“Tef’han ehteck Behk’sah,” Rah’kana said, his eyes not leaving Niri’s.
Tef’han rolled to his feet and whispered off into the darkness.
“Whaf selfah efti zyf, alypuh. Jah, whaf selfah khat rahth shaar, shaar selfah khat rahth whaf.” Rah’kana paused and looked to Darag.
“Water can summon air, but cannot touch fire. Fire cannot touch water.”
“Dih,” Rah’kana gestured toward Darag. “Tek selfah khat rahth zyf ti zyf selfah khat rahth tek.”
“Earth cannot touch air and air cannot touch earth.”
Rah’kana rolled his hands toward Ria. She looked up into his eyes, finding more kindness than hostility in them. “Ti yel selfah khat rahth kahk.”
Darag sucked in a breath. He looked sharply over at Ria. “Life cannot touch death.”
Ria felt like the air was sucked from her lungs.
“That’s why you felt it when I killed the priest,” Lavinia said sitting forward, eyes wide.
“And why you could not hurt Causis,” Niri added, leaning back as her unfocused gaze shifted skyward.
“I can’t kill anything,” Ria said with a mix of fear and awe. “Not even the Curse.” Her throat spasmed close.
“Kha,” Rah’kana agreed.
“But you can call all five,” Niri said to Rah’kana.
“Dih, rikeht yelfa’teh.”
“Yes, by birth.”
Niri pressed on. “So you can be born with more than one skill. There are exceptions.”
“Dih.” A slow smile fell across Rah’kana’s face, spreading from his eyes.
“Your powers are amazing,” Niri said with heartfelt honesty.
Rah’kana closed his eyes, his shoulders drooping slightly. When he looked up, there was a tiredness about him. “Nohl rashah wheytu zhezt.”
“Their power has a price.”
“Dih,” Rah’kana breathed out slowly. The other Ashanti were silent a moment, even Behk’sah were he now stood outside the circle of firelight, Tef’han behind him. Kiefa’shoo bowed his head.
Ria swallowed the lump in her throat. Into the silence of the night, her voice wavered. “Can you teach us?”
Rah’kana held her gaze a moment. Ria doubted she could measure up to whatever scale he weighed her against.
“Kha, Nohl befka kif’teh.”
“They must go home,” Darag said kindly to Ria. She bit her lip and looked away so that Rah’kana could not see the tears in her eyes.
“Nohl r’tohnwa ak’phesh’fah tek Karakastad, ti shaar selfah, ti whaf selfah,” Rah’kana gestured toward Niri. Then, he turned contemplative eyes on Darag, “Ti Kith.”
Darag did not look away from Rah’kana as he translated. “They have to tell of the drowning of the Temple in Karakastad, and the fire elementals, and you, Niri, as well as the Kith.”
Niri shifted next to Ria. Her gaze jumped to Darag then back to the Ashanti. Across the woodless fire, Lavinia was pale and without expression. Ria huddled in on herself.
“Nohl befka rhaz’yel.”
“They are going to leave in the morning.”
“Dih,” Rah’kana said with some force, looking sidelong at the other Ashanti. Jeif’taku stared at the ground, not looking up. Kiefa’shoo nodded, rising to his feet after Rah’kana slowly pulled himself upright with a hiss. Rah’kana followed by Kiefa’shoo, Behk’sah, and Tef’han walked away into the darkness. Jeif’taku did not move, Khefa’bay staying with his eyes on Jeif’taku. Leifa’den shifted but did not leave either, her gaze on Ria and Niri.
“Where do you live?” Lavinia asked after the desert silence had sat undisturbed a few moments.
“Teyl ahyee nohl kif’teh.”
“He says you’ve seen their home,” Darag said looking over towards Ty and Niri with a lifted brow.
“The city in the desert? I thought it was an illusion,” Ty said, moving forward. He was less tense now that most of the Ashanti had left.
“Kha,” Jeif’taku said with a faint smile. “Teyl feitah efti nohl kif’noh.”
“He says you have to know how to summon their city.”
“That would be a trick, I bet,” Ty said flatly.
“Bal tetkah kil teyl, jah r’befka kil Rah’kana,” Jeif’taku said to Darag, standing.
