Inferno

by Nancey Cummings

  They arrived at the village as the light faded. Flin carried her directly into a roofless hut near the edge of the forest. He sat her on his lap and waited while Mishal and Pel set up camp. Their travels made them efficient, and Amber didn’t mind sleeping on the ground another night. Between the body temperature of the three valos and the fire, the hut soon grew toasty warm.

  “Are you okay?” she asked Flin. His arms relaxed and she moved to the ground next to him.

  He made a noise of protest.

  “Rest your head here,” she said, patting her lap. He settled in, and Amber stroked his head. “I can’t know what you’re feeling, but it’s okay to be confused. You were asleep a long time, and this must feel like you’re still dreaming. Your memories will settle.”

  “Not a dream,” Flin said.

  Pel sat on the ground near them. His fingers brushed across the side of Flin’s face, as if checking to verify that he was real. Flin’s eyes closed with the contact. “I missed you, brother,” Pel said. “We lost you long ago and have been unbalanced since then. Mishal and I walked across Sonhadra, searching to bring you home.”

  “How long?” Flin asked, eyes still closed and voice barely more than a murmur.

  “We searched for several moons.”

  “How long was I lost?”

  Pel exchanged a look with Mishal. “One thousand years.”

  Amber gasped in surprise. She knew the valo didn’t age like humans, and that they were old, but not nearly one thousand years old.

  “More. I’m not sure how many seasons passed while we slept in the Forge,” Mishal said.

  “Too long. We were not ourselves,” Pel added.

  Flin rolled over to face them, head still resting on Amber’s lap. “I am not myself. I do not know you. I am as much a stranger to myself as you are to me.”

  “Your memories will return,” Mishal said with confidence.

  Amber bit her lower lip to keep herself from asking what happened if his memories did not return.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Pel

  “It is not an easy thing to accept a heartstone,” Pel said. He searched for the words to comfort Flin, but Pel simply could not understand how his brother felt. The heartstone was new and not attuned. He wanted to assure Flin that he experienced pain while his body achieved balance with the untried stone, but he did not know this for certain. “You are feeling pain for the first time.”

  “I am feeling everything,” Flin mumbled.

  True. Pel only had his own experience to guide him. He remembered the surging sensation of fire coursing through his body. How the numbness of a thousand years faded with itching unease. Unprepared to process or cope, he’d felt anger at being woken from his rest and then lurched, equally unprepared, toward joy on discovering his heartstone pulsing in his chest. Sadly, he remained unprepared to comfort Flin.

  “Our mate requires a meal. I will do this,” Pel said, leaving the hut before Mishal could protest.

  He overheard Mishal say, “My memories were clouded, too. Rest, and you will remember.”

  Pel debated hunting in the forest for fresh game. He would rather avoid returning to the City in the Caldera at least for one more night, but Amber had had nothing but game and travel rations for more than a week, outside of her meal in E’Lek. Another night of old travel stuff would pale when compared to fresh fruit from the garden and the flatbread the humans made from ground grain.

  He found Brandi on the highest level in the common area, already preparing the evening meal.

  “You want something now or can you wait a bit and bring Amber something hot?” Brandi asked. The cooking surface held many pans, each sizzling and producing a tempting aroma. Pel had not consumed food in countless seasons and felt the lack. He remembered his fathers sharing the meal preparation duties with fondness.

  The home Mishal would build for their family needed a large cooking area, he decided, with a table large enough to host themselves, their children and friends.

  “I will wait,” Pel said.

  Lucie sat at the table, chopping vegetables. Too large for the human-sized table, Ertale sat on the floor next to her, mistrusting, as he watched her work the blade. “How was your trip? Sarsen told me you brought back enough heartstones for everyone and then some,” she asked.

  “Correct. The Northern Valos were exceedingly generous and gifted us with enough crystals for everyone in the entire tribe to have two new heartstones.”

  “That many?” She gave an impressed whistle.

