by T. A. White
She settled into a relaxed stance, weight balanced, legs slightly bent, her arms and torso relaxed. She hovered in midair, watching as those she'd taught that morning became comfortable with the greater heights.
Waveboards were most effective close to ground. Something about the technology meant they had the greatest thrust near a surface, whether vertical or horizontal. Almost like they needed a physical object to grab onto and propel them forward.
The further up you went, the less forward propulsion you had. Oh, you could make it work, but it burned fuel. The last thing anybody wanted was to be a few thousand feet up while flying on fumes. That was a recipe for a very rough landing.
When used as atmosphere insertion units, it was mainly about the fall, with the engines providing stability until you were close enough to the surface to get adequate thrust.
A roar of sound warned Kira. She glanced up as two boards flew past, with only feet to spare.
Amila waved a greeting before concentrating on chasing Isla down. Her legs bent, her body crouching slightly as the two women zipped through the sky.
Beneath them, a dark ocean stretched as far as the eye could see. A rocky coastline curved to her right, the city a shining gem overlooking it.
"Beautiful," Kira breathed.
In that unguarded moment, the planet's soul bathed her in warmth, its presence a comfortable heated blanket against her senses, an unmistakable welcome in its embrace.
It felt uncomfortably like a homecoming.
She instinctively resisted, gently pushing the Mea'Ave away.
It'd been so long since she'd considered anywhere home. She didn't know if she was ready to open that door again.
However, if there was ever a place to tempt her mind and soul, this was unmistakably it.
A wild and untamed world, incredibly dangerous to the unwary. Populated by people who were loyal to their bones. Yes, their customs were odd, and they clung to tradition with a tenacity Kira didn't understand, but they were also fierce and kind in their own way.
This place would have been an irresistible dream for someone much less damaged than Kira.
"Incoming," Jin murmured.
Kira took in the dark streak headed for her. Graydon looked like something out of a holovid, noble and fierce as he rode into battle on a variation of Kira's board rather than the steed of old.
Graydon's board was a more deranged and bulkier cousin to the one she used. It looked carved from wood; a surprising decision given the extreme forces it endured on a regular basis.
"I'm surprised how familiar the Tuann are with this technology," Kira said as he joined her.
They were too confident and at ease for this to be a new concept.
"You'll find many Tuann are appreciative of human ingenuity. It’s not unusual to find human inventions that have been modified for our use." Graydon allowed himself a small smile. "Your chosen people have proven themselves quite creative; something mine find endlessly fascinating."
Kira would have liked to ask more but was forced to wait as Wren and several others shot across the water in a wedge pattern.
"We should follow," Graydon informed her.
Kira didn't argue, racing across the sky after the patrol. She settled into a position at the back of the wedge, Raider slightly in front of her. Devon and the rest on the opposite flank.
Finn and Graydon took their spots a few lengths behind her, bringing up the rear. His oshota filled in the gaps as they set out.
It'd be easy to grow bored while flying over the ocean. The terrain had a certain monotony that lulled you into lowering your guard. A costly mistake Kira had no intention of making.
The oshota around her spent the time jockeying for position and playing small games, even as Kira noticed the alertness with which they watched their surroundings.
They were miles from shore when Wren raised his fist, signaling a stop. Kira's board bobbled as Wren's voice echoed in her ear, making it sound like he was standing right next to her.
"You may break formation if you like. Solal and Amila, keep watch on the perimeter. For the rest, you're free to explore."
How was he projecting his voice? None of them wore comms, a fact she'd been surprised about but now understood.
"Jin?"
"I don't know," her friend told her. "Best guess, he's manipulating sound waves in some way."
The implications of that were astounding. If you could manipulate the sound waves to carry your voice, you could do the same to others. As a tool for spying, it would be virtually undetectable.
Graydon's board dropped to match her trajectory as Finn broke away to monitor them from above. "How about a small wager?"
Raider glanced over, maneuvering to parallel their flight path.
"What did you have in mind?" Raider shouted.
"A race. Loser owes the winner a boon."
Kira scoffed. Like she was foolish enough to fall for that. Knowing Graydon, he'd have already skewed the odds in his favor.
"I'm game," Raider's smile was wicked as he shot a challenging glance at Kira. "Unless you're scared?"
She aimed a flat stare at him.
Raider shrugged. "I didn't want to assume since you've been living the soft civilian life."
A small smirk teased Graydon's lips as he waited. Why exert himself when Raider was doing the work for him?
Kira's eyes narrowed. Were the two of them working together to taunt her into this?
After a moment of consideration, she shook her head. Naw. Raider didn't like the Tuann enough to team up with them.
She rethought that conclusion seconds later when Graydon said, "Yes, we wouldn't want to force you to do anything you're not comfortable with. You are, after all, only barely out of your infancy."
The lizard snorted against her neck, knowing that word was guaranteed a reaction.
She didn't disappoint. Rising to the challenge was almost a compulsion. Letting Graydon have the last word wasn't an option.
"There has never been a day when you could out fly me, Raider," Kira declared, before fixing Graydon with a look. "You sure you can keep up?"
