AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Nenneh Kadeh turns to me, smiles. “Well, then, Angoro, shall we?” She points to her creature, massive silver stripes racing down its purple-gray back. “You can ride Maida with me.”
“As long as Ixa can fly alongside,” I automatically say.
Nenneh Kadeh inclines her head. “Your godsworn is, of course, welcome. As are your gryphs,” she says, turning to the others. “They can use the currents behind the horn rays to glide. I assume they will welcome the respite.”
“They will,” I say, walking over. We’re not the only ones exhausted after the events of the past few days. The gryphs and Ixa are as well. I glance up at Nenneh Kadeh, who is almost as tall as her nephew. “How do I get on?”
The priestess demonstrates by walking directly onto one of the creature’s wings, which is flapping wetly across the grass. From their moisture and sheen, I get the sudden sense that it’s as much an aquatic creature as it is an aerial one. “You just walk on. And don’t worry: horn rays’ wings aren’t sensitive.”
I squint at the horn ray, which ripples softly as it blinks its gentle black eyes at me. “All right, Maida,” I whisper, “it’s you and me.”
But as I prepare to get on, a hand stops me. Britta’s. Her eyes are grim as she pulls me to the side, well out of range of Lamin’s aunt. At least, that’s the hope. Given how little we know about the godsworn, we can’t be sure yet what the nature and extent of their abilities are.
After all, we didn’t realize, until Lamin pulled off his mask, that the types of godsworn for each god looked distinctly different.
“Deka,” Britta begins, but I hold up a hand, to both her and Keita, who’s also walked over.
I know it’s possibly a trap, I acknowledge with battle language, the hand gestures we use to communicate with deathshrieks or in situations where speaking isn’t an option. Over the years, it’s expanded into a complete language. That Mother may not be there. Or that we may still be stuck in the shadow vales and this is some sort of illusion. Either way, we’ll figure it out. We always do. But Myter healed me, Britta. And she feels different—her, Bala—even this Sarla. They all feel different from the Oterans. I know it’s painful to hope again, but let’s at least try. If everything they’re saying is the truth, then we’re near to getting my kelai and ending the Gilded Ones and the Idugu once and for all.
And if they’re lying? It’s Keita’s turn to gesture now, and there’s a look in his eyes. A determination.
It matches mine.
We put everything to the flame and burn that pretty floating city to the ground. I add an extra lyricism to my hand movements as I say this.
A smile ghosts over his lips. “You’re so delightful when you’re frightening,” he says out loud, fire gleaming in his eyes as he softly caresses my cheek.
Britta rolls her eyes. “And that right there is me sign to exit,” she mutters, walking away as Keita kisses my cheek, leaving soft little trails of fire.
Warmth washes over me, and I look down, overwhelmed. It’s been so long since I’ve been touched this much, so long since I’ve felt anyone’s skin on mine other than Ixa’s. And the fact that it’s Keita’s hands, Keita’s touch…
It’s all I can do to keep from folding myself into him. “I know,” I manage to say past the heat rising in my body. “It’s the same with you.” I say this last bit with battle language. You’re so handsome when you’re being devious.
“That’s because I’m always trying to match you.” He kisses me one last time, then sighs and takes a step away, letting in the outside world again.
Once my pulse has steadied, I turn to Nenneh Kadeh with a bright if patently false smile. “Shall we?”
The elder just grins. “What are we waiting for, then? Onward, to Maiwuri!”
10
The ride to Maiwuri is even smoother than I imagined, Maida’s wings gently gliding over the wind currents as the ocean sprays mist softly over us. Nenneh Kadeh is clearly adept at guiding the horn ray, so I just lean back and savor the experience—the sun beaming gently on my face, the refreshing coolness of the blue water…It’s so clear, I can see the fish dancing just under the surface. I watch, fascinated, as a school of tiny silver fish leap out of the water, the fins on their sides spreading into wings, which they use to flap away from the larger purple fish leaping behind them. I know I should be tense and on the defensive, that I should spend however much time it takes to get to the city strategizing contingency plans, but the combination of the warm sun and cool ocean spray lulls me into a dazed contentment I haven’t felt in months—perhaps even years.
Later, I can panic. Later, I can be apprehensive. For now, I just want to be.
As my eyes slide closed, I become aware of something strange: a low, soothing thrumming that seems closer and closer with every passing moment. I would mistake it for the thrumming I heard in the vales, except it’s deeper. Richer.
Welcoming.
Here! Ixa suddenly calls from beside me, where he’s been flying in the form of a small blue bird, his nightflyer form. Except he’s not speaking to me. Deka and me here, he says to his mysterious questioner.
When I open my eyes, alarmed, I see Ixa rapidly shrinking as he transforms into a new creature I’ve never seen before: a tiny scaled being that almost looks like his former kitten guise, only this one is scaled all over and has velvety, almost bat-like wings of a brilliant, jewellike blue.
“Ixa?” I ask as he flaps down toward the waves.
But he doesn’t seem to notice me anymore.
Ixa here! he says happily, speaking to something beneath the waves, something that is so massive, the water around us darkens as it approaches, sending those purple fish fleeing for the depths.
