by C B Williams
Bad for everyone. Kalea should have waited for her escort.
It wasn’t hard to figure out why Kalea left at dawn. She’d wanted to find her Calling on her own and unguarded, without distraction. But these were not the times for that. Kalea, a priestess and a Nuri, was even more valuable than Makini. She hissed. How unfair, yet again! She was supposed to risk capture and find her brothers to protect Kalea. Who would protect her?
But her mother hadn’t asked her to drift this far. That was her fault. She hadn’t been paying attention. No, not just her fault. Her brothers’ as well. Their scent still lingered in the air. She tested the soft breeze but caught no other scents. She relaxed. The lateness of the day was making her jumpy, she decided. She was safe enough among the ancient vents and tubes. Time to collect her brothers. Makini left the dirty tube, edged forward, and wended her way through the sharp and brittle landscape. She noticed a valley in the distance and was glad she’d soon be past the flow and onto more decent footing.
“Hsst!”
Makini crouched and froze as adrenaline thrummed through her.
“Makini! Over here!”
Pika. She breathed a sigh of relief. She’d be safe now.
She followed his hushed voice and his scent to find him wedged inside a tree mold.
“Hey,” he said.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed. “This is Rafa’s land.”
“I might ask you the same.”
“I’m hunting for you, idiot. And Haku. Mother sent me. You’re both supposed to be watching over Kalea. It’s her Calling Moon.”
Pika clapped a hand over his face. “Oh Goddess, I forgot.”
“Am I the only one who remembered? Where’s Haku?” She popped up to look.
“Down! They might see you.”
She dropped. “Who? Rafa’s warriors? Where?”
“Not Rafa.”
“Who, then?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. Let’s just wait for Haku. It’s nearly dark. He’ll be here soon.”
In silence they contemplated the sun setting over the water, far off on the horizon where the lava had flowed into the sea some hundreds of years ago. The orange glow spread toward them.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Pika murmured. “Our Goddess’s world.”
Makini nodded. “Uh huh,” she agreed; then she sat bolt upright. “What’s that?”
A magnificent roar answered distant shouts.
She jumped to her feet. “That’s Haku!” She looked around. Looked up. “Where is he, Pika?”
Pika stood beside her, scanning the skies. “There!” he pointed.
Makini blinked. For one instant, there was nothing. In the next, a huge Nuri flew at full tilt.
“Haku!” Makini shouted.
The Nuri saw them, hissed, and snaked its neck up and back. Makini felt her own neck emulate the movements. She swallowed the urge.
Pika grabbed her arm. “Come! We’ve got to get out of here!” He took off running, and Makini followed, gathering her power.
The two shifted as they ran, launching themselves into the air and turning toward home.
Out of the corner of her eye, Makini saw Haku bank and circle back, a column of flame erupting from his throat. Makini felt her own fire building, felt the need to let it go. She banked to take a run at the people who’d suddenly appeared from nothing. Who were they? Where had they come from?
“Makini! No!” Pika hissed.
But the fire was begging to be let loose, so she did, blasting it at the men, deliberately missing them. She only wanted to scare them. Just as Haku had. If they wanted, they could have burned them all. But it wasn’t the Nuri way. They would kill only when necessary. Or for revenge.
Still following Haku’s course, she began to turn toward home when she felt a searing pain in her side. It was so intense she cried out, shimmered into her human form, and fell.
“A woman! Hold your fire!” she heard someone shout just before she landed on the sharp lava. Jagged pieces scraped along her wound, and she cried out again.
Then Pika was there, gently lifting her in his claws as Haku roared and came around again, torching the ground with his Nuri fire. She heard shouting, saw the men melt back into nothing, and then knew only blackness.
“A woman!” Grale shouted. “Hold your fire!”