“Bahl feit’haf,” Darag replied, standing as well.
“Alypuh befka, sel’ha.”
“Aylpah beyf’kah ah’teyhl, sehl’hah”
Darag and Jeif’taku clasped right forearms, stepping close to touch each other’s shoulder with free hands.
Jeif’taku followed after Rah’kana, the two youngest Ashanti walking after. The flames in the sand flickered before dying. The cold desert night wrapped around the five friends.
“What did he say,” Ria asked as her eyes adjusted to the rose light of the lesser moon.
“That he would stay, but has to go with Rah’kana,” Darag said, putting an arm around Lavinia when she leaned against him. “He called us friend.”
No one said anything to that.
In the morning, there was only Darag’s horse and the six camels left outside of the shelter. It was like the Ashanti had been a desert dream except that Darag was there, his arms around Lavinia, and a small palm tree grew next to Niri’s spring. But the ground where the Ashanti’s fire had burnt was not even scorched and the sand did not show their boot prints.
“Do you trust them?” Niri asked Darag.
His lip twitched in a frown. “Not entirely. Certainly not Behk’sah and not their curiosity about the Kith, but in general I do not think they mean harm.”
Ty paced a moment, bristling energy radiating from him. It made Ria feel glum and tired.
“I wish I could call fire. It’s still cold,” Ria said sitting down in the sand.
Niri dropped a hand on her shoulder. “I don’t see why we can’t try to teach you.”
Ria’s head jerked up to look from Niri to Darag. Darag had frozen as well and watched Niri with curiosity.
“But . . . but you are a Water Elemental and Rah’kana said that you can’t summon fire.” The words rushed out of Ria.
Niri folded her legs, sinking gently to the sand next to Ria. “Yes, according to the Ashanti’s rules, but I’m not so sure. I could summon Sinika, call forth a fire spirit . . . . I never thought about it before, how I shouldn’t be able to do that. I thought it was because of Sinika, now that I know there are ways to call the other elements, who is to say?”
“Besides,” Niri continued brushing Ria’s hair off her shoulder. “Darag is an Earth and Spirit Elemental as well, if not more. He should be able to summon fire. I have already called air. I think we will be able to figure it out on our own.” Tears filled Ria’s eyes. So much hope swelled in her that she found it hard to breath much less answer.
“What do you mean ‘if not more?’” Lavinia asked, her eyes slightly narrowed.
“Didn’t you see it?” Ty answered to Lavinia’s surprise. She swiveled around to look at her brother. “They watched Darag like he was . . . a lost brother. What was the word they used when they spoke of the language?”
“Of the same source,” Darag said, sinking down into the sand. Lavinia sat next to him and took his hand.
“Do you think . . . ?” Ria asked, eyes wide.
Darag shook his head. “It is hard to say. I know so little about the Ashanti.”
“I really got the impression that you were almost opposites. They were so aggressive, while the Kith are peaceful. Tight control versus social acceptance . . . except for the language and maybe the skills. We won’t know until we try.” Niri lifted an eyebrow at Darag. His lips flickered with a competitive smile.
“That is all well and good, but we are not going to sit in the desert while you learn the other elements.”
Lavinia laughed at Ty’s teasing tone. “Agreed!”
“So where do we go now, then?” Ria asked impatiently.
“I would think that is obvious.” All eyes turned toward Darag.
“There is only one Temple we have not seen, the place where the last free Elementals made their stand: the Temple of the Winds.”
It took a day and a half to reach Bakk. Ria could not believe how close they had been and how great that distance was in the desert. She had been nervous the first night away from the spring, sipping sparingly from the canteen despite reassurances that Bakk was close. A little after mid-morning of the next day, Ria realized the desert sand was spotted with tiny grasses and stubby, round leafed plants. As the dunes shrank, scrublands mixed with hardy grasses dominated the landscape outside the windswept town of Bakk.
Ria almost didn’t see the town until they had wondered into it. She had taken the conical grassy mounds as strange dunes until she saw the steps leading down to narrow doorways. Darag led them to the largest of the odd, partially underground buildings with familiar ease. Beyond it were rolling hills of grass, undulating in the wind. Ria had never seen anything so enticing.
