Coil of Worlds

As Lukar had hoped, the Pyrannis fought like rabid animals in their attempt to slow their progress. Although the Pyrannis killed a number of Malirran infantry with their skilled attack, Lukar’s army had undermined theirs as well. He couldn’t be more pleased. Days had passed with ever-increasing altercations—clear evidence of Pyran’s desperation. The brief skirmishes did little to halt his army’s forward movement. He smiled. Gharra’s stronghold was but a day’s march away. In the last week, the number of small villages they’d passed had swelled along with their size.

Lukar nudged his koti forward through the village, the animal snorting its restlessness. The Malirrans tasked with ransacking the village were almost finished. They had picked clean any useful tools, food, and livestock left behind by the villagers who vacated their homes in the dead of night. Leaving in such haste left the Pyrannis no time to burn the land. Supplementing his army’s rapidly dwindling supplies uplifted his men’s morale even as the coming siege made them edgy.

Pulling the animal to a halt, Lukar swung off the koti and landed on his feet, tossing the reins to the young man who ran forward. Lukar glanced over his army one more time, taking note of the tents already pitched for the night.

Entering his tent, he moved to the table, ignoring the men bowing along the walls. Motioning his commanders forward, he stated, “We reach Gharra tomorrow. How do our men fare?”

Leaning over the table, Ferer said, “The villages have supplemented our stores, but not enough. Without taking the time to hunt and scavenge the land, I estimate we’ll be hard pressed to feed our army two weeks from now.”

Lukar nodded. “Starting tomorrow, begin rationing the food. The men deserve a good evening’s meal. We’ve traveled a long distance in a relatively short amount of time.”

Ferer bowed and stepped out for a moment to relay the command before returning. Lukar studied the map for a moment before lifting his eyes to Alux, a member of his war council. “Are our ships nearby?”

“Yes, My King. They but await for word to move into position.”

Lukar flipped his dagger in his hand while he weighed the weaknesses of his plan. Using the dagger’s sharp tip to point to specific locations along the harbor, he asked, “Once they receive word, how long until they reach these three points?”

Alux contemplated the distance between the ships’ current position and the three locations. “The ships are approximately three leagues out, far enough away the watch towers can’t see them on the horizon during the day. As ordered, they approach the shore as soon as night falls, on the lookout for the pyres to light. If they require stealth, it will take half the night.”

Lukar growled, “Half a night is unacceptable.”

Colm, another advisor, hummed in thought. The tall man leaned down, putting his weight on the table. He chuckled and said, “Perhaps not. In two weeks’ time, both moons will wane.”

Lukar and Colm shared a dark look, both already thinking ahead, mapping out the siege. “Perfect,” Lukar looked down at the map, an evil smile lifting the corners of his mouth. “The moons’ tide will work in our favor. Ferer, send word to the men along the coast. They must light the fires as soon as the sun sets in two weeks’ time. The ships must be in position when the night is at its darkest. The men are to disembark and await my signal.”

Lukar swept his gaze across the men in the room. Their grim composure did nothing to hide their bloodthirst for the coming battle.

¤¤¤

Lara twisted the front of her shirt to shed the excess water after wringing out her hair. She glanced up at the insects she’d secretly dubbed fireflies. Lara inhaled and exhaled. Chion bumped her, sliding his wet coat along her leg. She asked, What if the answers we need aren’t here?

He shook his head and twitched his whiskers, slinging water drops across her face. Lara choked out a laugh and shoved him away. We will not know until we look, he encouraged.

She groaned. It isn’t fair, you know. Do you always have to be so pragmatic?

What would you have me say?

I don’t know, Lara huffed, rolling her eyes, but you make me look bad. I’m supposed to be the calm one.

Chion chuckled aloud, and the sound rebounded against the cavern walls. The fireflies rose in mass, dancing around the room.

Lara screeched, cowered down on her haunches, and covered her face with both her hands. Unlike before, the insects flew in a frenzy around them. Their wings kissed her skin, and she batted at them until they flew away. Lara peeked through her hands and found Skye kneeling on one side of her with Chion on the other. She shook her head, and a silent chuckle escaped her in the form of a shaky sigh. After everything they’d been through, being afraid of some insects seemed a bit much.

