by Paul Kidd
“Where is she, Javïra. I will ask you only once.”
“Do I get my reward?”
“Certainly. Where is my sister?”
“Why she’s flown off to meet her lover and escape. The Vakïdurii team captain - would you believe it? They’re heading west towards the Vakïdurii tribal lands. I can show you where to find their trail.”
Zhukora clicked her fingers, and Daimïru snapped into a bow as she received her orders.
“Daimïru, I want your best trackers. Armour. Weapons. Food for three days. There is a parcel in my lodge, a skull wrapped in an oilskin. Bring it to me.”
Daimïru cracked her wings out in salute and barked orders to her men. Zhukora held out her arms as hunters relieved her of her clothes, then brought her uniform and began to strap her inside its armoured shell.
Within seconds her transformation was complete; the skull face turned to stare coldly down at Javïra.
“Show us where to find Shadarii. Lead me to her lover, and you shall have your reward.”
Javïra threw back her head and laughed. Finally revenge was hers! Javïra looked up at the face of death and felt a thrill of joy.
She had won at last; Shadarii was destroyed!
Raindrops thundered through the ferns as the storm crashed against the forest roof. Kotaru whooped with laughter as he led Shadarii in a dash beneath a cliff. They dove down into the mouth of an enormous cave to shelter from the gale. Kotaru snorted and gleefully shook the water from his fur.
“Whoooo! Well it looks like we’ll be flying no further tonight, eh? Old Mother Rain and Father Wind are feelin’ a wee bit frisky!”
Shadarii’s eyes were bright. It was so exciting! Shadarii gripped Kotaru’s hand and stared out across the churning trees. The leaves tossed and whipped like wild things, and Rain brought a fresh, clean smell that made the world seem new.
Kotaru thrilled to the sight of his lover’s tossing hair. He nuzzled her and laughed as she buried herself in his arms. Shadarii’s silks felt impossibly warm and soft beneath his hands. She slipped reluctantly from his grasp and shed her belly pack, then stood to peer around their refuge.
The cave formed a vast shelf slicing back into the living rock. Wind dashed leaves and grit across the walls. Shadarii raised her hand and let a bright glow spill between her fingers; shadows writhed and faded as she filled the cave with light.
Aha!
A sheltered cleft of rock dove further back into the mountain, well and truly hidden from the bitter wind. Shadarii flew up onto the rockshelf and gave a grateful sigh. Kotaru clambered up behind her, peering up at Shadarii’s eerie ball of light.
“How do you do that? Your bag of tricks just never ends. Is it the result of a deprived childhood or somethin’?” He stopped as he saw Shadarii’s find, then clapped his hands for joy. “Ha! Now we’re lookin’ good! I’ll go get those packs and we’ll see about a meal!”
He dove off to fetch their gear while Shadarii stood and quietly laid her hand against the rock. The roof towered overhead, folding far above her like a pair of praying hands. She felt the mountain whispering in its endless slumber, filling her with its timeless gift of peace.
Kotaru stumbled up the rocks behind her and opened up their packs. He gathered wood and crackling twigs, his tail twirling merrily as he tried to turn the cave into a home.
Behind him, Shadarii trembled slightly as she opened up their packs and dragged out the things that would be needed for the night. It had to be perfect! There would never be another first time. There had been no mother to tell her what to do; no older sisters to advise her. Still, she had heard other girls talking about the art of making love. Shadarii laid their sleeping mats side by side and rolled spare clothes into a pillow for the bed. Her hands shook so badly she could scarcely put it into place.
There should be flowers; why weren’t there any flowers? Shadarii wilted in dismay. Kotaru innocently went about his own pursuits, quite unaware of the preparations going on behind him. He heaved a sigh of satisfaction and dusted off his hands.
“Well that’s that done! Tea’ll be a while, but we’ve some warmth now, eh? I’ll just get everything ready and then we’ll…”
His words faltered as he swung around to look at her. Shadarii knelt beside a wide, soft bed. The sleeping robe lay well turned down, beckoning in silent invitation. Shadarii stared at him from pupils wide with fright.
