***
The rakam will come. The blood in the water draws them. So I tell Garen, who now steers the Ruu kiasheen under my command, to take us skyward. He pulls hard upon the reins, and with a great moan the giant beast tilts its head upwards and flaps its wings. We fly higher, drifting on the water. We fly higher, the wings barely touching waves. We fly higher, and we are free of the sea.
I look down upon the shimmering waves and up at the glowing sun. There is a peace in the sky that is not found in the sea. Here you feel as if you have found something man was never meant to find, a secret paradise away from the depths below. I remember La’Kia. I remember taking her flying on my drakruu, and the kisses and whispers we shared with no one around to hear. I told her then that it was in the water I was strong, but it was in the sky I was free. How foolish I was.
A loud moan breaks me from my haze. Kanen follows us in his ship with half his crew, his kiasheen drifting beside mine. The blue skin of the whales is like dancing waves in the light. The shells are like gleaming pearls. The smaller kiasheen opens its mouth wide, and I know it’s feeding on the small creatures that live in the sky, just as it feeds on the small creatures in the water during long voyages. The beasts are calm and peaceful. I wish I could be like them.
“You are Dak’Ra,” says Vasa, standing behind me at the rostrum. She is the first to confront me, but I have heard the crew’s whispers, and I know they have all guessed who I am.
“And you are of the Ra family as well,” I say, turning to face her.
She nods, startled. “Yes. I have a sister back on Ra’Kia’Ruu. Three years ago, I was on a ship near the rakam teeth, training to be a Stonebearer, when this ship took me and mine. They were all sold in a week. I…”
“I understand,” I say kindly. She need not relive the horrors Han’Ruu forced upon her for my sake. But there is one thing that puzzles me. “How is it that you walked without chains? That you moved about the ship freely?”
Her blue eyes flash with ferocity. “Han’Ruu knew I would not reveal his schemes. If he had threatened me with my death, I would have spoken in a stone’s throw. But he threatened pain and the deaths of any I told. I would not trade the chance of freedom for the lives of others.”
I nod and place a hand on her shoulder.
She recoils, startling both of us. “I’m sorry,” she says.
“Don’t be.”
She bites her lip and turns to leave, but there is one more question I must ask. One I have already asked of the false crew locked within the shells below. “Have you seen a black kiasheen?”
She pauses. “That is the ship that took your lover?”
“It took us both,” I say softly. “Later, I was sold to a family of land, she to a ship much like this.”
“That is why you ride the kiasheen,” she says. “You search for crews who wreck and steal like this.”
I nod.
She turns her face to the side so I cannot see her blue eyes. “I have not seen the black ship,” she says.
Hours pass, and when the sun is beginning to set, the kiasheen land. We tie our ships and set up planks between the shells to easily cross from one to another. On the great shell of the large kiasheen, Captain Kanen hands me a cup of swill and holds his up for a toast. “I owe you my life and the life of my crew and ship.”
“You owe me nothing,” I say, “but I do have one request.”
“Name it and it be yers.”
“Make sure the men and women below are given over to the Ruu, and make sure Vasa’Ra is returned to her family.”
My drakruu roars amongst the clouds, and we hear the splash as she dives deep into the sea to catch her dinner.
“You won’t be staying with us, then?” asks Captain Kanen.
I shake my head.
“Yer woman?”
I nod.
“Then may the goddess guide your way, and feel well knowing I will honor yer request. I swear it by the Deep Mother.” I grasp his forearm as he does mine. “And if ever ye need help,” he says, grinning, “remember ye have friends here.”
I turn to leave, and Garen grabs me in a giant hug, lifting me, cracking my spine. “So it was La’Kia after all,” he says. “I’ll be getting that tale right from now on, brother. You best know I’ll be getting that tale right and spreading it wide and far. Dak’Ra still rides the waves.”
He chuckles, rattling the bones in his beard as he puts me down. I gasp for breath melodramatically and grin. “Thank you,” I say, turning to the great shell and the rest of the crew. “It has been a pleasure to ride the waves with you, brothers and sisters, but there is one more thing I ask of you,” I yell. “Tell all you see that Dak’Ra still lives. Tell them he comes for the black kiasheen.”
***
It is late when I stand on the rostrum with my drakruu, tightening the saddle she wears on her back. Most of the crew is asleep, and even the kiasheen slumbers, when Vasa’Ra approaches me, her white dress billowing in the wind. “May I?” she asks, raising her hand to my drakruu.
I nod. “Here, behind me, away from the head.”
She stands to my side and touches the blue scales below the wing. “What’s its name?”
“Her name is Rin, but I call her Rakam Eater.”
Vasa’Ra giggles, and I realize it’s the first time I’ve seen her laugh. It is short-lived as her grin fades.
“I have seen the black ship,” she says, her voice trembling, “and the man who leads it. He is the one who killed my first mother when my sister and I were but children. He is the one who took three Ra ships with one. Do not go to him,” she pleads, touching my hand.
“If it was my life, I would stay. But my life is no longer mine. It belongs to another, and she waits amongst the waves.” I push Vasa’Ra’s hand away and mount Rin. I pull something from my pocket and toss it to the blue-eyed woman.
“No, you can’t—”
“Keep it,” I say.
Her eyes dazzle at the sapphire in her hands. “But why?”
“Because a man once did the same for me,” I say, grinning as I pull on the reins and lift into the sky toward the maiden moon.
As I drift through the pale blue clouds, I think of that man who gave me my first sapphire.
He is the one who rides the black kiasheen.
About The Author
Karpov Kinrade is the pen name for the husband and wife writing duo of USA TODAY bestselling, award-winning authors Lux Kinrade and Dmytry Karpov. Together, they write fantasy and science fiction. Look for more from Karpov Kinrade in The Nightfall Chronicles, Shattered Islands, and The Forbidden Trilogy. They live with three little girls who think they’re ninja princesses with super powers, and who are also showing a propensity for telling tall tales and using the written word to weave stories of wonder and magic.
For more information, visit http://KarpovKinrade.com.
Afterword
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