  The truth was the amount was not much when he compared the size of the Fire Valos tribe to the Northern Valos. He saw at least a hundred, perhaps more, valos in the plaza when they arrived. When considering that other valos may have been out of the city or felt no curiosity at the arrival of his expedition, the Northern Valos could easily have twice the number of the fire tribe.

  He knew there were currently twenty-one awake or revived Fire Valos, himself included. He also knew that thirty-six people waited in the Forge for new heartstones. Beyond that, twelve were unaccounted for, lost or captured by another tribe, such as Flin. If his tribe were to locate and revive every person successfully, they would have, at most, fifty-two valos.

  His instinct and martial thinking told him to not reveal the Northern Valos’ superior numbers. Despite being allies at the moment and having no reason to doubt their good intentions, he did not want to reveal his tribe’s weakness. He was glad Mishal had not requested a specific number of crystals. Inadvertently, his triad brother had hidden the true size of their small tribe. He needed to share the information he gathered with his commander.

  “Where is Sarsen?” he asked.

  “Still in the Forge,” Lucie said, diligently working her knife through a pile of root vegetables.

  Ertale made several gestures with his hands. Pel knew that the silent male utilized hand signs to speak but he had yet to learn all the signs. Still, he understood enough. Sarsen and Asche revived the valos one by one and would be at it for days.

  “Is every revival difficult?” Pel asked.

  Ertale held out a hand vertically, and it wavered back and forth. The gesture struck Pel as very human. His Amber used the same gesture.

  Sometimes, Ertale signed. If each revival held the potential for complications. Doing so one by one might be more time-consuming, but it was safer for the tribe as a whole.

  “I understand. You have the safety of your mate to consider,” Pel said.

  Ertale nodded in agreement.

  “Did you just get back this afternoon? I haven’t seen Kira yet,” Brandi said. She opened a warming compartment in the wall and removed a tray of flatbread.

  “She did not return,” Pel replied.

  Both Lucie and Brandi stopped their activities, shocked.

  “Is she—”

  “Did she—”

  The pan on the cooking surface behind Brandi began to smoke.

  “Is it supposed to do that?” Pel asked, pointing.

  She sprang into action at his words, removing the pan from heat and waving away the smoke. “No! No. This oil’s flash point is too low to cook with. It always burns. I guess this is fine. Only a little burnt.”

  Lucie could not be distracted. “Where’s Kira?”

  “She is with the Northern Valos tribe now.”

  She set down the knife. “Did you trade her for the crystals?”

  Her words stunned him. To trade a person’s life for inanimate objects, even ones that could save the lives of others, it was beyond his comprehension. “Humans do such things?”

  Brandi snorted.

  Lucie glanced toward the other female before answering. “That’s not the question. Did you do that?”

  “No,” he said without hesitation.

  “Not even to save those people in the Forge? To save your brother?”

  “No,” he repeated.

  Lucie’s hand drifted toward the knife. Ertale covered her hand with his much larger paw. He rumb
led a deterrent, but Lucie only looked more upset. “Don’t give me that.” She shook off Ertale’s hand. “What happened to Kira? Why haven’t we seen Amber yet?”

  “I actually saw Amber,” Brandi said.

  “When?” Lucie asked.

  “In the plaza.”

  Pel nodded. “We went directly to the Forge.”

  Lucie let go a long sigh. “Just tell us what happened to Kira. Clearly.”

  Pel considered not telling the female. She was the mate of his commander, not his commander, and the other humans did not look to her for guidance, not like they did his Amber. However, he remembered the words Amber spoke in E’Lek. Lucie had unlocked the vault. Every Fire Valos owed her a debt of gratitude for their heartstones.

  “There was a blizzard. We were separated and lost Kira.” Lucie gasped. He quickly recounted events of seeking shelter until the storm abated and then searching for Kira. The storm obfuscated any trace of her, and he feared the worst, but she had been discovered by a valo of the Northern tribe. “And she chose to remain there.”

