The duelist 7, p.18
The Duelist 7, page 18
“Alex.” Regent Sskern held out his hand so I could clasp his forearm in a hearty shake, but halfway through, the raptor-man pulled me in for a surprise hug complete with some hard back slapping. Then he pulled back and placed both of his hands on top of my shoulders. “There is nothing I can do that will even come close to what you’ve done for me and my people. For the first time in my lifetime, I get to look forward to a future where I may raise offspring of my own in a united land.”
“I’m just glad I was able to help you,” I said. “You and your people have made this trip unforgettable.”
“Where will you go, Shepherd?” someone from the gathered audience asked.
“Anywhere the wind takes us, I guess,” I replied in a vague way that wasn’t necessarily a lie. Not everyone needed to know our exact agenda, after all.
“Well, you and your clan are welcome among the Terran kind for the rest of your days,” Griss stated. “I have proclaimed you and yours kin-folk.”
At this pronouncement, a joyous cheer rose above the crowd, and as I stood there between my two wives, I felt enfolded within these loyal people. It was the best send-off I’d ever been a part of, and I was convinced nothing could spoil the moment short of a Red Sky Event.
The second the thought occurred to me, I tried to un-jinx it by looking for any wood to knock against, but then I felt silly about the sudden superstition.
Which was, of course, when the sky itself plunged into its eerie redness as that god awful subterranean howl ripped through the air.
Of course.
The one time I didn’t cover my ass and knock wood after a jinx.
Fuck.
Chapter 15
The Terrans screamed as the eerie howl shook the very air around us, and in the middle of everything, the entire crowd rushed toward the lip of the balcony so they could watch the respawning.
Myself included.
Another howl interrupted my musing, and I waded through a sea of people toward the edge of the balcony in order to get a look at what was happening.
My gaze lingered on the remnants of the old sentinel tower, specifically around the base where most of the demon scourge wound up respawning time and time again after the palace guards slashed them down.
However, no matter how many howls filled the red sky, not a single rock or dirt clod formed back into a demon.
I could tell the moment I wasn’t the only one who was seeing this, because the grave silence that kept the audience captive was starting to break apart with murmured questions and muffled exclamations.
“Is it just me, or are the demons running late to their own party?” I asked Zoie, who was standing to my right.
“Strange,” the cat-woman remarked as her eyebrows came together in a confused pinch. “The sky is red, and yet the scourge does not come.”
“What do you think is the meaning of this?” someone behind me asked, and it took me a second to realize that question was actually being directed toward me, and I turned around to the sight of several questioning faces peering at me as the droning howling sound echoed around us.
“I’ve never seen anything like this…” I started, but before I could even attempt to reason out why the demons were absent from this Red Sky Event, the sudden appearance of the enigmatic oryx-woman solved that problem for me as she stood up on the balcony’s ledge.
“People of Terr!” Amaya called out over the large crowd amassed in the palace courtyard, and when she cast her eerie glowing eyes over the audience, their nervous chattering stopped. “The Island herself has been made whole. From this day onward, Terr is freed from the sickness that has plagued our fair Aventoll for too long. Rejoice and revel in your newfound harmony.”
The augur-woman’s words reverberated through the air with a power all their own, and even if her eyes weren’t glowing, and her voice wasn’t being divided into several like some eerie robot, the sensation that I was standing next to a furnace giving off powerful heatwaves was inescapable.
She’d captured the crowd’s attention better than any one of my explanations could, and I smiled to myself when I realized Shay’s words from last night were right.
“How can this be?” Lord Griss asked as he and the Natavian Asher Lord both pushed through the crowd so they could determine if what Amaya was saying was the truth.
I caught Mec’s eye just briefly, but when I did, I nodded at him and then glanced back at Amaya.
“The Ancient Spirit of this Isle recognizes the Incarnate, who has healed the damage wrought upon us eons ago through the tampering of men.” The augur-woman’s multi-voiced answer rose above the din of chatter that started to creep in. “You no longer need to fear the Red Sky.”
Her proclamation somehow rang out louder than the subterranean howling still intermittently going off, but several people kept their eyes on the base of the sentinel tower through the remainder of the Event like they couldn’t take Amaya’s words for the truth.
Eventually, the Event faded until we were all once again blinking under a blue sky.
After a moment or two, it finally sunk in for all of us that a Red Sky just happened without a single scourge-mite respawning.
“Well, if this is going to be the norm, then I say, what is the point of having the Low-ish here at all?” This was asked by one of the Up-ish Terrans, based on her expensive attire and the amount of jewelry dripping off her. “Isn’t their usage only defined by their capacity to keep the scourge at bay?”
“Madam, with all due respect,” I interjected as politely as I could even though her question was an idiotic one. “If you don’t know by now, the Terrans you would like to deem second-class are now a part of your society whether you like it or not. They are not there for you based on how useful they are. Terr is whole again, people! Don’t go breaking her apart with your old ways of thinking!”
At this, Griss, Sskern, and Mec led the amassed crowd in a round of applause that drowned out the bigoted lady’s huffy noises.
There would always be a few bad apples in the bunch, but as long as they were kept from infecting the rest of the people, they could be dealt with.
