Two Moons of Sera (23 page)

I slept wrapped up in Tor’s arms, warm and comfortable in
his embrace. Even the hard cave ground couldn’t compete with the peace I found
when he held me.

We didn’t tie Lock up. If he went back now, he was just as
likely to be accused of helping us as he was to lead them here, and something
in his desperate pleas for forgiveness told me he wouldn’t go anywhere. If
anything, he wanted permission to stay. Desperation can make people do unreasonable
things, and while I couldn’t forgive him for betraying us, I understood what
being pushed to that point might feel like.

Lace slept next to Elle, curled around her friend’s
exhausted body, and Traz sat near the cave entrance. I succumbed to sleep long
before he even looked tired.

Tor and I lay pressed against the cave wall behind the pile
of bags. I slept sandwiched between the cold wall and his warmth, which soon
melded to the curve of my spine, my brain convincing me I was comfortable.
Sleep washed over me, and for the first time since the cove, I drifted
peacefully.

***

Ancient birds swoop from the sky. Tor’s heavy head rests
on my stomach, his body draping across my lower half. But the sounds of death
fill my mind as they dive toward the sea, impossibly large, plucking Sualwets
from beneath the surface as easily as if they were fodder for seagulls.

Above the water, the monstrous beasts fly, reptilian but
for their beaks and wings. The crunch of Sualwet bones crackles in my ears as
the whoosh of another bird passes by. Along the shore, groups of Sualwet run
for the safety of the trees only to be shot down by hidden gunmen. I watch
helpless as Mintoch bursts from the surf and runs toward the tree line. He
races along my cove, searching for cover and dodging unseen bullets.

Out from the cover of the forest canopy steps Ash. His
hair is cropped short, not styled in the floppy fashion he usually wore. He
lacks the smile that always greeted me in Pod Thirty-four. Instead, his face is
stern and cold as he aims his gun. I scream and watch as the bullets take down
Mintoch mid-stride.

***

Shocked awake, I braced my arm against the cave wall. Its
cool surface brought me to reality, and I let the chill soak into my pores and
wash away the panic from my dream.

“Are you all right?” Tor whispered in a sleepy voice.

I relaxed at the sound of him, feeling the weight of his arm
as he moved next to me. “Bad dream.”

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

I lost myself in his impossibly blue eyes, which were filled
with concern and something deeper and truer, and shook my head. I didn’t want
to talk about it. I didn’t want to exist in the place my dreams had taken me. I
only wanted to exist with him. As we gazed at each other, a spark lit between
us, fizzling out before it could reach my skin.

Tor’s lips were soft against mine. He kissed me gently,
barely touching me other than the hand he had placed along my side. With a
sigh, I reached for him, my hands gripping the rough hair that fell down his
back. My kiss wasn’t soft, and I didn’t want to be gentle. I wanted to feel
safe for just a moment. I wanted that moment with Tor.

The flame in his eyes and the light blazing within me
intensified. I wanted to melt into him, disappear into his fire.

“What about the others?” he whispered.

“They’re asleep aren’t they?”

He peeked over the pile of bags and supplies to the other
side of the cave where everyone else slept, and returned to me with a smile. “They’re
completely out. Lock is drooling.”

I giggled and pulled him back to me. “Quiet.” I whispered,
pulling one of the blankets we’d brought over us.

Tor’s kissed me as he settled back on the ground, slipping
an arm beneath my body and pulling me tight against him. Arms wrapped around
each other, our passion blazed. Something within me released and relaxed. A
rush of calm passed through me, and I smiled.

“Tor?” I whispered, pulling his attention back to me.

“Hmm?”

~
Orda sual fazla,
~ I confessed, repeating the words
that had escaped when he kissed me in the pod. Now I knew that I meant them.

He smiled and tilted his head to the side. “What does it
mean?”

“It’s Sualwet. There isn’t really a translation.”

“Try.”

“Something like, ‘I’m yours... I’m yours to take, if you
will have me.’”

“
Orda sual fazla
,” he repeated, mangling the language
but getting the meaning. “I know its translation.”

“Oh, yeah?” I whispered into the darkness.

“Mm-hmm.” He kissed me lightly before continuing. “I love
you.”

The words hung in the air around us, sweet and pure, like
the first spring fruit or a shooting star. “I love you, too.”