Shadarii stared mesmerised into the fire; Kotaru had no idea what he should do.
He remembered the jiteng game. Nervous faces, fear and trembling. Kotaru slowly moved to settle on the bed beside his love, and she felt stiff as hardwood in his hands. He softly laid her head across his lap and stroked her hair. Moving with slow, careful grace, Kotaru drew his old flute from its sheath. With the firelight sparkling in his eyes, he softly raised his pipes to play.
The fire gave warm protection from the storm as Kotaru’s music rose to fill the night with peace. Shadarii sighed. Her fear vanishing as she snuggled deeper down into Kotaru’s lap.
The music slowly trailed away, and the lovers nestled closer on their little bed. Behind them the fire rose bright and clear against the restless sky.
***
Black shapes ripped through the bushes as the air lit with lightning flash. A skull face bent above faint marks beside a pool, antennae sniffing at the soil. The tracker crumbled earth between his fingers, nodding slowly in the wind.
“Two Kashra. One male, one female. The male’s moccasins are cut differently to ours - Vakïdurii style.”
Daimïru coldly gazed across the mountain peaks, the storm stirring through her hair.
“Where did they go?”
“West. The trail is feint, but the girl’s ïsha spoor is unusually powerful.”
“Can you follow it?”
“No. Electrical discharge from the storm will disperse their traces.”
Daimïru cursed and spared a glance towards Zhukora, her tail twitching fitfully as she tried to make decisions.
Soon it would be impossible to fly; her wings already itched and burned like fire. Soon there would be no holding back; sometime tonight their wings would break and fall away. New wings would come, but days would pass until they hardened. If they were stuck out in the wilderness, it might take days to walk back home.
“Daimïru. What have they found?”
“She was here, Zhukora. They’ve gone off to the west. The storm gives us no chance of following their spoor.”
Zhukora slowly nodded. She stroked the shaft of her spear and gazed out across the waterfall.
“Gather the hunters and prepare to move. We will follow on their trail immediately.”
“Zhukora, the trackers say we have no hope!”
The leader gave a slow smile in reply. She reached out to touch Daimïru’s shoulder.
“Gather the people, my love. My sister has her role to play within a greater destiny. I will show you powers to put a storm to shame.”
Daimïru hesitated, but Zhukora pulled off her mask and smiled down at her friend.
“Go. Go! This is something all of us must share! Something wonderful.”
Javïra paced beside the pool, tugging at her bandages. She watched in suspicion as Zhukora placed a strange bundle on a rock.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you going after them?”
“All in good time. We must meet someone else before we go. It shan’t take long. You might even find it rather interesting.”
Zhukora smiled as she uncovered the withered skull. Her faithful followers knelt all around her as Daimïru drew aside her mask, her thin face staring up at her beloved leader.
“We are here, Zhukora. We are ready.”
Zhukora reached out to take the skull within her hands. She shivered as she felt her mission filling her with power.
“The time of conflict comes upon us. Our enemies will use every weapon in their power to bring us down; armed struggle is inevitable.
“We must be ready to
face our terror. If we are to succeed, we must hurtle mercy behind us! We must lay our lives as sacrifices to our Dream. Let no person follow me who fears to give as much as I!”
Zhukora raised the skull towards the storm, and suddenly its power burst forth above the crowd. ïsha blazed as lightning streaked behind Zhukora’s hair.
“All our weapons must be gathered! Each spear, each mind, each spark of energy must be ready for our struggle! Finally we have the means of power to destroy the peoples’ enemies!”
Energy blazed forth to pulse with rage. Zhukora screamed out in triumph as the storm reached its height.
“Lord Serpent! I, Zhukora summon thee! I draw you to my body and make your power my own!”
The skull burst into a ball of light, and a stream of living energy crashed against Zhukora’s heart. Zhukora screamed and threw back her head as force raged through her soul. All around her rocks and trees exploded into flames.
