“Do you understand?” Gaea repeated.
“I—”
“Bhaal, I gave you those claws—” Gaea’s voice lowered and she lowered her chin. “—and true kaa. What was given can be taken away.”
The Lokori’s eyes widened. “Ah, y-y-yes Mother, I understand.”
She held out her hand. “Come here.”
The blue-haired female slunk over and stopped in front of Gaea.
Gaea put a hand on Wren’s shoulder. “Bhaal, this is Wren, she is kaa of my flesh, my giri-maga. Her jhin is strong. It is my jhin. Do you understand?”
“Mother, but—?”
“My jhin, Bhaal.”
The Lokori blinked and bowed her head.
Gaea took hold of the Lokori’s shoulder, making the blue-haired female cringe. She pulled her around and gestured to Ziedra. “This is Ziedra, she is also kaa of my flesh, also my giri-maga. She is Wren’s molan-ta. Her jhin is Wren’s jhin, it is my jhin.” She pulled Bhaal a little closer and swung her hand to Daena. “This is Kumiko. She is not only kaa of my flesh, she is the first of zenith kaa. Her jhin is also my jhin.” She swung to Azir. “That is Azir, he is Wren’s nomi-kas. His jhin,” she sighed and stared at Bhaal.
The Lokori stared at her for a long moment.
Gaea frowned at Bhaal.
The Lokori glanced over at him. “His jhin is your jhin?” she said in a tentative voice.
Gaea rubbed her brow. “Right, Bhaal. His jhin is my jhin.” The all-mother sighed. She thumped a heavy hand on Bhaal’s shoulder. “Do you see the prime kaa floating there?”
The Lokori’s eyes widened and she nodded.
“Do you know who he is?”
“Bannor?”
Gaea raised an eyebrow. “You remember, yes, Bannor. What do you think Bannor is to me?”
Bhaal seemed to shrink a little. “Uh, kaa of your flesh, jhin of your jhin.”
“Yes, Bhaal,” Gaea said in a soothing tone. “You know what else he is?”
The Lokori woman’s brow furrowed and she shook her head.
“He’s RAGI!” Gaea shouted so loud the Bhaal’s hair fluttered and she recoiled a step. “How are you going to fix that, hmmm!?”
Bhaal shrank down further and pressed her hands together. “I—” She glanced toward Bannor, then to the collapsed metallic body on the floor. She blinked. “Fix?”
Gaea sighed.
The Lokori woman shut up and tried to look innocent. As innocent as she could covered in blood.
“By the dark,” a female voice said from the entry. Bannor looked over to see Marna and her daughter standing frozen one step into the chambers. “I came to see what the yelling was about…” The ancient matriarch glanced to the other people in the room. “Domma prime… th-that’s a Lokori.”
Gaea frowned at Marna, she looked over at Bhaal. The Lokori brushed at her blue hair, still looking uncomfortable. “I think I’m capable of recognizing one of my own children. Bhaal will be no problem, she will be at my side until her disposition is determined.”
Bhaal’s jaw dropped open. “Mother?”
“How were you planning to get back to where you came from?”
The Lokori opened her mouth, then closed it. She looked around and stared at Gaea.
The goddess sniffed. “That’s what I thought. Do you have a problem guarding me?”
The Lokori’s brow furrowed. She glanced at the Kriar, then to the elves and humans. “No, Mother.”
“Gaea,” Eclipse growled. “You must be jesting—a guard?”
The green mother whirled on him. “Am I? Am I mistaken in thinking that it is the Daergons who threaten me?”
The ancient Kriar commander leaned back his throat muscles working. Rubbing at the white crescent on his gold cheek he frowned. “No.”
“If she scares them half as much as she scares you, then she’s a good choice don’t you think?”
Quasar pursed her lips. “It’s going to take more than sharp claws to protect you from them.”
