by Lilly Pink
Zoe dove in, barely keeping herself from sucking in a surprised gasp at how cold the water was. She pulled a bubble of air around her nose and mouth with ease. It was a stuffy feeling, like holding your head under a blanket, but it was breathable enough, and she knew she could replenish the air whenever she needed. When she was ready, she gave Kian the thumbs up signal, which, luckily, he understood, and they set off.
It was an eerie place, pitch black except for the glow of Kian’s image light ahead of her, and every sound magnified, echoing strangely in the wavering gloom. She had to pull fresh air into her bubble three times before Kian stopped, indicated the massive stone doors in front of them. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to be looking at, so she glanced them over and shrugged. Kian pointed upwards; it looked like there was an air bubble above. She nodded and they swam until their faces broke the surface, and they treaded water just a few inches from bumping their heads on the ceiling.
“The doors are watertight,” Kian said breathlessly. “And they are too heavy to push.”
“Well, that’s one bit of good news. If we can get inside, at least we know the records are probably dry.”
“If being the important qualification,” he replied with a sharp exhalation of breath. “It is the water that presents the major problem. Opening spells are always spoken. The words must reach the doors, and the water is in the way. Besides all that, if I open the doors with the water right there, it will simply rush inside. There is an opening to the ocean somewhere below, so we cannot hope that the flood will reach only a few inches if unleashed.”
“I see what you mean.” It was hard to breathe when half your brain was concentrating on not drowning. For a few moments, there was nothing but the sound of their breaths echoing harshly in the tiny space. In the back of Zoe’s mind, there was something primal and erotic about it, the close quarters and dim blue light, the beads of water sluicing down Kian’s features and sparkling in his hair. But now was hardly the time for such thoughts, and besides, she had an idea.
“What if I held the water back while you opened the door? Just pushed it back out to the ocean temporarily?”
“That could work,” he said, his brow furrowing in thought. “That is a lot of water to move, my heart. Are you sure you are up to it?”
Zoe nodded. “Darya said I have a gift with water. I can only try. What’s the worst that could happen?” Kian started to open his mouth and she shushed him with a quick kiss. “On second thought, don’t tell me. Just let me give it a go.”
“I have faith in you. Only promise me you will be careful not to overextend yourself.”
“I will do my best,” she said, taking a deep breath to still her racing heart and find her center. If she relaxed and breathed slowly, she could float with little effort, giving her plenty of room to concentrate. She visualized the water in her mind, imagining it moving back from the doors, being pulled back into the greater ocean that surrounded them. In her mind, an invisible wall moved out from the stone, pushing the water away and holding it.
She heard Kian gasp, and knew it must be working, but she didn’t let her concentration waver. There was a splash beside her; Kian had gone under again. A moment later, she could hear him speaking into clear air. Still, she held the wall, and she felt her muscles start to burn with fatigue, as if she actually held the ocean back with her own hands.
Kian spoke again, and this time she felt an answering pulse of magic and heard the grating of stone against stone, but she was starting to shake with the effort of holding back so much water.
“Just a moment longer,” Kian said from below her, as if he could feel her wavering. Perhaps even now the wall of water trembled as her strength waned. She could feel herself losing control of the spell.
“I can’t hold it!” she said, desperately, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.
“Remain strong,” said his voice, somewhat muffled. “I am preparing the way.”
Her muscles burned and vibrated, her head ached and finally, she had to let to let got with an explosive gasp. But then she felt herself pulled through the water at terrifying speed, sailing through open air again through a wide doorway, racing a wave, She collided somewhat painfully with another body and fell to the ground, but before she could so much as groan, the doors swung closed with a resounding boom, just as the water surged against them. A small puddle seeped into the carpet, but the doorway had sealed itself with a flash of blue light.
Zoe lay flat on the rug, panting with a heady mix of fatigue, fear, and exhilaration. She had done it, against all odds. Kian sat up and pulled her across his lap, kissing her fiercely. “That was well and bravely done, jãné del-am. I have known powerful and experienced sorcerers who could not have done half as much.”
“Flatterer,” she said, shivers starting to rack her body.
They had found the records room, and thus, Kian didn’t mind expending his energy teleporting some of their gear from the upper floors. Soon enough, Zoe was wrapped in a blanket before a fire, drinking hot tea.
“I can only imagine what Faizel would say if he saw this. Lighting a fire in a library! Naked, no less,” she said with a chuckle that turned into a shiver.
Kian sat behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, sharing the warmth. “He would be mortified, no doubt. But he would not dare to say so to the king, because he is extremely concerned with proper etiquette. If he was truly upset, he would send a polite letter of complaint to my office, which he would never mention in person, despite seeing me every day,” he said, his tone exasperated.
He nuzzled her neck with his nose, breathing her in, though Zoe could not imagine her smelling of anything other than salt and wet. “You are sure you are all right? That was an extraordinary feat of magic, especially for one so new to their power. I am concerned that you might develop magic shock, which could be dangerous if left untreated.”
“I feel okay,” she assured him. “Just cold and tired. That water was freezing.”
