“Gobi chose his loyalty and his journey. I don’t think anyone could have stopped him,” Rolin replied.
Kamo shrugged. “In any case, I have to admit; I’m glad he’s with me. He reminds me of my family, strange as it sounds.”
“Not strange to me,” Rolin said, “he feels like a brother.”
He looked toward the tent. “And I think that it’s time for this brother to wake up,” he said, standing from his seat next to the dying fire.
“No, don’t,” Kamo said, reaching for his hand and gently pulling him to sit next to her again, “he only just fell asleep. He’ll move faster if he gets some rest.”
Rolin didn’t argue. “Have you thought any more about your plans once we reach the Fire elves?” he asked instead.
“I want answers,” she said. “I guess it will depend on what those answers are.”
“What if the king gave the orders against the Sea elves?”
Kamo sighed. “I don’t know,” she said. She wanted to tell Rolin of her newly discovered heritage and how that might complicate the matter of revenge, but the words stuck in her throat. “Maybe I’ll get the chance to talk to him, see if there’s another explanation. One that I’m missing.”
Rolin nodded.“You really want to give him the benefit of the doubt?”
“I guess that’s easier than thinking of him as a genocidal dictator,” she answered.
Rolin laughed uneasily. “I suppose so.”
Gobi woke up long after they finished the conversation, and he looked as if the rest had done him some good. His eye was slightly less purple and swollen, and he moved swiftly and quietly.
When they had packed up camp and found their way back to the trail, he took Kamo’s elbow.
“Thank you for helping me fall asleep,” he said. “I didn’t realize your voice could be so soothing.”
Kamo raised an eyebrow. “What, my voice isn’t normally soothing?” she said, feigning anger, trying to hide the laughter in her voice.
Gobi began to stutter. “No, no, of course, it is, I just meant—”
“I’m just teasing, Gobi,” Kamo laughed.
Gobi took a deep breath and let it out slowly with a whistle. “Women,” he said, throwing his hands in the air, and running a little ahead on the trail.
Rolin stayed with her. “I didn’t want to pry before, but I have to know, what did you and Pacha really discuss after she sent us to bed?” he asked her cautiously.
Kamo kept her eyes on the path and contemplated how much of the truth she should share, at least, for now.
“I’ve always been told that the Fire elves started attacking my people because of a traitor in our midst,” she explained. “Pacha was giving me a more correct history.”
“The king wasn’t searching for a traitor?” Rolin asked, some surprise in his tone.
“No,” she answered honestly. “The king might have been looking for someone dangerous, though.”
If the king knew she was alive and wanted the pure Fire blood prince to take the throne, it would explain the sudden violence toward her people.
“Who’s more dangerous than a man who wants to usurp the throne?” Rolin asked, confusion in his voice.
Kamo shrugged and kept her eyes firmly on the ground ahead of her. “I think we need to find that advisor, Elesun,” Kamo replied. “He may know more about the king and his secrets. I just hope that I can convince him to talk to me. I’m not exactly looking forward to entering a city of murderers—and I’m really not looking forward to pretending to befriend them.”
“You have a very bleak outlook, don’t you?” Rolin said. “Isn’t it possible that not every Fire elf is a murderer? What about the children, the teachers, and builders? I know you and Gobi aren’t fond of them, but I think it’s unfair to judge an entire race on the behavior of one man.”
Kamo stopped in her tracks, finally turning her full attention to Rolin. “So I’m supposed to walk in there and make friends, without question or concern? After everything I’ve seen?”
“That’s not what I said, Kamo,” he replied calmly. “I’m just saying that there are those who are innocent and blameless, and we would be wise to remember it before we storm the city, condemning a race for one man’s actions.”
Kamo felt her hand growing warmer as she dug her nails into her palm. She looked at her hands and took a deep breath.
Rolin’s eyes were steady and peaceful. He didn’t seem upset by Kamo’s growing temper, and she couldn’t decide if this trait annoyed her or impressed her.
