"When do you want me to start?" asked Ali.
"As soon as you feel up to it. We wanted to give you time to rest after the keening so it is up to you when you want to start" answered grandma.
"Can someone show me how to do it?" asked Ali
"I can tell you. Come here and put your hands on the ground. Then you push your power into the ground and direct it to heal. Say 'heal the earth' in your head if it helps" instructed grandma.
Ali followed the directions and felt power travel down her arms as she directed it to heal the earth. After a few minutes Ali felt woozy but kept going until she passed out. An elder was called to carry Ali back to her bed to recuperate.
Chapter 12
"Ali! Are you ready?" called out grandma.
"On my way!" shouted Ali.
Ali hugged her heavy coat around her as she made her way into the fortress yard, with Rom in tow, where all the elders were waiting with saddled steeds.
"Ali, the weather is too warm for that coat. Take it off" ordered grandma.
"I am too embarrassed. The braves are going to be there and I ain't used to how my body changed yet" insisted Ali.
"Don't be so precious. You are going to have to show people some time, it may as well be now. Your new dresses fit you so nicely. Besides, every other woman has the same sort of body as you do. It is nothing out of the ordinary. Now give me your coat and I will pack it" grandma asserted.
Ali passed over her coat then mounted her steed. The group made their way through the forest paths headed back to the main lodges. Braves on the outer patrols of the main lodges signalled to the main camp of the approaching group. Trak, Donny and Kitch joined a group of braves that raced to meet the elders and Ali.
The thundering of hooves announced the group of braves. As the groups met there was much joking, laughter and hugging. As Donny's eyes zeroed in on her and lit up in surprise, Ali's face flamed red in embarrassment. Donny made his way alongside Ali's steed.
"You had us all worried, little sister. It is good to have you back" said Donny.
Kitch approached with shock evident on his face "Ali? Ali, is that you? I hardly recognized you. Va-va-va-voom. Man, you are so curvalicious now. Well worth the wait. I can't wait to see all the reactions from the rest of the tribal dudes. Hey Trak!
Get a load of Ali. Gorgeous or what?" spouted Kitch.
Trak drew up close to Ali "Yep. Welcome home, Ali."
Kitch laughed "You are going to have some hot competition now, Donny. Wow! Just wow! I can't believe how hot you are. You make freckles look so hot. You were super cute before but now. Wow!"
Ali leaned toward Trak as her face flamed an even deeper shade of red "Does he have an off button?" she whispered.
"Nope" grinned Trak.
Trak and Donny quietly rode on either side of her as Kitch kept up his commentary all the way back to the main lodges. When they entered the main encampment Kitch enthusiastically noted all the stunned and slack-jawed looks Ali got from the braves as they entered the camp.
Over dinner Ali told grandma she wanted to visit her mortal folks to say goodbye before leaving for college. Grandma agreed on the condition Ali be back before the end of the week and she take two steeds with her, just in case. Ali agreed.
"Ali?" called Donny from outside her lodge. "Ali, we need to talk."
When Ali left her lodge and looked up at Donny he said "follow me."
They left the encampment and walked into the forest a little. Donny started "I heard you are going to visit your mortal folks tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"I will come with you."
"No!"
"Yes, I want to go with you in case you get into trouble" he insisted.
"No! It has been agreed I can go alone" said Ali firmly.
"Ali, you are killing me here. I want you as my girl and I want to protect you" he stated.
"Why?"
"Like Kitch said, there is plenty of interest around you now and it is only a matter of time before some hotheads start fighting over you. Things may get bloody and that can be avoided if you are seen as my girl. No-one will challenge me. I always liked you, Ali. Even before the changes. I have been falling for you and I want you as my girl."
"Three conditions!" she said fiercely.
"Name them."
"One, you do not try to wrap me in cotton wool to protect me. I like my freedom. That means I go to see my family on my own."
"Agreed. What else?" he growled.
"Two, you do not assume our relationship is headed to marriage. I am too young to be making these decisions yet. Let it be based on friendship and attraction. We are honest to each other if we choose to opt out of the relationship at any time. No pressure!"
"Agreed."
"Three, you will teach me how to kiss. Properly!" she said sternly.
At that Donny pushed Ali up against the tree and began kissing her firmly. He lifted her arms around his neck as she hung on for dear life. His tongue teased her lips until she opened her mouth to his. His hard body pushed firmly against hers. Their breathing became rougher as the young couple passionately entwined and lost track of time.
When Donny finally returned Ali to her lodge he was reluctant to let her out of his arms. "I will see you in the morning. I will bring you our two best steeds to carry you. Telegraph us to let us know the day of your return. I will keep a lookout for you. If you are late I will come looking, OK?" he growled.
"Yes sir!" Ali saluted.
