Racing the Dark

by Alaya Dawn Johnson

  Kai looked from the door and squeezed her hands. "Don't worry," he said quietly. "I'll deal with this. Go into the garden and close the screen door. Make sure that they can't see you."

  Lana swallowed forcibly and walked into the garden. She left the door open a crack, so that she would be able to see what was happening. Kai gave her a tight, reassuring smile before opening the door.

  There were more people than she had expected-what looked like every staff member of the inn and possibly all of the guests. What could they want, with their swaying lanterns and angry expressions? They reminded her of the villagers by the lake, and the resemblance didn't reassure her.

  The line of Kai's back was tense, but his tone was icy cold. "What reason could possibly warrant this kind of visitation so late?"

  "Where's the girl?" The angry voice belonged to a man whose rough clothes and accent made Lana suspect he was a villager. But what business could the villagers have with them? The man tried to push his way into the room and Kai roughly shoved him back.

  "That's no business of yours. You still haven't told me your reasons for coming here-I have to say, Miss Oeha, I had heard better things of your hospitality."

  The innkeeper had the grace to look slightly embarrassed, but she did not move. "Be that as it may. I've never had such a reason to violate it before. Against my better judgment, I allowed you to take that ... wretched hunchback in, but I can't allow it any longer. You must give that girl to us. She's done enough damage."

  Kai's hands tightened on the edge of the door. "Have you lost your mind, Oeha? Haven't I paid you well for the extra days? Why would you let yourself get sucked in with this ... mob?"

  The woman looked away from him, but the man next to her shoved his way forward until he was barely an inch from Kai's nose. "Because she has a responsibility, that's why. You had my wife make ... abominations! Shirts with holes in back for your hunchback. But she's a witch! Just as soon as my wife finished the second shirt, our daughter starts coughing ... mostly blood, now. She's about to die, and it's that damn witch's fault. Give her to us, or we'll take her!"

  Lana cursed and stared, paralyzed by her bubbling fear. She wondered if she saw the death's smiling mask lurking somewhere in the back of the mob.

  "I'm sorry about your daughter, but what possible reason do you have to think that this girl has anything to do with it?"

  Still avoiding his eyes, the woman pulled a young girl from deeper in the crowd toward the front. "Tell him what you told me."

  The girl stared studiously at the ground. "Few days ago, you came in and told us to boil all these plants I'd never heard of to make a potion for that hunchback. It smelled awful-my grandmother used to work spells. They looked just like that."

  Lana closed her eyes and struggled to regain control of her breathing. How could this be happening? That idiot girl had probably never seen a geas worked in her life.

  "I'm telling you, my girl is dying! I don't care if you are the water guardian, I won't spare you if you keep protecting her." The man's angry voice sounded rough with tears.

  "You won't spare me? You won't spare me?" Kai's voice was terrifyingly soft. His skin began taking on silver tones, rippling and splashing light. "You will not touch her. She is under my protection. You'll have to kill me first, and I promise-you can't kill me."

  A sheer wall of water burst from the ground before him, separating him from the mob. It sailed yards in the air before falling back down on their heads and extinguishing their lanterns. His skin wasn't just splashing light anymore, it was glowing. She had never seen anything quite like it, and such a palpable demonstration of power awed her in a way that had nothing to do with their desperate situation.

  "I won't let that damn witch kill my daughter!" The man's scream of defiance turned into one of surprised pain when he tried to force his way through the wall of water. He stumbled backwards, holding a hand to the left side of his face. The mob fell back, looking at each other in obvious fear.

  Something the man had said about his daughter kept coming back to Lana in the part of her mind that wasn't overcome with horror. It reminded her of a detail Akua had once told her about lung diseases. She had said that the rice paddies often carried diseases that would flood the lungs and drown its victims if they weren't treated immediately. That man was convinced that his daughter was about to die, and he was probably right, even if for the wrong reasons.

