It probably wouldn't have been in your best interest if people had known. But even though Rease was back, she wasn't the Rease we knew. Before, she and I were content to hide from the Prezedant and his army, unlike Lily. But your mother had changed. She believed in Lily's philosophy now. She was like a mad woman on a mission, wanting to end his reign once and for all. I believe you and your father had a big influence on her about that. Lily and Rease became reckless. Dangerous. And convinced a lot of our clan to follow them. It eventually led to the Army's invasion of our village. He came for them, and you. But Rease was powerful and she bested him.”
A sad smile lifts the corner of her mouth. “It took him by complete surprise, but there’s nothing more powerful than a mama protecting its offspring. We almost beat him that day, but,” her eyes fulla pain, meet mine. “I take it Lily filled you in on the rest of the story?”
“Aye,” I answer, my voice low. “I know the rest. I know she gave her life to save mine.”
“Yours, mine, your father. She gave us all a chance. Lily took you away and the rest of us left, we scattered like leaves in the wind.”
“And you ended up here with the muties?”
“Yes. They had the lifestyle I craved. Low key. Stay hidden. Don't make waves. Being a healer New Blood, the muties eagerly accepted me as one of their own, and I grew into the role of Maven. But not all of my people chose to stand down. Over the years some joined the fight Lily insisted on. Po and a few select others. We don't judge them. They are still welcome back to their home as long as trouble doesn’t follow them. They brought me news of my sister's fate,” her voice cracks a little, but she clears her throat and continues on. “She died how she lived, in the thick of everything.”
“She died protectin' me,” I say. “She barely knew me, yet she gave her life for mine. I cain't say I understand why she did it, but I'm eternally grateful to her. I ain't ever gonna be able to repay her. But I'm gonna try. She was a hero to me.”
The dark eyes so like Lily's study me intently. “Hmph. A hero? She was a fool.”
I ain't the only one startled by Maya's words. I hear Tater's gasp beside me, and Mack's indignant, “Watch your tongue.”
But the Maven ignores them both, her eyes still locked on me. “She did what she always did. She went into things foolishly and unprepared. You remind me a lot of her.”
Maya's disrespect of Lily incites my cheeks with twin flames of anger. “How dare you say that about your sister? She weren't no fool. She was one of the bravest people I ever met.”
She shrugs. “Yes, she was, but a fool nonetheless. She thought she could make a difference. She wasn't ready. Just like you're not ready. Just like your mother wasn't ready. I know why you're here, girl. You want us to join the fight. You want our help to defeat the Prezedant. But following you right now would lead us to our death.”
This is definitely not going the way we planned.
“We are ready,” I insist. “We have a plan in motion.”
“You have nothing.” Her voice is sharp. “You say you are ready, but you're not. I know things, girl. I see things. You believe in the words of others. Those that tell you, you are special and powerful, and that you will be the one to end this. But look inside yourself. You see what I see. You see the doubt and the fear that you're not the one. That you're not strong enough or brave enough to do this.”
“Stop it!” Finn's voice is quivering, but I ain't sure if it's from anger or fear. He jumps to his feet and glares at Maya. “Stop what you're sayin'. Tara is strong enough. You ain't seen the things I've seen. You don't know what she's capable of. She brought a whole field of burnt corn back to life. She's raised dirt devils outta the sands. She saved a whole village from the Army's iron shooters. She saved me from the scorpi-ant's poison. So you take that back.”
Cat, affected by Finn's agitation, starts prowling back and forth along the room and growling in the back of her throat. Finn calls her name. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear the boy is about to sic her on Maya. But the white haired woman pays no mind to Finn. She just keeps studying me with her serene, dark eyes.
“You know I speak the truth, New Blood,” she whispers softly as she leans my way, and deep down in my gut, I know she's right. The nagging little voice in the back of my head that keeps me awake at night. The churning in my gut that rots my innards. The fear that simmers just below the surface of my resolve. They all whisper the same thing: I ain't good enough. I ain't strong enough. I ain't the one.
“Tater, you and Belle take Finn and Cat outside and keep an eye on 'em. Mack, you and Talbert and Beanie start unloading the supplies we brought. I wanna speak to the Mave
n alone.” I don't take my eyes offa Maya, but I catch Mack's head shake of disagreement outta the corner of my eye.
“No. We argue this together.”
