by Cully Mack
It unnerved her how his sandy portrait captured her previous countenance. She’d spent so many days now just surviving, she hadn’t given thought to the happiness she’d left behind.
Before stepping out of the chasm, she slackened her Taphas tunic and pulled the star pendant on its chain into view. She ignored Neviah and focused her attention on Nate as she crossed the courtyard.
If Neviah wanted to believe her reddened eyes resulted from her silent punishment and absence, she’d let her, the truth was much more abhorrent. Nate never asked if she was all right, he knew she wasn’t, and she doubted she’d be able to hold herself together if he had.
She put everything she had left into training. If this was her life now, for her own survival she’d make the best of it and who knew, one day she might have a reason to smile. Nate didn’t say a word other than to give her instructions and their sparring soon fell into a rhythm.
Just before dawn, he shouted over to Neviah and Zeev, ‘That’s enough for today.’
‘What no running around the courtyard?’ Neviah snapped.
He turned on her and with a voice so calm and deadly said, ‘Two laps for you now.’
Neviah glared at him and Mirah hitched her breath. If Neviah didn’t do as he instructed, she didn’t dare think what would happen next.
Neviah glanced at Zeev.
He shrugged. ‘Better get going.’ His eyes expressed caution as he flicked a glance at Nate.
‘I’ll never let you beat me,’ she yelled at Nate, and then began to run around the courtyard.
Nate strode over to the fountain. ‘Coming?’ he said over his shoulder.
Mirah caught up to him and he slurped and poured a handful of water over his head.
‘You don’t deserve to be avoided like that. She’s supposed to be your friend.’
When Neviah completed her two laps she rushed past the fountain into the chasm.
‘I don’t think she feels that way anymore.’
‘Well, I won’t allow it. If she doesn’t apologise, I’ll stop her training.’
‘Please don’t.’
Zeev slurped water from his palm. ‘I’ll talk to her tomorrow.’
Nate snorted. ‘That was her one and only chance.’
Galia exited the chasm. ‘What did I miss?’
‘Nothing,’ Nate said, and marched the other way.
❊
Mirah’s water bird lifted out of the lake, smaller than the day before but more equally formed. It had reached the height of the trees when Galia’s eagle swooped causing Mirah to yelp and swerve her watery bird out of its way.
She didn’t understand how, but she perceived the eagle’s molecules circling, preparing for another dive. She flew her little bird up into the brilliant white clouds. If Gabe were here, he would have loved this.
Swooping and diving, the little water bird flew out of the eagle’s path as though it was part of her. Even when sheltered within the clouds she sensed its fluttering wings, knowing when the eagle came in for another attack.
Her bird was tiny by comparison and after many failed attempts of escaping, she learned to turn and dodge it out of the eagle’s talons with ease. She smiled at Galia and to her surprise, she smiled in return. Galia had a carefree manner and Mirah wondered if she got to know her how much she’d like her.
Galia lowered her eagle and made it perch on a fissured rock by the edge of the lake, holding its perfect form. ‘Now bring yours beside mine and hold it steady.’
She lowered her bird onto the rock and tiptoed closer to observe it. ‘It’s beautiful. See the fine feathers. They look like crystal wings.’
Galia’s eagle dissolved against the rock with a splash and she sat on the beach.
‘Do you want to talk about what happened earlier?’
She was desperate to talk with someone, with Dara gone and Abela and Ayla with the Azu she had no one left to turn to. She wasn’t sure how much she trusted Galia and still undecided if she could consider her a friend but she’d seen her with Nate yesterday and he appeared to trust her so she took the risk.
‘Neviah and I had a disagreement. She hasn’t been speaking to me for days.’
She wasn’t certain if the perspiration running down her neck from under her hair was because of the heat, steadying the water bird or her nerves.
‘About?’
‘Nate gave me this necklace,’ she said pulling out her chain.
Galia’s eyebrow rose in surprise.
