“So, if you mess up, I’ll have useless tattoos?” I asked.
“We’ll just being starting over in a different spot,” she said with a smile.
“How often do you mess up?”
“Not often.”
“How often is that?” I insisted.
“Hardly ever.”
I blew out a breath. Trust. There I was contemplating putting trust in a stranger. Again. “I thought you said we weren’t welcome here again.”
“You are not welcoming in the Jo-Shar home,” she said. “This is not our home anymore.”
That didn’t make me feel any better. I was kind of hoping she had rescinded the ban when it turned out I just wasn’t in the right place to challenge it.
“I don’t think this is the best th—” Seanna said.
“I’ll do it,” I interrupted.
“Gaige...”
“How long will it take?” I asked Elder Narit.
“The night,” she said. “Not long.”
“Let’s get started,” I said before Seanna could protest more. I pulled off my jacket.
12
The Plan
Should we move closer to the fire for light?” I asked.
“It’s not necessary,” Elder Narit said.
It seemed very necessary to me. “It’s kinda cold, so maybe we could anyways.”
The old woman shrugged and moved back to allow me to drag the fur rug closer to the fire. “Good thinking. You’ll need to taking off your shirt, too.”
I nodded and grabbed the hem of my shirt.
“You’re trousers, as well.”
I froze and glanced at Seanna. “What?”
“You will needing three tattoos.” She stepped closer, grabbing my left wrist and turning my arm to expose my forearm. She tapped it. “Strength.” She reached over my shoulder to lay a finger on my left shoulder blade. “Endurance.” She bent to poke my left thigh. “Speed.”
“So, each ability has a certain spot the tattoo has to be placed?” I asked. “You touched above your heart for protection against cold. Cold restricts blood flow, so...”
“This tattoo allows us to speeding the flow of blood when needed,” Elder Narit finished. “Yes.”
“I’m surprised you were able to figure that out,” Seanna said.
The statement reminded me so much of Aoife that I couldn’t think of a comeback.
“Shirt and trousers.” Elder Narit settled on the rug and uncorked the bottle to pour more of the liquid into the bowl.
My heart flipped. There was a certain amount of hesitation in stripping in front of Seanna—I was immensely glad I wore boxers and not tighty whities—the real unease came in the fact that I had just agreed to put my trust in Elder Narit.
I pulled my shirt off, tossed it to the side, and began to unbuckle my belt.
“What am I supposed to do while you’re doing this?” Seanna asked.
“Make sure we’re not interrupted if you’re liking,” the elder said. “That is being pretty important. Keep the Gatekeeper company. It will take several hours and can getting quite uncomfortable. The choice is on you.”
The Ashling stood on the edge of the firelight with arms folded. I eyed her before turning away and pushing my pants off. I kicked them toward my shirt.
“Sit.” Elder Narit waved a hand at the edge of the fur rug closest to the fire.
I was thankful for that. The chill in the room was already tingling on my newly exposed skin. I sunk down into a cross-legged sitting position, making sure my boxers weren’t gapping around the thighs.
Elder Narit held the wooden needle between knobby fingers, muttering words I couldn’t catch. She clicked the needle on the polished wooden bowl. The black liquid vibrated ever so slightly.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Seanna asked.
“Yes,” I said, though I really wasn’t. What did I have to lose, though? The worst that could happen was I ended up with a bunch of tribal-looking tattoos. No big deal, right?
Elder Narit opened her eyes and looked me over. Somehow the gaze of an old woman didn’t embarrass me quite as much as Seanna seeing me in my skivvies.
“I suppose any tattoo is as good as the other to start,” the elder said.
“I guess,” I agreed.
She scooted closer and grabbed my arm, turning it to expose my forearm. “We will starting here.”
I nodded an agreement. It really didn’t matter which one she did first. I wiped my free hand on the rug, eyeing the needle in her fingers.
Seanna shifted but said nothing.
“This will pinching a little,” Elder Narit said. “From here until I finish, please no interrupting.”
She closed her eyes again and after nearly a minute of silence, she began to speak. The language wasn’t anything I had ever heard here on Alisundi or back on Earth. She didn’t really sing, but there was a cadence to what she said. Her low and thin voice reminded me of a monk’s chant.
She ran the tip of the needle along the edge of the bowl three times. She dipped the tip into the liquid and pulled my arm closer. Without opening her eyes, she poked the skin.
My heart leapt. Wasn’t it normal for somebody giving a tattoo to have their eyes open?
She didn’t hesitate, though, and poked again. I watched the ink spread just a tiny bit out from the poke as she dipped the needle.
Other than the whole eyes closed thing, it wasn’t so bad. It felt a lot like being poked by a stick, but it didn’t draw blood. Watching the ink spread with every pierce kind of freaked me out a little bit, so I turned to Seanna.
“So, where do we go from here?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” she said.
“Where do we go from here to find Aoife?”
“There’s not really much to go on. I have an idea. You won’t like it, though,” she replied.
“I won’t like it any more than coming back to this godforsaken planet? I don’t see how it could get any worse than that.”
“Oh, it can.”
