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“I wouldn’t recommend that.” Rhyalla said. “Though, I’m sure it would be entertaining to watch you try. You are not the first to come looking for The Flute. Even among our own people, children make it a bit of a game. They dare each other to try to pull it free. It never ends well.”
Dossidian and Amon smirked at each other.
“Pass me a saber,” Amon said, and Dossidian tossed him one with a mischievous grin on his face.
“If I get it first, you have to take over handling supply manifests for the army for a month.” Dossidian challenged and Amon grinned.
“Fine. What do I get if I get it first?”
“I’ll cover you for your next six trade meetings. I know how they bore you.”
“Deal,” Amon agreed. He pulled back the saber and brought it down on the box so quickly I barely saw him move. For a second, I thought he would hit it, but it seemed there was a force field of some kind around the box. It flashed as the saber struck it. Amon was blasted away so hard he slammed into the wall.
“Shit, Amon are you ok?” I asked, rushing to him, but when he looked up, he was laughing.
“Pathetic,” Dossidian tutted his tongue and drew his own saber back before charging the box. He met the same fate as Amon. However, when he was blown back away by the force field, he went right through the wall. My eyes widened as I watched him disappear into the thick canopy of the trees that surrounded us. Amon cracked up laughing. He approached the Dossidian sized hole in the wall and called out into the trees.
“What were you saying about me being pathetic?”
“Origin smite you!” Dossidian cursed from somewhere in the distance. I rolled my eyes.
“You both are acting like children,” I scolded them. Amon looked back at me, unable to stop himself from laughing as Dossidian climbed back up to the structure from a nearby tree.
Rhyalla came up next to me. For a moment, I was embarrassed that we had hurt her tree house. However, she was grinning as Amon and Dossidian squared up to attack the box again.
“Boys will be boys. I suppose it doesn’t matter where they hail from,” she said. I nodded, beginning to feel amused myself.
Rhyalla turned to me. “Would you like a tour of Olkuyrbe? It looks like your friends will be occupied for quite some time.” She gestured to Amon and Dossidian as they continued to circle the box, examining it to see if they could find a better angle.
“Sure, that sounds nice.” I replied, smiling at her.
“Meet us at the pyre when you are finished… playing.” Rhyalla said over her shoulder. Amon looked up briefly, from his inspection of the force field.
“Keep her safe,” he said. His tone was light, but it had clearly been an order and not a request.
“No harm will come to your party while you are here. You are my guests.”
Amon nodded curtly, and we left them to their game.
39
I walked with Rhyalla through the settlement. She showed me where they got their water from, their community gathering places and also told me what life was like living in the rainforest.
“I’m sorry about the hole in your wall, and also about killing so many of your K'aalpa-kah.” I grimace. Although, I really wasn’t sorry about the three that Amon had killed. I was almost certain they had been about to eat me.
“That is the way of the K'aalpa-kah. You know that you might die when you agree to take up that post. It is not personal. We attacked you and you defended your lives. They lost theirs. That is the way of things.” She smiled at me, her yellow cat-like eyes flashing in the shade cast from the trees above. “Our generals will gather the dead and hold a ceremony to honor them for their bravery and sacrifice.”
She looked thoughtful for a moment. “I am grateful, however, that Rycon stopped me from attacking your Prince. Knowing who you are now, I do believe I would have joined the many that had fallen.” I remembered Amon ripping the heart out of the chest of the shifter that had threatened me.
“Uh, yeah,” I said awkwardly. “He definitely would have killed you.”
“He will certainly be in high demand tonight. As will the rest of you, I am sure.” She mused. My head snapped to look at her.
“What do you mean… high demand?” I asked suspiciously.
“It is a Yal'duun-kala.” She explained. “I believe the human equivalent of the term is a wedding. Daemons have something similar, though I believe they just refer to it as a mating ceremony.
“Yal’duun-kala is traditionally a three day event. Much like human weddings, it is not just the two being mated that enjoy the romance of such an occasion. It is expected that guests pair up for the three days of dancing, among other things.” She smirked seductively at me.
