Kamo stared at Rolin.
“I don’t understand. I just heard ‘hello,’” she said.
“You what? How?” Rolin asked, perplexed.
“I don’t know,” Kamo said, “maybe we should just try again. I must have been daydreaming.”
Again, Rolin said the word and waved, but as Kamo watched his lips intently, she realized that though she was hearing ‘hello,’ Rolin’s mouth was forming a different word.
“Rolin, say something in Fershi,” Kamo told him. She closed her eyes.
“I think you make the most beautiful Fire elf I’ve ever seen,” Rolin said.
She blushed and asked, “Gobi, did you understand that?”
“I’m not sure,” Gobi said. “I think he used the words ‘beautiful,’ and ‘elf.’”
“Did you get it, Kamo?” Rolin asked.
“Yes.”
A strange sensation spread through Kamo’s body. Like something was waking inside her.
“Rolin, say something in Laukian.”.
He spouted off a sentence, and Kamo heard gibberish.
“Well, I don’t think I’m a Talker,” she said, “but I definitely understand you when you speak Fershi.”
“Wicked,” said Gobi, “but that means I’m the only one who’s walking into this blind. Or, in this case, deaf, I should say. At least I can catch some of it.”
“Kamo, can you try to speak it?” Rolin asked.
Kamo shrugged. “I don’t hear it any differently in my head,” she said, “I have to watch your lips as you talk to know there’s a difference. I don’t think I could just speak it.”
“Interesting,” Rolin said, scratching his chin. “Can you try, though?”
“I guess,” Kamo said. She cleared her throat and closed her eyes.
“I wish I was sailing,” she said, opening her eyes.
“Nope,” Gobi shook his head, “I understood that one.”
Kamo threw her head up and exhaled loudly. She looked at them again, running her fingers through her hair. “Well, at least I can understand everything,” she said, tousling the ends of her hair.
“I’m sure it’ll come with time,” Rolin said. “But for now, I think it’s time we get our story straight. The gates will be here within the hour.”
“If it’s the same guards as last time, won’t they recognize that we’re not who they’re waiting for?” Gobi said.
“Which is why we need a backup plan,” said Rolin, “but if they’re not the same guards, we are brothers Bron and Brough of Glera house.”
“And if they are?” Gobi asked.
Rolin squinted and tilted his head.
“We’ll tell them we met the brothers in Tartha, and they asked us to relay an urgent message to Elesun,” Rolin said. “And if they ask why the Glera sons didn’t return, we’ll tell them that the squabble became more of a nuisance than we were expecting, and now the advisor’s wisdom is needed to resolve the matter.”
“Brilliant,” said Gobi, “just one problem. What if they ask me or Kamo a question directly?”
“I’ll answer for all of us,” Rolin replied.
As he spoke, a crackle of energy burst through the air, and Kamo watched as a shimmering veil melted away to reveal a set of wrought iron gates, just as Rolin had described. And as before, two sentinels in crimson red uniforms walked into view as Kamo caught her breath at the size and suddenness of the gates’ appearance.
“In from Tartha?” one of the guards called to them casually.
Rolin answered quickly.
“Yes,” he said, “we wanted to get home earlier to prepare for the festival, but I’m afraid we missed the gate last time.”
“They’re celebrating earlier every year,” the guard shook his head as he pulled out a set of keys.
Rolin walked right up to the gate, and Kamo and Gobi followed behind him, doing their best to act as though this was strictly routine.
“Well, we have much to celebrate, do we not, friend?” Rolin smiled at him.
“I suppose that’s true,” said the guard.
The key was loose in his grip, and he seemed in no hurry to fit it into the lock.
“Tell me,” the guard asked more carefully, “what’s your favorite part of the festival?”
His eyes scrutinized Rolin’s.
“Mine?” Rolin put a hand on his chest, acting flattered, “well, there’s no question, it would have to be the…”
He paused, and Kamo could see him thinking quickly, playing a deadly improvisational game.
