by S. E. Smith
“You must send her away,” Dyami said.
Aditsan’s hands froze at the top of the blanket. His mind shied away from the thought. The pounding of his heart when he woke and realized that Angeni wasn’t beside him left him feeling weak and shaken. The idea of never seeing her again was beyond repugnant to him.
“Never,” he snapped.
“She will die in your world. Even now she grows weaker, more fragile. She tries to hide it from you,” Dyami stated.
Shock held him rigid. He stared at the owl with growing fear and anger. The creature was lying to him. Surely Angeni would have told him if it was impossible for them to stay together.
“You’re lying,” he gritted out through clenched teeth.
“If you love her, you must let her go,” Dyami instructed.
Aditsan swayed when the owl suddenly disappeared as if it had been an illusion. He lifted a trembling hand to his brow. What if the creature was telling him the truth? The thought of losing her sent a shaft of pain through him. The emotion was so intense that he sank to his knees, breathing heavily and breaking out in a sweat despite the cold air against his bare skin.
“I can’t. I can’t let her go.” He looked up at the pre-dawn sky. “I love her. Please—don’t take her away from me,” he begged.
Chapter 9
Angeni picked up another piece of wood, ignoring the call of the wind. She needed to get back to camp before Aditsan woke. A wisp of wind blew around her again, this time with a little more force. A tiny tug pulled loose several strands of hair that swept across her face.
“Go away,” she ordered.
You must come home. Father knows. He has requested you return, her sisters begged.
“I’m not leaving. I’m staying with Aditsan,” she replied in a mutinous tone.
Mother cannot calm him. You must come home, Angeni, her sisters warned.
She stood still and closed her eyes. The rumble of displeasure deep within the earth matched the one above. Her father was furious. A tremble of unease swept through her.
I love him, she whispered, hoping her father would accept her decision.
Beneath her feet, the ground began to shake. Fear for Aditsan filled her. She dropped the wood she had collected, opened her eyes, and turned back in the direction of the campsite where she had left Aditsan peacefully sleeping. If her father created an earthquake, there was a chance that rocks from the cliff might fall.
All sorts of horrible images filled her mind as she raced back to the campsite. Relief flooded her when she saw him down near the riverbank. She slowed until she was walking at a quick pace.
“Aditsan, you are awake,” she said with a trembling smile.
The smile on her lips faded when she saw the panic in his eyes. She rushed forward when he opened his arms for her. They held each other as if they would never let go.
“I was afraid you’d disappeared when I didn’t see you,” he murmured in a slightly unsteady voice.
“No, I wanted to restart the fire before you woke,” she said.
He brushed a kiss across her lips and smoothed the loose strands of hair back from her face. She turned her head and pressed a kiss to his palm. The warmth of his body felt good.
“Let me help you,” he said.
She nodded, pushing away her fear of her father’s anger. When she was with Aditsan, she felt whole. He healed her soul.
They walked back to the spot where she dropped the wood and retrieved it. She ignored the worried whispers of her sisters. She handed him the firewood and picked up the basket of food. The ground trembled under her feet and she swayed.
“Look out,” Aditsan shouted.
He grabbed her around the waist, lifting her off the ground and carried her a few feet out into the open. They watched as small chunks of rock rained down on the campsite. He jumped back when several larger rocks fell into the fire and sent out a shower of hot embers.
“Stop!” Angeni cried out, pulling out of his arms.
“Angeni?” he asked, confused.
She looked up at the sky. “Father, please!” she called.
“Father? Angeni, what is it?” he demanded, gripping her arms.
She twisted to face him. Tears glistened on her cheeks in the early morning light. She flung her arms around his neck and held him.
“He’s angry. I’m afraid he will hurt you,” she whispered.
His arms tightened around her. “Come with me,” he said, pulling back far enough so he could see her face. “Come with me. We’ll leave here.”
“It won’t matter where we go. Father will find us,” she said in a voice touched with despair.
“We have to try,” Aditsan insisted, refusing to give up.
The sky above them rumbled and dark clouds began to form. Angeni could feel her father’s fury building. She gripped Aditsan’s hand and nodded.
She followed Aditsan as he led her to the path along the cliff. The sky grew darker the higher they climbed. The mournful winds of her sisters pulled on her hair and clothing. She stumbled and almost fell when the ground violently shook once more.
“Hold on to me,” he instructed, gripping the side of the cliff to keep from sliding on the loose gravel.
Angeni looked up at the sky. She knew they would never make it to the top. Thick droplets of rain began to fall. Soon, a small river of water ran down along the path, loosening the soil and eroding the edge of the narrow ledge.
Horror gripped her when the ground under Aditsan’s feet dissolved and he fell. She frantically reached out and grabbed his arms. The combination of rushing water and sediment made his skin slick and he began to slip.
“Hold on,” she cried.
The weight of his body pulled on her. She tangled her fingers in the material of his shirt, desperately seeking a way to hold on to him. More of the path gave way, slipping down the side of the cliff. The ground trembled beneath them and they both looked up when they heard the rumble of rushing water.
“Flash flood! Let me go,” Aditsan harshly ordered.
