Rise of the Mare (Fall of Man Book 2)

by Jacqueline Druga

  Before I could respond, Iry widened his hand on my face, pulled me closer. He stepped to me and his lips met mine.

  The second they did, he pressed against me and I felt something, a shock rippled up my chest and when he widened his lips in connection with mine, my body felt numb.

  My first kiss. My very first kiss in my life was from a Sybaris and my body and mouth responded with enjoyment. His lips were soft, they moved in a sweeping motion, not too wide and not too fast.

  It was as if he paced his affection, and I found myself wanting more. More intensity, more of what he had. My head knew it was wrong, but why didn’t it feel wrong?

  It felt good.

  No, I told myself. Stop. Just stop. He is the enemy. He is … My hands reached to him, pulling him against me. Feeling his chest to mine, his hips against mine.

  My breathing intensified, quickened and he lifted his lips from my mouth and glided them to my neck. As he kissed me there, my eyes rolled and my head flung back and then Iry stopped.

  When he did, I pulled from the moment and was speechless.

  “See?” he said softly. “It’s not all that bad.” Iry darted a quick kiss to me, then turned and walked to the door. “Goodnight, Vala.”

  I believed and hoped the second the door closed that the magic he used on me would go away and I would stand repulsed at my actions.

  But I didn’t.

  The touch of his lips was still strong on my mind and thinking of it caused my stomach to flip. Instead of being disgusted, I found myself wanting him to kiss me again, touch me again. I longed for it.

  What was wrong with me?

  I heard Marie’s voice in my head. I needed it because I was human, but Iry was not. So why did I like it so much with him?

  In the after moment, I searched for answers. Was it the sensation of being touched for the first time or was there something about Iry I was attracted to more than I cared to admit?

  THIRTY-SIX – TANNER

  We buttoned down the proverbial hatch before the sun went down. We made great time getting to Fred’s Bait Shop and , if we left early enough, I was certain we could arrive at the gates of the Straits before the next dangerous time.

  Snake was a “go with the flow” sort of guy and continuously carried on a conversation with me, and I found myself glad he came along. He sat in the chair, whittling a piece of wood, something he was quite good at, while spitting out tobacco into an old cup.

  “Have you give much thought to what you’re gonna do when you get to the gate?” he asked.

  “Tell them I want in.”

  “I see. And what is your Rite of Passage?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Everyone has to present a gift to get Rite of Passage. How are you gonna get it?”

  “I’m sure they need a few more people.”

  “It’s not easy.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I don’t know for sure,” he shrugged. “Just what I heard. Vala’s mother had to give up her newborn son as a snack to be admitted inside.”

  Hearing it, even though it was something I knew, made me shudder. “I don’t have a baby to give.”

  “Obviously.”

  “And I highly doubt everyone that goes there has a baby to offer up.”

  “You don’t know. Maybe you can offer your blood.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  “Why?” Snake questioned. “Why is it so important to go there and get Vala?”

  “She’s important to our fight.”

  “I realize that. But you know, judging by what I am seeing and hearing, you seem to be taking the reins pretty good and coming up with a plan,” Snake said. “Reminds me of Davis years back. You’ve got the passion he lost. You found a pretty big Savage nest. Taking them out, will eventually push them away to seek food elsewhere.”

  “I don’t want them to be able to find food anywhere.”

  “Makes sense. May I ask why it is so important for you to go get Vala?”

  “She doesn’t need to be there now. I don’t want her to get chosen or whatever they call it.”

  “You like this girl.”

  “Yeah, yeah I do.”

  “Can I tell you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “She left because she thought you would die. She didn’t want another attack on us.”

  “Exactly,” I said. “The Sybaris causing the threat is gone. Banished. So no threat to me or our people.”

  “Vala knows this?”

  “Of course she does, she told me.”

  Snake nodded. “So if she knows this, why isn’t she coming back? Why hasn’t she reached out and said she’s on her way?”

  “Are you insinuating she doesn’t want to come back?”

  “Just making an observation.”

  “Well, I think something happened and she is stuck there. I feel she needs my help and I want to go get her.”

  “I’ll accept that.”

  And Snake did stop talking about it, about Vala. He focused on that whistle he was making, getting wood shreds all over the floor. We ate and talked about other things. Snake was looking forward to seeing the Straits. He’d always wondered what it was like there.

  I did too. Especially since all those who came from there were so odd.

  He passed out long before I did. I paced the cabin, unable to sleep, hoping that Vala would reach out to me again. Although I was tired, I didn’t want to miss it or sleep through it. It had been days since I had a full night’s sleep.

  Something kept me from sleeping and I knew what it was.

  About two in the morning, I figured it out and just as I did, Snake woke up.

  “What in blazes are you doing?”

  I was standing in the middle of the room, looking up. “Listen.”

  “To?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Okay.”

  “Seriously, Snake, it’s prime time. Where are the Savages?”

  “Just because you don’t hear them doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”

  “They are always there. But they aren’t tonight.”

  “They just aren’t attacking.”

  “No, they aren’t there. I can sense it.”

  “What the hell?” Snake sat up. “First you think a Day Stalker is trying to tell you something, now you sense the Savages?”

