by Kyrja
It had only taken a moment to end the life of the suffering animal, but she had kept draining its lifeforce until there was nothing left of it, as Ozahm had taught her. That way, nothing would be able to come back to hunt her later. And in this case, none of the wild beasts would be coming to feed from its carcass either. She was safer this way.
“So that’s why everything was stripped bare when I arrived,” Denit mused out loud.
Sina simply nodded, too lost in the power of life to care to respond. She rarely had the opportunity to keep such an enormous amount of energy for herself. She preferred to eat and drink like normal people did. Most of the time, anyway. Ozahm usually got most of the energy she transferred from living plants and animals. This was a rare treat, and she was enjoying the immense feeling of strength. For a small moment, she considered taking on Denit in some kind of fist fight or something, just to see how strong she really was, but she knew the thought for the foolishness it was. Still, the temptation was strong. It felt amazing to be so filled with life and strength and courage. She shook her head then, reminding herself that one bad choice on her part would easily leave her permanently dead. Just as Ozahm had warned her. She had taken a huge risk by following Denit to the “Beast Place,” and almost hadn’t lived to regret it.
It had paid off though, because now she knew for sure, having seen it with her own eyes, just how powerful Denit really was. Denit hadn’t asked for her help before she let the fire loose. She was powerful in her own right. Without the need to ask her for energy or power, like Ozahm did. She looked up from where she was sitting to see Denit towering over her. For a fleeting moment, she considered trying to see if she would be able to drain her of her lifeforce. Then maybe she would be powerful enough to leave this place on her own. No, she decided with a sigh, Ozahm had said the turtle would have to die before the Earth Goddess would be released. Either that, or Giya herself would have to die. But she wasn’t sure what good it would do for anyone to have Giya die. No matter how many times she had tried to figure out the puzzle, she always felt as though she didn’t have enough of the pieces to solve it. Ozahm was probably lying to her.
“Why did it look like it was covered in moss?” Denit interrupted her musings.
“What?” Sina seemed like she was dazed. “What moss?”
“The green stuff covering the skin of the animal. It looked like moss. At least it did to me,” Denit offered.
“Moss …” Denit waited as Sina looked like she was trying to understand what she was asking. “Oh! I understand now. Yes, it was moss,” she nodded her head, as if it made perfect sense.
“All right, but why was it covered with moss? I’m sure I have never seen an animal covered with moss before, in my life. And what kind of animal was it anyway?”
“It’s called a lion,” Sina replied. “They don’t die,” she said. “Well, unless you kill them. When growing time comes, they stop breathing, and just stay wherever they were when the time comes. They don’t come back to life until harvest time, and then they’re really hungry. They’re just dormant during any time but harvest time.”
“So why the moss?” Denit asked again, a bit frustrated at having to ask the same question so many times.
“Because when they’re just standing there, the dirt and seeds in their hair grows, so it looks like they’re covered in moss. I think there’s some mold in there too, because they get rained on, and can’t rub off anything that grows on them. Probably like big rocks that stand still for years,” she shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe there’s another reason, but that’s the way it seems to me. Mostly, I just avoid coming here, except after harvest time so I can get some fish.”
Denit marveled that the girl had survived here at all, with no one to tell her what to expect, but she was also frustrated at not being able to understand how things worked herself. She didn’t like surprises. At all.
“Come on,” she said standing up, “we need to get to Giya before the melons start exploding.”
Instead of following behind her, as she’d done until now, Sina found Denit walking beside her. “I’m sure you’re going to explain what exploding melons have to do with anything before they become a problem, right?”
“In Nohoyo, my mother was responsible for all the gardens. Everywhere,” she explained, turning to look Denit in the eyes for emphasis. “Not just in the city, but everywhere, throughout the whole land,” she explained. “Before they killed her, that was her duty. And her joy,” Sina said, looking straight ahead again.
“Before who killed her?” Denit asked.
