Just as Ika-Tere had promised, the moment her heart wished for home, Princess Iaira remembered the location of the final point. All of her memories rushed back to her on the beach as she fought death, and through the pain, she saw that the answer she was seeking had been right in front of her the whole time.
She grabbed Vance Vantana’s arm firmly and spoke with what felt like her last breath.
“Ta Cathair is in Ratnakara, the maker of gems.”
After all these years, it was a snooty talking salmon who pulled the patriarchal rug out from under Sam London. As Sam waited for Iaira to reemerge from the water off the coast of American Samoa, he mulled over the admission from the Salmon of Knowledge regarding the identity of his father. He wondered—if the salmon had been ordered by the gryphon to not divulge this information, did that mean it was dangerous in some way? But how could knowing such basic information about his life be harmful? And when did the gryphon order the salmon not to discuss it? Was it before or after Sam met Phylassos in Death Valley? He was trying in vain to make sense of it all when his eyes caught sight of a rainbow, and Sam London just happened to love rainbows. In fact, he always made it a point to try to spot them in the skies over Benicia on rainy days. He would even attempt to persuade his mom to chase the rainbows, which she would do on occasion. He was fascinated by them, especially when there was more than one visible at the same time. His personal record was a triple rainbow, though his mom claimed he was counting a second rainbow twice.
The rainbow in American Samoa appeared to end just a few hundred yards off the shore and happened to be the most brilliant and colorful Sam had ever laid eyes on. Strange thing was, rainbows were the result of light refracting on rain droplets, hence why they accompanied storms, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
“Check out the supercool rainbow!” Sam exclaimed to Vance and Tashi. Vantana looked up, but instead of displaying an expression of wonder, he was instantly alarmed.
“Get down!” he wailed, and hurled himself on top of Sam, flattening them both on the sand. Sam took in a mouthful of grit and was about to protest angrily, when he noticed Tashi crouching, her shekchen charged and at the ready.
“What? What is it?” Sam asked.
“That,” the doctor said, motioning out toward the water. Sam followed Vantana’s gesture and saw a creature riding down the rainbow, as though it was surfing the colored band of light. It splashed into the ocean, then sprang back up. The rainbow disappeared, and the creature who was now standing on the water’s surface was monstrous. It was a humanoid fish with dark grayish-green scales instead of skin; a dorsal fin on its head like that of a shark; and a long serrated bill instead of a nose, akin to the beak of a swordfish. Whatever the creature was, it must have been over six feet tall and had legs that were lined with fins…and it wasn’t alone. There were dark-colored fish leaping up and down from the water behind the creature, whose hand was raised, as if he intended to give a signal.
“We need to find shelter, A-SAP!” Vance ordered.
“You think it’s going to attack us?” Sam asked, a hint of disappointment coloring his words at the thought of the rainbow surfer being dangerous. Vantana flashed him an incredulous glance. “I mean, maybe we need to talk to it, tell it we’re on a mission for Phylassos,” Sam suggested hopefully.
“That ‘it’ out there is an Adaro from the Solomon Islands,” the doctor informed him. Sam still didn’t understand what that meant. “He didn’t come all this way to bake cookies and make friendship bracelets. He means business, and unfortunately for us, his business is death.”
“I will keep him at bay,” Tashi offered. “Get Sam to safety.”
“I appreciate that, but you see those fish behind him?” Vance asked. “They’re poisonous flying fish that he commands like an army. There’s not enough energy of Gaia surging through your shekchen to take care of all them critters.”
“Poisonous. Flying. Fish?” Sam asked in disbelief. “Like venomous snakes?”
“Worse,” Vantana replied. “This poison is magical in nature. It will kill, and we know of no antidote.”
“Of course,” Sam said, his brow furrowing. “What are we going to do when Iaira comes out of the ocean?”
“She already is.” Tashi pointed. Sam looked to the water and saw the unthinkable. Iaira was emerging from the ocean, oblivious to the danger lurking just feet behind her.
“Aw, nuts!” Vance exclaimed.
“She doesn’t see him!” Sam cried, and started frantically waving his arms. “Go back under the water!” he yelled again and again, but it was too late. The creature swung his hand forward, and the swarm of flying fish leapt out of the water, attacking the mermaid with ferocity. It was like something out of a horror movie.
“Tashi, give us cover fire!” Vantana ordered the Guardian. “Distract that monster! C’mon, Sam—”
Tashi stood and let loose with her shekchen, firing multiple bursts of energy at the creature. Sam followed the doctor to the water, where they waded in and grabbed Iaira, then pulled her to the shore. Sam could already see that her face and body were covered in bites. But these bites didn’t bleed; they glowed red and black. Crooked lines webbed out from the wounds and crawled across her skin. Vance led them to a rocky outcropping, where they all hunkered down. Once there, Iaira latched on to Vance’s arm and spoke, but Sam couldn’t make out her words. Her breathing was labored and her voice was nearly a whisper. Vance nodded, as if understanding.
“Thank you,” he told her.
“What did she say?” Sam asked.
