Chapter Twenty Five
Ieyed the reptilian-like creatures with a mixture of fear and fascination as the hot sun beat down upon our group.
The creatures were much like the small lizards we had in the north, with their little angled legs, long tails, and forked tongues.
Except these were nearly the size of a horse and had teeth the length of my smallest fingers, razor sharp and awfully deadly looking.
They also had little sprouts of feather-like tufts on either side of their heads—similar to little horns.
"We're riding these through the desert?" Rena asked, disbelief coating her tone. I couldn't help but agree, they hardly looked friendly.
"These creatures," Gianni began, gesturing to the beasts, "are called Tolokok and they are to be respected." He gave her a sardonic smile, so unlike his usually playful, flirtatious manner. "Unless you'd like them to eat you."
Rena shifted, eyeing the reptiles warily. "I just imagined something more like a camel," she mumbled, wincing slightly at the admonishing glare Kairen shot her.
"The Tolokok are fast, much more suitable for your timeline," Gianni explained, "and they're fiercely protective of their riders, so they'll be a great addition to your group to get you safely through the desert."
He was certainly convincing and he seemingly caught my hesitance melting as he gestured towards me with a smile. I froze at the beckoning, fear blossoming in my stomach.
As I approached he took my hand in his, turning it palm side up, and led me to a beast with grey scales.
"The Tolokok are a species as old as the desert itself.
They thrive on order and respect." He glanced back towards the rest of the group as he spoke.
“When you approach, keep your eyes downcast, offer your palm, and allow them to sniff.
If they accept you they'll lightly touch their nose to your hand. "
"And if they don't accept you?" I muttered, eyes fixed firmly on the desert sand as I lifted my hand carefully to the beast's nose and waited.
He laughed lightly. “Then you run."
My spine stiffened as the grey Tolokok merely sniffed at my offered palm, its forked tongue grazing my skin before it gave a light huff, pressing its scaled nose into my hand. Gianni gave a small cheer. “A grey beast for a grey-eyed beauty. Mount the saddle now."
I turned wide-eyed upon him and he merely gestured encouragingly until I began to move, my foot lifting mechanically into the stirrup. Eyes clenched shut, I swung myself up and over coming to rest in the saddle.
I expected the worst, yet nothing happened as I peeled one eye open at time, the tension in my body slowly easing. The Tolokok merely shifted beneath my weight, settling itself into the sand to wait for instruction.
It was clearly used to this sort of situation. Hesitantly, my fingers ran over its scaled head. "Does it have a name?"
"Her name is Aziza."
He left me then, instructing the others through their introductions and getting them all into their saddles.
Most went by with relative ease, except for Bran.
His Tolokok, a blue scaled beast named Beneeth, had snapped her jaw, missing his hand by mere centimeters.
Gianni had merely laughed, informing us all that the Tolokok was younger than the rest and apparently liked to joke with the tourists of the desert.
As he walked us through instructions on how to command the Tolokoks, similar enough to riding a horse that we all easily caught on, I eyed Roan atop his cream-scaled lizard, Tulia.
We’d yet to speak since last night and I’d awoken to an empty bed, sunlight filtering in through the curtained windows.
A headache and immediate regret had greeted me the second I opened my eyes, embarrassment flushing my face when I remembered the fool I had acted the night before.
He hadn't so much as looked twice at me when I’d arrived with Rena to the meeting spot.
You're like a storm.
I quickly turned my gaze away. I was indeed a liar because I remembered every Goddess-damned word from the night before. I almost wished I didn’t, that my drunken haze had stolen the words so they wouldn't torture my mind in a constant loop.
Gianni called out that we were done for the day and I slipped from the saddle. Having us all bonded and familiar with our Tolokoks had been the goal before we left to traverse to the next town tomorrow—a four day journey.
I ran my hand down the scaled side of Aziza, her grey scales hot from the desert sun. My fear for the creature having dissipated, I instead appreciated her beauty. The color was nearly reflective in the sunlight, like the metal of armor.