Suddenly the lightning stopped. Zhukora clutched her head and writhed in agony. Sparks arced across her body, wreathing her in pain.
Zhukora gave a scream of rage and hurtled the pain aside. She stood arcing energy into the rocks, the rain, the trees, blinking as her hunters hastened to her side.
“I’m alright! Leave me, I can stand!” She stared off into the emptiness, her face blank with shock. Zhukora blinked and felt the ïsha spill like syrup through her claws.
“Poison - the power! I never thought it could feel so sweet!” Zhukora stretched out her hands and slowly closed her fingers; energy dripped like liquid fire to splash upon the ground.
~Serpent, do you feel? Do you see?~
Something stirred inside her, and she felt a tingle running through her limbs. Lord Serpent shivered, rippling through her body like a glorious blaze of laughter.
*I see! I touch! I feel!* Zhukora felt his thrill like a delicious drug. She ran hands across her curves, feeling Serpent gasp within her. *So this is life! This is beauty? Too long I had forgotten! Oh Zhukora, this is a bargain indeed! Thou shalt have thy power and more. I shall give thee fire in payment for the softness of thy lovely hair! I shall give thee healing as thanks for these hands to touch! I shall show thee undreamed of weapons - tools to blast thy enemies to ruins! We shall laugh at their destruction and feel this body blaze with life!*
Zhukora laughed. He was there inside her - a rider such as mere priests had never dreamed! Zhukora lashed out to shear a boulder clean in two, then screamed and threw her arms out to the storm, thrilling to the brilliant crack of lightning in the air.
The demons knelt in obiesence before their shining Queen. Daimïru bowed at her feet and reached up to take Zhukora’s hand.
“Zhukora, are you alright? What did you do?”
The leader reached down to touch Daimïru’s golden hair.
“I have tamed the spirit of the cave, my love. Now we finally have a weapon in our hands.”
“Does the power work? Can you track Shadarii?”
“Oh yes, my love. I feel her! There’s no hiding from us now. We shall drag her from her hiding place and fling her to the priests!”
Daimïru snapped her mask back into place, and the hunters rose into the air and sped out through the darkness. Zhukora raised a demonic howl of hunger. With a savage shout the hunters plunged into the heart of storm.
***
In the light of dawn, Shadarii dozed all snug and warm beneath Kotaru’s arm. She glowed with satisfaction, nestling happily in her lover’s strong embrace.
Lovers! They were really lovers! Sore but happy, Shadarii sighed, her head pillowed on her own beloved man.
Kotaru heaved a yawn and nuzzled at Shadarii’s ear. He reached up and scratched his lover between her long antennae.
“Mmmmmm - How are your wings? Are they itchy yet?”
Shadarii gave a shrug, then reached out to touch her wings, groping in confusion as her hands reached only empty air. Shadarii sat up, blinking at two great swathes of orange that lay beside her in the bed. Her wings had dropped off in the night and she had never even woken. She laughed her silent laugh and snatched up one old discarded wing. Black and orange, red and white… It seemed such a pretty thing; such a shame to toss it all away.
Kotaru’s wings still seemed intact. Shadarii lay beside him, letting him kiss her navel as she combed her fingers through his hair. The smells of a warm shared bed were new and strange. Shadarii smiled and felt the sunlight stream across her fur.
The girl finally felt the urgent tug of an impatient bladder. The naked girl eased out of bed, then danced merrily outside to find a convenient bush. The sun was bright, the sky shone blue, the day grew warm and fine. All it needed was a cup of tea to make a perfect dawn.
Her business done, Shadarii pranced along the rocks beneath the cliff face. Below her the river wound its way towards the edges of the forest. Shadarii leapt along the boulders like a naked child, dancing out her happiness for all the world to see.
Shadarii clambered back into the cave and went to stir her lazy man from bed. Kotaru lay tangled in the sleeping robe, his delicious body gleaming in the filtered light. Kotaru gave a growl and pulled her down into the bed. He nibbled at her neck, making Shadarii kick and wriggle in delight. She grabbed him by the ears and tried to slap his groping hands away.