“The opening ceremonies, though it’s a toss-up nowadays with the marvelous displays they have. I swear, it’s more spectacular every year!”
His voice was enthusiastic, without a hint of deception.
The guard nodded his head as if satisfied by the answer and laughed lightly.
“Elesun has always had a flare for the dramatic,” the guard said, and Kamo heard his companion snort.
“He has, hasn’t he,” Rolin agreed eagerly, “I’m sure he won’t disappoint this year.”
The guard, still chuckling, was now slowly raising the key to the padlock.
Kamo’s heart raced, and she fought the urge to wipe her sweaty palms on her tunic. She focused her energy into the smile on her face, laughing pleasantly as they discussed the high advisor. Kamo looked at Gobi. He was smiling blankly, but out of the corner of her eye, Kamo saw his fingers itching to stroke the dagger at his belt.
She heard a soft “click” and turned her attention back to the lock.
“Enjoy the festival,” the guard said, waving them through.
Rolin stepped through the gates and didn’t turn back as Kamo and Gobi followed him quickly.
Kamo breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the guards were out of earshot.
They had made it safely past the gate.
Chapter Nineteen
“Can you believe that?” Gobi shouted, “What the devil did he say to you, Rolin? Or, no, no, more importantly, what did you say to him? Something about the festival?”
“Well, I told him we wanted to get home for the festival, and he asked me what my favorite part of it was,” Rolin answered.
“And then Rolin decided to gamble,” Kamo interrupted. “Don’t you know what could have happened?
“Even in human traditions, festivals begin with a ceremony,” Rolin reassured her, “it wasn’t so much a gamble as it was an educated guess.”
Kamo scoffed. “What happened to the plan and the backup plan?”
“They were the same guards,” Rolin said, “and the idea of the festival just came to me. I thought if I acted enough like I was interested in that, it might make him more inclined to take me at my word. And I was right, luckily,” he said, shrugging.
Kamo’s elbow nudged into his ribs.
“Yes, you were,” she said. “I suppose I should just be grateful.”
“I certainly am,” said Gobi.
Kamo was certain the guards were going to chase them down. She hadn’t bothered to lift her head to look anywhere but the ground in front of her. She could see her feet sinking into inches of hot, red sand, and the sun was beating on her neck. But now that she and the men were openly talking and breathing freely, she took in her surroundings more clearly.
The red sand at her feet extended into the horizon, and on her left and right were red stone cliff walls, forming a canyon around them. She craned her neck to see if she could gauge their height, but the sun was still directly over her head, and she had to cover her eyes. The snowy, cold air became a remnant of the past as she breathed in the dry, dusty air of Ferena. Bellia had heat like this in the summer, but it was always accompanied by pools of refreshing, cool water. Without the pools, Kamo felt almost certain this heat would be unbearable.
“I didn’t think I’d ever miss the snow,” Kamo said after they had traveled for a few hours, trudging through the hot, resistant sand, “but I think I do.”
The grit of sand and dust bit at her feet as she
walked, and her lips were dry and parched. She stopped behind Rolin and Gobi and drank the last of her water. She shook the waterskin in her hand and coaxed a few tiny, forgotten drops into her mouth.
Gobi and Rolin both looked in worse shape than Kamo. Sweat dripped down their necks and soaked into their shirts. Finally, Gobi stopped mid-stride and removed his shirt, only to wrap it as a turban around his head. His torso was slim, and his muscles lean. Rolin followed his lead a few strides later. Kamo’s eyebrows rose in surprise and admiration at his tanned skin and well-defined muscles. She blushed and was about to avert her eyes to the ground when she noticed tiny white scars on Rolin’s back, only an inch or so in length and not even a finger wide, but there had to be at least four, evenly spaced in line with his shoulder blades.
She walked a little closer behind him. “Rolin?” she asked softly.
He stopped and turned around.
Kamo examined his chest and saw four white scars that matched those on his back.
Rolin watched her eyes travel down to his chest and scars. “You want to know what they’re from,” he guessed quietly.
Kamo nodded.