Seeing these Terrans embrace this new paradigm filled me with a warm and content feeling, like I could leave and none of our hard-won progress would fall apart the second we did.
“Very wise words,” the ram-lord said when the group started to mill around much more casually now that the Red Sky Event was over.
“Her words were better,” I dismissed as I helped Amaya hop off the balcony’s ledge.
“Definitely not my words,” the oryx-woman corrected with an easy smile.
“Regardless,” Mec rumbled, and he flashed an amused smirk down at his little sister. “Everyone felt them as the Truth.”
“I have a feeling these people really will be alright now,” Shay commented as she leaned against the ledge so she could look out and marvel at Terr’s majesty one more time.
“Thanks in no small part to you, All Mother,” Mec said and dipped his horned head in respect, and then he gathered up her hand so he could place a gallant kiss on the back of the phoenix-woman’s knuckles. “This gives me hope that our own fair Nata can likewise be cured of her affliction.”
“If Terr can be rid of her scourge, then so can Nata,” Mec’s wife, Dawn, said as she joined her husband. Meera was in her arms and looked a little sleepy still since it was only just morning, but when she saw me wave at her, she perked up a tiny bit and waved back.
“If there is a will, there is a way,” I said, and then I grasped Mec’s proffered hand so I could shake it.
“Ah, yes, the saying is apt,” Mec said as we clasped forearms. “I remember my grandfather saying it time and time again when things looked like they were insurmountable in nature. And coming from you, I do not doubt that they are true.”
I grinned at the ram-lord before we each took our hands back. “What will you do? Go back to Nata?”
“Not just yet,” Dawn said as she beckoned Amaya forward so she was standing at the deer-woman’s side. “I’m afraid we must take Amaya and Anwaar with us to Alem so they can register for the Oath.”
“Wait, what?” I asked as I blinked at the oryx-woman, who looked just as surprised as me and even a little pissed off. “You didn’t mention this.”
“Now, Mya, don’t be difficult,” Mec started, but the oryx-woman took a startled step back, which caused her to bump into me.
“But I won’t have to go through with the Oath,” she argued. “Don’t you trust that Alex will find the answer?”
“Yes,” Mec said solemnly as he briefly locked eyes with me. “With all of my heart, if anyone can figure it out, it is our Alex. The question is, don’t you trust him as well?”
Amaya opened her mouth a few times like a cute tropical fish attempting to comprehend algebra, or something.
Finally, she closed her mouth and breathed out deeply through her nose. “I do trust him. With my whole heart.”
“We knew this day was coming,” I said as I tucked a buoyant curl behind her ear.
“I know, and I’ve prepared for it,” she sighed as she closed her eyes and leaned into my touch. “And if I don’t go, they will definitely know something is wrong.”
“And then they will come after us,” I finished for her, to which she nodded solemnly.
“I have to do this so you will all remain protected,” she said like she was also reminding herself of the greater goal. “And so that you may find the answers we both seek.”
“I promise, I will,” I murmured.
“It’s only for a little while, right, my love?” Mec asked his wife. “They merely have to register at this time.”
“Yes,” she said stoically but not unkindly.
“Does Anwaar know?” Amaya asked.
“We informed her earlier,” Dawn said as she hefted the sleepy little girl up higher in her arms. “It might explain why she and Horus are nowhere to be found at the moment.”
I glanced around and realized she was right, and then I smirked when I realized they must be up to a little “goodbye for now” nookie.
“How will she make it back to me?” I asked as I reached for the oryx-woman, who now had an anxious pinch between her platinum eyebrows. I figured the more knowledge she had, the more at ease she would be, as was usually the case with her.
“Once she has been registered, we will deliver her to you on Eng, if that is where you happen to be,” Mec said, and he took his daughter from his wife so he could give her arms a rest. The little deer-girl sighed, curled up on her daddy’s shoulder like it was the most comfortable memory foam mattress in the world, and promptly fell back asleep with a tiny snore. “I have asked your son if we may borrow the screecher called ‘Crackers.’ Look for our correspondence.”
“I shall,” I said with a nod, and then I drew Amaya into my arms. She all but collapsed into me and clung to the back of my tunic with slightly shaking hands. “It’ll be alright, Ames.”
“I know, I just don’t want to leave you.” She pulled back and gazed at me with her soulful gray eyes before she glanced at Shay and Zoie as well. “Any of you.”
As one, my two wives moved in to hug the oryx-woman, and the three of them stayed like that for a good while as I soaked in the embrace. By the time they were done, Horus and Anwar had finally joined us from wherever they were holed up, and it was clear the two of them had said their goodbyes and made amends with the fact that they would be parting.
Finally, Amaya pulled back with only a hint of tears in her pretty eyes as she looked at all three of us. Her sister wore a matching expression of longing on her face, but she held strong and took Amaya’s hand in hers, even though it was clear whose hand she would rather be holding.
As one group, all of us sauntered slowly toward the airship with Mec and Dawn trailing behind us so we could all linger over saying goodbye just a little longer. Eventually, though, the short walk came to an end, and I cupped the oryx-woman’s face between my palms and stared like I could memorize each dip and contour in just this one moment.
