Chapter Twenty-Three

Fate Catches Up

They fell to the ground a few feet shy of the enormous, gray and white boulder Siara had selected earlier as a landmark for their return. As soon as her butt hit the dirt, she prepared herself for a wave of sheer agony and weariness as a result of the enormous amount of energy she’d pulled from the godline in order to transport all of them out of the palace. Instead, she felt only a mild throbbing at her temple and a brief moment of vertigo before the world righted itself and she was able to clamber to her feet.

Her gaze instantly sought Kir’s and she saw that he was wincing.

What did you do? she demanded to know.

“I did not realize the first time,” he admitted out loud, “but the more I thought about it, the more it makes sense. Accessing the godline drains you. This connection between us, it is there so that I can share the burden.”

Her eyes narrowed on him accusingly, and she crossed her arms over her chest as she seethed, “Then next time, share.”

The bannen flushed guiltily, clearly having not counted on her figuring out that he had taken nearly all of the backlash onto himself. Satisfied that he’d gotten the message, Siara bent down to retrieve her sack from where it had slid off of her shoulder after the teleportation. As soon as she picked up the leather satchel, she knew that something was horribly wrong.

“The book is gone,” she said weakly.

“Who cares about some book? Rahm’s unconscious, and I still don’t understand why,” Tika interrupted from where she was kneeling next to her friend.

Ignoring her, Ana glanced back towards the city, where the palace was clearly in flames, and said dryly, “I don’t think that going back for it is going to make a difference.”

“That slimy bastard must have taken it when he knocked me over.”

“Hello. Help for the unconscious man, here.” Rahm groaned, moving just a little. The others continued to ignore her.

“What are we going to do?” Siara asked Kir, who smiled at her reassuringly.

“It will be fine. It is all up here.” He tapped his skull.

“But you couldn’t read the symbols,” Ana reminded him.

“I could not interpret them,” he corrected. “I read them just fine. When it is time for us to know the next name, it will come to me.”

“Oh, that’s perfect,” Siara grumbled. “Just…”

She stopped talking when she felt the sharp point of a knife jutting into her side and turned her head calmly to look at an enraged Tika.

“I want some answers, damn it, and I will not be ignored.”

“Tika, I’m all right,” Rahm rasped from where he was still lying on the ground, Argynn standing protectively behind him.

“No, you’re not, and these people are going to tell me why, or I swear I will gut you,” she threatened, poking Siara a little harder.

“Fine way to treat your rescuer,” Siara retorted.

“Tika, put the knife down.”

The knife immediately dropped to the ground, falling from Tika’s suddenly lifeless fingers. “Damn it, old wolf, stop doing that!”

“I will stop using my powers on you when you start behaving rationally. In case you failed to notice, the rebel camp is just on the other side of that boulder. Since no one is on the brink of death anymore, perhaps we could find Balia and Amali and let them know that we made it out all right.” He turned to Rahm. “Can you stand?”

The earthstomper groaned. “Do I have to?”

“Stop whining and get up,” Ana ordered.

“Hey, you…” Tika started, even as Argynn looked at each woman in turn and said, “Be calm.”

Siara was immediately overcome by a feeling of peace and lassitude, and she hadn’t even been a part of this argument.

“Not fair, mirkai,” Ana said, although in a peaceable drawl instead of her usual snide tone.

“Behave like children and I will treat you as such.” Argynn turned back to Rahm who, with an amused but strained smile, was slowly rising to his feet. “You are all right?”

“I will be,” he assured them all, looking pointedly at Tika as he said this. She glared back sourly but wisely kept her mouth shut. “Let’s go find Balia and my sister.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amali had obviously gotten over whatever fear had previously made her hesitant in Rahm’s presence. As soon as she caught sight of him wearily approaching the fire around which she, Balia, and Omden sat, she leapt to her feet and threw herself into his arms. Oddly, he did not experience the usual overwhelming disgust that resulted from such close physical contact. It was actually comforting. Funny how trying to bury his past had in fact hindered him instead of helping him, and finally accepting that past had been what truly set him free.

“You are all right!” Amali cried, holding him tight.