We slept the rest of the day wrapped in each other’s arms,
unwilling to move apart until the sun set.

A chill woke me, creeping across skin and nipping at my
mind. Tor was gone, but he had draped his shirt across me. Joy radiated through
me and dissipated the cold.

Shifting my weight, I stretched to relieve the aches from
sleeping on the cave floor and then pulled yesterday’s clothes on. The scent of
the river still clung to them, waking my mind with its clean fragrance.

At the cave entrance, Tor, Elle, and Traz were sitting
around a small fire. I crept past Lace and Lock’s sleeping figures to join the
others, letting the fire draw me in. When I sat, Tor placed a hand on my back
and pulled me closer. His lips touched my forehead before he handed me a meal
bar. He sat shirtless. I kept my head down but wanted to drink in the sight of
him, his scars, his beauty. The group ate in silence, not breaking the peaceful
morning air.

Traz spoke at last. “I’m going to leave as soon as you guys
are ready to go.” Dim light from the cave opening outlined his silhouette. “I
have to go back, see what happened.”

“I wish you’d stay with us,” I admitted, knowing he wouldn’t.

“There are too many questions. Too much we don’t know.”

“What will you do when you find your answers?” Tor asked.
His hand moved up and down my back, soothing me with his warmth.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll come find you. Maybe I’ll try to
make people listen.”

“They’ll never listen,” Lock said sleepily from behind me.

“Maybe,” Traz agreed, nodding his head, still determined to
leave.

Lock sat next to Elle and patted her on the leg. “Morning,
beautiful,” he said as Tor tossed him a meal bar.

“Morning,” she whispered, barely audible but finally
speaking.

“Did you eat?” He ripped open the bar’s packaging and
crunched half of it off in a huge bite.

“Yes.” She bobbed her head but didn’t look up. Instead, she
placed her hand on Lock’s knee.

I understood the silent gesture to mean they were friends,
too. Lock, whatever had driven him to Vaughn, was not truly a bad person. He
would never hurt me or Elle or anyone else unless he believed he had no choice.
Elle being the first accept his apology would ease the way for the rest of us
to make peace with what he had done. Her sweet nature opened the door without
even the slightest effort.

“It’s time to go,” Tor announced, leaving me with the fire.
Behind me, he pulled Lace’s sleeping bag out from under her, dumping her to the
ground unceremoniously.

“Hey!” she wailed, sitting up in half-asleep anger only to
be met with Tor’s booming laugh.

I turned and saw his beaming smile, his relaxed stance. This
was the real Tor—happy. I didn’t care where we went or what we did so long as
he kept that smile.

He whistled, and Elgon came running in from wherever he had
been standing guard. The mountain hound purred as Tor scratched his head and
fed him a meal bar.

“Come on, let’s go,” Lace grunted, running her hands through
knotted blond hair.

We repacked the few things we had taken out. I pulled on the
boots I’d packed, hoping they would protect my feet from the rocky terrain we
planned to hike through. Tor and I each took a bag, leaving Elgon unhindered.

“Are you sure you remember which way you came?” I asked Traz
when we stepped out into the late-evening air.

“Pretty sure.” He pointed out over the tree line. In the
distance, I could see the camp. The settlement burst from the forest, buildings
overshadowing nature. Traz handed the bag he’d been carrying to Lock. “Be
careful.”

Elle’s small voice broke from behind us. “Traz, thank you.”
Her curls hung limp around her face, and she lacked the shine of her usual
glee, but when he pulled her into his arms, she clung to him without tears. “Thank
you.”

“We’re going up,” Tor announced, pointing to the rocky wall
behind us. “We’ll cross the mountaintop and head straight west. If you leave
the camp, go the same direction.”

Traz nodded, pulled Elle into another tight embrace, and
then walked away. A part of my heart went with him. My mother, Mintoch, and now
Traz. I was losing people before I ever really got to know them, and it all
happened so fast. Hardly a week ago I was sitting in the sand at my cove,
wishing Tor would return to me.

Traz’s figure retreated into the trees, and soon only my
Sualwet senses proved he was there.

Lace rubbed her hands together and tightened the strap of
her bag. “All right! Let’s go.”

“Do you have to be so enthusiastic?” Lock grumbled with a
grin.

