Ashes to Embers

by Michelle Schad

  He looked at her, hazel-blue eyes knowing, but accepting as well. He was pink all over, burned by the sun and covered in his own amount of scrapes and scratches that he ignored in favor of helping the woman in the pool. She eased her way into the room, staying plastered to the wall as if compelled by the song he sang. Little by little, the wounds on the copper-skinned woman’s back stitched themselves together.

  Watching it made her own back twitch uncomfortably. She shifted, then glanced at her own arms and at her toes. She was filthy. Her hands absently went to the tangled mass of hair on her head, some of it still damp from the dump into the ocean they’d all taken. How had that happened?

  “There’s another bathing tub there, if you want to use it,” the olven man said, cutting his song off briefly to gesture at the tub beside his. She glanced at it, noting movement from the copper-skinned woman. Her eyes fluttered open, deep olive orbs regarding her silently before closing again.

  “Do you have a name?” the man asked, even before she moved toward the tub, stopping her motions mid toe-wiggle. He’d asked before, in the cave. As it was then, she did not answer and he did not press.

  Instead, she slunk toward the tub and sloughed the loose gown that was draped around her shoulders. The water was tepid but refreshing as she slid into its depths all the way up to her nose. The olven man continued to sing, lulling her into a state of euphoria that ceased some time later when she found herself staring at his smirking face. The copper-skinned woman was gone and the sun at a different angle than before.

  “You’ll turn into a prune if you stay in there much longer,” he teased, setting a small bundle down at the edge of the tub for her. “Dinner is ready if you’re hungry.”

  He said nothing more, leaving her in peace. She waited several long minutes before dunking her head to clear her mind of his hypnotic voice and scrub herself clean. Breaching the water felt like being reborn, her lungs filling with the spicy scent of cooked food and freshly baked bread. The bundle contained a towel and a clean gown that she eyed with distaste. She put it on all the same, out of respect for the gift that was given.

  She edged her way back out to the dark hallway, creeping down its length and winding through beautiful mosaic-tiled steps and intricate arches. There was a bubbling fountain in an open-air courtyard at the rear of the property and three levels of white marble floors that overlooked the ocean. The olven man, who had yet to name himself either, looked up from his position amongst a gaggle of wildly colored pillows and smiled gently. Beside him sat the darker olven man and the copper-skinned woman now draped across his lap rather than sitting upright. A low-lying table sat before them with a veritable feast laid out upon its surface: thick stews of legumes and root vegetables, hard cheeses, dates or figs, dried fruits, and roasted peppers glistening in oils that made her mouth water.

  “Much better,” the bard said, gesturing at a pillow across from him. “Sit. We’ve got plenty.”

  “Paid ‘nough fer it too,” the other man grumbled, earning a glare from the bard.

  “Ignore Liam, he’s an idiot,” the bard said by way of apology. “Please.”

  She looked at him again, then finally sat delicately on her haunches. Her stomach growled loudly, making her flush. She filled a ceramic plate with as much as it would hold, only barely remembering to not lick her fingers clean after each delicious bite.

  Dinner was eaten in silence. The few at the table drifted away to separate corners afterwards, leaving her to wander the dark halls alone, peeking from room-to- room like a curious child. Eventually, she made her way out to the courtyard garden. The tiny moon blossoms that hung over the walls and along tall trellises grew brighter as the evening grew darker, filling the courtyard with an ethereal touch. The bard sat in a hammock with a stringed instrument across his lap, all of the strings sticking up like stray strands of hair.

  “Serai,” she finally said, after watching him a moment.

  “I’m sorry?” he said, looking up from his task. She stood beside him and watched, frowning curiously at the work being done.

  “My name,” she continued, her voice never rising above a croaking whisper. “It is Serai.”

