Keeping With Destiny

by Stephan Knox

  Aari paused when a brisk wind whipped up a twister of sand and dust that sprayed against her face. She closed her eyes a moment to wait it out. Exhausted, she felt herself waver slightly and then the vortex pitched her from her next step, her feet quickly dancing to catch her balance only to trip instead— sending her completely off her feet and skidding down the slope.

  Aari sent out a shrill scream as she grappled like a wild animal to latch on to anything her hands or feet could find as layers upon layers of shale and dirt moved and slid under her, taking her with it.

  “Aari!” Tannin was jumping for her, but there was little he could do when in mere clicks she was there and then she wasn’t. The sliding shale carrying her over the edge to plummet towards the bottom. Ear piercing shrieks echoed off the ridge and followed her down towards the mountain river below.

  “Aari!” He dug his heels into the shifting slope, stopping his own slide and listened for the splash below. “No! Aari!” he called for her again when her screams cut short. He dropped the bags of gear, he hurried his away in a slant heavy footed decent. Less the weight of the packs he was able to hold his balance over the shifting shale better and keep his footing, as he rushed across the slope then down another. Zigzagging his way down the sliding slope of loose ground after her. Running and skidding at once with a near avalanche of rock and sand following him down as he raced for the bottom before the icy slush of the river could carry her away.

  Had it been spring time, the rushing winter melt would have swept her away just as quickly as she had fallen, but the seasons were entering winter, which meant the water current was slowing. He held on to some hope there was still a chance he could reach her before it was too late.

  He found her a full furlong down river, snared on the outstretched limbs from a tree that too had been washed down from up river. He ran for her and jumped in the frigid water. The current was stronger than he anticipated, and he had to hold on or get washed down river himself. He stretched out, catching her tunic and rolled her over before she drowned. Curling his fist securely into the fabric, he dragged her body against the pull of the water that was pushing her into the downed tree until she was close enough that he could get an arm around her and lift her from the freezing water.

  With both feet back on land, he set her down on the bank to check for vital signs.

  “Aari. Aari.” He shook her, but she didn’t respond. Her arms, hands, even her face were covered in bleeding cuts from the sharp edges of shale. He wouldn’t have been concerned except what should have been near instant did happen and the bleeding from her cuts showed no signs of slowing even as he carried her to a drier spot where he could get a fire started. He set her down next to a structure long since swallowed up by the of falling shale and earth, but enough of its skeleton still stuck out well enough to provide shelter from the steady rain of rocks.

  He quickly gathered bits of wood and kindling that was directly around them and made a pile. Not nearly enough to make a fire, but it was a start. He stopped, taking time to rub her body and arms to warm her, then back to the task of getting the fire started. Healing powers or no, syms had a tendency to separate from their host if their host’s body lost core heat. He had to act fast, but he also had to tend to her at the same time. And all their gear and packs were still back up on the trail. Those would have to wait until he got the fire started.

  He had just gotten a small amount of flame started when he heard the squeak of her voice.

  “Tannin?”

  He spun about and hovered over her, so she could see him. “I’m here.” His hands subconsciously returning to the task of rubbing her arms and face to stimulate blood circulation in them.

  “I’m-m s-s-s-sso c-cold-d,” words stuttered past the chatter in her teeth.

  He was only grateful she was conscious. “I know, I have to get the fire started, okay? But I’m right here.”

  She managed to nod, though he cantered that most of that was her shaking rather than acknowledged compliance.

  He turned back to the flame he had only gotten started and slowly started feeding it more kindling— working the sizes up until he finally added a few thick branches of driftwood he had found nearby that were still dry.

  He checked her, but she was out again. And while he would have preferred she wasn’t, he wondered if perhaps it was best and didn’t bother to wake her for the time being. He examined her arms; the bleeding had slowed but not completely stopped. It said as much that the cold did indeed, affect her ability to heal.

  He knew he would have to leave her to fetch their packs. With them, their bedrolls and dry clothes, both a necessity, but he couldn’t leave her exposed like this. He crawled around behind her and began pushing up dirt and sand creating a bank behind her. He fished out some of the larger plates of shale and placed them into the fire while he worked. Once the shale was hot, he could insert them into the dirt underneath her and it would help keep her warm while he went back up for their gear. It was all he had to work with for now.

  Resolved that he could do no more until he got their gear, Tannin set off, but when he spotted a few more good dry logs, he collected them, took them back to add to the fire and then made his way back up the trail again. Hoping he could return safely before it got dark.

  Tannin had already returned, set out their bedrolls, and added enough wood to the fire to last the night when Aari woke again. The ache in her bones drove her instinctively to move, attempting to sit up closer to the flames. He was certain she would sit directly in them if she thought she could get away with it.

  He dropped down next to her, and took her arms one at a time, rubbing them vigorously. She was shaking like the earth does when it gets angry. But it was the deathly cold touch of her skin and the blue color in her lips that had him worried the most. Next, he pulled her boots to do the same for her feet but stopped in mid act at the sight of her feet. So raw they looked as though someone with no skinning skills to start had attempted to practice peeled every bit of her skin away with a dull knife.

