Rabiah nodded and ran.
Nasim kneeled next to Sukharam and levered him around his shoulders, picking him up and moving across the snow as quickly as he was able.
By the time he reached the skiff, his legs and chest burning from the exertion, Rabiah had the sail unfurled and the reins in her hands.
“Where will we go?” she asked.
Nasim set Sukharam in to the confines of the skiff as gently as he could. “We go to Ghayavand,” he said as he slipped over the edge and collapsed between two of the thwarts.
The skiff lifted, and Rabiah summoned the wind to point them southward, away from Ushai’s incoming path. “We’re not ready.”
“We have no choice.”
“We’re not ready,” she repeated.
“We must be ready!” Nasim said. “Don’t you see? The hezhan. The crossing. There’s a rift, even here in the mountains of Yrstanla. The wasting has covered whole swaths of the continent to the south. It won’t be long before the same happens here. The rifts grow more frequent. They grow wider. Hezhan will start crossing soon, Rabiah. On their own, with no help from anyone. And when they do, they’ll feed, on the Aramahn, on the Landed, on the Maharraht. On children and fathers and mothers. They won’t care.”
From her position at the sails, Rabiah looked down at him. She was strong, but she was scared as well. Months ago, Ghayavand had seemed like a fool’s dream, but now it was real. It was there before both of them. She opened her mouth to speak, but Nasim talked over her.
“It’s time,” he said. “I’ve found the two of you at last. We are three, as were the Al-Aqim, as are the fates. As are the pieces of the Atalayina. We go to Ghayavand, daughter of Aahtel, and we go now.”
The wind picked up, and Rabiah harnessed it well. She looked down at him again while guiding them with strong and steady hands. She licked her lips. But then she nodded. “We go to Ghayavand.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
K hamal stands within a grand celestia. Its fluted pillars rise up to the massive dome high above the gathered assemblage. The firelight from the three large braziers reflects against the mosaics on the underside of the dome, making it glint like the heavens with golden stars in place of silver.
Not one of the dozens who stood watching is allowed onto the floor of the celestia. They stand one stair down, watching as Khamal approaches the girl lying at the center of the floor. Only when he kneels next to her do twelve men and women step forward. They are suuraqiram, the most gifted of those left on Ghayavand. They chant a song of Khamal’s choosing.
From his robes Khamal retrieves a blue stone. It is heavier than it appears and it is beautiful to behold. It feels as old as the earth itself, as old as the mountains. It feels as old as the fates, who are surely watching down from their home in the firmament. He wonders, though, are they smiling? Or do they weep over what Khamal is about to do?
He allows the stone to drop to the palm of his hand, and then he closes his fist around it if only to remove it from his sight, but the feeling that he is making a grand mistake does not fade, nor does the sense that he can no longer turn back.
He calms himself. He smiles for the girl, but she is fearful of him. Fearful of the stone.
He does nothing to comfort her. This is as much a test for her as it is for him.
Beyond the world of man, beyond the world of sky and earth, he can feel a spirit of fire, a suurahezhan. He does not beckon it. It comes of its own accord, hungering for life through the girl that lies before him.
He takes the stone and sets it upon the girl’s forehead.
Her body goes rigid.
And her screams echo through the night.
“Nasim, wake up.”
Nasim opened his eyes, blinking in the early light of dawn. These dreams-dreams that had been with him since a year after he’d been healed-were not so easily shaken. He’d seen this one many times before, but he’d never once seen what followed her screams. Despite this-or perhaps because of it-the girl haunted his waking hours. Who was she? What had Khamal done to her?
He knew it was part of the riddle he had to solve once he reached Ghayavand. He wished he knew more, but he suspected that more would be revealed to him once he reached the island. It must be so. The dreams were clearly a way for Khamal to pass Nasim his memories, and his desire for Nasim to return and complete his plans. Surely, when he came to the place where Khamal had died, he would learn more.
“Nasim!” Rabiah stood over him, her hand on the gunwales to steady herself. “Ushai is still following us.”
