by J. M. Lee
“It is that love that we will nurture in Maudra Mera until it blooms into a fire,” she finished.
“Well, we will certainly try,” Kylan said, plucking his supper from the fire. The rest of them did the same, and they ate beneath the stars as the Sister Moons crept into the sky.
CHAPTER 11
On the second morning of their journey to Sami Thicket, Naia woke to the sound of furtive footsteps approaching on tiptoe.
She opened her eyes without moving. Gurjin was facing her, just as alert and still. They waited until the footsteps were on the other side of the small line of trees that circled their campsite, Naia slowly twisting her ear to catch the whispers:
“Drenchen? How did they get past the rangers?”
“Who cares. Get ready.”
The dim shadow of two long spears rippled over Naia’s shoulder. She moved her hand on top of a big rock that was resting in the grass beside her head. A twig snapped. As the owners of the two voices charged out from the trees, Naia and Gurjin leaped up, Naia catching the closer attacker’s spear in the crook of her elbow and smashing her rock against its shaft so it broke in half. To her right, the other spear snapped as Gurjin cut it to pieces with his dagger. Somewhere at her back, Kylan yelped.
Two Spriton in light leather armor stood, mouths agape, holding their broken spears in numb hands. They were dark- skinned, like Kylan, one a familiar boy with black hair and the other a girl with dark blue locs, her bright green wings half-splayed in surprise. Naia dropped her rock and picked up the end of the spear with the point, holding it out and daring them to move while Kylan and Amri rose from their bedding.
“Hi,” Naia said. “Good morning.”
“G-good morning,” the girl stammered. She spread her fingers, dropping the remains of her spear. “No need to do anything brash—”
“Like jumping on sleeping travelers with spears drawn?” Gurjin asked, waving with his dagger for the other Spriton to drop what was left of his spear, too. He did, and Gurjin kicked the pieces of wood away.
“Listen, maybe this is all a misunderstanding,” the girl said. She nodded with her chin over their shoulders. Naia assumed she was gesturing to Kylan and Amri, but she didn’t take her eyes off the two Spriton to look. “We never see Drenchen north of Sami Thicket, but I see you’re with one of our . . .”
The sentence fell awkwardly out of the girl’s mouth when Kylan stepped between Naia and Gurjin. The boy gasped.
“Kylan?”
“Hello, Lun,” Kylan said to the boy. Then to the girl, “And Gereni.”
When she heard the boy’s name, Naia knew how she had recognized him. When she had first come to Sami Thicket, he had been sitting with Maudra Mera, preparing food for the Skeksis. She moved aside for Kylan and lowered the point of her half spear, though she didn’t toss it aside just yet.
“Kylan—we thought you— Where did you go?” Gereni asked. Over him, she looked back and forth between Naia, Gurjin, and Amri, who had come to stand on Naia’s other side. “And who are these people?”
“Friends. What are you two doing scouting so far from Sami Thicket?”
Lun pursed his lips and gave Naia and Gurjin a suspicious look from the corner of his eye. “Why don’t you come back to Sami Thicket, and Maudra Mera can explain.”
“Great!” Gurjin said, slinging his dagger at his hip. “The more the merrier. Wait a moment while we pack up our things, would you?”
“Not you,” Lun snorted. “We’ve had enough of your kind of late. It’s your fault we’re scouting way out here, anyway! And I don’t even know what you are.”
The last he said to Amri, who raised a brow and said, “Wow. All right.”
Gurjin exchanged a look with Naia. “Charming, aren’t they? My favorite at the castle, too. They always knew how to make people feel welcome.”
“Weren’t we just talking about this last night?” Naia asked under her breath. Then aloud, “Listen. We’re friends of Kylan’s and we’re not interested in fighting with you. We have important information for Maudra Mera. I’d appreciate your help in making sure we reach her.”
“I’m not going back to Sami Thicket without them,” Kylan said. Lun didn’t move, not in his expression or any other part of his body, but Gereni seemed friendlier. At the very least, she’d been relieved to see him. Kylan saw it, too, and appealed to her. “We’ve been traveling south for days. Whatever’s happened between the Spriton and the Drenchen, we’re not a part of it. You can trust them. Like you’d trust me.”