“It was certainly not a temperature that I enjoyed swimming in,” he agreed. “Drink your tea and try to rest. I am going to look around for a little while, though I believe we shall wait until tomorrow for a thorough exploration.”
She nodded and leaned back for a kiss. Kian’s fingers trailed through her hair almost regretfully as he turned and walked out into the room beyond. Zoe gazed back into the fire, letting the cheery yellow flames hypnotize her as she sipped her tea and felt warmth begin to seep back into her bones. When the cup was empty she sighed and laid back against her bedroll, burrowing more deeply into the pile of blankets and furs there. She was asleep almost as soon as she closed her eyes, and when Kian slipped into the blankets some time later, the shocking coolness of his skin against hers was only enough to wake her for a moment.
***
The next morning, Kian was up before her. He had fetched their clothes and the rest of their gear and was now bent over a wide table with papers and scrolls spread out across it. Zoe stepped up behind him and wrapped hers arms around his waist. “Good morning, my heart,” he said, turning to face her with a smile. “Did you sleep well?”
“Like a log, as I’m sure you noticed,” she replied, smiling up at him as she leaned into his chest. “And you? Did you sleep at all, or did researching prove too enticing?”
“I slept well, do not fear,” he said, brushing wild curls from her face with a fond smile. “It is nearly midday now, but you needed rest.”
“Did you find anything interesting?” It was hard to tell just by peering over his shoulder, especially since reading the Kumari alphabet still did not come naturally to her.
“Go fetch the breakfast I left by the fire for you,” he said, giving her a little nudge in that direction, “and then I will tell you what I have discovered.”
Just the mention of breakfast had her stomach growling, so she gladly went to get the food, which proved to be baked fish on a biscuit, dried fruit, and more tea. She wolfed down the sandwich a
nd berries and came back to the table with her mug, Kian was already bent back over the pile of documents, but he looked up when she approached. “You enjoyed your meal, I take it?”
“Yes. Where did you get the fish?” She took a seat in the chair that he had apparently brought over and then ignored.
“I fished for it,” he said with a quirk of his eyebrows. “With magic. I will show you later, if you wish, but let me tell you what I have found.” He pointed to one stack of books and scrolls. “These documents, from five or six thousand years ago, are all records of a war, waged by my grandfather against a kingdom I have never even heard of.”
“You didn’t know about it?” she asked with a frown. It was strange to think that something as important as a war could be lost in just two generations.
“The war began long before my father was born and ended when he was but an infant. There are no Kumari alive who remembers that time. The fact that the palace archives make no mention of it is concerning, but that is not even the half of it. This here, and this,” he said, pointing at two scrolls spread out in front of him, “are descriptions of some sort of terrible cataclysm that occurred right around the time my father was born. More than half of the world’s population disappeared, all at once.”
“You mean, they were all killed? What could destroy that many people?”
“No, that is the problem,” he said, gesturing with confusion. “I could imagine weapons or magic that might kill so many. If many of Kumari worked in concert, spells causing widespread destruction would be all too easy, unfortunately. The records make it clear that the people vanished, gone between one breath and the next, and no one knew where they went.”
“It’s definitely a start,” Zoe replied with a heavy sigh. “But I can’t believe no one knows about it already. That’s a huge thing to forget to mention. I know you said the palace doesn’t have a lot of records from that period of time, but you’d think there would be something.”
“I thought the same, and I have discovered something about that as well. This document,” he said, picking up a stiff parchment, and waving it around in agitation, “is part of a long correspondence between the owner of the library and the previous Palace Archivist, Faizel’s uncle, I believe.
They reference entire wings and collections in our library that I have never seen. Many of these other records have notes indicating that copies were sent to the palace. Some of them even appear to be copies of documents from our library. Documents that no longer exist.”
“You think that someone is destroying them? But why? The Kumari are facing extinction. Who could possibly benefit from concealing the cause?”
“That I cannot answer. There are always people who oppose change, but I agree that it seems particularly pointless in this case.” He sighed heavily. “So here is at least part of our answer. If more than half of our people disappeared, then of course that makes it more difficult to find one’s mate. The next task will be to discover where they went.
I doubt we will find answers to that here, as everything I have discovered indicates that it was a mystery to everyone. The keepers of this library kept meticulous notes. If they had discovered the cause before the building was abandoned, they would have corrected the records. I believe we have done all we can here.”
“Time to go home?” she asked, reaching for his hand and squeezing it.
“Yes,” he replied with a tired smile. “Let us begin packing up all of our recovered treasures.”
***
In reality, they didn’t leave until the following morning. Kian did not want to risk sleeping on the beach at night, and as much as Zoe wanted a hot bath, she had to agree that neither of them were up to that long of a flight without rest. Luckily, a return trip through the flooded hallway was unnecessary, as Kian showed her that on the other side of the protected archives was a dry corridor that led to a tower open to the sky. All they had to do was carry all their belongings there.
Kian transformed first and Zoe helped him into his armor, packing most of their records and gear into his side pouches. Then she assumed her dragon form. Kian was able to use magic to help her into her armor and finish the packing. “It takes a great deal of concentration to manipulate things with such precision. That is why it is much better to have the assistance of someone with thumbs,” he explained when she asked why they didn’t always do it that way.