“The strangers,” Sina replied, curtly. Then added, “Everyone who came to Nohoyo to watch you turn into a … a whatever you turned into,” she finished lamely, shrugging. She could feel Denit watching her, and wondered if she would try to kill her, too. Now that she knew she had come from Nohoyo, she might want her dead, like everyone else was. Everyone who mattered to her, anyway.
“Did your mother like melons?” Denit asked quietly, surprising her.
“Yes,” Sina replied, feeling a lump forming in her throat. “She cross pollinated the various species to make some very bitter and some very sweet. She was very good at what she did. She loved making things grow. She didn’t always like eating everything she grew, but she loved to make things grow. Especially in the desert, where it wasn’t usually possible.”
“So why do we have to worry about melons exploding here?” Denit asked, completely ignoring the fact that she had just told her that her mother was dead. Why wasn’t she asking about her mother? Did she care so little? Did one life – the life of her mother mean nothing?
“For a god, you don’t know very much, do you?” she felt her lip curl when the question shot out of her mouth without caring whether she was being what her mother would call “ugly” a in the least.
“Sina, I can’t change the fact that your mother died, or even the reasons why she died. When I went to Nohoyo, it was because my own mother was there and my father was dying. And for a whole bunch of other reasons. I didn’t want to become the Sun Goddess, and I didn’t believe I would. I thought people were going to kill me. But that’s what happened. Before I went there, I didn’t even know it existed. Most of the world didn’t know there was such a place as Nohoyo. Many things have changed since then, none of which I can change. I came here because I saw something strange going on, and now I’m trapped here. Just like you. We can either be mad at each other, or we can help each other. Unless you want to stay here for the rest of your life?”
“I want those strangers to pay for what they did. I want them to die for killing my mother!”
“Listen, let’s get past these exploding melons, and then we can talk more about it, all right? You said we have to hurry, so if we sit here and talk about this now, then we’re going to have problems with the melons, right?”
“Yes,” Sina nodded with enthusiasm. “When the melons get overripe, and start exploding, then the scent draws the attention of the water dragon, who comes to eat them. And even you,” she said pointing at Denit, “won’t be able to get past her!” Ha! she thought to herself, let’s see how she likes feeling helpless!
“Lead the way then,” she said, sweeping her hand in front of her in invitation, “I am guessing it would be a good thing to avoid the water dragon.” After a few moments in silence though, she asked, “Do you like it here? Like living here, I mean. It seems to me you’ve done a brilliant job of figuring everything out.”
“I’ve learned to survive,” she answered. There was no way she was going to tell her about Ozahm if she could avoid it. Not yet. Maybe not at all. She still wanted to wait and see if Denit thought she was going to be able to escape. If not, there really wasn’t any point in telling her much of anything. Ozahm was still her best bet in getting out of here. So far.
“You must have left Nohoyo after the boundary was destroyed,” Denit said. Since it wasn’t a question, she wasn’t tempted to reply. After a moment, Denit said, “You’re obvi
ously a Fire Tender.” Another long moment passed before she added, “I transformed all the Fire Tenders in Nohoyo when I became the Sun Goddess, you know.”
“Yet another stupid thing you did to destroy our way of life,” she looked at her with an angry frown. “Why couldn’t you just leave things alone?”
“Why couldn’t I just …” Denit stopped walking. Stopped moving at all. Sina kept moving, knowing there was nothing the other woman could say to make anything all right again, so there was just no point in talking about it. Nothing would undo the fact that her mother was dead.
“My father was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of your people,” Denit told her, walking beside her again. “None of those people had to die. None of them, but he made sure that is exactly what happened, so that he could be strong and powerful. The only way to stop people from being murdered,” she emphasized the word, “to feed Sov was to destroy the shields. I am not sorry for having destroyed them. Not for one moment. If you’re mad at me for that, then you can just keep being mad!” she shouted.
