Pears and Perils (15 page)

“There are scarier things in this world than gods, young man.”

“
Though I like to think we do in a pinch.
”

Clint walked slowly down the alley, his eyes even but his expression scowling. It was the first time Falcon could remember his face matching the tone of Kodiwandae’s voice when it came from his mouth. And for some inexplicable reason it was that thought, that realization, which got Falcon over the hill of doubt she’d been climbing for ten years. In that moment, she Believed.

“You’ll suffice,” was all she said aloud.

* * *

Kaia flipped through another book, making notes on a yellow legal pad as she read. This was the fourth retelling of the story of Kodiwandae she’d uncovered so far. If the pile of books surrounding her was any indication, this would not be the last one she found. Kaia was beating back her hangover the same way she had in college: by swelling her brain full of so much information the headache had no room to take root. Of course, the aspirin and five additional bottles of water she’d downed before leaving the hotel had also proven to be quite helpful.

She wasn’t the only person in the library that day, but she was one of the few. Despite its strong academic reputation, there wasn’t much call for such places on a regular basis. When people with fancy credentials weren’t deigning to visit this book refuge it went largely underutilized by the local population. This worked just fine for Kaia and the other nerds; it allowed one the freedom and space to work with little risk of distraction.

The only sound to pierce the study-filled silence was the opening of the library’s main doors. They were vast wooden slabs that stood just beyond the archaic circulation desk, and the act of pulling them ajar took either great strength or great dedication. They blasted the room with light and heat when one was successful in budging them open, but an experienced bookworm could learn to ignore even that grand event with honed selective attention.

It was for that reason that Kaia didn’t even look up when a pair of figures entered the library. She was absorbed in this new version of Kodiwandae’s story. The first section was still the same as what she knew; however, it seemed that the oral version had segmented off part of the legend over time. This book’s version said that the goddess had not just sealed away Kodiwandae in his tree, she had also severed him from the realm where he drew his power so he wouldn’t be able to free himself. This act was not malicious, merely logistical. The goddess had promised to fully restore Kodiwandae once he was free and he called to her from her temple. She’d even put the power he’d had at the time into the air about the tree, assuring him it would be condensed by the same ceremony that would set him free.

Kaia reached down and touched her backpack. If there was a more fitting vessel for Kodiwandae’s power than the pear used to free him, she couldn’t think of it. It would certainly explain the strange golden color at least. Then again, when your explanation involved accepting mythology as fact, it was hardly a Grade-A option. Kaia knew what she’d seen, though. It didn’t matter if she actually believed the stories or not; this was where the evidence was pointing. Facts weren’t true because you thought they were right: they were true because they were true.

She checked the author of the book and rose from her seat to go see if he had any more works on the shelves. She turned from the table and found herself looking into two sets of recently familiar eyes.

“My, what a coincidence running into you,” Justin said. He smiled at her, but Kaia noticed the way Dustin repositioned himself to block the nearest avenue of exit.

“Small world, I guess. What brings you two here?”

“We were just touring the islands now that our work is done. Seeing the local sights, you know.”

“Right. Well, be sure to check out the cherry tree forest. It should be blooming nicely this time of year.”

“I’m sure we will. At the moment we’re feeling a bit hungry, however; all the touring can work up quite an appetite. You don’t happen to have one of those Kenowai Pears on you, perchance? That would be simply… divine.”

Creepy and with little grasp of subtlety, Justin had all the makings of a great ex-boyfriend. She didn’t know how they’d found out about the pear or knew that she had it, but playing dumb clearly wasn’t even on the table. Justin was staring at her patiently while Dustin kept glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone was paying attention. They weren’t and they wouldn’t start any time soon. It seemed her options were quite limited.

“I’ve got the one from the altar yesterday. Something about the lightning messed with its coloration so I wanted to examine it. It’s actually pretty intriguing, want to see?”

“I’d love to.” Justin tensed as she reached into her backpack, ready for her to throw it in his face and make a break for it or some such idiocy. Instead her hand emerged with a pear that was indeed very strange-looking. One moment it seemed to be glowing, then the next he was sure it had just been a trick of the light, and then he’d flip-flop again.

“You need to hold it to really appreciate the curiousness. It’s almost like there’s a current running through it.” Kaia held out the pear, her eyes gleaming with intellectual passion.

Justin accepted it from her and thought to himself that for some girl with a Ph.D., she certainly wasn’t all that swift. Personally, if he’d been in her situation, he’d at least have tried something to hold on to this little chunk of the arcane. Maybe she really didn’t know what she had; he supposed it was possible.

“It certainly does seem to lo-GAAAAAH!”

Justin’s scream shredded the library’s sacred silence as Kaia whipped her now-free hand out of her bag and pepper-sprayed him in the eyes. Dustin rushed forward to help and got his own helping of mace for the trouble.

“You bitch!” Dustin began rubbing his eyes furiously; Justin was already too far gone to retain any sight. As he tried his damnedest to wipe away the chemical contagion, he realized at some point the pear had left his possession.

“I spent four years living in New York, you stupid fucks; you think I don’t know how to deal with thugs?”

Kaia hurriedly stuffed her mace and the pear back into her bag. She began to dash down the aisle, then paused and grabbed the book she’d been reading from the table. She threw that in the bag too and began making her escape. Other people were gathering at her section: even in a place as isolationally-minded as this, screaming and chemical attacks were going to draw interest.

