by Kate Sander
Ujarak. Her love. Her lover. He was alive and silently chopping wood for a pyre only twenty yards away. Senka was helping him. They worked together in silence, knowing each other's movement. Jealousy overwhelmed her along with a deep hurt. That was her man. Not Senka's. It had been four years since they'd seen each other, and he couldn't even come and get her in the jungle when he'd heard she'd been here.
Finally, after a few minutes of Tory standing there in shock, he looked up. A smile flashed his brilliant white teeth, creasing his face and making the hardened warrior look like a small child. It melted her heart.
Maybe she was confusing jealousy with nervousness. After all, her heart was still his, yet it had been such a long time. Ujarak could have moved on, or thought she was dead, or worse yet, not cared if she was. But that smile. That was hers.
It didn't matter who was watching. She ran to him.
He met her in a few strides and picked her up, spinning her and laughing brightly.
"Put me down!" she laughed.
He did and he drew her in for a kiss. Hot, heavy, beautiful, they held the kiss and completely connected again.
"I could stay here forever," she muttered into his neck.
"Well why don't we?"
Tory buried her head in his shoulder and desperately wanted to run away with him and leave all of this shit behind.
Thud. The sound of an ax hitting wood drew her back to reality. Senka was building a funeral pyre mere yards away.
Ujarak heard it too and they broke apart.
Grabbing her hand, he led her to the growing wood pile. Senka remained silent, busying herself in her work. Ujarak picked up his hatchet and joined her. Tory went to the body to prepare it. Nothing was said. Eris was sitting by a tree watching them work.
Kai was guarding the body and let out a low growl when she started her approach.
"Woah," Tory said softly. She pulled a couple of Kritz from her bag, saved all the way from Langundo. Showing the panther, she said, "We need to put these on her eyes. A gift for her family in the spirit world." Kai gave her a stare so cold that Tory could feel it in her soul, but he didn't move.
Tory approached him slowly, palms out, keeping them well away from her weapons. The thud slowed slightly behind her and she knew that Senka was watching the exchange.
Needing to tread carefully to preserve this odd truce with her old friend, she continued to head for the woman who was still beautiful in death.
Silence greeted her as she stood beside the woman with the arrow in her chest. They were finished cutting wood. Taking off her pack for supplies, Tory looked at the beautiful woman with the bright red hair. Tory didn't want to pull the arrow out, it would be too difficult and it would be unfair to Senka. Instead, she took her small knife she carried and cut off the wooden shaft at the body. A quick adjustment of her clothes covered the wound.
She reached down to place the coins on her eyes when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. Silently, she stood up and gave Senka the coins, retreating to give her some privacy.
"I'm so sorry," she heard Senka sob before she moved out of ear shot to join Ujarak at the pyre.
They waited, hands entwined, and watched Senka kneel by the woman. Grief wracked her shoulders and clearly she was saying something to her old friend.
"She really loved her," Tory said softly.
"I think she did, yes. The woman was trying to kill her. Senka had many different chances to disable or kill her but she never took them."
Senka bent closer and gave the woman a kiss on the forehead. Placing the coins gently on her eyes, she muttered something softly. Finally, she took something off of the woman and draped it around her own neck.
"Jules' ring," Ujarak said. "It helped the woman remember who she was. I'm not sure why."
"Does it have a ruby in it?"
Ujarak looked at her warily. "That it does."
Tory smiled, a mystery she could finally solve. Pulling the Remiel out of her pocket to show him, she said, "It has a piece of this. The Remiel. The Shaman used to carry this. He gave it to me in a vision. It holds the power of memory and knowledge. The piece Senka has must allow her to remember."
Ujarak stared at the stone, distrust in his eyes. Tory hastily returned the stone to her pocket when she saw Senka approach.
"Let's do this," Senka said, wiping the tears from her face.
Ujarak and Tory nodded. Senka returned and hoisted the dead body up into her arms, cradling her gently.
Tory raised her eyebrows.
"She really isn't the same, is she?"
Ujarak nodded as he lit the pyre. "No. The panther, the strength and the heartbeats are new."
Kai flanked the sad procession. Senka put Tomo on the pyre and stepped back. Ujarak had done his job well and the wood was dry. Soon it engulfed the woman.
Senka grasped at the ring around her neck.
"I'm sorry you'll never meet my child," she whispered softly.
Tory understood and looked sharply at Ujarak, who ignored her and watched the fire consume the woman with the red hair.
A quick tilt of Senka's head and Kai was suddenly running to the forest.
Tory looked at her questioningly but Senka refused to meet her gaze.
They watched the body burn, the three of them who used to be so in sync, now so divided.
Tory rose from beside the small fire they'd made a few hundred feet from the pyre. Quietly, she walked through the camp, stepping over the sleeping forms of Eris and Senka. The panther was nowhere to be seen, but that didn't mean much.
The night was clear and Tory breathed the crisp air into her lungs, relishing the weather. She stepped into the dark forest and looked around.
He was on her before she could scream. A large body in the night pushing her back into a tree.
She kissed him right back and reached down, her body needing him more than anything in her life.