“You know, I think I am,” Rahm agreed, smiling just a little as he returned her embrace. He glanced at Tika from over his sister’s head and noticed that she was observing him with an expression of pure delight on her face.

His fear was behind him now.

As they gathered round the fire, the discussion diverged from its original path a bit when Argynn asked Balia what they had done to protect the city from the palace’s flames. The rebel leader explained how they had easily cut through the city guards and had then created a chain of people from the nearest water source to the wall surrounding the palace. They doused the wall with water to keep the fire from spreading into the city, and then they lay in wait for those seeking to escape the flames.

“What did you do with the escapees?” Tika wondered, her eyes glittering as she waited for the bloodthirsty details.

“Took prisoners. Lots of them,” Balia replied disappointingly.

“What?! If I’d been out there instead of having my guts slowly removed, I would have been lopping heads off left and right!”

Taking her remark about having her guts removed as a joke, Balia advised, “We’re thinking about making a confinement camp of our own to reform the formerly wealthy into productive citizens of the new Nubanynn.”

“Oh. Well. I suppose that’s all right, then.” Tika settled down, and Rahm could tell that she was already thinking about all of the fun she could have with a campful of formerly wealthy men and women at her mercy.

“I’m assuming your little plan worked?” Balia addressed this question to the pale-skinned woman, who nodded shortly in response.

“Perhaps introductions are in order?” Rahm suggested upon realizing he didn’t even know the names of his rescuers, to whom he owed Tika’s life. They were certainly an odd group, one with skin so white it was almost translucent, the other no more than a child, and the third…well, Rahm had never seen such a massive man, nor had he ever witnessed such odd coloring as was in his hair and eyes.

“I think more than introductions are in order,” Tika added. “I want to know all about this godline business and just how Rahm and my father are involved.”

Father. Well, she had certainly taken the news that Argynn was her father far more easily than Rahm was. He was still reeling over the fact that his constant companion for the past five years was half-mirkai. No wonder she’d always had such excellent vision.

With a sigh, the pale-skinned woman began to talk. And talk. Her name was Siara, and she told them a story about how her brother had essentially been kidnapped by a siren and was now in the clutches of a very wealthy and notable Dekacon official. With the help of a renegade Oracle, the three were making an attempt to gather a group of people known as conduits and keys so that they might resurrect their master, the god of darkness, Irkna. After having born witness to the godline itself, tapped into its power, and felt its horrific aftereffects, Rahm found it far easier to believe everything that Siara was telling him than believing that Tika was half-mirkai.

Still, it was definitely a blow to find out that he was one of eight people destined to save the world or destroy it. And that he had an enormous decision to make, very soon, about what direction his life was about to take.

When she had finished her tale, Siara looked him directly in the eye and pleaded, “I cannot save my brother without you. Or without Argynn,” she added, glancing in the direction of the mirkai. “I know that you just found your daughter, but surely you understand how important this is. You were there before.”

“I was,” he agreed solemnly, “and while I love my creator, both he and Irkna are better off where they are. I will certainly join you.”

“Fine. Then I’m coming, too,” Tika announced. “Like hell I’m letting both of you leave me. That old wolf is the first decent parent I’ve ever had,” Argynn beamed at the comment, pleased, “and we still have plans to get underway, buddy,” she addressed Rahm. “Remember?”

“If you’re going, I’m going,” Amali piped in.

“Sorry, girlies, but neither of you is going anywhere.” Both young women turned to glare in Balia’s direction. Omden, who was sitting just beside her, scooted a little further back into the shadows to avoid the force of those glares. “I need strong leaders to help me rebuild this country. I can’t do it on my own, and you two are both born leaders. This is a critical time in the reconstruction of Nubanynn. You can’t leave.”

“But…” Tika started to argue, and then she immediately turned to her father and said, “Do not speak.”

Shocked at his daughter’s effective use of her own powers against him, Argynn’s mouth clicked dutifully shut before he could order her to do the same.

“What if you don’t come back?” she said seriously to Rahm. “You promised me, Rahm. Marriage, babies…the works.”

“I have to go, Tika,” he said quietly. “If I don’t go, there won’t even be a world for us to make a family in. We’ll never have the chance to live the life we want to live.”