  “Wait. You left her there?” Lucie asked. “You can’t do that.” She reached for the knife again. Ertale grumbled, and she tossed him a sharp look. “Do I look like I’m about to stab him?”

  “You do have that stabby look about you,” Brandi said. “And did you think Kira wanted to go sightseeing? Of course she planned to stay.”

  Lucie sighed and took the blade to the remaining root vegetables, perhaps using more force than necessary.

  “She joined the Northern tribe. She was not meant for the fire tribe,” Pel said. He didn’t know how else to explain it.

  “Kira wouldn’t just leave,” Lucie said.

  “Actually, she would,” Brandi said.

  Lucie tossed Brandi a sharp glare.

  Brandi held up her hands and shrugged. “Kira couldn’t take the heat. She was miserable all the time. Hell, I can barely take the heat. She told us she wanted to move. Are the pregnancy hormones messing with your memory?”

  “The heat’s fine and so is my memory.”

  “For you, maybe. You got those weird fire powers.”

  “I don’t have fire powers. Do you see me flinging around fireballs?”

  “Fine. Whatever. They dipped you in lava, and it healed you, but you don’t have fire powers. And whatever you injected Kira with in that lab doesn’t make her miserable in this heat. You want to pull my other leg?”

  “She told you about that?”

  “Of course she did. You don’t live in the forest with a person and learn something about them. She’s my friend.”

  Pel watched the females bicker between themselves, but his patience grew thin. His mate needed sustenance, and he did not entirely trust Mishal alone to protect her if need be.

  “So you’re telling me that Kira, an adult, can’t make a decision about what she wants?” Brandi asked.

  “She doesn’t know what she wants,” Lucie grumbled.

  “So we’re prisoners? No one gets to change their zip code without your permission?”

  Pel had no idea what a zip code was, but it sounded important. “Do I need to acquire a zip code for Amber?”

  “What? No,” Lucie snapped. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, a gesture he recognized from Sarsen. “Look, I’m sorry. I was out of line. Kira can do whatever and go wherever she wants. I just worry. There’s so few of us that I worry if we’re the last ones.”

  Her words placated Brandi, and the visible aggression left both women.

  “The Northern Valos have a human female, as well. Kira will not be alone,” Pel said.

  “Really? Did you get her name?” Lucie asked.

  “Lydia.”

  Brandi scooped up the chopped vegetables and added them to a pan to saute. “So Lydia made it out of the wreckage,” she said.

  “I knew that much. We were in the same room during the crash, but she wasn’t there when I woke up,” Lucie said. “How is she?”

  “She has a Northern Valo as a mate and is with child. She appears to be happy,” Pel said.

  “I’m glad.”

  “She spoke of you.” Pel tossed a concerned look toward Ertale. He did not want to accuse the large male’s mate of misdeeds when the large male in question sat between him and the door.

  “Good things, I gather from your tone.” Her voice took a harsh edge. “Well, whatever she told you is true. I was a shitty person on the Concord and did shitty things.”

  Pel considered mentioning that Lydia’s relationship with Lucie jeopardized the mission but decided against it. Such words would not help. “She spoke of forgiveness and a clean slate.”

  “That’s nice,” Brandi said, interrupting their awkward conversation. She packaged a portion of the meal into a square, glass container with a fitted lid. “Here you go. You should leave before everyone gets here for dinner. Once they realize that Amber’s back, she won’t have a moment’s peace.”

  This was true. The humans made many demands on Amber’s time.

  “She deserves to have a night off and enjoy herself, don’t you think?” Brandi winked at him.

  “I will see to her enjoyment,” he said, tone serious.

  “I bet you will.”

  On the way out the door, Ertale made a slashing motion against his open palm and pressed it to his heartstone.

  “No. We haven’t bonded yet,” Pel said. He intended to change that.

  Amber

  The sound of Amber’s voice soothed Flin. She spoke aimlessly about Earth and her time on Sonhadra. She spoke about the people she missed, namely her mother. As she talked, his body temperature dropped to a comfortable level, and he began to ask questions.