"Come here" he said as he cuddled her close. "I will take care of Rom while you are away. I will miss you. All the time you were away keening, I missed you. I was desperate to get to you when the keening was at its worst. I have never felt so helpless and anxious than those days. Hurry back. I love you Ali." he whispered in her ear.
"I know. Your father told me that you loved me on the way to the fortress" she smiled.
Donny kissed her long and slow before he let her out of his arms and into her lodge. Ali lay back and sighed in pure contentment as she drifted off to sleep.
By the time Ali got up at mid-morning, Donny already had the steeds saddled and ready. Food was packed for the journey. Donny lifted her up onto her saddle.
"I will ride with you as far as the forest encampment near the mountain pass. I will wait for word of you return and if things stay on schedule I will meet you again at the mountain pass" he said.
Kitch and Trak arrived on their steeds. "We are riding with you to the pass. Donny can't have all the fun. Congratulations, big brother! The whole main lodge is buzzing with the news of you and Donny. All the braves are now officially in mourning. Some advice from our momma to prevent a good relationship from going stale in the first few hundred years is 'Ali, he is a good man but keep him on his toes'" grinned an irrepressible Kitch.
"Will do" grinned Ali.
Trak smiled and nodded at Ali and Donny, then rode on. Donny, Ali and Kitch kicked on their steeds to follow. Kitch continued his commentary as they went.
"Trak has now given you his official nod of approved. He must be delighted. We all are. The elders have declared it to be a good match. We know you well enough to know Donny will have his hands full. We will have to send word to all the mortal women that Donny is hooked up and off limits. They will be crying in their soup tonight. When you hear wailing and the gnashing of teeth you will know they received the message" he laughed.
Donny took Ali's hand in his as they rode along. "Those women no longer exist to me. Don't worry" said Donny as he squeezed her hand in reassurance.
"Donny will be too busy staring down the braves who try to catch your eye, Ali" laughed Kitch.
"There are plenty of better looking women than me for their attentions" supplied Ali.
"But Ali, you are interesting. You don't blend in like plenty of others. Besides, after your encounter with the immortal hunter you have a rock solid reputation as a total bad-ass babe. Sure, there are plenty of good looking women around but if they are whiney, boring or
clingy then we know that gets old fast. Immortal men are on the lookout for beautiful women with a tonne of character, courage and spirit to choose as their ideal mates. You check all our boxes. We all love you, Ali. It was just Donny fell hard, deep and fast and then stepped up to the mark to claim you before anyone else had a chance" answered Kitch.
"Kitch, after that encounter with the immortal hunter I was shaking like a leaf and my knees were so wobbly I had to sit down with my head between my knees" said Ali.
"What is important is that you stood your ground and your aim was true. The rest was just adrenalin. Everyone gets that after the danger has passed. Most of us throw up after a battle too" said Kitch.
"Too much information!" announced Ali.
Kitch happily kept the conversation flowing around daring deeds, famous warriors and great battles. He told of their regular outings to cull multipeds. Ali insisted that she be included in their next culling venture. Donny ground his teeth together but said nothing to oppose the idea.
When the sun was high they passed food around and ate as they rode slowly. The sun beat down as if to declare the end of spring. Ali felt a deep contentment as birdsong filled the forest and the gentle breezes spread the scents of pine and healthy earth. The forest felt like her home.
They reached the forest encampment by mid-afternoon. Trak and Kitch took the steeds to rub them down. Ali followed a brooding Donny down to the riverbank. He sat down and leaned up against the trunk of a broad tree. Ali curled up on his lap, closed her eyes and listened to his strong heartbeat while encircled in the firm embrace of his powerful arms. No words were needed. Ali slept in Donny's arm until the night closed in. The Donny carried her back to the camp and he gently tucked her into her bed then tenderly kissed her goodnight.
Chapter 13
Ali woke well before dawn and dressed warmly. She went to saddle her steeds and saw Donny as he was hooking on the saddlebags.
"I couldn't sleep. Everything is ready to go" he mumbled.
Ali approached him and pulled his head down to kiss her. They kissed long and slow. "If you stay busy I will be back before you know it. How are you going to deal with it when I have to go to college for years? I don't want you wandering around as miserable as a whipped dog all the time we are apart" said Ali.
"I will deal with it. I do have plenty of business to catch up on that I have been putting off since you came. I will just make sure to see you as often as I can at the campus. It is just that our relationship is so new it hurts to be apart right now. I will miss you, I can't help that. It is what it is" said Donny cryptically. "I will ride with you through the mountain pass in case there are some multipeds still hanging around. I have packed your bow and arrows too."
"Time to mount up" said Ali.
They rode quietly through the forest leading to the pass. Donny trailed Ali's spare steed behind him. Ali reined in her steed. "I want to collect some glow worms in case we need to distract multipeds. There seems to be a population explosion of these little dudes" exclaimed Ali as she dismounted and began shoveling handfuls of glow worms into a sack until it was full. "Done!" and she hung the sack from her pommel before she remounted.