“Do you have to be so lazy?”

“Just wait ‘til your body adjusts to not having all those
chemicals from the camp fed into it, then you’ll see.”

Lace rolled her eyes and turned to await Tor’s instructions.
He took the mantle of leading our group easily. He knew the forest better than
anyone, and with Elgon scouting ahead, we navigated from the cave, through the
thick woods, and to the rock wall without difficulty. Well, all of us except
for Lock, who was out of breath by the time we got there.

“Up, huh?” Lace raised an eyebrow as she inspected the
rocks.

“It’s easier than you think,” I encouraged. I took off my
boots and stuffed them into my pack. I’d appreciated the protection they
offered when walking through the trees, but I needed my senses if I was going
to make it up the wall.

Elle stared at my feet, noticing my webbed toes for the first
time. “Sweet gods.”

“Yeah, she’s a Fish who’s Matched with a fire starter,” Lace
joked, wrapping an arm around her friend. “Lock’s unMatchable and I’m a bitch.
I think we all kind of belong together.”

Elle’s eyes traveled up to meet mine, and while I didn’t see
the disgust I was raised to expect, questions loomed in her gaze.

“I’ll tell you everything,” I said. “I promise. But right
now we need to get as far away from the camp as we can.”

Without waiting for her reply, I placed a foot on the rock
wall and vaulted up the steep incline. I grabbed hold of the small rocks
jutting out of the wall and pulled myself higher. Soon, the angle evened out
and the terrain became manageable. With a glance back, I called down, “It’s not
too bad when you get up high!”

One after the other, Lace, Elle, and Lock all pulled
themselves up the wall until we sat on the rocky cliff above. Elle’s lithe,
small body had allowed her to climb up quickly, and by the time she joined me,
a smile graced her face.

“I’ve never done anything like this.” She glowed with
accomplishment while peering down at Lace, who struggled to find places to put
her feet. Elle’s radiance shone from behind the sadness in her eyes, still
there but dimmed.

“It’s fun, huh?” I said.

“Yes.” She sat next to me. “Sera, thank you for what you did
for me. Lace and Traz told me it was your idea to run. I know having us along
slows you and Tor down, but—”

“I’m glad you’re here.”

“If we get caught, I won’t let them hurt you.” Her
declaration was sincere, but we both knew she wouldn’t be able to stop armed
Erdlanders like the version of Ash I’d seen in my dream.

Lace crested the wall and lay down next to Elle, panting,
her bag thrown haphazardly on the ground. “
Jikmae
,” she wheezed.

Elle and I both laughed.

Below, Tor called, “I’m coming up, so get ready to keep
going.”

Lace moaned as Lock reached the top and joined her on the
ground.

I tugged on my pack before poking Lace with my foot. “Get
up. He’ll be here faster than you think.”

“Shut up,” she growled before grabbing her pack. “And don’t
touch me with your Fishy feet.”

Lace’s form of friendship was starting to grow on me, and I
wiggled my toes in the dirt. “Fish maybe, but I’m still doing better on land
than you!” I kicked her in the leg and took off running, following the natural
path into the woods. I heard her panting behind me but refusing to give up
chase.

While weaving beneath the trees, I sensed the river deep
beneath the ground, its power reaching out to me and calling me home. Animals
darted away as I sprinted, and I lost myself in the motion. The dirt was moist
beneath my feet, and trees sang into the forest. Freedom was fresh in the night
air.

Moonlight burst between the trees, leading me farther into
the wood. Lace still chased me, the others following farther back. As I stepped
into the open field, a familiar sound greeted me.

Voices filled the air, breaking in waves over me as I fought
to control my own thoughts. The song from the melodisk was nothing compared to
the overwhelming power I experienced hearing it in person. Each note drew me
in, tried to subdue my mind, and overtake my will. Voices swam together,
igniting the air with an irresistible draw. I pulled and struggled to escape
the melody’s hold on me.

Lace broke through the tree line and stopped mid-stride as
the music worked its insidious power on her mind. She inched forward one jerky
step at a time, drawn toward the unseen call. Her eyes glazed over with the
same hypnotic trance I’d seen in Pod Thirty-four.

“No!” I shouted, breaking the sound’s hold on me.

