15. Nidori, the enferni rider
15
Nidori, the enferni rider
Talon
N idori woke up early, and I turned over to find her crouched on the ground, palm pressed into the dirt by the firepit. I felt a rush of guilt as I looked at her and thought about last night. I was supposed to be rescuing Nidori from Kaine’s clutches, not getting trapped in them myself. I swallowed as I remembered his body above mine, how I had just sat there when I should have pushed him off. How I’d kissed him. My cheeks burned. That had been stupid. He’d pulled a knife on me, for Mirilith’s sake.
I took a breath. Moving forward, no more chats. No more drinks. And definitely no more touching. I turned back to Nidori. She hadn’t moved.
Her eyes were closed, and she was concentrating. I groaned internally. It was still light out, and I had not slept well last night.
“Greenmother’s piss,” she muttered to herself.
“Everything all right?” I asked, choking back a laugh.
“Yes. No. Maybe?” She bit her lip. “I think we should go. I can feel something following us.”
I frowned, dragging my brain from its sleepy fog. This was, unfortunately, not something I could ignore.
“Then let’s go,” I said, standing up.
“No! We can’t leave Kaine. He’s trapped until the sun goes down.”
Good.
“Staying could mean danger.” I wanted to grab her and run, but she seemed really attached to Kaine, and I didn’t want to come on too strong. If she kicked me out, she’d be at his mercy.
“I’m not leaving him,” she said stubbornly, jutting her chin out.
“Fine. But I can pack us all up, so we’re ready to leave right at sunset.”
She nodded but still looked concerned.
It was tense, waiting for the sun to set. I took the opportunity to repack my bag. And Nidori’s bag. And my bag again.
Nidori roused Kaine as the last few rays of sun retreated from the forest canopy. I stared at my pack as I heard him yawn. My eyes flicked up to him, and he gave me a smile, showing glints of his sharp fangs.
“Kaine, there’s something tracking us,” Nidori said.
He went stiff, his attention turned to her. “Do you know what it is? How many?”
“I don’t know. But I felt the same thing yesterday too. They’re definitely following us.”
“Fuck. Let’s move, then,” he said, climbing out of the tree and hurriedly changing. “Nidori, can you cover our tracks?” he asked, beckoning us to start moving forward.
“I have been.” She wrung her hands. “I even left some vines and thorns behind us. But it didn’t deter them at all.”
Kaine fell silent, setting a much faster pace than before.
-
We had been walking all night, and Nidori was struggling to keep up. She looked exhausted, sweat covering her brow. She refused to complain, though. I had kept my lights off, not wanting to attract any further attention.
My eyes were good in the dark, and I was relieved to finally make out parts of the mountains here and there through the rare gaps in the trees. The trees themselves were starting to get smaller again as we reached what I assumed was another edge of the forest.
Nidori kept going long after I thought she would need to rest. She stubbornly insisted she was fine when I asked if we should stop. I glanced at Kaine, worried.
“My feet need a break.” Kaine plopped down on a log. “Hand me the water, would you?”
I stopped, surprised. He’d been mostly silent tonight, just adding a sarcastic comment here and there. I tossed him the water, watching Nidori as she crash-landed next to me.
“Ugh. Why are your legs so big?” she said, kicking my foot from where she lay on the ground. “You don’t even look tired. It’s unnatural.”
“I agree,” said Kaine. “What, you’re not even going to sit down? We’ve been walking for six hours straight.”
I shrugged. “I’m fine.”
“Nidori, can you kick him again? For me, this time.”
Nidori waved a foot limply in my direction. I still couldn’t figure out if she was actually his ward or not. All signs pointed to yes, but I hadn’t seen him compel her once. Or even give her a regular order.
“Right,” I said. “That’s enough. Nidori, you’re tiny. You can’t keep up. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. ”
Nidori flipped me a tiny bird, not even looking up. I scooped her up—she barely weighed anything—and set her in the joint where one of my wings met my back.
“There. Solved,” I said, winding my hair into a bun, so it wouldn’t be in her way.
Nidori giggled, settling into the nook. “Oh. Your wings are so soft,” she said, touching them and then tangling her fingers in my hair.
“It is silky,” she announced. To Kaine, perhaps?
Kaine eyed us, letting out a huff. “You could sit on my shoulders,” he said. Was he jealous ?
“No. This is practically a built-in seat. And he smells really good,” she said matter-of-factly, patting my head. Kaine glared at me.
I stopped, hearing a noise nearby. Kaine had frozen, too, his eyes narrowed.
Nidori rushed to the ground, pressing her palm into the dirt. Her eyes widened. “Wind and cinders, we have to go,” she hissed and flew back to my shoulder.
Kaine jumped to his feet, and we started forward.
“No, no. That way.” Nidori tugged my horn to the left. It was towards the tall cliffs that loomed far above us.
“I thought we needed to get to the pass?” I asked.
“They’ve cut us off. We’ll have to go through the cliffs,” she said. Kaine groaned, muttering something to himself, but kept up as I started in that direction. “There’s a tunnel! We’re close. It’s a clear path through.”
“A cave tunnel. One we were initially not going to use,” Kaine said flatly. “Why? Danger, perhaps?”
I glanced at him. He’d been grumpy, verging on downright mean, all night. It’d been a tense time, with something on our tail .
“No, I just don’t like caves,” said Nidori. “I can’t grow anything through all that rock.”