I winced and looked at Elder Narit’s work on my arm. The tattoo was progressing, but the skin around the pokes was growing irritated. I felt each one more acutely. I resisted the urge to pull my arm away.
“Just tell me,” I snapped.
“Delicia,” she said.
The blood drained from my face again. Every fiber of my being yelled at me to stand and run from the hut. Elder Narit’s grip on my wrist tightened, which just might have been the only thing that kept me from doing just that. Her chanting never faltered.
“You expect me to let you lead me back there?” My voice cracked just a bit.
“Think about it, Gaige,” Seanna said. “The Getharey aren’t of this world. The only connection they have is in Delicia.”
“So, what—we’re just going to march up to Daresh and demand he tell us where the Getharey are?” I said.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do, but I don’t have any other ideas to go on,” she said. “There have been rumors of an Earthling stuck here, but nothing concrete. Nothing that we’ve been able to find.”
“You’ve been looking?” I asked.
“I thought it was you. I never thought it would be Aoife playing the part of the hero.” She watched Elder Narit poke more holes in my arm. “Then I heard it was a girl, not a boy. I was shocked. It isn’t really something I expected from her.”
“It was all her,” I said. “Her idea. Her execution.”
“How in the world did she manage it?” Seanna asked with genuine interest.
“Remember when that Balataur took her from your city? She projected her fear so clearly we were able to follow it like a beacon.” I resisted the urge to glance at Elder Narit’s work. It was really starting to sting. “She did something like that. She made the Getharey want nothing more than to go back through the gateway.”
“Interesting,” she said. “I would have never thought to use her abilities like that.”
“The real
amazing thing was when she was compelling them to go through the gateway, it was affecting Mr. Minor, her brother, and me, too. She split her emotions to urge us to stay while leading the Getharey through.” I shook my head at the memory.
“That is impressive,” she said.
I glanced at her to see if I could spot any sarcasm in what she said. I was ready to snap at her, but I didn’t see any.
“I kept my ears open, though.” Seanna went on. “I’ll admit I’ve been distracted by other things, but there’s been nothing concrete. It’s like she came here and then became a ghost. A little-known legend.”
“So, we just waltz into Delicia? Ask if anybody’s seen her? Catch up on old times?”
“Don’t be facetious,” she said.
“Facetious maybe,” I said, “but it’s a legitimate concern.”
“I don’t really have any other ideas, Gaige,” Seanna insisted. “The last things to see Aoife alive were the Getharey. They work for Daresh. At least they used to. We haven’t heard from them either since their failed invasion.”
I shook my head. “They weren’t working for him. Daresh was their puppet. They wanted Earth. They used him, who used you to get to me. Their leader—the one we saw with Daresh—I created a new gateway to get him off Earth. I have no idea where that gateway opened up to but when I closed it, it was gone for good. Along with mine to this world.”
“So, you think they’re not with him anymore?” Seanna asked.
I shrugged a shoulder—the one that wouldn’t interfere with Elder Narit’s work. “It’s not like they owed an allegiance to him or anything. They came to Alisundi looking for magic. When they found this world was almost dry already, they turned their sights on Earth where magic’s had centuries to build without anybody using it.”
“It’s still the logical place to look.” She stepped forward and knelt beside me. “All we have to do is poke around a little. Ask around. We have friends there.”
“The Underground?” I guessed. “I don’t think they’d consider us friends after we got their leader killed.”
“Tias made his choice. I imagine they realize that.”
“And his choice got him killed,” I reminded her. “I don’t think the others will be so eager to help us.”
“You don’t get it, do you?” she sighed. “Weren’t you paying attention when he told us of the Delicia Underground?”
“Of course, I was.”
“They are willing to die for any victory, no matter how small,” she said. “You were a victory. Daresh wanted you and Tias took you away from him.”
“I guess.”
I glanced at Elder Narit. She made no indication she heard our conversation. She kept her eyes closed and continued her work with efficiency. She dipped the needle into the bowl every second poke, never breaking her chant, though her voice had lowered to a barely audible whisper.
“You can understand why I hesitate to follow you back there,” I said. I used my free hand to wipe a bit of sweat forming on my brow, though I didn’t know what was getting to me. Either the fire at my back was getting too hot, the increasing pain from the constant poking was really starting to hurt, or the thought of going back to Delicia scared the crap out of me. Likely all three.
She reached out to touch my arm, glanced at Elder Narit’s needle poking the ink into my skin and pulled her hand away. “You don’t have any reason to believe me, but you really should pull your head out of your butt.”
“What?” I said.
“In case you forgot, you made the decision to come here with me. You wanted nothing to do with this planet, but with the chance to help Aoife, you came here. You let me bring you here. To stop now because you don’t trust me is just stupid.”
“Trusting you is just as stupid.”
The tendons around her jaw tightened and she visibly fought down irritation. It was actually kind of fun to watch. She never struggled with it in the past. She always let it out—usually in the form of an insult aimed my direction. Maybe she really was trying to make it up to me, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t push her buttons a little. She deserved it.
“Alright,” she said curtly. “Fine. How about this? Once we’re done here, we make our way towards Delicia because that’s the only plan we have, but if you think of something else along the way, I’ll be more than happy to indulge you.”