Finally, they were diving from the roof of the tower and speeding into the sky. With a quick rest in the afternoon, they would return to the palace just after nightfall.
Zoe heard the bells ringing as they were spotted by the watch, but, as it was late, Kian angled his wings to land on the balcony outside their bedroom rather than the main entrance. She was proud to say that her claws only skidded a little on the smooth stones, and she didn’t even crash into anything.
After resuming human form, they heaved their armor in under the roof in case of rain and Kian began pulling out the rolls of documents and bound notebooks of notes. These were too valuable to be left unprotected.
While he gathered up the records they had worked so hard to retrieve, Zoe walked into their bedroom, pulling off the leather vest she was wearing and dropping it into a chair. She was just trying to slip out of her boots when she heard it. A hissing noise that was much too loud and near to be Kian.
She stilled, blinking into the darkness, and then, feeling a bit stupid, she used magic to light the candles in the sconce across the room. That was when she saw the large snake in their bed, which was raising its head to glare at her as she let out a gasp of surprise.
“Zoe? Is something wrong?” Kian called from the balcony, and she could hear his footsteps approaching. The snake’s attention immediately turned to him, and it started to uncoil, as if it was considering coming over to investigate.
“Don’t move,” she whispered to him. “There is a big and angry looking snake in the bed.”
Kian sucked in a startled breath. “That is a mirrored viper,” he said, and his voice actually trembled.
“I take it you aren’t a fan of snakes. Is it dangerous?” she asked, as she slowly drew herself up to crouch in the chair, trying to make herself as small as possible.
“This is a particularly unpleasant variety,” he replied, almost hyperventilating, which was not helping. His visible fear only seemed to interest the snake further and Zoe thought it was only the fact that there were two of them that made it hesitate to approach. “They are highly venomous, quick, and extremely aggressive. Their scales reflect magic.” Although providing information seemed to help Kian focus on something other than terror, his eyes were still darting madly about the room.
“Lovely. Why do I get the feeling there is something else?” Before Kian could even open his mouth to reply, Zoe saw what else. Another snake, smaller than the first, but still big enough to be frightening, oozed out from under the bed, flicking its tongue toward them with evident interest.
“I suspected a female that large would not be far from her mate. If luck is with us, at least there will not be..”
“Babies,” Zoe finished, her voice flat as three tiny juveniles slid out from their mother’s coils. “I suppose even they are big enough to kill us?”
“Undoubtedly,” Kian replied, the pitch of his voice scaling an octave or two higher than usual. “They are weaker against magic, but if I was to kill them, I suspect that would only make the parents angry.”
Zoe took a deep breath, in and out. Okay. Deadly snakes. I can do this. Before she had ended up pursuing her dream of being an artist, Zoe had first considered a degree in biology. She loved animals, and it was only because of her somewhat unstable financial situation that she had not had reptiles of her own. “I have an idea,” she whispered to Kian. “If these snakes are anything like Earth snakes, they are really stupid.”
It only took a few seconds to explain, which was good, because the male was not hesitant about checking them out. Zoe suspected it was only the fact that they were being v
ery still that had saved them from a bite. Kian nodded to show he understood, swallowing thickly to master his fear.
Then Zoe cast her spell, ice magic that crawled over their skin, coating both of them in a thin layer of frost. She could feel her body temperature dropping dramatically, and as she watched, all of the snakes seemed to lose interest. Almost as if the two humans had faded into the background. She nodded to Kian, and with a minute twitch of his fingers, he summoned a small ball of fire, about the size of a rabbit or cat, but barely hotter than an ember.
The gazes of the reptiles immediately fixated on this new heat source. He made it bob up and down, and their heads nodded along with it. Zoe and Kian were starting to shiver, but it was a small price to pay.
Carefully, agonizingly slowly, Kian stepped out of the doorway. The snakes did not notice him, entranced as they were by his little floating flame, and Zoe suppressed her sigh of relief. Kian made the ball bump out onto the balcony, and the snakes followed one by one, though it seemed to take an eternity.
Finally, the mother snake passed through the archway behind the rest of her family and Zoe slammed the doors shut with a gust of wind. Kian sealed the door behind the now confused and angry snakes and magically warded every window before he would allow Zoe to dismiss the cold. They huddled together, shivering, not entirely sure if it was safe to move. It would be difficult to be certain that the snakes were gone.
“Zoe, that was the most clever use of magic I think I have ever seen,” he said, shuddering into her neck. “I was sure we were done for. Or at least that we were about to undertake a difficult and dangerous battle. Usually, when one encounters a mirrored viper, the only option is to try to sever the head from the body with a blade before it can strike. Bites are nearly always fatal.”
“I’m surprised to hear that,” Zoe said with raised eyebrows. “With all the magical healing available, you would think that you would be able to neutralize a poison like that easily.”
“Even the venom repels magic,” Kian said darkly. “These snakes were artificially created millennia ago, as a tool for assassination, but they escaped their creator, likely by killing them, and bred in the wild.”