  Barely aware that she had made a decision, Lana slowly finished fastening the buttons on her shirt and pulled back the screen door. Kai whirled around and his wall of water faltered for a second.

  "Get back inside, Lana!" He sounded like he was finally panicking, which scared her more than anything else. Behind him, she could hear the horrified whispers of the people as they saw her wings through the water.

  She shook her head. "I can help that man's daughter. If he'll let me see her, I can probably save her life."

  "They'll kill you if you go out there, keika." His soft, almost helpless use of the endearment nearly made her lose her resolve.

  But she knew he had enough power. "Then you'll have to protect me," she said.

  He held her gaze for a long time. "Collect our things," he said finally. "Then stand beside me."

  Lana ignored the muffled sounds of the mob as she picked up his bag and carefully stuffed his few belongings inside. She paused a moment over his letters-one was addressed to the fire guardian and the other to the Mo'i. When she had finished, she walked beside him and quietly handed him his bag. What little she had was already packed.

  "If it were up to me, I would leave now, but she wants to save your daughter. You have come to kill an innocent woman who still feels enough pity for you to help you despite yourself. I hope, one day, you may understand what that means."

  "She ... she's a damned black angel ... she'll kill my daughter just by touching her-" A well-placed jet of water suddenly hit the man in his mouth and he began coughing violently.

  "What do you need?" he asked her.

  "Nightshade mushrooms, bitterwort, pleurisy root, blue cohosh-those are the most important, but they probably won't have them in the kitchen here."

  "Any of you who still have a bit of sense left and who would like to see this man's daughter live, find those herbs and take them to the seamstress's house," Kai commanded the crowd. He lowered his voice and turned to her. "Hold my hand tightly and don't let go, no matter what. You understand?"

  Lana nodded mutely. He gave her a sudden, gentle smile and caressed her cheek. Then his skin began to glow more brightly and the towering wall of water slowly melded itself into a hollow sphere surrounding them both. Everything looked hazy and blurred to Lana, but Kai seemed sure of his view. He took a step forward and the people around them fell back, cursing and shrieking. The innkeeper, however, actually chased after them, yelling in a shrill voice.

  "I demand you compensate me for the damage done to the room. It will cost at least a thousand kala to repair-"

  A jet of water suddenly surged from their bubble and knocked her to the ground. Before she could do more than gasp and splutter, another-much stronger-spray of water launched into the beautifully painted wooden pagoda, arching above a small pond. Two of its supports snapped immediately, and the ensuing deluge of water sent it crashing down, a mess of shattered tile and broken wood.

  "And that," he said, very deliberately, "is at least fifteen thousand kala, I should think."

  And even though she could hardly think of a more inappropriate time to do so, Lana burst out laughing.

  Their walk to the village, followed at a respectful distance by a growing crowd of people, took about an hour. When they first set out, some people had sprinted past them-presumably to alert the villagers-but now things were relatively quiet. Kai's skin was slightly damp, but to her surprise the bubble of water around them did not drip at all. He smiled at her occasionally, but he mainly focused his gaze forward. The furrowed line between his pale eyebrows grew deeper as they went alon
g. She finally realized what a strain he was under when he tripped over a small rock and nearly collapsed. She had to hold him up until he said he could go on. She worried about him and then berated herself-he wouldn't have had to expend so much energy if she hadn't demanded to see that sick child. Why is he doing this for me? She was as much a stranger to him as he was to her, after all. An answer occurred to her, and she wondered if it could be so simple. Beads of sweat were rolling down his forehead and his irises had turned so pale she could hardly see them.

  "Kai, are you all right?" she asked finally, even though she knew it was a useless question. What would he do if he wasn't? Abandon her to the mob?

  "Don't worry, we're almost there." When he turned his head to look at her, she saw his expression change to one of dismay. Surprised, she turned around and felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. The death was walking beside them, on the other side of the barrier of water. It must have sensed how weak Kai was getting-almost too weak to enforce his geas.