‘It’s nothing, it’s just a birthday gift.’
The water bird disappeared with a splash on the rock and Mirah came and sat beside Galia.
‘I tried to explain it to Neviah but she won’t give me the time to listen. Anyway, this morning she made a rude comment and Nate punished her by forcing her to do laps. He said no one had the right to treat me that way. I’m prepared to wait her out, she will come around soon but it’s just so hard, with what happened at Barakel and coming here into this strange land and learning how to wield magic and I just don’t know who I can trust and I feel so alone.’
She knew she was rambling that her concerns were falling from her lips. Galia caught every word and listened until she ran out of breath.
‘What?’ she asked when she sighted Galia watching her with astute consideration.
‘I don’t know what to say. I never thought Nate would become so involved.’
Galia coughed into her hand and Mirah was sure she attempted to hide something. Did she think this was funny? She was about to get up and storm off when Galia spoke.
‘I think you understand your friend very well. I’m sure, it’s as you say, she will come around in time. Men don’t understand this. I will speak to Nate if you wish and ask him to show Neviah some leniency.’
‘Really?’
‘Of course. Sometimes Nate can be a fool but he has never been cruel on purpose.’
‘Thank you.’
Galia rose and brushed the sand from her clothes. ‘Now that’s settled, let’s find out what else you can do.’ She edged back towards the lake. ‘Right, let’s see how much water you can hold. Raise as much as you can into the air.’
‘Seriously?’ Mirah asked catching up to her.
‘Yes, start in the middle of the lake.’
Finally, let’s show them what you can do.
‘Shh.’
‘What?’ Galia asked.
‘Oh, nothing. I stood on a stone.’
Mirah kicked out a pebble by her footing and raised her arms concentrating on the centre of the lake. She could feel the ring pulsing on her finger and sensed each molecule of water waiting for her command. The water began to rise, receding from before her feet and gathering up into a swishing mountain.
‘More, pull more,’ Galia urged.
She closed her eyes and focused on linking each molecule with the next. The mountain of water grew higher. The strain of which pressed down on her, so heavy she longed to let it go.
‘Just a little more.’
She could hardly hear Galia above the sound of pulsing water. The force of it calling her, urging her for more. She couldn’t control the power, couldn’t make it stop. Moisture seeped from her pores and rolled down her skin as though it craved to join the mountain of water rising from where the lake had once been.
‘Mirah, that’s enough.’
She felt a sharp tugging on her arm as Galia tried to lower it. She knew the conifers behind her were bowing in the wind, their needle leaves drying and withering as they gave up their dew but she didn’t know how to stop the surging force surrounding her. A force she no longer controlled.
‘Mirah, please,’ Galia cried, between coughing and wheezing.
Her head thumped to the beat of thudding footsteps. Warmth seeped into her mind, weaving along the throbbing watery veins under her delicate skin.
‘What the bidu is going on here?’ Nate hollered, and then darkness fell.
❊
When Mirah gained consciousness, she
lay across Nate’s thighs with her head resting against his chest, his arms wrapped over her. From the lapping sounds of water, she realised she was still by the lake. She didn’t move, didn’t dare to open her eyes to see what she’d done.
‘Is she alright?’ Galia asked, her footsteps squelching in wet sand as she approached and sat near them.
‘She’s still unconscious.’ He sighed and shuffled his weight. ‘Tell me what happened?’ he asked, his voice calm but pressing.
‘I don’t know. She is exceptional. I’ve never seen anyone learn to wield water as fast and with as much control as she did. Yesterday we started with the basics, freezing and controlling the flow of water in the air. I got curious about the ice piercing through the Taphas chamber wall and asked her to show me again. Today she wielded a perfect water bird, and it outclassed my own.’
Galia paused and Mirah thought she had finished.
‘I wanted to find the threshold of her ability. I’m sorry Nate. I pushed her to lift the water from the lake.’
‘You did what?’
