Chapter 5
Iyana
Iyana meditated until the sun was down fully. It helped to distract from the dryness of her mouth and throat. Once it was finally dark and the stars were shining brightly, she attempted to reach out.
“Hello?” she asked tentatively.
We are here, Iyana.
She nearly jumped out of her skin. She had not been expecting a response.
We apologize for our absence. You must be thirsty. Follow us.
“How do I know where to go?”
Look to the stars.
Reluctantly, she glanced upwards (twenty-six years of being told not to was a hard habit to break) and saw a star brighter than any she had recognized. When Grandmother was busy with a patient, sometimes Iyana would take little peeks towards the constellations and mentally catalog them as swiftly as possible. She stood gingerly, wincing at her aching muscles—the dehydration and hours of sitting in one position had caught up to her. She stretched slowly, raising her arms to the sky and arching her back before setting out, keeping the bright star before her as a beacon. After following it for what seemed to be an hour, she appeared to still be in the middle of nowhere.
“Any idea how long it will take me to get wherever it is I’m going?”
If you ran, it would be faster.
“If I ran, it would be faster,” she muttered under her breath. “You go an entire fucking day without water and see how quickly you run.”
We do not require water.
“Of course you don’t.” Iyana rolled her eyes. Despite every part of her wanting to just give up and curl into a ball on the cool desert sand, she sighed and picked her pace up to a jog. A full run wouldn’t be manageable—her muscles were screaming enough as it was. Instead, she focused on her breathing to block the pain. Breathe in, breathe out, repeat. In, out, repeat. She fell into a sort of trance—in, out, repeat—keeping the star in her line of sight, though everything else blurred around her. Breathing and running preoccupied her thoughts, so much so she almost ran straight into a pit. The only thing that saved her was the voice.
Stop, Iyana.
She skidded to a halt right on the edge of an enormous crater, her toes overhanging the edge. A few pebbles broke loose tumbling down the slope. Iyana took an involuntary step backwards to avoid a fall as she followed the tracks of the pebbles. Down, down, to the center of the crater, where—instead of the large pieces of rock or fire she had expected—there was a man. He was sitting on the burnt, glassy earth—the black obsidian reflecting the scant moonlight—with his legs crossed, staring up at her. Iyana could not make heads nor tails of what she was seeing. The man appeared to have a faint glow about him. Nothing about this scenario was making sense. Iyana wasn’t sure what she expected to find when she was following the disembodied voice of what she assumed was a star, but it definitely wasn’t a man. She was so engrossed in her own confusion that it wasn’t until he stood that she realized he was naked. Her eyes opened wide before she let out an undignified squeak and spun away. But not fast enough to miss his physique…he was all corded muscle, glorious in appearance, and his—
“Why do you turn from me, Iyana?” His voice was deep, silky, and had a bit of what Iyana initially described as ‘shimmer’ undertones. Ethereal. It was definitely ethereal.
She twisted casually back to him, keeping her vision mostly covered, telling herself she only needed to see so she didn’t fall into the deep crater. Iyana had seen plenty of naked men before, usually in a medical capacity while helping her grandmother, and she’d had some flings. Nothing lasting, and nothing for more than one night. Not for any particular reason. The men she had grown up with in the village had never really appealed to her, but they were there for when an itch needed to be scratched. They tried to make it into more than that, of course, Idris being the most persistent. As the granddaughter of the village healer, Iyana was as close to a ‘princess’ as you could get within a small community. But none of them had ever made her heart flutter and, honestly, none of the sex was really that great. The men were usually selfish, and she sought one out only when her own hand was becoming boring. So far, nobody was good enough for a second round. She hadn’t put a lot of thought into finding a man, getting married, or having children, although most of her childhood friends were all on the family path. Some women she grew up with were already on their third or fourth child. Iyana had always assumed once she found the right person, everything would fall neatly into place. The available men didn’t meet her expectations. She wanted children, sure, but definitely not right at this moment—there was lots of work and training to do. Luckily, Grandmother never pushed the issue, allowing Iyana to live her own life. Imo had been on her own since her husband had died, long before Iyana was born, although many widowers had tried to win her hand. Imo said the same thing to all of them, “Thanks, but no thanks. Call for me if you need medical attention.”
