Sixteen #4
I nodded, still shivering, my skin crawling with the memory of a million insects squirming beneath my flesh. Eating me from
the inside. My stomach roiled, and I clenched my jaw, hugging my arms. If I thought too much about it, I was going to be sick.
“Sparrow.” Raithe stepped in front of me, making me blink in surprise and look up at him. His free hand rose and cupped the side of my face. Without warning, he bent down and kissed me, a very gentle, lingering kiss, causing my stomach to spin for an entirely different reason.
Pulling back, he gave me a slightly pained smile. “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep the nightmares away.”
For just a moment, the fear vanished under the intensity of his gaze. I trailed a hand down his cheek to his neck, making
him shiver. “I guess you’ll have to try again tomorrow night,” I said.
His brows arched slightly, before a hint of a smile spread across his face. “I see.” Bending down, he brought his lips close
to my ear, his breath feathering over my skin. “I accept the challenge,” he whispered, and placed a light kiss on my cheek
before turning and walking toward the tent.
I clenched my jaw to stop myself from following him. Raithe was right; this was extremely distracting. Even with Vahn coming
for us and the Loom of Maederyss still waiting to see if I could claim it, it was hard to think of anything but the night
before. I couldn’t help but feel like something had changed between us.
As I walked to where Kysa was moving among the rock beetles, I caught sight of Meeka, perched on a rock and pawing through
his satchel. The jair’oa’s tail stood straight up as he balanced there, gazing intently into the pouch at his waist. As I
approached, his ears flattened against his skull.
“Meeka?” I asked. “Are you all right? Is something wrong?”
“Meeka is fine.” The jair’oa twitched an ear at me, still gazing into his pouch. “But star grubs still move strangely. Look.”
He pulled out one of the glowing caterpillar things, then set it down on the rock. My insides roiled. The star grub’s glow had almost completely faded, and it lay there, barely moving. I bit my lip at the realization.
“Are they all like this?” I asked the jair’oa.
“Yes.” He pulled out another and set it on the rock. It rolled over and dropped limply to the sand. “Why star grubs move strangely?”
he asked, gazing up at me. I winced.
“Meeka . . .” I looked from the star grub to the jair’oa, who gazed back guilelessly. “I think they’re dying.”
“Die?”
“Yes.” Gingerly, I knelt and picked up the fallen grub. It lay in my palm, limp and lifeless. I wondered if the intense heat
of the day followed by the chill of the night had been too much for the grubs, because the one in my hand was definitely dead.
“I’m sorry, Meeka,” I said, lowering my hand to give the grub’s body back to him. “But I think all your star grubs are going
to die. Can you . . .” I paused as my stomach churned a little. “Can you still eat them if they’re dead?”
The jair’oa’s whiskers curled as it stared at the creature in my palm. Almost defiantly, his paws shot out, grabbed the body,
and stuffed it into his jaws, biting down as he had all the times before.
He trembled, and his ears flattened to his skull again. “No magic,” he whispered. “Star grub has no magic. Magic is gone.”
I remembered what Kysa and Raithe had told me about magic.
That all magic required life energy, and that energy had to come from somewhere.
The Deathless Kings took it from the world around them, and the ma’jhet performed sacrificial rituals to fuel their spells.
The jair’oa, it seemed, took it from every wriggling star grub body they consumed.
And if the grubs were dead, the magic was no longer there.
Which meant Meeka wouldn’t be able to use magic, either. Once his supply ran out, he would be just like the rest of us.
A chill spread through my veins. Did the jair’oa rely on the star grubs to live? Without the magic from their creator king,
would Meeka’s tiny body shrivel up and blow away like dust in the wind?
“Meeka,” I said, “what will happen to you when all the star grubs are gone?”
For the first time, the jair’oa didn’t answer right away. His ears twitched as he sat there, gazing at the star grub still
moving weakly on the rock with him. “Meeka . . . not know,” he said at last.
“Will you be able to eat other things when you run out of grubs?”
“Meeka not know.” Meeka reached down, picked up the dying star grub, and slipped it carefully back into his pouch. “Meeka
has never been away from nest. Meeka has never eaten anything but star grub.” He paused, the end of his tail swaying back
and forth. “Meeka not know what to do,” he said at last, and his whiskers trembled. “Rememberers and Meeka’s family back at
nest, far, far away. Meeka cannot see them. Cannot blink that far.” His ears flattened, and he curled his tail around himself
and clutched the tip to his chest. “Meeka is alone.”
Sympathy swelled in my chest. “You’re not alone,” I told him, sitting beside him on the rock.
“You still have us. We’ll figure something out, I promise.
” He stared at me with large black eyes, looking so much like a mournful puppy dog, I resisted the urge to pet him between the ears.
“Come on,” I told him, and held out a hand.
“Let’s go back to the others. I bet Halek will have some sort of crazy scheme that may or may not work.
But it’ll be something at least.” He blinked at me, and I smiled.
“You’re part of the group now. We’re all in this together. ”
The jair’oa observed me a moment more. Without warning, he sprang up my arm, tiny claws digging into my sleeve, until he reached
my shoulder. Wrapping his tail around my neck, he settled against me, balanced perfectly and weighing almost nothing at all.
“Meeka like this,” he stated. “Can see far. Meeka stay with human Fateless for a while.”
His body was a small, furry warmth against my neck, his whiskers and the tuft of his tail tickling my skin. I gave in to the
urge and reached up, scratching the jair’oa behind the ears, stroking his soft fur. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to mind.