Chapter 8 #2
“Huh.” I raised my eyebrows in surprise, starting to see the line of logic the Coazi male was following.
Despite their strange looks and clothing and the heavy accent, they were quite intelligent.
Much more than I had given them credit for, which made me feel guilty.
Really, if I looked down on a group of people just because they were of another race and culture, was I any better than the mages who looked down on us shifters for similar reasons?
“So you want to know why a bunch of shifters and a human are out here looking for a mage?”
“Yes.” The two men nodded, seeming pleased that I was finally understanding them.
“Well these two here happen to be friends of the man we’re looking for.
” Annia stepped between Fenris and me, clapping a hand on each of our shoulders.
“And I’m a friend of Naya here,” she added, squeezing my shoulder to indicate who she was referring to.
“But as far as I’m concerned, I’m here to collect a bounty.
There’s a reward out for whoever recovers the mage we’re looking for. ”
“Ah. So missing mage is important.” The Coazi’s eyes gleamed at that.
My hackles rose at the crafty look in his eyes, and I took a step forward.
“If you know anything at all about a missing white man, I suggest you tell us now.” I was tired of whatever mind game they were playing with us, and I also didn’t like the way they were looking at us.
“If you are hiding him from us and plan to hurt him in any way, I will make you regret that decision for the rest of eternity.” I bared my fangs at them.
The other Coazi stepped back, clothing rustling as they leveled spears and knives in my direction. But to my surprise, the tall Coazi just laughed. “You do not risk death for reward, no? White man you seek…he is one you love.”
A blush rose to my cheeks at that, and my spine straightened. “I owe him a great debt, and I intend to see that repaid.”
The man laughed at me again, and by the way his eyes sparkled I could tell he wasn’t buying my explanation. But he finally lowered his spear, and his companion followed suit with the bow and arrow.
“I am Tsu-Wakan,” the tall man said. He clapped his companion on the shoulder. “This my brother, Caranou. You come and spend night with us, speak with shaman. He tell you what you need.”
“Well this is going extremely well,” I remarked to Fenris as we sat together on one of the many logs arranged around a huge bonfire.
I’d been hesitant about the idea of spending a night with the Coazi even though the party who’d met us had been generally friendly, but Fenris had insisted.
According to him, a refusal would be a slight against the tribe.
Apparently it was rare for outsiders to get an invitation, so this was an honor we shouldn’t pass up.
“Indeed,” Fenris remarked dryly, his yellow eyes on Annia.
She was dancing around the fire along with the younger Coazi, Caranou, who had welcomed us warmly enough after Tsu-Wakan had introduced us.
By the time he’d led us back to their camp, which was several miles away, the sun was dipping beneath the horizon and our stomachs were rumbling with the need for dinner.
Thankfully, the Coazi had been more than happy to accommodate us – they’d led us to one of the round grey dwellings I’d seen from a distance that were a cross between a hut and a tent, and had allowed us to rest our feet while they’d set up the bonfire and roasted meat and vegetables.
“Yeah well you can’t exactly blame Annia.
” Along with the food, they’d served us some kind of strong, fermented juice and passed a pipe around, which they’d insisted we smoke.
Fenris and I remained unaffected because of our shifter metabolisms, but the alcohol and strange herbs had gotten to Annia.
I snorted as I watched her stomp around in mini circles as she made her way around the bonfire, waving her hands in the air and shouting along with all the Coazi.
Quite a few of them were bare-chested males wearing nothing but buckskin skirts, their bare feet stomping in the reddish brown dirt beneath us and sending up clouds of dust that made my nose itch.
From the way their dark eyes lingered on Annia with admiration, I had a feeling she was getting laid tonight.
Lust surged through me at the idea, reminding me that my heat was barely two weeks away.
I clenched my teeth as fire spread through my lower belly, hotter and more potent than the blaze in front of me.
I already ached to quench it, although I knew it wouldn’t matter.
Having sex before the heat peaked didn’t take the edge off – when the time came, it was always explosive and there was no escaping it.
Besides, there was only one person I wanted right now, and he was lost somewhere on these vast plains, close but nowhere near close enough.
“Your friend is very spirited.” The log shifted a little as Aman-Wa, the tribe’s shaman, sat down next to me.
Grey streaked his dark hair, though aside from the deep laugh lines on his face he did not look so very old.
His more colorful tunic separated his status from the other tribe members – the only person who was dressed more elaborately was the chieftain, who sat on the other side of the bonfire wearing a feathered headdress and beaded tunic, his arm slung across the slim shoulders of his wife as he talked and laughed with a tribe elder.
“Annia has always known how to have a good time.” I grinned at the shaman, but Fenris shifted uncomfortably on my other side.
I wondered if he was intimidated by the shaman, or if there was something else that bothered him about the man.
My instincts told me Aman-Wa was easygoing and sincere, but then again I didn’t know as much about these people as Fenris seemed to.
“She may have red hair and pale skin, but in spirit she could easily be one of us.” The shaman’s dark eyes sparkled as he watched Annia grab hands with one of the half-naked males and start dancing with him. “Our men have been eyeing her with more interest than perhaps is wise.”
“Well, I hope none of them get too attached,” I half-joked. “Annia is a bit of a heartbreaker, and we are leaving in the morning.”
“To find your mage.” Aman-Wa nodded soberly, turning his head to look at me.
