by Lucia Ashta
“More like the two suns and the moon combined,” Brute chimed in.
I didn’t know what to say.
“It was amazing,” Scar said, sounding far more uplifted than I’d ever heard him.
I squeezed Rane’s hand, and searched for Dean and Shula in the sea of faces. Dean was smiling, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Shula appeared as concerned as my siblings.
I tried to look at them while I spoke. “Dean, Shula, I’m sorry. I was supposed to help you with the fire, and I didn’t.”
“You did do what you were supposed to do,” Dean said.
“What of the fire? What of... what of the forest?” My precious forest.
“It’s gone. The fire ate through all of it. There was nothing we could do.”
“How much?”
“It burned from the rock clearing here all the way to the mountain path. It burned itself out at the sacred pools.”
Rane rubbed his hand up and down my arm. He alone knew how deep my connection to the forest ran. My friends were the plants and the animals, those that wouldn’t condemn me for being who and how I was. He said, “The fire consumed everything but the pools themselves.” He sounded as saddened as I was.
Tears budded in my eyes. I didn’t bother holding them in. “What stopped the fire from charging up the mountain path to the village?” My voice sounded lifeless to my own ears.
Rane had no answer for that. Dean said, “Luck maybe, though I don’t imagine any of us feels all that lucky. Maybe the wind worked in our favor, or the fire found less to burn with the water from the pools, and it just petered out. Whatever caused it, I’m grateful.”
“Grateful?” I chortled without mirth. “You’re grateful for all this?”
“Aye.”
“What’s there to be grateful for?” I sat up a little higher and leaned on Traya a little less.
“There’s always something to be grateful for, no matter how hard it might be to find it.”
“These forests have been here for longer than the Ooba people. There’s never been a fire here before. And if it hadn’t been for me, there wouldn’t have been one now either.”
“Blaming yourself is easy but unwise. The forest has never burned before because the dragons have never had reason to come this low to attack.”
“To defend. They were trying to defend Rosie, not attack. I was the one who found Rosie, and the one who left her. They responded to her, the dragon baby they tried to kill.”
“And here are all the blessings that came from this. We’ve been practicing faithum for a long time, but we’d never attempted to use it to subdue enraged dragons, and never more than one. Today we discovered that we’re learning to harness our faithum, to wield it, to direct it. We learned that you’re able to access so much faithum that it overpowered you this first time. With practice, that will change. We learned that you’re one of us, and that your brother and sister are too.”
I looked to Traya and Rane. Only Rane couldn’t help but grin, even under the circumstances. “What did they do?” I asked.
“This is the second time they’ve risked their lives and exposure to warn us of Chieftain Pumpoo’s actions.”
“Do I even want to know?”
“Probably not. So back to the blessings. The forest might have burned, but the animals managed to escape. We lost many ancient trees, but they’ll grow back. It will all grow back.”
“Aye, but how long will that take?”
“As long as it takes. It’s not our place to question the flow of life. It is what it is, and the forest will recover. There’s nothing we can do now but perhaps work faithum to speed up its recovery.”
That snapped me to attention. “How? What do we do?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you’ll be the one to teach us.”
Finally I brought myself to look to the forest, where the smoke still continued to billow in thick, dense clouds of a deep gray. Soot rained down upon us, marking some of my body as the ash settled on its contours. My sight blurred until I forced myself to see beyond the damage. To see with the hope Dean’s voice carried. “If there’s something we can do to help the forest heal and grow, then I’ll do it.”
“Good. That’s the kind of thinking we need as part of the Dragon Force. Because the Dragon Force isn’t just about dragons. It’s about faithum. It’s about finding balance for all life, not just the dragons.”
My focus settled on one thing. “Part of the Dragon Force? Do you mean me?”
Dean threw his head back and laughed as if the world weren’t crumbling around us. “Of course I mean you. According to your fellow charmers, you were a sight to behold. I’m sorry I missed it.”
“So... I’m a member of the Dragon Force?”
“Aye. If you’ll have us.”
It was too bad no one could see the grin that split my face. It was the biggest one I’d ever had. It was enough to forget the evidence of concern that surrounded us. It was even enough to forget about Pumpoo and the shadow man—for now. It was enough to see the blessings Dean outlined and some of my own.
14
The Suxle Sun began to set with its usual brilliance, and after all that had happened, I couldn’t muster the energy to think or worry about what would come next. The forest still smoldered to the left of the rock clearing, and against the suddenly bright sky, it was both eerie and remarkable at once, the starkness of the dark, burnt shades contrasting to the oranges and reds of the sunset.
“So they know about you,” Rane said after a period of silence. Traya, he, and I sat in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by the comings and goings of the dragon charmers.
“Aye,” I said, not taking my eyes off the expanse of color in front of me, absently running a hand along Rosie’s back.
“That’s a lot of people to know your secret.”
“Seven people, all trustworthy.” I was finished worrying whether or not the dragon charmers there would keep my confidence. Every single one of them had proven they could be trusted with my life, and with tasks far greater than that. “I didn’t have much of a choice, Rane.”