“We’ll need to leave at once,” Siara announced. “There’s no time to waste. For all we know, the enemy now has the names of the other conduits, and we can’t let them get their hands on any of the others.”

Tika immediately rose to her feet, eyes alight with determination, and walked over to grab Rahm’s arm. “Let’s go,” she ordered.

“Hunh?” Rahm stumbled to his feet, wondering if Tika was planning on taking him somewhere to beat him or to do something else entirely.

“We have five years of making up to do,” she said, confirming his latter suspicion, “and only one night to do it in.”

“I did not need to hear that,” Argynn grumbled.

“Stay out of it, old wolf. Let’s go, Rahm.”

Because he could not think of a single reason to refuse her—not anymore, anyway—he glanced back to give his sister a helpless shrug as he allowed Tika to drag him away. Amali looked back at him with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face.

For one night, just one single night, his life was going to be perfectly in order. His favorite sister had been returned to him, the rebellion had been won, earthstompers now had their freedom, and he finally had Tika.

This night, he was determined, was going to be a very long night.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kir remained by the roaring fire even as the others drifted off to find tents in which to sleep the remainder of the day and night away. After a long and eventful night, he could certainly understand the need to sleep. Especially after experiencing the searing agony Siara had endured after her first dip into the godline. He felt terribly that he hadn’t been a more productive key the first time around, although he was duly chastened now for having overdone it on this occasion. No use incapacitating himself when letting go just a little more would have kept them both almost hale and hearty.

The quiet earthstomper, Omden, had been the first to retire after Tika’s very public show of dragging her lover to the nearest tent. He was followed by Siara, who looked a little piqued after all of the excitement. His eyes had followed her worriedly as she lumbered towards the tent Balia had indicated she was to share with Ana. Hopefully there would be no need for him to play with fate again tonight, but he would do whatever was necessary to keep her strong.

Amali was the next to drift away, claiming that since she was going to be operating in an official capacity rather soon, she was going to start by organizing a group of rebels to go into the city some time in the next few hours to start clearing away the rubble of the former palace.

After Ana grumbled something about being exhausted, she’d gone off to join Siara, and Argynn had excused himself. In a matter of hours, he would be returning to his wolf form, and he preferred to be alone when the change occurred.

Kir observed the rebel leader Balia closely as the mirkai loped away, steadily heading towards the distant horizon. There was a wistful longing in her eyes, as if she were watching a very pleasant dream come to a close.

“Fate can often find a way around even the most impossible situation,” he advised her quietly.

Balia turned to look at him, as if surprised that he was still sitting across from her. She smiled ruefully at his words and said, “I’m that transparent, huh?”

“Only when you think no one is watching you,” Kir assured her.

“Look, bannen, I’m a realist. He’s a mirkai. The guy’s been alive for more years than I can possibly fathom. My lifespan is like a single breath to him. There’s impossible, and then there’s bloody impossible.” Her eyes narrowed on him suspiciously. “You didn’t have a vision about us or anything, did you?”

Kir shook his head regretfully.

“Then don’t encourage me, damn it. If it’s impossible, I would prefer that no one else know how I feel, especially him.” She said that last bit as a warning, and Kir held his hands out placatingly.

“Your secret is safe with me,” he assured her. “If it makes you feel any better, I am fairly certain that he will survive the coming ordeal. You may pass that information along to Tika at a later time.”

“And Rahm?” the rebel leader wondered.

Kir pursed his lips together and thought of the pulsating strength of the earthstomper’s fate line. It had traveled on and on into oblivion with no shadowy end in sight. “A strong chance of survival,” he confirmed.

She heaved a sigh of relief. “Good. If either of them die, I’m going to have some weepy females on my hands, and I can’t stand weepy females.” She rose to her feet and stretched as she added, “Especially not when I’m one of them.”

With that, she turned and walked off to the gathering of tents the rebels had pitched, all while Kir and his party were saving Tika and Rahm. There was one thing he would give to the rebels: they were highly productive. No doubt Nubanynn would be completely reconstructed and a booming land of democracy and industry in no time at all. The world as it had been was already changing, well before the final confrontation that would soon occur.