His eyes dropped down below my neck, right to where my serapha charm rested beneath my shirt.
I’d removed my jacket due to the heat of the fire, and alarm raced through me as I wondered if he could see it through the cotton fabric.
Impossible. It’s a black shirt and it’s dark out. I had to fight against the urge to look down and check for myself.
“The stone you wear beneath your shirt, it holds a piece of the man you seek, does it not?”
I sucked in a breath, feeling like I’d been sucker-punched in the gut. “How the hell do you know that?”
The shaman smiled, and gently took my hands in his. “The spirits allow me to see what most cannot,” he told me. “I know the one you seek is important to you, just as I know that you are not merely a man-beast. There is power inside you that is wild and untamed yet.” He squeezed my hands gently.
I bit my lip as panic crackled through me. “Is this something you hold against me?”
“No,” the shaman said. “While we do not like the mages who rule this country, you are more beast than mage, and your heart is pure. It is for this reason that I offer you advice.”
“Advice?” I asked uneasily, and Fenris shifted behind me. I could practically hear his ears perking up.
“Should the stone fail to lead you to your friend, head in the direction of the mountains.” He pointed to the mountain range opposite the one we’d crash landed in.
“A group of white men are camped there, about a day’s journey from where the flying machine crashed near the mountains.
Our scouts have confirmed that they are holding prisoners. ”
Fenris stared at the shaman. “I always understood that Coazi fiercely defended their lands from invasion. How could there be a camp of white men there? Would you not chase them off?”
The shaman looked grave. “So we would, but they are in the area of another tribe. If Halyma wanted them gone, they would not dare stay there. Nobody defies Halyma.” From his voice, I gathered that this Halyma, who must be the shaman or chieftain of the other tribe, was not a person Aman-Wa would lightly take to task.
Fenris and I exchanged a look of alarm. Had the Resistance bought off this other tribe somehow? If they were in league with the Coazi, that was more bad news.
I wanted to jump to my feet and take off in that direction so I could find out what was going on. Instead, I took a deep breath and squeezed the shaman’s hands, which were still in mine. “Thank you for this information. We will use it wisely.”
The shaman smiled. “I am sure you will. But let it sit in the back of your mind for now. You will have hard days ahead, so relax tonight.” He patted my knee, then took his leave, disappearing around the bonfire to talk to someone else.
I immediately whirled around to face Fenris. “Did you hear everything he said?” I demanded.
“My ears are as good as yours,” Fenris reminded me with an arched brow. “And yes, I heard what he said. There is a group of white men camped out in the plains.”
“And they’re holding prisoners!” I hissed, bracing my palms against the log as I leaned forward. “Iannis could be one of them! We have to go check it out.”
“Right now? In the dark? While Annia is high as an airship?”
I growled, whipping my head around to find Annia.
She was sitting on one of the logs with the man she’d been dancing with, halfway in his lap, with one hand on his broad shoulder and the other splayed across his chest. They were flirting heavily with each other, which was amazing because I doubted they were speaking the same language.
But then, lust is a pretty universal emotion.
“She looks a little less goofy than she did before,” I offered halfheartedly.
Fenris gave me a skeptical look. “She’ll be useless for at least a few hours, and after those drugs wear off she’ll be exhausted. Besides, we need sleep too. There is little point in charging into a Resistance camp tired and hungry. We need our wits about us, and you have not eaten enough.”
I sighed, then looked down at my empty clay dish. I’d already eaten two helpings and meant to get more, but in the beginning we’d been chatted up a storm by everyone, including the chieftain, and afterwards I’d been so caught up watching the ceremonial dancing that I’d forgotten about food.
“If I scarfed down a bit more right now and changed into beast form, I could make it there to at least check it out while everyone is asleep.”
“Sunaya.” Fenris placed a hand on my shoulder and met my eyes. “Consult your serapha charm. What does it say?”
I closed my eyes and focused in on the amulet. It felt warm against my chest, and I wondered if onlookers would see it glowing brightly through my shirt. The familiar tug sprang to life inside me, and I followed it with my mind, seeking out the direction it was coming from.
I let out a breath that was half disappointed, half relieved. “The amulet is pointing northwest.”
Fenris inclined his head. “Then that is where we will go. Finding Iannis is our priority. The camp the shaman was talking about may well be the Resistance, and it’s plausible they may have captured some of the delegates. But if Iannis is not with them, we cannot waste time going there first.”
“I hope this means he escaped when the Resistance came in and captured everyone.” If that was even what happened. “How did they know to be here, though? This is only one of many territories that the airship was flying over. Did the Resistance somehow bring down the ship from the ground?”
“I know as much as you do,” Fenris said regretfully. “Which unfortunately is very little. I doubt we’ll get any answers until we find Iannis and he explains what happened.”
“All the more reason to locate him, then.”
“Yes. But for now, you should do as the shaman says and enjoy the celebration they’ve put together for us.
” Fenris smiled and patted my thigh one last time before he removed his hand.
“I’m reasonably sure that venison is calling your name, and just because you can’t get high doesn’t mean you can’t dance around the fire. ”
“In that case, I think you ought to take your own advice,” I said, grinning a little as I grabbed Fenris by his hands. He yelped as I pulled him to his feet, and with more than a little glee I dragged him out to dance with me by the bonfire.