by A D Lombardo
Resigned to the river, Kai gawked in every direction. Except for the tall Bodhima trees around the central part of Katori, the valley opened into vast rolling hills and meadows as far as one could see. Random groves popped up here and there, offering shade for travelers near the river. The occasional trading post town along the route swelled with travelers.
Gauging the sun, he could tell the river they traveled took them as much south as it did east. To the south, the rolling hills bubbled into a bluish-black mountain ridge, its size dwarfed by the snow-topped Katori Mountains.
It didn’t take long for their raft to hit faster water. Silently the group continued to paddle down the growing rapids. The speed at which they traveled continued to increase. At times, Kai dared a look to Rayna. She too looked overwhelmed by the constant effort to keep them angled away from dangerous rocks.
Kai paddled, getting splashed with water again and again. The ebb and flow of the river went on this way for hours. It was almost a relief to see the sun begin to set. As the sky turned several shades of red, orange, and yellow, Basil guided them into a sheltered cove. Three docks jetted out into the slow current, all three decorated with blue and yellow crystals set aglow to mark the location of the docks.
Posts with bright lanterns snaked along a path near the shore and disappeared into the woods. Raft upon raft leaned into each other, propped against trees, or scattered along the water. People walked along the shore, venturing into the trading post.
“We must stop for the evening.” Basil waved to a man on the dock. “It is unwise to navigate the waters at night. There is a trading post with lodging near the road. They welcome travelers, and there are many pods with three or four racks for sleeping. Ryker, if you could see about making a trade, the rest of us can find a campsite and start a fire.”
The man at the dock helped pull their raft into the weeds, and the group followed Basil through the congested trading post. Ryker stepped into a line to barter for a pod while Rayna and Kai followed Basil to a vacant campfire.
The small town boomed with travelers. Men and women and families all huddled around campsites, laughing and telling stories. Kai searched the travelers, hoping to find Yulia and Liam. They were nowhere to be found.
Beyond the squat trees used by the tradesmen, a long line of Bodhima trees dotted the ridge. Each tree held nearly eight pods, many already set aglow by the Cosmos vine flowers. Set off to the far end were two older looking oak trees. They seemed abandoned.
After they made a fire, Kai and Rayna set to explore the mature trees behind their campfire. A set of staggered stone slabs curved around in a semicircle in front of the old trees. There were posts for tying off horses, a few abandoned wagon wheels, and a few cracked wooden barrels.
Growing into the rocks were two massive oaks, each with two separate, upside-down basket-like pods. Curious, Kai climbed up inside. It was clean but well used. No decorative bedding like at Haygan and Simone’s home. At the center was a flat woven shelf large enough for two.
With one arm, he heaved Rayna up onto a round ledge. “Seems nice. Better than sleeping outside. Safer too. Your bedroll should help with comfort and warmth.” He laid his back down onto the vine bedframe. “At least I hope your bedroll is enough.” He wiggled his body on the thatched surface.
Rayna sat beside him. “I wish we could share a pod.”
“Someday soon,” Kai responded.
She nodded. “How is it Julia and Shane were married so young? We are the same age.”
Kai cleared his throat. “Consent. Both of their parents had to give consent. Even if your parents agreed, my father never would. He believes eighteen is the youngest anyone should be married. He was twenty-four when he married my mother. Claims he was too young, though it was the best day of his life.”
“Hmmm, I am not so sure my parents would consent. My dad’s conservative, too. If we want to be married, we must wait until it is our choice, not theirs.”
“We should get outside. They will be serving dinner, and we don’t want to be missed. I still have your honor to protect.” Kai smiled, kissed her on the cheek, and jumped through the hole in the floor.
From the ground, he offered Rayna help as she dangled her legs over the edge. In a simple hop, she was back on the ground and joined the others around the fire.
After changing into dry clothes, the group enjoyed a warm meal. It had been a long day, and even with his Katori endurance, Kai felt the effects of his rigorous afternoon on the river. Basil poked at the fire.
Kai soaked a piece of bread in his vegetable stew. “You are friends with Lucca, right?”