  ***

  Morning dawned too early all things considered. Liam rubbed his eyes, making sure things were all still in one piece. Luckily, they had returned with the jewel Ishaq requested. Still, they would not be able to stay long in Manau – or anywhere else in Kalaegh for that matter. He’d already chartered a boat away from the human-run nation to the floating city of Avir. It was a stopping point until he could find something more permanent, a place to allow them to regain some of the money lost in the debacle with Ajana. Plus, he needed to figure out what to do with the naked girl from the cave. He did not want her around, though Reven seemed to want to argue otherwise. It was dangerous to add to their small band. Adding Reven had been bad enough, adding the naked woman would complicate things a great deal. Not that she was anywhere to be found - - that was, until he walked out to the courtyard to find her curled up in a hammock with Reven.

  “Wewl,” he said to himself. “Tha’ escalated quickly.”

  Liam stretched, cracking his neck before noticing the large mound beside the fountain. He frowned at it, moving around the fountain to get a better look at the odd mound, then felt the blood drain from his face.

  Oh gods…

  The mound shifted, bringing up a ferocious, scaled head that snorted loudly into Liam’s face.

  Drake! Drake! Reven! He thought while being unable to speak a single syllable. It happened more often than the thief-taker would care to admit. The bard mocked him mercilessly for his ‘nerves’ but, in this instance, his nerves were justified.

  Breakfast seems to have come to me… the drake responded, its mental voice a deep rumble of thunder that licked its way across Liam’s mind. Now Liam’s mouth dropped, prompting the drake to incline its head towards him with curiosity rather than hunger. You hear my voice.

  Liam croaked. He glanced towards Reven and the new girl, both still completely oblivious to anything, both sleeping as soundly as babes.

  Reven…

  Eventually, he knew, Reven would hear the desperation in his mental voice; Liam just hoped it would happen before he was eaten alive.

  “Liam, have you seen Reven?”

  Liam turned towards the voice that spoke, the voice of the intoxicating woman that had easily stolen his heart. Ajana stopped short, reaching for a weapon that she did not wear inside the inn but normally carried with her everywhere. She moved too slowly, still recovering, still weak from her lashing. The drake moved quickly, nostrils flaring and giant maw practically grinning with ravenous hunger.

  Now, that I will eat, it said.

  “NO!” Liam hollered, stupidly jumping in front of the drake as it snapped at Ajana.

  Liam felt the sharpness of one of the drake’s teeth rake his upraised arm and Ajana’s rough hands on his shoulders, pulling him back. Were it not for Ajana, he would no longer have an arm. His chest heaved, heart pounding as he tried not to wet himself with sheer relief.

  “What the bloody hells,” Reven groaned, rubbing his face.

  You cannot command me, mortal creature.

  “Watch me!” Liam barked back feeling far too bold for his britches. “Go find somethin’ else t’eat!”

  “Liam?” Reven garbled, rubbing his eyes of sleep until finally focusing on the scene before him. He clearly saw what Liam did, practically falling off the hammock to put himself between Liam and the drake. “WHOA! The hells did you come from??”

  No, Malek! Let them be!

  The drake turned to regard Serai even as she ran to it, putting her gentle hands against the rough scales of its long neck. It took a moment for Liam to realize she’d not actually spoken and that her words were heard in his mind much like the drake’s. If he’d been wary of her before, he was downright terrified now. What had they gotten themselves into?

  “Malek…” Liam breathed out, the adren
aline starting to fade away. “That’s its name? Malek??”

  Serai looked at Liam, guilt, fear, and regret on her face but nodded silently. Liam passed out then, Ajana trying to catch him but failing. They both fell to the ground. Reven looked at everyone with a heavy helping of confusion and exasperation.

  “I am entirely too sober for this,” he said. “The drake followed us home… that’s just perfect. Why under the stars do you have a drake? Can’t people just have normal pets? What happened to cats? And you: stop trying to eat my friends or I’ll kick you bodily back to your cave! Stupid lizard…Worse than my dammed children…”

  “You do not have any children, my love,” Ajana offered, wincing from the weight of Liam on her lap. Reven pulled the thief-taker off his injured lover, tossing him over a bruised shoulder before helping Ajana up.

  “If I did,” Reven snorted, glaring at the drake. Much like children, the drake was not a complication he wanted to deal with.