‘She held the water, all of it and then I don’t know. It was like it wasn’t enough. She drew moisture from the trees, the ground, even our own flesh. If you hadn’t come… I couldn’t stop her. I couldn’t break through.’
‘And what about that?’
Mirah felt him move as though he jerked his head.
‘I don’t know how she did it. What are we going to do?’
What had she done? The discomfort of not knowing willed her to open her heavy eyelids to see what he surveyed.
‘Do you want me to find another Wielder?’ Galia asked.
‘No, I’ll take care of it.’
They were silent for a long while and Mirah leaned into the rise and fall of his firm chest. Her fatigue and the soft rhythm of him willing her back into slumber.
‘Do you think she could assist us?’ Galia asked.
‘No.’
‘With that kind of power, she could—’
‘I’m not bringing her into this,’ Nate snapped. His body tensed and his arms tightened around her.
Mirah held onto her consciousness a little longer. What was Galia asking of her and what was he objecting to?
Galia sighed. ‘But she’s already involved.’
‘Not like that, she isn’t. I won’t risk it. Go back to the mountain.’
Galia shuffled then stood.
‘Tell no one what you have seen,’ he ordered. ‘If anyone asks, do whatever you need to, to carve me some time.’
‘Yes, Captain,’ Galia said, before Mirah heard her footsteps retreating.
Mirah lay in his arms, slipping between wakefulness and rest. Her whole body trembled. She craved to slip into that place where she could hide and feel nothing, so she gave into it.
Sometime later, she stirred to the warmth of Nate’s blue cloak wrapped around her. He was standing by the lake throwing stones into the moonlit water. Flickering silver highlights spread over the gentle current. She heard no plopping sounds as stones fell but a crack as though the stones bounced from rock instead.
‘What is that?’ her voiced cracked against the harsh, dryness in her throat.
He bent down filling a water skin and towering above him was a black shadow reaching up into the night.
‘You tell me,’ he said offering her water.
She sipped and then guzzled the liquid. Its icy embrace cooling her thirst. She tried to stand but dizziness and fatigue betrayed her.
He squatted on his haunches and seized a handful of sand. ‘It appears you lifted the lake’s rock bed as well.’ He let the sand drift through his fingers and then grabbed some more. His face was a portrait of confliction, one of awe and concern.
She placed her hand on his to get his attention. ‘Did I hurt someone?’
She studied his eyes shielded by dark lashes, attempting to read what he’d say before he told her.
‘No. Galia settled the surging waters as they fell.’
She let her shoulders drop and felt the pull of her muscles constricting against the ache in her neck. She glanced at the dark tower of rock protruding out of the lake.
‘I know I lost control but I can tell by your frown, there’s something else on your mind. What is it?’
‘You’re different.’
Her head snapped back to him. Whatever she’d expected, different, was furthest from her thoughts. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Wielders only wield one element of magic. You have to put the rock back.’
He shook the sand from his hands and rose to his feet.
‘The rock bed?’
‘Well, we can’t have that hulking mound of rocks towering out of the lake. Someone will notice.’
‘I can’t.’
‘You can and you will. Hiding this is the only way to protect yourself from the knowledge, I can assure you, you don’t want others to know.’ Reaching out his hand, he said, ‘Come let me guide you.’
‘I don’t want to do this.’
‘Please trust me. You have no choice.’
The urgency with which his eyes pinned her caused her to reach out to his offered hand.
‘Take your time, nice and slow.’ He pulled her up and came around behind her, steadying her as she swayed.
‘But what if I lose control?’
‘You’re safe with me.’ he stated firmly.
In his arms, she knew that in this strange place, if anyone who could protect her, it would be him. His strength and assurance embraced and held up her weakened frame.
She rubbed at the ring on her finger and with every ounce of energy willed it to do as she asked.
❊ 12 ❊
Ammo pressed his thumbs into his shoulders, rolled back his elbows and stretched out the knots riveting along his spine. Several neat mounds of coiled ropes, nestled like cobras on the ship’s deck testified to his hours of hard labour.