In the middle of the mountain pass Donny pointed out a few multipeds that lay in wait. Ali threw handfuls of glow worms in their direction and as they ate they keeled over and within minutes lay unmoving. At the end of the pass Donny passed the reins of the steed to Ali then circled around to the other side. He leaned in and kissed her firmly and passionately until they were both breathing heavily. "That should keep you warm for the desert ride" he smiled lovingly into her eyes. His hand brushed her nape as he held her gaze and said fiercely "Hurry back to me." Ali was still a little dazed by the kiss as he kicked his steed into a gallop towards the forest.
The return journey back across the desert to Eureka was riddled with potholes and gullies. Ali rode hard, eating on the way without stopping. She changed steeds at intervals so she could continue to ride at a fast clip. At noon she stopped to water the steeds and continued on. By the time she pulled up outside her mortal home she and the steeds were exhausted. The door opened and faces peered out the windows.
"Ali!" shouted her ma. "Ali is home! We expected you later, you made good time. You look so grown up, my darling girl" Ali fell into her mother's waiting arms. Her pa came out and lifted her off the ground in a big bear hug. Chet and Lacy waited their turn to hug their sister.
"I had two good steeds to ride. I got here as quick as I could. We need to telegraph the main lodge and let them know I arrived safely" said Ali.
"I'll put your steeds in the stable. Chet saddle up one of the new steeds and ride into town and send the telegraph" instructed pa.
"On my way, I'll be right back Ali. Save the good stories until I can listen in" insisted Chet.
"Ma and I have made tea. Come in and sit" said Lacy.
"I'm covered in dust and sweat, maybe I should wash off in the barn" said Ali.
"Not a chance. You come inside and Lacy will draw you a bath. How long can you stay?" asked ma.
"Grandma said I can be gone five days at the most and that includes travel time. We have to attend a college interview soon" answered Ali.
"Your pa has taken some time off work to spend with you while you are here" said ma.
"How was the keening?" asked Lacy.
"Much more painful than I imagined. I transformed during the hardest part. I don't really want to talk about it and worry y'all. It is a fact of life for me that I will go through more keenings and I just have to deal with it" said Ali matter-of-factly.
"Have you made friends in the tribe?" asked ma.
"Yes, I have been made a member of their tribe. They have been really nice to me. There are some guys I hang with and they call me their little sister. I also have a boyfriend too. His name is Donny. He works as door security at the Main Street Casino" said Ali shyly.
"Mr. Gorgeous? My little sister is dating a total hunk? I heard he was a player with the ladies" stated Lacy.
"Not now. He will be informing all his ex-ladies that he is out of circulation. At the tribal lodges he is very different there" said Ali.
"Ali, you just be careful around the men folk. Take your time" advised ma.
"Yes, ma'am" smiled Ali.
Over the next few days ma and pa sat back listening contentedly to Ali's stories of the tribal realm and immortals while Lacy and Chet continuously fired questions at her. Ali demonstrated some of the tribal dances to Lacy and ma. The last day her ma arranged an islander feast night for their relatives and the other islanders of Eureka to attend. Lot's of the little girls wore their grass skirts and performed the sinuous island dances while the boys played drums or danced beside them. Ali's ma and sister pulled her up to dance with their female relatives. The night was a replay of many previous feast nights that made it a real homecoming to Ali. Her heart felt full.
The final morning Ali was up well before dawn to saddle her steeds. Ma and pa were up to see her off and make certain she was bundled up warmly.
"Don't forget to telegraph the main lodge to tell them I am returning today" reminded Ali.
"I will do that before I start work in town. No doubt I will be meeting up with your young man soon enough. We will invite him over for dinner if he stays in town" said her pa.
"Yes. That is a good idea. At your next island feast night invite Kitch and Trak too. I think they would enjoy it. Teach them our dances" laughed Ali.
Ali gave her folks a big hug each and mounted up and tied the reins of the trailing steed onto her saddle. "It will be a long while before I can make it back. Donny said he will visit me as often as he can on campus. Kitch will be a student there too. When you invite them over you can pump them for information about my progress. I have a long way to go and I am sure I will have to do extra study to keep up since I am mortal-born. I love y'all." Ali galloped off as her folks watched her figure slowly disappear into the dust.
Ali had got such an early sta
rt the multipeds were still active in the dimness. She unpacked the bag with the glow worms and left a trail behind her to distract them. When a large multiped charged, she hurled a handful of glow worms at it. Her steeds were spooked. She hooked the bag of glow worms onto her pommel and slung her bow over her back in readiness for another charge. Ali decided to go more slowly until sunup chased the multipeds back into their burrows. Any dark patches on the landscape she assumed was a multiped and rode around it.
Aliandra: nymph: Book 1 The Nymph chronicles Page 6