“As a soldier, I learned quickly that the enemy isn’t an entire nation,” he continued. “It’s not even the army you fight. It’s the man calling the shots. Everyone else is as much a victim as you are.”
Kamo unclenched her fists and listened to him intently. It seemed as though he had more of a story to tell, though how much he would reveal, she couldn’t say.
“All I’m asking is that you aim your rage at the right culprit and give the rest of those you meet a chance to prove themselves.”
Kamo stared at him, a loud debate between Kara and Sheelo once again forming in the corners of her mind.
“I’ll think about it,” Kamo said, finally calm and breathing evenly.
“Thank you,” he replied. “It’ll make our trip a lot less stressful if I know you’re not out to fight every Fire elf we meet. We’d never get to the festival in time.”
They walked silently after that, Gobi routinely backtracking to walk with them. Kamo noticed the temperature begin to drop around midday and caught a glimpse of her first snowdrift while they stopped for lunch.
Gobi noticed it too and pointed excitedly, his mouth full of food. “It’s snow!”
The snowdrift sat on a small overhang created by a massive boulder. The snow clung to place on top of the rock as it dropped off to a slight incline and niche in the mountain’s side. Kamo had finished with her meal, so she climbed over to the snowbank and picked up a handful of snow. It was cold and powdery before it started melting on her palm. She picked up another handful and packed it tight. Rolin and Gobi had explained the concept of a snowball fight, but she didn’t understand the appeal without having felt snow. At least, not until she held the snow in her hands.
She ducked behind a boulder lying sideways on the hill and peeked her head out to aim at Gobi. Her arm swung back and released the ball of white, hitting Gobi squarely on the back of the neck.
“Oi!” he shouted, shocked by the icy cold snow melting down his neck.
He turned to see his would-be attacker, and Kamo hid behind the boulder, silently giggling.
“Oh, it’s on now,” he called, dropping the remains of a sandwich.
He sprinted toward the snowbank and took a handful of snow, but before he could throw it, Kamo tackled him to the ground, sprinkling handfuls of snow into his hair.
Rolin joined the ranks, and Kamo felt a pelt of snow on her neck. She turned to him, momentarily distracted, and Gobi took the opportunity to run for cover.
“That’s not fair,” she cried, “it’s two against one!”
“Hey, you started it!” Gobi yelled, tossing another snowball in her direction.
Kamo dodged just in time, only to run into Rolin, who picked her up and twirled her into the snowdrift as she laughed.
He set her gently on her feet and put a finger to his lips. Silently, he pointed at Gobi’s hiding spot and grinned, gathering two armfuls of snow. Kamo followed his lead as quietly as she could, utterly numb in her toes and fingers.
Rolin mouthed “one, two, three,” and together, they ambushed Gobi from either side. Gobi shouted and wailed in mock despair and fell dramatically to the ground.
“I’ve been hit, I’ve been hit!” he moaned, gathering the snow in a pillow under his arm. He laid his cheek on its chilly surface and wrinkled his nose as the cold finally caught up to him. Kamo fell on her knees next to him and packed a pillow for herself. She gathered her hair on one shoulder and laid back onto the
icy cold lump, only for a second before jumping to her feet and shivering.
“How do you stand that, Gobi?” she asked, rubbing her neck and trying to warm it.
“It’s not that bad,” he said with chattering teeth.
Rolin sprawled next to him, using the pillow Kamo had fashioned.
“You need thicker skin, love.”
Kamo rubbed her hands together and brought them to her lips, blowing hot air into her palms.
“Yeah, yeah,” she said, “I’m going to go warm up. I should have at least put on the jacket before climbing up here.”
She started her descent and stiffened as she heard voices a little farther off from below. As silently as she could, she gestured for Rolin and Gobi to stay quiet and lowered herself to the ground, hiding just behind the small overhang. She peeked her head out, searching for exactly where she had heard them. About fifty feet from their discarded packs and weapons, there were at least ten Earth elves arguing loudly. They had been moving toward Kamo but had stopped short as their yelling grew louder. She ducked her head and summoned Rolin and Gobi to join her, first waving them over and then pointing in the direction of the elves.