“I am very close to our chief.” Basil sipped his steaming hot tea. “What do you want to know about him?”
“Why is he so angry with me? He doesn’t know me, yet I get the feeling he only sees Keegan when he looks at me.”
Kai noticed Basil was not good at hiding his emotions. For a brute of a man, he wore his heart on his sleeve. “You do favor your father, but it is what Keegan almost made him do.” Basil let out a heavy sigh.
Rayna twisted to listen, her back pressed into Kai. Basil’s expression turned remorseful, and he leaned into the fire. “You want to know why Lucca is upset? We all know there is no love between him and Keegan. But Lucca’s story goes back much farther. It is about a girl he killed experimenting with his powers—another Lumen. Many believe that to advance your abilities, you must bend the limits of the past. By pushing your mind to see the edges of our magic, new paths can be developed.”
The truth behind advancing your magic resonated with Kai. He’d seen as much with Rayna and her manipulation of Senina’s face, turning her skin to moss, and with Benmar’s ability to turn invisible. And hearing about Keegan’s ability to steal souls and become another. These were new and unique abilities.
Basil sipped his tea and continued. “There are so few Lumens ever born. Understanding their magic often comes with a price. Usually, the cost was a burned home or scorched garden. Now and then, some were brave enough to test each other. Lucca and Natali were very advanced. They pushed the limits of their powers. Lucca learned to create a shield of light, and Natali created a blast beam. Teaching each other, they tested their new magic. From there, one can surmise that Lucca was simply too powerful for her. The elders tried to heal her, but it was too late. She was gone.”
Kai knit his brow together. “So, what does that have to do with Keegan or me?”
“Keegan and his followers marched around the Agora in protest. But it was not enough. As words and emotions escalated, Keegan challenged Lucca. He and his rebels attacked the Agora. Lucca fought back and Mariana was hurt, caught in the crossfire between Lucca and Keegan. While it took all the other chiefs and the unie to stop the protest, Lucca refused to use his magic ever again. The mere mention of Keegan reminds him of that day.”
The news shocked Kai. Hurting your own child must have destroyed Lucca. “I had no idea.” Kai was beginning to learn he knew very little about his mother and his grandfather. Their past and their choices remained a mystery. “So why are you helping us?”
Basil chuckled. “What makes you think I am helping you? Lucca needs to come to terms with you, and running off won’t help either of you mend the past. You two need to try at least to find common ground.”
Kai noticed that Ryker remained silent the entire time. Knowing how the man felt about his mother, Mariana, it had to be difficult to relive the past. “Well, whatever your reason, thank you, Basil.”
Basil stood and stretched. “If we mean to catch Lucca tomorrow, and I believe we can, we need to be up at dawn. For safety, someone needs to keep the fire going all night. We should take turns keeping watch. Ryker, would you mind going first? I can go second, and Kai can take the last shift.”
Ryker nodded and walked off into the shadows.
Kai sighed in relief. “Sounds good to me. Wake me when it is my turn; I will wake everyone at dawn.”
He walked Rayna to her pod and then
went to bed.
◆◆◆
When Kai woke, it was Ryker who jostled him. “Wake up. Basil is gone, and so is our raft. I asked around, nobody saw him leave. But we no longer have a raft to ride the river.” Dawn peeked through the cracks of Kai’s pod.
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Kai swung his legs to the floor. His back ached from the lack of padding in his bedroll. “What do you mean, Basil is gone?”
Ryker jumped out of the pod and Kai followed. Sure enough, most of their supplies were gone and the raft was no longer tied down by the shore. After waking Rayna, they surveyed their situation. Ryker poked at the smoldering embers. “Seems like after I woke Basil and went to sleep, he abandoned us. He took most of the supplies and headed downriver in the night.”
“Are you sure?” Rayna asked. “Maybe the raft came loose on its own and floated away. Basil could be trying to…”
“No,” Ryker snapped. “His bedroll is gone, as is his fishing gear and cooking pan. He left. I ran downriver to see if I could find him, but he is gone.”
