by Kyrja
Unconsciously holding her breath, Kraas stepped forward with Rajesh, but kept her eye on Sakari. She was angry enough to do something unpredictable. She was already halfway into the final step when she heard the music suddenly filling her head. Too loud! It distracted her just long enough that she was unable to stop herself from completing her step into Jikangai. Long enough that Sakari was able to let go of Fumaini’s feet and there was nothing she could do about it.
* * * * * * * *
“Sakari!” Rhian shouted. “What are you doing?”
“We have to get out of here!” she shouted in return. “Didn’t you feel it?” Looking at Aidena and Sahil, she could tell immediately that neither of them knew what she was talking about.
“How could you not have felt it?” she asked Sahil, incredulous.
“Explain yourself, Himitsu,” Sahil demanded, using his secret name for her to make sure she understood how serious the situation was.
“Master,” she said, calling him by the one name he forbade her to use unless their lives were in danger. It was a signal she was only permitted to use if there was true danger present. “There was a spell connected to the Emperor. You should have felt it. As soon as Rajesh moved forward, with the Emperor in his arms, I felt it activate. How could you not?” She waited only a moment before saying, “Death! It’s coming! It’s here, throughout the palace. We must run! Now!” She ran across the room, grabbing Rhian’s arm as she did, pulling her towards the doors.
“Sakari, stop!” Rhian demanded, pulling her arm away from her. “We can’t outrun it. We have to out-think it.” Turning to Sahil, she raised one eyebrow, asking, “Do you have any ideas?”
Without waiting for Sahil to reply, Sakari immediately began drawing Uchawi symbols.
“My people!” Rhian exclaimed. “We can’t just let them all die!”
“Oldest to youngest,” Sakari sang out, looking up from her work. “That’s the way this spell is working. Not from one direction to another, but from the oldest to the youngest!”
“I understand,” Sahil replied, tersely, his hands and fingers already weaving symbols together.
“Is there any way to counter it?” Aidena wanted to know. “Or outrun it?”
“Will it follow us wherever we go? Will we infect others if we leave?” Rhian asked, her chin held high and steady. “Should we allow ourselves to die so other will not? Answer me Sahil!”
“Where do I send them?” Sakari demanded, her hands paused.
“Nohoyo!” Aidena called out. “Jahari will keep them safe!”
“Send me with them!” Rhian exclaimed, shifting from one foot to the other, obviously needing to take some kind of action.
“No!” Sahil countered. “You’re needed here!”
“They’ll be alone and scared,” Rhian pressed.
“That’s better than dead,” Sakari stated, her hands and fingers moving again. “Get out of here!”
“Himitsu,” Sahil turned towards her, a look of profound sadness on his face.
“Go, damn you!” she hissed. “You’re too damned old to be here. Go!”
She felt, rather than heard, when Sahil, Rhian, and Aidena moved through time and space with the aid of the Uchawi symbols Sahil had made. It was too late to do any more than she’d already done; several of those she had tied to her spell had died already. Pulling her hands up over her head, she stepped through the knot of symbols she’d made, dragging everyone with her to Nohoyo using magic as old as the land itself.
None of this is going the way I thought it would, she thought to herself, as she stepped on to the floor of what was once known as the “Shield Room” in the heart of Nohoyo.
She stopped herself abruptly, her eyes flying open at the sight of Vray with a very large knife pointed directly at her. Not daring to even move her head, her eyes quickly took in the fact that the room was filled with people from Nohoyo helping those who had arrived so unexpectedly from Bila. None of those who came with her were being threatened, but she most definitely was, and by someone she would never have suspected of being an enemy. She and Vray had been through too much heartache together for him to be pointing a weapon at her.
“What’s going on Vray?” she asked quietly, looking steadily into his eyes, now that the initial shock was fading.
“What have you done?” he asked, his eyes narrowed.
“I’m sorry there was no time to …” she started.
