by Eliza Tilton
Jeslyn covered her nose. “It smells.”
From the heat of the day, the fumes from the decaying creature were intensified. The flesh had been ripped apart, making it difficult to determine how many creatures had attacked it. Where’s Romulus when you need him?
The giant leaves of the trees had fallen in one area. Leaves I didn’t remember seeing there the day before.
“These should be good.” I pointed to the scattered green. “We’ll gather what we can.”
“It’ll take a few trips.”
While I began gathering the leaves, Jeslyn walked to another tree.
“Where are you going?”
“I see something.” She took a cautious step and tilted her head. “I think it’s an egg, but it’s enormous.”
I walked to where she stood and spotted the shell on the ground. An egg—a rather large one, at that. I would have thought it a large rock if it didn’t have a blue speckled coloring.
“Maybe it fell from there.” Jeslyn pointed up.
High in the tree, almost hidden, was a nest, but not an ordinary bird’s nest. The nest took up the entire top portion of the tree. Any nest that size would house a very large bird, or a beast much more dangerous.
Jeslyn picked up the egg.
“What are you doing?”
“I can make a soup from this. Aren’t you hungry?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s grab what we can and go back. I’m starving.” Jeslyn cradled the large egg in her arms as she wobbled back to our leaf pile.
We wandered about, collecting leaves into one big pile, which I carried back with us to the shore. The leaves weren’t heavy, but were extremely awkward to carry, and while I carried an armload of leaves, she carried a single item.
When we arrived at the alcove, I dropped the pile on the ground. Jeslyn placed the egg on the sand and stared at it.
“How are you going to cook it?” While I could survive on my own by hunting and foraging, I didn’t have the slightest idea on how one would make a soup out of an egg that large.
She ignored me, lost in her examination, tapping the egg and putting her ear against it.
“Jeslyn?”
“Huh? I’m sorry. I think there’s something inside.”
“Of course there’s something inside.”
She glared at me. “No, I mean alive. I can hear movement.”
“Does that mean I need to find another source of food?”
She turned her back to me and sat on the sand, moving the egg in front of her.
“Please, sit, I’ll serve us dinner.” I shook my head and ran to the water, eager to get away from her.
I dove into the ocean, relishing in the cold. It seeped into my skin, clearing my mind. Schools of gray fish swam by. They were too small to kill for food. Pushing forward, I dove deeper, looking for a suitable meal.
My Reptilian side allowed me to stay under water for long periods. It was one of our body’s natural gifts. In Mirth, the clear waters appeared red due to the sand, like swimming in a pool of blood. I preferred them to the blue water here. Blue was a powerless color.
A large fish with a sharp long nose swam below me. It would make a fine meal and, based on its size, an interesting fight.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Jeslyn
Watching the egg, I wondered what kind of creature lived inside. I folded my legs underneath me, perched my head onto my hands, and waited.
And waited some more.
With a sigh, I searched the beach for Lucino.
The leaves lay splattered across the white sand, and I decided to start weaving them together. I wasn’t sure what Lucino planned to use them for, but they could provide us with a better covering by the alcove, especially if it rained.
Mother used to weave baskets. She’d take the long reeds by the lake and weave them in and out. Grabbing the leaves in my hand, I pictured her hands and their movements, remembering the over and under crisscross.
I wondered how long Ms. Gen would wait before contacting my family. What would my parents do once they discovered Grandfather and I were missing? They would be worried, confused, and eventually start a search that would lead them nowhere.
How I prayed they wouldn’t find out. They already had enough to worry about. I hated that these terrible things kept happening to my family. If only Avikar had returned home. He should’ve returned home when Derrick and I had left. Daath was a beautiful land, and I saw how he smiled around Raven, but Father needed him.
Avikar assumed Father hated him. He didn’t realize Father loved him the most.
My eyes turned to the sea—still no sign of Lucino.
Lucino . . . .
When he had held me last night, the warmth of his arms melted me. Even though he only held me, the touch sent my insides into a scramble. I wished I wasn’t attracted to him. I wanted to hold onto my anger, but our days at sea had changed everything. He was gentle. It reminded me of how he treated me in Daath and why I had fallen for him.
Crack.
My hands stilled as a fissure appeared on the shell. I placed the woven leaves on the ground and inched closer to the egg, curiosity bubbling inside my chest.
Pieces of the egg broke, revealing a white film. Blue peeked through the cracks as the egg fell apart. I dug my hands into the sand, eager and anxious. I wanted to help free the bird, but I wasn’t sure if I should interfere.
The side broke off, exposing part of a wing, then the head. Once the head was through, the little bird pushed against the egg, breaking the rest apart, then plopped onto the sand.
Caw, Caw, Caw.
“It’s okay, little bird, I won’t hurt you.”
The bird titled its head and waddled over to me. Sticky goo covered its aqua wings. I held out my palm and the bird fell onto it. It was already the size of a crow, and only a baby! Its beak was white, and silver streaked the blue of its feathers.