Kai poured his water over the embers of their fire, his gut in knots. Stranded in the middle of nowhere, they had few choices. If only he could transform and fly them, but it was too risky for a young Beastmaster to carry passengers. “So, what do we do now? We have no raft or horses. I can’t see begging another group to help us.”
The expression on Ryker’s face showed determination. “I am not giving up.” He poked at the smoldering ash to be sure their fire was out. “But we can only run for so long. We are less than halfway there. It takes two-and-a-half days by river or five to six days by horse.”
Rayna’s sighed, braiding her long brown hair. “Basil was so helpful, why would he leave us?”
Ryker shook his head. “Foolish. We all fell for his lies. He is Lucca’s closest friend. I should have foreseen this. We never should have trusted him. Now he knows we hope to travel with Liam and Yulia. He will tell Lucca everything.”
“It is not your fault, Ryker.” Kai tied his bootlaces tight. “We all trusted him. But since we’re stuck here, what is the alternative to running?”
“As a shuk, I can cover more ground. You two will need to ride. Leave everything but our remaining food. We must travel as light as possible.”
Kai tossed Ryker his bedroll. “I will keep an eye on the road for Liam and Yulia. Besides needing to catch Lucca, we need them to help navigate the Mystic Islands.”
“Agreed,” Ryker stowed their supplies in one tree pod while Rayna packed all their food into a single bag.
Watching Ryker transform into a black shuk, Kai noticed the ease in his change. He wished he’d had more time to practice. The mighty beast stooped to allow him and Rayna to climb up.
Chapter 23
Caught in the Middle
All afternoon Ryker ran. Overhead the glaring sun burned their shoulders. The shuk’s black fur felt hot against Kai’s hands. The pounding of his paws was barely noticeable across the terrain. As they rode, Kai eased into the rhythm of their stride, finding it rather like riding a horse. Even with the occasional stop to cool off, it was easy to see everyone was feeling the wear of their situation.
There was no sign of Lucca or Basil. Each raft they spotted caused Kai’s heart to jump with anticipation, and then fall when the rafter was someone else. After the third group, Kai wondered if he had somehow missed Basil. Doubt crept around the corners of his mind. Thoughts of reaching his mother in time filled him with determination, and he gleaned the river ahead. Still, there was no sign of Basil or Lucca.
The shimmer of the water was blinding, and Kai closed his eyes for a moment. Rayna tapped his shoulder and pointed. “It is another string of wagons. Maybe Liam and Yulia are with them.”
Kai counted three wagons with seven individual riders. Ryker slowed. They eyed each passenger and meandered close to each cart, but when they confirmed Liam and Yulia were not among this group either, they plodded onward. Mile after mile, they traveled between the black road and the blue Makani river, snaking through the landscape.
Even though Kai was not doing the work, he was beginning to feel exhausted. They needed to stop again soon, at least for Ryker’s sake. When the trees thinned, they were back in the full sun, and everything got hotter by the minute. Sweat dripped off Kai’s face. Even with the small breeze, the weather was unusually warm. Concerned for Ryker, he reached out with his mind. Ryker, we should stop for water. You need a break.
There was no response. He hated to beg, but they needed to stop. He could feel the sweat on his back where Rayna pressed against him to hold on to his waist. He tried again. Ryker, you are no use to us dehydrated and weak. Please take a break.
The beast continued with no response. Reluctant to beg further, Kai continued to watch for Liam and Yulia as they passed travelers on the road. It had been a while since they’d seen anyone on the river, and Kai was beginning to lose hope. Basil was gone, and Lucca was even further out of reach.
It was late in the day when Ryker finally stopped near a grove of trees. The sun’s heat had soaked everyone with sweat. Rayna handed Ryker and Kai water, and they drank greedily. “We should eat,” she suggested, giving them both a chunk of dried bread and fruit.
The wind blew through the shady trees, drying Kai’s shirt. It felt good to sit still. Even though he’d spent days in the saddle traveling around Baden Lake, riding a shuk seemed harder. Ryker ran faster, and it was less than comfortable without a saddle. But he had to be thankful for his friend’s fortitude.