“No!” she whispered, shaking her head.
“Angeni… let me go,” he said in a gentler tone.
“Aditsan,” she whimpered, his damp shirt slipping from her grasp.
“I love you,” he said, staring into her eyes.
Tears blinded her. This was her fault. She had dared to love a human and this was her punishment. She lifted her head and stared up at the angry sky.
Father, let me save him and I will return. Please, just let me save him and I will come home, she promised.
She returned her gaze to Aditsan’s face. He stared at her, the power of his love shining like a beacon in the night. The flood waters poured over the edge of the cliff before it parted on either side of them. Her tears mixed with the rain.
“I love you, Aditsan. I’m sorry,” she mouthed.
“Angeni…. No! No!” he cried out.
“Sleep, my warrior,” she softly commanded.
Aditsan fought her command, but it was no use. Pain filled her when she saw his eyelashes close and his body went limp. The weakness seeping through her body disappeared. She slowly pulled him back onto the cliff path and cradled him in her arms.
Around them, the trembling earth settled and the sky cleared. The earth under them healed. The wall of water seeped into the ground and wildflowers suddenly filled the cracks, knitting the ground back together. She whispered to her sisters and the wind swept down and helped her carry Aditsan back to their pallet of blankets. Her brother lit a fire for Aditsan while her sisters cleaned and dried their bed.
Angeni ran her hand down over Aditsan’s sleeping form, cleaning his clothes and body, and healing the bruises left from his fall. Her expression softened when he murmured her name in his sleep. She leaned forward, cupped his cheeks between her hands, and pressed a light kiss to his lips.
“I love you, my warrior,” she murmured before she rose to her feet. “Goodbye, Aditsan.”
Her heart was breakin
g. She felt that she would never truly be happy again. How could she heal the earth when her own heart was beyond repair? With a cry of despair, she sank down into the earth near Aditsan—returning to the soil where she belonged.
Chapter 10
Aditsan woke to the sound of a helicopter. He sat up and shielded his eyes. A shout from the cliff above drew his attention and he pushed off the ground to stand. He looked down at the ground and swayed. He was standing on a pallet of brightly colored blankets. Memories flooded through his mind and he gripped the wall.
His dazed eyes swept over the campsite. There was no evidence of the earthquake or the flash flood. In fact, the area looked even better than it had before. A carpet of wildflowers covered the ground. The songs of birds were intermingled with the annoying sound of the helicopter.
“Aditsan, thank goodness you are alright,” a voice exclaimed.
He looked up when he heard the familiar voice of his executive secretary. George, followed by half a dozen men, hurried toward him. Confusion filled him when he saw all the men. He looked up when the shadow of the helicopter flew over.
“George, what—how—where did you come from?” he demanded.
The tall, lanky Englishman strode over to him. “Well, you did instruct me to come find you if you didn’t return in two days. It’s been four since you disappeared. We’ve had half the reservation out here looking for you,” he informed him.
“Where’s Angeni?” he asked.
George frowned at him. “Angeni? The crew in the helicopter said they only saw you. Is there someone else with you?” he asked.
Aditsan fought to keep his panic from showing. “Her name is Angeni. She is about five foot five with long black hair, brown eyes…. Never mind!” he growled.
His frustration rose along with his panic and he pushed George to aside. With a shake of his head, he decided it would be faster if he looked for her. He started to call out her name when he heard one of the men whistle in appreciation.
“This is really something. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it before,” the man exclaimed.
Aditsan’s eyes flashed over at the man before following the direction he was looking. Pain sliced through him when he saw what the men were looking at. George reached out and steadied him when he swayed.
“Aditsan, what is it?” George murmured with concern.
Aditsan tried to speak, but couldn’t get the words past the lump in his throat. He walked forward on trembling legs. Flowers of every color and shape grew just on the other side of his campsite.
“Don’t!” he ordered when one of the men started to bend down to pick a flower. “Don’t disturb her.”
Tears glittered in his eyes as he sank down next to the form of the sleeping woman made of flowers. His fingers reached out to touch the delicate petals. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes.
I love you, my warrior.
Angeni’s soft voice echoed through his mind. He wasn’t even aware of the anguished cry he emitted. His voice rose above the sound of the waterfall and echoed through the canyon. He bent forward, gasping for air. His fingers curled into fists.
“Wait for us at the top of the cliff. Aditsan, what is it? What happened?” George asked.
Aditsan fought to breathe. He felt as if his heart was being ripped out of his chest. Tears blinded him and he impatiently wiped his hand across them.
“She’s—gone. She’s gone,” he choked out.
George squatted next to him. “Who’s gone?” he quietly asked.
Aditsan pushed off the ground and strode down to the edge of the water. He didn’t know how long he stood staring at the falling tears of Angeni’s sisters. His mind felt like it was splintering. Behind him, he heard George approaching.
“We’ll need to leave soon. I had the helicopter take the search team back to town. They’ll be returning and we’ll need to leave before dark,” George explained.
