by Ryan Muree
“No!” Nida slid across the floor, plugged the hole with her palm, and cradled it in her arms.
Drathella screamed and kicked her repeatedly in the ribs.
Nida cried out but wrapped herself around the flower to protect it from Drathella’s wrath. With each kick, each punch, each rake of her skin, she held tighter.
The light in her vision dimmed, but there was something left inside her.
She pulled up the last bit of Vigor in her chest and pushed it into the bud in her arms. She tried to focus on the hole sealing shut and the sister inside it surviving, but just as the bud grew warmer in her arms, Drathella roared.
White-hot pain shot into her back and seared through her chest. She coughed warm blood, and her eyes drooped.
“Nida!”
Ascara.
“She’s over here!”
Rowec?
Every muscle relaxed. No more pain. No more fear.
He had come back for her.
He had come back.
***
Rowec ran for Nida, as Ascara leaped on top of Drathella.
Nida was covered in blood. There were holes in her chest. Her skin and few teal scales had been scratched. Her face was bruising. What had she gone through? What had Drathella done to her?
And she had held on to save this one tiny bud?
His heart gave, and he cried. “Nida. Nida… please! Please, open your eyes. Please.”
He carefully slid her arms from off the bud she had been protecting and held her.
She was lifeless. Her skin was graying and growing cold as her mouth dropped open. He pressed his ear to her chest. Her heartbeat was… faint.
Two other sisters clamored alongside Ascara to take down Drathella.
They had wrestled into the garden, Drathella looking considerably weaker than Ascara. She limped, some of her scales were missing, and her hair was out everywhere. Ascara was circling her.
A larger sister, one of the guards with red scales, jumped at Drathella, distracting her long enough for Ascara to shove a spike through Drathella’s chest. It burst through the other side, and she toppled.
Ascara, taking a second to catch her breath, looked back at the entrance of the room. Rowec followed her gaze. Several other sisters, young and old, had gathered in the entrance to watch the spectacle.
A guard stood protectively in front of Ascara. “Do any of you want to attack the buds or kill a sister?”
The group shook their heads and dropped their chins.
Ascara ran to Rowec, kneeling and smoothing back Nida’s hair.
“She’s dying,” he sobbed. “We can’t let her die.”
Ascara sniffled. “I can’t—”
He pressed his ear against her chest again. The fainting beat was gone. “It’s gone! You saved her before!”
Ascara’s tears fell down her cheeks. “We can’t bring her back to life, Rowec. It’s not possible. None of us have enough Vigor for something like that.”
“She died protecting your sisters. She didn’t want any of us to die, humans or Tialans, and you’re just going to let her?” he boomed. His eyes searched the large group gathering in the room.
His brother and several of their warriors broke through as well. Maur blinked and dropped his chin, as did his fellow Zchi warriors.
“Help me save her. This isn’t fair!” Rowec pleaded.
“Rowec—”
“Give her mine,” he said, choking back sobs. “Give her mine. Use all of it.”
“I can’t—”
“You can! You did before! Use mine to save Nida!”
“I don’t know what will happen, Rowec. You could die—”
He glanced down and pressed his forehead against Nida’s. “I already have.”
Ascara’s red-rimmed eyes blinked.
He glanced at Maur, whose somber expression had only deepened, and nodded slightly. Rowec reached a hand out for Ascara’s. “I love her. Take my Vigor.”
Ascara sniffled, shook her head, and sighed. “Okay, but, if I fail—”
“I’ll give mine, too,” said a small voice. It was a tiny, cerulean-scaled Tialan, merely a child with smaller eyes than her sisters and fewer scales. She wasn’t as human as Nida, but she wasn’t as Tialan as the others, either.
“I’ll give mine, too,” said another, and then another, until the whole room of Tialans had stepped forward.
Maur cleared his throat. “We’ll, uh, do what we can? Can we give some of our, uh, stuff, too?”
Rowec smiled, and Ascara gasped. “I’m not sure we need all this Vigor. I don’t know what will happen.”
The red-scaled guard behind Ascara sniffled. “We know, but we have to try.”
Ascara nodded, took Rowec’s free hand with one of hers, and rested her other hand on Nida’s forehead. “Wait.”
“Don’t wait!” Rowec shouted.
Her eyes bulged. “The prayer room. Crilla, put your hand on my shoulder. Everyone, hold hands in a chain.”
The red-scaled guard took another sister’s hand until everyone in the room had connected to each other, Maur and the Zchi warriors included.
Ascara took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and Nida’s body grew warm until it glowed.
