by Ginn Hale
"Rafie and I will take the spring pool. We should be able to feed the wards there long enough to distract most attention from the two of you."
"Other Bahiim may be there as well." Rafie's tone didn't tell Kiram if that was good or bad. "Not even the most lazy of them can ignore what's happening right now."
"Willing to put money on that?" Alizadeh asked.
"Not much," Rafie conceded and then he returned his attention to Kiram. "Once the White Tree is ignited you'll need to get Javier and yourself away from the Circle of Red Oaks as quickly and discreetly as possible."
Alizadeh swung up his traveling satchel and nodded.
"These aren't the circumstances under which Javier should be introduced to the other Bahiim. Not only will the circle be in an uproar because of the shadow curse but many of them will be furious after the White Tree is ignited. The last thing we want is for one of them to lash out against him."
"Or to expose him to his fellow Cadeleonians," Rafie put in.
"But how will I anchor Javier?" Kiram finally managed to get a word in. "And how will I know when the White Tree is ignited? I don't even know what the White Tree looks like."
"I know what it is and where," Javier said. He rose to his feet, keeping one hand still in contact with the twisted old pine tree.
"The moment it's ignited you, and everyone within a few miles, will know." A knowing smile spread across Alizadeh's lips. "As for anchoring Javier, you only need to hold his bare hand in your own and stand with him."
"That's all?" It sounded far too simple for Kiram to believe.
Alizadeh gave a short laugh. "You were hoping for more?"
"No, no. It just sounds like something anyone-"
Javier reached out and caught Kiram's hand. His grip felt like hot iron.
He said, "We'll be in the midst of the white hell. It won't be easy for either of us."
"But at least you've been there before," Alizadeh said. "Now go. You don't have much time."
Chapter Eighteen
The silhouettes of countless jays darkened the sunset sky. Their shadows swept like storm clouds over Gold Street and blackened the waters of the Wahdi River. People on the street stared and wondered aloud at why such a huge flock had congregated over the vast wilderness of the Circle of Red Oaks. Columns of the brilliant blue jays circled and sheared away from the gnarled oaks, shrieking as if infuriated.
As Javier and Kiram raced nearer, they passed men and women rushing in the opposite direction, their faces and exposed arms lacerated with scratches.
"Those birds are crazed," a woman warned them, but neither Kiram not Javier slowed. Stray jays swooped and dived at them, clawing Kiram's hair and grazing his cheek. Many more swept across the tree tops ahead of them. They were closing in and Kiram could feel the very first pangs of the shadow curse drawing near.
Fear slithered through Kiram's stomach.
Javier glanced to him, seeming to read his thoughts. "The curse hasn't settled yet. And if we can reach the White Tree quickly, it won't even get the chance."
The wild brambles and verdant trees of the Circle of Red Oaks offered the best protection they could hope for.
"Then we should probably run faster," Kiram said.
Javier nodded and they sprinted into the dark wood. Kiram raced at Javier's side, dodging branches and the black talons of birds alike.
Jays screamed and swooped. Their brilliant blue bodies gleamed against the darkening sky as they flashed between branches overhead. A chill ran down his back each time one of their diving shadows swept over him. A cold breeze seemed to rise in the wake hundreds of beating wings. Kiram thought he could taste a coming storm in each fast breath he took.
Javier didn't spare Kiram a glance. Instead he searched the tangles of thickets and brambles as if he were a hound tracking elusive prey. He bounded ahead and Kiram followed him deeper into the dark woods.
Twilight shadows and wild vines spread over what once must have been a cobbled path. Kiram's boots caught on loose stones. Roots seemed to grasp at his heels. Javier stumbled down to his knee but instantly shoved himself up to his feet.
"The White Tree is close," Javier muttered. "I can feel it."
Through the cacophony of jay shrieks, Kiram could hear men and women calling to each other throughout the grove. The Bahiim had come to defend their circle. Rafie had won his bet.
