“This,” Ira said proudly once he’d moved the Jekhibar all the way down the blade, “is for you.”
It took Cole a few seconds to realize the blacksmith was staring directly at him. “Oh,” he said tentatively. “I’ve already got a weapon. I’m kind of attached to it.”
“I know you are, but I will make it better. Give it here.”
When he didn’t move, Cole felt a familiar elbow prodding him in the side. “Go on,” Paige said. “You’re the one that wanted to build bridges.”
Cole drew the spear from the harness strapped across his back. He held it out to Ira, only to have the weapon pulled away with enough force for the thorns to draw his blood. He’d become immune to that pain, but seeing the blacksmith hack at the spearhead using the newly charmed Blood Blade was a whole other kind of agony. “What the hell are you doing?” he shouted.
It only took four chopping cuts, delivered beneath the spot where the metallic varnish had been applied to the tip of the spear and angled upward, to chop off the end of the weapon and leave a neat little point. From there, Ira carved a shallow notch into the point and handed the weapon back. “Concentrate,” he said while positioning the Blood Blade so the prongs from which it had been hanging were fitted into the notch. “Close the wood. Grow it back. Do whatever it is you savages do. Just fit the pieces together.”
Cole grabbed the spear so the thorns in the handle pierced his palms. Emotions helped when it came to shifting the weapon’s shape, and there were plenty of them boiling inside him at the moment. In a matter of seconds the wood flowed up and out, to slip between the prongs and meet again. Ira nodded slowly and watched the process while prompting Cole with a few instructions as to where he should move the spear or which portions needed to be grown out next to envelop the prongs and inch its way up toward the wider portion of the blade.
Paige was so entranced by the gradual little miracle that she jumped when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. Sophie had come up to her and said, “This could take a while. Are you serious about this whole bridge building thing?”
After a moment of consideration, Paige nodded. “Yeah. Like a lot of Cole’s ideas, it seems dumb at first but stands up to reason. We need to do something drastic if we’ve got any chance of coming out of this, and by ‘we,’ I mean all of us. And . . . by that I mean all of us.”
Sophie let out one of many tired breaths. “There have been plagues, both natural and unnatural, that have hit mankind, but we come out all right. Some of those seem more like God trying to trim the population. Cruel but necessary. This is different. The Weshruuv have been content to prowl their territories, but now they have committed themselves to an extinction agenda. Even the most bullheaded among us can see our entire species is in danger and that old rivalries need to be set aside.”
When she said that last part, Sophie looked directly at Milosh. The one-armed Amriany grumbled and headed for the door. “I will tell the others that we will be in the company of savages for a while longer,” he said. After that, his grumblings shifted into his own language.
“Don’t worry,” Sophie said as she led Paige to the door. “I’m sure Ira’s got something for you. Whenever Milosh or Nadya spoke of you to him, he wanted to know about your weapons. Now I see why.”
“Kind of like an old college friend of mine,” Paige said fondly. “Whenever I mentioned something I liked to Karen, she always remembered it. A little while later—or sometimes a lot later—she’d send a little gift that was always perfectly suited to whatever I’d mentioned.”
“She seems nice. Is she a Skinner?”
“No. She was living a normal life when I last saw her, but the way things have gone back home . . . I just hope she’s still alive.”
Obviously no stranger to the sadness that crept in on those last few words, Sophie steered her outside the cabin and then around its perimeter to the wide field behind it. “How much influence do you have with the nymphs?” she asked.
“A good amount, but we’ve been kind of pushing it lately. Things seem to be getting better, though. Why? Looking for some free trips? I’m sure they’ll bring us all back to America, but I should be able to get them to extend the courtesy to a few of you right away. Probably won’t be an all access pass, but one or two of you should be given a trial membership to the VIP rooms until they get used to you.”
“They know us well enough. At least, they know my people. The Amriany have bad history with the Dryad.”
“How bad?” Paige asked.
Sophie drew a long breath before replying, “Let’s just say it would not be a surprise if our first trip through their temple ended with us being sent into a bad place.”
“Like Iowa?”
“Like the bottom of an ocean.”
“Hmm,” Paige said slowly. “I guess that could be worse than Iowa. We may be able to put a good word in for you.”
“We do have something to offer them,” Sophie said as she and Paige walked toward the low ridge surrounding the clearing.
Now that she was closer, Paige could see that it was more rounded than what she’d originally assumed, and there wasn’t as much dirt on it as she’d guessed. The texture was part of the rock instead of something that had collected in uneven layers on it. Also, the rock was trembling. “Is that what you want to trade?” she asked. “Seems like the kind of messed-up crap the Dryads might be into.”
“No. That is the reason Ira works here. He used to find many Jekhibar wedged into this stone. He thinks it is a statue or idol left behind by the nymphs.” Sophie climbed over the ridge and headed toward a clearing Paige hadn’t noticed until she gotten closer to the trees. Then she noticed another ridge, only slightly higher than the first, was formed around it like a huge, loosely coiled rope that peeled away from the outermost ring to point toward the nearby clearing before gradually angling into the ground.