Rowec blinked, the light nearly blinding him. Please, Nida. Please come back to me.
His head felt light. He wavered, his strength waning. Give it all to her, Ascara. She can have mine.
There was a rush of strength, a heady daze. Overwhelming love and light, and he remembered their hurried first kiss.
Nida glowed until the whole room burst with brilliant light.
Her sisters and the warriors flinched but held tightly to one another.
“Don’t let go!” Ascara shouted, eyes squeezed shut and sweat dripping down her temples.
The room was awash in white.
Please, Nida. Please come back. We love you. I love you.
Ascara gasped, and the light faded. The warmth dissipated, and Nida’s wounds were gone.
“Nida?” Rowec held her close. “Nida, can you hear me?”
Nida blinked once, twice, until her perfect teal eyes settled on him and she smiled. “You came back for me.”
He crushed his lips against hers and wrapped his arms around her until she was pressed against him.
Some of her sisters giggled behind them, and they pulled away, panting and smiling, their foreheads pressed together. “I love you, Nida,” he whispered.
“I love you, too.”
A terrified Raz, with his white fur sticking out at funny angles, scurried to Rowec and jumped on his shoulder.
Nida smiled. “You did a great job hiding, Raz.”
“Hey, look!” One of the younger sisters was squatting next to a bud and pointed to one of its petals moving.
The rest of the room watched in awe as several petals began moving.
CHAPTER 22
Nida’s body was stiff and sleepy, but that was okay. She didn’t want to leave the warmth of Rowec’s arms anyway.
“The petals are moving?” she asked.
Rowec helped her to sit up, and sure enough, the petals were moving.
They were...
“They’re hatching!” she cried, willing herself to stand with Rowec’s support. “Ascara?”
Ascara’s eyes were teary, and her cheeks were bright red.
Nida wrapped her arms around her. “You did it! You figured it out, and you were right! You saved me. You saved us.”
She shook her head and pulled back. “They all gave their Vigor. They all were willing to give their lives to save you.”
She smiled and kissed her sister on the cheek. “Thank you, Ascara.”
“There’s more of ‘em!” another little sister squealed with a smile.
Maur and the other Zchi warriors took several cautious steps back as the youngest Tialan sisters giggled and danced around in the garden between the buds.
“Wake up, girls!” another young one said. “It’s time to wa
ke up! It’s your birthday!”
Nida wiped tears from her eyes.
For years, she’d thought this day would go so differently. And just hours before, she had been convinced she had lost everything.
One by one, tiny little Tialans poked their heads out of the petals in brilliant, vibrant colors. Their damp wings unfurled as they yawned and stretched.
The youngest sisters in the room gathered a few each, hugging them in their arms and introducing themselves.
Nida checked Rowec’s face. His eyes were wide, his face pale. She laughed.
“They look like—”
She hooked her arm through his and patted his chest. “They’ll get arms and legs eventually, and after the baby stage, they’ll be more human.”
He shook his head. “And they can fly?”
“They will until their wings fall off. Then they walk. Are you okay, Rowec? Your face—”
“This is incredible.”
She giggled and rested her head against his chest.
The littlest sisters with their brand-new wings tried as hard as they could, flapping and straining their long necks into the air. All the sisters had joined in holding them in their palms and encouraging them to fly and hover.
Nida’s robe was tugged, and she glanced down. Nymfan’s eyes were red and in her cerulean arms was one tiny little bud. The one Drathella had cut open.
“Oh, Nymfan.” Nida knelt.
The little one sniffled and wiped her eyes. “It’s not hatching.”
“I’m sorry.” Nida frowned. “I tried as hard as I could to save her—”
One tiny petal bounced.
The girl gasped and looked up at Nida.
Her eyes widened. “Careful, Nymfan.”
The petals slowly bounced the tiniest bit open.
“Can I help her?” Nymfan whispered.
Nida nodded, and together they helped peel back the flower’s petals.
The tiniest little Tialan with even tinier wings squawked in the center, blinking big round eyes at them.
Nida sighed in relief. “She’s your littlest sister. She’s going to need the most help. It’s a lot of responsibility. You think you can handle it?”
Nymfan smiled and nodded. “I will. I will take the best care of her.” She leaned in and whispered, “I will call you Camprillion, and you’ll be my favorite sister. I’ll take care of you, I promise. I’ll teach you how to fly and walk…” Nymfan walked off with Camprillion in her palms.
Rowec kissed Nida’s cheek, and she smiled. “I don’t know how to thank you, Rowec.”