  “Humans have been to their moon? Both?” Flin asked.

  “Earth just has one moon.”

  “That’s impossible. Everyone knows there are two moons in the sky.” He pointed upwards to the night sky above them.

  “We have a different sky where I’m from,” she said.

  “You have fur,” he observed. “It is very dense on your head but thin on your arms.”

  “I do not have fur. It’s called hair. It’s different.” How, she couldn’t explain, but she suspected because it just is would not satisfy Flin’s curiosity. Pel and Mishal had told her that Flin was ever-curious, but his constant stream of questions surprised her.

  “Does it cover your entire body?”

  “Yes, okay. I’m hairy.” She tried to keep the edge of irritation out of her voice but failed. Mishal chuckled as he prepared tea.

  “I like it. You are different.” Flin stroked the thin hairs on her arm. Naturally a dirty blonde, her body hair never really bothered her. It grew pale in the summer and a bit darker in the winter. However, with Flin staring at it like he’d never seen body hair before—and he probably hadn’t—she felt self-conscious.

  “Are you a Creator?”

  “No,” she said with certainty. Flin kept returning to this question, as if wanting to catch her in a lie. “I’m a human, from Earth.”

  Mishal pressed a cup of hot tea into her hands. “She is from the stars. You know this.”

  “The Creators were from the stars.” Flin sat upright, stretching out his long legs. “Perhaps she is of their stock.”

  “Nope. Just a plain old human.” She blew across the tea to cool it enough to drink. The blend tasted grassy but held citrus notes, reminding her of Earl Grey. Not her favorite blend, but it reminded her of home and her mother’s kitchen.

  Flin watched her with fascination. “Are you bonded with my brothers?”

  “No. What does that mean?” She looked to Mishal for an answer, but Pel entered the hut. He carried a glass container which she hoped was dinner and a grass mat.

  “It means our heartstones beat in harmony,” he said. Spreading the mat on the ground, he sat and opened the container. A delicious aroma filled the air.

  Her stomach growled. “That smells like Brandi cooked it.”

  “She did. Eat.”r />
  “Someone came back wearing his bossy pants,” she said, already diving in. Pel looked at his loincloth. “It’s a figure of speech.”

  Flin watched with curiosity, his default state. “Why have you not bonded? You treat this female as your mate.”

  Pel smiled. “You sound like your old self.”

  Flin huffed. “I do not feel like myself.”

  “You will. Memories will return in time.”

  “Have your memories returned?”

  “Some.” Pel touched his heartstone absently. “There remain frustrating gaps, but the majority is intact.”

  “Is anyone going to explain this bonding thing?” Amber asked between bites.

  “It is a ceremony when a female claims her triad,” Mishal said. He took the glass container and the serving implement from Amber. She mewled in protest but smiled when he held out a mouthful on the implement, clearly intending to feed her. Slowly she leaned forward, arms pressing together to give her some impressive cleavage, and took the morsel in her mouth, keenly aware that all three men watched her. She licked her lips and they sighed.

  “Tell me more,” she said, lowering her voice to a sultry tone. Mishal’s mouth worked, but no sound came out.

  “The female marks the males with her blood over their hearts,” Pel explained, clearing his throat. “A triad is balanced, but the bonding ceremony synchronized the males. Their hearts match the rhythm of their mate. They are one.”

  Amber took another bite from Mishal, chewing carefully before she spoke. “That sounds really sweet and poetic, but something tells me you’re being literal.”

  “Our heartstones will beat with your heart,” Pel said.

  “But I don’t have a heartstone.”

  “It’s symbolic, but we will also beat with your heart.”

  “That’s not symbolic. That’s literal.”

  Pel frowned. “Symbolic and literal are the same word in our language. Can you not hear yourself repeat it?”

  The same word? She couldn’t hear the difference but that explained a lot.