The Drifting

by L. Filloon

  With a guttural roar he comes at me causing the netting to bounce me around. I look upward to find something to grab. A hanging vine is only a few feet from me and in one swift movement I’m up and leaping for it just in the nick of time. As I dive for the vine, my momentum takes me swinging out of my attacker’s way and his charge continues forward until he reaches the edge of the net. He quickly falls off, but catches at the netting at the last minute with one hand. I cling desperately to the vine, hugging it to me tightly. I try to keep my eye on the man-beast as the vine spins me in a slow circle. I use what little muscle I have and try to shimmy up the vine but slip down due to the rain. I keep still, my knees pulled up to my chest as high as I can get them while holding on to the vine for dear life.

  As the vine continues to turn me at a slow pace, I watch as the man-beast pulls himself up so that he’s got the netting in both hands. He swings back and forth and with a mighty push, he throws himself over the edge and flips into a squatting position in the center of the net. I remain still, trying hard not to make a sound or even move, which is almost impossible due to the vine I’m clinging to.

  “Here kitty-kitty-kitty,” he growls softly, his head moving back and forth again as he tries to find my scent. Hearing his voice causes my breath to stop completely, but my random thoughts run off as they usually do when I’m scared as hell as I think, There are cats in Velesi? Hello…Cessa?

  I can feel my hands slipping, my arms aching from holding on so tightly to the vine and my thighs start to cramp as I strain to keep them tucked to my chest. I’m about six feet from him and maybe two feet above him, thanks to his short stature. I release one of my hands and raise it slowly to twist it around the vine, giving myself more support – a trick I learned from Julia in gym class. Once my elbow and wrists are in place, I make a fist and pull my hand back down to my chest – bringing the vine down to me as it raises me a few inches higher. I take my other hand and do the same until I’m a few more inches up and the vines are now wrapped around my arms locking it into place. I look about me wondering what’s taking Ziri so long.

  The man-beast suddenly turns on me, an evil grin on his face, “Ha…there you are.”

  He stalks toward me slowly, his head still moving side to side. I know he has a general idea of where I am, but not my exact location. Nonetheless, he approaches closer, and that’s when I see it…the knife in his hand. Oh my God, he’s going to kill me!

  I send a desperate plea for Ziri to hurry up and I shut my eyes tightly. I open my eyes again when I realize that the man-beast just below me. He stops and sniffs the air again, his ears twitching. Then slowly he looks upward and even though I assume he’s blind, his eyes lock onto mine. No longer trying to hide now that he’s found me, I start screaming at the top of my lungs. The man-beast drops his knife and slams his hands over his ears, falling onto the net and curling up into a ball. At the same time, he tries to scoot away from my screams. Seeing how much pain he’s in I scream even louder and keep on screaming until he’s almost back to the tree trunk where I first laid eyes on him.

  “Ugh…all right, already!” he screams back at me. “Enough,” he continues to yell, but I keep screaming until I can feel the soreness start at the back of my throat. Looking about him in frustration, hands still over his ears, he calls out, “Ziri…enough!”

  My scream comes to a sudden stop. Did he just call out for Ziri?

  I hear Ziri from somewhere above and behind me. I try to turn toward him, but the vine is being uncooperative. As he lands on the netting and makes his way toward me, the man-beast yells with a grimace, “You didn’t say I would be dealing with a damn banshee!” He slowly removes his hands from his ears and when satisfied there’s no more screaming, he quickly gets on his short legs, balancing himself with ease on the bouncing net.

  “Trust me, Kulzo, I didn’t either,” answers Ziri.

  He walks over to where I’m still dangling from the vine and stops to look at me. I give him an incredulous look saying, “You know him? You set all this up?” A burning anger makes its way to my chest and I swallow before furiously continuing, “Are you both out of your minds? First, the old woman drops me several feet, and then you put this…this…whatever he is on me? Was it your plan to have him kill me, too?”