It took them a few minutes before they reached a spot where the ridge dropped off altogether into a series of cracks that ran so deep they couldn’t be filled by the dirt, leaves, and grit that had blown into it. At a spot where the ridge met the cracks, Paige crouched down to lay her hand upon a section that had been rubbed smooth. Wiping the glassy texture revealed something that made her pull her hand away. “Are those scales?” she asked.
Sophie paused just long enough to look over her shoulder. She drew the sword from its scabbard and held it in a loose grip at her side. “That is Chuna.”
“I thought we were supposed to talk to Chuna.”
“Sometimes it does talk,” Sophie said as her gaze drifted upward and into the trees. “This forest is usually full of snakes. They are scarce when it is colder, but usually there are still some around. And in the warmer months, Chuna’s real face can sometimes be seen.”
“Where did he go? Underground?”
The smirk on Sophie’s face showed that she was fully aware of the condescending tone Paige was trying to cover. “This is another Skinner weakness. You rely too heavily on what you can see and touch. Some legends are allowed to slip away.”
“Legends are full of too much BS. Paying too close attention to them keeps you from tackling things head-on. Maybe that’s an Amriany weakness.”
“Or perhaps another reason why our peoples should learn from each other. Chuna is one of two siblings, so the legend says. Our Chokesari have always worked close to this place, which is probably why the nymphs mentioned that name instead of Ira’s. The last Chokesari they knew by name was the great-great-grandfather of Ira’s cousin’s neighbor.”
“That explains that,” Paige said as she rested her hand on the trembling ridge that led directly into the earth. “What about the rest?”
“Chuna has always been here. The Jekhibar are fashioned from jewels that were supposed to be found beneath his skin. He is an ancient creature that commands the serpents. Or perhaps the serpents are part of him. Maybe only the serpents in this forest are part of him. As you say,” Sophie added with a shrug, “legends are not alway
s accurate. It could very well be that this is just some thick, peculiar root that snakes like to use as a home. Whatever it is, it has always been called Chuna and we have never seen its twin brother or sister. I suppose a Skinner would have dug it up to see what it is.”
“And if there were a bunch of snakes in there,” Paige said as she cautiously stepped away from the ridge, “or one giant one, we might have gotten ourselves killed.”
“If we work together, Amriany and Skinners, it must be to make up for our weaknesses without overlooking our strengths.”
“Agreed. Now can we get the hell away from this thing? I don’t care what anyone calls it, it give me the creeps. Instincts like that are usually dead on.”
“Yes. That is true. What I need to show you is nearby.”
Paige followed her into the clearing and was greeted by a sight that was so beautiful it nearly overwhelmed her. The trees, grass, and sky were different than what she’d been looking at until now, making every other leaf or cloud seem a poorly made copy. The wind that had once been so sharp and cold now treaded softly through finely crafted branches, delicately brushing the thick green and brown carpet, nudging a few fallen seeds against a fragile ivory lattice that rose up from the earth. She moved forward because there simply wasn’t anywhere else she wanted to be. The moment her feet touched the soft ground surrounding the structure, Paige felt a tranquility that had abandoned her the moment she’d gazed into the hateful eyes of the creature that dragged her into the Skinners’ world over a decade ago. And yet, because she never would have visited this place outside of that world, she was glad to have endured every bit of pain required to bring her there.
“Is this,” Paige breathed as she closed her eyes and savored the fleeting touch of her fingers against a divinely curved archway that rose up to almost twice her height, “a Dryad temple?”
“How did you know?”
“I’ve been to enough of them.”
“But you can’t have been to one like this.”
“No,” Paige sighed. “Not like this. It’s more of a gut reaction. It just feels so much like them. There’s no getting around it.”
Sophie nodded slowly and mulled that over. Something about the way she looked at Paige made her seem jealous—either that she’d seen enough of that kind of beauty to recognize it, or that she had what it took to trust her instincts without question. “This may very well be the first Dryad temple. At least it is one of the first.”
“And you won’t let them use it?”
“We took it from them. This was long before either of us were born. Way back when there were no Skinners.” When she looked at the structure that seemed too delicate to stand upright, letting her eyes drift along the flowing Dryad script that had been written with a perfection to which no human hand could aspire, Sophie paused. She looked away as she said, “Our ancestors took this place from the Dryad, piece by piece, and brought it here. Perhaps they thought to try and figure out how to make it work for themselves.”
“Maybe they . . .” Even thinking about what she meant to say, Paige had to take her hand away from the smooth contours of the arch. “Maybe they wanted to hold it for ransom. Force the nymphs to help them.”
“The fact that we can even think of such things when in the presence of such beauty does not speak well of us. But yes, that could have been the case. We have maintained this place as best we could, but haven’t wanted to approach the nymphs because of our bad history.”
“And,” Paige said, “you thought that bringing it here and leaving it next to Chuna might charge it up enough for you to use it without anyone’s help.” Seeing the weary look on Sophie’s face, she let her off the hook by adding, “It’s something we might have done too. Are you willing to give this back to them, even if it means letting the Dryad so close to Chuna, Ira, and the setup you have here?”