“She saved my life,” he murmured. “Angeni said the waterfall and rivers were created by the tears of her sisters. If you had told me two weeks ago, I would have laughed and said it was a nice fairy tale. The world is a different place now, George. I’m not sure where I belong anymore.” He glanced at George before he sighed and looked to the sky. “I fell from a cliff. I fractured several ribs, had a concussion, and I’m pretty sure a punctured lung. I was dying and I knew it.”
George’s breath hissed with surprise. “How—when did this happen?” he asked, stunned.
“Three days ago, but it seems a lifetime ago. I barely made it down the path. I was hoping to get to the river, but I collapsed. She found me over there,” he said, waving toward the camp.
“I don’t understand. From the injuries you described, it would be impossible to heal that fast,” George said.
“For anyone else—yes, but not for Angeni. She isn’t from our world, George,” he quietly replied.
“What world is she from?”
He wanted to laugh when he heard the doubt laced in George’s voice, but he would have been just as skeptical. How did you explain to someone there were powers in this world beyond normal understanding? George believed in one God. How could he understand that there were many?
“Angeni is a healer. She heals the earth after her father gets angry, or her sisters cry a flood, or her brothers burn the ground. She helps the wildflowers grow after a winter snowstorm. I love her, George. I love her and I’ve lost her forever because she cannot live in our world and I cannot exist in hers,” he murmured as grief struck him.
His shoulders trembled and he bowed his head in sorrow. He didn’t want to go back to his world. He wanted to stay here—where the wildflowers grew in the shape of the woman he loved.
I want to live here, with her, Grandfather, he silently cried.
You have found your way home, Grandson, his grandfather’s gentle voice told him.
“Would you look at that!” George suddenly exclaimed.
Aditsan took a deep breath and looked up. A magnificent eagle soared down along the canyon, skimming the river before turning and landing on the boulder near where Angeni lay. He frowned when the eagle continued to stare intently back at him.
He slowly walked toward the large bird. The eagle flapped its wings but remained on the rock. It wasn’t until he was a few feet from the eagle that he recognized the look in the bird’s eyes.
“Dyami?” he murmured.
“Who’s—?” George started to ask but clamped his mouth shut when Aditsan held up his hand.
Dyami looked at George before he flew to the ground. Aditsan followed Angeni’s brother as he hopped over to the bed of flowers. The eagle stopped next to Angeni’s hand and dropped an object down on the ground next to her.
Aditsan watched as Dyami took off, flying to a nearby juniper tree where he landed. He looked down at the ground and saw the necklace. Bending, he scooped up the simple piece of jewelry. There was a stone hanging from it. He turned the stone over in his hand, immediately recognizing the symbol.
“What is the hand for?” George asked, looking over his shoulder.
Aditsan ran his thumb over the symbol of the hand with spiraling circles cut into it. “It is a symbol of healing,” he murmured.
He looked at Angeni’s peaceful features. Love for her swelled inside him. He opened the clasp of the necklace and bent forward, careful not to crush any of the flowers that made up her body. With a touch as gentle as if he were handling spun glass, he carefully placed it around her neck.
His smile was sad when he reached down to stroke the flowers of her hand. “One day we will meet again—if not in this life, then in the next. You will always be with me in my heart,” he vowed.
He closed his eyes and sent a silent wish to her on the wind. He fervently hoped that wherever she was, she would hear his words. A soft, shuddering sigh slipped from him.
“Sweet Holy Mother Mary,” George’s shocked exclamation caused him to open his eyes.
He started to turn to
look at George, but then he felt slender fingers wrap around his hand. Shocked, he looked back down at the flowers. His eyes widened in disbelief when he saw Angeni’s shimmering form within the petals. His fingers tightened around hers and he gently helped her emerge from the flowers. Petals fell like raindrops around her as he pulled her to her feet. She looked around her before her eyes locked with his.
“Aditsan?” she breathed.
“I love you,” he hoarsely replied.
The smile on her lips grew until he knew that her mother must have gifted her with a touch of the sun. He had never felt so warm in his life or seen anything more beautiful. He released a choked laugh and pulled her against his body. Her arms wrapped around him and she buried her face against his neck.
“I love you. I thought I would never see you again,” she said.
“I would have stayed here with you,” he murmured. “Not even your father could have driven me away.”
She giggled and lifted her head. “He wants us to be happy,” she said with a brilliant smile.
“Every day of our lives,” he vowed, capturing her lips in a passionate kiss.
George sat on a rock in stunned silence staring at the couple locked in a passionate embrace. His eyes kept moving from the flowers to the woman. He started when he heard the sound of laughter on the wind and looked up in time to see the eagle vanish into thin air.
“This is a story I can’t wait to hear about,” he said as the helicopter flew overhead.
Epilogue
Seven years later:
“Tuwa, you and your brother stay close,” Aditsan instructed his six-year-old twins.
“Yes, Daddy,” Tuwa replied without looking back.
“I’ll race you to the bottom,” Tadi said.
“I’ll keep up with them,” George called out.
Aditsan released a light chuckle and gave George a nod of thanks. His fingers curled around Angeni’s hand and they walked down along the path that led to the canyon. He started to jerk away when he saw Tadi stumble.