  Chapter Four

  A sharp breeze off the Ione Ocean ripped through the low-lying shrubs and wide fronds of the Skiff. Kaleo Oenel shivered, wrapping his teal wings around himself to keep warm. It was not terribly cold out, but he was not accustomed to being outdoors in anything but full sunlight. Summer in the Skiff was much cooler than his homeland of Esbeth; cooler still than the Phoenix Empire. He sighed, burying his face into his upraised knees, allowing himself a moment of pathetic wallowing for his poor life decisions. He had good intentions when he left home and a head full of foolish pride. Even more pride when he confronted his aunt about his journey. Now all he had was thin hope and an empty stomach.

  Hiding, little one?

  Fionn spoke as he came around behind Kaleo. The young avian glared at the enormous creature that followed him, but was eternally grateful for the company and warmth that the chimera provided. It had been mere days since he'd left Tierra Vida, where his aunt and cousins were with the other survivors from the Phoenix Empire. He was already regretting his poor planning skills. It was arrogant pride that kept him from running back home with his proverbial tail stuck between his legs. He never expected travel by Port Circle to be so expensive. Any time he traveled, he just went, no questions asked - because of who he was. He was an amatti, after all. That only worked in Esbeth, however. Anywhere else demanded payment because no one cared about his titles outside of the avian nation; not even his aunt cared. It made him wish he’d learned his father’s trick sooner. His father could teleport anywhere he wanted to. Kaleo could teleport to the nearest tree and back. Sometimes. He had other talents, but none were very useful for traveling. Shifting into the skin of another person did not help if you wanted to go from one continent to the other.

  “I’m not hiding,” he finally grumbled to the chimera. “It’s uncomfortable out here.”

  Don’t your kind normally stay indoors when traveling?

  “I don’t have the money for it, thank you. I grabbed what I had in my room and left. I’ve already used half of it getting here and I still have to eat. Besides, something tells me the inn in Port Town is not really the safest place to be.”

  The Skiff is not the safest place to be, little one.

  Kaleo sighed, making a face as he settled back against the chimera. There was no direct Port from Esbeth to Damaskha where his father was last seen. While Fionn could simply materialize wherever Kaleo went, the young avian did not have that ability so a different route was needed. The Port Circle just outside of Port Town - that creatively named city - in the Skiff went to Damaskha and almost anywhere else because of its status as a trade city. It could also be because it was the only city on the Skiff. Everything else was blighted jungle or tiny, often violent, tribal villages of naga, duende, or centaurs. The city was no better, overflowing with pirates and thieves, slave traders or cartel lords looking to make a quick coin before moving on to the next port. He’d already been manhandled by two different individuals looking for personal favors and that was just at the Port Circle! Kaleo didn’t want to think about what it would be like in the city.

  His stomach growled, making Kaleo shrink further into his audeas. Fionn hardly complained, even going so far as to give Kaleo’s teal hair a lick for good measure. He smiled, looking over at the large beast with appreciation. “I’m going to find him, Fionn.”

  I know, little one.

  ***

  When Kaleo took his next breath, the tepid jungles of the Skiff were gone, replaced by a sea of bright red poppies as far as the eye could see. There was no breeze, no sticks poking at his back or strange smells accosting his nose. He was in the Poppy Fields, a gateway of sorts in the dream world that lead to the Sea of Stars where dreams were created. He glanced around hoping to see a familiar face but there was only the empty field. It was not yet time for Kaleo to meet his long-time friend, but Kaleo hoped all the same. Jaysen was a dream walker like Kaleo. They met in the Poppy Fields years ago and continued to meet in the Fields regularly, even now. Thinking of the olven boy with the clawed hands made Kaleo sigh. He could use a friend that did not walk on four legs.