Nasim sat up, the dream fading only with reluctance. With Rabiah’s help, he stood and grabbed onto the skiff’s lone mast for support. Sukharam held the reins of the skiff’s lone sail, guiding them eastward. In the distance, near the horizon where the dark sea met the slate blue sky, he saw the sail of a skiff, golden in the early morning light. It was still leagues away, but there was no doubt as to who was harnessing the winds in order to follow them.
They had left the mountains four days ago, passing well beyond the Empire’s land and over the Sea of Tabriz. Rabiah and Sukharam watched him, waiting for his word, waiting for him to protect them.
Nasim motioned Sukharam toward the bedding and blanket he’d just vacated. “Get some rest. We’ll need you again soon.”
Nasim took the reins of the sail from him. Through Rabiah, he touched Adhiya. He felt the wind as it slipped over the smooth windwood hull of the skiff. He felt the gathering storm to the west. He felt the currents as they played over the dark blue sea. He called to a havahezhan, not the one that was nearest, but the strongest. It came to him, tentative as Nasim offered himself, offered a glimpse of Erahm. It seemed like such a simple thing at times, but this bond wore at him, as it did any qiram, as the hezhan drank from the world around him. As it did, it drained, sipping not only on the world, but Nasim as well.
But he was rested. He was ready, and he called upon the havahezhan to guide them eastward.
As the skiff bucked under the newfound wind, Nasim glanced down at Rabiah. She clutched her stomach. She swallowed and licked her lips. She always felt discomfort when he did this, but Nasim was more gifted than she once he’d managed to bond with a spirit. For the time being-at least until they lost Ushai in the storm to come-it was necessary.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered to her.
“Do not be,” she replied.
Throughout the morning, they added distance. Ushai’s ship was little more than a speck hovering just above the horizon. They lost sight of Ushai well before the storm caught up with them, and then, shortly after midday, it swept over them like an avalanche. Rain lashed down as they pulled on oiled coats. Nasim was less worried about Ushai as he was staying on course. He guided them as well as he was able, knowing he could adjust once he found the stars again, but not wanting to waste precious time and energy if he could avoid it.
The storm continued through the night and into the next day, and Nasim was growing exhausted. At last, when he thought he could take no more, the storm finally broke, and he allowed himself a rest.
Nasim had hoped they had lost Ushai in the storm, but Rabiah said she could feel her coming, and near dusk, they saw signs of her once again, close and coming closer.
Nasim took the reins again, this time using Sukharam to bond with a hezhan, but he had not yet recovered. He pushed hard once more, and again they added distance, but he found himself flagging much sooner than he’d hoped. Sukharam took a turn, but still Ushai gained on them.
“How can she do this?” Rabiah asked.
Nasim, sweat dripping from his brow as he glanced over his shoulder, shook his head. He cursed himself for a fool. “It’s the mule that wins the race up the mountain,” he muttered to himself, “not the dancing pony.
Sukharam looked at him, confused, but Rabiah answered with a look on her face like a scolded child. “We’ve pushed too hard. Ushai is calling upon her hezhan steadily, while we burn through ours in too little time. It’s easier
on the hezhan, easier on her, and in the meantime we exhaust ourselves trying to break away.”
They adjusted their approach after that, moving only enough to stay ahead of Ushai, but it was clear it wasn’t going to work. They were already exhausted, and the simple act of staying ahead taxed them heavily.
On the morning of their sixth day on the winds, it became too much. The morning was bright, the sky clear. The winds were mild, a welcome thing after the way the skies had tossed them about the last few days. Nasim, exhausted, released his hezhan, allowing Ushai’s skiff to approach.
Rabiah’s eyes went wide. “Don’t give up.” She stood and held out her hands. “Let me take over. She’ll fail soon. She must.” She was young and headstrong and brave, but also unaware of her own limitations.
“ Neh,” Nasim said, more weary than he’d been in years. “I would speak with her.”