“Some things we face together, some things we have to face alone. This is one of those times for the girl, Captain. What I am about to reveal to her is meant for her alone. You cannot help her in this part of her journey.” I can tell by the look on Mack's face he's about to argue some more, but Maya's voice softens, and she smiles at him. “Trust me, no harm will come to her.”
“I'm fine. You'll only be outside. Go.” They heed the steel in my voice, and they don't argue no more. Not even Finn, and I'm real grateful for that. They file outta the room, leaving me alone with the embodiment of my fears. We stare at each other in silence. Finally, I break the stillness.
“How do you know of my doubts?” I say softly.
She arches a brow my way. “Because you travel the path of every other New Blood of the light. You travel the same path as I did. As your mother. She was supposed to be the all-powerful one to stop this madness. And she failed. Do you not doubt yourself the same?”
“But everybody else believes I can do it—”
“Everyone else can believe the moon is made of cheese, that don't make it so.” She gets to her feet and approaches me, crouching down in fronta me so we're eye to eye. “If you don't believe it in here,” she says, holding a finger over my heart. “And up here.” The finger hits my temple. “Then no matter what you do, it won't be good enough. Can you honestly tell me you are ready to defeat the man who has had years to learn and wield his power? A power that you have barely scratched the surface of?”
“But Ernst—my pa—he's been trainin' me. I can control my power so much better now.”
“Controlling it and becoming it are two different things, Tara. You have to accept your Chi, so it is as inherent as breathing. It is a living thing that has to become a part of you, not something you keep shackled down and call out when needed. It has to be you at all times.”
“Well, how do I do that?” I hiss in frustration. She ain't telling me anything useful at all.
She sighs and walks back to her pot. “No one can train you how to do that. That is something you must learn on your own. Acceptance of our Chi is a personal journey that each individual New Blood must travel. But I can help you on that journey.”
She dips a tin cup into the foul smelling liquid and brings it my way. Up close, it smells ten times worse, and I kinda back away from the mud colored liquid she shoves in fronta my face and stare at her in disbelief.
“What the shizen you want me to do with that? I ain't drinkin' it if that's what you think.”
“If you want to embrace your Chi, you have to.”
I wrinkle my nose. “I don't know if I wanna embrace it that bad. What is it?”
“It's called Ayhaya. Don't worry. It's quite safe.”
“What's it do?”
“Different things for different people. Basically, it opens your mind to other possibilities and hidden capabilities.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “That sounds very similar to Silver Spack. I ain't takin' anything like that.”
“Trust me, child, I wouldn't give you anything to harm you. Silver Spack is man-made. Ayhaya is of Mother Earth and affects only those of the light. Some say it takes us to the fifth plane of existence where all is possible. I don't know if that's true, for each New Blood’s journey of enlightenment is different. Your mother did her journey around your age. So did I. We both lived to tell the tale.” She grins at me, but the smile falls away at my next question.
“And Lily? If this enlightenment is so necessary, why did she never tell me about it?”
“My sister was not of the light. Not like you and I and your mother. The Ayhaya was useless to her; therefore, she did not believe in it. Not being of the light bothered her immensely on some level, for with her insane drive to end the Prezedant, the Ayhaya would have helped her succeed. Trust me.”
Staring into her dark eyes, I'm surprised to find that I do. Grabbing the tin before I can change my mind, I down the foul liquid in two gulps. I regret it right away. My stomach rolls violently at the intrusion, and I fight to keep it from coming back up.
Maya startles in surprise. Her fingers dig into my arm as she yanks me to my feet and leads me to the cot on the other side of the small room. “Keep it in. You need to lie down. You're going to get very tired. Go with it. Let the Ayhaya lead you where it may, but keep in mind although it will take you through a new doorway and into an inner plane of abstract energy, you can still get injured. The pain and wounds will still feel as real as this world, so stay away from anything that looks like danger.”
“You tell me that now?” I say in panic, but the words come out slurred and sound funny even to my own ears. I flop on the cot and struggle to ask the question forming in my clouded brain. “How will I get back?”
“You'll find a guide. May the gods protect you on your journey.”
Those last words Maya mutters before I drift off don't give me an ounce of comfort.
The forest ain't nuthin' like anything I've ever seen before. I mean, I know it's a forest and trees, but everything is so… alive. The canopy of leaves high above my head on the massive trunks are thick and green and splatter my face with drops of dew as I stare up at 'em. Fuzzy creatures the size of my fingers crawl over the branches at eye level, their yellow and orange bodies contrasting sharply with the dark tree bark. No name for 'em comes to mind, but they fascinate me. One drops off the branch and lands in the thick moss underfoot.
