by Brindi Quinn
“Hmph. Think you’re some sort of shrink, do you, my cherry- Ungh!”
It was then that Nyte returned with the small vial of putrid, black liquid.
“Make him drink it!” said Darch. The Magir was once again busying himself with circling . . . circling . . .
“I don’t need that shi-”
Without hesitation, Nyte grabbed Ardette’s head and popped the bottle between his lips.
“Blegh!” Ardette sputtered, but his shadow was immediately stronger around the golden brick. I felt it shift a little.
It mooooved!
“Excited, are we? Well, settle down! Save it for when this is over.”
Ardette, you . . . can . . . bake . . . some.
“Bake some?” The shadow within me froze while Ardette contemplated the peculiarity of my statement.
Take. I meant . . . ‘take’.
“Of you? Tisk, tisk, we can’t have you weakening any further than you already are, can we? Are you so eager to throw yourself at me, my cherry pit?”
“Who the hell are you talking to?” carped Nyte. “Cease your messing around and-”
“I think that should be obvious. Quite slow isn’t – Hyung!”
“Ardette!” cried Darch.
Take.
“NO. Everyone just be quiet. I’ve almost got-”
With a final squeeze, the brick finally collapsed into fragments that instantly mixed with Ardette’s shadow and dispersed throughout my body. Ardette doubled over, but didn’t remove his hand. Instead, he folded into a pile across me, panting.
“Get off of her!”
“No! Do not move him! His shadow is still in there, and it’s mixed with the Song! He needs to be the one to remove it!”
At once, the circling stopped, and the grogginess started to lift.
“Ardette?” Darch’s hand was on the Daem’s back.
“Aura? Are you awakening from your slumber?” Nyte’s face was over mine, starting to become focused, his hair close enough to brush against my cheeks.
“Unh,” I mumbled.
“She wasn’t ever asleep, you cad,” came a voice muffled by my stomach. Ardette shifted a bit and then tried to lift himself up, but it was only with Darch’s hands under his armpits that he was able to make any progress.
As he rose, he slowly pulled his hand from me.
The heaviness was gone, but I could still feel the golden Song spread throughout my body, only instead of dead weight, it now felt like armor.
I pushed myself up onto my elbows and groaned. My body ached from the ordeal.
“Well, this is just splendid! I’ll go fetch the others!” Darch happily scurried away.
I was almost back to normal. Almost completely clear.
“Thanks, Ardette. It’s much better now.” I looked at my hands, embarrassed, and asked, “Do you . . . need some?”
“Not in front of him!” Ardette gestured at Nyte, who was just over my shoulder. “Egad, I’m not that kinky. This here should be enough to replenish me.”
With nearly black eyes, Ardette licked the edge of his finger where a drop of golden powder had stained.
“Tasty. At least enough to get rid of the taste of that vile, filthy andap. Too bad you’ll have to wait until ad’ai to experience it yourself, Elf.”
Nyte ignored him, “Aura, are you fine now? You do not feel hurt at all?”
“No, I’m fine, Nyte.” I blushed over his concern and then shifted my gaze to Ardette, who was now seductively drawing the powdered finger across his lower lip. “That reminds me, though, when is the ad’ai? Do either of you know?”
“It is when the moon will come of age,” said Darch from behind me.
I turned to see him blissfully jogging back towards us, Kantú, Grotts, and Scardo following shortly behind.
“But it is the moon’s decision,” he continued. “It can only tell us when it’s close.”
“Yo!” Kantú saluted me. “Darch says you’re fixed! That’s great!”
I gave her a grin and a nod and then looked back at Darch. “The moon’s decision?”
“Yes.” Darch fiddled with his glasses and scanned the other three Yes’lechians. “Who wants to tell her the history of the moons? Anyone? Leaving out as much sacred knowledge as possible, mind you.” He gave Kantú a sideways glance.