He was stunned. First monster, then woman. Naked, too, with tattoos spiraling up one side of her body. Exotic. Wild. He watched as she fell, feeling cold to the core. Had he killed her? He squinted hard at the body on the ground, willing her to move. It truly would have been a shame if he’d killed her. He let out a breath when he saw her flinch and cry out again. Then one of the monsters scooped her up in his claws and the other―God, what were these things?―banked and came at them again.
“Quick! Behind the veil!” he shouted to his crew, glad the old woman had taught him how to manipulate ley lines and screen their presence. “There’ll be another day.” He glanced around, made a rapid tally of the men diving into the safety of the protective shroud covering their mining site. Once everyone was accounted for, he allowed himself to join them behind the veil.
In silence they trudged down toward the mining camp within the dormant volcano’s wide crater. At camp, he and his men halted and bent forward to catch their breath. Although the crater was considered relatively shallow, its sides were steep and it had been a rapid climb. He eyed his men, wondering how much of their breathlessness was because of what they’d just seen.
“Wash up. Prepare for a debrief,” he ordered. “We’re safe enough for now. They’ll be wanting to take care of their wounded.”
“You hit a woman,” Jocko said.
Grale looked at him and grunted. “A monster. It was one of those monsters the old woman warned us about.”
“She also told us not to hurt them.”
Grale shrugged. “Well, now we know why. Where’d the first one come from, anyway?”
“Beats me,” Jocko said.
Grale wiped the sweat from his face. “It’s fuckin’ hot. I’m hitting the showers before we meet.”
“Grale!” someone shouted.
He turned and waited for the young kitchen kid to catch up. “The prisoner’s gone!” he puffed.
Jocko cocked an eyebrow. “Do you suppose he was one of those things?”
Grale thought about it. “Yeah. Yeah, I do. Called themselves Nuri. Nuri must be those monsters they turn into.”
“So what are you going to do? We lost our leverage.”
Grale shrugged and handed his weapon to a crew member. “Clean this, will you?” he asked then turned back to Jocko. “What am I going to do after my shower and we debrief? Going to do nothin’. We’ll just have to wait and see how much he wants our fire sticks for his revenge.” He laughed at the name. “Don’t know why he’d need them. He’s a living, breathing fire cannon.”
“Maybe not all of them are those monsters,” Jocko suggested
“Maybe not.” They’d reached his cabin, which was more like a one-room plastic cube with a head and a shower on one side, a desk and cot on the other. He paused at the door. “Not sure I want to find out. Later, Jocko.”
“Take her to Mother,” Haku hissed at Pika when he caught up with him. “She’ll know what to do. But we can’t tell her how it happened. She can’t know what I’m planning. You have to promise me, Pika.”
Pika’s massive head turned and looked at him from underneath his beating wings. “So you’re still going to trade crystals for weapons,” he hissed back.
“I am.”
Pika looked away and they flew in silence.
As soon as they crossed into their own territory, Pika hovered over a beach illuminated by the late evening twilight and the rise of one of the twin moons. He wanted to know how badly Makini had been wounded.
Understanding, Haku landed beside him, shifted, and gently took Makini from his talons while he hovered. As Haku carefully laid her on the beach, her wounded si
de to the light, Pika shifted.
“I want none of it, Haku.”
“We’ll talk about it later. For now, just don’t tell Mother.”
“I won’t tell Mother. Only because those men are dangerous.” He slammed his fist into his palm. “I was stupid. I only wanted to show you what I’d discovered. To boast. And now Makini’s hurt.” He squatted down beside his brother.
Together, they studied the wound, which ran across her ribcage.
“She’s lucky she was in her Nuri form.” Pika said. “Looks like a burn.”
“Then that’s what we’ll tell Mother. She accidentally burned herself, and we found her this way.”
Makini moaned. Her eyelids fluttered open, and she focused on her brothers. “What happened?” she asked woozily. Her eyes sharpened. “Who were those people?”
“People you’re never to even hint about to anybody,” Haku answered. “How’re you feeling?” He smoothed her hair.
She reached for her side, but Pika gently held her hand away. “It hurts,” she groused. “What happened?”