Prince Kairen called out for Rena and I, so I gave the large beast one last pat before I made my way over to him.
"Did you find anything yesterday, regarding the myths?" He asked.
Roan and Bran joined us, Gianni claiming he'd stay back for a while and take care of some preparations for the next day.
Rena nodded. "They have the same myths that place fault for the illness with the Goddess Lua that we have in Amori City, but there's also another we learned of."
She glanced at me as we walked towards the town.
"We heard it first in the old bookshop near the Inn, “ I began.
“The people tell a tale of the nine demon brothers.
It's said that after Calzar's death and the failure to bridge the gap between the Nine Hells and the Kingdom of the Goddesses, the remaining brothers sought revenge.
Knowing the love Soli and Lua had for their people, they sought to wreak havoc upon the Goddesses creations, upon the society they had crafted. "
"In the form of The Fever?" Roan mused and my eyes shot to him for a moment before drifting to Kairen, whose gaze was thoughtful.
"Yes, I heard it again in the tavern last night, the locals were telling tales and that was one of them."
"Is there validity to it?" Bran asked, my shoulder lifted at the question.
"Is there validity to the story that surrounds Lua?" Kairen reasoned, speaking my own thoughts. "Any myth we find could have a kernel of truth to it. In the next city we should inquire if they know of it, if there's more details we can uncover."
The group nodded at the plan and I watched as Kairen and Roan walked away, heading towards the direction of the sandy beaches.
"Where are they going?" I asked, tearing my eyes from the two to glance at Rena.
"To train. Kai hasn't been able to alleviate the blessed fire that burns within him for a while, and he needs to get it out of his system before we travel again. Plus Roan won't have access to much water once we fully enter the desert, so I'm sure he wants to expend some of his magic too."
Bran raised a brow. “Can we watch? I've heard of their legendary matches around the barracks before, but never witnessed one myself."
I could have hugged him for asking that question, my own curiosity alighting at the thought of watching the two spar.
I settled comfortably into a spot in the warm sand, a safe distance from the two men who were already in the throes of their match. My eyes jumping between them with disbelief.
They had both removed their shirts, their golden tattoos gleaming upon sweat slicked skin. Their shoes too were removed, I assumed for better purchase in the shifting sand.
I watched with fascination at the water that writhed and whirled around Roan like extensions of his own limbs, whip-quick as they shot out for Kairen.
There was an explosion of steam as they connected with the burst of raging fire that shot from Kai's palm.
Two opposing elements shifting in a dance of power, a tug and pull of which would come out victorious.
I leaned back with a flinch at the sight of that Goddess-blessed flame. Even years later I couldn't hide the fear that coursed through me whenever I witnessed it, my mind inevitably sending me back to that dark little alleyway.
I felt Bran lay a comforting hand over my knee, a reassuring squeeze that had me letting out a little breath, though his eyes never left the match.
They moved quickly, practically in sync in the way they fought one another, clearly familiar with each other's styles of fighting. Had they trained together as boys? Would the king have allowed that?
I gasped, heart stuttering, rising halfway out of my seated position as a powerful, raging rupture of fire shot from Kairen.
The blast was so hot I could feel the heat from where I sat and for a moment, I was terrified that it would consume Roan, that I would see him too die at the hands of a Goddess-blessed flame.
A wave of ocean water rushed to meet it, a small tsunami of sea and foam and power.
My eyes squinted against the smoke that rapidly filled the space after the collision.
Breaths wheezing as I tried to make out their forms. The wave had been so large that the water washed high upon the shore, so close I could reach out and touch it.
Perhaps I would have, if it wasn’t sizzling across the sand, boiling from the fire it had come into contact with.
"By the Goddess," Bran spoke, reverence in his voice.
Rena nodded, a proud smile on her lips. "They've been blessed with extraordinary power. Our Masters have always said they've been the best to come through the Institute for generations."
