by S. E. Smith
Samui looked behind them for a moment. “She is well. Come, I will lead you to her,” he answered.
Ross stood aside, wondering what he should do. He looked at the pile of rocks before turning in the direction the others were going. He scowled in determination. If this man was a good guy, it meant that Gem should be safe. Until he knew for certain, though, he would still be ready for the next challenge.
“What happened to you?” Orion asked.
“There is a dangerous creature – an alien – that fell from the sky. It struck our ship when we were not far from the coast of the Isle of the Sea Serpent. I didn’t realize the extent of the damage until we were almost to the Isle of the Elementals. I was working below deck when the alien attacked me. Malay was able to suppress it, but it was a temporary solution. We immediately sought help from Ruger and Adrina, but the alien was becoming stronger, and I weaker. I lost control – briefly. Malay wrapped her arms around me and Ruger and Adrina transformed us into trees to keep everyone safe as we bound the alien to us.
“I don’t know how long we remained frozen. Without Ruger and Adrina’s magic to hold the spell, we transformed back into ourselves. We were weak, but because we had been in the form of a tree, we were able to avoid the effects of the magical mist that had rolled over the Isle. By then, Ruger and Adrina were gone – and the alien creature had taken over the body of Wayman – Ruger’s Chief Advisor. Malay and I journeyed as far as we could before we became trapped in this canyon. The rock creature would not let us pass together, but neither could the alien creature enter the canyon due to the enchantment that Ruger and Adrina had cast. Every time it tried, the ice walls would form and keep it out. We were both too weak to dare fight the alien. We have been using what little strength we have to re-enforce Ruger’s ice spell and not provoke the rock creature,” he said.
“What about Gem?” Ross asked, stepping forward. “You said she was okay. Where is she, and why did you take her?”
“What about the others? Ruger and Adrina? Do you have any idea what happened to them?” Drago demanded with a deep frown.
“They are still here,” Ashure murmured.
Everyone turned to look at Ashure with a surprised expression. The Pirate King’s eyes were glowing, and dark shapes moved in the depths of his pupils. A shiver ran down Ross’s spine. There was something really strange about the guy – besides the funny way he dressed.
“What do you see, Ashure?” Nali asked, laying her hand on the pirate’s arm.
“Shadows – I see nothing but shadows,” Ashure said with a shake of his head.
Ross’s stomach dropped when the Isle violently shook. They all braced themselves and looked around as pieces of ice above them cracked and fell before the ice sealed again. He instinctively raised his shield, protecting his head from the falling ice.
“Come, it is best to seek shelter,” Samui said.
It took Ross’s eyes a moment to adjust to the dim interior of the cavern that Samui led them to. He could see a magical fire, similar to the one Gem had created, burning in a ring of rocks. Another Yeti stood on the other side of the fire.
Ross pushed through the group when he saw Gem lying pale and still on a pallet. The Yeti growled in warning. Ross realized that its focus was on the lance he still clutched in his hand. He dropped it and the shield.
“Malay, it is safe. The rock creature was destroyed,” Samui said.
Ross knelt on one knee and cupped Gem’s hand. Her fingers were like ice. A light coating of frost covered her blue-tinged skin. His heart hammered, and he felt a welling of grief and desperation grip him. He lifted Gem’s hand to his lips and blew his warm breath over them.
“She is merely sleeping. It was necessary,” a soft voice murmured.
Ross looked up and blinked. Standing on the other side of the pallet was an elegant woman. Her features were as delicate as Gem’s, but her hair was longer. She raised her hands, palms down, over Gem. Wisps of frost rose from Gem’s body.
Ross quickly looked at Gem again when she took a long shuddering breath through slightly parted lips. Relief swept through him, and he pressed her fingers to his lips when her eyelashes fluttered for a moment before she opened her eyes.
“Hi,” she whispered.
“I’m mad at you,” he said without thinking.
Her low chuckle warmed the chill that was still flowing through his body. He reached out and gently brushed her hair back from her face. Her cheeks flushed under his touch, and he grinned at her.
“What happened?” she asked with a frown of confusion.
“You were kidnapped by a Yeti, which turned out not to be a Yeti, and left me on my own to deal with the dragons, the pirate, the fish guy, a lady that doesn’t look too bad for being the biggest, baddest monster around, and a giant that gives a new meaning to the term growth spurt,” he summarized with an emotion-filled chuckled.
Gem glanced behind him and moved to sit up. Ross slid an arm under her shoulders to help her, and she studied the small group staring at her with concern, pausing when she reached the older man and woman. He felt her body tremble.
“You look like my mother,” she said in a barely audible voice.
“I’m Malay, your mother’s older sister. You were just a little girl the last time I saw you,” she replied, her voice shaking with emotion.
“I am Samui. You probably don’t remember me,” Samui greeted.
Gem slowly nodded. “You used to carry me on your shoulders and grow taller so that I could pick the fruit from the top of the trees,” she murmured in a hesitant voice.
“Yes,” Samui chuckled.
“Oh, Gem,” Malay cried, sliding onto the pallet and wrapping her arms around Gem.
