Chapter 12
LOVE CAN DRIVE YOU MAD
High up above the world, wind on my cheeks, the rush of adrenaline keeping me warm, it didn’t matter that my eyes watered a little. Pakshiraj dipped and soared, but I kept my seat easily, instinctively moving and angling my frame to adjust trajectory with him.
Garrit flew parallel to us, but after a while, I forgot he was there, focused entirely on my experience.
Garrit says you are a natural.
How do you know that?
Bray, his thunderbird, speaks to me.
I glanced across at Garrit in the distance to our right. So what now?
Enjoy the ride, Leela.
I could do that. He dipped, and I let out a whoop as we cut through the clouds only to find more clouds below. We were so high up that the earth was hidden beneath layers of atmosphere. Garrit was gone, left behind above us.
I relaxed, enjoying the freedom of being airborne. The breaks in the clouds below allowed me glimpses of the earth. A lush forest. A winding river. A field swaying with long grasses.
Sudden movement to my left had my head whipping around.
Garrit’s thunderbird swooped right at us.
Pakshiraj banked right sharply, his body angling at ninety degrees. I lost grip with my thighs and swung free of my perch. My shocked cry was torn away by the wind. I managed to keep hold of his golden feathers, arms straining as I scrambled to find my seat again.
Pakshiraj leveled off, and I managed to settle into the ridge behind his neck and flop forward, my chest pressed to his feathers, heart fit to burst from my chest.
You’re all right, child. You’re safe. But let this be a lesson. Never relax completely when riding.
You knew he was going to do that?
Yes. Not exactly when, but yes…
I’d failed this test, but I’d learned a valuable lesson. I would not let my guard down in the air again. Okay, I get it. No relaxing when riding. Check. Next time I’ll—
Pakshiraj let out a shrill shriek, suddenly tipping upward at a hundred and eighty-degree angle.
I bit back a cry and flattened myself against his back, clinging on for dear life.
Hold on! He banked left suddenly.
Is this another test?
No. We are being attacked.
Attacked by what? I wanted to sit up and look, but I couldn’t risk it. Pakshiraj, who is attacking us?
Ilara. His tone was low, filled with sorrow. Araz’s mount.
What? Why?
I do not know. Hold. He banked right then dipped.
My stomach dropped, and I held on, blood thundering in my head. Why would Araz’s thunderbird attack me?
Pakshiraj leveled out. It is done. She has been apprehended by the sentinel.
I sat up slowly and looked over my shoulder to where Ilara flew, flanked by two other birds. A third soared above her and a fourth below. A vivid blue shimmer stretched between them, surrounding her.
What is that blue stuff?
The sentinel have activated a Grasp, a powerful shield that can only be cast by unified will.
He swerved left, and a moment later, Garrit appeared parallel to us.
Lesson is over. We go back to roost.
We flew in silence, rising higher and leaving the sentinel and Ilara below.
What will happen to Ilara?
Pakshiraj’s sigh filled my head. She will be punished.
But we need to know why she attacked. I mean…why would she want to hurt me?
Her rider is dead. She blames you.
Wait, what? Why? I didn’t…Does she know it was the primordial evil that took him over?
Pakshiraj was silent for several beats before speaking. She knows the truth, but emotions are complicated. This situation is…complicated.
He was hiding something. I could feel it. Explain it to me. Please.
What do you know about the origin of my kind?
I thought back on what I’d learned. What Araz had told me about them. That you were created by the deva. That you, in particular, are one of the first five made.
Yes. That is true. But something that is not common knowledge is that we were given the ability to shift form.
To walk as men and women if we chose to do so.
And with that came an evolution that allowed us to love as man and woman.
The ability to shift was taken from us when the deva left.
But the ability to love was not. The ancient ones, those of us who came before, we understand the boundaries, and we control our hearts, but the young ones, ones like Ilara… they can get confused.
Was he saying what I thought he was saying? Ilara was in love with Araz?
She has been inconsolable. But I did not think she would act in violence.
What will they do to her?
The penalty for attacking our own is banishment from the roost…from these skies. But she attacked not only me, but also the future queen of the Asura. She will be put to death.
Death? No. She was Araz’s thunderbird. I couldn’t allow that to happen. I had to do something.
The clouds parted, the tree coming into view, then the circular platform below us.
We landed, and Keyton waved from the bridge, Blue hopping up and down on his shoulder. But I stayed on Pakshiraj’s back, my stomach churning.
What are you thinking, child?
I want to save her. What she did was…It was wrong. But she loved him. She loved him, and she’s grieving, and…I won’t let her die. I can’t.
A soft sigh. I thought you might say that. The tree metes out the sentence. If you wish to save her, go quickly to the hollow. Garrit will take you.
A shadow fell over us, and a moment later, Garrit landed on the platform, his face a stormy mask.
Thank you.
I dismounted as Garrit approached, shaking his head. “Leela, I—”
“Take me to the hollow.”
Garrit didn’t try to dissuade me when I told him my plan to try and save Ilara’s life.
“The hollow is the sacred heart of the roost,” he said, ushering me, Keyton, and Blue into the elevator.
“The great tree was planted by the deva and brought to the skies to house the thunderbird sentinels before they left. It has a history of its own, one which not many know because the hollow doesn’t speak of it. ”
“Have you spoken to it?” Keyton asked him. “The hollow?”
“On occasion, when summoned. As stable keeper, it is my duty to ensure the sentinels are taken care of.”
He closed the wooden cage around us and activated the pulley system. The elevator began its descent.
“Why do ya call it a stable? I thought it was a roost,” Blue asked.