I lunged toward Lace and tackled her to the ground. She didn’t
struggle when I started dragging her listless, limp form out of the open. Her
body was heavy, so I shrugged off my bag, reducing the weight I had to carry so
I could focus on hauling her as far from the music as possible. I had to warn
the others!

The farther I dragged her, the more animated she became, and
a look of bewilderment replaced her vacant stare. As I settled her against a
tree, something sparked behind me.

Tor!

He streamed past me, running into the field at full speed,
leaving nothing but a growl in his wake.

I chased him, unable to match his pace but keeping him
within sight. He surged into the trees on the other side of the field and
headed straight toward the nearest cliff—the one we’d planned to climb. A
stream cascaded over the rocks into a spring below. At its base, Tor ran
through a wall of water, a waterfall glinting in the sunlight. The voices
nearly overwhelmed me here. They bore down on my consciousness with a tangible
weight, demanding my submission.

Focusing on Tor, I chased him into unknown danger and left
the others to defend themselves. I burst through the waterfall, soaked, but
kept running. My webbed toes gripped the wet stone floor. The cave around me
was black except for the shimmer of flames far in the distance.

Tor....

The music from the field deafened in such close confines.
Shrill notes reverberated against the cave walls, creating harmonies within
themselves, surrounding me with power. I felt the draw of the music and wanted
to give in, to let it wash over me, seep through me, and dominate my mind—but I
couldn’t. Something was wrong with all of this.

Ahead the light flickered and disappeared. I ran faster.
Darkness didn’t scare me. The rush of water from the waterfall still echoed
behind me, and with my heightened senses, I could make out the curve of the
tunnel. My feet navigated the path without faltering. At a sharp turn I flung
myself around it, hoping to see Tor. Instead, a thick and heavy blackness greeted
me. My eyes couldn’t pierce it, so I opened my mind and searched for the sound
the sound of him.

I found nothing ahead, even with my Sualwet senses. The
music somehow formed a solid mass impenetrable to sight or sound. My pace
slowed, but I continued through the darkness. Tor had come this way. He was
here
,
he had to be. I would find him. I couldn’t lose him now, after everything we’d
been through....

With careful steps I pressed through the heavy, warm
darkness, its presence weighing me down with an almost liquid force. But unlike
in water, I was unwelcome here. This darkness wanted me to submit to the music,
to become mindless like Lace in the field. Gritting my teeth, I dug my
fingernails into my palms as I pushed through. The pain kept me centered on the
present, my heart focused on Tor.

I turned again and again, weaving through the darkened maze
until the song reached a crescendo and I broke through the black nothingness.
In the distance, a warm light flickered. Again, I raced toward the flames. They
grew brighter and brighter as I neared, and fear raced through my veins.

The next bend opened into a cavern. A cascade of lava formed
one wall, the molten, orange flow radiating heat as it oozed into a pit in the
cave floor. When I skidded to a halt, sharp stone and rocks grinding into my
bare feet. I cringed at the pain but ignored it, refusing the focus on anything
but Tor.

He stood before me, his hair hanging down his back like
ropes. He faced two tall women, their skin black like the cave’s depths. They towered
above me, almost as tall as Tor, with bald heads and unsmiling faces. Their
crossed battle staffs blocked anyone tempted to approach the lava.

Bare from the waist up, the women had ebony skin that shone
in the firelight. Each one had no hair anywhere—not on their heads or even
eyebrows. White skirts flowed over their hips, tumbling in waves to the ground.
The contrast against their dark flesh was striking. Bare-chested and ferocious,
they stared at Tor as they sang.

“A’aihea,” I whispered, knowing that we had found these
mysterious people at last.

Neither Tor nor the women acknowledged my presence, so I
crept forward, careful to be as silent as possible.

“Tor.” I placed a hand on his arm, hoping to break the spell
he was under. He twitched at the contact but didn’t pull away or look at me. It
was as if his body registered the touch but not his soul.

“Tor, look at me,” I begged, hoping to pull him out of the
trance.

His eyes retained that lost, hypnotized look.

Why was I the only one who could resist their song?

The singing rose in pitch, and the women stepped apart, eyes
still locked on him. After pulling their bladed staffs aside, the cave wall
pulsed in waves of fiery colors. Red and orange sparks burst from the lava,
creating the illusion that the magma itself was undulating with life.