Gereni turned an ear toward him, assessing the other three Gelfling that stood before her. Naia crossed her arms and waited until the Spriton girl folded up her wings and nodded.
“Fine.”
While they packed up their camp as quickly as they could, Naia listened to Lun and Gereni argue.
“Gereni, we can’t trust the Drenchen, even if Kylan says so. They could be spies from Maudra Laesid’s encampment!”
“Even if they are, at least they’re in our sights,” Gereni replied sternly. “And don’t you recognize them? They’re Naia and Gurjin. The two that have been traveling the world spreading the rumors about the Skeksis.”
“Wait, go back. Maudra Laesid’s what now?” Gurjin asked.
The two Spriton looked over their shoulders as the group of them started walking, leaving the cold, damp embers of their campfire behind. Kylan shouldered their pack, and Naia slipped the spear head in her belt just in case.
“I suppose if you’ve been north all this time, you wouldn’t know,” Lun said with a little curl of the lip. “Maudra Laesid’s brought the Drenchen north of the swamp. They’re marching on the Castle of the Crystal.”
“What?” Naia hissed. “She wouldn’t—” She stopped herself before she could finish, though, because it wasn’t true. Her mother was a great warrior, stubborn and righteous. There was no doubting she would raise her spear against the Skeksis if she felt the time was right.
“So you’re saying she would,” Amri said.
“Unfortunately,” she replied grimly.
“She would, and did,” Gereni continued. “But she cannot cross the Spriton Plains without our leave, and Lord skekUng has ordered us to stop them. Though after what happened in Stone-in-the-Wood, I wonder if we should let them through.”
“What happened in Stone-in-the-Wood?” Naia asked. But Gereni and Lun’s patience had expired, and neither of them answered. All Naia could think of was what they had already guessed, since hearing what had happened when Seladon had taken the crown of the All-Maudra. It was Maudra Fara and Maudra Laesid who had declined to bless her ascent, and now it was Stone-in-the-Wood where something had happened, and the border of Sog where something else soon might.
They walked behind Lun and Gereni for most of the morning and into the afternoon. Naia kept looking beyond each hill, waiting to see the cluster of dense trees that hid the Spriton village of Sami Thicket, but whenever she looked, she saw only more grass-covered hills under a sky full of soft white clouds. By sunset, they came around a hill pierced with a light gray boulder, and suddenly they had arrived.
A small forest grew in a pocket of hills, and in the emerald and cinnamon trees Naia could see watchtowers, ladders, and other signs of Gelfling life. Torches were lit against the evening, shedding red light on the path into the village. Two Spriton sentries came out to greet Lun and Gereni, eyes widening when they recognized Kylan. They gathered around him, hardly noticing the other three Gelfling who had arrived with him.
“Is that Kylan? Mera’s little story stitcher!”
“We thought you got eaten by a ruffnaw!”
Kylan cleared his throat and stepped aside, making room for Naia, Gurjin, and Amri. It was strange to see him surrounded by the athletic Spriton scouts with their armor and spears. She had forgotten that, among the Spriton, Kylan’s skill as a song teller bore little weig
ht. It was the reason he had left, after all.
“We’re here to speak with Maudra Mera,” Kylan said evenly. “This is Naia, Maudra Laesid’s eldest daughter and the one who will become maudra after her. We need to know what’s going on with the Drenchen, and quickly.”
The scouts took note, and Lun waved them on. “Don’t worry. We’ll take them to Maudra Mera. Come on.”
A footpath had been cleared between the entrance to the thicket and the village itself: a ring of wood and clay homes arranged around a center pavilion where the hearth fire burned. As they stepped foot into the center space, Kylan’s thin lips were pressed tight, his hand holding on to the firca hanging around his neck. His gaze was steadfast, directed across the pavilion to the big round house that belonged to Maudra Mera. Whatever his feelings were about returning to the place from which he’d run, he was determined.
“You don’t have to escort us all the way there, Lun,” he said. “I know the way. If Naia and Gurjin try to run, or do whatever it is you think they’ll do, I’m sure you’ll see it from over here.”