The two men snuck over to her and lifted their heads to see the elves before hiding as she had.
“Do you think they heard us?” Gobi whispered breathlessly.
Rolin shook his head.
“If they had, I don’t think we’d still be alive,” he whispered back.
Each of them listened intently to the elves, trying to piece together snippets of their conversation.
“Pacha has never cared about us!” one shouted brusquely. His long hair was tangled, and he wore a cape, tattered at the edges. “She forced us here to live as thieves and outcasts!”
“Lies!” another one yelled just as loudly. He had a smaller stature, and he had cut his hair short. “We resigned ourselves to this life when we gave up our loyalty to her, and now I see that we were wrong. I think it’s time we made our peace, Broman. I want to go home.”
His voice grew softer with each word. Kamo strained her ear toward them, trying not to miss anything.
“Fine,” Broman spat angrily, “go back to your precious seer. But I will not mix my company with those filthy, human-loving backstabbers!”
Kamo peered sadly at Rolin and Gobi and then peeked her head over the ridge once again.
Five of the elves, including Broman, stood still, weapons at their sides, and five of them turned to walk toward Kamo.
As she watched, the one who had argued with Broman turned back to face him.
“Will you never be rid of your anger, brother?” he pleaded, turning his palms to the sky.
Broman’s cape swished as he strode toward the pleading man. In less than a heartbeat, he pulled a dagger from the sheath on his belt and plunged it into the smaller elf’s heart.
“Never.”
Kamo shut her eyes and turned her head. Chaos reigned as she heard the remaining elves begin to attack each other. Shouts and cries filled the air with anger and anguish. Rolin put a protective arm around Kamo as she curled up behind the stone. Gobi stared at the ground ahead of him, occasionally wincing with the harsh “thud” of a body on the ground.
After some minutes, the commotion quieted, and Kamo lifted her head to see who, if anyone, remained. She spotted Broman in a heap on the ground, as well as the four elves that had been standing close to him. Two of the younger brother’s comrades were standing over their bodies, a dagger in each of their hands. They chanted for their lost kinsmen, performing the elven last rites for each fallen elf, including Broman.
When they finished, they left the bodies silently, stowing their weapons and walking just out of sight of the trio’s discarded packs. At one point, one of the Earth elves sniffed the air and froze, a scent clearly catching in his nose. He looked in Kamo’s direction, started to walk toward her briefly, and then froze again as if changing his mind. He turned away from them and started the long descent to Blosso.
When Kamo felt the elves had sufficiently distanced from her, she climbed down from the overhang, still silent and melancholy.
Rolin and Gobi followed after her, eager to gather their things and leave the site of the massacre.
They didn’t pass too near the bodies, for which Kamo was grateful, and Rolin and Gobi stayed near her side when they did come into view. They walked quickly and carefully as a storm filled the sky, and snow began to flurry in the air. First, only a few flakes fell, and then it fell in walnut-sized chunks to the ground, covering the dirt in a blanket of white. Even in her warm coat, Kamo shivered, being surrounded by tufts of snow and cold.
They walked for hours until the storm obscured their vision enough that they could no longer see ten feet in front of them. At that point, Rolin insisted they stop for the night. They set up a camp quickly, each retiring to the tents with few words exchanged.
Kamo sat on her bedroll, numb with cold and shock.
He was walking away. He was going back. He wanted to join Pacha, and he didn’t want more of this violence. And because he asked a question, his brother killed him in cold blood.
She pulled the coat tighter around her waist and laid down. She wondered as it grew later if this elf was not the only one who questioned where he should be. There were five of this gang, five, that wanted to give up this wild life. Were there more? How many Earth elves would reconcile and let them pass without incident? Kamo thought of Pacha. Did she know that some of her people wanted to return, to come home? And then she thought of Broman’s words. “Filthy, human-loving backstabbers.” That’s what he had called Pacha. It’s what he had called all the elves of Blosso for accepting and interacting with humans.
What a vile man, to loathe a person for their race.