“I don’t think it’s a story I’m ready to tell yet,” Rolin said, “can you wait?”
“Sure,” she answered softly.
Gobi stared at the ground, then at the sky, anywhere but his two companions’ faces.
“Thank you,” Rolin said before turning to walk ahead.
Kamo caught Gobi’s arm and stared ahead at Rolin.
“Does he talk about the war? Or anything before he met you?” she asked apprehensively.
“Not really, no,” Gobi said, “Mostly he wanted to learn to sail, he wanted to explore and trade. When we asked about the army and the war, he’d just say, ‘I’m glad it’s over, and I’m glad it brought me here.’ We never really pressed for more. He was always keen to change the subject pretty quickly.”
“He told me about his brother, Reginald,” Kamo said, “and sisters. I wonder where they are now.”
“His sisters are in Laukia,” Gobi said, “his whole family still lives there.”
“Have you met them?” Kamo asked.
“No,” he replied, “but occasionally Rolin would get a letter from them when we put into port near Laukia.”
“That’s sweet,” Kamo said. “He is sort of private, I guess, isn’t he.”
Gobi swept the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand.
“I think he’s just cautious,” Gobi said, “trusting too easily can have consequences, and I think he’s learned that the hard way.”
“I thought you said he didn’t talk about the past,” Kamo said.
“He didn’t have to.”
They traveled in silence until the sun set. There was no indication that the city was anywhere nearby. The canyon and sand dunes seemed to stretch in every direction for miles.
“I’d say let’s trudge on, but I have no idea how far it’ll be still,” Rolin said, turning to face them, “do you think we could stop for the night?”
The scorching sun had relented, and the warm breeze in the air reminded Kamo of nights at sea. Rolin and Gobi were both red with sunburn, and even Kamo felt the sting of the sun on her neck.
“It’s fine by me,” she said, “I’m exhausted.”
“I think I’ll go on a little further,” Gobi told them.
Rolin and Kamo looked at him in surprise.
“You? You’re going to go on? You’re always the first one to call it for the night,” Rolin said, scratching his head.
“That’s not true,” Gobi said.
Kamo pursed her lips and rolled her eyes to the side, averting his gaze.
“Ok, fine, it’s true, but I want to keep going for a little bit. I promise to come back before it gets too dark.”
Kamo almost laughed.
“Gobi, we’re not your parents,” she told him, “if you want to keep going, we’re not going to stop you. We are also not going to follow you, though, so please be careful. And don’t go too far.”
So much for not being his parents. I sound just like Kulpa.
Rolin and Kamo had just finished setting up the tents and were deciding what to do in lieu of a fire when Gobi returned, breathing hard.
“It’s...up...there,” he panted between breaths.
“It’s what?” Rolin asked, offering him some water.
Gobi gulped the water and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Up there,” Gobi stammered, pointing at the cliffs above them.
Rolin and Kamo looked up at the canyon walls.
“That’s impossible,” Kamo said, “how are we even supposed to get up there? And why can’t we hear them?”
Gobi bent over and rested his hands on his knees.
“Not up there,” he said, “up there,” he pointed again from the direction he came, and up.
“Oh,” Rolin uttered. “Still, how do we get up? Do we have to climb? Do the walls have steps? Does the ground even out?”
Gobi shook his head.
“I don’t know what we’re supposed to do,” he said, “the canyon comes to a close. The walls meet up, and it’s a dead-end, but I could hear people above me.”
The last light of the sun faded from the sky, and Kamo felt the chill of her sunburned skin.
“It’ll still be there tomorrow,” she said. “If we have to scale a wall, let’s do it when we can see properly.”
Gobi looked at her with disappointment written all over his face.
“Gobi, you don’t really want to arrive in a town full of strangers in the middle of the night with no explanation, do you?” Rolin asked.
“No, I guess not,” Gobi sulked. “I was just looking forward to the challenge, that’s all.”
“I’m sure it’ll be just as hard when we can see,” Kamo reassured him.
