As they walked back toward their tent, Iniru grabbed Turesobei by the arm. She had her hood and facemask pulled down and was smiling sweetly. Or mischievously. It was hard to tell sometimes.
“I'm not sleepy yet,” she said, “are you?”
“Tired,” he said yawning, “but not sleepy.”
“Good.” She pulled him toward her tent. “Let's talk for a while.”
“Well, um….” He looked to Onudaka.
“Hold on,” the old man said. He ducked into the tent and reappeared a moment later with a bundle. He chucked the bundle and Turesobei caught it.
“This is my blanket.”
“Aye, lad.”
Onudaka tossed him his backpack next. “There. Now I can sleep in peace and snore as loud as I want.”
“But I—”
Onudaka waved him on. “Go stay with Iniru. Have fun.”
“Er, is that all right, Niru? If I stay with you tonight?”
“Of course. Provided you don't snore.”
“Have you ever heard me snore before?”
She laughed. “Come on. I don't want to sleep in a two-man army tent all by myself.”
Turesobei hunched down and went into Iniru's tent as if he were entering another world. As if he were walking into Awasa's bedchamber. But except for Iniru's backpack, it was no different from his own tent. And why should it seem strange? They had slept beside each other in the rainforest without a tent. Was it that no one could see what they did within? Or that their feelings for each other had grown stronger?
The tent reached high enough that he could stand if he stooped over. In all, there was plenty of room for him and Iniru, since the tent was made large enough to accommodate two grown men and their gear.
As she lit the lantern, he asked, “So what did you want to talk about?”
“Nothing special.”
“Oh,” he said, disappointed. He spread out his blanket then tucked his backpack away. As he dug out his spare, dry clothes, he recognized the clinks of metal behind him that signaled Iniru was removing weapons from her bodysuit. Then he heard her strip from the bodysuit, unlashing ties and unwinding sashes.
“Was there something you wanted to talk about, Sobei?”
“Well, I—” He turned and looked at her, but to his dismay she wasn't wearing anything. He rapidly spun away. “Uh, n-no, I…uh…I don't guess so.”
“You sure?” she asked as if nothing had happened.
“I'm sure. Niru, you aren't…you aren't intending to sleep…naked…are you?”
“Hmm,” she said with half a giggle. She rubbed her hands across his shoulders. He could feel the heat of her body so close to him. “Do you want me to?”
“No!”
“Oh, so you don't find me appealing?”
“No! I mean, yes! It's just…I mean…you’re not being fair to me!”
She stood and laughed. He heard her rumble through her backpack and then a few moments later she said, “You can turn around now.”
He did so and found that she had dressed in a dry pair of the shorts and shirt which she usually wore beneath her uniform.
“I assume you plan to get out of your own wet clothes. Doesn't look like your rain cloak is perfect either.”
“Well, yeah, I guess so. Turn around, though, ok?”
“All right.”
Turesobei turned his back to her and stripped.
“Lovely!” she said.
Turesobei's cheeks reddened and goosebumps swept across his body. He whirled around. “What!?”
Iniru was lying on her stomach, propped up on her elbows, chin cupped in her hands. “Oh, very nice! Thanks for giving me a full demonstration.”
Clasping his hands over his privates, he said, “You promised to turn around!”
“I did. All the way around in fact.”
He pulled on his pants. “You are the most infuriating woman ever!”
“Aha! At last, I'm back on top. I knew that little over-dressed strumpet couldn't beat me for long.”
Turesobei cursed, mumbled, and sagged down onto his blanket. “I really don't know how to deal with you. I give up.”
She put one of her hands on one of his. “Don't do that. It really wouldn't be any fun. And I promise that you really do like it.”
He didn't draw his hand away. “Are all k'chasans like you?”
“Are all baojendari like you?”
“Are you all so lacking in manners?”
“Not at all. I'm somewhat unique in that fashion.”
“Oh.”
“We are less prudish than you baojendari. But most aren't as bad as me.” She was still holding his hand. “You know, I just tease you because I like you.”
“I know.” He drew his hand away. “Niru, am I just a boy to you?”
“Sometimes. But most males act like boys for a long time after they've supposedly become men. Women do the same thing, though in different ways.”
“You and I, we're very different.”
“Obviously. You hadn't noticed?” He shot her a harsh look, and she replied, “Does it bother you?”
“Well, I mean the future….”
“We can't do anything about that can we?”
“No.” He sighed deeply. “No, and I don't want it to ruin our time together.”
“Good, then don't let it.”
Turesobei began to shiver despite his dry clothes.
“Are you cold, Sobei?”
“A little. I wish I had fur.”
“Yes, it is rather useful sometimes.”
Iniru scooted over and lay against his side. She pulled her blanket over them. Timidly, they smiled at one another. Then they stared quietly at the flickering lantern. Rain pattered outside the tent. Wind tugged at the canvas. Thunder boomed loudly. Outside Kahenan's shield, harsher winds howled and lightning popped.
“Sobei, are you going to kiss me?”
“Huh?” He turned his head and stared into her face, only inches away from his.
“I've been waiting.”
“I-I didn't know that.”