The moss is springy and fragrant, and I bounce a couple of times, wondering where I am. I look back up through the trees, hoping for some kind of guidance from the sky. It don't seem to be night, yet there ain't a single ray of sunlight filtering through the web of branches above me, even though the whole area is lit up like a dozen of the brightest candles burning. It’s a luminance that seems to be moving.
The tiny pinpricks of light dance about me, darting this way and that, until I finally realize what they are. Maskeetos. Tiny flying critters that glow in the dark. What the hell? But unlike the maskeetos I'm familiar with, these don't bite at me. They just fly around me, lighting up the surroundings. I laugh out loud as they scatter soon as I make any movement, like they're just waiting for me to do something. I take another step onto the springy moss under my feet, and they sprint ahead of me, lighting a path. Are they telling me which way to go?
To test my theory, I step in the opposite direction, and they swarm me, flitting angrily about my head. They then move back to the point in the trees they were before. I reckon I'd best go where they want. They seem harmless enough. And I really don't wanna head into the darkness anyways since Maya's words of caution echo in my head.
I follow the path of light. It leads me through the sea of trees until I finally stumble into a clearing with sunlight so bright that I gotta shade my eyes after the dark coolness of the woods. I catch movement in my peripheral, and I squint at the shadowy figure that seems to rise outta the dust. It moves closer, and my hand instinctively moves for the shooter at my hip, only to come up empty. Great. Stuck in a dream world where anything is possible, and I forget to dream up a stupid weapon.
“Tara.” The voice is soft and friendly enough. My shoulders relax as I blink away the shadows. The face appears. Long, dark hair frames the sun kissed skin and stormy gray eyes. It's a face I'd know anywhere since I see a replica of it every time I look into a mirror.
“Rease,” I say in wonder around the lump in my throat, and she grins.
“Rease, is it? Wouldn't ma be more appropriate?”
“I ain't ever had a ma, so I ain't used to the word.”
I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth, but she don't seem to take no offense. Instead, her grin grows bigger. “Never let it be said that any child of mine holds her punches.”
She steps closer to me, and I wonder if I should reach out. Hug her maybe.
She looks like she's expecting it. But then the realization sets in that she ain't real, and it's just me making me think my ma wants to hug me.
“I really do want a hug,” she says like she can read my mind. Then again, I guess she can since if this is a dream, then her mind is actually my mind. Okay, that's confusing as hell. She laughs and holds her arms wide. “Stop thinking about it and just do it,” she says. So I do. I walk into arms with no more hesitation. Even if it is all in my head, it feels real good to have her arms around me.
“It's about time we met again,” she says into my hair, and all I can do is nod in agreement. “A New Blood’s journey is the time to have those who love them the most around them. I've missed you, and I'm here for you, my child.” Her last words are whispered, and tears sting my eyes. I waited so long to hear any sort of words from my ma. Any words to tell me she didn't give me up because she thought I was a monster. It moved me to hear 'em, even if I was the one making 'em up.
“You're not making anything up,” she says. “This is how I feel. How I've always felt. I loved you more than life itself, and don't you ever forget it.”
I cain't help it. The tears squeeze outta the corners of my eyes and scald my cheeks as they fall. We stand in silence for a bit, just relishing each other’s company. Finally, I pull away and study her face.
“Why am I here?” I ask. “Maya says I gotta accept my Chi. That this journey will help me, but I've already accepted it. So I thought, anyways.”
“Ah, Maya. She is a smart lady. She will teach you well.”
“Teach me what? And why are you here? Are you my guide?”
For the first time her smile falters, and sadness covers her face and echoes in her eyes. “No, afraid not. Forgive me, Tara.”
Her words don't get a chance to register before I catch movement outta the corner of my eye. Thick, green vines slither over the ground toward me like leafy snakes, and I try to jump outta the way, but my movement only seems to make 'em go faster. They twine around my ankles and pull, yanking me offa my feet, and I fall face first into the moss. The vines start dragging me across the ground, and I dig my fingers into the green lichen, trying to stop myself, but there ain't nuthin' to get a grip on. I lose contact with the ground and get pulled up into the air, feet first, and dangle in the wind as blood rushes into my head.
New Bloods Boxset Page 64
