18. Kaiya
Packs stored and firmly settled on the dinghy, I picked up the oars. A cool breeze whispered across my bare forearms, and I couldn”t suppress the shiver that darted through me.
Jaiel cleared his throat and removed his cloak, holding it out to me with one hand while he reached for the oars with the other. ”I”ll row first.”
I froze, staring at the thick piece of blue fabric dangling from his hand, and my heart did an awkward flip.
”What are you doing?” I asked. ”I have my own cloak.”
He shrugged and pushed it toward me. ”You don”t have it now, do you?”
I shook my head, trying to ignore the way his scent wafted from the fabric. ”Rowing will warm me up fine.”
He made a tsking sound, then muttered something under his breath about stubborn partners and stuffed it away.
I picked up my oars and stole a glance back at the ship. It had set sail and was already shrinking in the distance.
”How — how”s it going so fast?” I asked.
Jaiel didn”t even look up. ”Water Fae.” He dipped his oars into the water. ”Likely the captain and a few of the deckhands.”
”Were they doing that with us on board?” I sped up, trying to match his pace. ”It didn”t seem like we went that fast.”
He shrugged. ”As you saw, the Fae are a capricious bunch, full of superstition. I”d hazard a guess they were afraid my monster would steal their Fae gifts if they used them with me aboard.”
Steal their gifts? That made no sense. Not even a relic could do that.
Shaking my head, I focused on rowing and stared out over the ocean. It shone a deep, rich blue in every direction. Brilliantly reflecting the colors of the late afternoon sky amidst the rocky outcroppings peppering the waters around the Isle. Beyond them lay stark cliffs, striated in rich gray and orange layers, smoothed by time.
There was still no smoke signal, though.
My chest tightened. We were two lone agents floating toward some kind of Guardian and an extremely dangerous island … and before we”d even landed, we may have already lost our support team.
”How many times have you done this?” I asked, trying not to let the fear fluttering in my belly show. Jaiel was the only person I”d heard of who had entered the Isle and lived to tell about it.
”I”ve done this watery stretch alone a handful of times. But once I reached the Isle, I”d usually travel with … other company.”
Of course. Eli had been his partner in the Rogues and had been born and raised on the Isle.
My chest ached at the memory of those bright green eyes going dim as I held him close while blood pooled beneath my fingers. Pain. So much pain. My breath grew shallow, and my fingers cramped as I squeezed the oars, trying to ground myself.
No. No thinking about Gleyma.
I forced myself to breathe with the oars, to hear the ocean lapping against the side of our boat.
In. Out. In. Out.
”You alright, Princess?”
”What?” I dragged my gaze to meet his. ”Yes, of course.”
He narrowed his eyes, obviously not believing me. ”No offense, Princess, but you look stressed and tired.” He looked away, continuing to row. ”And we never talked about that nightmare.”
My heart raced. Damnit! I”d thought he”d let it go.
”We didn”t,” I said, voice soft. ”Thank you for your — help. What — uh, did I say anything?”
Jaiel shrugged, but his gaze was warm and curious. ”Not much. You cried a bit and mumbled, but I couldn”t understand most of it. Was it about Karemi?”
My chest ached.
I did not want to talk to him about this.
”Of course not.” I smiled, trying to seem nonchalant, as if that damn dream hadn”t been haunting me the past six months. ”It was just some nonsense. You know how dreams are.”
Jaiel nodded slowly. ”Well, I hope it gives you some peace soon.”
I looked away, trying to calm my racing heart.
”Excellent.” He grinned. ”Now, if you want, you can take off your ring. If your power is anything like mine, it wants to be free. Besides, I”m not sure how the Guardian would react if you were wearing it.”
Hells. He was right! We were out of the Empire”s sight, but not close enough to the Isle to draw out any wraiths.
A perfectly safe time to let my powers free for a bit.
Stowing my oars, I reached for my ring.
”You — uh mind if I do the same?” he asked, voice almost hesitant.
Surprised, I stared at him. I”d only seen his powers once.
Back in Gleyma he”d used them on those nasty ghoul-type wraiths. From what little I saw, that shadow beast of his was more frightening than the wraiths it killed.
”Sorry.” He cleared his throat and shrugged. ”Never mind. I Didn”t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”
”Hold on.” I leaned forward and placed a hand on his arm. ”It wasn”t that at all. Just some pesky memories popping up … you know how it is.”
”Ah.” He nodded, gaze stuck on my hand resting against him. His muscles twitched beneath my fingertips. ”It”s okay. I”ll do it later.”
I pulled back my hand. Where was that fake confidence of his when I needed it?
”Look. I”m going to take off my ring.” I slipped it from my finger. ”If you”d like to drop your shielding, I”m fine with it. If not, I”m fine with that, too. It”s up to you.”
Frowning, he flexed his fingers around the oars. Then nodded.
I inhaled sharply as little bits of darkness spread from those long fingers, twisting and turning down the wooden rod like dancing black ribbons.
The inky shadows were beautiful. Hardly like the creature in my memories.
”Is it — part of you?” I asked.
”No.” His voice was soft as he lifted his gaze to meet mine. Darkness bled in from the edges, but those brilliant blue eyes were still his. ”I”m just the vessel, but it”s been with me for so long, I hardly know what I”d be without it. I got it shortly after …” His throat bobbed. ”… well, let”s just say I have very few memories without it, and those few aren”t exactly pleasant.” He jutted his chin toward my hand, clutching the ring. ”How about you? How does that ring even work?”