“Maybe for you,” Gobi mumbled under his breath.
Chapter Twenty
Morning came sooner than she expected, and Kamo groaned as she heard Gobi’s voice badgering her.
“Kamo, let’s go! Get up, woman! We have some climbing to do!”
“Just go,” Kamo bellowed, “I’ll catch up later.”
Gobi burst through her tent flap and pulled her blanket from on top of her.
“Kamo Rana, today is the first time in days that I will get to climb something dangerous. You will not ruin it because you want your beauty sleep.”
“Hey!” Kamo yelled. “Give that back!”
“Come and get it,” Gobi said as he dashed out of the tent.
Only seconds later, she heard Rolin outside.
“Any idea why he’s so enthusiastic about this?” he said. “Usually, he’s the one telling me to let you sleep.”
Kamo yawned and rubbed her eyes.
“Maybe he just misses climbing on a ship,” she said, then added in a whisper, “or maybe he just secretly hopes to drive me crazy enough to kill him before we get to the climb, and then he won’t have to worry about it.”
“What was that?” Rolin asked.
“Never mind.”
As she left her tent, she saw that Gobi and Rolin had already packed up, and her foot was still in the door as Gobi started rolling the canvas.
“Does it never rain here?” Kamo whined as the sun shined without a cloud to accompany it.
It was only a short walk to the end of the canyon, and Gobi sprinted ahead of Kamo and Rolin the whole way.
“See, I told you,” he shouted, “and you can come hear them too.”
Kamo looked up at the cliff and closed her eyes. It was faint, but she could hear voices and carts.
Great.
“I think I found something,” Rolin called to her right.
He was staring at the wall at his feet. The rock face in front of him was mostly smooth, but one red stone stuck out from the wall like a nose on a face. As Kamo stepped back to see it, it was as if a whole ladder of stones appeared right before her eyes, and the nose was th
e base.
“I think this is where we climb,” she said. “Look, you can see the handholds.”
“You can?” Rolin asked, stepping back beside her, “I just meant I found a plant.”
Kamo looked at his feet, and there was a small, red flower blooming with specks of yellow in its petals. “Yeah, look up,” she said, pointing to the nose.
“I don’t see anything,” Rolin said, searching the rock.
“Me neither,” Gobi said.
Kamo stepped up to the wall and placed her hand on the protruding rock. “Right here,” she said, “you can’t see this?”
Gobi walked up next to her and put his hand on top of hers. “Nope, but I can feel it,” he said.
Rolin joined them, and Gobi stepped back to let him touch the stone as well.
“Me too,” he said.
“Well, Gobi, it looks like you’ll get to climb without seeing after all,” Kamo sighed. “I’ll go first.”
She stepped back from the cliff one more time, trying to memorize as much of the rock’s patterns as she could before starting the climb. The first half looked easy, the hand and foot holds were closer together, but she could barely see past that.
“Good luck,” Gobi said, excitement permeating his voice.
“Be careful,” Rolin said, squeezing her arm, “we’ll be right behind you, but I’m not sure there’s much we can do if you fall.”
“That’s reassuring,” Kamo said.
She took a deep breath and rubbed her hands together. She hoisted one foot onto the nose-like rock. This was nothing like climbing the rigging. Her hands and fingers grasped the cliff face and held on tight, but the bottom of her shoes kept slipping on the built-up layers of smooth sand. By the time she reached halfway, her arms and legs burned. She looked down to see Gobi carefully tracing her hand and foot holds, sometimes running his hands or feet along the wall, searching for the hold he couldn’t see. Rolin was just beneath him, copying Gobi’s previous positions.
Then she looked up. The holds were getting smaller and further apart. She would have to use her arms to pull herself over the ledge. There were no steps to give her a boost as their location was too far down.
“For the last sprint, you’ll have to use your arms,” she yelled to Rolin and Gobi, “ keep following me for now, but when I get to the top, I’ll climb over the ledge. Then, I can show you exactly where to hold on.”
The Last of the Sea Elves Page 18