“They shot you with their fire sticks,” Pika explained.
“And you can’t tell Mother anything about it,” Haku added.
She scowled up at him. “You think I’m that stupid? We’d all be in big trouble if she knew. You were both supposed to be keeping an eye on Kalea,” she said accusingly, “not crossing lava fields in someone else’s territory. I’ll tell her I got clumsy on the volcano when I was hunting for you two.” She glared at them, “But you owe me an explanation. I won’t be silent for long if you don’t tell me what’s going on. Ow!” She groaned. “It really hurts.”
“Let’s go, then,” Haku said. “Can you fly?”
Makini shook her head. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”
“That’s okay, Makini,” Haku said softly. “Just rest. It’s not far now.” Haku looked at Pika. “I’ll take her home. You go on up to the volcano and guard Kalea like we’re supposed to be doing. That should satisfy Mother. You know that outcropping we use as a perch? I’ll meet you there.”
Pika glared but said nothing. Instead he smoothed a hand over Makini’s cheek. “This is my fault. I’m sorry.” With a short nod, he shifted and took off toward the glowing peak, the home of Longwei, their Goddess.
As he flew, he let the beauty of the night soothe him and experienced a familiar awe when the second moon rose to chase her twin across the heavens. They were full and bright, casting their silver light across the landscape. In the brightness, he easily found the rocky outcropping with a view of the volcano’s flank, shifting as he landed. When he found a spot to his liking, he sat and leaned back on his arms to wait for Haku. He should look for Kalea but dismissed the thought nearly as soon as it had risen. It was late and fruitless to hunt for her until morning. Kalea was smart. Most likely, she had found a cozy spot to hunker down for the night.
He was about to nod off a second time when he saw Haku coming toward him, carrying something in his talons. He hoped it was something to wear. He stood as his brother landed, shifted, and tossed a pareo at him.
“Mother thought you could use this,” he said as he wrapped another around his own hips.
Pika groaned. “Mother was right. These rocks are sharp on my butt.” He wrapped the cloth around his loins and resumed his perch.
Haku joined him.
“I want none of it,” Pika told him.
Haku glanced at him and sighed. “I gathered that. You really don’t want to honor our father? Rafa’s people killed him. Brutally, I might add. ”
Pika felt a stirring in his gut. “I know. I saw what they did. Revenge is all I want against Rafa. But I want to honor him, too. And to honor our father, we must seek peace. It’s what he was striving for, Haku; it’s what he died for.”
“It’s not what I’m striving for, Pika,” Haku hissed into the night. “Father was wrong. He died because he was wrong.”
They sat in silence for a few moments.
Pika turned to Haku and touched his arm. “I don’t want his death to have been a needless one. Rafa and Mother are talking peace now. And she’s marrying Makini to Likeke. I don’t want anything to go wrong.”
“You shouldn’t be sneaking around on their land, then, should you?”
Pika made a fist. “That was different. It was necessary.”
Haku laughed. “Necessary? Selfish, more like it.”
“But if I can find the crystal mines―” He broke off and shook his head. “Never mind. You wouldn’t understand.”
Haku shrugged. “And you don’t understand me, either. About why I want revenge. Don’t think we’ll ever agree. Let’s change the subject.” He tapped his brother on the knee. “Don’t you want to find that other crystal bed? From the dances? You found the first one. Let’s find the second.”
Pika tucked his knees up, wrapped his arms around his legs. “You know I do,” he answered through clenched teeth.
“Well, so do I. I’ll help you find it.”
“And what will you do when we find it?”
“You know what I’ll do,” Haku said quietly.
“I want none of it.”
“And you won’t have to have any of it. Together we’ll find the crystal bed. You’ll have your moment of glory and know all your theories are correct. We’ll have had some brotherly companionship, and then I’ll follow my plans and you’ll follow yours. You needn’t be involved after that.” Haku paused. “Only we’re supposed to be guarding Kalea.”
He hissed.