She stood back up, the material of her pants making a sucking sound. Eiren left their small group and approached the tomb, her curiosity obvious in the way her tail twitched back and forth.

Skye reached over and squeezed Lara’s shoulder, surprising her with his familiarity. “Let’s examine what we’ve come so far to find.”

Lara trailed after Skye until they all stared down at the large stone tomb. The carving closest to her was a beautiful, life-size depiction of a woman holding a broadsword in a two-handed grip with the blade pointing toward her feet. Lara brushed her right hand across the woman’s face. The action displaced the light covering of moss, uncovering the stone beneath it. Lara inhaled and jerked her hand away.

So it is true, Chion said, his excitement barely contained.

“Yes,” Lara agreed in a low voice, mindful of their glowing sentinels.

The woman carried a brand on her forehead. Lara stepped closer, leaning in to study the mark. Lara traced the mark with her thumb.

Skye said, “The man also has the mark. Come look.”

Lara rushed to the other side. On the way, she caught a glimpse of the stone portrait of a huge paka. The person who had sculpted this paka had captured him sitting in a regal position—his tail wrapped around his front legs. The feline wore a simple but elegant necklace. The next stone carving was of another feline, though this one was female. The artist had rendered the eyes in a way that captured the paka’s soulful gaze, seeming to beseech the person standing before her. Lara drifted her hand over the paka’s head, feeling the raised stone just above her brow.

Lara noted aloud, “The paka carries the same mark.”

But she didn’t stop until she stood next to Skye and locked her gaze on the dead man’s smiling face. Lara got the sense he laughed at the world. His hair was pulled back in what she thought was a queue. Instead of brandishing a broadsword like the woman, the man held a longbow with both hands. The strap for the quiver of arrows draped across his body from shoulder to hip. The fletching for three arrows were almost hidden behind the man’s broad back. Then her vision narrowed to the brand occupying the man’s forehead.

Skye moved around her to scrap off the thin layer of dirt on the female paka. Eiren lifted her paw to dig the moss off the male paka.

Lara looked back and forth, one to the other. “They’re all identical.” Lara glanced up at Skye’s forehead, for the first time studying the mark, comparing it to the mark on the man’s forehead. “We have the same mark, but ours are incomplete.”

Chion replied, Is it possible there is another bond that has yet to form?

“What do you mean? You and I both know that we’re Tal’Ai. There’s no way I’d forget when it happened. Extremely painful doesn’t quite cover the experience.”

Without taking his eyes off the tomb, Skye answered for Chion, “The same pain occurred at the time of our bond as well. We only have a partial mark, which means we haven’t fully bonded in the way of the Lan’Ai. Did any of you come across information regarding a second ceremony or instructions for two Tal’Ai to bond together?”

Both Eiren and Chion shook their heads and flicked their ears. Chion’s voice never rose above a whisper, No, I assume the two sets of Tal’Ai bonding is in fact the Lan’Ai bond the man wrote about in the old letter.

“If we’re supposed to become Lan’Ai, which I readily admit is becoming more and more likely—our marks make this hard to refute, then how do we complete the bond?” Lara looked at them, the question hanging in the air. “I mean, we have touched each other, hugged each other, and nothing happened.”

Skye frowned before repeating Eiren’s words, “Eiren raises an interesting point. If the bond formed between a paka and a human allows for magic to be channeled, then what comes from the bond between two Tal’Ai?”

Lara edged closer and reached out to touch Chion, needing the physical connection. She admitted in a harsh whisper, “I hadn’t thought about that. I simply wanted to know if we were Lan’Ai. I never thought of the ramifications…” She trailed off as a thought came to her.

She held up a finger when Chion started to say her name. She hurried forward, looking at each stone sarcophagus before sliding to the next one.

“Oh my God,” she breathed, “Look at their eyes. Neither the man nor the woman’s eyes changed colors.”

Skye’s head rocked back in surprise before he confirmed her observation. “Is this a consequence of the bond or something else?” Seeing their confusion, Skye tried to explain, “Think about it. Neither man nor woman have the black hair or light blue eyes of the Kurites. In fact, they look more like the ancestors of Pyrannis than Kurites.”