Soon. Kir shuddered at how close it felt, almost as if he could wake up tomorrow and find himself facing the Irkna worshippers who threatened them. Still, he knew that there was time yet, as neither group had located the final two conduits and their keys. Nothing could occur without them.

Just as Kir was considering how he was going to put out the fire, since he was the last to leave, he noticed a short figure darting towards him from across the camp.

Ana.

Immediately on the alert—Ana did not hurry without reason—he leapt to his feet to face her. “What is wrong?” he demanded to know before she could get her breath back long enough to speak.

“Siara,” she started, “she’s…”

He did not even wait for an explanation. With a speed belied by the size of his body, Kir sprinted for Siara’s tent. He threw the tent flap aside and ducked into the small space, his gaze immediately going to the trembling figure moaning and thrashing about on the ground. Ana was right behind him, holding the tent flap open so he would have enough light to try and determine what was ailing her.

Kir did not need to see to know what was causing this. The fate line between her and her brother had been dimming and fraying for some time now. He’d done what he could through her subconscious, trying to pull them together in dreams as often as possible without garnering notice from the siren controlling Siara’s brother. Unfortunately, it had not been enough. While Kir had hoped he could gain them the time they needed to finish gathering the conduits, he’d been aware for the past few days that the blood oath between Siara and Kyrin would soon start to wreak havoc on both of their bodies. If they could not find a way to connect, and soon, both of them would die.

“You can fix her, right? Because I don’t know a damn bit about stuff like this,” Ana said nervously from her position at the opening of the tent.

“I can try,” he assured her. “I will need for you to leave us alone. Stand guard outside of the tent and make sure that no one interrupts us. It is very important, Ana. I am about to do something I have never done before, and one misstep could cost both of us our lives.”

The girl nodded gravely. “No one will get past me,” she swore. “Do you need the light?”

“What I need to see requires no light.”

With one last worried look in Siara’s direction, the girl let the tent flap drop shut. Cast into darkness, Kir reached out for Siara and managed to find her face, cold and clammy with sweat. Gently, he stroked his fingers down her cheek and murmured soothing assurances to her until she’d managed to stop thrashing and was lying still, whimpering softly.

“That’s it,” he murmured, “be very still for me, Siara. Do not worry. I will be with you. No one else will see me or know that I am there, but I will be right there with you.”

With that reassurance, he focused intently on the fateline connecting Siara to her brother.

This must be done. This thought was for Ankri, the one who seemed to curse those Oracles who involved themselves too much in the fates of others. Please do not hold this against me, my god.

And then he reached out and grabbed the fateline with both hands, held firmly, and pulled the two ends together with jarring force.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Siara stood in what appeared to be an endless white hallway. She was uncertain as to how she had determined that this was a hallway—everything was white. Pure, unadulterated white—but somehow she just knew. This place was leading her to somewhere, somewhere important.

But someone was trying to block her approach. Although she could not see anyone, she sensed a presence just in front of her, spitting mad and ready to do battle.

“What do you think you are doing?” a familiar voice demanded. “Stay away from him!”

Tell her that if she does not let you through, Kyrin will die. You have been apart too long, and the blood oath between you is slowly killing you.

Kir’s voice, so comforting in the emptiness, jarred her into action.

“Kyrin is ill, and if you do not let me through, he will die. There is a blood oath between us,” she advised the siren Nakra.

The siren cursed softly in response to Siara’s words. Obviously she had not foreseen such a problem when she had chosen to alienate Siara by turning her brother against her. Nor, judging by her mutterings, had she guessed that Kyrin’s recent illnesses had been a result of his blood oath with his sister.

They would protect each other always. They would care for one another always. As long as the blood oath was in effect, they could not be apart for longer than a few days before they began to feel the effects of the separation. The weeks they had been apart had been absolute torture, although Siara had been trying to hide the subtle agony in her soul from her companions.

You can hide nothing from me, even when you block me out, Kir advised her. I tried to help you, but it was not enough. Dreams are not enough.

So it had been Kir sending her to her brother in her dreams. Siara had wondered at how incredibly realistic those dreams had been. While she had no idea how the bannen had made such a thing possible, this was not the time to question his odd powers.

She had a siren to face down.