"I missed you," she gasped as his hands got busy. Struggling with her shirt, he finally just ripped it off, burying his head between her breasts.
"Ujarak," she moaned as he sucked her breast while sneaking his hand down her pants.
"My love," he said with a growl.
Tory leaned her head back, savouring the touch. He took her close then backed off.
"I need you inside me," she gasped. "Now!"
He always listened to her. He pressed her back into the tree, struggled a moment to get out of his pants.
With a grunt, he was finally free of clothes and he obliged his love, entering her and burying his head in her shoulder.
They stayed standing and Tory wrapped her legs around his waist, taking each thrust with a satisfied moan.
What should have been tender was fast and hard, a stress relief they both needed.
They finished together, as they always did, and sank down onto the forest floor.
She lay on his chest, listening to his heartbeat, falling in love every second.
They didn't lay there long.
It had been four years, after all.
29
Akira
Akira had been tracking Tomo since the Ampulex camp, but smartly keeping her distance.
Something was wrong with her old friend. Akira could tell by her movements, once graceful, were now jerky and stilted.
A man was with Tomo as she moved through the forest and he would keep her tied up at night. Akira didn't know how to free her friend without killing them both.
So she stayed quiet and she stayed high in the trees, watching and waiting for her time to strike.
She never got the chance.
Tomo had swiftly run out of the woods, leaving the Ampulex man and Akira behind.
Akira climbed a tree and watched it all.
She saw Tomo fighting this other lady who traveled with a panther and a large black man. It was an intense battle and Akira watched with fascination. The other lady had plenty of opportunity to really do damage to Tomo but she never took it. Akira didn't really
know what to think.
Then the Ampulex man. He shot Tomo in the chest. It was all Akira could do to not scream out loud.
Huddled in her tree, she watched him run into the forest.
The anger grew inside her. She wanted to kill him. Her quest was over and she couldn't save Tomo. The only thing left was revenge against the Ampulex. And she would start with this one.
Gripping her father's sword, she followed the scrambling man through the forest. Again, keeping her distance and biding her time.
He stopped in a clearing to catch his breath and Akira circled around, wanting to take him by surprise. She was only eleven, she would have to use her speed and the element of surprise to kill him and survive.
Silently she unsheathed her sword. Creeping through the forest, she was just about to make her move when the man screamed. Akira hid behind a tree just in time and watched as the panther cornered the man.
"Nice kitty," the man said fearfully, holding his hands out.
The woman joined them in the clearing.
"Kai," the woman barked. The panther backed away and sat down, staring at the man.
She can talk with panthers, Akira thought with awe..
"Why?" the woman demanded.
"They made me," the man stammered. "The Ampulex. They told me to follow her and to kill her if she didn't kill you."
LIES, Akira thought. She'd seen the man tie up Tomo every night. Even if they did have his family, he should never have done it. There was no honour in this man.
The woman held up her tanto.
Then she looked up and looked Akira directly in the eye.
Akira didn't fear this woman, so she didn't scramble away. Instead, fire burned in her belly and she gave a short nod.
"You made your choice," the woman said to the man. Then she killed him.
Relief flooded through Akira. This was the start to seeking her revenge for her mother, for her father, and for her friend Tomo.
The woman made a slight gesture with her head and Akira understood. She backed away from the clearing the way she'd come.
Akira made her way to the edge of the forest and climbed a tree.
She watched them build the pyre, wanting desperately to go and say goodbye to her friend. But she didn't trust these people. Only the woman who controlled panthers.
When they finally put Kogo Tomo Hachiman onto the pyre, Akira couldn't help it. She let out a sob and burst into tears, covering her eyes. Her shoulders shuddered, she was overcome with grief.
Only a few weeks ago she had her family.
Now she was all alone in this world.
A crack of a branch beside her startled her and she tried to reach for her sword. Looking up, she saw the panther. He'd managed to sneak up the tree and settle onto the branch right beside her.
She looked at him. He looked at her.
Akira sobbed and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her head into his fur.
She had no one.
30
Senka
Senka was up and staring into the fire by the time Tory and Ujarak left the forest. With sunrise just beginning, the world was painted a beautiful gray and pink. Kai was still with the little girl she'd seen in the forest. Senka could see them asleep in a tree a few hundred yards away. The girl would join the group whenever she was ready. Until then, Kai would keep her safe.
Senka didn't trust this Eris girl that Tory was friends with. Keeping the little girl away from her didn't seem like the worst plan in the world. The little girl had obviously known Tomo, meaning that Senka would die to keep her safe. From everyone, "including yourself," she muttered.
Tory said something to Ujarak and he returned to their camp alone. He flashed Senka a smile that was indicative of a man who just got laid. Tory didn't smile. She looked old and worn.
Not unlike how you feel, Senka thought.
Tory approached and took a seat on the ground a few feet from Senka, giving them both some space.
"Haven't seen him smile like that since I met up with him," Senka said, trying to break the ice. "You make him happy."
"Thanks, I guess," Tory said.
"So, tell me what happened to you," Senka said. "As much as it bothers me that you were pointing an arrow at my chest, it's still been four years. I haven't forgotten what we went through together."