Realization swept over her—she was blatantly staring at this man, her hand barely covering her eyes while she reminisced about her love life. Or lack thereof. She cleared her throat lightly, “Well, you, um… you don’t have any clothes on.”
He regarded her with his head tilted slightly to the side. His eyes crinkled slightly at the edges with the beginning of a smile. He glanced down at himself, then up at Iyana again. She felt, more than saw, his gaze slowly traverse up her entire body, heat following in its wake. A little shudder coursed through her spine. Men had never beheld her in such a blatantly lecherous manner. Smirking, his face lit up further, and she swore she saw hunger in his eyes. He ran his hands over his body, clothing magically appearing where he touched.
Now her hand dropped to her side and her jaw fell open. This was pure magic. Grandmother, as a healer, had small bits of residual magic gifted to her from the gods, but it only helped to activate a medical potion or to discover an ailment. It was nowhere close to the magic this man possessed.
“Is this acceptable?” he asked, still standing in the hole looking upwards.
“Uh, yeah, that’s much better. Thanks,” said Iyana as she finally studied the man further, now that he was fully clothed. He was tall and muscular, with angular facial features. He had sharp cheekbones with piercing eyes, which, from this distance, appeared to be gold. Short blond hair curled at the edges to fall over his forehead. There was still a glow about him. “Did the stars send you to help me against the Athusans?” Iyana asked.
“They sent me to you, yes.” He continued to stand at the bottom of the giant hole in the ground, unmoving.
“What created this crater? And why are you down there?”
“Well, I created it. When I fell. As to why I’m down here, it’s because it seemed like the easiest way for you to find me.”
Her ears perked up. “Wait, you created it? You were the shooting star?”
“Yes.”
“You’re a star,” she said incredulously.
“Yes,” he replied matter-of-factly. “I thought that was obvious…” He gestured around the crater. That explained the glow, at least.
“But you’re a man…”
“This is my true form. Sorry if I’m not what you were expecting.” He sounded more amused than annoyed, a small smile playing on the corner of his lips.
“Alright. I just need some time to process this, I think.” Iyana’s hands went to her head and started running through her hair, quickly undoing the detangling she had worked on earlier. She paced. Her thoughts were all jumbled—nothing was coming through clearly, and she was at a loss for how to approach this situation. Pausing, a thought occurring to her. “How are you going to get out of the crater?”
“That’s not a problem,” he replied. His back bent forward slightly, arms ready to propel himself forward like he was about to sprint in a race, and then he was standing directly next to Iyana. She screamed at the sudden proximity and toppled over backwards toward the edge of the crater. The man reached forward with an inhuman swiftness, grabbing Iyana and pulling her away from the edge. He held her tightly to him for a moment, hands hot on her waist, staring at her intensely. His eyes were a gold color; she was correct before. He was much more handsome up close. Her gaze dipped to his lips. Insanely kissable, was her first thought. The way he was holding her started causing heat to pool low in her stomach. Just as quickly as it had happened, the moment passed. He righted her onto her feet far from the edge, tugged the bottom of his shirt back into place, then regarded her silently.
“How did you… Never mind, I don’t think I want to know yet.” Iyana felt on the verge of a panic. “Do you have a name?” she asked, as she paced again nervously. “Also, thank you for catching me.”
“Of course. A name… I have one, but you wouldn’t be able to pronounce it in your language.” He stood with a predatory stillness, his eyes following her pacing.
Iyana grunted, exasperated. “Well, I need something to call you. I have a feeling I won’t be rid of you easily.”
He tilted his head to the side again with a grin, like he was listening to something. “I believe your people call me Altair.”
“Altair…” The name sounded so familiar. Iyana silently cursed Grandmother for not letting her study the stars more. She didn’t need to look to investigate them. There were maps for this, but Imo was firmly against any sort of knowledge regarding the stars. It’ll only tempt you, my dear, she’d say. The man before her seemed out of place, but nice. Iyana no longer understood her grandmother’s warnings, which were so prominent throughout her childhood and young adult life. Her secret studying and questions asked of the other elders came rushing back to her. She stopped pacing and gasped, “Altair! You’re part of the Aquila constellation!”