I frowned at his implication, still bitter that Kantú, Nyte, and Rend hadn’t been deemed ‘worthy’ enough to receive the sacred knowledge from the officers. All along, it had been my intention to tell Kantú everything, but the time had never been right. We’d never been alone with enough time for such a weighty discussion. I still fully planned to tell her everything eventually . . . but for now, I could only act like the rest of the tight-lipped Yes’lechians.
I hated it.
“I will oblige,” said Nyte.
“Of course you will,” crooned Ardette.
Nyte again ignored him and started the story, moving back to the sleeping Rend as he did.
“In the beginning, the great Creator formed from rock and light, two moons as guide-lamps in the sky. Not only were they to be a light within the darkness for the people, there was also something special about these two masses of rock and light. Before placing them in the sky, the Creator breathed into each of the moons, giving them life. He then charged them with the task of silently watching over the world.
“For thousands of years, the moons protected the world side-by-side, but at the time of the Great Divisia, everything changed. The moons debated which way would be best for the people. The ways of old, or the ways of new. The western moon sided with the Westerlands, and the eastern moon sided with the Easterlands. Thus, they were divided and have since been arguing, which is why they never show themselves at the same time.”
Nyte gave a nod to signal the tale’s end.
Darch appeared impressed. “Nice going! Almost word for word as we tell it at Yes’lech! What are you talking about, Ardette? He’s not so bad!”
“Hmph.” Ardette picked at a hangnail.
“So you see, Aura,” continued Darch, “the moons are beings with the will to choose their own ad’ais. Therefore, we cannot predict its exact date, but we can read the patterns to see when it is coming, and for some time now, the western moon has been changing: shifting and realigning itself. That’s how we know the time of ad’ai is near. But keep in mind that the moons are conscious of the world’s events. The western moon will not come of age until all of the pieces are in place. This, um, relates back to the savior songstress,” – he shot Kantú another sideways glance – “but we’ll leave it at that for now!”
“Savior songstress?” mumbled Kantú.
Grotts and I shot her equally apologetic looks, but Scardo made an odd choking noise at the thought that the outsider might have learned something she shouldn’t have.
I chewed on the new information. So the moon was a living being? It sounded entirely far-fetched, but well . . . it wasn’t really surprising that something so insane-sounding could be true, what with entire land masses splitting and drifting apart and golden bricks of song being laid in my chest.
“So, we can’t predict it?” I asked, growing overwhelmed by the looming task ahead of us. “Then, how can we even formulate a plan?”
Grotts scratched his temple. “Sounds like the moon won’t do anythin’ til everything’s ready, right Scardo?”
“That is how I understand it,” replied Scardo, hands folded behind his back, formal as ever.
“Well, I dunno ‘bout the rest ‘o ya, but I’m beat. I know it’s day and all, but I’m in favor ‘o pitchin’ up tents. Scardo’s got a good spot for andap on ‘is map, but it’ll take us a few days ta get there, and after everythin’, I don’t really feel like movin’ on now.”
We were all in agreement.
~
While the men went about setting up camp at the crystally outskirts of the prophecy, I found Kantú a short distance away throwing bird food to the Spirit of In-between.
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What a strange concept.
“Hey, Kantú.” I walked over and put my arm around her shoulder.
“Aura! Do you feel better now? Your belly doesn’t hurt any more?”
“My belly? Uh. Yeah the Song feels a lot better now, thanks.” I assumed that’s what she’d meant.
Kantú let out a wistful sigh and stared into the distance. “It’s been so busy lately, hasn’t it? I mean, really, we haven’t even gotten to talk in how long?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. Things are just going by so quickly now, and there’s been so much on my mind, that I just . . .”
“Naw, I know how things are. Plus, with those two buffoons fawning over you, it’s hard to get a word in sometimes. I’m just glad that I finally got to hear you say it!”
“Er-” I wrinkled my forehead in confusion. “Hear me say it?”
“Mmhmm.” She wrapped her tail around my hip. “You know, your little confession.”
“Gah!”
Oh, Creator! She’s talking about when I told Nyte I loved him in front of everyone!
I realized then how lucky I was that Rend had been asleep for that one. If not, I’d have definitely died. The test wouldn’t have mattered because I’d have been long gone by now.