“If you want him to die, by all means, continue to oppose me. Otherwise, you must let me see him,” she insisted, somehow knowing that at the end of this eternally white hall, her brother was waiting for her.

“I will be waiting right here,” the siren warned her.

Do not worry about her. Admittance was all that we needed, Kir assured her. Go on, now. She will not contest you.

Sure enough, Siara was able to walk forward now without opposition. As she walked, she could not help but wonder about this place in which she found herself. It was not the same dreamland in which she had visited him before. Somehow this felt more like neutral ground than what had surely been Kyrin’s current abode, the scene of their previous meetings.

This is fate, he told her. You are within the fateline connecting you to your brother. I pulled you inside so that you could be together more completely than in your dreams.

Again, she was not even going to bother to ask for more details. There were some things she was better off not knowing.

In the distance, a dark figure was slowly coming into view, lumbering ever nearer to her. Even when he was just a blob in the colorless void, every fiber of her being recognized him as her brother.

When he was just a short distance away from her, the tension in the air between them positively throbbing, he stopped and looked at her with a mixture of suspicion and fear. “Who are you?” he demanded to know. “Why do you keep haunting me?”

He won’t remember you, even here. His memories of you are with Nakra now, Kir explained to her after a wave of disappointment hit her that he still did not recognize her.

“I am your sister,” she explained to him, trying to remain calm. “You don’t remember me, but we were once very close.”

He shook his head, his eyes squinting as though he were trying to think back to any memories he might have of her. “How could I forget my own sister?” he wondered. “This is some sort of trick. Nakra warned me about this. She said to just come in here, meet with you, and then leave. You cannot make me do anything else.”

He was so defensive and yet so honest. Siara had to fight back both a smile and tears at his endearing confusion. Nakra had been lying to him and manipulating him from the very beginning, and although her influence made Kyrin want follow her orders, his own rebellious nature kept him from completely obeying. As usual. Otherwise he would have just done as she’d said and left instead of bringing up the siren’s words, as if to open the door for dispute.

“What does your heart tell you, Kyrin? Look inside of yourself and tell me if you are truly frightened of me.”

Kyrin frowned. “I am, but…only because I get the feeling that you aren’t very much fun,” he admitted. “I don’t…I don’t think you would really hurt me.”

“Then why would Nakra tell you to keep your distance from me, unless she was worried that I might tell you the truth?” she queried.

“And what is the truth?” he immediately demanded to know. Siara was a little surprised at the vehemence with which he asked the question, a clue to the fact that Kyrin was already growing suspicious of his new friends.

Siara took a step towards him, and, when he did not back away from her, she took another. “Nakra is a siren. I am sure you have figured that out already, but what you may not know is that sirens can steal memories.” Another step. “She took over twenty years of memories of me from you, stole them from you, so you would remain by her side. So that our connection would diminish. But she failed, didn’t she?” Another step. So close now… “Our connection is as strong as ever, and nothing she does will affect that. And you haven’t forgotten me, have you?” She was standing right in front of him now and reached out to lay a hand over his heart. “You still remember me, right in here, don’t you?”

Trembling beneath her touch, Kyrin looked her straight in the eyes, recognizing the similarity to his own. He observed her angular face, also just like his own. Her pale skin, lithe body, and wild brown hair. Just like his. And the fading evidence of a red stripe in her hair, a perfect match to the more vibrant one adorning his.

“They called us the Fire Twins,” she advised him. “Ask anyone about the performing duo, and they will tell you that it consisted of a brother and his sister, two firewalkers who could move as one. The Fire Twins worked for Palli and The Myriad. So did you. You remember that, don’t you?” He nodded. “Then where did your twin go, Kyrin? Where is your sister?”

Good, Siara. Very well done.

Light dawned in his dark eyes as he slowly started to realize that she must be telling him the truth. Then a dark cloud of anger passed over him, and the trembling in his body was for an entirely different reason now. “She had no right to take away my memories,” he growled. “No right.”

Siara stepped forward and embraced him, sighing with relief when he immediately wrapped his arms around her. “You will be in grave danger if Nakra knows that you are aware of what she has done to you,” she warned him quietly. “You must continue on as if nothing happened. But if you ever need anything, anyone, there is a man named Jimmer staying in the capital, keeping an eye on you. He’s a jegeer breeder and a friend. Find him if you are in danger or need help.”