Chion’s thoughtful voice picked up where Skye left off. You have a valid point. Kurites began to change in their appearance a generation or two after the Dark War. Kurites and Pyrannis often married across the border as they were close allies, both sharing the bonds with Pakas. Remember, though, it wouldn’t matter whether they were more or less of either. If their eyes were to change, then they would have the golden eyes of the Pakas.

“Ah,” Skye nodded in agreement, “I forgot about the open border between the two kingdoms. Audren and Tryvor taught us of our shared history as part of our training. If what you say is true, then the reason we’ve not attained the Tal’Ai mark—the gold eyes of the Pakas—is because we’ve been chosen to form the Lan’Ai bond.”

Lara worried her bottom lip while she stared at the four Lan’Ai carvings, deep in thought. “Etheme mentioned we were far stronger than any Tal’Ai pair he’d ever met. Do you remember?”

Skye arched one eyebrow in confusion. “Yes, it is one reason why he was inclined during the trial to have us executed. Etheme feared the strength of the magic we hold was tied to a more sinister magic. Why?”

Lara hugged herself, wrapping her arms around her upper body. “It’s possible he felt the strength, the depth, of our magic once we become full Lan’Ai. But that isn’t what scares me.” She looked down to the ground, wriggling her toes, afraid to say the rest aloud, for fear it made it true.

My Lady? What is it that makes you uneasy? Chion’s voice, somber in its query, helped her to collect herself.

“What scares me is that…what if Etheme felt the strength of our magic as mere Tal’Ai? What if our power grows even stronger? Don’t you see? Skye and I can barely control our magic as it is, and that is me being incredibly optimistic. I can’t keep the shield up all the time. I forget. Become sidetracked. Skye is recently healed from a horrific brain bleed. He had lesions on his brain.” She trembled, and despite her effort, her exhale was shaky. Lara repeated, “What if our magic becomes stronger? How are we to learn control when we can’t handle what we have now?”

Skye ran his fingers through his hair in a rare show of agitation. “Lara is right. We haven’t completed our training in the magic we hold now. It’s possible Lara’s ability makes it nigh impossible for her to function around people. I don’t want to guess at what might happen to my own magic.”

Eiren lifted a foot to gain their attention. A few seconds later, Skye said, “Eiren states that we can’t know the future until it happens. We should focus on what we do know.” He grimaced after a short pause, then explained, “I don’t know whether I agree with her, but she also reminds us that the God and Goddess would not have put us on this path if we weren’t capable.”

Lara scoffed at that last comment, though unease rolled through her when she recalled the conversation she had with the voice proclaiming to be a goddess. Glancing around the small section of dry ground, she asked, “Well, we came a long way. Is this all the information we’re going to find?”

I agree, we should drop this discussion until later. While we have a respite from the twisted magic here in this cavern, we should search for more answers. Solara, where was the second tomb the priest marked?

Mentally retrieving the map, she turned around until she faced the wall Lara considered north. After a moment, Lara pointed behind her and a little to the right. “Thank God the other tomb is in this cavern.”

Without a word, Skye left them and walked back into the water. Once he was treading water, he instructed, “Keep pointing. I’ll follow the line to the tomb.” In the midst of the fireflies’ dancing above him, Skye swam across the cavern, following her directions to go left or right. They watched as Skye paused at each sarcophagus before moving on. At last, he turned to them with an expression Lara couldn’t name.

Bobbing up and down in the water with each stroke, Skye called, “You all need to see this.”

This time Lara ignored the insects. Foreboding slithered up and down her spine. Using a front crawl stroke, she quickly distanced herself from the slower pakas. Lara reached Skye by swimming over the sarcophagus without touching it with her feet.

The stone jutting halfway out of the water was different from any other tomb they’d seen. Panting from the exercise, Lara looked closer at the tombstone and realized it didn’t have a name or any dates. What it did have was altogether more important.

She was so surprised, she sank below the water’s surface before scissoring her legs again. Lara coughed up water and paddled over to grab onto the stone.

Skye murmured, “It’s the coil.”

“It is,” Lara agreed.