He shrugged, his large frame pressed against her. “I have an idea.”
She lifted an eyebrow.
***
Nida turned her back on the early sun to face the Tial temple and all of her sisters on the front lawn. She took Rowec’s hand.
The sweet, tangy scent of ripe paratils swept in with the moist heat from the jungle around them.
But they wouldn’t be in the jungle for long.
They’d spent the last few days planning their trip through the Yvelkian mountains, and the coast. Maybe down to Black Harbor. Maybe they’d make their way to see the Vulkypsies in the south. She didn’t care where they went. She just wanted to see it all with Rowec.
He kissed her on the top of her head and turned to hug his brother.
“Don’t screw this up, Maur. If you start one war between the Tialans and Humans, I’ll come back and kick you myself.”
Maur had agreed to settle things between the Crola and the Tialans with Ascara’s help, leaving the Zchi to fend for themselves. The other human clans would be contacted soon for peace talks.
Maur laughed. “Yeah, well, don’t get lost, you big dummy.” He then stepped forward and hugged Nida. “If my brother does something stupid, just leave him there. I don’t care if it’s on the other side of Lousha. Leave him there.”
She smiled and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Maur. Be careful and take care of Ascara.”
His cheeks pinked before he returned to her sister’s side.
Ascara stepped forward and rolled her eyes.
“Just a pet, right?” she teased.
Ascara shook her head and bit her lip. “He’s a little weird, but a pet’s fine. Maybe… more than a pet.”
She giggled. “Have fun.”
“No, you have fun, and then come right back.”
She took Ascara’s hands. “It won’t be forever. I promise.”
“If you don’t come back, I’ll order you to.” Ascara lifted her violet-scaled chin.
She mirrored her. “Oh, really? Then I guess I have to, my queen.”
Ascara hugged her and sniffled. “I want you to stay, but I want you to go, too.”
She smoothed her sister’s hair. “I love you, too.”
The giggles and shouts of the younger sisters with the newborn Tialans fluttering around their shoulders ran up to Nida and Rowec. They hugged them all as best as they could.
Rowec took her hand again. “Ready?”
She nodded. “Very.”
Raz climbed out of Rowec’s pocket and jumped to Nida.
Rowec scratched the top of Raz’s head. “I see how it is.”
Nida pulled her hair back to make room for him on her shoulder. “Keep a lookout, Raz.”
He yawned and blinked.
They waved at their family one last time before turning into the jungle and ducking under drooping fronds.
“I still don’t know how you walk through a jungle without cutting debris out of your way,” he said.
She giggled. “It’s easy. Stop and think that maybe you’re the one in the way.”
She led him around trees and vines.
“Do you think we should stop by the Zchi village first?” she asked with a smile. “Pay Etta a visit?”
He wrapped his arms around her and placed his chin on her shoulder. “Considering I punched my chief in the face, and then my brother punched his second-in-command? As much as I would love to see Etta lose her mind, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
She laughed, and he did, too.
“Then where to first?” she asked.
He stopped her under a ray of light that had broken through the canopy. His hands spread across her back and pulled her close enough that his lips went to her ear. “Anywhere with you.”
The End
Author's Note
Thank you so much for reading “In the Garden of Gold & Stone.” I wrote this as a challenge to myself: could I pull off a love story between a reptile and a human? It started off as a joke from my Last Elixir universe, where one of my characters pretends he's got the hots for hairy lizard women. When the chance came up to write a fairytale retelling in the same universe, I knew immediately I had to throw caution to the wind and try this genderbent twist on the classic story. I hope you enjoyed it. I have so many more stories to share, including a totally brand new fantasy series set to release soon. It has a whole new cast, a very fun magic system with sigils and magical weapons, and will be told from multiple POVs. For information and goodies, you can sign up for my newsletter at www.ryanmuree.com.
I grew up a military brat. That means I lived in several states, visited parts of Asia, and even lived in Okinawa. When people ask me where I’m from, I just say Earth. Honestly, it’s easier. I was a middle school teacher for nine years—no, really—but now I write, and love that even more. Naturally, I like to write young adult fiction. It’s usually fantasy. Mostly epic. Always magical. I like determined heroines who answer the call for wild adventures across crazy worlds. And I especially like young women who face hardships and consequences with grit and smarts. When I’m not inventing worlds for my characters, I game with my husband and daughter (#PCMasterRace), draw, paint, and sometimes say funny things. Sometimes.
I’m always happy to chat with readers!
<3 Ryan