Rolin’s words came flooding to her mind, and instantly her stomach felt sick with guilt. At first, she tried to rationalize, reminding herself that Fire elves had done unspeakable things, that her biases were justified by her experience. Still, the more she tried, the sicker she felt.
Kamo sat up and opened the flap of her tent. The sun fought its way through the storm clouds, and the snow temporarily ceased its onslaught.
“Rolin?” she called frantically.
He appeared at the tent door in moments.
“You were right,” she said. “I cannot hold an entire race accountable for the deeds of one man. I cannot justify my hate and anger toward those I’ve never met. I don’t want to, and I won’t.”
Gobi joined him at the door of the tent. “You’re not them, Kamo,” he told her quietly.
“I know,” she said, covering the few feet between them, “but I could have been. I so easily could have been.”
Rolin closed the gap between them and pulled her into his arms while Gobi stepped behind her.
“Kamo,” Rolin whispered, “it’s all right.”
“I was like him,” she whispered back. “I justified my anger and my hate. You saw me. I was ready to fight to protect it.”
“And now?” he said, pulling her away to look directly into her sorrowful eyes.
“And now I see what I would have been,” she answered, matching his gaze.
“What both of us would have been,” Gobi uttered.
Kamo turned to face him. “What do you mean?”
Gobi looked at each of them and took a deep breath.
“I think it’s time to tell you why I don’t like fire.”
Chapter Twelve
“I sort of didn’t entirely tell the truth about my interactions with the Fires,” Gobi mumbled, walking toward the makeshift campfire ring and taking a seat at its edge. Kamo and Rolin followed suit. “Remember how I told you that my grandfather taught me to speak Oshia?”
Kamo nodded, the memory still fresh in her mind.
“Well, that’s only partially true,” he said, pausing. “I learned it from him and the Seas. He joined a crew of theirs when I was still a younger boy, and they took me in when my parents died.”
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“Why didn’t you tell me, Gobi?” Kamo asked.
“I don’t really like to talk about it. My parents died when the Fire elves attacked our ship. We were aboard a human ship, sailing to Tartha when I was about eight years old. My parents were born in Curto. That’s where I was born, too. They left when the mines shut down. A lot of families did. The ship was full of passengers like us, just starting a new life far away, and the Fires just attacked. Without warning or reason. They knew we were human. Our flag hung on the mast. But still, they burned everything in sight. I tried running away to the hull, and everywhere I turned, my arms or feet almost got singed. We fought back, but not for long. My parents smuggled me and some of the other children off the ship in a small dinghy and distracted the elves until we were safely away, but I’ll never forget seeing that ship go up in flame.”
Kamo’s heart broke, and though she had been feeling very alone in her pain, she suddenly wished she had no one else who knew and understood her sorrow.
“Gobi, I don’t know what to say,” Kamo breathed. “I’m sorry. Why wouldn’t you tell me all of this?”
“Because for me,” he said hoarsely, “it’s easier to pretend. It’s easier to pretend that I don’t know any of this, it’s easier to pretend that they didn’t—” he gasped and cleared his throat. “I joined you thinking that I would find my own revenge. And now I’ve seen what it can do to a person and a family.”
Kamo ran through her mind all the memories she had shared with Gobi, how understanding and compassionate he had been. How loyal and passionate he had been for her cause and for her.
“No wonder you were so persistent in helping me,” Kamo said aloud. “Not that I minded, but I’m sorry that it came at that cost.”
It may not have been his whole race, but Gobi knew what it was like. He knew what it meant to see loved ones die. He knew the fire, and the flame, and the emptiness. Kamo reached for him and squeezed his hand, a new wave of affection washing over her.
“I survived,” Gobi smiled weakly. “I was lucky that we were found pretty quickly and by the right people. There was a ship of Sea elves not too far away, and they protected us until we arrived in Tartha. My grandpa had planned to meet me there with my parents, and when they didn’t come, he took me under his wing. And taught me to sail, along with the Seas, before their crew sent us back.”
The Last of the Sea Elves Page 9
