As soon as I touched the World and began to create fire the device sprang to color and life again. The same image of the two humans along with the map floated above the device. I translated what they said to Nyarathe as they spoke.
“That map is familiar,” she said after I made the images appear once again so she could commit the conversation to memory. “Yes, look here.” She pointed at the curve of the mountain range.
“It is this range,” I said.
“Do you think these other two stones might have images and voices as well?” She picked up the next rock and exchanged it with mine.
“Perhaps.” I didn’t care to see what secrets lived inside of these devices. What mattered was that we stopped these humans from destroying our people, not figuring out what may have happened thousands of years ago.
“How do you understand the words?”
“I am a Singleborn.” I smiled at her and she snorted with annoyance.
I pulled on more of the World and the colors and sounds erupted again. It was the same man and woman, but the exchange was different.
“She destroyed the original unit. I sent five more, but I fear they encountered the same fate,” the male said. His face looked drawn and thinner than it had in the first floating image.
“This is your top priority. Take care of her personally. Send your entire command.” I could not smell anything through the device, but I didn’t need that sense to understand the anger in the woman’s voice.
“My entire command? Can you send assistance?” His voice became faint and the image began to blur.
“Are you there?” the woman asked. She repeated the words but the sound of screams and thunder pulsed from the stone as an answer. The woman asked the question two more times and then the device faded to black. I told my sister what they said and she nodded.
“Use the last one.” Nyarathe gave it to me and I repeated the process that activated the device.
“I confirmed that it is Recatolusti’catri and she has a mate, Golaritva’nrit?” the male asked.
“Why aren’t they dead yet?” the woman demanded. Her eyes did not look at his and I wondered if each of them communicated into a different stone from a great distance apart.
“She spoke to me and said that she cared not for her purpose and wanted to help us reach Lenaan. Her assistance could be useful.” The male spoke rapidly but the words were still easy for me to understand.
“The reason you are stationed in that outpost is because of your incompetence. Your ridiculous logic confirms that I made a good decision. Now I wish I had sent someone more useful to your location. Kill the dragons or I will end you and replace you with less of an idiot.”
“Yes, General.” The human was obviously terrified of the woman and he pushed his hand outward in a salute. Then the image faded and I related their words to my sister.
“This came second, then that was last.” I pointed at the stone in my hand and then the one we had just viewed.
“I bet you and this human woman would get along.” Nyarathe smiled. I nodded but didn’t want to tell her what my nerves told me: the woman terrified me in a way I had never felt before. I had never been scared by anything and I wondered if this was how Kaiyer and his humans felt around my people.
“Something happened at the end of the third conversation,” I said.
“Maybe this dragon attacked the base?” She shrugged and began to search through the pile of wood. “Why don’t you go back to your tent and rest? If I find more of these orbs we can view them together.”
“I am fine to stay.”
“No, Sister. You haven’t rested in weeks. You are so tired you are shaking. To bed with you!”
I thought about arguing, but the weight of the exhaustion combined with the subsiding terror the images brought me felt impossible to bear anymore. I walked up the stairs to the base floor and told the sergeant there to attend to my sister.
As I returned to my tent, I thought of the images of the humans and the words they had spoken. The name of the dragons bounced around in my head until my skull ached. Those strange humans were attempting to reach Lenaan.
According to our lore, Lenaan was the name of the land where the Gods lived and created all life. Why would a dragon want to help the humans? The Gods created the dragons to help fight the humans. I tried to give up on the questions as my headache increased in agony, but they would not subside until I returned to my pavilion and let Relyara massage my body to sleep.
Chapter 28-The O’Baarni
I drifted through the air with my limbs outstretched, coasting like the white raptors that swooped and squawked around me. My will powered my ascent, but I could only climb for a moment before the call of gravity pulled me down onto another island.
I bounced between the islands with careless tumbles. I chased the birds. I dove into crystal clear pools of water. I flew after the brightly painted ships that floated in the distance, like fish through the deep.
I could never catch them.
I heard a shout, yet I was the only one here. The voice called again. I looked all around but confirmed I was alone. Then the shout sounded to my right, from an island five miles in the distance. I just wanted to be alone. I wanted them to stop calling me.
The figure approached. It was a man, small in stature, mostly bald. He beckoned to me and I angled my fall to land next to him.
“Hello Kaiyer!” The few straggles of hair left on his head fell down in thin white strips like spider webs. Though I stood a few feet from the old man he made an exaggerated wave with both arms as if a great distance separated us.
“Hello,” I said to him.
“I’ve missed you old friend. Can you smile for me?” he asked and his wrinkled face split into a grin.
“Do I know you?” I found my lips mirroring his movement with a smile.
“Yes!” He clapped his hands enthusiastically and skipped around. He acted more like a child than an old man.
“I don’t remember.” The old man did seem familiar, but I would have remembered someone so odd.
“Can you try? Do you recall my name?” He bobbed his head sideways as if he was dancing to music that I could not hear. I searched my memories and found the name that fit the old man.
“Entas?” I asked.