A steady crowd of importers and exporters were setting up along the dock to broker their wares. The wind was soft and the water still. Since he’d arrived in Anat two days ago, he’d heard of the attack and watched as they’d buried their dead. Still staked to a pole by the garrison was the Nephilim’s rotting head. With Nephilim nearby, he was keen to move on, but it didn’t look like they’d have the wind today.
He was about to scrape crusted salt from the carved lion head on the prow of his ship when he spotted Sojin. Something about the way he slinked around appeared odd.
Sojin slipped through the crowd unnoticed. He was following an old woman, leaning on a walking cane. She stopped to study lobsters crammed into a basket, pushed out her bottom lip and shuffled onwards. Sojin came towards her, brushed against her and as smooth as buffed ship’s wax pocketed her brown purse.
‘Ya darn rat,’ Ammo said between clenched teeth.
He called out to one of his crew to take over and stormed across the gangplank.
Not long after, Ammo burst through the door into the tobacco haze of the Fertile Crescent. His green eyes scanned the inn. A path cleared as he made his way towards a young girl with red curly hair hurrying to pour him a beer.
‘Don’t worry yaself Honey, I ain’t got time for no beer. Ain’t touched that stuff in years.’ He let out a low growl. ‘Where are ya? Ya thieving hyena.’
The betrayal of creaking wood broke into the hush of stunned wayfarers and merchants seated on stools around cedar tables. Darting over to a table in the corner, Ammo spotted Sojin’s boots.
‘Get up,’ Ammo ordered, holding his hand out for the elderly woman’s purse.
‘Sorry,’ Sojin muttered under his breath.
He’d found Sojin stowed away on his ship three winters back. His mother and others had been taken in a raid when a war band of Nephilim had crossed over the Salmu sea.
Something in his gritty, hardened face had pulled Ammo to take action, and he’d spent the past few years instructing Sojin in the ways of the Acquisitioner’s trade.
It wasn’t going well
. He had raw talent, and he was small for a fifteen-year-old which came in handy but he often got careless. Sojin would be lucky not to lose his hands on the Enforcer’s block before long.
Ammo could be many things, a hired thug, bodyguard for the rich, he’d even taken a hostage or two for the right price but he had rules. Rules he stuck to no matter what; never take from your allies; never harm the fairer sex unless you have to, and most of all never get caught.
Ammo called the redhead over. ‘Looks like I’ll be sticking around for the night. Ya got a room?’
‘Yes Sir,’ she replied. ‘I’ll call Benhm to take your things.’
She turned to go but Ammo caught her hand.
‘No need,’ he grinned, ‘I come as I am, no baggage.’
He resisted the temptation to tug her skirts as she scampered away. He’d see her later, of that, he was certain.
He studied Sojin now sitting at the table assessing other guests in the inn. His hazel eyes, shielded under a dark brown fringe were alert to every motion in the room as they darted from one person to the next. He’d fare better at a Scribehouse, he thought, although him being older, it would cost Ammo some serious silver. He decided to wait until morning and let Sojin choose, he owed him that.
‘Your room is ready,’ the redhead said. ‘Would you like your food here or brought to your room?’
‘He’ll take his out back.’ Ammo pushed out his chest and with an admiring gleam in his eyes said, ‘As for me, my room will do fine.’
She scurried away to collect their meals.
Ammo leaned over to Sojin and tapped at his foot from under the table. ‘Scram, ya Mugger, I’ll see ya tomorrow.’
Sojin winked, tipped his rusty brown cap and made for the stable yard. The redhead returned with a tray filled with flatbread, mutton broth, pomegranates and figs and led Ammo up to his room.
❊
The following morning Ammo whistled out the back door and Sojin soon emerged. His hair flattened on one side and lines streaked down the side of his face.
‘Straw huh,’ Ammo chuckled.