  “Stop being such a nebit, Kaleo,” he chided, comparing himself to the trembling rat-creature that always looked as if it was terrified. They were actually rather vicious things when provoked but they did not give off that appearance so were mocked for being cowardly. The admonishment worked, setting his feet in motion. He took several steps through the field before closing his eyes, envisioning a doorway to a wide open sea of deep blue. He did not open his eyes again until he was through the doorway, his body feeling suddenly weightless as he moved from the Poppy Fields to the Sea of Stars. What he saw then was always breathtaking. Millions of tiny pinpoints lit up the blanket of deep blue like glitter on dark marble. Each pinpoint was a dream. Some pinpoints were clustered close together while others were far apart. The clusters were cities where there were higher populations while the ones further apart were the few that braved the wilds of each land. He had a general grasp of where things were in relation to the real world, but it was not always directly linked. Sometimes, if someone dreamt of a certain place, the pinpoint hovered above that place rather than where the dreamer was. Brighter pinpoints denoted more vivid dreams, and some pinpoints had a color tint to them that Kaleo had yet to puzzle out. An arcanist, perhaps, or another dream walker. He would have to remember to ask Jaysen.

  “Where are you…” Kaleo said to the pinpoints of light. He started with Esbeth, moving through the Sea with ease. It was not always an easy path from one point to the next. He had to be careful, for each pinpoint created a vortex that could pull him in if it had enough strength. That had happened once before when Fionn came to his rescue. It was not an experience he wanted to revisit.

  The pinpoint he hovered over was small but familiar to him. He knew it as intimately as he knew his own; L’nae, his sister. It pulsed gently, the vortex creating a whirlwind of bright images to Kaleo’s eyes. She dreamt of childish things, things that made Kaleo smile. Noelani, the Amatessa, was not far off, her dreams too dangerous to touch without being pulled in to a wild fray. Her dreams were always of Kaleo’s father, the stresses of leadership, or recent arguments with him. Part of Kaleo felt guilty knowing that he caused her duress, the other part frustrated at her inflexibility. She did not believe what he did. She, like everyone else, believed Gannon Oenel to be dead.

  “I’m going to find him,” Kaleo repeated. He used the energy of his step-mother’s dreams to rebound off of, sliding from one pinpoint to the next, using things or people she was connected to. He’d only made it four pinpoints past the Amatessa the first time. So far, he was doing much better, already at the sixth person. Things became more difficult the further out he went, more difficult to track or connect, or just more difficult to keep a safe distance from.

  “…eo…”

  The echo reached his semi-pointed ears as an afterthought, like a gnat buzzing around his head. He ignored it and continued on, following each connection of energy until reaching a dead end
. The vortex he hovered over was large, tinted in a faint pale blue. The images that roiled within it were wild, erratic, almost nightmarish in nature. The images scared him, tugged at him in a way that was almost familiar.

  “..leo!”

  That time, Kaleo clearly heard the echo. It was an incomplete echo, but when he looked up, he realized just how far into the Sea of Stars he’d gone. He was no longer in territories that were familiar, no longer near his starting point. The vortex beneath him pulsed wildly, drawing his attention back in time for him to suck in a startled breath. The rest of him got tugged right into the chaotic maelstrom beneath him.

  “No!” he cried, though he knew it would do no good. No one could hear him, no one would care if they did. Any attempt to fight the pull that dragged him down was an attempt in vain. He had nothing to hold to, nothing that would give him purchase to pull himself out of the vortex.

  Instead, he landed hard on his back, the black pinpoint above him closing off with a whoosh of wind that left him gasping. For a moment, Kaleo could not move, staring at the space above him that had been his exit point mere moments before. He was stuck in someone else’s dream; again. Something hissed to his left, making him turn wide eyes in the direction of the sound. His nose was accosted by the stench of sulfur and the hairs on his arms stood on end. Demons.

  “It’s a dream. Gods, please, wake up, it’s just a dream!” he hollered as he rose to his feet, darting off in the opposite direction of the menacing hiss. The creature followed, tearing across dead grass and blighted trees. The surroundings tickled Kaleo’s memory, reminding him of something he’d seen once before perhaps in his own dreams. It was neither here nor there, not when his life was on the line. For him, injuries in the dream world were as real as injuries in the waking world which meant that death was equally permanent.