“Indulge me?”
“You know what I mean.”
She was right, of course. We really didn’t have any other plan of action. I hadn’t given it any thought. As usual, I dived in head first and worried about the depth of the water when I splashed in it.
I shifted uncomfortably as pain climbed up my arm. The nerves in my skin had just about enough of the constant prodding. “Yeah, sure, I guess.”
“It really is the best option we have right now,” she reassured me.
“I said fine,” I snapped, my irritation going up as my pain tolerance level went down. “You’re right. I don’t know what else to do—where else to go.”
Elder Narit’s chant wound down to a hum as she released my wrist and grabbed my calf, pulling my leg out straight. The chanting returned as she dipped the needle and began poking my thigh.
I held my arm up to the firelight. My entire forearm was red and irritated around the tattoo, but the work itself was amazing considering the primitive, wooden needle and the way the ink seemed to spread on its own. The tattoo was maybe an inch and a half long and comprised of two off-centered half circles connected by a thick, curving line—like a ball had been cut in half and opened up to reveal an inner tube holding it together. What blew my mind was the exactness in the lines. If the half circles were put together, they’d make a perfect circle.
“What do you think?” I held my arm up to Seanna.
Her lips tightened as she glanced at the tattoo.
“Not too douchey, is it?” I asked.
“Too what?”
“Never mind.” I examined it closer, even venturing to poke at it with a finger. The irritated skin stung a bit, but not too bad. “I don’t really feel stronger, though. Do you think that’s something I’m supposed to notice?”
“The magic is not yet complete,” Seanna explained. “From what I can tell, the tattoos will be interconnected through the magic she is weaving into the ink. Once she finishes all three, then they will truly be complete. Whether you’ll notice a difference with them,” she shrugged, “I don’t know. It is a type of magic I am unfamiliar with.”
I nodded.
With our plan of action in place, there wasn’t much else to talk about. I was more than happy to let the room hum with Elder Narit’s quiet chanting punctuated by the crackling of the fire.
13
One last tattoo
The leg tattoo took longer than the one on my arm. It was bigger and covered a large section of thigh. I only caught a glimpse of it before Elder Narit had me lay on my stomach for her to work on the last tattoo on my shoulder. My thigh now sported a large bird’s wing with rounded edges. It stung and itched like crazy.
I shifted my head to rest my chin on my arms and look at Seanna sitting nearby. Anything was better than smelling the strong musk of the unknown animal hide on the floor. I wanted to have some kind of conversation with her and yet, I didn’t. If she stood up and walked out the door, never to be seen again, I would have been perfectly fine with it, but I also wanted the distraction. The Elder had been working on my shoulder tattoo for a while and it was starting to hurt more than the other two combined.
I couldn’t really come up with anything to talk about, though. Nothing that wouldn’t lead to my blood pressure rising, anyways. I didn’t think there were any safe topics for small talk between us.
She seemed distracted herself anyways. She sat cross-legged staring with vacant eyes into the cabin’s gloom beyond the firelight. The flickering light gave her face a gaunt, sickly appearance—sunken eyes and jagged cheekbones.
Curiosity crept back in and I wonde
red what was so important for her to go through the trouble of coming back to Earth to ask me for help. I figured it had something to do with magic draining for Alisundi, but there wasn’t anything I could do about that. If I still had my Gatekeeper abilities, then maybe I could come up with some nefarious reason the Ashlings wanted me here. Maybe they thought I could open a new gateway to a world they could siphon magic from, but Seanna gave no indication of disappointment when she found out I was no longer the Gatekeeper.
I shivered and turned to look at the hearth. The fire had waned quite a bit. The Elder was too busy with her work to notice and Seanna wasn’t affected by the cold like I was, so she hadn’t noticed either. Elder Narit’s warm hands on my chilled back raised goosebumps on my skin. My stubborn streak prevented me from asking Seanna to put another log on the fire, though. I resisted the urge to fold my arms underneath myself for fear that moving would mess Elder Narit up and I’d made it through two tattoos—leave it to me to cause a catastrophe on the last one.
Seanna started and turned to look at me, or more accurately, at Elder Narit’s work. I hadn’t notice her stop poking with the wooden needle. She had her hand flat on my back over the tattoo. She continued chanting, growing in intensity. Her voice was strong, not thin and cracking like normal.
“What?” I asked Seanna, a little concerned.
“Shh,” she hushed, her eyes transfixed on my shoulder. Her eyes widened as a purple glow lit her face.
I tried to twist my head to see what was going on, but the pressure of Elder Narit’s hand increased to keep me still. I turned back to Seanna to get clues of how I should be reacting based on her reactions. Her face was hard to read beyond an undeniable amazement. I didn’t see any horror or fear, so I had to believe whatever was happening on my back was legit.
After a few moments of the Elder’s increased chanting, the temperature in the room rose starting with the three tattooed spots. They felt wet, too, like she had pressed scraps of cloth that had been soaking in hot water against the sensitive skin. The warmth seeped uncomfortably into my body and spread, starting from my forearm and moving out.
The Gatekeeper Trilogy Page 65