“I am well aware,” Gaea said. She turned away from them. “Wren.” She put a hand on the blonde savant’s shoulder. “Zee, Daena, Azir, Bannor, Sen…” She nodded to them. “My thanks. I am proud of you all. I know you’re all hurt. Please seek healing, and rest. I will congratulate and reward your efforts appropriately later when you are feeling stronger and in a better state of mind.” She looked to Bannor. “Son Bannor, I will move your core essence to a new body as soon as Octavia prepares it.” She looked to the metallic form lying on the floor in a pool of black blood. “I earnestly doubt that one can be recovered.” She cast a fractious glance at Bhaal. The Lokori winced, shoulders hunching down.
“That’s it?” Sarai said in a dark tone, staring at Gaea.
Gaea tilted her head. “Did I miss something?”
She looked up at him, then back to Gaea. “Yes!” She threw up her hands and gestured to his floating form. “H-h-he’s a ghost!” She thrust a finger at Bhaal. “And that thing killed him! I can’t believe you would even consider allowing that creature to be among us.”
Bhaal tossed her hair and growled. Her fingers curved as though she would extend her claws.
Gaea brought a fist down on the Lokori’s head making the female yelp and clutch her skull.
“Don’t make me de-claw you, Bhaal,” Gaea rasped. She focused on Sarai. “She didn’t kill Bannor.” The goddess swallowed. “I did. I accept responsibility. I put the Lokori there with open ended instructions. Their devotion to me caused that whole mess, I sincerely regret what happened.”
The healer looked up at him. She brushed at her red hair and glanced to Wysteri. She tilted her head and smiled. “Now would be a good time to install those pointed ears that Janai mentioned.”
His wife-to-be sighed. “His original ears will be fine. I suppose if you can be flip about it, there’s nothing to worry about?”
“If Mother Gaea can transfer his core from the old body, then, no. Come with me, we will see to the creation of the new body immediately.” She touched Wysteri on the arm. “Triage the others, we’ll treat the most injured first.”
“Mother,” Loric said. “We should get those materials into the lab. Them just lying in the floor there is making me nervous.”
“Proceed,” Gaea said. “Start the preparations as soon as you can, I will be along to do my part.”
Loric nodded. He and his golden wife stopped briefly to give a reassuring word and congratulations to him and the rest of the savants before picking up the cases Wren and Azir had brought. Megan, Tal, Terra, and T’Gor appeared behind Marna and flanked the elder as he and Cassandra as they moved to the exit.
The eldest Kriar watched the group exit, a hand on her throat.
Marna turned back when the honor guard had gone out of sight around a corner. “The whole idea of making another of those things is quite unnerving.”
Gaea cupped her hands over her nose and mouth. She sighed into the space. “Believe me, it is a sentiment I feel quite strongly.”
“My One, are you—all right?” Sarai asked him.
“When you get your body back we’re going to have a little discussion about why it got so mangled.”
He looked toward Bhaal.
“Sarai, he came through for us,” Wren said. “Don’t pick on him.”
“I know,” his wife-to-be growled. “It was so frustrating, so frightening, him fighting all those rabidly insane creatures by himself! He shouldn’t have had to do that!” She looked down at his mangled form. “If it weren’t for those damned Daergons…” She sizzled into a pause and shook her head. “It would teach those damned gold-skinne
d traitors a lesson if they had to face an army of Lokori!”
Wren’s mouth dropped open. She leaned past Gaea and glanced at Bhaal, then looked to Gaea. “Hey, I like that.”
Marna waved her arms. “No—negative—definitely not. There is no WAY.”
Gaea laced her fingers together, jewel-like eyes glinting. “We’ll see about that…”
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* * *
Chapter Eighteen
I was immortal and didn’t even realize it.
It took looking down at my very own cold
body before it came home to me. I could
cheat death for eternity. Cheating never did
sit very well with me…
—Bannor Nalthane Starfist,
Prince Conjugal of Malan
Bannor hunched on the bench in their temporary quarters in the west wing watching the shadows from the flickering lamp dance on the surfaces of his palms. He opened and closed his fingers, observing the flex and twist of muscles and tendons. He drew a breath, feeling the surge of eternity’s energies tingling in his body. Alive again, and even his nola had started to stir. Again? If he never lost consciousness, if he looked on the whole time while his body expired, did he in fact—die? Perhaps Wysteri was right, he was merely exchanging a damaged vessel for one that functioned properly. Was a body nothing more to him than clothing was to normal person? That seemed so fantastic—so monstrous. Yet, he accepted it in his wife-to-be. She had switched guises several times since the garmtur had been revealed to him. Why was being normal so important to him?