“It’s a label the Asura have placed on the sentinels that are on active duty at any one time.”
We continued past nests and bridges, the branches thicker here, extending out farther. A denser canopy blocked out the sunlight, leaving us in cool gloom surrounded by the scent of nature.
“Keyton, you will not be able to come into the hollow,” Garrit said. “Leela will be admitted due to her bloodline, and I am duty bound to the hollow so have admission.”
“What about me?” Blue asked from his perch on my shoulder. “I’m wiv her?”
“As Leela’s anchor, the hollow will recognize you as a part of her. So yes, you may enter.”
The elevator came to a halt at a spot where the branches first began to sprout.
Below was nothing but a sheer drop to the vast floating landmass where the tree was rooted.
A sturdy bridge extended from the elevator to the trunk of the tree, to a doorway built into the wood so seamlessly that if I didn’t know to look for it, I wouldn’t have found it.
Garrit placed his hand on it, and the seam glowed a pale blue before the whole doorway dispersed into a blue haze.
A portal?
A shield?
“You can wait here,” Garrit said to Keyton. “I doubt we’ll be long.”
I arched a brow his way. “You think the hollow will deny my request?”
“I don’t know, Leela. What I do know is that the laws here are absolute.” He smiled with his eyes. “But I commend you for trying. Come now.”
I followed him through the blue haze, a tingle of awareness washing over me as I stepped onto a floor made up of knotted wood and entwined branches.
A thick braid of wood, at least five feet wide and pulsing with green light, rose from the floor to the ceiling.
“Whoa…” Blue whispered softly in my ear.
Garrit stepped forward. “Great Hollow, I bring Leela Vijayroodra for an audience with root and truth.”
The air hummed, and a soft vibration filtered through the soles of my boots.
A voice like the depths of the ocean and the echo of time filled the chamber.
“We feel her, keeper. We acknowledge her claim. We speak to her now. Welcome, blood of Vijayroodra, blood of the deva. Ancient one. We see you. We feel you. Your bond is sacred. Your sigil is alive.” An image burned in my mind, the spines of a crown connected to a line that sliced down diagonally to create the number seven before climbing up and across, bisecting the original line to add a triangle to the symbol.
“This sigil will call to your bonded. It will call to us. But I sense that there is more you wish to ask of us.”
The sigil to call Pakshiraj. Of course, I needed that, and now it was seared into my mind. But the hollow was correct. I hadn’t come here to ask about the sigil. “I do have something else to ask you. I want you to forgive Ilara for…for what she just tried to do. Please don’t kill her.”
The green power pulsed brighter for a moment. “You have the blood of a warrior and yet you carry compassion in your heart for one who wished you dead.”
It was a statement not a question, and yet I felt compelled to answer.
“She’s grieving. We all do fucked-up things when we’re in love.
And she’s young. Give her a chance to redeem herself.
She was…his.” My throat pinched. “They were bonded. The severing must have hurt. The loss…” My eyes burned with the threat of tears. “Please…have mercy.”
A soft breath filled my mind. “You are correct. She is young. She grieves deeply. We feel it. We understand. But although you may forgive her, we cannot abandon our laws. She must be punished.”
I looked over at Garrit, who was watching me with a soft frown. I’d hoped I’d be able to convince the hollow to let Ilara off the hook completely, but if that wasn’t possible then… “If you have to punish her, then banish her. Don’t kill her. Please. Let her live.”
A deep silence fell, the only sound the rustle of leaves around me. I waited, pulse throbbing in my throat as the hollow decided what to do.
“Yes,” it said finally. “Banishment will allow for redemption in the future. You bring hope, little one. Hope and a valiant heart. Go now. We are watching. We see you too.”
The green glow dimmed to something soft and dormant.
My audience was over.
I wanted to see Ilara and speak with her, but Garrit made it clear that would not be possible. Ilara’s banishment had taken place immediately upon the hollow deciding it. The thunderbird was gone. Transported somewhere far from Aakash Sansaar.
The journey back to the royal domain was a silent and reflective one. I’d saved Ilara’s life, but I’d had her banished. Would she survive alone away from the protection of her peers?
“You can’t save everyone,” Blue had said softly, stroking my cheek. “She tried to kill ya, and you showed mercy. That’s enough. More than enough.”
“He’s right,” Keyton had agreed. “You did all you could. The rest is up to her.”
Back in my chambers at the palace, I soaked my muscles in a hot bath, slipped into fresh clothes, and collapsed onto my bed.
I had maybe an hour before supper. Enough time for a quick nap.
“Um…Leela, what you doing?” Blue asked.
“I’m going to nap. Will you wake me before supper?” I rolled onto my side. “You don’t have to get to the nest till after sundown, and we have supper before then so…” I yawned.
“Chickadee, you have a dinner party to go to tonight.”
My eyes snapped open. “What? Fuck.” I groaned. “No…”
“Um…yes. I’m pretty sure Erabi’s going to be here any—”
There was a knock on the door. “Leela, love. It’s me,” Erabi trilled.
I sighed and sat up. “Come in.”
She breezed into the room, wings floating up behind her like a shimmering cloud. “I have the perfect outfit in mind for tonight.” She clasped her hands beneath her chin and lifted her shoulders. “You’re going to look stunning.”
Her excitement was infectious, her energy revitalizing, and who was I to burst her bubble with whining? Plus, we were going to visit the Danava domain. This was a chance to meet the gods who had every reason to hate the Authority.
I pulled myself up and grinned back at her. “Okay, let’s see what you’ve got.”