  He looked up at her with fresh concern mixed with anguish. “How long have your feet been this way?”

  She tried to pull them in to tuck away shamefully, but his hands tightened, locking around her ankles and then resumed his intentions to rub them back to life.

  “Aari. I want an answer from you.” She had given him enough of the silent treatment on the way up. Enough was enough.

  “Each day,” she answered meekly, flinching with every pass of his rough handling over her blistered feet. “My boots rub so much they can’t heal until we stop at night.”

  Tannin took in a deep breath and let it out in a hard sigh. All the more reason why he could not keep her with him. As strong or just plain ol’ stubborn as she was, she wasn’t cut out for this kind of living. Yet it was a necessary one for him as he traveled, keeping off the roads so his whereabouts could not be reported to anyone who might be concerned or take notice. Ever since Maegrethe’s death, his name was already being whispered from one to the next of his coming destiny. But none of that mattered this very moment. He needed to take care of her as he had intended he would always do.

  He sat beside her next to the fire and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him to use his body heat to warm her.

  Aari was instantly squirming in his arms, “What are you doing? Get off of me!” But she was too cold, too exhausted, and too weak to put up a good fight.

  “Aari, your freezing. I can use my body heat to warm yours.”

  “Don’t you touch me!” She managed to press away from him.

  “By drenn, Aari! You’ll freeze. You’re not entirely immortal, you know. Take a good look at your body! The one not healing yet. If you lose all of your core heat, your sym will separate from your spine, and then you’ll both die.”

  Aari’s face went stark white, making the blue color in her lips all the more pronounced. The fear he had just engaged in her pained him like a kn
ife cutting into his chest. But he saw no need to argue any further. He got her attention and since he was bigger than she was, he was doing what he needed to do. He took ahold of the front of her wet tunic and ripped it from her and did the same to her trousers, tossing them aside. Then picked her up and carried her to his bedroll and laid down with her. He lifted up only long enough to pull his own tunic off over his head then stretched out beside her and pulled the heavy blanket hide around them both.

  “No. Wait. Stop.” Aari never once stopped struggling against him, “Why did you take your clothes off?”

  “It was only my tunic. Now stop fighting me and accept my body heat, Aari. You’ll warm up faster snuggled up against my skin.” He pulled her against his chest and locked her there.

  Despite his righteous argument, Aari slapped a hand on his chest, intent to rebuke to the bitter in. But then fell still. He had not lied; the warmth of his body was intense and was already seeping through her palm where they touched. Her sym wriggled painfully in her back then nearly had Aari arching backwards.

  Aari, use my heat,” he coaxed her further. His arms wrapping her and drawing her closer to press against him.

  As much as her mind fought it, her body— her sym— needed her to give into the offer of comfort. It was better than shivering next to the fire that barely gave her the warmth she needed to break the chill over her skin, let alone reach the deep cold inside her bones. And as much as she did not wish to admit, there was this instant likability to it as she forced herself to relax against him, feeling this warm comfort blanket her. It felt good. Though she would never tell him that.

  She leaned into him, placing her cheek against his chest, hearing the thundering drum beating inside. At the moment, it was pumping harder than hers. “I don’t want to die, Tannin.” Though she whispered the words, the fear was as clear as if she had screamed them aloud.

  His arms tightened around her, stroking over her shoulders slowly, moving down her backside. She tensed with a near jump, followed by a strong shivering wave that she was glad would only be taken as a shiver of cold. He just didn’t have any idea what would do to her. His hand drifted away from her back— thankfully— remembering what he’d said about putting out pheromones.

  “Don’t worry. You’re not gonna die. I won’t let you.” Tannin held her as tightly as he dared and nuzzled against her head. Letting the heat of his body wrap around her. “Tell me how you got your sym,” he prodded her to talk, hoping it would ease her some, as well as help keep her mind coherent. But Aari stayed tense in his arms. Whether she needed his warmth or not, she was obviously not going to give in to this easily. He could only hope some conversation might help relax her. And it seemed to work, because as she finally started to talk, he detected the light shift in her body’s scent. Innocence— like first light on the first day of spring. When the breeze swept in from the plains, carrying its scent of fresh sprigs of green and wild herbs into his camp.

  “I was born premature. They said I nearly died and that because I was so small and weaker than the others, I would never get to be a host for a Symbiotai, but I was the child of a host, so I was still kept and raised at the temple with the others.” Her mind drifted back to the faint memories she’d managed to hang onto. So, few and she sometimes questioned if any of them were true or just imagined for the sake of saying she remembered. “Once, a breeder had traveled to the temple to enter the pool of waking and gave birth to several Symbiotai. I remember the priests talking about how one of them was so very small. So much no one was sure she would be able to bond with a host, but they feared she would not survive without one either.

  “I remember how the priests and tenders spoke of their concern for her often. They held special prayer rituals that a suitable host would ensure her survival, so they arranged a match as soon as they could. When they tried, the little sym refused to enter the host’s body. So, they kept her in the pool, because it was the only place to sustain her life until they found a host she would accept.”