Ross slid his hands from Gem and stood up. He silently watched as Malay tearfully whispered her apologies for bringing danger to her people. Gem clung to her aunt.
Feeling out of place, Ross quietly skirted the group when they began asking Gem what had happened. He stepped outside of the cavern. The brightness of the sun briefly blinded him, but soon he had walked a few feet from the cavern. A large rock lay next to the canyon wall. He gently tapped the rock with the toe of his boot and waited to see if any weird shit would happen. When the rock didn’t move, he sat down on it.
He was outside for a couple of minutes before he heard footsteps. He looked up and smiled briefly when he saw Nali walking toward him. He slid over when she waved her hand for him to make room. She sat down beside him.
Neither one of them spoke at first. He leaned back and looked up at the top of the canyon. Sunlight flickered across the ice, and every once in a while, he could see a droplet of water form from the heat only to freeze again before it fell.
“Your quest is not finished,” Nali finally said.
Ross blinked in surprise. “Quest? You make me sound like some kind of knight in shining armor out to defeat a foe and save a kingdom,” he retorted with a slightly derisive tone.
“Aren’t you?” she asked.
Ross looked at her in disbelief before he snorted and shook his head. “No, I’m about as far from a knight in any kind of armor that you can find. I’m a fisherman, and I’m not very good at that either. She and I have a deal, that’s all. I go with her to wake her parents, and she’ll get me back to Yachats. Now that Gem has you and the other mythical creatures here, I guess I’ll just be tagging along, trying not to get in the way until she sends me home,” he stated, rising to his feet.
“You are more than that, Ross Galloway,” Nali said, sliding off the boulder to stand beside him.
Ross shoved his hands into his pockets, curling his fingers to keep from patting his shirt pocket for a pack of cigarettes that he knew wasn’t there. He would damn near kill for one at the moment.
“Is this what you really want?” Nali asked.
Ross glanced down at her outstretched hand, and stilled, his eyes glued on the pack of cigarettes in her hand, his favorite brand.
He clenched his jaw and l
ooked up into Nali’s dark eyes. Her mocha-colored skin was smooth, her lips full with the hint of a sarcastic smile lifting one corner. He could see the challenge in her eyes as if she were daring him to give in to his craving – and give up on his promise.
“I gave them up,” he said.
“Why?” she quietly prodded.
He flashed a savage smile. “That, Empress, is none of your fucking business,” he stated.
She continued to stare at him with unblinking eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the pack of cigarettes disappear into thin air. He narrowed his eyes.
“Gem must complete this journey,” she continued.
Ross shrugged and looked away. “She will. Now that you and the others are here, it should be easier,” he said.
“What would you do if I told you that she will die if she continues?” Nali asked.
Ross hissed. He studied Nali’s calm face. He couldn’t tell if she was asking a hypothetical question or making a prediction. Either way, he didn’t like it.
“Are you telling me that she will or that she might?” he demanded.
Nali tilted her head and looked at him. “I am the keeper of the Goddess’s Mirror. The visions that it gives are not always clear, but they are never wrong. I saw the death of one of us,” she explained.
“One of you? Which one? It can’t be that hard to tell if it was a man or a woman – and since you all are pretty damn different, it should be obvious which one,” he growled in frustration.
“The Goddess did not share who will die, only that one of us will,” Nali admitted.
“Sounds pretty typical if you ask me – build the fear without answering the question,” Ross sarcastically commented.
Nali looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “I detect a hint of skepticism in your voice,” she remarked.
“Just a hint – I must be getting lazy,” Ross retorted.
Nali took a step closer to him and stared into his eyes with a cool, calm intensity that sent a shiver down his spine. She had that same look that he had seen in his mom’s eyes when he did one stupid thing too close to the last one and crossed that imaginary line in the sand. He shook his head.
“How did you get here, Ross Galloway?” she asked in a low voice.
He narrowed his eyes. “A magic shell,” he replied.
“You are here for a reason. The magic would only work if the Goddess knew that you were needed here. Princess Gem and her people need you. Your belief in yourself may be the difference between success and failure. Would you truly let her down because you simply refuse to try?” she pressed.
He shook his head and looked back at the cavern. Gem stood in the entrance watching him. His heart hammered in his chest as he remembered his fear and frustration when she was taken earlier. He hadn’t given up then, had he? It hadn’t done much good, true, but maybe next time it would, maybe he could be what she needed.
“No, I won’t let her down,” he answered.
Nali turned and followed his gaze. She smiled in satisfaction. Ross barely registered her murmur of approval. His focus was on Gem who was now walking toward them.
“I will join the others. There is much to be discussed before we continue on our journey,” Nali said.
17
Gem paused when Nali drew close to her. She forced herself to look away from Ross’s face and turned her attention to the Empress. She still didn’t know how they had known she needed help, or why they had come, but she was grateful.
“Thank you – for coming here,” she said.
“No thanks are needed, Princess Gem,” Nali reassured her.
Gem shook her head and looked back at Nali with a troubled expression.
“I should have insisted that we help in the fight against the creature on the Isle of Magic as you requested. I didn’t know about the alien creature being here as well. If I had…,” her voice faded.