  “Ah, girlie,” says Kulzo, now standing facing us with arms crossed at this chest. “I wasn’t really going to hurt you. Just toss you around a bit to see what you’re made of, that’s all.”

  I stare at the odd-looking man and then back at Ziri. I give up. I shake my head, resting it on the vine and trying to get my breathing under control…again. I start to feel the chill now, seeping into my bones and I realize I’m shaking, my teeth chattering.

  Noticing my shaking state, Ziri reaches out saying, “You can relax now, Lily. Drop your legs.” I let my legs down slowly only to have my thighs cramps up on me and I gasp out loud. Before I realize what he’s doing, Ziri catches me under my knees and lifts me easily into his arms.

  “Lily, untangle your arms from the vine,” he demands softly.

  I shake my head at him. “I can’t. My arms are cramped too, it’s hard to move them,” I reply. While holding my legs with one arm, he reaches up with his other and cuts the vine. He catches me once I’m free and cradles me close to him.

  He stares down at me with a worried look, “Hmmm, perhaps we’ll do your training out of the rain until you’ve become accustomed to it.”

  “Ah, you’re being too easy on her,” says Kulzo. “It’s just rain – who gets sick in the rain? Besides, if she’s to become accustomed to our realm, well then, she’ll need to get used to training in the rain.”

  I want to tell off Kulzo, but I find myself curled up against Ziri’s chest trying to get warm and hide my face from the rain. This endless, godforsaken, nonstop rain…I hate it.

  “I’ll call you again soon, Kulzo,” calls out Ziri as he makes his way to the tree where the vine ends. Kulzo doesn’t reply but stands watching us go, oblivious to the rain. I look at him one last time before ducking back into Ziri’s shoulder.

  As Ziri carries me up a winding landing that appears from the tree, I say, “Ziri?”

  “Yes, Lily?” At this moment in his arms, the way he just answered me I’m reminded of how much he is like Tharin. Tharin…all of a sudden, I miss him.

  “We have a saying back home,” I say through chattering teeth and my thoughts filled with images of Tharin.

  “And what’s that, Lily?”

  “Watch your back,” I promise sighing into his chest.

  Ziri laughs out loud at my challenge. I close my eyes as I hug closer to him, pretending just for now that he’s the elf I love. I ache at my sudden need to be with Tharin, to see him again. But I blew that chance when I didn’t go into the drifting state when he was here last. But if I did, he would have stayed, and he would’ve heard what I said. I guess it worked out okay then, he didn’t hear any of it, which means I can put it to him in another way. Even though I know it’s a dead end between us, I still want to be his friend, to at least have that with him.

  God, I miss him so much. I wish he were here.

  ~ * ~

  Chapter Eleven

  ~ Tharin ~

  From a perch several feet up, I watch Ziri carry Lily back to their temporary thela. I lean forward as if it would help me hear her when she whispers to him – words lost to me due to the rain. Painfully, I didn’t miss Ziri’s laughter in response to her words, or how she snuggles even closer to him afterward. Has she already forgotten about me? Granted that she’s here stuck with only Sema and Ziri. Ziri the Lithi…tall, strong and he’s had his share of turning heads. I refuse to believe that Lily wouldn’t see more in me than just my looks. I continue to watch, frustrated with no way to release it.

  Kulzo remains standing on the net. I wait knowing that he would disappear soon within the kavi trees. He is a Kavir, a tree dwarf and protector of the kavi. He and his kind have been protecting the kavi trees since bef
ore the rendering. Like many others, the Kavirs were warriors fighting alongside King Kalinest during the Great War. When the realms were split apart and we found a new world before us, it was the Kavirs who replanted the kavi trees and have been their caretakers over millennia. This is one of several kavi forests within the Oak Clan territory, and there are forests spread throughout the remaining territories thanks to Kulzo and his kin. As I suspected, Kulzo turns the opposite direction from where Ziri and Lily are heading, disappearing into a tree trunk. As soon as his feet step off the netting, the vines slowly unwind from each other until the net disappears completely.