  "Stay away," she said angrily. "He bound you and you haven't broken it."

  The death's mask refracted through the water looked like a hideous parody of itself. "I can stay right here. I may not be able to touch you now, but not many geas are kept by dead men."

  Lana refused to show fear at his threat. Instead, she reached into her bag and pulled out the flute. She didn't quite know why she did it-she was completely out of her depth and she could think of no geas that would be helpful-but the music comforted her, and she knew it set the death on edge. She found herself playing one of her father's favorite tunes-the very same one, in fact, that he had performed for her on the day of her initiation. She played it slowly and sweetly, not entirely unaware of the irony. She was playing "Yaela's Lament" for the man who had inherited the powers for which Yaela had sacrificed herself.

  Kai seemed surprised when she started playing, but he didn't speak. They reached the seamstress's house just as she was finishing the song. A woman waited for them on the porch, surveying the approaching crowd with a wary expression. Kai's breathing began rasping in his throat, but Lana didn't dare show her worry.

  The woman looked down at her and held out a loosely wrapped bundle of herbs. "They told me that a black angel was coming. They said that she needed these herbs to cure my daughter. You must be the one I made those shirts for. I wondered, but I never imagined..." She shook her head. "So tell me, why have you come?"

  "I know much about illness and healing. Your husband blames me, but I had nothing to do with your daughter's illness. I may be able to save her life, if you let me inside. I can promise nothing, but I swear I will do nothing to harm her."

  The woman gave a bitter smile and Lana could see there were tears in her eyes. "Ah, my husband's a fool. Our daughter had the cough a week ago-it only got serious recently. She's in so much pain..." The woman paused and then took a deep breath. "If you think you can, please, will you help her?"

  Her husband and a few other men came tearing through the back of the crowd-he must have been with the stragglers.

  "What are you doing, you fool!" he screamed. "Do you want her to die? She's the one who did this, and now you'll let her kill our daughter with one touch!"

  The woman's mouth twisted. "You ignorant ass. Do you really think anybody but death has such power?"

  "She's a black angel, Sei!" he said.

  "Then let me be the first to invite a black angel into my house." She turned to Lana and held out her hand. "Come," she said.

  Lana looked frantically at Kai. "Go on," he said. "I'll hold them off."

  "But, you-"

  "I'll hold them off!" he shouted. He gripped her hand tightly and his eyes momentarily regained some color. "Save her, keika." He kissed her briefly on the lips and then shoved her out of the bubble. Lana grabbed the woman's hand and ran inside, only vaguely aware of the wall of water that came shooting up behind her.

  The girl was sleeping on a mat on the floor. The windows were shut and cloying incense was burning at her feet-Lana nearly gagged on the smell when she entered the room.

  "Throw that incense away and open the windows. This isn't good for a girl with lung sickness." Lana was startled, but pleased at the authority in her voice.

  Negotiating the small room was a little difficult with her wings, but she managed to kneel next to the sleeping mat. The girl opened her eyes as she did so, and then they grew round with shock.

  "Am I dead?" she asked. Her voice was just the barest rasp in her throat.

  Lana shook her head. "No, of course not. You're just a little sick."

  The girl began coughing and Lana was shocked to see how much blood was mixed with the phlegm. She wondered if she might have come too late.

  "I put some water out to boil, just in case. Do you want it?" The woman was hovering nervously over her shoulder.

  "That's good. Put the mushrooms in first, then the rest ten minutes later. When the bitterwort turns pale yellow, strain it and bring a glass to me."

  Lana kept a silent vigil by the child, wondering at the irony of a black angel trying not to destroy, but rather to save a life. She could hardly blame this woman's husband or the rest of the villagers for their attitude-the only thing anyone knew about black angels (which was what everyone knew, even children like this girl) was that they brought destruction. It had been far too long for anyone to remember how or why. Lana wondered if all of the black angels had essentially been helpless spectators to the destruction that followed them. Had their existence presaged violence without their ever participating in it?