“I’m just glad the two of you finally realized.” She giggled. “But you know, that Pervy Irving won’t let you go so easily.”
“Ugh. Don’t remind me. That’s one thing I’m trying to ignore.”
“Ignore? You mean you . . .”
“N-no! Of course not. Not like with Nyte, but you know, there’s just something, and I wish it would go away.”
“Oh, Aura! You’re so funny. Don’t complicate things. Just be you!” She wiggled her nose at me. “But boy, who would have thought you’d turn into such a heartbreaker?”
“A heartbreaker? Oh geez.”
I rolled my eyes and she chittered.
“Um, Kantú, there is something else I want to talk to you about. All of that sacred knowledge crap-”
“Oh!” she squeaked. “Don’t worry about it!”
That might’ve seemed like a normal reaction, but the suspicious Squirrelean next forced a chuckle and waved her hands in front of her face, therefore alerting me that something was a little off.
“Kantú?” I studied her for further explanation.
“Naw, I don’t really care about that kind of thing, so . . .”
But then I knew for sure. Her actions had clearly given her away.
“Kantú! You already . . . know?”
“Shhh!” She swatted me with her tail and looked over her shoulder sneakily at the guys.
“What?! How do you . . .” But it was so obvious, I’d been an idiot to not realize it sooner. “Grotts?”
“Shhh! He’ll get in trouble if anyone finds out!”
Eager to find out more, I grabbed her arm and pulled her close to me. “What did he tell you?”
“Everything! But we have to pretend that he didn’t, so I have to act all oblivious and stuff, and it’s really starting to get nerve-wracking! Like I’m so worried that I’ll let something slip, like when Nyte was talking about the moons and whatnot!” She threw out a particularly large handful of birdseed straight at a very aggravated Elder Nosrac. “Whoo! But it feels really good to get that off of my chest!”
“When did . . . ?”
“After the prophecy, on the way back to Crystair!”
“Huh.” I exhaled and released my sleuthing grip. “That’s great! But I’m sorry that I wasn’t the one to tell you. I really had planned on it, but it was just never a good time.”
“I know, Aura. Don’t worry.”
She gave me a smile, but I thought I noticed her ears droop slightly, though it might have been just my imagination. At least, I hoped it was just my imagination.
“Well, that certainly makes things easier,” I said. “So, have you had your confession yet?”
If her ears had drooped at all, they perked right back up. “Eek! Confession?! What are you talking about?”
“Right. Now who’s in denial?”
I grinned at her rosying cheeks.
Chapter 9: The Intention
In the darkness, I reached for the lovely and alluring hand. But I wasn’t me; I was Illuma, and I could see Aura standing there, too afraid to reach out. She was a coward. She’d never make it past the border with an attitude like that. Why was she behaving in such a way, anyway? After all, she was the one who’d told me about the person with the lovely hands. Stupid, scared Aura. Always holding me back – always getting in the way. I was going to escape with the lovely-handed person whether she was coming or not. That lovely-handed person told me that I was special. That I was the one they’d been searching for.
“HYAAH!”
Sweaty and shaking, I bolted awake from the dream.
What the heck was that?!
With several deep pants, I looked around the tent, which was now lit with the afternoon sun.
“Aura?” moaned Kantú, rolling over. “What is it? A nightmare?”
Her face was saggy with sleepiness; one of her eyes shut more than the other.
“Ungh, yeah, I guess.” Trembling, I rubbed my own eyes, which were also still very much asleep. “Sorry I woke you. How long were we out?”
Before answering, she yawned widely, showing off her eye teeth that were slightly more pointed than a Sape’s. “I dunno. About four hours, I’d say.”
“That’s it?”
“Mmhmm.” She placed the back of her hand on my forehead. “So, what was your nightmare about? Do you remember?”
I did remember. I remembered incredibly well.
“Aw, no,” I lied.
“Hm. Well, you don’t feel warm at all. Awful sweaty though . . .”
