by Ben Cass
There was blood on her face, but at first glance, he couldn’t tell if it was hers or not. A closer examination showed him a small wound on her scalp; nothing serious, but enough for a small trickle of blood to slowly ooze out.
Hual walked quickly to her, extending a hand. To his surprise, Seaile took it, bracing her weight on him. She was notoriously independent, and this told him she was either tired or injured, and possibly both. She looked exhausted, her face drawn and eyes dark. That was to be expected, though, if she had fought a ciroc. Seaile was more powerful than all the other Tayamu, but cirocs were notoriously impervious to Tayamu magic, and their size and strength made them more than a match for a Tayamu, even the First of the order. She would have had to attack with her strength and wits alone, only using her magic for defense or to bolster her considerable strength.
Hual led her to a stone outcropping several feet from the water’s edge, where they sat down. Seaile ran her fingers through her hair and flicked the water off. She sighed and closed her one good eye. Her eyepatch was missing, and Hual forced himself to look away from the hole in her head. For all her toughness, Seaile was still sensitive about certain things, and her missing eye was one of them.
Despite the gap in her head, Seaile was quite attractive, in Hual’s opinion. Her good eye curved up at the corner, a product of her heritage, and her skin was a creamy shade of white, much different than Hual’s light brown skin. The scars on her face added a certain air of danger that he found most appealing.
Hual reached into a pocket on his pants and pulled out another eyepatch. He kept a small supply of them for her, since she lost them on a regular basis. He handed it to her wordlessly, and she took it with a nod of thanks, slipping it over her head and adjusting it.
He took a brief moment, while she was distracted, to admire her again. He’d loved her for years, but as her heart belonged to another, he kept his feelings for her buried far below the surface. Still, he clung desperately to the hope that Seaile would fall for him instead.
“The ciroc was taken care of?” he asked, his voice rough and deep. She nodded, a slight twitch of the head. It wasn’t much, but Hual spent a large amount of time with Seaile, and knew exactly what the twitch meant. She’d taken its life.
“I tried reasoning with it, but something had affected its mind, sending it into a rage. I felt a deep loss, a pain like a mother losing her child. I suspect it lost a baby recently, probably to the men fishing in the lake.” Seaile’s voice caught for a moment, and she stopped speaking. Hual pretended not to notice, as he always did. Seaile did not like him to acknowledge her emotional moments, so he didn’t.
She finally continued, “I couldn’t calm it down, so...” She shrugged one shoulder, but Hual knew she was mourning the ciroc. Tayamu did not end life lightly, and it always haunted them later. Being Tayamu was even harder for a woman, as they developed empathic powers the men did not. Seaile would have felt the ciroc’s pain and suffering on a much deeper, far more intimate level than Hual would have. The evening would probably go as it usually did in these situations. She would sit alone in a tree, looking up at the stars, weeping silently, while he sat on the ground and pretended she wasn’t. At least it gave him time with her, which was all he could ask for.
Seaile looked away, toward the water, and sighed. Hual reached out and gently squeezed her shoulder. “It is in the embrace of the All,” he said, as gently as his gruff voice would allow. “You only did what you had to do to save lives.”
“I know.” Seaile looked at him, her eye sad. “Doesn’t make it any easier.” She leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder, surprising Hual. She never did that with anybody.
A sudden vibration spread through both of them, shaking them, goosebumps popping out along their flesh. They traded glances and quickly sprang off the rocks. Hual knelt and placed his hands on the ground, closing his eyes as Seaile knelt next to him.
They remained there for several minutes, neither speaking as they communed with Nature itself. The vibrations continued for several moments. At last, the shaking in their bodies ceased. Hual rose slowly, wiping his palms on his pants. He turned his head to Seaile, only to find her staring out across the lake, her expression one he hadn’t seen in nine years: hope.
“I know,” she said, speaking before he could. “It’s him...and her. The land knew them both instantly.” She reached out and squeezed Hual’s hand. “He did it,” she said, tears in her eyes. “I didn’t think it possible, but he actually did it.”
“The uncrowned Queen has come home,” Hual breathed out. “By the All, I never thought we’d see the day.”
He smiled at Seaile, but to his own shame, battled conflicting emotions in his heart. This was what Kiamada been hoping for all this time, but if this also brought Seaile what she so desperately wanted, it would tear him apart.
Seaile lifted her face to the clouds and closed her eyes. “I’ll find you, Alistair,” she said softly. “We will help her heal the land, and then, my love, we can finally be together.”
About the Author
From a young age, Ben Cass was in love with the premises of fantasy novels and comic books: amazing creatures, fantastic heroes, and magical powers that existed right beneath our noses. He created detailed storylines to act out with his toys, often updating the stories until he was satisfied with the plots.
His love of writing began in his senior year of high school, when he had to write short stories for his English class. He wrote the first one in ten minutes, all because it was due the next class period and he’d completely forgotten about it. That story was greeted with laughter and applause by his classmates and teacher. His subsequent assignments garnered even more positive responses, and Ben began to seriously consider writing as a hobby.
A native Floridian, Ben attended Florida Southern College, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, double-majoring in Secondary Education. Ben graduated in 1998, and has been in education ever since.
Ben is a certified geek, and loves Superman, Star Trek, Doctor Who, and other sci-fi/comic book characters and stories. You can find Ben on Twitter under the handle @bencassauthor.
Ben lives in beautiful Broward County, Florida, with his wife and son, where he continues his career as an educator and is diligently working on the Legends of Kiamada series.
Read more at Ben Cass’s site.