“The final point is in the Indian Ocean,” Vance revealed. “The Sanskrit name is Ratnakara, which means ‘maker of gems.’ ”
“Is she…?” Sam began, but didn’t have the heart to finish. Vance confirmed her fate with a nod. “Tashi could try to heal her,” Sam suggested. The Guardian did have the ability to heal, which she had used to save Sam’s life in Kustos on his first case. She absorbed his wounds and, because she was a Guardian of the gryphon’s claw, could then heal herself. Sam hoped this same magic could be applied to Iaira.
“I don’t know if that would work,” Vance told him. “But we can’t even try. We need Tashi shooting down those fish or we’re all goners.”
Vance was right. Tashi was already struggling just to keep the hordes of fish at bay. If she tried to heal Iaira—never mind whether it would work or not—it wouldn’t help their predicament one bit. They would all wind up like Iaira. It was an impossible situation. As Sam wondered what their fate would be, he heard Iaira whispering again and again, repeating a series of words. Sam leaned in to listen.
“Ika-Tere…father of the seas…I beg of you…help us…,” she said, barely audible. She continued for a while, and then suddenly she stopped. A slight smile crept over her wounded face. “Thank you,” she murmured.
Sam wondered if the mermaid was hallucinating. Perhaps the poison was affecting her brain now. Why was she thanking Ika-Tere? Their situation was just as dire as it had been moments ago.
“What the—” Vance said in surprise as something flew overhead, casting a shadow over the beach. Sam peeked over the rock to get a better look.
“What is it?” Sam asked.
“More like, Who is it?” Vance corrected him. Tashi was smiling broadly. This was the first time Sam had ever seen a smile this big on the Guardian’s face—not counting the tanuki who had taken her place in the school library, of course.
“Nafuana!” Tashi exclaimed, her excitement boiling over.
There was a woman now standing on the beach. She had long dark hair and was dressed in a wood-colored cloth with a fringed hem. She sported several tattoos that consisted of geometric shapes and intricate lines. She gripped an ax-like weapon that hooked on one side. Upon her arrival, the flying fish suddenly ceased their attack and retreated back to the Adaro, swirling in the air above
him—no doubt waiting for their next command.
“And she is…?” Sam asked.
“A guardian,” Tashi said, beaming. “But not like me. She is a guardian of her people, a warrior princess I studied in my schooling in Kustos. Her ax is known as the Tafesilafa’i and she built it herself,” Tashi added, pointing to Nafuana’s weapon.
“She’s a popular figure in Samoan mythology,” Vance added. “And luckily for us, she’s also a force to be reckoned with.”
“But he has an army,” Sam reminded them.
“She is an army,” Tashi contended. Nafuana stared down the Adaro unflinchingly, then glanced back toward the rock Sam and the group were hiding behind.
“Guardian,” Nafuana commanded. Sam looked to Tashi, who appeared frozen in place. He nudged her.
“I think she’s talking to you,” Sam told her. His friend snapped out of her stupor.
“Yes, Nafuana. How may I be of aid?” Tashi asked, bowing her head.
“You are formidable and have kept your friends alive, but I am here to help defeat this vile creature, so that you may do what is needed to save Iaira.” Tashi bowed again.
“Thank you,” she said, before turning toward Iaira and crouching down next to her. “I will try to heal your wounds,” Tashi told the princess.
Tashi placed her hands on Iaira’s shoulders. A second later she jerked her body and gripped the mermaid tightly. She closed her eyes, and Sam could see a few of the bite marks on Iaira’s body begin to close up, the blood that had trickled out was pulled back inside, and the black lines that had branched out disappeared. The wounds were then mirrored on Tashi’s body, cropping up in the same spots where they had been on Iaira. Sam stared, wide-eyed, until the wounds on Tashi also began disappearing. It was working, Sam concluded. He felt a giant sense of relief, until he turned to look back at the water.
The Adaro had amassed an even larger swarm of flying fish. With a wave of his arm, the poisonous mass rocketed toward the shoreline, but Nafuana remained stoic. She didn’t even raise her weapon. Sam wondered how she would defend herself against so many creatures.
“Pe’a vao!” the Samoan warrior cried out. The trees began to shake, and the cracking of branches could be heard. Multiple shadows passed overhead, and Sam gazed upward. These shadows were enormous and moving. Giant black-winged creatures launched from the trees of the adjacent jungle and descended on the beach.
“Are those bats?” Sam asked.
“Yep. They call them the Samoan flying fox,” Vance explained.
These bats had wingspans of at least three feet, and they swooped down onto the flying fish, quickly cutting them to shreds.
“Woo-hoo!” Sam exclaimed. Nafuana glanced back with a smirk, then turned her attention to the Adaro, who was already preparing for his next onslaught. This time he had even more beasts at his disposal, and he was walking toward the group. Nafuana took a defensive stance. The Adaro charged, with his monsters in tow. The bats descended once more and drove back the swarming creatures, while Nafuana slashed at the Adaro, then booted him in his scaly chest. He flipped backward several times from the force of her hit and grasped at the open wound on his torso. The Adaro snarled, clearly unhappy with his results, and gazed up at the sky. He made a series of ominous clicks and whistles like a blend of dolphin sounds and the clatter of a rattlesnake tail. A second later, Sam spotted another rainbow…and another…and another.