Lun opened his mouth to protest, but Gereni held out a hand. “Fine. But be warned. Everyone has been called to duty since the Drenchen approached the border. If you try to run through the thicket, we’ll see you. And we’ll catch you.”
Naia tried not to roll her eyes, and Gurjin tossed an overly dramatic salute. “Understood, captain!” he said. Then, “Ouch!” when Naia thumped him hard in the arm.
“Your friends are rude,” Amri commented wryly as they left the two scouts behind and approached Maudra Mera’s house. Kylan walked ahead, shoulders squared, his stride growing bolder with each step. He raised his chin and lowered his hands to his sides.
“They’re not my friends,” he said. “I was an embarrassment when I left, and they never came to find me. Neither they nor Maudra Mera care about me or what we’ve been through. No one is going to be nice to us, but it doesn’t matter. They never were before, and it doesn’t change what we need to do.”
Maudra Mera opened her door as they drew close enough to knock. She was not tall like many of the younger Spriton, dwarfed by her red and brown robes embroidered with fine needlework and beads. Her shining black hair was braided and tied in loops at her back between her wings. She looked upon Kylan with a face that seemed wearier than the last time Naia had seen her.
“Maudra Mera—” Kylan began, calm and braced for her reprehension. But all his anticipation was for naught. His squared shoulders softened, his knees trembling as Maudra Mera grabbed him by the shirt and yanked him down, wrapping both arms around him and squeezing him as tightly as she could.
“Oh, my little Kylan,” she whispered into his shoulder, and Naia could swear she saw a tear glistening in the corner of the maudra’s eye. “You came home.”
“I did,” Kylan said when he found his voice. He stood back so Maudra Mera could see his accompaniment. She looked upon them with varying levels of wariness, saving a particularly hard-eyed grimace for Naia. “We’ve come from . . . well, a great many places. But we have important news for you, about what you must do if we’re going to . . . withstand the Skeksis.”
Maudra Mera huffed through her nose, and Naia wondered if she was going to kick them out.
“I promise I’ve got nothing to do with what my mother is doing,” Naia assured her. “I’m here as Kylan’s friend, and as a messenger for Aughra, Thra, and the rest of the Gelfling clans. If you tell me what’s going on with my mother, I may be able to help both of you.”
This wasn’t about making sure the Spriton or the Drenchen were victorious. It was about finding the right way through. Naia hoped Maudra Mera could sense her earnestness. Maudra Mera’s eyes had already dried from the emotion of seeing Kylan again, hardening her into the shrewd, focused maudra that Naia remembered.
“I see. Yes, come in, my soggy dear. And all of you. We have much to discuss.”
She brought them inside, waving them to the large slab of timber that served as her table. The smell of the wood and clay mingled with the sweet and bitter scents of fabric dye and thread. Tapestries hung on the walls, adorned with ribbons, bells, and the occasional pair of dangling, half-finished shoes.
“So you’ve finally come home after running off and making me sick with worry,” Maudra Mera said, circling the table as they sat around it. “I sent a message by swoothu to Maudra Fara when the Skeksis came looking for you. They took Lun’s sisters instead. Maudra Fara never replied to my message, and after that, I could only assume they’d captured you. You could have at least sent word to me that you were safe.”
She wasn’t lying. Maudra Fara had brought that very message to them in Stone-in-the-Wood, but Kylan had thrown it in the fire. The song teller grimaced.
“I’m sorry.”
“If all the rumors are true, you’ve joined the resistance against the Skeksis, isn’t it? I heard from someone that it was you that sent the message on the pink petals. Though I managed to avoid touching any of the cursed things myself.”
Naia spoke up when Kylan looked down at his hands, curling his fingers into his palms.
“Maudra Mera, please. Kylan’s sorry about what’s happened and that he didn’t send word to you. That’s why we’re here. We’ve been given the task by Aughra to meet with the seven clans and light the fires of resistance against the Skeksis. They’ve defiled the Crystal, and they’re feeding on the Gelfling. They’re disrupting the way of Thra. We have to unite, all seven of us, if we’re going to be strong enough to survive.”