She didn’t know what she would have done. She looked over Nali’s shoulder to Ross. He was standing in the shade with his hands in his front pockets. Would she have met him if things had been different? Perhaps the timeline of events was necessary in the larger scale of the universe. Without the shell that Magna had given him, they would never have met.
“Everything has a purpose. Sometimes it is difficult to understand the course the Goddess has set for us,” Nali answered, confirming what Gem was thinking.
Gem nodded. “True. I know uncertainty is part of the journey, but that doesn’t mean that I have to like it,” she grumbled.
Nali laughed. “Yes, but where is the fun in always knowing how things will work out?” Nali replied, looking over her shoulder at Ross. “He has a good heart – even if he tries to hide it. ”
Gem nodded. “Yes, he does,” she said with a small smile.
She stepped around Nali and slowly walked over to Ross. Her heart sped up when he pulled his hands out of his pockets and held his arms open. When he immediately thought better of it and lowered his arms, she quickened her steps and reached for him.
A sense of peace surrounded her when he pulled her close. She buried her face against his neck and took a deep breath. There was something about his scent that made her feel safe and calm.
“What happened – after I…,” she asked.
He slowly released her and motioned for her to sit on the rock. A flush of pleasure swept through her when he retained her hand and sat next to her. The colors of her essence flowed along his arm.
“The color thing is happening again. It seems to do it whenever we touch,” he observed.
She chuckled. “Yes, it does. So, what happened after I was taken? How did you find the others?” she asked, redirecting his attention.
He looked at the entrance to the cavern. “It was more of a ‘they found me’ moment. I turned around and there was this long-haired dude who looked like an axe murderer. Turns out that he was just a dragon in disguise,” he paused and took a deep breath, “After you were taken, I tried everything I could think of to get to you. A wall of ice had formed over the entrance to the canyon – and over the top. It felt like a freaking tomb once we finally made it inside. ”
“Malay and Samui were trapped in the canyon and changed their appearance to protect themselves from the rock creature,” she said.
“Makes sense, I guess, but why put you to sleep? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to just say ‘Hey, guess what? We’re here. ’ It would have been a hell of a lot easier,” he concluded in a gruff voice.
She laughed at the slight pout in his voice. “They placed me in a suspended form of sleep until they could determine if the alien had taken over my body. They know how dangerous it is and weren’t sure if it might have been evolving. I suspect they were also hesitant when they saw your rather determined attempts to break through the barrier of ice,” she explained.
“I guess I can understand their reasoning, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it,” he muttered.
“Ross…,” she said before biting her lip.
“Yeah?” he responded in a low voice.
“Thank you for not giving up on me,” she murmured.
He met her eyes, and his lips twitched before he gave her a crooked grin. He shook his head.
“Somebody has to watch your back, Princess,” he gently responded.
“Gant will take Malay and Samui back to my ship. Now that the rock creature is destroyed, Samui and Malay can now pass together through the opening of the canyon. Gant should be able to remove the ice from the entrance with the club that Samui and Malay have enchanted. The rest of us will continue on to the palace. We should reach it by tomorrow night,” Nali said, pointing to the map that Gem had drawn in the sand.
“The creature is very dangerous. Perhaps I should—” Samui started to say.
“Samui, no…,” Malay softly protested, gripping her husband’s arm.
Gem looked up at her aunt and uncle. They were so exhausted that they needed to lean on each other. The prolonged use of their magic to ma
intain both the protection spell on the canyon and their ice form in order to deal with the rock creature had taken a heavy toll on them both.
“No, Uncle. The creature may sense your essence now that it has inhabited your body,” she said.
Orion placed his hand on Samui’s shoulder. “Gem is right. We have previously fought the alien. It quickly senses those it has encountered before and in your weakened condition, you would be more of a hindrance than a help,” he explained.
Drago nodded. “We know what to expect – and how to deal with it,” he added.
“If you are sure,” Samui reluctantly responded.
“We will leave immediately,” Gant said.
“What about the traps?” Ross asked, looking at Gant before looking questioningly at Malay and Samui. “No offense, but like Orion pointed out, you two look like you’ve been run over and backed up on.”
“I will carry them. In my larger size – and with my magic – I can protect them,” Gant reassured him.
“With any luck, if we leave soon we should be able to reach the Great Lake by sundown. We can find refuge along the shore and cross over tomorrow. The palace is on the other side,” Gem explained, pointing to the map again.
“May your journey be triumphant,” Malay wearily said.
“Whatever you do, do not allow the alien to touch you,” Samui cautioned.
“We will be careful,” Orion said.
“Ashure—” Nali began.
Gem turned and looked at the Pirate King who had been silently leaning against the cavern wall. He twirled a jewel-handled blade between his fingers, his attention fixed on the map.
“I look forward to our quest, Nali,” Ashure lightly assured her.
Nali sighed. “Very well. Gem, we will let you lead the way since you not only know the best way to proceed, but the obstacles that we will face,” she instructed.
“I’ll lead,” Ross stated. He continued when both Ashure and Drago raised a questioning eyebrow. “The Princess and I have this agreement. I find the traps – and she saves my ass. ”