  “Call me crazy but—”

  “You’re crazy.”

  “That’s not what I meant.” I walked over to the door.

  “Tanner!” Snake shrieked. “What are you doing?”

  Armed and ready, I opened the door.

  Nothing.

  It was silent except for the chirping of insects. I walked on to the porch and looked up at the star filled sky. “They aren’t here.”

  “Get back inside, they’ll smell you.”

  “I’m telling you they—”

  Snake grabbed my arm, pulled me back in, and slammed the door. “Get it together.”

  “I stepped out there, Snake. They didn’t come. They always come.”

  “Okay.”

  “Not okay. They aren’t here. So knowing they always attack, they’re always here, and now they’re not…” I said, “where did they go?”

  THIRTY-SEVEN – NITO

  The underground world of Burt’s people reminded me a lot of the nourishment retrieval center in La Sveg As. Very clinical, with small rooms. Those rooms were where humans would go, donate blood, and rest up to recoup.

  The only thing missing was windows.

  I was assigned a small room a short hallway walk from what they called the main recreation room. Voices carried from the room, laughter. My room barely had enough space for the single thin bed, however, I had no intention of staying long. I needed to get used to my human body, used to the way things were, and then I’d leave.

  Not that the folks in Hopeland weren’t nice. They actually were very nice.

  While I had not met many of them, I did discover that most did
not speak with the twang and drawl that Burt did. They dressed in comfortable clothing, and a man who called himself Joshua walked with me, giving me a tour of each area of the complex, then asked me if I had any useful skills.

  This took some time.

  Being beautiful wasn’t just a useless skill, it was one I didn’t have anymore.

  “I can create garments,” I replied with some embarrassment. It was a craft I liked to do, but one no Ancient Princess dare perform.

  “You make garments. You mean a seamstress?”

  “Yes, but I wouldn’t call myself a seamstress, I did not work in the field, only practiced on the side. I am quite good, but please do not tell a soul. I know it is not a favorable profession.”

  “Are you kidding?” He smiled. “We really need someone who can make and fix clothing around here. You’ll be a goddess when people find out. “

  “That is a title I strive to achieve.”

  He laughed as if I were making a joke. I wasn’t.

  He left me at the eating station, where many gathered to eat. There was a line and Burt was in it. He waved my way.

  “Madge!” He left his position in line and walked over to me. “Come on, grab some food.”

  I had avoided the breakfast Burt brought for me, and I was still unsure if my new body would handle the food. I wasn’t even sure how to eat it.

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “Sure you are. I know you are. You have to eat. Gotta keep that cute figure of yours in shape.” He gave me a friendly nudge.

  “My figure? You like my figure?”

  “Heck yeah, it’s hot.”

  I laid my hand to my chest. My skin did feel warm. “It is.”

  “You’re funny, Madge.”

  I bobbed my head proudly. “I do have witty moments.”

  “Funny and attractive. My type of gal.”

  “Oh, Burt.” I waved out my hand. “You flatter me.”

  “And you flatter me by hanging around me.” He took hold of my arm. “Come on, let’s go get some food. We’ll eat together.”

  I felt proud being escorted by such a noble human as Burt. He’d probably lost the tooth in a battle. I could see he was at one time a human warrior. He had that look to him.

  My meal portion was meager because I was apprehensive. If it set well, I’d have more. Burt introduced me to a woman named Claudette. He told me she and I would end up being friends.

  She was friendly and attractive too, and had a power about her that I liked.

  “We’re all hanging out tonight,” Claudette said. “Do you drink?”

  “Don’t we all?”

  Claudette laughed.

  Burt laughed.

  I was funny. I was spreading happiness. It made me feel good.

  “It’s game night,” Claudette said.

  I adore games,” I replied. “May I join in?”

  “Absolutely,” Claudette nodded.

  “We usually play card games,” Burt added. “About six of us. We’re the night owls.”

  The term night owl wasn’t one I was familiar with, I assumed it was their group name, like an organization. I was trying to grasp the lingo. If I was going to be human, I needed to truly take on the role, not just physically. So hoping I didn’t sound unintelligent, I said. “May I be part of the Night Owls, drink, and play card games?” I left out the part where I didn’t quite understand card games.

  “Sure,” Burt said. “Tonight we’re playing Skip-Bo.”

  “Skip Bo?”

  “And we made Old Maid into a drinking game,” Claudette informed me

  Skip Bo was easy to deduct. I knew what skipping was, so obviously it was a physical competition. But the other game... “Old Maid?” I questioned. “I never played Old Maid. Do we dress up like elders and seek companionship that we’re too old to find?”

  Again both Claudette and Burt laughed.

  Their laughter made me feel good, and I had realized another talent I had— the ability to fill people with joy. Claudette and Burt were wonderful beings.

  The bread was delicious too. No wonder humans enjoyed eating.

  I looked around the eating station at all the happy faces. These humans were different than the ones at the Straits. I liked them. I made a decision, right there and then, that when I regained my Ancient abilities and sought out the final destruction of the free will of man, that unless something drastic and horrible happened, the people of Hopeland would forever be in my good graces.