<
Kotaru sighed and wistfully nuzzled at her breasts.
“Ah me! Now there’s the rub! Once she gets what she wants it’s all just thank you and goodbye!”
Shadarii gave a snort and pushed him back across the bed. Kotaru crept reluctantly from the covers, rubbing sleep from his eyes. His lover held up the teapot and jiggled it around before his nose, and Kotaru’s face filled up with naked lust.
“Oh please! Rain woman, tea in bed! Thou’rt a queen of mercy!”
Shadarii twirled her tail and scampered from the cave. Kotaru yawned and followed, watching as she bent to fill the kettle from a rain pool. His voice hooted gleefully down to her from high above.
“Hey brush-tail! I’ll break that seed loaf for breakfast!”
She turned and waved merrily back at him, her eyes sparkling bright with love. She swung back to fill the kettle as something dark slashed through the air.
A throwing stick cracked against Shadarii’s skull; her world went black as she span unconscious to the ground. Kotaru leapt forward, blinking down at her in shock, then threwe himself aside as something flashed towards him. A spear shattered on the rockface inches from his head.
Kotaru spread his wings and dove. He lanced between the rocks, desperately racing for Shadarii, then swerved as a shrieking figure burst up from the ground. A spear whipped past him, parting the fur across his neck. The naked hunter roared and crashed full tilt into his enemy; the creature tumbled back, bones breaking as it slammed against a rock. Kotaru screamed in rage and smashed his fist across the creature’s grinning skull.
A second figure burst out from the bushes. The Skull-Wing warrior lunged in with its spear, and Kotaru span and ripped the weapon from its grasp. He jammed the butt hard into the Skull-Wing’s crotch, cracking the staff against its neck as it doubled up in agony. Kotaru ducked and grabbed Shadarii by the arms; he had her half lifted from the ground when a flock of Zhukora’s demons tore out from the trees.
Kotaru snatched up a fallen spear and hurtled it with all his strength. It shot towards the enemy, only to explode into a shower of ashes at one wave from Zhukora’s hand. Kotaru blinked in astonishment, then leapt high into the sky. His spears lay bundled in the cave; from there he could hit anyone trying to touch Shadarii. The hunter shot through the air with blinding speed, a dozen shrieking enemies behind him.
Suddenly something erupted from the empty weeds below. Daimïru lunged, and Kotaru gave a scream as her spear rammed through his stomach. He span into the cliff face, falling a hundred spans to smash against the river banks and sink beneath the foam.
Daimïru stared down at the trail of bloody bubbles in the water, trembling in helpless spasms as she felt the thrill of killing once again. Zhukora came to touch her, and Daimïru tremoured beneath her soft caress. She shivered as she felt the spear sink home again. The horror in his eyes as he had stared death in the face…
“Is he dead?”
Daimïru numbly nodded, still incapable of speech. Zhukora drew in a breath and gripped Daimïru in excitement.
Javïra scuttled forward, cackling as she circled around her fallen foe.
“Ha ha! He’s plucked her little blossom! Blood was shed last night! Now your prize is useless to the priests!”
The Skull masks gathered in forbidding silence. Zhukora slowly paced across the rocks, her long hair streaming in the breeze.
“What the Priests don’t know will not concern them. My sister lacks a voice to even tell them what she has done.”
Javïra purred in triumph, and her white fur shone like winter ice.
“Aaaaaah! So we shall keep an axe above her head? Finally I have her in my power! I’ll make her beg my forgiveness before the entire tribe!”
Zhukora glanced down to spear Javïra with her eyes.
“Fool! Three times she has beaten you. Have events entirely passed your notice? Do you remember the witch-girl on the Vakïdurii jiteng team? Has it never occurred to you just who that player might have been?” Zhukora seared Javïra with contempt. “I thought as much! Shadarii is dangerous. I have underestimated her once. I shall not do so again.”