The nightmare had been of that night. Had things really happened like that? In the dream I’d been Illuma – but it was impossible for me to see it through her eyes, wasn’t it? So that had to mean that she didn’t really feel that way about me, right? It was just a dream, wasn’t-
“Go back to sleep, you two.” A male voice suddenly cut into my panicking thoughts. The sound did nothing to lessen said panic, though, instead only causing me to jump, and as a result, alarming me even more than I already was.
“Eh?!” With a startled cry, I jerked to my right, unsure of what to expect, and was greeted by two bright blue eyes.
AHHH! Who is tha- Oh . . . Oh! That’s right!
Trying to save as much face as possible, I composed myself beneath a sheet and said, “I still don’t understand why you’re in here, Darch.”
Even after just waking, the Magir was beaming excitedly.
“Because your tent is significantly less crowded, that’s why! The other one already had four guys sleeping there, and this one only had you two and Rend. Now, which one would you have chosen?”
“Yeah, I get that much, but why couldn’t it have been . . .”
Reading my implication, Darch let out a chuckle.
“Do you know anything about Elven culture? That kind of thing would be unthinkable.”
“What’s the big deal?” asked Kantú. “They already spent the night out on that balcony.”
“Yes, but first of all, we wouldn’t permit the two of them to be so close with that little issue they have going on, and second of all, do you really think Ardette would allow it? It was bad enough getting him to agree to let me sleep in here, and I’m harmless.”
I ignored his suggestion that Nyte wasn’t ‘harmless’.
“Tell me about it!” grouched Kantú. “Ardette’s been so pigheaded lately!”
“Believe me,” said Darch, rolling onto his back and staring at the tent’s ceiling, “this new ‘pigheaded’ Ardette is something far preferable to . . . well, let’s just say that it used to be he didn’t care about anything, but his display of stubbornness and work-upedness just proves that he’s changing.”
“What a shame. He can be so charming when he w
ants to be.” Kantú’s gaze took on a far-off longing.
“Whatever,” I argued, “that faux charm of his is annoying. He’s much better when he’s being himself. He’s more tolerable that way, you know? Actually, I think his true self is really likeable.”
“Really?” asked Darch.
He slowly took his eyes from the ceiling and started to study me with intentness.
I nodded, but he didn’t stop his analysis. I didn’t know what he was looking for, but I felt self-conscious, knowing that I probably didn’t look very appealing at that moment, bed-hair and all, though I didn’t turn away. It wasn’t conviction or anything; I was just tired, and it wasn’t worth the effort.
At last Darch said, “Hm. Well, you’d be the first . . . besides me, that is!” Forming a grin, he proudly pointed to his chest with his thumb before continuing, “Someday, Aura, I’ll tell you a story – a story I know you’ll appreciate.”
Darch’s story? I wondered. The same one Grotts was talking about?
But before I could press him, he clapped once and said,
“Unfortunately, that day is not today. Now, go back to sleep you two! And pay mind not to forget that I’m in here with you. I know at least three men that would have my head if I saw anything indecent.”
“Three?” pondered Kantú.
This time I was the one to let out a chuckle.
~
“Well, Darch, did you enjoy yourself? Had yourself a nice little sleepover, did you?”
Ardette had been sour all afternoon.
The second time I’d awoken, my eyes had been no less tired, but I’d had no choice but to press on after the others.
The understanding was that there was too much left for us to accomplish to allow something like lack of sleep to stall us for long.
Through the afternoon and early evening we traveled out of the Crystallands. We’d been surrounded by the shimmering sands for so long now, that I was a little homesick leaving them.
“Shared some gossip, did you?” said Ardette with ugly spite.
While I half-listened to the bitter Daem make stabs at Darch, Nyte was lagging behind, ever peering at Rend with those anxious, somehow passionate eyes. I’d tried to ignore it, but it was really starting to bother me. I didn’t know how to react to his peculiarly anxious treatment of her, for I realized that it was a selfish, arrogant thing to consume myself with. So I merely trudged along, trying not to sulk, but despite my best attempts, it was still there, nagging at me with each worried glance he shot her.