“She was on the council,” Sina shouted back at her, “she helped to make Nohoyo beautiful and to make sure people had enough to eat! Why did she have to die? Can you tell me that?”
“Oh!” Denit suddenly cried out, loud enough that Sina looked around to determine if she had seen something dangerous she, herself, had missed.
“What? What is it? What’s wrong?” she asked, suddenly tense. She was surprised when Denit came to a standstill, shaking her head, then sighed deeply. She was just standing there, not moving. Not saying anything.
“Sina,” Denit sighed again.
“What is wrong with you?” she demanded. “I told you we have to hurry.”
“But your mother …” Denit shook her head again, then looked at her with the saddest eyes she thought she had ever seen. She felt herself frown, not sure whether to be angry or … she didn’t know what. Denit’s reaction was just too strange to understand.
“None of the council members were alive. They had all been killed a long time ago. The only reason they seemed to be alive is because that’s what Sov wanted everyone to think.”
“Liar!” Sina screamed, hitting Denit with all her might with both fists, then grabbing on to her, intending to drain every living drop of life out of her.
“Stop!” Denit shouted, grabbing Sina by both of her arms. “Killing me won’t bring your mother back! Stop it!” she shouted.
“No! It’s not true! You’re just saying that so I won’t kill all those strangers! Someone has to pay for what they did to her!” She used every ounce of her willpower to make sure it was Denit who would pay for killing her mother. It wasn’t fair! Instead of feeling the lifeforce from the other woman filling her veins, making her feel powerful, though, she began to feel like her own life was being drained from her. Her legs felt like they were going to buckle. Her vision was growing blurry. She couldn’t breathe. And still she was determined to suck the life out of Denit. The woman … the god … goddess … whatever she was … who was responsible for killing her mother. In the next moment, she felt herself falling away from Denit, towards the ground. Denit had pushed her away. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized that it had been easy for Denit to push her away. She hadn’t even used violence against her to hit her, or hurt her. She had just pushed her away like it was nothing.
* * * * * * * *
“Stop fighting me, Sina,” Denit told the young girl lying on the ground. Damn, but she felt awful. It didn’t matter one bit that she’d had nothing to do with her mother being dead. She knew how awful Sina must feel but this wasn’t the answer. “I know you don’t want my help, and that you hate me. Fine, then hate me. But we have a water dragon to get past, and I still need your help.”
“Leave me,” she moaned, with her eyes closed.
“Nope,” Denit told her, standing up. “Either you get up on your own, or I’ll carry you. Your choice.”
“You wouldn’t!” she shouted, and Denit wasn’t sure whether she was pleading with her, or challenging her. It didn’t really matter though, she wasn’t going to leave the girl here to get eaten by … whatever a water dragon was.
“If you get up, you can go wherever you want to. I won’t follow you or make you come with me. I just want to make sure you don’t get eaten while you’re lying here, helpless.” She smirked to herself, knowing that if anyone had called her helpless, she would damn well make sure they knew just how helpless she was not.
In response, Sina grabbed a handful of grass and in a moment, it had withered, browned, crumbled, and disappeared. “I am not helpless!” she screamed, her eyes glaring into Denit’s. But she was still lying on the ground, refusing to get up.
“Then why didn’t you use that power to kill the beasts that were attacking us, so I didn’t have to scare them away with fire? Tell me that!” she shouted at the girl.
“You’re so stupid!” she shouted back, getting to her knees. “I have to be touching the beast before I can kill it! By the time I’m touching it, I’m already going to be dinner!” Now she was on her feet, her fists balled, screaming with all her might at Denit. She glared at Denit, waiting for her response.
Denit chuckled for a moment, then smiled at Sina. “Or maybe breakfast, depending on what time of day it is?” She laughed out loud then. “How do you even know when to eat around here? Doesn’t the sun ever set?”
Sina tried mightily not to grin. Not to smile. Not to laugh. To just stay mad. In the end, she curled her lip, saying, “You’re so stupid,” but then she smiled, and even chuckled a little.