It cawed again. A hungry cry, but I had no idea what this type of bird ate, and I didn’t have any food. It snapped at my free hand, drawing blood.
“Ouch.” I pulled my hand back. “I guess I better find you food.”
With the bird in hand, I stood and started walking into the jungle, searching for anything edible.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Lucino
I dropped the fish on the sand and scanned the beach, but Jeslyn was nowhere in sight.
Assuming she went to relieve herself in private, I started a fire to cook the fish. It had been centuries since I had to cook for myself, and back then, the only cooking I did was during the trials.
Dago and I went on our trials at the same time. While we were forbidden to help or interact with one another, we were both aware of the other’s presence. Carcasses left on the ground, the remaining meat destroyed on purpose. It was always a game with us. Who was the better hunter? Who was the strongest? Dago desired to be in my seat, to rule, but with no noble blood in his line, our race would never accept him as king.
The fish was too big to roast whole on a stick. I’d have to cut it into pieces. Using my short nails, I ripped the fish into chunks. It was too much for us to eat and would go to waste, a shame. Two sticks lay beside the fire. Jeslyn must have put them there. I grabbed them and stuck chunks of the fish on it, then leaned the sticks against the rocks to roast by the fire.
This had gone too far. I should have heeded Romulus’s advice and stayed in Mirth. If I didn’t return soon, someone would notice my absence. Is this what Krischa saw? Me stranded here with Jeslyn?
“You’re back!”
Jeslyn walked out of the brush with a blue bird sitting on her shoulder, a rather large blue bird. “You found food. I’m starving.” She sat on the sand, grabbed one of the roasting sticks, and blew on it.
“Weren’t you supposed to be cooking us an eg
g?”
She blew on the fish again, took a small bite, stopped, then blew again. “The egg hatched.” She glanced to the bird sitting on her shoulder.
The bird squawked and snapped its beak.
“Hold on, Hadda.”
“Hadda? You named the bird?”
She pouted. “Yes, I named the bird.” She made a clucking sound with her tongue and fed the bird a piece of her fish.
I took the other roasted fish and ate, watching Jeslyn and her new pet interact. The fish tasted extremely bland. Eating without spices wasn’t appealing, but I doubted I would be able to find anything usable on this island.
Jeslyn fed the bird while gawking at me.
“Why are you looking at me that way?”
Her eyes widened. “I didn’t think you ate . . . .”
“Food like you?” I finished for her while ripping a piece off the freshly cooked fish. “Have we not eaten together many times before?”
“Yes, but after I learned the truth . . . I thought maybe you pretended to eat.”
I leaned back on my elbow. “What did you think I ate?” Apprehension crossed her face as she averted my gaze, and I could only imagine what her mind had concocted. “Well?”
“I thought you ate humans.”
I nearly choked on the flesh of the fish. “You do know I am half human?”
“Yes, but the rest of your kind isn’t. Why else would they be sneaking around, if not to eat us?”
I grinned at her childish accusations. “We eat food similar to yours, but the tastes are more potent.”
She placed the bird on her lap. “Why did you come to Luna Harbor?”
When Jeslyn looked at me with that unwavering glare, I found myself intrigued and obliging. “To find you.”
Her nostrils flared. I wasn’t sure if she was angry or upset.
“What do you want with me?”
Telling Jeslyn the truth about what I needed was never an option, but I had to tell her something, a speck of truth big enough to make her believe anything.
And lies are always best told with facts.
“My world is dying. It’s why we’ve come here to—”
“We?”
She doesn’t know? I assumed her brother told her about the others. “Yes. There are many of my kind already living here.”
Her mouth hung open. “And they’re walking around posing as us? As humans?” The fish fell from her hands and the bird jumped off her lap to grab it.
Jeslyn’s normally arched eyebrows straightened in an angry glare. “What is going to happen when all your people are here?”
“When my people are ready to gain control, your people will have two choices: either serve us, or die.”
“Serve you how?”
“As a slave serves his master.”
“And if not, you’ll just kill them?” She stood, her hands resting on her hips. “You can’t come into our world and do as you please! My people will not go quietly.”
“I do love a challenge.”
Her cheeks reddened in a fury. It was quite becoming. “What about my family?”
After another bite, I realized the fish wasn’t that bland. It carried a delicate taste with a hint of sweetness.
“What about my family!” Jeslyn eyed me with a hateful gaze, and I realized I should have kept this to myself, although her antics did provide entertainment.
I gazed back into her cold eyes. “Let’s hope they cooperate.”
Her eyes filled with tears and she spun around on her heels.
“Where are you going, Jeslyn?”
“Far away from you!” she yelled over her shoulder.
She grabbed a stick and stormed off into the jungle, her bird flapping after her.
I’d let her wander for a bit. Someone had to eat all this fish.