Unsure how long the man could continue this pace, Kai wanted to consider walking a bit. Sitting in silence, he studied Ryker. He was a quiet man like his uncle Haygan. “Any chance we could walk for a while? I want to catch Lucca, but not at the price of you giving out.”
“I can make it, although we should probably stop more often,” Ryker admitted.
Rayna chucked her apple core. “Hand me your water pouch. I can refill all three from the river before we get moving.”
Ryker drained his and tossed it to her. “Thank you, Rayna.”
Kai watched her head towards the river. Exhausted from the day, he closed his eyes and released the tension from his shoulders. The air smelled of wet earth and decaying leaves. Birds chirped in the trees and flitted about.
“KAI! RYKER!” Rayna shouted. “Come quick!”
They hopped to their feet and darted through the trees toward the river. “What’s wrong?” they shouted in unison.
When they reached the water, they saw Rayna pointing downriver. “There, it’s Basil’s raft! I am sure of it!”
Ryker waded into the slow-moving water and removed the large branches covering the raft. “She’s right. It is his raft—this is your bag, Rayna. No more walking. Grab our food, we take the river.”
Piling onto Basil’s raft, Kai looked to Ryker. “Why would he leave this behind?”
“I don’t much care.” Ryker pushed them out into the rolling water. “Maybe he caught up with Lucca. But we will make better time, and we will not need to stop until nightfall.”
Pleased they would get several hours on the river, Kai angled his paddle to straighten them out. In the center of the river, they moved into the flow. The splash of each wave felt refreshing after the heat they had endured all morning and afternoon. Each stroke of their paddles increased their speed.
The rise and fall of the water made for speedy travel. Each time the rapids eased and the water became smooth, Kai craned his neck to search for travelers on the road. He feared they would sail right by Liam and Yulia without even knowing. Around the next bend, he spotted a few riders. Two men—not them. Feeling brave, he stretched his leg out in front of himself and glanced at Rayna. She smiled and splashed him with her paddle. Before he could retaliate, Ryker poked him with his paddle. “Don’t get careless, Kai.”
After the stern glare from Ryker, Kai focused dead ahead. His back stiffened, and he paddled hard through the water. When a wave of water splashed him in the ba
ck, he turned to see the corner of Ryker’s mouth curl into a smirk. “Seriously, Kai, this is no time for fun.”
Rayna laughed and splashed Kai again.
“Very funny,” Kai said, returning the favor drenching her.
Before he could splash Ryker, the river dipped and the rushing water bounced them along. The surge of water increased their speed, and everyone paddled to avoid a downed tree on their right. Large rocks near the center pushed them farther and farther left. The black rock median came dangerously close. Ryker used his paddle to angle them away.
A man and woman waved to them from the other side. Kai watched their raft sail in the opposite direction. They looked totally at ease on the river. It made him wish Basil was with them. He had been so helpful knowing when and where to traverse the rapids.
As the sun began to sink on the horizon, the river carved deeper into the landscape and the ground rose higher. Barely rested from their last set of rapids, Kai took a breath and paddled. Navigating the cascades, Ryker barked out orders to keep them angled in the right direction.
Kai and Rayna sat on either side, paddling with or against the waves to avoid rocks. “A few yards ahead,” Ryker called. “There is a split in the rocks dividing the river and switching the flow, stay to the right!” he yelled.
Kai dug into the water with his paddle. He could already feel the pull of the crossing. “Harder, paddle harder!” he hollered.
Everyone paddled as hard and as fast as they could. As they neared the crossing, the rush threatened to pull them into what was best described as a vortex churning in the center of the roaring rapids. With Basil, crossing these spots seemed simple—now they fought for their lives. The cold water splashed over the sides of their raft and seeped through the timbers.
In the hopes of veering them to the right, Kai leaned away from the curling vortex that begged them to come closer. The speed of the craft slowed, and the whirling water sucked at their raft. They were losing control. No amount of paddling was going to stop them. The churning vortex pulled them into the crossing.