She seemed to feel the same way because her wide-open gaze drank in mine just as earnestly, like we were two parched people wandering through the desert, and as her eyes connected with mine, I knew she was going to be fine during our time apart even though the separation would sting.
“You’ll be okay,” I reassured her as much as I reassured myself, and then I placed a kiss in the middle of her forehead. “And you'll come back to me.”
“I promise,” she said and then practically jumped in my arms so she could give me one last passionate kiss before she forced herself to stand by her brother and sister.
“Alex, my friend,” the ram-lord said as he extended his big hand for me to clasp. I gripped it strongly, and then this time, I was anticipating the bone-crushing hug that came next, so it didn’t wring me out quite as badly as it did last time.
“You take care of them,” I told him, even though it really didn’t need to be said. They were his sisters after all.
“Alex is staying?” Meera finally piped up from where I thought she was out for the count on her dad’s shoulder.
“I’m not staying, but I’m not going back to Nata Isle just yet,” I told her and then tapped her on her cute button nose.
“Why not?” she asked me in that purely innocent way all children had.
“Alex needs to go on a very special quest so he might be able to set me free,” Amaya answered for me with a smile in my direction.
“You not free?” the little girl asked as she batted her big eyes.
“No, but I will be soon, don’t you worry, little bug,” she said kindly to the toddler.
This seemed to appease the deer-girl, and she snuggled back against her father’s chest. “Just make sure you don’t take too long, okay, Alex?”
“I promise,” I said and then laughed when she suddenly keeled over sideways with her arms outstretched like she knew I would catch her if her dad accidentally managed to let her go. Instead, he handed her off to me like a little football, and I spun her around just once before I gave her a little snuggle of my own. “You make sure you stay out of trouble, little one, and I need you to make sure Amaya stays safe. She’s going to need you to be by her side. Do you think you can do that for me?”
Meera sat up a little straighter in my arms when I gave her this epic task. Her freckled face screwed up in determination, and I knew I’d accidentally signed Amaya up for a miniature bodyguard because if I was beginning to understand children the way I thought I was, that gleam in her eyes meant she would take her task to heart come hell or high water.
I only hoped I didn’t make her that much more difficult for her poor mom to handle.
“I will do, Alex!” Meera all but shouted in her enthusiasm, and I gave Dawn a sideways glance of apology.
The gracious deer-woman only chuckled slightly as she shook her antlered head. I mouthed an “I am sorry” to her, but she only smiled and gazed fondly at her firecracker of a daughter.
Honestly, I was kind of relieved that the little one’s observant eyes were going to be fine-tuned to look out for the oryx-woman, so maybe I really was on to something.
Eventually, none of us could stall anymore, and it was obvious it was time for us to go our separate ways.
“Alex,” Lord Mec said as he clasped my forearm, and then he brought me in for a hug Meera was more than happy to join in on, and when we broke apart, he took her with him and slung her around so she was hanging on his back like a little monkey. “Take care of yourself.”
“Take care of Amaya,” I said back, and even though that was mostly a given, he nodded seriously with the knowledge of what it meant for me to let her go like this.
After that, I couldn’t stop myself from giving Amaya one last hug and kiss where I attempted to pour all of the things I couldn’t say into the action.
It had to be enough because I couldn’t bear to look back, and then without any further dallying, I took my remaining Crew, now down to just four including me, back up to the airship.
When we all entered the heart of the ship, I found Jenner sitting at the large wooden table sipping at something from a mug. He gave us his customary once-over before he sighed at the sight of all of our long faces and removed his monocle.
“Oh, dear,” he muttered as he tucked away the book he’d been reading before we all came inside. “I can see we are missing Amaya and Anwaar, and I wondered when they would be headed back to Alem to get registered. This looks like a call for Arvid to whip us up something special.”
“Do we really look that sorry?” the falcon-man asked as he slouched himself into the nearest chair.
“Well, you in particular always look like a sorry sack,” Jenner remarked in a teasing tone designed to cheer Horus up rather than annoy him.
But the recent parting of his love only allowed the corners of his mouth to twitch fractionally upward.
It seemed as if the koala-man was using this as a litmus test, because with the lack of a response from the usually roguish falcon-man, Jenner clicked his teeth and shook his head.
“Oh, my, it is worse than I thought,” he said and then bustled over to the pantry. “I had better break out the brandy for this one.”
“Excuse me, Cornelius, but it seems as if you are the only one of us who is not surprised we came back without our darling augur-mage sisters,” Shay observed as she and Zoie both took a seat next to each other.
I stared at my wives for a moment feeling as if their triad was now unbalanced and incomplete without Amaya. I’d gotten so used to seeing the three of them around each other that looking at just the two of them felt wrong.
“It’s true I may have brushed up a little on the Temple Order and how they conduct their Oaths in the interim,” the koala-man said as he adjusted his eyepiece. “I’ve known for some time that once the auger-mage has been summoned, her family must produce her to the high priestess for registration. And then she will be required to come back at the end of the season on Black Day to take the Oath. It is like this for all augur-mages.”