  I’m able to return this time without Ka’s help. Each previous visit I would remember more details of this area to tie me to it. However, the distance from the Oak Tower to this location is greater than any I’ve drifted before. It took all of my concentration and will to make the journey and we hadn’t reached the Tower yet. It’s not just a risky move, but a dangerous one, too. I found a clearing of oak trees and hidden in one of the thela is my body. I lie with only the protection of the oak itself. Even now my drifting self is not as solid as I would be if I were drifting within a half-mile or so from where I lay.

  I move among the shadows, following Ziri and Lily at a short distance. I’m careful not to concentrate too long on Ziri and give away my location. Ziri has stopped on the landing before entering, placing Lily on her feet. She holds on to him and I try not to let it skewer me anymore than it already has. He untangles her from the vine as she continues to shake from the cold. Idiot. He should have realized that she isn’t accustomed to our climate. He should have setup one of the thelas for basic training instead. Not only that, but he threw her in with Kulzo on her first day? What the hell was he thinking?

  I slip by them into the thela making my way to Lily’s sleeping area. I move within the shadows, but keep a look out for Sema. Ziri may miss me in the shadows, but somehow I doubt that Sema would have any trouble finding me in the dark. Not more than five seconds after entering Lily’s room, several panswas come to light instantly chasing the shadows away.

  “I would think that the future king of Velesi would have better things to do than skulk around his future wife’s room like some lovesick adolescent,” says Sema tartly standing near the end of the bed. With her hands together and placed in front of her, Sema gives me an arched brow waiting for a response.

  I turn to her folding my own arms. I’ll be damned if I will let this woman chastise me for being where I have every right to be. “I didn’t know that I needed permission to ‘skulk’ in my betrothed’s room,” I remark back, not showing any offense to her accusation.

  “Until she is officially your bride, you will be respectful of her innocence, Prince Tharin,” she states firmly.

  “You do me an injustice, old woman,” I reply lifting my chin at her. Despite my defiance to her questioning, her implication of Lily’s innocence pleases me.

  “Oh, really,” she retorts. “I’ve been watching you since you were a babe in your mother’s arms, Tharin. I’ve witnessed you and your brother grow into handsome boys, and become formidable warriors. And although your brother grew up oblivious to the young Sidhlettes buzzing about him all his life, you, however, not only noticed but gave notice to the fairer sex.” She squint her eyes at me with intent, “You will behave yourself where Lily is concern.”

  I chuckle at her admonishment and walk farther into the room thinking, If you say so old woman. I note that Sema added more to the room since my first visit with Lily. The bed and the nightstand are still here, but there is now a mirror above the nightstand. The bench at the end of the bed is now covered with a handmade blanket. Did Lily make that, or Sema? There are two large baskets along the wall, with Lily’s jeans and shirt sitting neatly folded on one of them. Beside it on the floor are her boots. A tub sits at the farthest part of the room, a small stool next to it with towels, and the scent of gardenias lingers.

  “I will do as I please with my betrothed,” I say casually knowing it would rile her a bit. I look over the items on the nightstand. On it is a small frame with a picture of Lucas and Lily. It’s the same one that was in her living room. I recognize the picture where Lily is wearing a uniform and she’s holding a basketball to one side, while on the other side she has her arm wrapped around Lucas. He towers over her, hugging her to him, and they are both smiling…their faces filled with joy. I reach for it, but stop short of touching it. I stare at the young Lily. It’s the same little girl I met during our Binding.

  “How did this get here?” I ask as I lightly trace my finger over Lily’s young face.

  “I brought it to her,” replies Sema. “Why are you here, Tharin? You don’t have to worry about her now. She’s come out of her self-imposed coma. Ziri and I are more than capable of caring for her until the Seating, and of course, she has Cessa with her at all times. So, again…why are you here?”

  “I don’t have to have a reason to be here, nor is it any of your business, Sema,” I remark, becoming irritated by the old woman’s meddling.