“I’ve heard about these so-called fires of resistance,” Maudra Mera said sharply. “You know what I think about it? Nonsense. Of course the Skeksis have defiled the Crystal. Of course they feed on us. I’m sure that’s the fate that has befallen Lun’s sisters. None of this should shock anyone. Why do you think I’ve been so loyal to them all this time? Why do you think I grovel at their feet and kiss their gold and silver rings?”
“So now you obey their command without thinking?” Naia asked. “Stopping the Drenchen from crossing the Spriton Plains? That’s not staying out of the Skeksis’ affairs—that’s taking their side.”
“You Drenchen—you and your mother are going to get your entire clan killed, going up against the Lords of the Castle this way. We all know what happens to maudra who stand up to the Skeksis.”
“All-Maudra Mayrin died because she stood up for what was right,” Kylan said. “Maudra Mera, please. I know you fear the Skeksis and what they can do—”
Maudra Mera let out a gasp of anger, wings flaring at her shoulders as she drew up to her full, if still diminutive, height. “Yes, I do! I fear them more than death itself—and Mayrin and Fara should have, too. It would have been safer for them to stay out of the Skeksis’ affairs!”
And Fara? An ugly chill crawled down Naia’s neck.
“Mera. What happened in Stone-in-the-Wood?” she asked.
Maudra Mera’s cheeks dimpled as she clenched her teeth, her brow etched with worry and dread and the weight of terrible news.
“You didn’t hear?” she asked coldly. “After she returned from All-Maudra Seladon’s blessing, Maudra Fara rallied her Stonewood soldiers and took them to attack the Skeksis at the Castle of the Crystal. Though she brought every Gelfling of fighting age to the battle, the Skeksis knew they were coming. While you and your lot traipsed across the land lighting fires of resistance, Maudra Fara and the Stonewood were soundly defeated. Killed or captured and brought to the castle to be drained.”
Naia felt as if she might sink into the ground, eaten up by the infinite darkness that lay buried beneath the crust of the earth. She wanted to say it couldn’t be true, but the graveness in the Spriton maudra’s thin, wiry body told her it was.
“As of four nights past,” Maudra Mera finished, “mighty Stone-in-the-Wood is no more.”
CHAPTER 12
Naia remembered the mome
nt they’d been told All-Maudra Mayrin had been murdered. This was similar, like being struck in the back of the head. Without warning, without the chance to brace themselves. And now they could only stumble in the hopes they wouldn’t fall.
“This can’t be,” Kylan said. “Stone-in-the-Wood? If Maudra Fara planned to take the fight to the castle . . . then why . . .”
“The Skeksis knew long before she and her warriors had left,” Maudra Mera replied. “Whether it was the Arathim or some other spies that told them, it doesn’t matter. They ambushed Maudra Fara as she attacked the castle. When the Stonewood retreated, they pursued her. All the way back to Stone-in-the-Wood, which they destroyed as a threat to us all. Since then, the Skeksis have been ranging with their terrible monsters hunting down any survivors . . . even as far as Sami Thicket!”
A pang drove itself deep into Naia’s gut. “The Skeksis have been here?”
“Indeed,” Maudra Mera snapped with a glare so hard, Naia flinched. “Lord skekSa the Mariner was here herself, looking for you Drenchen rebels.”
“skekSa . . .”
“Yes. She told me that if I were to see you, I should hold you prisoner for her until she returned! Can you imagine? And with what happened in Stone-in-the-Wood . . .”
So she’d survived her ship when it had plunged down into the ocean . . . Of course she’d survived, Naia scolded herself. urSan had been alive when they’d met her in the Mystic Valley. If urSan was alive, then so was skekSa. Alive and so ruthless in her pursuit, she’d reached Sami Thicket before Naia and her friends, probably while they’d been recovering with the Mystics.
“Are you going to do as she said?” Gurjin asked.
“If she finds out you’ve been here and I don’t, then what will become of the Spriton?” The Spriton maudra’s gaze softened. She turned and cupped Kylan’s face in her hands. “I’ve been losing my mind with worry, Kylan. I don’t know what to do! But at least if you’re here in Sami Thicket, I can keep you safe—”