She felt him nod against the side of her neck, where he had buried his face. “I know you,” he whispered. “I do. You are a part of me.”

For a long time, they remained entwined, feeding off of each other’s presence. Already Siara could feel her strength returning to her, as though she were becoming invincible. After what felt like an eternity surrounded by warmth and protection, Kir’s voice intruded on their reunion.

Siara, I cannot explain why, but you must convince him to give you something. Anything. A piece of jewelry or clothing or something that he has with him right now.

For once, Siara did not question Kir’s judgment. Trusting the bannen to know what he was doing, she pulled back just a little and smiled at her brother. She had felt a familiar lump in the front pocket of his shirt that would make for the perfect gift.

“Smoking again, brother?” she teased him, referring to the cigar just barely poking out of the pocket.

“I knew you were no fun,” he grumbled, smiling guiltily. It was the same smile that always spread across his face whenever Siara chastised him for smoking.

“Will you give it to me? As a memento. Something to keep with me from you,” she explained.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “I have plenty more in my room. This isn’t going to stop me from enjoying one as soon as I get back, you know.”

Siara smiled ruefully. “Unfortunately, I know. You always had plenty more hidden somewhere, and you would come back to the wagon reeking of smoke. It kept me up some nights, the headaches you would give me with those cigars.”

Looking mildly upset, he reached out and ran the pad of his thumb down her cheek. “I would never hurt you on purpose,” he told her gently. “I don’t know how I know that, but I swear I would never do anything to harm you.”

“I know,” she assured him, her eyes bright now with tears.

Solemnly, Kyrin reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out the fat cigar, handing it to her with both of his hands. “For you, my dearest sister whom I cannot remember. So you will not forget me as I have forgotten you.”

Grinning at his flair for the dramatic, Siara took the cigar from his hands and wrapped her fingers firmly around it.

Now you should go. I can sense Nakra’s presence growing impatient, and she will make things very difficult for Kyrin if we stay here any longer than we need to.

“I should go,” Siara said out loud.

“I wish you didn’t have to,” he admitted. “I don’t think I would mind getting scolded a time or two if you could stay with me.”

“I understand,” she assured him, “but we are in two different places right now. Soon, I promise, I will be there for you. Do you trust me?”

“Yes.” There was no hesitation in his reply.

“Then wait for me.”

Siara gave him one last, long hug before turning to make her way back down the white hallway. Instinctively, she knew that Kyrin was walking steadily in the other direction. The further she traveled, the more she sensed Nakra’s presence, lurking all around her now that she was away from the safe space in which she’d met with Kyrin.

“You took something,” the woman’s voice accused. “You cannot take anything with you.”

Run, Siara!

Heeding the panic in Kir’s voice, Siara took off at a dead run. The presence around her became heavier, more intrusive, and she began to feel as though she were running through thick sludge, attempting to drag her back and down. Something kept pulling at her arm, at the hand in which she clutched Kyrin’s cigar. In the distance, she could see what looked like a dark hole, and somehow she knew that this was her destination. If only she could move faster, if only she were stronger…

You can do it, Siara. Just keep moving.

Encouraged, she pressed onward, fighting against Nakra’s rage to reach that dark hole.

With her last bit of energy, she fell through.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Siara came awake with a start, her attention immediately gripped by the fact that her hands were empty.

“I didn’t make it,” she cried to no one in particular, and Kir’s arms were instantly around her. I dropped it, Kir. I didn’t make it.

“You made it far enough,” he assured her soothingly. “You did very well, Siara. Are you feeling better?”

Stoppering her misery long enough to consider his question, she discovered that she was feeling much better. Stronger, more aware, and less sickly. Certainly she was not experiencing the same level of pain she’d endured before Kir came to her rescue. “You said that I made it far enough. Would you explain to me what that means?” she asked him, nestling closer to him so he would not feel the need to cut his embrace short.