“Hold your hands still, or I will have them tied,” he interrupted her.
“What? Vray, what are you doing? Why are you threatening me? I’m not your enemy!”
“The child you carry is,” he told her flatly.
“What?! Have you lost your mind?” she shouted, leaning towards him. “I don’t have sex with men – you know that! How can I be … carrying a child? That’s insane!”
“I was once a Fire Tender, Sakari. And now I am a Magami no te. I have always felt the lifeforce in each person. You know this. That is how we met. I took the lifeforce from your friend, who was in the water beneath the sand to stay alive. You nearly killed me for staying alive.”
“I remember,” Sakari nodded.
“And now I may have to kill you for the life that is growing within you,” he told her, his eyes steady, his voice betraying no emotion.
“I … I don’t know what to say,” she shook her head. “I swear I have never had sex with a man. I cannot be pregnant.” She sighed deeply, making sure to keep her hands at her sides. She held no illusions he would kill her if he felt the need to. “What do you want me to do?” she asked, automatically moving her hands as she posed the question, despite her best efforts not to. She closed her eyes, wincing when Vray brought the knife closer to her face. “Sorry!” she said, shivering. “What do you want me to do? I only came here to help take care of them,” she said, nodding in the direction of the people who she’d brought with her from Bila.
“Rajesh took the Emperor to Jikangai,” she explained. “As soon as Rajesh stepped into the grid lines, I felt the spell take shape. I’d heard a rumor that if the Emperor died, so would everyone else who was in the palace, so I brought as many people here as I could. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“They can stay,” he told her. “We will care for them. You may trust me.”
“Thank you,” she replied, relieved. “Can we talk to Jahari? Maybe she will know what to do.”
“No,” Vray responded, saying nothing more.
Sighing deeply, Sakari shook her head again. “What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to leave,” Vray told her, “but I cannot allow you to. You are a threat to everyone. We may be the only ones who can keep you from harming anyone else.”
“Is this really necessary Vray? What if you’re wrong? I didn’t do anything!”
“The life within you is vile. It is a threat. So you are a threat. You’re being here poses a threat to everyone in Nohoyo,” he paused. “But I cannot send you somewhere else either.”
“So I’m just supposed to stand here, not using my hands, for the rest of my life?” Sakari was beginning to feel irritated.
“It will be a very short life if you don’t cooperate,” he told her. “Hold out your hands. Slowly.”
When she did as he asked, he handed his weapon to another man standing next to him, then began passing his hands over and around hers, obviously attempting to bind her with his power. Sakari never knew what happened. One moment, she was standing, passively watching Vray weave his magic, and then next, she was flying explosively through the air until she hit a wall. As she fell to the ground, she heard people running towards her, but couldn’t feel her hands. Everything sounded muffled. She felt dizzy, and thought she might be sick, then the darkness took her.
Chapter Twenty-Six – Fixing Time
Raito watched the tortoise as she moved through the water once more. He saw her often, even through the haze the time contraction created. For some reason he was unable to yet explain, he felt the v
ibrations created by the Singers more acutely than Denit did, which was why he was so easily able to find this small hiccup, or pocket, in time. He found it remarkably easy to phase in and out of the time shifts present in both the inner and outer circles of Jikangai. He thought the ability might be due to the fact that Lumas had once occupied what was now his own body. Still, it seemed odd to him that any of her abilities, powers, or knowledge would remain once she had abandoned him. Whatever the cause, he was pleased to be able to watch Deiserin as she moved through the water. There was little that caused him to feel the emotion he would call “joy,” but watching her, for some reason felt pleasing. Perhaps more than that. He thought it might be because, as long as he was watching her, then she wasn’t truly alone. Nor was he.