“That is my family, yes.” Her head shot up, seeking the Aquila constellation, and there, in fact, the brightest star was missing. She stared at the empty space for a few seconds before Grandmother’s warning rattled about in her head again. But this time, Imo wasn’t there, and she had an actual star standing beside her. She was free to study the stars all she wanted. All the old rules had been tossed aside when she’d asked for aid. Iyana unintentionally made a noise—probably sounding like a girlish squeal—and then she promptly lied down on the ground and star-gazed for the first time in her life. It was everything she’d imagined it would be. The dark night sky juxtaposed with an infinite number of bright, twinkling stars. Her chest tightened with an emotion she couldn’t quite place.
A moment later, Altair’s glowing face appeared above her, blocking her view. She tried to glance around his head while waving her hand to tell him ‘shoo.’
“Are you okay?” he asked, perplexed.
“I’m fine. I’m trying to look at the stars.”
“I’m a star. You could look at me,” Altair said with a chuckle.
She made eye contact with him then. Those golden irises were mesmerizing molten pools she envisioned diving into. “Well, right now, you look like a person. I want to look at those stars.” She pointed past him. “I’ve never been allowed to before.” You can dissect those gold eyes later, she thought. Just revel in this moment.
His head remained where it was. “Never been allowed? By whom?”
“My grandmother. Now move.” She made the shooing motion again. “Please.”
“Curious,” he muttered under his breath. “May I join you?”
Iyana shrugged. “Help yourself.” Altair lowered himself to the ground, lying close enough she felt the heat from his arm on hers. Her pinky twitched in his direction. It was as though her body couldn’t help but want to touch him again. They rested there silently for several minutes, taking in the majesty and vastness of the night sky. It was nice to take a moment for herself without worrying about what had happened and what was to come. It was only slightly foreboding to have a star lying next to her in the flesh of a man. Iyana let her mind go blank. A deep sigh she didn’t know was in her escaped her body. She was lighter somehow.
Altair shattered the peaceful moment when he spoke. “I’ve never seen my brethren in this manner. Thank you for sharing this with me. You already recognized the Aquila constellation,” he said, pointing to his former home. “The Eagle. My family is known for their fearlessness and tenacity.”
Iyana found this fascinating. She pointed to another in the shape of a ladle. “What is that one?”
“Ursa. The Bear. They are the most courageous of us all.”
Iyana could pick his brains all night; she wanted to learn everything there was to know about the stars. But she reluctantly tore herself away from the stars to glance at Altair. He was still looking up at what she was now realizing was his actual family, but he turned to her when he felt her gaze on his face. His eyes continued to shine a pale gold color, but the rest of him was dimming. Iyana smiled, and to her surprise, he smiled back.
She peered again at the twinkling stars. “It’s gorgeous.”
“Yes. Gorgeous.” But Altair wasn’t following her gaze; he was looking at her.
Despite his eye color, this was the most human he had appeared in the short time she had known him. He no longer seemed so foreign. Her grin grew, wanting to stare at his softly glowing face for an eternity. That’s a dangerous line of thought, Iyana. The smile fell from her face.
She sighed dejectedly as she stood. “Well, we should probably go. I still need water, and I have no idea how long it will take us to get back to my village. I don’t even know where I am…” Altair seemed as reluctant to move as she was, but stood with impossible grace.
“Getting back won’t be a problem,” Altair said. He smoothly pulled her to him. Lifting her from her knees, he cradled her gently against his chest. Her arms instinctively found their way around his neck, and she noticed his scent was earthy, like soil after a rain, with a muted sweetness reminding her of ether. He glanced down at her with a wicked grin.
“What are you—” she began to ask, but then the desert was passing by her in a blur while Altair appeared to not be moving at all. Iyana glanced at his face, which was currently blank without emotion, and back to the passing scenery. A moment later, they halted abruptly on the outskirts of Imothia. Altair set her down on her feet. She swayed, dazed, then fell to her knees and immediately vomited onto the sand.