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Prince. I have made her my business.” She stands rigid and seems taller than her small stature. I face her, ignoring her defiant stance because I’m still not sure whether she and Ka are dangerous. I know they’re powerful – just not sure what their limits are. However, I do recognize a lioness protecting her cub. I decide to tread lightly.

  “How long?” I ask.

  “How long what?” asks Sema perturbed.

  “How long have you been watching over Lily?”

  Sema keeps her eyes on me and after making a decision she sighs and says, “All her life.”

  I remain quiet to let her sort out her thoughts. I wait patiently on whether she will confide in me or decide to turn me into a frog just to shut me up.

  Sema moves to the bed and sits on the bench. She leans back against the bed and with folded arms she starts, “It was I who opened the doorway for John Michaels so he could take his children to his brother. I knew what John wanted to do, and knew that he would fail. So, I granted him two wishes. The first was to give him the ability to live in Velesi undetected, along with the strength to move forward with what he had to do and the longevity to get it done.”

  “What? How are you able to do that? Who are you? What are you?”

  She raises a hand at me, “All in good time, Prince. You are unprepared for that answer.”

  I realize I’m staring at her with my mouth open. I snap my mouth close as she continues, “His second wish was for me to protect his children.” She stops, hesitant to say what she needed to say next. Again, another sigh, “The moment she was born, we knew that Lily was the child of prophecy – the key to opening Eirrell’s doorway and taking our people back to our homeland. However, as the years past, I noticed that she became more and more dependent on Lucas instead of her uncle or aunt. When she was eight, her guardians were killed in a car accident and Lucas became her whole world. We, of course, made it possible for Lucas and Lily to remain in their uncle’s home under the guardianship of a distant relative, who happened to show up when child services would visit.”

  I shake my head at her. “Lily has never mentioned any distant relative.”

  “Of course she wouldn’t have. The lawyer who helped work their case never had to work again. He was highly compensated to be around when child services came by to meet his ‘client’…the children’s distant relative. Neither Lily nor Lucas knew who this relative was, and it was only Lucas who the lawyer dealt with when necessary. Lily was just a child and by that time Lucas took it upon himself to protect her from such things.”

  “Hmmm, I take it the ‘relative’ just happened to be a six-foot elderly man who wore a fisherman’s hat?” I try picturing Ka in a business suit, but all I can see is him in the clothe he wore when I first saw him at the minimart. Sema gives me a sheepish smile, nodding quietly. “What happened with Lucas? It’s obvious you were unable to protect him,” I question.

/>   Sema looks down at her hands as she rubs them together. I shake my head as the realization hits me. “You let them take him.” The silence that follows lies heavily in the room. The magnitude of this discovery jars me and if I could, I would sit down somewhere.

  “Why? Why would you allow that to happen?”

  Sema finally looks up and juts her chin at me, “We had no choice. We had to protect Lilianethia at all costs. By letting Harlu take Lucas, it gave us some time to work out details to keep Lily alive until the Seating. Not only that, but she was too attached to Lucas. At fourteen, she should have been able to make her own decisions about who she wanted to be. Instead, everything she did or said she first sought out Lucas’ approval. She would be queen and we needed her to stand on her own and not be dependent on him.”

  Sema gets up and paces before me. While trying to explain herself, she wring her hands, a frown wrinkles her otherwise smooth forehead. “What did you expect us to do, Tharin? As soon as the Willow Clan throne rejected Lucas, they put all their focus on Lily.” She stops mid-track and faces me, “It was only because of the shield your father placed on her and the additional shield from myself that kept her safe. They had no clue about the social worker. All they knew was that Lily was lost in the system. After she turned eighteen, I did what I could with the diseased trees that surrounded her at that time. And they would have found her too, no thanks to you.”

  I shift my shoulders back. I’ve already been reprimanded by her husband – I won’t be reprimanded by her. She notices the change in my stance and waves at me impatiently, “Oh, enough of your pride, boy. I grow tired of your arrogance.”