“Aye, I guess not. Things sure have escalated rather rapidly. You’re sure you’re safe, that they’ll keep your secret?”
“Why don’t you tell me. You’ve seen them. What do you think?”
He didn’t say anything for a long while, ash raining down us as steadily and quietly as a light snow. “Aye, they’ll keep our secret.”
“Not our secret. My secret. They don’t know I’m a twin.”
“They might not know now, but how long will it take them to figure it out?”
“I don’t know, but I can’t worry about everything anymore.”
“Since when do you worry about everything?”
I turned to look at him sharply. “Since always.” He looked at me as if he hadn’t realized it. “You can’t be serious,” I said. “What, you thought I didn’t—don’t—worry about things?”
“I didn’t. I mean, I guess I didn’t. You always just seemed to, I don’t know, roll with things, I guess.”
“‘Roll with things’? Roll with all the circumstances that’ve twisted my life into something different from everyone else’s? That make me a danger to the people I love?”
Rane seemed as if he was about to say something, then changed his mind, and said something different. “Let’s not go there right now. We’re all members of the Dragon Force, and that’s awesome. Even Traya is.”
I wasn’t sure it was time to smile, with the ash falling as a constant reminder of the danger we were in, even if we couldn’t see it. But I smiled anyway, and turned to Traya. “I totally didn’t see it coming, Tray. I was so surprised when I saw you coming down that mountain trail with Yana. What happened?”
“What do you mean, what happened?”
“Well, you’d never expressed any kind of interest in joining the Dragon Force before. Why’d you show up for the first meeting?”
“I’ve dreamt of it all my life.”
She never took her gaze from the sun as it dipped all the way below the line of rock in front of us.
“Why didn’t you ever say anything?” Rane asked. “All the times I mentioned the Force and wanting to be part of it, all the times Nir joined in, why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because the two of you always say enough for all of us.”
“And you didn’t want to worry Mother,” I said, knowing my sister better than she thought I did, even if I hadn’t foreseen her ambitions.
A beat passed in which Rosie turned in circles several times, adjusted her position, and plopped on top of my thighs.
“Aye, well,” Traya said, “there was no point in causing her any more worry than necessary. The two of you also did enough of that for all of us.”
“How long have you known you were going to join the Force?” I asked.
“As long as you did.”
“I didn’t know I was going to.”
“Well then, neither did I.”
I was going to ask another question, but Traya interrupted. “She’s doing a lot better.” Traya leaned in from her seat to my right and ran a gentle caress along Rosie’s side.
I watched my elegant sister, her usual caramel tones tinted orange by the fading sun. Her brown eyes appeared almost black in the fading light, but I knew them to be filled with intelligence and kindness. “She barely seems to compensate for her injuries anymore. I think she’s mostly healed, though I’ve been a bit too, uh, busy to examine her lately.”
Traya chuckled softly, and the pleasant sound caressed my bare arms. “Busy, huh? I’d say so, wouldn’t you, Rane?”
“Hell yeah. I hear you’ve been amazing, Nir. The charmers wouldn’t stop talking about what you’d done when we first got here. It was all Anira this, and Anira that.”
I blushed. “You exaggerate. I’m sure it wasn’t like that for real.”
“Oh it was. The charmers, and remember we’re talking about the most legendary crew of all, were amazed. And these are the Alpha Team.”
“No! This is the Alpha Team? I didn’t realize it.”
“Well who did you imagine you were dealing with? You know Dean and Shula are the best of the best. Who did you think they’d run with? These are the elite of the charmers. This is the Alpha Team Pa used to talk about.” Rane snapped his lips shut. He hadn’t meant to bring Father into it. He never did.
“Pa was a member of the Alpha Team,” Traya said. “He was training Shean to be a part of it too.”
Even though we’d long avoided dredging up the pain of Father and Shean’s disappearances, something about the magical colors of the sky made it feel safe to do so, as if we were apart from the real world that delivered us ordinary life.
“Today, they lost three more of the Alpha Team then,” I said.
“Really?” Rane said, his voice revealing the pain of our family’s loss, still fresh despite the years.
“When we first arrived here there was some kind of shadow... man, I guess. I don’t really know exactly what he was, but he killed three of the charmers who were on watch duty.” Saying it aloud made it real, and suddenly I felt exposed there in the middle of the rock clearing. It didn’t matter that the charmers buzzed with activity around us. The shadow man had infiltrated their forces before.
“By the oasis, that’s awful,” Traya said.
“I know. I didn’t even learn their names, and once they died, the other charmers haven’t mentioned them.”
“Kind of how we all do with Pa and Shean.”
“Yeah, just like that.”
“This shadow man, you saw him?” Rane asked.
“I was the first one to see him, actually. I warned Dean.” I’d warned him through my thoughts. I’d nearly forgotten about that.
“What was he like?”
I had to think about it for a few moments. “It was as if he were here but also not at the same time. His edges were unclear. At times I could see them, at others I couldn’t. He’d fade in and out of his surroundings. He moved fast too. I noticed him only by chance.”
Rane was alert now, his upper body turned to face me. “Did anyone else see him?”
“Dean did, but he was the only other one.” And Dean doesn’t seem normal either.