“Yes. Keeping this has never been something I’ve been very proud of.”
“And you’ve got the pull to make that call?”
“The Amriany have many layers of leadership,” Sophie explained, “but I am high enough to make this decision. Nobody will be too surprised by it, and anyone who has a problem will be quiet when they see that we’re allowed to use the Dryad bridges just as the Skinners do. I trust you have the pull to make that happen?”
Chuckling at how strange it sounded for her to mimic slang that was obviously so unfamiliar, Paige told her, “Yes I do. Skinners don’t have any layers of leadership, but anyone who doesn’t like it can come to me so I can tell them personally to suck it.”
Now it was Sophie’s turn to laugh. “I think this will work out for all of us. Our peoples have been apart for too long. When do you think you can make the first arrangements?”
Paige dug into her pocket and checked her phone. Although she knew she wouldn’t be able to use it overseas, she looked up a number and committed it to memory. “How’s now sound?”
No phone could get much reception that close to Chuna and the ancient Dryad ruins, but Sophie loaned hers to Paige. As soon as she got some privacy, she dialed the number and was immediately connected to the Hub.
“Paige, is that you?” Tristan asked.
“Yeah, I’m using someone else’s phone. Is something wrong? You sound like you’ve been running.”
“Things are getting worse here. I know you said not to pay attention to what’s on the news, but they’re saying the entire East Coast may be overrun by Half Breeds within three days.”
“How did they come up with that figure?” Paige asked.
“I don’t know. The Army and Marines are fighting in Shreveport. It’s worse than ever. Are those the IRD soldiers you talked about?”
“Probably. How bad is it there?”
“People are getting evacuated,” Tristan said breathlessly. “So many are getting killed and even more are being turned that the reports don’t even mention numbers anymore. I’ve heard from someone named Frank. He says he’s a friend of Cole’s from Colorado.”
“Right. What did he say?”
“He just said that he can call for help in Louisiana but it might not be enough. Paige, the people on the news are saying there may be bombers flying down toward Shreveport. What does that mean?”
“It means the military is getting desperate.”
“How desperate?”
Lots of things sprang to mind when Paige thought about that question. Some of them involved too many soldiers dying for a lost cause, and others involved doomsday scenarios complete with mushroom clouds and large craters where cities used to be. She hoped she was just getting carried away, but she had been with Adderson for too long to write those things off completely. No matter what scenario was playing out, there was still only one thing to be done. “We need to get to Shreveport as quickly as possible. Remember what you did in Atoka? Can you send us directly into Shreveport without a temple on the other end?”
“I don’t have the energy to do it myself, but if you can get to the Hub, I should be able to get you into the city. After that you’ll have to get to a temple if you need to be taken out again.”
“Just get us there and we’ll do the rest.”
“Can you get to a temple right now?”
Paige looked in the direction of the forest where she and Sophie had their conversation. “Actually, I’ve got some pretty good news about that. What about the Memory Water?”
“I’ve collected more than enough to set one Full Blood back to how it was before the Breaking Moon, but I don’t know about the others.”
“Fine. Just have whatever you’ve got ready and we’ll pick it up when we see you.” After hanging up, Paige looked over to Sophie and asked, “Do you have any idea how the Full Bloods are changing so many humans into Half Breeds without biting them?”
“They must be tapping into the Torva’ox,” Sophie replied. “We’ve seen people forced into the Breaking who aren’t anywhere near a Full Blood.”
“How can that happen?”
So
phie let out a strained breath. “Chuna is the source of the Torva’ox, according to our legends, but any of the Mist Born may be able to bend it to their will. Are they still working with Ktseena?”
“If you mean, Kawosa, then yes,” Paige told her. “But we haven’t seen him for a while.”
“It could be possible that Ktseena charmed the Full Bloods. Gave them access to the Torva’ox. There are several legends where the Mist Born trickster gave someone great power in exchange for his soul. He nearly tore apart the Amriany by knowing exactly who to corrupt within our ranks several generations ago.”
“Skip the history lesson for now. We have a way to take the power away from Esteban, but it won’t do a lot of good unless we can take away power from some of those others.”
“What about poisoning the Torva’ox?” Cole asked as he approached the two women. Paige and Sophie both spun around to look at him, “The Full Bloods are all plugged into the Torva’ox,” he explained, “so if we can find a way to get what we need into there, it should be passed along to the others, right?”
“We get some of that crap too, you know,” Paige pointed out.
“But if it’s Memory Water, it’ll only help. Besides, we barely get a trickle compared to the shapeshifters.”
Paige couldn’t think of anything to say to that, so she looked over to Sophie. The Amriany nodded and said, “I have an idea.”
Minutes later they were back in the cabin. “Good,” Ira said as he held out a callused hand. “I need your weapons next.”
After he had Paige’s sickles and started hacking off the blades, Sophie explained the topic they’d been discussing.
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