“This is the inn,” Darag said as he helped Lavinia from her camel. Ria hopped down from her own wondering why Lavinia would wait for his help.
‘We can stay for a few days until we are rested, then head north to Ashi’Shinai,” Ty said, holding Niri’s camel still.
Ria sighed impatiently.
CHAPTER 35
LESSON OF FIRE
“So I suggest the first element you work on is fire.”
Ty dropped a poor assortment of twigs and branches next to the fire ring Darag had called from the ground. Niri cocked an eyebrow at him, humor bubbling to her lips.
“Why?” Ria asked with bright innocence.
“Niri can put out anything that gets out of control.”
Ria giggled while Lavinia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, no kidding,” Lavinia drawled.
“Lazy,” Niri accused Ty. He shrugged, unthreatened. “Well first, the ‘kindling’ needs to be dry.”
Niri focused on the first piece she picked up, narrowing her eyes. Water and sap leaked out from the split ends. Darag let out a slow breath through pursed lips.
“Yeah, she is a showoff sometimes.” Niri glared at Ty, wishing she had something to throw at him, something akin to a fire ball. The idea of calling a storm to drench him crossed her mind.
Ty grinned at her. “Hey sis, why don’t we take a walk and look for some more ‘kindling’ for them to play with.” Lavinia laughed, hooking her arm through her brother’s. They disappeared down the rise together.
They had stayed in Bakk three days. All of them were spent though Ria spent the time impatiently pacing, wanting to learn to use the gift that sang in her blood.
“When?” Ria had asked each dawn.
“Not here, not in town. On the way to Ashi’Shinai.”
“In case I call the Curse,” Ria had said to Ty’s orders, arms crossed.
“No, Ria, because no one else must know it is possible,” Niri had consoled.
Ria’s impertinence actually made Niri laugh, especially after she had bathed, letting water soak into her skin until she felt full with it. The girl had sulked for a large portion of the journey. This had been the first time Niri had seen Ria as the one most anxious to continue on as she embraced rather than forswore the gift she had been born with.
It had taken Niri nearly the entire three days in Bakk to feel the effects of the desert dryness fade from her mind. Ty had seemed to know. He had taken his time selling the camels for stocky legged horses common to the steppes to the north and making arrangements for food and provisions. All the while the sunburn across his nose and eyes where the desert head scarf had not covered healed, leaving only a deep worry line between his brows.
Darag and Lavinia had been inseparable in their happiness. Though Darag had left her to sleep and recover, helping Ty prepare for the journey north, there was always a smile on his lips and a weightlessness to his step. If possible, Niri had thought Lavinia looked even happier than she had in Lus na Sithchaine.
Now on their first day riding north from Bakk, they camped in a waving sea of grasses and sedge that rolled along the low hills. Higher mountains rose to the north-east, holding mostly scrub and rock. No trees were visible anywhere along the wide sweep of the horizon.
The ground had become softer during the day. Dampness had formed veins of water in any dip in elevation and soon they had been riding along grass choked streams, insects humming in the humid air. Niri felt alive with the change.
Now she sat facing Ria’s olive eyes set in her lightly tanned face. Worry lines traced across Ria’s forehead.
“How do you know I won’t use magic and summon the Curse?”
“You won’t. We will watch you and tell you to stop before you do. Trust yourself.” Darag’s eyes were kind and patient. Ria swallowed and nodded nervously. “Are you sure you want to try?” Darag’s gaze had turned toward Niri.
Niri nodded. The fluttering in her stomach was less visible than Ria’s anxious face, but there nonetheless. “Yes, there is no harm in trying.” Darag’s lips compressed into a thin line, but he did not argue with her. “I’m sure you’ll try air when the time for it comes.” Darag’s lips twitched as he cast her a sidelong look. Niri smiled and held up her stick.
She had done this before, or something similar. She had summoned heat and a tiny opening for a fire spirit to come through, enabling the connection to Sinika. Now instead of picturing Sinika, Niri thought simply of fire and flame. Warmth welled in her and she foisted it towards the end of the twig. With a tilt down of her head, she pushed more of her will into it.