“What does he have to say about this shadow man?”
“You should ask him yourself,” Traya said. “He’s coming up behind you.”
I turned to watch Dean, covered in soot, approach us in the clearing. Shula, who’d been walking with him, hung back and started talking intently with a few of the other charmers. He called ahead, “Are you guys doing all right?” He asked all of us, but his eyes were fixed on me—or, the spot where I was.
“We are,” I said. “I was really tired after everything. Rane and Traya are keeping me company. And Rosie too, of course.”
“I can see all that.”
His words were an appropriate response, and I thought nothing of them for a few beats. Until it hit me. The way he’d said it. “Wait, can you see me right now?”
Rane whipped his head to look at Dean, then me, then Dean again. “You can see her?”
“Actually, yes, I can.”
Rane, who’d been slumped back against the rock, legs extended, hands behind him, snapped to a rigid seated position. “You can see her?”
“I believe that’s what I just said,” Dean said, but he was smiling. He reached us and took a seat in front of us.
“How much of her can you see?”
“Well now, that’s a very strange question, wouldn’t you say, Rane?” But in my situation it wasn’t.
I peered into Dean’s shaded face, but it revealed nothing. The last of the sunset at his back, the hard lines of his face were soft and dark. “Can you see all of me? Can you actually see my whole body?”
“I can.”
The words bubbled out in an excited rush. “You can actually see every single part of me? Can you see my face? Can you see my coloring? Do I look like Rane? And, uh, Traya?” I added hurriedly. If I weren’t a twin, I’d look as much like her as Rane. “Can you see the color of my hair and eyes?”
Dean leaned forward. “Are you telling me that not even you can see yourself?”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
“Well that’s a real shame. You’re beautiful.”
Again I blushed, and then I tried not to, realizing that Dean might be able to see that. But the more I tried to stop it, the more I blushed. I’d never had to worry about someone noticing my reactions before.
Dean hadn’t spoken anything but the truth, it was plain from the way he said it. But, me beautiful? I’d never thought of myself in those terms.
“Don’t make us wait any longer, man,” Rane said, seeming to forget who he was talking to in his excitement. “What’s she look like?”
Dean studied me. I squirmed, and when I couldn’t stop squirming under his scrutiny, I hugged Rosie closer. Eventually he said, “The easiest way to explain it would be to say that she looks just like you.”
It was a simple statement, but one loaded with a secret truth. Neither Rane, Traya, nor I said anything for a long time.
15
“If you say she looks just like me, then she must also look like Traya,” Rane told Dean. “Because, I mean, we’re all siblings, so if she looks like me, it’d make sense that she’d also look like Traya.”
“Right,” Dean said, and by the way he said it, I realized he’d deduced the only secret I had left, the biggest—and deadliest—of them all.
But I didn’t think Rane noticed, and that was probably a good thing.
Dean locked eyes with me for an instant, then looked up and behind me. “Any news?”
I turned. Shula was leading the others over to us. “None, which is worrisome.”
“Indeed,” Dean said, even though I didn’t understand how no news wasn’t a good thing. We didn’t want news of the shadow man, or of Pumpoo, or of any other threat the man could muster.
/> Dean asked Rane and Traya, with a look to each of them, “You said that Pumpoo was turning part of the Dragon Force over to his side. Did you notice how many?”
“Wait, what?” I looked to my siblings too. “You didn’t tell me.”
Rane shrugged. “It didn’t come up.”
It didn’t come up. I had lots to say about that, but it wasn’t the time, and I didn’t want to do it in front of the dragon charmers. I didn’t have nearly the life experience and maturity they did, and I didn’t need to make it any more obvious than it already was.
Rane said, “It was hard to tell. There were some who joined him right away, like Yoon.”
“I never trusted Yoon,” I said.
“But you can trust him,” Dean said.
“How? He has adoration for the chieftain.”
“Appearances aren’t always what they seem.”
I could definitely agree with that, though I still didn’t trust Yoon, no matter what Dean said. I remembered that Dean had said Yoon’s secret behind his allegiance to the Dragon Force wasn’t his to tell, but I didn’t trust easily. I might not have the experience the dragon charmers did, but I had enough to know that misplaced trust could be as deadly as any poison.
Dean addressed Rane, “Continue. So after Yoon, how many of the Dragon Force do you estimate joined Pumpoo?”
“I don’t know, really I don’t. It was hard to tell, but if I had to guess, I’d say half.”
“Half joined him when he asked for their allegiance?”
“Aye. Every one of the new trainees went with him, even those who looked hesitant at first.”
“They’d have to. If they hesitated, then that means they didn’t really want to. But they were smart.”
“They were smart to join Pumpoo’s forces?” I interjected. I’d meant to keep quiet, but I couldn’t. “I don’t understand. What happened?”
Shula, who’d moved to stand behind Dean in the near darkness, said, “If they hadn’t, Pumpoo would punish them.”
Dean said, “And they don’t yet have the skills developed to oppose him. The smart thing would be to join Pumpoo and then figure out what to do. If Pumpoo gathered the whole village to ask for volunteers to join him—”