”The stone on the ring dampens my magic. If I take it off or hold it like this —” I moved the ring so the stone wasn”t touching my skin, and let out a soft sigh. ”Then, I can be free.”
And it was glorious.
No longer was I feeling the world through a hazy blanket. With that stone gone, everything around me was beautiful and crystal clear.
Gods. It felt good to be free.
The dinghy rocked gently as Jaiel chuckled, and his lips quirked into a warm half-smile.
Something shifted in the water behind him, and I reached out with my magic.
My unshielded magic expanded, imposing the Korra Realm over the physical one. I could see a massive creature”s korra hiding in the watery depths, its three essences bright and lively as it swam beneath us.
Wonder filled me as the yellow ribbons of its body essence danced — dwarfing the lighter strips of blue and red writhing around it.
Could it have enough of a body affinity to manipulate its physical shape?
”What in god”s name are you looking at?” Jaiel asked.
”There”s a creature down there.” I motioned to the ocean. ”Potentially with body magic.”
Jaiel gasped and the shadows around him expanded as he withdrew a blade from his pack.
”It”s not going to attack us.” I teased, holding up a hand. ”It”s just swimming around.”
He arched a brow and continued to hold his weapon up as though it would do us any good.
Shaking my head, I turned back to watch.
If Lady Frexin were here, she”d force us to stop so she might trap it. But she wasn”t here, so I could just watch it in peace.
I stared as the creature moved gracefully under our boat, then swam off into the distance. The swirls of its three essences pulsing and weaving around themselves like waves on the shore as it left the safety of the Forsaken Isle.
A splash sounded behind me, and I turned to see a purple fin go under the water, then a blue fin to its right appeared. Behind it, a green fin with spikes. They dove an instant later, and I couldn”t stop the grin from forming on my lips.
There was so much life out here!
Opening my korra senses further, I reached out … gasping as something rumbled in the distance. It was far enough away that I couldn”t sense it clearly, but it moved like some sort of writhing beast …
Fuck! That couldn”t be good.
Clenching my fists, I strained to reach out farther, pushing my powers to their limits.
There!
About half-way to the Isle, a massive pulsing cloud of pure red soul essences spilled over each other like a swarm of carriage-sized insects.
They seemed to be coming straight for us! ”What in the seven hells —”
”What?” Jaiel hissed, holding his weapon up as he leaned toward me, one hand held out protectively. ”Is it another creature? I can”t see it, so if I”m going to help, you have to explain what you”re seeing!”
I heard his words, but they went in one ear and out the other.
The creature was unlike anything I”d ever seen!
All life had some combination of mind, body, and spirit essences that made up their korra.
It was invisible to most, but I was one of the few who could see them, and I”d grown comfortable with the many combinations of essences creatures could have.
This, though … it seemed to be entirely made of soul essences! No wonder Jaiel couldn”t see them. There was no physical form to see!
”I — I think it”s the Guardian,” I said, voice hoarse. ”It”s coming straight for us.”
”Okay. Get ready.” Jaiel dropped his weapon, voice tight. ”It”s going to examine you, but it should be over quickly. If something goes wrong, though —” He looked at me with concerned eyes. ”Row toward the smoke signal yourself. If it gets dark and you still don”t see it, go to Dragon”s Peak. You can”t miss it if you just follow the coast that way.” He pointed east. ”They can help you out.”
My stomach flipped. ”Wait, what? We should be fine since we have magic, right?”
He winced. ”Theoretically, yes. But people change, and this thing is more capricious than the Fae. So, if I start to scream about burning from the inside —”
The swarm shifted and moved as one, an entity of thousands of unique essences forming a writhing, pulsing wall that drew ever closer.
”Are you listening to me?” Jaiel asked.
I forced my attention to him, and the meaning of his words hit like a freight train. ”Did you say burning from the inside?”
”Saints!” he said, running his hand through his hair. ”This is important, Kaiya. I need you to listen. If it happens, you must push me overboard. There”s no stopping it, and if I”m on the boat, it”ll burn with me.”
”No stopping it,” I repeated, mind spinning as I looked between Jaiel and the wall about to crash over us. ”Burn with you …”
”It should be fine, though,” he said, reaching out to squeeze my hand. ”I just want you to be prepared.”
I looked from him to the swarm, jaw agape. This was anything but fine.
Then the wall was over us, the swarm of red essences swirling and coalescing until my head spun with them.
A sharp pain sliced across my stomach, and I vaguely heard a scream as heat spread through my innards.
The chaos was overwhelming, blocking out all my other senses until darkness closed in, and they were all I felt.
”Outsiders …” The voices echoed in my head, a chorus of sounds, each unique, yet part of the same.
Voices? Neither Jaiel nor the reports mentioned voices.
”… Isle-bound …”
”A Weaver …”
The voices crushed me, and I pushed against them, trying to get some space in my mind to think.
”Stop!” I screamed, begging my thoughts to stay steady as my mind tore at the seams.
But the voices did not hear me.
”… to hurt or help …”
”… feel it? The darkness …”
”… not ready…”
”Out of time …”
I screamed at them again, but the cacophony grew and grew, overwhelming my senses until I couldn”t breathe.
With it, the heat inside me expanded, spreading to my limbs and head until I wasn”t sure whether I was screaming in my mind, my body, or both.
The voices and heat crushed me, and I could feel myself losing consciousness.
”Princess!”