As the skiff approached, Nasim watched it carefully. He thought there might be others, spelling Ushai from time to time, but there was no one else. When her skiff came even with theirs, Ushai dropped the reins, allowing the sail to billow and flap and the skiff to float freely on the wind. She was a handsome woman with arresting eyes and strong cheeks. The wind blew the sleeves of her dusty yellow robes, and Nasim saw the bracelets there-one with a stone of opal, the other of tourmaline.
For a moment, Ushai and Nasim could only stare at one another. Rabiah watched, her hands flexing. Sukharam looked on, his eyes darting between Nasim, Ushai, and Rabiah.
“You look well,” Ushai said, breaking the silence at last.
There was an awkward pause that followed in which they would normally have traded full names, but Nasim did not know his parents. He had no proper name.
“You may call me Nasim an Ashan, daughter of Shahda.” It was not something Nasim granted lightly; he had effectively named Ashan his father, but he reasoned that if anyone deserved such a title, it was Ashan.
Ushai nodded, bowing slightly, her face remaining serious. The wind played with her hair and her yellow, travel-worn robes. Her gaze moved over their large skiff. “Where are you going, son of Ashan?”
“I go where I will.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“That’s the only answer you’ll receive. I’ll not return to Mirashadal.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Is that why you think I’ve come?”
Nasim paused. “Isn’t it?”
She shook her head. “You are old enough now. You may go where the fates take you. Fahroz will not prevent it, but she hopes you will one day return.”
“She never said that to me.”
“You were young when you were in her care, Nasim. And there were days when you were violent. It was in your best interest to keep you confined to the village until you’d learned more. Had you stayed, she would have told you eventually.”
“Had she told me, I might have stayed.”
She smiled, though there was a note of melancholy that seemed reluctant to fade. “That is the way of things, isn’t it? We learn too late.”
“Have you come to invite me back then? All this way for one small missive?”
“ Neh, son of Ashan. I have come to give you warning. The place you are headed is dangerous.”
“And where am I headed?”
“To Ghayavand.”
To have it stated so baldly embarrassed him. It made him feel like a child to have someone so sure of his plans. “I go where I will,” he said again.
“So you’ve said, but beware. Ashan has gone before you.”
She let the statement hang in the winds between them.
“Ashan?”
She nodded over his shoulder, to the northeast, toward Ghayavand. “We believe he is there still, and if he has not returned by now, there is something amiss.”
“How would you know where he went?”
“After he left Duzol, he spoke with few Aramahn ever again. He was only seen five times that we know of, and each time in the most ancient of libraries in Aleke s ir and the Towers of Tulandan. We believe he wanted to find the way to Ghayavand, to unlock her secrets or perhaps to prepare the way.”
“For what?”
Ushai nodded and steadied herself as the wind bucked her skiff. “For you. He knew you would one day return.”
Nasim felt a great urge to look into Rabiah’s eyes, but he forced himself to keep his gaze upon Ushai. He had brought Rabiah and Sukharam out of necessity-he couldn’t do it on his own, so he had found those most like him: those gifted with the ability to touch Adhiya without stones-but he had hoped to spare Ashan from the same fate. He could not help, and so there was no need to place him in danger.
“Thank you for telling me,” Nasim said.
“There is one more gift I will grant you.” Ushai pointed northward over Nasim’s shoulder. “You’ll not find it easy to make your way to Ghayavand. Do not think of crossing by summoning the wind. Take your time, determine the wind, and then, when you’re sure you’ve judged it properly, allow the wind to take you. And if you miss the island, wait until you’re well beyond it to try again.”
“And if I don’t?”
“The wards will rend you apart and throw you to the sea.”
“How do you know?” Nasim asked.
“There are clues left from those who survived the tearing of the rift, things gleaned in the years since Oshtoyets.”
“Did Fahroz ask you to tell me this?” This seemed like the last kind of information Fahroz would want Nasim to have.
“I am my own woman. I left Mirashadal to follow my own path.” Ushai seemed to gather herself before speaking again. “And I would come, son of Ashan, if you would allow it.”
“I cannot.”