“You do want to kiss me, don't you?”
“Of course. I just…I just didn't know you wanted to kiss me.”
“Did I not make that clear?”
“Well, I guess you probably did. I mean…I am clueless, you know.”
“You have kissed a girl before, haven't you?”
“Honestly? No. Have you?”
“Kissed a girl? Once.”
Turesobei's cheeks flushed. “No, I meant kissed a boy!”
“That too.”
“Oh.”
Turesobei found himself utterly lost in the moment as if he had fallen into a dream while awake. He stared at the lantern again. Moments passed and then he heard Iniru clear her throat.
“You're still waiting aren't you?”
“Yep.”
Turesobei drew in a deep breath and steeled his courage. But then her padded hands grasped him by the cheeks. She turned his head into hers. She smiled into his eyes and drew him in for a kiss.
Their lips met. Softly once. Twice. Then the kiss deepened. Somehow, Turesobei knew how all of this worked, though he'd never actually thought about it. He guessed it was instinct. They sat halfway up and snuggled up to one another.
* * *
Iniru woke Turesobei softly. He had fallen asleep curled up beside her. She was standing over him, still in her casual clothes. When had she gotten up? Or had she ever gone to sleep?
The lantern still burned, flickering on its lowest setting. Her eyes were filled with intent.
“Two scouts have returned. I just heard them speak with the sentries. They're going to wake Prince Chien.”
“We really shouldn't go unless we're summoned.”
“So? Who cares? Let's sneak out and listen.”
“I'll just get in the way. You go and then come back and tell me what they said.”
She donned her bodysuit with amazing speed. Then she was out of the tent and in
to the rain. Turesobei put on his armor and cloak and packed his gear just in case. He was groggy and yet infused with desire. There was so much more to experience with her. And so much more he wanted to do again.
Iniru rushed back into the tent. “The scouts had trouble getting back because of the weather. The Gawo lands are under the storm, too. Which means either Haisero has lost control of the Storm Dragon's Heart or he isn't helping his clan.”
“King Gawo is aggressive and paranoid. He would've moved against us quickly if he even suspected we were guilty of causing the storms. But he didn't, which means they probably know what's going on and who's using the heart.”
“Well, Prince Chien is going to return home in the morning, and the scouts will be sent back out to learn more. Your people are going to rethink their strategy. The prince is considering sending a delegation to King Gawo.”
“King Gawo won't talk, even if he does know something.”
“Then let's go out and search for the heart ourselves. If you get close, the heart might call to you through the storm's interference. Your grandfather is never going to locate it. And they're just going to get better at using the heart. At this rate, your clan will be battered into submission within a month.”
“Prince Chien would never let me go.”
“Then let's make a break for it now.”
“We can't do that!”
“Why not?”
“Because….”
“Turesobei, be your own man. Make your own decisions. You know they can't stop this. But maybe you and I can if we act now.”
Turesobei worried about how his grandfather and King Ugara would react if he went out on his own. But then he thought of his vow to his father. The sigil grew hotter. He touched it and knew what he would do.
“As soon as the coast is clear, get the mounts and bring them up behind the tent. I'll gather our things.”
Iniru pressed up to him and kissed him. “This is the right thing, I know it.”
“Me, too. But I don't know how we'll make it through the storm. The wind and debris alone could kill us.”
“We'll manage,” she said. “Trust me.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
The wind and rain lashed Turesobei as he clung precariously to a suddenly new cliff side. One hand grasped a jutting rock. The other held tightly to an exposed root.
“Niru!” he screamed. “I thought I could trust you!”
Iniru peeked over the edge. “It's not my fault you can't watch where you're going!”
“The ledge fell out from under me! You should've picked a better path!”
Iniru disappeared. Turesobei glanced at the raging river forty feet below. It used to be a pleasant mountain stream. The ground had fallen out from under him only minutes before. By luck alone he had caught the tangle of exposed roots and spared himself from his denekon's fate. She had already floated downstream. The fall onto the rocks in the river below had killed her.
Turesobei's grip on the rock slipped away and six inches of root ripped free from the cliff. His weight bounced and another foot of root tore loose. If his weight bounced again….
“Hurry up!” he yelled as he frantically kicked his feet. His left foot struck a rock. He leaned all his weight onto it, hoping. The rock held. He didn’t bounce. And the root held as well. For now. The tiny threads coming off the main root were starting to break.
Niru reappeared with a rope and began to lower it. “This was the only path available without going too far out of the way.”
Turesobei grabbed the rope. “Out of the way doesn't sound so bad.”
“Hindsight. Now climb. Quickly! The tree I anchored the line to could fall over any minute.”
Turesobei reached the precipice of the newly made cliff, scrambled up onto the ledge, and noted with horror how far over the anchoring tree had begun to lean.
“Thanks, Niru.” He tried to kiss her, but she pulled him away from the ledge. “Go!”
Iniru untied the rope and joined him. The wind blew sheets of rain into their faces. Twice, lightning bolts had nearly struck them. Both were bruised from hailstones. The sky was lighter outside now, not pitch dark any longer, and they guessed it was three hours past dawn.