His chin bent down. "Only one way to see."
Trash talk, how she'd missed it.
Graydon was about to lose. Even better, both he and Raider would owe Kira a boon.
Her lips curved in anticipation.
Graydon was about to learn the true terror of facing a Cur in battle.
Graydon's expression darkened with expectancy at the challenge he saw on her face, saying without words he was eager to pit himself against her skill.
They'd see about that.
Graydon spread his arms, closing his eyes and tilting back as gravity pulled him down until he fell into a smooth backward dive.
Twenty feet above the waves, his board woke with a roar, bringing his descent to a quick stop as he shot forward, the force of the board's thrust kissing the surface, water flying up around him.
Raider flashed a maniacal grin at her. "Like old times."
"I beat you in those times," Kira returned.
"Things change," Raider promised. "It’s not going to be as easy this time."
He followed Graydon, his board cutting through the air with ease.
She stared at the two and shook her head. How did she let herself be talked into these things?
"This should be interesting," the lizard observed from her collar. "What are you going to do?"
"What do I always do when issued a challenge?" Kira crouched, her blood pounding and excitement bubbling in her veins as that piece she'd been missing all those years slid into place.
"Yes!" Jin hissed. "Show them what they've woken."
Kira cut the engines, dropping into a smooth dive, the ocean below rushing up to meet her. She waited until the last second to switch the engine on, the abrupt change from falling to flying threatening to topple her.
She hung on, keeping her balance as a joyous whoop escaped Jin.
She streaked after
Graydon and Raider, closing the distance quickly. Neither man was serious yet, letting her catch them easily.
They traded looks, agreeing without words.
"Here we go," Kira whispered.
As if of one mind, they kicked the engines to maximum, rocketing over the water.
The board bounced under her, the vibration settling in her bones and jarring the teeth in her skull. Kira loved every moment of it as she fought for more speed.
Graydon was the first to take the lead, the other two sliding into his wake and letting him take the brunt of the wind.
They were still testing each other, looking for strengths and weaknesses.
Soon, though, it would be time.
Raider gestured at Kira behind his back, sliding her a signal from a time when they'd both been Curs, telling her to flank Graydon.
Sounded good to her.
He slid right, and she went left, the two moving as one to overtake Graydon. Kira put on a burst of speed, shooting past him easily, Raider doing the same on the other side.
They traded victorious looks as they kept Graydon trapped behind them, drifting to block him anytime he tried to pass.
Between one second and the next, their mood turned serious as each concentrated on winning. First, Kira edged out Raider, minutes later he nudged past her board, Graydon bringing up the rear.
They tucked in close, flying only feet off each other's flank. A single mistake could kill them all.
Kira didn't care, crouching and coaxing more speed out of her board. An exultant feeling of victory shot through her as she bypassed Raider, leaving both men behind.
Jin shouted wind speed and directions in her ear, allowing her to concentrate only on flying.
The sharp sense of danger sent her instincts clamoring as a roar split the air behind her.
Kira dodged left as a force rose from the deep below, the soundless toll of a bell ringing as a massive form breached the waves. Up and up it rose, the whiskers and mane trailing behind it as water cascaded off its form. The shadow of the rest of its body still darkened the water beneath as Kira gaped.
The close call she'd just had was insignificant when compared to the massive creature still rising toward the sky.
Lu-ong.
And this one was no baby.
"Evade," she screamed in the next moment as another lu-ong breached the surface directly beneath her board, its open mouth and very sharp teeth aimed straight at her.
TWENTY-ONE
Raider broke left, Graydon doing the same as Kira hit the thrust, shooting out of the way of the lu-ong’s giant teeth as it shot up into the air where she'd been seconds before.
Kira wove over the water, her path looking like something a hummingbird hopped up on nectar might take. All around her, lu-ong breached the surface, their bodies arching impossibly high as they reached for the sky above, doomed to inevitably fail as they hit the apex of their leap and made their journey to the water waiting below.
Their bodies were long and serpentine, their tails not even clearing the waves before their heads dove deep again, only to breach seconds later.
Kira couldn't spare more than a moment of admiration for the sight before she had to focus on the task of simply surviving the minefield she suddenly found herself in.
Kira banked right, avoiding another scaled form. Raider had already disappeared behind the massive obstacles.
Jin let out a low whistle. "Now that's an impressive sight."
Kira couldn't have agreed more. Despite the danger setting every one of her senses on high alert, she hadn't felt this alive in years. She skated a hair’s breadth from death's embrace, but she couldn't bring herself to escape just yet.
She didn’t get the sense that the lu-ong meant her harm. She was an ant next to a mammoth who was trying to walk—or swim in this case.
They almost felt playful, joy trembling through the air.
Jin seemed to agree as he snorted. "Let's see what they've got, Nixxy."
Kira crouched. "I thought you'd never ask."
In the confusion, Graydon had managed to get ahead. At her words, he glanced back, catching her eye as he tipped his head in invitation.
Her smile was almost feline in satisfaction. Challenge accepted. The race wasn't over yet. Only the terms had changed.