Pain lanced down her arms like her veins were afire. Niri gasped as the lightening quick agony shot from her fingers. Her concentration broken, no further discomfort followed. She looked up at where Darag had leapt to his feet, a few tears wrung by the sudden torment scattering from her lashes. His gaze though was on the stick she still held.
“You did it,” Ria said breathlessly.
“Yes, but I don’t want to do that too many times unless I really need to.” Niri’s hand was shaking slightly. Darag opened his lips, brows pulled close as he looked from the tiny flame to Niri’s face.
“You’re next,” she cut in before Darag could ask anything, glancing quickly toward Ria’s wide eyed, lip biting nervous amazement. Darag held her gaze steady, then reached forward for a twig.
“Any tips?”
Niri explained what she had done, Ria keeping careful attention to every word. Darag closed his eyes when she was finished, sitting cross legged before the fire. Niri felt the air change around him. To her, it was like the building heat of a small camp fire. When Darag opened his eyes, there was a faint golden glow to his normal green.
Darag focused on the stick in front of him. Nothing happened. The build up of power in the air was intense, but Darag struggled with trying to find a way to throw the seed of fire away from himself. Ria’s shoulders bowed. Her hand holding the stick she had been toying with tightened to a fist.
Suddenly the air changed. The twig Darag held burst into flames followed by the stack of twigs and branches in the fire pit. A column of fire shot ten feet into the air. Darag, Niri, and Ria all jumped backwards out of the way of sparks and flames.
Niri couldn’t help it. She rolled onto her back and laughed. Lifting her head slightly, she tossed her tiny twig with its bit of flame into the settling fire. “I’m the show off?” she teased, looking through the campfire at Darag.
He sat with arms splayed behind him, closing his eyes at her comment as he chuckled.
“I hope Ty and Lavinia come back soon. This isn’t going to last long and Ria still has her turn,” Darag said with humor. Ria expelled a breath.
Under the fading sunburn, Ria could not get any paler. Her hand holding the twig shook, so that she steadied the wrist with her free fingers. Without a word, she closed her eyes.
“You can do this Ria. From what Rath’kana said, Spirit Elementals can summon all the elements. You were born to this as well.”
Nothing changed on Ria’s fa
ce to Niri’s words of encouragement. Darag glanced at Niri. She shook her head slightly. She didn’t feel any change around Ria either.
Niri thought back to how she had been taught at Solaire, and then shied from the memory. Such techniques would not work on Ria. Not to mention, Ria had only summoned her power and used it twice before. The other two times it had failed her. Untrained, Ria was being asked to call a power that was not her primary gift. Niri bit the inside of her cheek.
Ria’s brows had knotted together. A pulse of energy pulled towards Ria. Niri leaned forward, but before she could say anything Ria let it go. It happened twice more, each with Ria pushing her primary power away. Finally, a build up of heat began to form around Ria, growing in strength with a slow but steady build.
With an intense gaze, Ria focused on the twig in her hand. The air crackled, but like with Darag, nothing happened. After a few moments, the strength in Ria’s face faded. Her hand dropped slightly, lips softening. Then with whatever frustration she combined her will, a spark flashed on the twig’s end. A tiny flame burst to life.
“Oh!” Ria’s concentration shattered with surprised delight. With not enough strength to burn on its own, the flame fluttered out.
“Don’t worry, you’ll . . . .”
Before Niri could finish, Ria pushed a new flame to ignite on the tip of the twig. Stronger this time, it stayed burning when Ria stopped feeding it with her energy. Ria grinned.
“That wasn’t as hard as I thought.”
“Speak for yourself,” Niri said drolly.
“But she is right in a way. You managed it. Why do only the Ashanit know this is possible?” Darag asked.
Niri frowned. “I don’t know. Because no one realizes it is? Maybe it is easy because we know it can be done. Calling air the first time for me was . . . difficult. I nearly lost the bubble so many times. And it took Sinika weeks to teach me the beginning of the summoning spell.”
Darag turned his focus to the dying fire. He held out a hand and the flames intensified, rising up at his calling. With a quick jerk, a fireball detached itself from the fire, roiling as it gripped the air. With the tiniest stretch of his fingers, it dissipated into the air. Ria sighed wonderingly. Darag looked over at Niri.
Born of Water Page 29