Overhead Kiram heard the high-pitched whistle of an arrow. It speared a jay and the bird plummeted down. But when the dead jay hit the branches of an oak its body burst apart, spattering black fluid over the tree. Branches steamed and leaves blackened. As more arrows flew and more jays fell an acrid burning odor filled the air. Shouts of alarm and panic sounded through the woods. In the midst of it, Kiram thought he heard Alizadeh's voice roar out strange words. Overhead two jays burst into flames, their plumes turning to dark smoke as they fell.
"I hate those damn birds," Kiram growled.
"They aren't birds-not anymore."
"What are they?"
"I'll will on wings," Javier muttered, but he wasn't watching the jays. He stared into the deep shadows of the surrounding foliage as he raced ahead. Then he suddenly stopped short and Kiram almost slammed into him.
"Is something wrong?" Kiram asked but Javier didn't seem to hear him. He turned in a circle, drawing in deep breaths as if searching for a scent.
"There." Javier bolted into a wall of brambles and Kiram followed after him. Thorns scraped at his hands and gripped his hair, but Kiram ripped himself free and kept after Javier, fighting his way deep into the thicket where wild creatures had created hollows in beds of decayed leaves. The walls of thorns opened like the corridors of a strange maze. The last rays of twilight filtered through knots of thorns and leaves in a diffuse blue glow.
"Yes." Javier's voice sounded distant. He charged ahead, hardly seeming to care what branches slashed at him. Something about the space felt deeply eerie, like a place from a fairy story. Perched in the brambles, black-eyed ravens watched them pass while rabbits and squirrels fled ahead of them, rushing into the dense briar walls.
He was certain that they were turning in circles. He wished Javier would slow down so that they could both catch their breath and work out just where they were. Instead Javier ran faster even as the last light disappeared. Sweat tricked down Kiram's sides and chest. His legs burned as he struggled to follow.
Night air rushed over him as he burst through a tangle of brambles into a dark circle of twisted, stooped oaks. Thirteen. All bore branches as twisted and bare as roots. He could hear dozens of voices chanting some Bahiim prayer. They sounded miles away, though Kiram knew that wasn't possible.
Javier hunched, gasping for air, with his head bowed and his hands on his knees. Kiram almost fell; his legs felt drained and weak.
"Here," Javier gasped. "It's here."
A sharp screech pierced the air. Kiram looked up to see several blue jays circling overhead.
"They're following us," Kiram said.
"They know what we're doing."
"So, which one is the White Tree?" Kiram surveyed the oaks that encircled them, searching for some sign.
"The White Tree is here." Javier moved to the center of the circle and dropped to his knees.
"But there's nothing there." Kiram shivered as the wind chilled his sweat-soaked body.
"I'm here." Javier smiled up at him and then lifted his hand to Kiram. His fingers were gashed. Streaks of his blood stood out like dark strokes against his pale skin. "You're here."
Kiram came forward and laced his fingers with Javier's.
"Don't let go," Javier told him.
"I won't."
Then Javier placed his free hand on the ground and bowed his head. He whispered a Bahiim word again and again. White sparks flared over his fingers. Where they struck Kiram's skin a hot, pulsing sensation flared up but then faded at once to a dead cold. Javier's entire body tensed and his voice grew rough with the force he pushed into each word.
/> Above them the jays shrieked and swirled and then, as a mass, they dived. Kiram hunched over Javier, shielding his face. If Javier noticed he gave no sign.
Kiram felt the wind of hundreds of wings descending and steeled for their impact. A single sweep of talons clawed across his bowed neck and then an explosion of white fire ripped up from Javier. A wave of intense heat washed through Kiram. The jays screamed and then went suddenly silent. All around Kiram the world burned away and strange forms rose from the waves of power emanating from the white hell.
A curling gray smoke hung where brambles had once formed dark walls. Where twisted oaks had stood, now thirteen tangled black knots loomed up. Like crooked fingers opening from huge fists they unfurled the way the simple letters of Calixto's diary had opened. But these trees were far more complex. Every twig and branch twisted into forms of script. Roots erupted and surged forward like black eels, all of them swimming straight for Javier's extended hand.