“Yes!” He screamed with delight and performed a series of cartwheels and summersaults. I felt my smile grow. The small man’s joy seemed sincere and was more than infectious.
“You got it quick that time! Yesterday was a battle.” He sprung to his feet and then clapped his hands together fiercely.
“Yesterday?”
“Yes, we spoke yesterday, and the day before that. We speak all the time. Do you remember?” His smile dropped from his face and his eyes flashed. I tried to remember speaking to the man yesterday, but I didn’t even recall the sun rising that morning. It always seemed to be daytime here on the islands. I only then realized how strange that was.
“Whoa. Careful. Don’t hurt yourself. If you overthink this place, it has a way of ensuring that you lose more than your memories.” He placed a hand on my shoulder and the touch was familiar.
“I do know you. But I can’t remember how. We are friends?” I asked.
“Of course! Best of friends!” He smiled again and jumped from foot to foot. “You have another friend here also. Do you want to see her?”
“I don’t know.” I didn’t recall having any friends, but I knew that this strange old man was close to me. Then I realized I had already forgotten his name and I struggled to remember. Entas?
“We can just play for a bit, and then I’ll ask you again,” he replied.
“Play?”
“Of course! Try to catch me!” He sprung into the air with a gleeful yelp and shot away. I watched him for a few seconds and then smiled.
“Come on, Kaiyer!” he called and I gave chase.
The old man was quick and I was unable to land a hand on him after numerous attempts. On my tenth try he got cocky and spun t
o face me while he bounded away. When I still couldn’t get him he stuck his tongue out at me. I felt a bit of frustration that he continued to escape, but then he accidently jumped into a lake of water that sat bowled in one of the islands.
“Akkk! I can’t swim! Save me!” He frantically waved his arms about and spat water out in a stream of croaking burps.
“It isn’t that deep.” I grabbed him by the shoulders and stood him upright. The water came up to his chin, but only reached my navel.
“You are correct, but when something is unfamiliar, it seems more daunting than it is.”
“That makes sense.”
“So do you want to see your friend? She is nice. I promise.”
“Do you think I should meet her?” I frowned and tried to remember the man’s name. He had just told me a few hours ago but I could not recall it. Something about him seemed familiar.
“Yes! You two have been friends for a long time. Longer than you and I have been friends in actuality.” The strange man seemed happy with my question but I suddenly wanted to jump away and float again through the clouds between the islands.
“Hey Kaiyer! Pay attention.” He tapped me in the center of the chest where my ribs met.
“Sorry. Where are we going?” It no longer bothered me that I couldn’t remember the old man’s name. He would probably remind me again. I felt like I should have remembered though. Were there other things I had forgotten?
“To see your friend!” He jumped away and I followed. The motion felt familiar and I recalled that we had been playing a game earlier where I tried to catch him. Or did we? I could only remember chasing the birds and the distant ships.
“She is only a few more jumps away!” He spun backward in the air when he called out to me. I scanned the islands ahead and wondered what my friend looked like or what her name was.
Then I saw her.
She was like a beacon of red fire and I wondered how I had not noticed her before. The islands were soft swirls of bright green, rich brown, and pale blue, floating lazily through a cerulean sky. The red of her hair made all the other colors dull in comparison. My vision filled with the sight of her and nothing else mattered.
“Iolarathe!” She was still a few miles away and I doubted that she heard my scream, but she raised her arm and waved at me. She smiled.
“How did you both get here?” I grabbed Entas when he jumped past me.
“We’ve always been here. So have you. Do you remember now?”
“No. What are you talking about?” I felt my stomach clench when I recalled the last time I spoke to the man. “Wait. Entas, you are dead. Is this a dream?”
“Do you think it is a dream?” He pointed at the Elven woman a few islands away. “If it is, then you should try not to wake up.” My stomach clenched again and I felt the air escape my lungs.
Then I started to fall.
“No!” I heard her scream. She was so close now, only a few hundred yards away, but I missed my landing and fell. I looked down to angle my body to the next island below me but my stomach seized again. There were no islands beneath me. Just endless blue sky and fluffy ivory clouds that I passed through effortlessly.
“No! Kaiyer!” she screamed above me. I was falling and I couldn’t breathe.
Then Iolarathe was gone.
Chapter 29-Kaiyer
“Kick him again.” Light blinded me and a flicker of shadows yanked me from my memory of Iolarathe and Entas. There was movement in front of me and the sucking sound of something moving through the air quickly.
I was lying on my side and couldn’t move away. I pulled my arms down to my chest and managed to partially block the boot kick to my ribs. My ribs and stomach ached.
“Wake up, fucker!” My jaw clenched and I caught the next boot that was aimed at my groin. I didn’t know the exact number of my attackers, but I knew one thing for certain: Someone would pay for disturbing my dream.
I was on my feet instantly, still holding the boot. Its owner was a man who reminded me of Iarin, tall and lean with chiseled good looks. He wore deer-leather pants and a shirt with the front opened to expose a wiry chest covered in bear tattoos and muscles.