Of course, she didn’t know he was watching her. She might, in fact, believe it was still Lumas who was hovering above her, casting shimmering light across the sea. She’d been trapped inside of Jikangai for centuries, undoubtedly unaware of events taking place elsewhere. And … he knew it was important to add … else “when.” And even if she was aware that it was he who watched her, she probably drew very little – if any – comfort from that fact. He knew there were thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands – or more, of people who gazed at him each time he passed over them, and yet he continued to feel isolated and alone. Lonely.
He’d been surprised when his sister had mentioned Deiserin. And for the first time in his life, he had been suspicious of her. Of what she might want. Why would she want Deiserin freed? What would she gain? There was more going on than she let on – even though she had said almost nothing at all. And there was no way for him to find out exactly what that was unless …
Raito actually felt his entire, physical, being shiver as a finger of terror blossomed deep within him. No! He couldn’t. No. He would never be able to … and suddenly, softly, as if the memory had been waiting for just the right moment to be called upon, he remembered when he was yet young and had found Oculis. This memory was just like that moment – unlooked for, but welcome just the same. Oculis had truly been nothing more than an owl then. A small animal alone in the world. All that time ago. And yet he had come right over to him. As if he had been expecting him to be exactly right there, at exactly that moment. That’s when he had been Serat Caeli, the blind God of Air. He had been born blind. With terrifying visions which had left him exhausted, confused, and constantly afraid.
No! That wasn’t quite true. That was the story he’d always told himself. But he hadn’t been born at all. Lumas had created him. So that he would be right here, right now – her surrogate. Her replacement. He had allowed himself to always feel as though he was never enough. Never sufficient. Second best. He was the second twin. Always alone despite Siri’s best efforts to include him in all things. And she had been the hero. She had been created whole. Even when she had taken his blindness from him, he’d always felt he owed her some … thing … some allegiance. Love. Affection. Loyalty. Whatever it was, he knew he would never be able to repay her, and so he had poured his entire identity into believing he was nothing without her. Lonely and alone.
Like Deiserin. She had never deserved to have been deceived by Lumas. Her sacrifice had been wholehearted and noble. She had been sealing the promise of peace Lumas had made to all of her people by paying the price demanded. He knew that what Deiserin had done after Lumas had revealed Rajesh was a god wasn’t right either, but it just didn’t matter anymore. There was nothing she could do to right the wrongs she’d made hundreds of years ago. But she didn’t deserve to be alone for all of eternity. Not any more than he did.
And maybe by helping her, he would be able to help himself. So yes. Yes! He would leave this place – this moon. Giya, too, had been created, just like he had been. As Denit had been. And others too. Why, he asked himself, had he never considered this before? Not only that – but, despite her many faults and failings, Lumas was a powerful goddess. She had changed the course of history within many civilizations throughout time and space. She had created him to take her place. She wouldn’t have created a worthless being to take her own place! No, she would not have!
Ratio marveled that he had truly never considered these things before. Not in the hundreds and hundreds of years he’d been alive. Not even when he had been worshipped by humans as their god on another planet far away. He’d made a habit of not believing in himself. And worse – in believing that he had been worthless. No more!
Gathering his thoughts, Raito remembered – just as his sister had encouraged him to do – who he used to be. But this time, instead of seeing himself as weak, ineffectual, and needy, he saw himself as strong, wise, and powerful. With utter confidence, he called Oculis to him as he stepped forward – from the moon so very far above the planet – onto the planet itself. As he inhaled the sweet taste of the air, he held his left elbow perpendicular to the ground and smiled when he felt Oculis’ weight settle there. It was thrilling to have a human body again!
“Hello old friend,” he said, turning to look at the owl. But Oculis didn’t respond. Instead, his eyes were rolled back in his head and he was obviously having trouble breathing.
“What have I done?” Raito gasped.