A blinding white symbol glowed from beneath Javier's fingers. As Kiram watched it grew more intense, turning Javier's flesh luminous as a paper lantern and casting shadows of the bones of his hand. A trembling, electric sensation shot up from Javier through Kiram's arm. Kiram jerked out of reflex but kept his hold on Javier's hand. The sensation grew painfully hot but Kiram hung on.
Cold, black roots slithered over Kiram's feet and ankles as they swarmed up over Javier's outstretched hand. They writhed up his arm and for a horrifying moment Kiram thought they would engulf Javier, but as they touched his skin, light scorched along their tangled lengths and shot up into the surrounding trees.
In moments all thirteen trees were ablaze with light. Their writhing branches traced glowing golden script into the air and the symbols seemed to take flight, spreading over the brambles and woods, then filling the sky. The symbols shone like stars and then fell like snowflakes.
One drifted down to Kiram's arm. It looked like the symbol for protection. It felt like the lightest kiss against his skin, and then it melted away leaving Kiram feeling somehow safer and stronger, despite the fierce heat rolling over him.
All around the symbols settled, illuminating the surrounding wilderness, and suddenly Kiram realized that this was the White Tree: the entire circle, lit and luminous with blessings.
Still kneeling at his side, Javier didn't seem to see anything. He still gripped the ground and Kiram could feel tremors of exhaustion rocking his muscles.
"Javier, I think it's done. We should go." Kiram tugged at Javier's hand. "You can stop now."
When Javier didn't respond, Kiram jerked his arm hard and Javier suddenly looked up at him. The black shadows of his skull and teeth showed through his luminous, pale skin. Blinding white fire filled the hollows of his eyes. It was as if the face of death leered up at him.
Kiram jumped and almost lost his hold on Javier's hand.
"Javier!" Terror lifted the pitch of Kiram's voice. "Close the white hell! Close it!"
The jaw of the skull dropped as if to speak but only white vapor rose from the gaping mouth. He was burning away before Kiram's eyes.
"Stop this! Stop it now!" Panic flooded Kiram and he struck Javier hard. Javier fell back, pulling Kiram to the ground with him, and suddenly all the light and fire receded. Kiram smelled the blackberry leaves and soil beneath him. Wild grass tickled his cheek.
Kiram turned his face out of the mulch-strewn ground and for a moment he simply stared up at the tree branches and sky above him. Thousands of tiny lights flickered like golden fireflies, illuminating the grove in a diffuse glow. Green leaves and spring flowers lit up as the lights settled upon them. In the sky the gleaming lights soared in banners of blazing script.
There was no sign of the jays that had previously swarmed over the grove. Now turning constellations of delicate lights filled the sky. He wondered what immense incantation whirled above him.
"Javier, do you know what it says?"
Next to him Javier groaned and then shifted.
"Did you punch me?" Javier's voice was rough and dry as if he'd just awoken. Leaves and pieces of bramble clung to his clothes and hair. He looked exhausted but alive and human and a little vexed.
"You did punch me, didn't you?" Javier lifted one hand to his jaw. "Why the hell did you do that?"
"Because you scared the shit out of me." Kiram sat up and Javier followed suit, though Kiram could see that even that was tiring for him.
"You wouldn't close the white hell," Kiram explained. "And I was worried that you were getting lost in it."
"So you punched me?" Javier smirked. "Very romantic."
"You had a flaming skull for a face, you-" Kiram went silent at the sound of other voices nearby. He was sure he recognized Vashir demanding to know how this could have happened. A woman growled that she didn't know. And somewhere in the midst of a dozen more arguments, Kiram recognized Alizadeh's laughter.
"We have to go." Javier rose unsteadily to his feet and to Kiram's amusement offered him his hand as if Kiram were the one who would need help.
Kiram took his hand and then rose up close to him so that he could steady Javier as they fled from the grove.
As they broke from the brambles and trees Kiram was stunned to realize that half the population of the Haldiim district was up and out. Crowds of men and women in their nightclothes stood at the edges of the grove, all of them staring at the display of dancing, swirling gold lights.
Kiram prayed that somehow no one would notice him and Javier as they worked their way into the crowd.
"Kiram?" A woman's familiar voice called. "Kiram Kir-Zaki!"