Ushai continued as if nothing had happened. She took in Rabiah and Sukharam again, her expression not condescending, but certainly judgmental. You cannot make it on your own, her expression said, certainly not with the likes of these. “You are gifted,” she finally said. “You are ambitious. Hopefully you have a plan. But you have not lived the life that I have. I can offer you much, Nasim, if only you’ll let me.”
Rabiah stared at Nasim with something akin to loyalty, letting him know she would support whatever decision he made, but Sukharam looked to Nasim as if he dearly hoped Nasim would take Ushai up on her offer.
Nasim found himself considering it. This had been a difficult journey since leaving Mirashadal, and he’d not yet reached the island. How much more difficult would it become once they touched down on her shores?
But he knew, as he had known since he’d been healed, that he could not allow himself to be clouded by the goals of another. If he had refused Ashan, he would refuse Ushai. And, he told himself, there was something about her-an eagerness he could not quite put his finger on-that he didn’t like.
“I cannot,” he said simply. “The way is clear before us, and it is a path we will follow alone.”
Ushai paused. She was clearly disappointed in his words, so much so that she began to flex her hands. She noticed it shortly after Nasim did, and she composed herself.
“Tell me where you’ll be,” Nasim said. “I will find you when I’m done. If I’m able.”
Ushai’s lips drew into a grim line. “I know not where I go. Perhaps I’ll find you.” She smiled, an insincere expression at best. “I’ve become quite good at it.”
Nasim bowed his head. “As you say.”
“Go well, Nasim an Ashan.”
“Go well, Ushai Kissath al Shahda.”
The sky was a cloudless blue, the sea below the bright shade of sapphires in the sun.
Nasim could not yet see Ghayavand, but he could feel it. His time here with Ashan and Nikandr had been one of the more lucid times of his childhood. He remembered much of it, and he remembered the feeling it gave him as well: a feeling of profound discomfort but also of familiarity. This is what he felt now as he manned the reins of the sail and guided their skiff steadily northeastward.
Near high noon, the w
ind began to play with the ship, causing it to buck. Soon after, Nasim felt a strain on the bond to his hezhan. It became more tenuous, more difficult to maintain. Even so, he managed it until the island came into view, and then it became like fighting a gale.
“It’s begun,” Nasim said.
Rabiah studied the horizon while holding her gut against the magic Nasim was working with the hezhan. She looked brave. She looked prepared for what lay ahead. Sukharam, on the other hand, was studying the sea ahead while the muscles along his jaw worked feverishly.
“All will be well,” Nasim told him.
Sukharam glanced up to Nasim, and then turned his gaze away.
“Look at me, Sukharam.”
Sukharam did, though it clearly took him effort to hold Nasim’s gaze.
“All will be well,” Nasim repeated.
He nodded, putting on a smile that was clearly only for Nasim’s benefit, and then he returned to watching Ghayavand, an emerald in a field of sapphires.
Nasim let him be and focused on the path ahead. He was not entirely sure he trusted Ushai and her motives, but he believed in her warning. He told the others to release their hezhan and to refrain from communing with another until they reached the island itself.
He did not release his own, however. It was not yet time. He began to feel his vanahezhan spirit more clearly. It felt closer, as if but one small tug would pull it through the veil between worlds. He suppressed the spirit, however, held it at bay while calling it to position the skiff so that the prevailing winds-once he released the havahezhan-would carry them over the island.
It was difficult, though. The winds were unpredictable here. But he could only do the best he could. He released it when he felt the hezhan was too close.
As soon as he did, the ship was tossed about. The skiff dropped suddenly. They held tightly to the ropes that were tied around the interior of the skiff.
A sudden upsurge twisted the skiff, tipped it dangerously. Sukharam was tossed over the edge of the gunwales, but he held on, and Nasim and Rabiah pulled him back to safety.
And then the skiff began to fall once more, spinning about so quickly that Nasim lost his bearings. He was nearly ready to ignore Ushai’s advice and call upon a hezhan to help them, but the winds softened and then died altogether.
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