“Jeslyn!” Cupping my hands around my mouth, I screamed her name, searching the jungle.
Night had come and I didn’t want to spend the evening hours in this dark place. The noises from the previous night could be from any kind of creature, though my instincts told me they came from a predatory beast, and one that hunted at night. Any number of animals could attack Jeslyn. I shouldn’t have allowed her to wander off alone.
I reached the waterfall we had found earlier. Jeslyn sat on the edge of the lagoon with her legs dangling in. The bird nestled beside her.
“Why didn’t you answer?” I attempted to ignore how the moonlight shined on her hair, illuminating the soft waves. She must have taken her hair out of the braids after she left me.
“Go away,” she said without turning around.
I kneeled next to her. She jumped a bit and glared at me.
Her eyes were wet and red. Her cheeks, blotched pink and slightly puffy. The hair around her scalp had frizzed, causing the rest of her hair to fan around her face in waves.
I reached to touch the pink of her cheek. She slapped me away.
“Don’t . . . touch . . . me.”
“Jeslyn.”
She shook her head, tears leaving the corners of her eyes. “I don’t want to be here. I want to go home to my family. I want to be away from you!”
She stood abruptly and I stood with her.
“You won’t touch my family or anyone else. I’ll kill you myself if I have to!” She pushed me back with a force that threw me off guard.
The golden color of her aura changed red. The hue that had promised me power and more began to vanish before my eyes.
“Calm yourself.” I touched her arms.
“Don’t touch me!” Her arms went rigid and she balled her hands into fists. “How could I be such a fool? I thought you cared, but you don’t care about anyone but yourself.”
I released her as red surrounded her in a halo and fury filled her eyes.
“That’s not true.”
“It is. Now go away!” She pushed me again.
“Stop it,” I said, my voice even, not wanting to upset her further.
“Or what, you’ll kill me? Could you do that, Lucino? Could you kill the girl you were supposed to marry? The girl you swore to protect? The girl who you promised everything would be all right?”
Tears slid down her cheeks and she shook her head. “You said to trust you . . . and I did . . . .”
Her words were mine, and I knew exactly when I had said them. On that day, I’d meant every word. “Jeslyn . . . .”
She flicked her gaze in every direction but to where I stood.
“Do you think everything I’ve said since we first met has been a lie?”
She covered her face with her hands and fell to her knees, sobbing. The action froze me in place, unable to speak. Blackness spread through the red of her aura, a color I’d only seen around the most destitute of humans.
Seeing the darkness engulf her and her body rock with pain dropped me before her. What was happening? Was I the cause of this spreading blackness?
I touched her arm and she sobbed harder, the sound loud and ripping through me. Her body heaved and the wailing shredded my defenses. The hurt washing over her flooded into me and, like a poison, it worked its way deep into my veins.
I could stand it no longer.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
She uncovered her face and sniffled. “What did you say?”
The apology slipped out without my thinking. In my entire life, I had never been sorry for anything. Nothing ever deserved it.
“I said, I’m sorry.”
Her chest rose and fell, and each time, I heard the sadness in her breath. The blackness receded and only specks remained, but her golden hue wasn’t the same.
I had done this. I had destroyed the one thing I wanted most.
A thing I suddenly realized I couldn’t live without.
The jung
le quieted around us, her breaths and sniffles etched inside my body . . . inside my heart. Was this what it meant to be human? To hurt? To feel a pain so intense it removed any free thought or logic?
Her gaze was no longer cold and angry, but emptiness wandered in her pale blue eyes.
“What?” she asked.
“I’m sorry for the pain I’ve caused you and for the things that can never be taken back. I’m sorry for trapping us on this island . . . and I’m sorry for this.”
“For wha—”
With gentle hands, I grasped her face and kissed her. She stiffened, her lips refusing to move with mine, but then her body softened into me. I held her as the delicate creature she was, afraid she would break and I wouldn’t be able to hold her together.
This is what it meant to be human.
To hurt.
To feel.
To love.
Chapter Forty
Lucino
“Don’t you find it strange we haven’t seen any adult birds?” Jeslyn stroked Hadda’s coat. “I wonder where they are.”
The bird sat on Jeslyn’s shoulder, picking at her long hair. For a youngling, it was large. Based on its size, by the end of this season it would be larger than the biggest albatross of this world. While I spent most of my time researching the humans, I did know a little about the creatures roaming the lands. This large bird was not one I recalled.
“They’re most likely in their nests,” I finally said.
“I want to take a look.”
“I don’t think that’s wise.”
Hadda squawked and Jeslyn rubbed her beak. “You want to see too, don’t you?”
It was useless trying to reason with her, and I didn’t need her wandering off and being hurt or eaten. “Very well. We need more branches for the boat.”
“Do you really think you’ll be able to build one?”
“Of course.” I stepped in front of her, ignoring her incredulous glare. She hadn’t mentioned our kiss, but I sensed her anger for me fading.