He looked to see both Mother Kir-Naham and her son, Hashiem, watching him.
"Oh lovely," Javier murmured.
"What on earth were you two doing?" Mother Kir-Naham demanded.
"We…ahm…" Kiram tried to look innocent. He could feel the sweat on his face. "We tried to get a closer look in the grove, but we didn't see anything. I mean not anything other than those lights."
Beside him Javier just smiled as if he couldn't quite follow the conversation.
Mother Kir-Naham scowled at Kiram so angrily that Kiram wondered if she could somehow tell that they had been responsible for all of this. Then he realized what he and Javier looked like, stumbling out of the woods, dirt and leaves in their hair and clothes, holding hands and leaning close.
The last thing Mother Kir-Naham would suspect was that they'd ignited the White Tree. More likely she and Hashiem-and the dozen other people who'd taken note-assumed the two of them had gone to the grove for furtive sex and now had been caught because of the brilliant disturbance.
Kiram thought of claiming that the two of them had become lost in a bramble and fallen in the mud. He could claim Javier had hit his head and was injured. But it seemed pointless and Kiram had neither the energy nor the interest to remain and make excuses to placate Hashiem and his mother.
Hashiem gave Kiram a cold glare and then very purposefully turned away from him. Kiram almost laughed at how childish the gesture seemed, especially after everything else that had happened tonight. Hashiem's snub meant hardly anything to him.
"We must be going, Mother Kir-Naham," Kiram said. "Good evening."
Mother Kir-Naham refused to even respond.
Kiram shrugged and led Javier through the press of the gathered crowd. A few people greeted them but most were far too engaged in speculation about the illumination of the Circle of Red Oaks.
"All the lights from the Solstice have come home!" A child suggested. An older boy wondered if the lights were all just bugs but the wrinkled man beside him shook his head and pointed out the whirling symbols the lights formed.
"That's the Bahiim symbol for life," the old man said, "and all that is sacred. That's impressive writing for bugs."
"It's beautiful," one woman whispered and she gazed at the sky as if she were falling in love.
Javier smiled and the pride of his expression seemed to lift even his exhaustion. Still Kiram wasn't about
to shove him onto Lunaluz's back and just hope he made the trip home. Nor did he feel like returning to his own house.
The ambient golden glow made it easy to wander the streets and find a hostel. Kiram rented a room where Javier fell asleep before he'd even gotten both his boots off. Kiram lay down with him but didn't sleep right away. In the dark of their little room the symbol that had fallen upon Kiram's arm gave off the faintest light. Kiram watched it shine and slowly fade as the lights outside dimmed and at last gave way to darkness.
Chapter Nineteen
Kiram arrived back at his family house just after the fourth morning bell rang out. He had planned to get home earlier but having Javier to himself in a bed had proved too much of a temptation.
The smell of earth and sweat still clung to his body and the taste of Javier's semen lingered in his mouth. Stray leaves clung to the curls of his hair and his rumpled clothes made it look like he'd spent the night under a bush.
In the courtyard his mother's secretary, Fiez, gave him a disapproving glance before hurrying to the candy shop to no doubt inform Kiram's mother that he had at last dragged himself home.
Kiram hurried to the only refuge he could claim. Unfortunately, Majdi already occupied the men's bath. Steaming vapor rose from the water and the smell of sweet soap filled the air. From where he stretched out in the tub, Majdi took in Kiram's dirty, rumpled appearance and then shook his head.
"Do you know if Mum's very mad at me?" Kiram asked.
"Very mad?" Majdi raised his brows. "She's furious."
"How furious?"
"Too furious for you to be hiding with me," Majdi replied. "This is your trouble, Kiram. You'd best go out and face it."
"But-"
"Allyou had to do wasgp to a dinner." Majdi sounded exasperated. "You could have avoided this but you chose not to. Now go and face the consequences like an adult."
"But I didn't mean to miss the dinner."
"Don't tell me your excuses," Majdi snapped. "And. don't think you can go to father or Dauhd either. Mum had it out with all of us last night. You're on your own. I suggest you take responsibility like the grown man you play at being."