“We can do both,” Pika said after a long while. “I think that other crystal bed is not too far from the mountain. And in our territory. I think, anyway.”
Haku slapped Pika on the thigh. “Okay, then. We’re in business. Get some sleep. We’ll need to find Kalea first.”
Chapter 4
The Calling Moon
Present Time. On the spaceship Stardust.
Wren remembered Sick Bay well. It was where she’d lost The Sausage―a nickname for her mangled, infected leg she and Eloch had been unable to treat properly―and gained her shiny black artificial leg, officially referred to as an “animated”. The device was apparently fireproof, as well as waterproof, as the young woman on the pallet had hissed once, spewing a plume of fire from her mouth which engulfed Wren’s animated.
Aiko had been quick with the extinguisher.
“Perhaps we should give her some distance,” Spider said, moving to stand behind Aiko.
“Back, Little Sister,” Eloch said calmly, and the huge sniffer moved to stand behind him with a low rumble of a growl. He ignored the beast and focused on the girl. “We mean you no harm,” he told her quietly.
The girl’s eyes widened when she understood him.
“We frightened her,” Wren said. “Charging in like a pack of sniffers.” She eyed the girl, who looked as if she was getting ready to expel more flames. “Hey,” she said soothingly, “hey, there. We won’t hurt you. We’re trying to make you better. Genji knows how to fix you up so we can take you home.”
“Genji?” The girl looked up at Genji, who was standing uncertainly at her side. Her face softened, and she looked confused. Her eyes returned to Wren, to Eloch, and back to Wren. “You will take me home?”
Wren nodded. “Of course. When you’re well.”
“How do you understand her?” Eloch asked softly. The plant gift from Entean, his home planet, allowed him to understand not only languages, but also the very nuances of other planets. But Wren?
Wren glanced at Genji. “I assumed you had your translator on.”
Genji shook his head. “She’s just woken up.”
“I thought being able to communicate with Little Sister was my gift from Spur. Maybe I can communicate with anyone or anything,” she mused. “Spur never told me what my gift was. Said I would discover it.” She raised her eyebrows and looked at the girl. “Perhaps I just did.”
“It’s a handy gift,” Spider said from his safe spot behind Aiko
, who continued to brandish the fire extinguisher like a weapon.
If he could have, Wren mused, Spider would have folded his lanky frame even smaller. She bet he wished Aiko was just a little bit broader, a better barrier between him and the girl belching fire.
“Perhaps you can calm her down, Wren?” Eloch suggested.
“Will she be doing that again?” Aiko asked, her eyes darting toward the pallet. “The fire spitting?” She gripped the extinguisher more tightly.
Wren looked at the young woman, who sat huddled in her blanket, her exposed shoulder looking dislocated and badly bruised. “I don’t think so, Aiko.”
She smiled encouragement at the girl. “Will you trust us enough to allow him,” she gestured at Genji, “to heal you?”
The girl eyed Genji, then nodded slowly.
“I’m sorry we frightened you,” Wren continued. “Why don’t we leave until Genji has made you feel better? He can fetch us when he’s finished.”
The girl whipped around to Wren. “No, you stay.”
“Guys?” Wren said to the others, keeping her voice and posture relaxed. “I’ll let you know when it’s safe to come back.”
“Great idea,” Spider said and hastily backed out of the room.
“Take this,” Aiko said, and offered the extinguisher to Wren. “Just in case.”
Eloch squeezed Aiko’s shoulder gently. “Wren won’t need it, Aiko,” he said as he left the room, shadowed by Little Sister.
“Uh, we’ll just be down the hall,” Aiko said, pointing. “And I’ll set this right here.” She placed the extinguisher by the doorway, gave it a steadying pat. She eyed the singe marks before she followed the others.
“Now,” Wren said to the girl as the footfalls faded. “I’m called Wren, and this is Genji. What’s your name?” She crossed over to the pallet.
“I’m going to turn on the translator,” Genji said as he held up the device.