Graydon dove for the water, Kira fast on his six.
Here, reflexes reigned superior. An instant of doubt, a single millisecond of inattention and she'd be dead. Either dashed on the waves below or crashing headfirst into the bodies of the lu-ong. Somehow, she didn't think she'd be the winner in that scenario.
Graydon veered right, slipping through the small arch that had formed under the lu-ong’s body as it completed its return to the sea. The space narrowed, the gap fast disappearing as Graydon raced through.
Kira's stomach was tight as Graydon courted death. The lu-ong had to be thousands of pounds of hard muscle. If its weight crushed him, Graydon wouldn't survive
He shot out the other side seconds before the gap vanished, a massive sheet of water from the lu-ong’s body crashing into the waves, water rising to obscure her vision. When the water settled, Kira caught sight of Graydon waiting on the other side, a challenging smile aimed her way. Beat that, he seemed to say.
Kira rolled her eyes. Show off.
Jin clung to her neck. "There's a pocket opening up twenty degrees off the port side. Burn, baby, burn."
Kira didn't question his observation, too used to him as her co-pilot, picking up details that freed her to focus on other things. It was why she could be so confident, even when shit was hitting the fan, and victory wasn't assured. She knew she was never alone. Jin was always at her side.
Her legs tensed, and her altitude abruptly dropped, sending her stomach rocketing into her throat.
Her senses opened, adrenaline pumping through her body. The board hummed a siren's song under her feet. Every second she spent on it, her movements got crisper, more confident, until the board was an extension of herself. A weapon and tool, the same way the en-blade was for the best of the oshota.
On a board, Kira was nearly untouchable. Perhaps it was time House Roake learned that.
A lu-ong the color of sapphire, silver edging his crest, surged up from the deep, leaving Kira with little time to dodge or evade. Stopping was out of the question.
Jin screamed in her ear.
"Hold on," she yelled at him.
Kira reached for more speed, bending her knees and using her heel to hit the thrust as she straightened abruptly almost like she was jumping. She pulled her feet up, so the flat of the board was aimed at the lu-ong. The technology that allowed her to hover caught on the scales, almost like it was a vertical road. Instead of flying along the waves, she was using the lu-ong’s body as her path.
Up and up she went, weaving between the ridges along its back, the end approaching, nothing but clear sky before her. Kira hit the end of the lu-ong’s body, shooting into the air.
She crouched, the sky tumbling around her, as she cut engines and grabbed the board's edge, flipping, once, twice, three times before falling toward the waves. At the last possible second, she righted herself, hitting the upward thrust. The water bowed under her. For one second, she wasn't sure if she'd acted in time. The board bobbed, catching itself as it protested gravity's hold.
Her laugh rang out as she shot away again in time to catch sight of Graydon playing tag as a lu-ong chased after him, cutting through the water only to spring toward Graydon at the last second.
He flipped, narrowly evading the lu-ong’s teeth, before veering to avoid its mate as it shot out of the water.
Deep chuckles rumbled through her mind, the sense that the lu-ong considered this a type of dangerous game strengthening.
To her left, Raider had found his own lu-ong, racing up its side with the same crazy grin she knew had been on her face. During the war, they'd rarely rode the boards for the simple joy of it. Riding had become a means to an end. It had made
them forget why each of them started riding in the first place.
Kira, because it tamed some of the turmoil that always seemed to dance beneath her skin. Raider, as a means of escape from the shitty adults in his life and as a way to channel his fury at the world.
For her, it had always been the feeling of pushing her body to the limits, defying the laws of physics simply because she could. One-upping her friends with tricks that took months of practice to pull off, only to watch them do the same to her.
Loss threatened to steal some of the joy from the afternoon.
Here, IN this moment, she could admit how tired she was of carrying the weight she'd freely accepted. She knew it would be so easy to take what Graydon and House Roake were offering. A home. A place to belong. People to share it with.
But what happened when her past came knocking? Would they accept the flaws and the scars? The nightmares?
Right now, Roake had a pretty dream of who they thought she was. The babe stolen from them, now returned. A victory they could reclaim against loss and tragedy.
They didn't see the person she was. Someone who had survived despite herself. It hadn't always been pretty. She'd done things that kept her up at night. She didn't know if they could accept that.
Part of that was her fault. She hadn’t given them a chance to know her.
Kira's gaze lingered on Graydon's powerful form as he streaked across the waves, yearning a knot in her chest.
Wishes and hopes were for children, something she'd never had a chance at being. She did what was necessary. Even when it was difficult.
For a split second, her resolve wavered, wanting wrapped up in desire.
But in the end, one thing had always been clear. What the Tsavitee wanted was something she would never allow them to have.
They were locusts. Consuming and destroying everything in their path. Her goal wasn't the lower forms; it was the ones pulling strings behind the scenes. The ones Himoto hadn't believed existed until too late.
But the Tuann might believe. The statue of their enemies of old proved as much.
Her conversation with her uncle made her think they knew more than they were telling. Roake might prove a valuable ally—if she could take the risk of trusting them.