“My One,” Sarai asked. “Is something amiss? You’ve hardly said anything since Octavia restored you. Are you feeling badly?”
He looked up. Dressed only in a filmy red silk chemise, silver hair fluttering around her, Sarai stood framed in the window, glowing violet eyes intent on him. As always, the sight of her made him catch his breath. Behind her the forest was lit up against an inky black night shining with stars. Lights seemed to dance through the boughs of the distant trees. Far off, the muted ringing of bells echoed through the valley.
Bannor blinked. Such a beautiful creature, and the concern on her face was so apparent—so sincere. With everything they had been through, that seemed the most fantastic thing of all; that she would want anything to do with a monster like him.
“My One?” She repeated. She brushed back her hair and swayed over to sit on the bench next to him. She rubbed her shoulder against him. She felt warm, and her hair smelled of some kind of spice fruit.
He sighed. “I—I guess I’m still a little—a little shaken up. I know everyone insists I didn’t… but it feels like I died.”
She rubbed his bare shoulder, trailing her fingers down his chest and across his ridged stomach. She put a hand behind his neck and pulled.
He relaxed and let her tug him in for a kiss. Her lips were moist and tasted of the tart-sweet bite of fire wine. After a moment, she reached down between his legs making him flinch in surprise.
She blinked glowing eyes at him and grinned. “Everything seems pretty ‘alive’ to me.” She leaned forward and nuzzled his neck. “You smell good too. Not at all like a corpse.”
He pulled her close and nuzzled her hair. “I know it seems dumb…”
“No, it is dumb,” she growled. “Bannor, with all the things that have been happening recently, can’t you just accept you are not a human. You are a savant, one of Gaea’s children. What difference does it make if that body died or not—the you that matters is still here. I mean if you want to talk about dying—the same thing happened to me—remember?”
He sighed. “I remember you didn’t like it much.”
“Being alive was good. Looking like a cow wasn’t.”
“You didn’t look like a cow. I thought Meliandri was attractive.”
Sarai snorted. “Anyways, you always told me it didn’t matter how I looked. Why can’t you follow your own advice?”
He rubbed the back of his head. “I was sitting here asking myself that same question.”
“Forget questions,” she said. “Come to bed, and keep me and Vhina warm.” She rose and pulled on his hand.
He slipped out of his breeches and slid beneath the blankets with her. The old bed creaked under his weight, but the seasoned scalebark held. He rocked his head in the pillow as Sarai snuggled up to him, her smooth skin like fine satin against his. She rubbed her cheek on his shoulder making a little humming sound.
They lay together in the darkness for a little while.
“My One,” she said. “You did an incredibly brave thing today.”
“Uhmm,” he responded. How else did you respond to a statement like that?
“I was so scared,” she said. “I know I was angry, but you did the right thing. I don’t know, but you may have saved us all.”
He sighed and ran a hand through her sparkling hair. “I’m sorry I scared you. I was pretty scared myself. I just knew I needed to stand my ground because the others were counting on me.”
Sarai rubbed his chest with her hand, making his skin tingle. “And that little trollop Daena rescued you.”
“Yes,” he admitted.
“Bannor, I’m proud of you. I will be proud to be your wife. Mother and Father, my sisters, they all respect and like you. We can all be happy…”
“If we can get through this mess,” he said.
“…If we can get through this mess,” she agreed. “You’ve more than done your part. It’s up to the others to push it through. Let’s hope there’s good news in the morning.”
“Let’s hope,” he acknowledged. He pushed up on an elbow, leaned in and kissed her. “I love you.”