“I am not certain how to explain it,” he admitted. As usual when he had more than just a few words to say, Kir switched to mental speech. Where you were…it was not a realm that existed in the physical sense. Your body was still here, with me, but your mind, your spirit, your very essence, were within the fateline connecting you to your brother. I sensed that if you could convince him to willingly give you something of his, then perhaps you might be able to carry a piece of him, whether his soul or his spirit, back through to the other side. Separating a piece of himself from what Nakra has ready control over will lessen the power that she has over him. It will make it easier for him to resist her allure.

“So I just released a piece of Kyrin’s spirit?” she wondered. When he nodded, she asked, “Where did it go?”

There is no telling. It will not matter, though. His spirit will refuse to remain separated for long, and soon the missing piece will return to him. Hopefully we have bought him enough time until we save him. He does not trust her. Could you see that?

Yes.

After a few moments of silence, Kir released her and called out for Ana to enter the tent. The girl immediately ducked inside, leaving the flap open long enough to consider Siara and determine that she was healthy once more.

Her expression turned sour. “You have got to stop with all of this almost dying business. My nerves can’t handle it.”

With an expression of mock-exasperation, Siara reached out and pulled the girl down onto the pallet between her and Kir, keeping one arm about her thin shoulders. “You are too young to be having problems with your nerves,” she accused, a little surprised that Ana did not immediately pull away from her.

“It’s your fault. Either die or don’t, damn it.”

“Ana?”

“What?” the girl snapped, waiting for a rebuke.

Siara sighed contentedly and held her a little closer. “Never mind. I’ll let that one slide.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They left the following morning, having given themselves plenty of time to rest and recover from the events of the previous day. Rahm was the last to join the small party preparing to depart, Tika following close on his heels with an expression of mixed satisfaction and regret.

He was whistling.

Rahm said his goodbyes to his sister first, promising that they would have more time to catch up upon his return. After placing a tender kiss on her forehead, he turned to offer a more smoldering one to his lover. Only when Argynn, back in wolf form, started to growl did he finally pull away.

“Shut up, old wolf,” Tika returned, cutting his growl short. She grinned. “Ha! You better come back soon so I can practice my powers on you some more. Man, you are going to rue the day you procreated.”

As if to defy her statement, Argynn pranced forward and rubbed himself against her leg. Then he sat on his hind legs and looked up at her expectantly. Tika grumbled something about impossible creatures and reached down to scratch behind his ears.

“We are eternally grateful for the part you played in ending the oppression in Nubanynn,” Balia advised Siara. “Without you…” She shrugged. “Who knows what might have happened?”

“You would have won,” Kir said surely, “but there would have been many more deaths.”

“Then thank you again,” the rebel leader reiterated. “You are always welcome in Nubanynn.”

Once the goodbyes were complete, they walked slowly away, towards the east and the next conduit. A windbreather, they had determined, would be the next to join their group. Although Kir had not yet recognized the name out of the symbols dancing around in his head, he was confident that it would come to him in time. For now, they would head for Losaeria and hope for a continuation of their previous success.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Far away, on an isle of Irr, a lone man sat by the dim light of a dying fire and bemoaned the duty that kept him out alone in the darkness. He was afraid of the dark. Insects, wild animals…there was an infinite number of things that could easily spook this simple man.

It was that very simplicity of mind that caused him not to question when a cigar fell out of nothing and landed on the ground beside him. In fact, he counted it as good fortune that he now had something with which to distract himself.

Without even wondering as to the source of the mysterious cigar, the man put it to his lips, leaned towards his fire, and began to gently puff.

With a smile of pure satisfaction, he leaned back and enjoyed the best smoke of his life.

End Book 2

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author’s Note: Okay, so I’m sure I’m eventually going to have to go back and do a whole bunch of editing on this one, but this was it. It’s done. I hope everyone enjoyed reading it chapter by chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it that way! I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a book out so fast before in my life. As for Book 3…I know what needs to happen in that book, but I have no idea in what order or how I’m going to approach the fact that there will essentially be four different stories going on at one time. Siara’s group, of course, will still be featured, as well as the windbreather conduit and the waterhandler conduit. I’m also going to spend more time on Kyrin in the next book now that he’s not so much under Nakra’s control. I’ll do my best to start working on Book 3 sometime in the upcoming weeks. Thanks again for reading and reviewing!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------