They moved with a fluidity that was reminiscent of the dancers in the Old Quarter, a grace to every step they took, a purpose to every wave of their hands. Their magic was truly an extension of themselves, a skill they had clearly been mastering for all their lives and I was impressed.
They moved closer to one another, and instead of the large bursts they'd been expending before, their magic now swirled around their hands as they instead engaged in close combat.
A fist wreathed in water as it shot towards Kairen's face, a foot encased in flame as Kairen whirled a kick at his opponent, the flame shooting outward.
Back and forth it went, a shout stuck in my throat when fire singed Roan's arm, but they moved so quickly I could hardly keep up. Whatever pain he felt, it did not show. Not even a moment of hesitation in his strikes.
It wasn’t long after that Kairen was on the ground, tendrils of water wrapping around his neck, tightening until he turned blue. It was over when his fist pounded three times and the water released him in a rush, running in rivulets down his neck and soaking into the sand.
Rena nudged me, standing and wiping her pants, Bran and I following suit.
We approached the two men and Bran immediately pulled Kairen to the side, asking about the blessed fire with enthusiastic awe.
Merle had been blessed with fire too, but not nearly as powerful as Kairen's.
In all the time I had spent with the woman I had only ever seen it used to light a fire beneath a cauldron or to reheat a little cup of tea.
Rena joined them, her palms stretching out to display her own golden light to Bran.
I hesitantly approached Roan, my eyes drifting to the raw burn on his forearm. "That looks like it hurts."
His eyes lifted to mine, a smile playing on his lips. “A little pain never killed anyone."
My eyes rolled at my own words being thrown back at me before the events of the night prior had my face heating to a blush.
"I'm sorry for last night, I was…" I hesitated, picking at my palm.
"Fiendishly drunk?" He finished for me and I nodded with a sigh before his shrug had me once more meeting his gaze. “Happens to the best of us. It isn't your fault Rena kicked you out for the night."
Laughing, I glanced back, fondness fluttering to life. “She deserved to have some fun after how horrible being on the ship was for her."
"And you," he asked, taking a step closer, "did you have fun last night, grey-eyed beauty?”
The name was said mockingly, the tone mimicking Gianni's cadence. I fought the smile that threatened to slip over my lips.
Jealous indeed.
Head tilting, I teased, "Wouldn't you like to know."
His smile hardened, that wicked gleam entering his eyes. "I prefer a woman who enters my bed not to have another man on her mind, little menace."
He was so close now, his chest nearly touching my own. I had to tilt my head back to maintain eye contact as I said casually, teasingly, "And I prefer a man who spills his secrets over pillowtalk instead of promises of eventualities."
"What about your secrets?" He murmured back, eyes searching mine. "Would you uncover those in the dark of the night too?"
My heart stalled, the shadows stirring within me at the question, responding to the sudden inkling of fear.
The answer was, of course, no. I wouldn't. I never could, but there was a small part of me that yearned to. It sang in the back of my mind to trust him, to let another in. And that small desire was what terrified me most.
The tension was broken when Rena approached. "Let me see your arm, Roan."
He stepped back as I cleared my throat, turning my back to them as that golden light healed the burn on him, my steps swiftly taking me to Kairen and Bran.
Yet even as they spoke, my attention kept drifting back to Roan.
Would it truly be so terrible to let him fully know me?
He was more now than just the Kinslayer. No longer was he but a scary tale told in late night taverns, a Luanthian turned monster, the King's murderous pet.
No, he wasn't that.
He had been kind, patient in our training together.
He had defended me against the vicious words of Aldrin McCay and had let me fight my own battle against Taven.
He had broken with me after that second trial, had laid his own pain bare for me to see, and had been fearful of my judgement.
No, he certainly wasn't a monster. A broken man?
Perhaps, but there was nothing monstrous about him.
Yet, could I trust him with my own secrets?
That I didn't yet know.