She pulled him tight. “And I you, my One…”
***
That night, he slept deeper than he had in long time, comforted by having Sarai strong and vital by his side, the power of Eternity watching over their repose. The rays of dawn were just turning the undersides of the clouds in the west a light golden color as he put his bare feet on the cold stone cobbles.
He dressed in his light harness, pulled on a clean tunic, and belted on Xersis. The shaladen felt light. In fact, his whole body seemed to float as he moved around the chambers. He suspected that Octavia had meddled with the design of this body, so that after a calm night it had adapted to him. He remembered Bronawyn’s words about how cybers were never content to leave something be, they had to constantly improve on what came before. He bent over Sarai and kissed her on the neck. She burbled, making a pleased sound. When comfortable, she had always been a deep sleeper, and liked to sleep in.
He made sure her shaladen was close to the bedside, went to the chamber door, let himself out and secured it.
Out in the hall, he listened to the silence. He felt people up and about. His nola senses must be coming back because he felt an impression of Wren not far away and it wasn’t through the shaladen.
Curious, he headed to find out what Wren was doing.
He found the savant of forces down in the dueling hall where Sarai liked to practice. The ancient octagonal hall with its high arches and murals and heraldry always had a feeling of energy in it, a strength given to it by eons of elf warriors practicing and toiling in its confines.
Dressed in her familiar black togs, golden hair tied back, the lady ascendant was not alone, tiny Vera was with her dressed in those odd charcoal-colored robes. The two of them shifted and spun in tandem on the hexagonal floor. Still in her body as an ascendant, Wren dwarfed the little G’Yakki woman but the two of them moved in unison through stylized kicks and punches, shifting into blocks and graceful sways of their bodies.
Arms folded, he leaned in the doorway and watched, appreciating the simple beauty of two skilled warriors practicing their art with passion and precision. As they moved, Bannor felt a tugging at his own body, a kind of strange familiarity or even longing. Perhaps, some memory of the G’Yakki warrior skills still remained in him even after he stopped being Gaea’s avatar.
The dance they were performing drew to a close and Vera turned and the two of them saluted each other.
“Wren friend very solid,” Vera said. “Even though you big now.”
The blonde ascendant nodded. “It’s hard. It’s taken a lot of practice to get back to where we were.” She seemed to catch sight of him. “Oh, good morn, Bannor.”
He nodded to Wren, then nodded to the other woman. “Good morning, Lady Vera.”
The G’Yakki bowed to him.
“You look better,” Wren said. “How are you feeling?”
“No complaints,” he said. “Say, doesn’t Azir ever practice with you?”
The blonde woman sniffed. “Not since he started sleeping with those harpies.”
He stepped into the chamber. “Wren, you don’t believe they’re harpies. Millicent and Kylie, and the other Valkur helped us a lot.”
Wren clicked her tongue and folded her arms. “Maybe, but they are too old to be using my brother for a plaything.”
His brow furrowed. “I’m trying to understand the resentment. You know they weren’t chasing him. Are you jealous?”
Her jaw dropped. “Jealous? I’m his sister.”
“Well, then…” he stopped himself. He looked to quiet Vera who was listening to the conversation with interest. “What do you think, Lady Vera?”
The G’Yakki woman’s brow furrowed, like she was surprised to be ever asked her opinion on something. She looked up at Wren with a serious expression. The blonde ascendant stared at her with glowing blue eyes.
“Vera think that Wren not like sharing her brother,” the little woman determined.
Wren made a sputtering sound and scowled at her. Apparently, Wren did not deny observations made by her teacher. She sighed and stared at him. She laced her hands and cracked her knuckles. “So, are you here for a workout or are you just here to tweak my nose?”
He started to demur and then changed his mind. “Sure. I suppose. I was just planning on wandering around and checking on things. This whole thing with Gaea and the genemar makes me nervous.”
“Brother, there we feel the same. I’m working out mostly as a distraction. I know it’s up to Gaea, Loric, Marna, and the other elders now, but I still can’t help feeling antsy. What if the Daergons attack before they’re done?”
Reality's Plaything 5: The Infinity Annihilator Page 26