  The woman tapped her on her shoulder. "I think it's ready," she said quietly, handing her the glass.

  Lana nodded. She helped the mother force the drink down the girl's throat and her mind raced as she thought of what to do next. The geas needed to be powerful, but though she knew she could use the flute, something inside her warned against it. She had never used the flute for any geas other than those she used to bind the death, and she wondered if playing it now might somehow invite the death inside. No, it had to be a self-sacrifice.

  Steadying herself, she felt for the watching presence of the spirits around her. There were more than she ever remembered, in fact, as though she were now an object worthy of far more attention. Lana reached behind her back to where the wings joined her still-tender skin. Remorselessly, she ripped out three large feathers. For once, she barely enjoyed the waiting anticipation of the spirits before the binding. She was too worried about Kai-the sounds from outside were violent and not reassuring.

  "No human is a waterbird. No fish breathes air. As the wind blows where water does not belong, so I bind them both to right themselves in the body of this girl."

  A strange force began making the tips of the three black feathers vibrate. The girl gasped and Sei held her shoulders as she began coughing uncontrollably, nearly vomiting as vast amounts of discolored phlegm suddenly vacated her lungs. Lana held the feathers still over her torso, hoping that the violence of the purging wouldn't further harm her already weakened body. The feathers crumbled to black ashes that dusted the deep blue of her pants-the terms of the geas were fulfilled.

  The three of them were silent for a moment and then the girl took a deep, shuddering breath-probably the healthiest-sounding one she had taken in days.

  The woman gasped and felt the girl's forehead. "Her fever's broken," she said quietly. "You've saved her life."

  "I only-"

  She stopped at the sound of something heavy smashing into the wall just above their heads. The shouts outside that she had tuned out for the past twenty minutes suddenly seemed loud and terrifying. Some of the men had taken up a chant that sounded like, "Kill the freak, then the witch."

  "I have to go," Lana said, standing up awkwardly. "Give her more of the draught every few hours until she seems better."

  The cries of the mob sounded like a solid wall of noise when she ran outside. The water barrier still surrounded the house, but Kai had sunk to his knees and it looked l
ike he was barely holding on to consciousness. Lana stumbled next to him and held his shoulders. He looked at her with an expression of barely suppressed pain, but he smiled.

  "Did you ... do it?" he asked.

  Lana realized she was crying when she tasted salt, but she didn't know when she started. She nodded. "The girl will be all right. But we have to leave."

  "No, you run away. I can't. Just get away. Fly ... I can't hold this up much longer. When it comes down..."

  "What are you saying?" Lana's head felt like it was going to burst with the sudden pressure.

  "Stop it!" The new voice was loud and emphatic. The noise of the crowd tapered off in response to its anger and, Lana realized, its authority: the girl's mother, Sei, was standing beside them.

  "You will not kill these people. Or you will have to kill me to do it. She saved our daughter, Tope. Why do you want to kill her?"

  "She's deluded you! No black angel could save anyone-they only destroy."

  "Will you all kill me, then?"

  They mob hesitated, then seemed to lose some of its anger.

  "I will never forget what you did for me today," the woman said to her. "Tell him to drop his shield. I'll be able to give you enough time to get away."

  Lana nodded and nudged Kai. He collapsed against her and the wall of water fell to the muddy ground. Before the mob had a chance to regain their bearings, she grabbed both of their bags and then hugged Kai tightly around the waist. He only seemed partly conscious, but she knew that she would need his help if they even had a prayer of getting off the ground.

  "Kai, you have to put your arms around my neck, okay? I won't be able to fly if you don't."

  "Just leave me," he mumbled.

  "Damn it, Kai! Do you think I could do something like that? Put your arms around my neck!"

  Lana thought she heard something like a muffled laugh escape his lips before he slowly complied. She thanked him silently.