It took Tory some time to answer. "Why did you kill an unarmed man, begging for his life?"
"I've killed a lot of people," Senka said, shrugging and stretching her legs. "Why is that guy different than all those Sun Gods back in the day? They were people. You used to be a general that went to war. You've gotten soft."
"Maybe I've grown up," Tory said. "Every life is important."
"Is it?" Senka asked. "Well, we may have to agree to disagree. History is written by the winners, and I intend to win."
The fire crackled merrily in front of them and it took them a while to settle down.
Tory chuckled and Senka shot her a look. "Sorry," Tory said, "I was just thinking about how we used to agree on everything."
"Remember when we used to have to sign to each other?" Senka said. "How crazy is it that I can now talk?"
"I was shocked to hear your voice for the first time," Tory said. "Then it dawned on me that you must be a Zoya again."
"Seems I keep getting a reset," Senka said.
"Seems so," Tory replied.
They waited again. No one knew where to start.
"Where's that panther?" Tory asked, avoiding the conversation that needed to happen.
"Out," Senka said simply. She sighed. "Tell me what happened to you, Tory. Tell me from the beginning."
"Well... I watched you die," she said, avoiding eye contact. "And it wrecked me. During that war, I fired on one of our own. A Melanthios woman. She.... It's hard to explain."
Senka stayed silent, waiting for Tory to finish.
"It's like we were attached to each other. She's dead, but I can see her. She kept me company during our three year trek through the north to find the ice bridge to Anzen. And... to find my father."
"You sent her to me," Senka said. "I was laying there dying, so relieved to finally be done with this shit. Your lackey came and told me to take the pills that would lead me here." Senka shook her head tiredly. "And I listened, like a dumbass."
"We need you here," Tory said. "You know as well as I do that this is going to affect both worlds before long."
"I think it already has," Senka answered. It was her turn to tell a story and she told Tory of the time in the jungle when she'd seen the destruction of a coastal city and had been unable to do anything.
She left out the image of the toddler being swept up by a wall of water, calling for her mother. That was too hard to see again, let alone talk about.
Tory listened intently. She pulled the Remiel out of her pocket.
"I think it all has something to do with this."
"Didn't the Shaman used to carry that stone?"
"He did, yes. But he gave it to me in a vision."
Another sidelong look from Senka.
"Don't ask. I don't understand it either. Got Black Eyes and myself out of a pretty decent jam with that Roald and Malin."
"The Ampulex," Senka said. Then, with a raised eyebrow, "Black Eyes?"
"That ghost’s name."
"Ah. Well makes sense. Her eyes were indeed black. Not very creative."
Tory grunted her agreement.
"So, what does that stone do?" Senka asked.
"I'm still figuring it out, but I think you're wearing a piece of it. The stone was the possession of Cass, the first Zoya a couple of hundred years ago. She brought it from your world with her. It holds the power of memories, amongst other things."
Senka took out the ring shaped like a lion with a ruby for its eye.
The Zoya Task Force training came to her. Tomo used to have a dragon pendant with a ruby in it. Senka didn't see it during the burial.
Come to think of it, every sin
gle Zoya in the ZTF had a piece of jewellery with a ruby in it brought from The Other Place. That must be how they all remembered their time in The Other Place before they woke from their coma.
"Woah," Senka muttered out loud, lost in thought. "Well, that's one mystery solved. So what happened to this Cass?"
"Died," Tory said. "Her lover killed her for the stone. Pushed her off a cliff into the ocean, shattering the stone into a million pieces. She was the first Zoya and by far the most powerful. The people thought it was the stone, so they tried to steal it. She died protecting it."
Senka let that sink in.
"So..."
"Some of her power was memory. She could access other people’s memories. A remnant of the power must have been left with the stone."
"Allowing me to remember both worlds," Senka said. "Makes sense. I didn't get the ring until right before I died here. I never got a chance to remember my old life."
Tory nodded her approval. It was nice to actually figure something out, to get some answers.
"So," Senka said. "What else happened to you? You went north to find your father. Did you?"
"Yes," Tory said with a sigh, "I did. He was being controlled by Malin. He poisoned me and I went on a crazy adventure in my mind. Saw a lot of things. Then I ended up on a ship with Malin and Roald. They tried to control me. Roald can make you see the worst thing in your life and make you replay it. Then, when you're beaten down, Malin takes over your mind."
"Don't... Don't look them in their eyes," Tomo gasped as Senka wiped the blood leaking from her mouth. "He makes you scared. She steals your mind."
Senka shook off the memory. She didn't need to relive that moment, once was enough. It confirmed that those assholes Roald and Malin were responsible for Tomo's death, however. Senka would thoroughly enjoy killing them.
"Look at us," Senka said. "Just a regular Sherlock and Watson."
'Who?" Tory asked.
"Never mind. So you found your asshole father, the Shaman gave you his stone, you fought Malin and Roald, then what?"
Tory shrugged. "I walked here. I walked an ice bridge from Langundo to northern Anzen. There I met monks at a monastery." Tory rose. "I have to go and get something."