Turesobei climbed into the saddle behind Iniru.
“Which way now?” she asked.
Turesobei closed his eyes and thought intently on the Storm Dragon's Heart…nothing.
Mostly he had been guiding them with intuition. Vague impressions of the heart’s location came and went. Sometimes, he thought it was calling to him softly.
“I can't tell,” he said.
“Think harder then.”
“How?”
“I don't know. You're the wizard! Maybe if you called to it?”
He called to it aloud, using Naruwakiru's name.
He got a slight pulse. He tried again…. Nothing.
“That almost worked,” he said.
“Keep trying, then. What direction should I take in the meantime?”
He'd already established that the heart and Haisero were moving. “Keep going the same way as before. Maybe when we get closer I'll get another read on it.”
An hour later, he still couldn't get a lead and both of them were shivering from being wet and tired. Iniru had a cut on her cheek where a piece of debris, kicked up by the wind, had struck her. Turesobei was becoming frustrated, and the tattoo on his cheek burned and itched.
“Naruwakiru,” he thought, trying to project his thoughts toward the heart. “What do you want with me?”
Nothing.
“If you want me, you'd better tell me where you are.”
He got a flash of the heart within his head. For a moment, he even saw Haisero and Sotenda riding together. Then it was gone.
“Naruwakiru,” he thought again intently. “I want your power coursing through me. Let me carry you. They are not worthy, but I will be. Give me the chance to prove it.”
The sensation returned to him, a feeling of direction and distance, stronger this time. He pointed. “That way, Niru. I've got it. It's not much further. I convinced the heart to give me a shot.”
“You what?”
“I'll explain later.”
She eyed him with suspicion but said nothing. He tried not to think about it. He tried hard to mean everything he'd said in case the heart could read his thoughts and would realize that he didn't really want its power to influence him.
* * *
For three hours, they rode through the raging storm. All the while, the Storm Dragon’s Heart called louder and louder to Turesobei. He did not mention this to Iniru. He only told her that he could hear it and they were going the right direction. And then they knew for certain, because they spotted a protected path through the storm—a long tunnel that behaved like a perfect version of Kahenan's storm-shield.
The tunnel stretched out farther than they could see. Going one way, the tunnel ascended into the highlands. The other way penetrated Gawo Province and headed toward their capital. Iniru and Turesobei scanned for enemies but saw none within the tunnel. They rode up to it. Turesobei examined it with his kenja-sight.
“Looks safe. The energies are just holding back the elements.”
Iniru picked up a rock and tossed it. The rock went through the side of the tunnel and landed inside, unharmed. “You can never be too sure.”
They rode inside, feeling only a tingle of energy as they passed through. The tunnel widened to about thirty feet and seemed from within as if it were made of glass. Rain pattered onto the top and rolled down the sides. Wind and lightning were absent. The thunder was reduced to a distant rumbling. They were relieved to be free of the wind and rain.
“Why a tunnel?” Iniru said. “Before they just created an eye around themselves.”
Turesobei shrugged. “I'm sure they have reasons.” He pointed toward the Gawo Province. “The heart lies that way.”
* * *
An hour later, all their enemies came into view: Haisero, So
tenda, and twenty hooded cultists were meeting with two dozen Gawo soldiers. The two sides were approaching each other warily when Iniru spotted them.
“King Gawo,” Turesobei said. “I recognize his bulk and his ornate crimson armor. We've got to get in closer and find out what they're saying.”
“Follow my lead, then.”
They tied their denekon to a tree. The poor beast looked happy to be out of the weather and resting at last. Turesobei cast the spell of auditory enhancement on himself and Iniru so they wouldn't have to get too close. Then they crept forward and hid amongst several thick bushes.
King Gawo sat on a fine but aging mount. Heavy rolls of fat jiggled beneath his chin and in various places were stuffed into his armor. Two grey-robed sorcerers lurked to one side. To the other sat their High Wizard, Gawo Yureigu. He was a short, skeletal man with sunken eyes and a scar across his mouth. Gawo's elite nazaboko guards, the most fearsome of his murderous troops, surrounded them all.
“Haisero!” boomed King Gawo with his jowls swaying. “I insist that you stop this madness!”
Haisero motioned, and a crackling wall of lightning formed between the two parties. He dismissed the lightning and shouted, “I could destroy you all with ease!”
King Gawo belted out, “Then do so and be done with it!”
“Not until you have all bent your knees to me.” Haisero held up the heart and gestured toward High Wizard Yureigu. “Especially that pig!”
Yureigu scowled but said nothing. King Gawo spat, “We will not bow to you, Haisero.”
“You will, King Gawo, unless my demands are met!”
“Son,” called out Yureigu, “listen to reason. This is fruitless.”
“I've had it with your reason, Father. All you've done for years is order me about. You lashed me when I didn't do the lessons the way you wanted. And when I succeeded, you punished me for not doing better. You asked the impossible and demeaned me in every way. And all the while you were holding me back. You knew I was talented, and you held me back so I wouldn't surpass you.”
“I did no such thing! I was molding you to be the best ever.”
Storm Phase Series: Books 1-3 Page 25