“His time is in the wrong place,” he heard a girl’s voice tell him, then watched as she reached to place her hands over Oculis’ eyes. Even though he was watching her carefully, fearful Oculis would strike out at her in his dazed state, he never saw the girl leave and return, even though he knew she had. She was both standing still and moving a long distance away, with Oculis in her arms, and then returned. Everything happened faster than the amount of time it would have taken for him to have been able to raise his hand to snap his fingers, but he knew she had left and returned. He had felt the absence of Oculis’ weight on his arm.
“You forgot to fix his time,” she said, smiling up at him.
Raito was too stunned to respond. What had just happened? Oculis shook his head then, his feathers ruffling, clearly feeling much better than he had been a moment ago. Blinking several times, he leaned towards Raito, then spoke into his mind.
::Serat? It has to be you! Where am I? What happened?::
::We are in the inner circle of Jikangai. I have finally learned how to come back to the planet and I needed you with me. :: He paused, admitting, :: I wanted you here. Are you all right now?::
::I … seem to be. But I was just in the City by the Sea!::
::I am a god, Oculis. Do you remember that? I finally have.::
::Is it safe for me to transform into human form?:: Oculis wanted to know.
“Yes,” a second girl replied, standing just behind the first. Raito knew she had not been there a moment ago. Where had she come from?
“You are yourself now,” she said, looking at Oculis. “You were caught between times, but now you are safe.”
“But what are you doing here?” Raito asked the girls. “Only gods are supposed to be able to enter Jikangai.”
“The rooster doesn’t control time,” the smaller of the two girls announced with a smile as Oculis dropped off of Raito’s arm to the ground. Distracted by the motion, Raito looked at Oculis to make sure he was all right. When he looked up again, to ask the girl what she meant, she was gone.
“See you soon,” the other one said, shrugging. Then she, too, was gone. There was no warning. No fading, or movement. She was just gone, as if she had never been standing there in the first place.
“Being a god doesn’t always help, does it?” Oculis chuckled, slapping Raito on the shoulder.
* * * * * * * *
Deep within the heart of the Song, there was an unexpected pause within the vibrations. A moment throughout the Universe when it seemed that creation itself held its breath. If the Universe was playing a musical instrument, perhaps a flute, or some other construct into which one must blow air in order to create the sounds necessary to produce what was universally considered “music,” then the pause would have been one during which the in
dividual who was using the instrument to create sound had inhaled long enough to take a breath before exhaling into the instrument to continue adding its voice to the melody. An audience wouldn’t be likely to have noticed, or – if having noticed – would have assumed the moment to have been purposefully created in order to enhance the experience.
The Song, not being created by any such constructs as musical instruments, reacted quite differently to the pause than an audience might. And those who knew to listen for it, were pleased.
Baya looked down at Aku in her arms and smiled. She had taken her sister from Chared even as he had stepped into the Song, without his understanding of what had happened. Rarely had she used her “gift” since she had come to understand it, fearful of being caught, and respectful of the fact that any changes she might make while moving through time might very well have severe, unintended consequences. In this case, the simple fact that she and her siblings had entered the Song to move from the City by the Sea to Jikangai with Giya is what had caused the owl to nearly die. It was a consequence she could not allow, given that he wasn’t an owl at all, but a sentient being who had not made his own choice to go to Jikangai. The Moon God had summoned him, and so he had appeared, entirely against his will, in the Second Circle. Raito’s timing had been most unfortunate in that he had summoned Oculis at the same moment Giya had chosen to move them from the City by Sea. If Raito had waited a few moments more, or had already arrived in Jikangai, Baya would not have felt compelled to move through time to save the owl.
She had taken Aku with her, despite the fact she had been unconscious when they had entered the Song, because she knew doing it would help to restore her sister’s balance. Aku was extremely sensitive to the shifting of time, and the changes in the Song. They weren’t what others – the few who knew to use the word – would rightfully be able to call “Joojinta,” because the Song did not call to them. The two of them would never become Singers. She had always supposed, though, that a few of their brothers and sisters, or their children, might become Singers, but it was Time that called them, not the vibrations of the Song itself.