  THIRTY-EIGHT – VALA

  Something had occurred in the moment following my kiss the previous evening with Iry. I could not move in the minutes after. I was stunned and felt as if I wasn’t in control. Immediately when I got my senses, I sent for Samantha. She was the only one I knew to talk to. I told her about the kiss. Then I told her about feeling under Iry’s spell.

  “No, Vala, you weren’t put under any spell. Iry isn’t like that,” she said. “He’s a kind person with a fondness for humans. He favors us, and his favoritism at times must be kept secret.”

  “Why did I feel so out of control? Why did I like it so much?”

  She smiled. “Because you like Iry. Perhaps your projected disdain of him is a ruse for the truth, that you are attracted to him.”

  “No. That can’t be. I came here to protect the one for whom I have feelings.”

  “Maybe they weren’t genuine. You’ve known Iry longer,” Samantha said. “I believe that after this wedding, you’ll discover where your true feelings lie.”

  “Then why do I feel so dismal about this wedding?”

  “It’s just nerves.” Samantha insisted a glass of wine would help me sleep and relax me. I needed the wine and rest because the next day Sophie would start coming out of it.

  I finished the beverage and it did make me tired. In fact, it made me very woozy and I fell asleep on the bed with an extreme heaviness.

  I didn’t even have time to change into my bedclothes. No sooner did my head hit the pillow than I was out like a light. My dreams were normal dreams and not in my control. They lacked the lucidity that I usually had.

  I dreamt I was back in Angeles City and was running with Tanner in the vineyards behind Marie’s house. We were laughing, giggling, and being carefree. Tanner told me he liked me and then he kissed me.

  Never had I dreamt of being kissed. It had to be the kiss from Iry that caused it. It wasn’t Iry I kissed in my dream, it was Tanner, and I held on to him. That kiss and embrace lacked the urgency I had with Iry, though it was more pure.

  “I have to go,” Tanner said.

  “No, don’t leave me. Please. Stay.”

  “I can’t. Are you okay?”

  “Yes. Yes, I’m fine. Why?”

  “Because you’re being weird. Not that you’re not weird as it is,” he said in the dream. “But I do have to go.”

  I held tight to his hand.

  “I’ll see you soon.” Tanner kissed me on the cheek. “I’m on my way.”

  He backed up and turned and I reached for him. He pulled away abruptly and I felt his trimmed nails scrape against my wrist.

  In my dream he faded and I looked down to my arm. Blood flowed from my wrist.

  “Tanner,” I called to him, watching him fade across the field. “Tanner wait, I’m bleeding!” I looked down to my arm and lost my breath when I saw Iry kneeling before me in the dream, his mouth lapping up the dripping blood of my arm.

  He raised his eyes, hovered his mouth, and he brought in his bottom lip, tasting my blood.

  “No!” I jolted awake. I sat up on my bed in the same position I had been the night before.

  My head felt weird, it was light. I needed food, and it had been since early the day before that I last ate.

  After swinging my legs from the bed, I stood and everything spun. What was wrong with me? Was I getting ill?

  Figuring I’d get cleaned up and changed before checking on Sophie, I walked over to my dressing bin to gather clothes. My choices were slim, since I
hadn’t brought anything with me. I grabbed the first thing that I saw and stopped short. Slowly, I withdrew my hand from the door of the bin and my retrieved clothes dropped to the floor.

  There on my wrist were two tiny wounds, still fresh with flood. They were small, about an inch apart, no bigger than a bug bite. It looked as if I had scratched two insect bites.

  How had it happened?

  I looked at the window; it was slightly open, and it was quite possible that a bug had come in. I was in such a dead sleep last night that I more than likely had scratched myself. That was my best explanation.

  Trying to forget about it, because it really didn’t hurt, I gathered my clothes from the floor and headed to the shower.

  My day was going to be complicated. I had my sister to contend with and a wedding to thwart.

  THIRTY-NINE- NITO

  Sleeping was a wonderful thing. I understood why the humans did it so often. It was a luxury and I didn’t miss an abundance of events getting enough rest. It was a mere seven hours.

  I woke refreshed and loving how I felt. I stretched and then washed up, placing on the checkered shirt and denim pants. The flip flops grew on me, they were fun and I liked the noise they made when I scurried at a fast pace.

  The clear, water looking beverage smelled toxic, but everyone was drinking it and I figured it was a good source of fuel for the human body since everyone was consuming so much.

  It tasted bitter at first and burned my chest, but after a few, they went down smoothly. They were magic. All my inhibitions were gone.

  While I found the game of Old Maid taxing, I did enjoy the laughter and antics of the game Skip Bo. I grasped the game pretty quickly. In fact, I grasped the way humans were pretty quickly. The mannerisms, the way they shortened words, hand movements, and jokes.

  They talked and told stories while consuming the toxic water. I shared stories as well, although I didn’t give dates or years to any stories. No one questioned anything I said. I suppose because they assumed I was from Esperanza Straits.

  I did not want the evening to end. These humans were not like any of the ones I had encountered. They weren’t feeble, weak, or subservient. They weren’t like the angry rebels I had heard about or the God driven people of my far past.