  As Aari recalled her childhood, her body relaxed but only to be replaced with something else. A rigidness, as if life no longer existed for her. Tannin’s arms coiled tighter around her and rolled them over just enough to engulf her with his body. Surrounding her, sheltering her while he learned how she became this enigma of a creature.

  “I snuck in one day because I wanted to see her.” She twisted to look up at him then out beyond his shoulders as she continued, “I’d never seen one.” Tears filled her eyes, glistening in the amber light from the fire with a faraway stare recalling a past lost, long ago. “I remember putting my hand in the thick liquid of the sacred pool, waving my fingers hoping she would come up. She did, and she wrapped around my wrist. It tickled, and I giggled every time she touched me with her long tendrils. She was sooo beautiful. Like a white, iridescent flower swimming in the blue water. Only, the tenders caught me, and I was given several whippings for disturbing the pool and endangering the small sym. They used a reed and I still remember how much it stung and left welts on my skin. That’s when the Symbiotai crawled out of the pool.”

  Aari tucked her head suddenly, as if she was actually seeing her past played out in the flames of the fire. Ducking down as if to hide from the priest who came to punish her for violating the sacred pool, but her eyes peeked passed the bulge of muscle in Tannin’s arm, locked in the trance of her memories. “She could have died. The tenders gently placed her back in the pool, but she kept crawling out, crawling to get to me. They called for the priests but even they were confused. The whole temple hummed with concern. Everyone was talking about it, they even brought someone in to sing to her, but she kept leaving the pool of waking. Each time venturing farther away.

  My sister came in to see me one night and she told me all about it. I’d been forbidden to go anywhere near the pool and yet this tiny little sym seemed determined to find me.

  A visitor came to the temple and his arrival caused some upset with the guardians, Cojourn and Sariehya, who watched over us. I managed to sneak inside the chamber of the pool again. I wanted to tell her she should not leave the pool because she might get sick and I didn’t want my friend to get sick. I was so captivated by her. She was like a butterfly of liquid light. She played at the surface then would swim out to its center. I thought maybe she wanted to play and I didn’t have others to play with. They’d all been sent away. I just wanted to play with my new friend.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “I put my feet into the pool. I know I wasn’t supposed to, but she swam around my feet and made me laugh. That’s how I got caught again.” She let out a soft laugh then. “I guess I was too young to understand how sound travels. This time it was the High Tender who caught me. Not the tenders. That’s when they declared that my tiny Symbiotai had chosen me to be her host. By the laws of destiny, they couldn’t refuse the choice.”

  “Why was that a bad thing? That the small sym had finally found the host she wanted?”

  Aari finally blinked, coming back to the present and looked up at him again. “No one fewer than twenty-five solar cycles are supposed to get a Symbiotai. Suitable breeders sometimes take a Symbiotai in at sixteen, but even that was rare,” her voice trailed off then, “I was only four.”

  “Your sym was young too? An infant inside an infant. That’s why you’re able to control her emotions instead of the other way around.” Tannin curled around her further, comforting her.

  Aari shrugged slightly then wriggled for him to loosen his too tight hold on her. “I suppose. I never actually got to compare notes with anyone. I was seven when the temple was destroyed.” It was also why the Keeper had referred to her as the child. She knew that. To Them, she was still that tiny child the day she became a Symbiote.

  “See. We have more in common than you realize. I, too, didn’t get my sym the way everyone else did, nor did I get to learn from others what it was like.”

  “That still doesn’t mean I should beco
me your union.”

  “But you will.” He pulled her back in, hugging her head against his chest. “You’ll see.”

  Exhaustion crept in, forcing her to accept the fact she didn’t have the strength to fight with him anymore. She closed her eyes and surrendered to it and to the security she felt in his arms, for once.

  Tannin felt her let go. It was as though she had melted into his arms. Already infused, they were perfectly matched for each other, in spite of their size difference. He closed his eyes, letting his cheek rest over her head, basking in the comfort he felt having her in his arms.

  Floating on a calm sea of emotions, and against everything else, he was beginning to wonder if perhaps some of the emotions he felt might actually be his, and not the old man’s.

  FROM A TOUCH, IT HAS STARTED

  By morning, Aari had recovered fully and assured Tannin she was safe to resume traveling, but for some reason the tables were now turned, finding himself accosted by a killing backache. Just the idea of taking Aari back up the shale incline unnerved him. They had already lost too much time. Taking the risk wasn’t going to gain them enough of an advantage any more. So, for once, he opted for the safer route, and they headed up stream, along the riverbank.

  Here the scenery changed, high scales of rock sheltered the river divot. Rock gave way to foliage that still held much of its green with thick stands of trees that hugged the banks of the flowing river. While the rich habitat meant better chances of food, including the clutch of blueberries that he and Aari stopped to gorge on, it also meant a greater risk of someone or something hiding in wait to ambush. It was a situation such as this Tannin was grateful for his skills and despite the increasing pain growing in his back, his senses stayed on alert for any traps.