Another man stood next to him. He was larger across and shorter in stature, with a shaved head, and similar tattoos scattered across his face. They both carried long, curved daggers on their belts and neither wore anything resembling armor.
The tall one seemed surprised that I was able to rise so quickly. I still cradled his boot in my hands and I realized that my arms were shackled together with thick steel manacles and a heavy chain. I yanked the man toward me by the leg, let my arms slide inside to his knee, and then yanked the chain while I spun away. The limb made a sharp cracking sound as it broke sideways at the knee and then there was a tearing shriek when his shin separated from the rest of his leg.
I smashed the clasped chain into the stout man’s nose with a satisfying crack of cartilage, teeth, and jawbone. His head snapped back and I took the opportunity to free the knife from his belt with a quick twist of the leather tie.
The tall man to my side began to scream with horror, but the screech only lasted half a second. Then I cleaved the long blade through his neck and separated his head from his shoulders. Before his body began to fall backward through the open flap of the tent I pivoted back to the man whose face I had just broken and drove the curved point of the dagger toward his eye socket.
Except my prey was somewhat skilled, and though he probably could not see, he was shrewd enough to close the small distance between us with a tackle. It was a clumsy attempt, but my grip was wet with blood and the weapon slipped from my hand when he hit me. I wrapped my chains around his neck while we fell together. I landed on my back and locked my legs around his torso to keep his hips under control. His arms were free, but instead of immediately trying to get a hand between the tightening chains and his neck, he wasted precious seconds trying to punch me in the face.
Perhaps his effort would have been effective against a less-experienced opponent, but I controlled his hips with my legs and his head with the chain around his neck. Each of his attacks was easily diverted by a combination of pushes, pulls, and a tightening of the choking chain. I felt his body begin to lose strength. He would faint in the next few seconds.
Shouts sounded outside and countless bodies poured into the tent. I made a last effort to pop the man’s head off of his neck, but strong hands grabbed the chains, my arms, and began to wrestle me away from my prey. I fought against them, but two warriors grabbed onto each of my arms, three latched onto each of my legs, and a giant of a man hammered my nose and face until I was forced to block his attacks to prevent my skull from shattering.
The man I had almost killed was pulled free, but the movement allowed one of my arms to untangle for a fraction of a second. I had little leverage with eight bodies on top of me, but my free hand closed around someone’s neck and I began to squeeze the life from their throat.
“Kaiyer!” a voice shouted above the screams of the warriors attacking me. I heard my name again and looked over through the throng of people and saw a woman standing backlit against the morning sun pouring into the tent. She had skin a few shades lighter than gray, pewter hair that fell loose down her shoulders like molten metal, and eyes that blazed a ruby red.
Vernine.
My memories came back in a flood of hits more powerful than the fists that pounded into my stomach. I remembered what I was doing in this tent and who these people were. The realization did not quell my anger, but instead of continuing to fight I relaxed my arms and legs.
“Stop!” I shouted over the mass of bodies wrestling me. “I surrender. I won’t fight!” A few more punches landed in my stomach and ribs and I grunted through the pain.
“He is surrendering!” Vernine echoed my words.
“Stop!” another voice commanded and everyone obeyed. My face was swollen and I turned my head to spit a mouthful of blood onto the straw mat they had given me for beddi
ng.
“Get off of him,” the woman ordered again. I recognized Turnia's voice and the throng of bodies slowly disengaged from me, except for the massive man who had been pummeling me in the face. He still had his knee on my chest and his right arm raised to punch me again.
“He killed Bunitar and would have done the same to Goolirt had we not intervened.” There was a tense silence in the small tent.
“He also killed my brother. It is not our job to judge and punish. Leave that to the Council.” Turnia stood at the entrance to the tent next to Vernine. The man nodded at her words and rose from my chest.
I rolled over onto my knees, coughed out another mouthful of blood and then stood as slowly as I could. A bunch of ribs were broken, half of my teeth were loose, and my left shoulder was dislocated. By the time I was fully standing everything was healed, except for the shoulder, but I yanked on the chain with my right hand and ripped the socket back into place with a painful pop.
Almost every space in my tent was filled with O’Baarni. They stood around me and the look on their combined faces made it apparent that they all wished Turnia would allow them to continue to beat me.
“You’ve killed another of my brothers, Pretender.” I couldn’t see her face through the gathered warriors.
“I was having a nightmare and they kicked me awake. My instincts took over and I forgot I was in your care.” I wanted to tell her to go fuck herself with a curved sword, but my usual attitude would only decrease the likelihood that the clan leader of Two Bears would allow me to speak with the empress before they took me through the Radicle.
“Liar!” the stout man I had almost choked sputtered from the ground a few feet from me. I guessed his name was Goolirt from what the massive man had said a few seconds ago.
“Olarin, Perna, Jinicar, Goolirt, and the Elven Vernine, stay here. Everyone else, leave now.” After she spoke the command Turnia’s warriors moved out of the tent. When the last one had left, Turnia stepped a few feet into the tent. Vernine stayed behind at the entrance and quickly signed some form of communication to someone in the campsite.
The Destroyer Book 4 Page 33