“Yes,” Denit agreed, “I really am. Do you know it took me two hundred years to grow up?”
“What?” the girl looked at her, clearly not believing her.
“Oh, it’s true all right. You can even ask my mother when we get to her,” she nodded.
“Your mother?” Sina was obviously dumbfounded.
“Giya. She’s my mother.” Before Sina could say another word, Denit started walking away. After a few steps, she turned and asked, “Are you coming?” She smiled when Sina started walking her way.
“You’ll get eaten if I don’t!” she grumbled.
Chapter Seventeen – Sabbah’s Betrayal
Walking along the street with Sabbah, Nieva knew this was the only part of the plan that Chared and Jarles had devised that she didn’t like. How was she supposed to trust Sabbah to make sure she wasn’t harmed, or captured? Sure, Jarles would be upset with him if it happened, she knew, but if he made it look like it was an accident, or like he’d had no choice, then she would still either be harmed or captured by Amphedia … and then harmed, too, she was sure. She really wished she had more trust in him, or at least some degree of confidence, but the truth of the matter was that she did not, and had no reason to. He was a very selfish, self-serving man who only went out of his way to make sure his own interests were served. Even Jarles had his doubts about him. Nieva looked up at him then, asking, “How long have you lived in the City by the Sea?”
“Oh, long enough, I suppose,” he smiled down at her. Then he added, “No need to be worried, little bird, you’ll see. Everything will turn out just right.”
She looked away from him then, feeling even less confident than she had a moment ago. But she would do her part. Chared had been right when he had said that she would be the perfect bait to draw Amphedia out of hiding and into the open. She’d been shocked at first, never really having considered herself any kind of threat, or a particular “ally” of anyone. But she was, indeed, someone Siri Ventus and Oculis both held dear and for whom they might consider making a bargain. Her first reaction had been to flee so that she could never be used against her Grandmother the Goddess, nor even her grandfather. No matter how angry she might ever become with them, she never wanted to be the cause of either one of them having her held over their heads. Besides, a small voice inside of her admitted, she never wanted to find out that they had been offered a b
argain of some sort with her life in the balance and they had refused. Emotions could get real messy, she knew, but this was just too much for her. And so, here she was, walking down the street, waiting for Amphedia to notice her. If she didn’t soon, then Sabbah would walk away from her so she was alone.
At least that’s the way it was supposed to appear. Even Sabbah didn’t know there were others following, or watching out for her. Jarles had admitted his own doubts to her, even though he didn’t want to upset her. But his assurances of others watching along their route made her feel more comfortable. And the fact that he knew she distrusted his grandfather was even more of a relief, especially when he admitted he wasn’t sure of the man himself. She didn’t feel quite so bad for not trusting Sabbah after that.
She really liked him. Jarles. She was happy to finally have someone she could talk to other than her complicated family members. They always had their own ideas about what was “right” and “wrong,” and those things often didn’t feel right to her. If Grandmother the Goddess wasn’t constantly testing her, then her grandfather was. And Hadia, too, was caught in the middle. She had shown exactly who was most important to her last night, though, when she had been waiting for her near the courtyard door. Nieva looked forward to the day she would be able to ask her how she knew she was planning on helping the prisoner escape. For now, though, she was happy to have her on her side.
Any time now, Jarles should be making his announcement. She only wished she could be there to hear him make his fine speech. They had all made the plan together last night, when she and Jarles had returned from the beach together, and not one of them had tried to treat her like she was “just a child,” or not worthy of participating in the conversation. Still, she was worried that even if everything went perfectly, what they had planned wouldn’t be enough. She scolded herself then, remembering that being worried about a thing never helped prevent that thing – instead, she should be concentrating on seeing the outcome she wanted. So that’s what she did. Of course, it was a little hard to envision something she had never seen, but she could still focus on feeling relieved that everything was going exactly right.