At any other time in Sam’s life the sight of multiple rainbows at the same time would have been thrilling beyond words. He would have bragged to complete strangers about it and marveled in its wonder for years after the last one had faded away. But now these extraordinary bands of color were not conjuring smiles or happy thoughts; they were instilling sheer terror. An Adaro creature sailed down each of the rainbows, bringing its own small army of flying fish.
“And the hits just keep on comin’,” Vance quipped. “Millalobo was trying to prevent Iaira from returning home because he believed she needed to be punished for her betrayal. I didn’t agree with him on that, but I could understand the logic. These monsters, on the other hand, don’t have any moral code. Something else must be motivating them to have a throwdown like this.”
“Like what?” Sam asked. Vance shrugged.
“I don’t know. Maybe they want a war,” he replied. “We’ll get to the bottom of it, but first we have to get past them.”
“There are so many!” Sam exclaimed.
“She doesn’t look too worried,” Vantana remarked, gesturing toward Nafuana. He was right. Much to Sam’s surprise, Nafuana was completely unfazed by the creature’s newly arrived reinforcements.
Peering back to check on Tashi and Iaira, Sam found that the Guardian was clearly fighting the pain Iaira’s wounds had inflicted, while the mermaid appeared to be completely healed, though still unconscious.
“There is a problem,” Tashi said.
“What problem?” the doctor asked.
“Observe,” Tashi said. As she removed her hands from Iaira’s body, the wounds began to return. Sam spotted a bite materializing on Iaira’s leg.
“She’s not healing?” Sam inquired. Tashi shook her head.
“I can heal her, but it doesn’t last. Once I lift my hands, her wounds return,” Tashi explained. “We must find a cure.”
“I was afraid of this,” Vance told them. “It’s the magic—it’s too strong.”
“Ta Cathair,” Iaira whispered. She was barely conscious, but talking. “The healers in my city…they can cure this….”
“Which means we gotta get you out of here pronto,” Vantana said. He turned back to talk to Nafuana, who was engaged in a pitched battle with the Adaro creatures. She spun, dodging jabs from one Adaro, to then punch another, before drop-kicking a third. Sam understood why Tashi revered her so much—she was unstoppable. Problem was, the Adaro did not appear to be stopping either. The fight might last hours, maybe even days, and as strong as Tashi was, keeping Iaira alive for that long seemed unlikely.
“Nafuana!” Vance called out to her. She managed to glance back while continuing to fight. “We need to get the princess home. Do you think we’ll make it to the falls if we hug the cliff side?”
“Not all would survive that journey,” she replied, before dodging a few more strikes. “But there may be another way. Warrior?” she called out to Tashi. “Keep a strong hold on Iaira.” Tashi nodded and wrapped her arms around Iaira from behind as Nafuana cried out, “Pe’a vao!”
Three of the flying foxes that were battling the poisonous flying fish instantly changed direction and headed for the shore. They dove down and hovered above the group. “Go! Tofa Soifua,” Nafuana said, before turning back to the marauding Adaro.
The flying foxes snatched each of them by the backs of their shirts. Tashi held on tight to Iaira as one scooped both of them up. Sam’s fox had a solid grip on him, but he reached up to hold on to the creature’s short legs for extra security. The Adaro creatures spotted the attempted escape, though, and concentrated their fish on the group. As the bats made their ascent, a few of the flying fish came within inches of biting Sam and Vance but were quickly dispatched by other flying foxes. With the Adaro creatures redirecting their attack and leaving themselves vulnerable, Sam watched with delight as Nafuana drove the monsters back into the water.
Before long, the group was soaring over the National Park of American Samoa toward the ephemeral falls and the dvergen subway station. Sam glanced over to Tashi and noticed the Guardian wincing, no doubt from the pain of healing Iaira’s wounds. As long as Iaira was hurt, Tashi would be unable to defend the group from potential threats. Considering the dangers they had confronted of late, Sam couldn’t help but feel anxious about the journey ahead.
* * *
—
Tashi of Kustos was worried. It was a sense of foreboding, which was not a familiar
feeling for the Guardian. And it didn’t stem from her concern about the dangerous creatures who might attempt to sabotage their mission, nor was it due to the toll the healings were having on her body. Tashi was concerned about Sam London. She needed to speak to Dr. Vantana about her unease but had yet to have a moment alone with the ranger to do so. When they arrived in Sri Venkateswara National Park in Andhra Pradesh, India, via the dvergen subway, Iaira was again nearly covered with bites. Tashi healed her once more in the station that was hidden behind Talakona falls, before venturing outside. While Tashi regained her strength, Dr. Vantana and Sam placed Iaira on an elephant with the help of Dandak, the park’s forest officer from the Mythical Wildlife Institute of India.
“Can you take us to the coast?” Iaira asked Dandak, who nodded. “I can summon help to get us the rest of the way home.”
Once Sam began walking ahead with the new ranger and Iaira, Tashi was finally able to approach Vance in private.
“Dr. Vantana?” she said quietly.
The Selkie of San Francisco Page 20