“Sexual assault!” Kaia yelled as she dashed. “Those two foreigners tried to grab my breasts!” The glances that had once been speculative began to harden. Nobody doubted that off-islanders were morally bankrupt devils that would happily prey on defenseless damsels. To do it to one of their women, though, and here in a sanctum of education during the middle of the day, that was spitting in the face of the entire community.

Justin’s vision began to return and he immediately wished it hadn’t. The other people in the library were forming a tightening circle around them, the expressions on their faces leaving no question as to whether they believed Kaia’s outlandish claims. Justin was confident he could handle a couple of them, but there were more than a couple, and some had the looks, muscles, and tattoos of men who had once possessed less-peaceful interests before discovering the joy of literature.

“What’s going on?” Dustin asked.

“It is entirely possible that we might be in deep shit,” his brother replied. He couldn’t be sure due to his still-addled sight, but he was fairly certain he saw one of the larger people in the crowd, a dark-haired man with large shoulders and a tattoo of a shark on his neck, nod in agreement with his assessment. This did not bode well.

15.

Clint took in the scene before him. Falcon and April being restrained by burly men, Thunder lying on the ground with a trickle of blood running down his forehead, and three ruffians unencumbered and readying themselves to deal with this new minor threat. He felt something blooming inside his chest, a rush that seemed to fire through his blood and brain. All of a sudden his ears began to ring and his skull began to throb. It was anger surging through him, but a fiercer version of it than he’d ever experienced. This wasn’t just anger at some slight wrong or perceived injustice. This was the righteous rage of one who sees the innocent being hurt.

“I hope this works,” Clint mumbled under his breath.

Me, too. You’re sure you want to go through with it? There’s a lot of risk.

The blood from Thunder’s head was flowing down between the lenses of his aviators. Clint couldn’t tell if his friend was breathing anymore. He wasn’t sure when these people had become more than just traveling companions to him; maybe it was during the ceremony, or on the hill, or in the boat, but it had happened. They were his friends, whether he meant for them to be or not. Clint tightened his fist and his resolve. He didn’t answer Kodiwandae verbally. He didn’t need to; even if Kodiwandae couldn’t sense precise thoughts, there was no mistaking an intention that powerful building in the brain.

Clint’s skin began to tingle, a sensation altogether different from the blood rush he’d just experienced. This felt different, smoother, like some piece of him he’d never noticed was expanding. Kodiwandae began to form a word in Clint’s throat. Clint had never been more aware of the tremors of his vocal chords: each vibration sent ripples of burning heat through his throat. As the word rose toward his mouth, Clint would have sworn he was vomiting a cinder. It hurt unlike anything he’d ever experienced, but he didn’t try to cry out or tell Kodiwandae to stop. This was happening, for better or worse. As Clint opened his mouth to let the word escape, he was almost surprised when the sound reached his ears. He’d have sworn such a word would scorch the very air.

“
RUN.
”

There was a moment where the world seemed to slip a bit, a disoriented drunk momentarily losing its cosmic footing. Then everything righted itself and the thugs were dashing down the alleyway with a gusto one wouldn’t have imagined their slinking sullen forms could muster. April, Falcon, and heaven-only-knew-who-else’s things fell from their arms and pockets as they dashed, their legs pumping, their feet slamming the ground as though it had done them some great wrong. They disappeared in mere seconds but they kept on running for a very long time before they slowed and even then it would be quite some while before any of them ever felt truly safe.

Falcon rubbed her arms and stared at the young man who had so easily dispersed the villains. If not for Kodi’s voice, she didn’t think she would have recognized him as the same slacker she’d first met in the Camelot Burgers conference room only days ago. Part of the transformation was the way he held himself: his sullen slump had been replaced with the demeanor of a king walking among his subjects. Another part was the hard, outlined conviction that he wore across his face. Of course, the most noticeable part was probably the fact that his eyes were glowing with golden light, though that was slowly fading.

April didn’t notice anything besides the eyes, partially because she wasn’t as adept at reading people as Falcon and partially because she’d rushed to Thunder as soon as she was free. She took his pulse, opened his eyelids, and tested his breathing in rapid succession.

“I think he’s okay,” April said with evident relief. “But we should still get him to a hospital to be professionally checked out. It should be okay to move him.”

“We’ll get him there,” Falcon said. “Though it would be easier if the muscular boy were here. I don’t suppose you brought Mano with you?”

Clint shook his head. “I told him to keep up with the cat and gave him my cell phone so we could call when we were done. Let’s get Thunder to a doctor.” He stooped down and slipped an arm around Thunder’s shoulder, hoisting him to his feet while supporting his weight. April immediately flanked Thunder on the opposite side; the duo soon found they could haul their cargo around without too much strain if they kept the weight distributed between them.

They began moving down the alley slowly, making sure each had a firm grip as they progressed, fearful of losing their hold and doing more damage. Falcon walked alongside them, steadying anyone who looked a touch unstable. To her credit, they made it out of the alley before Falcon’s curiosity got the better of her.

“So, are you going to explain what happened back there? That seemed like more than just a terrifying voice, it felt like divine intervention. I thought Kodi couldn’t do anything without the pear?”

“He can’t. I can, though.”

“
It’s a bit complicated.”

“Try anyway.”

“Let’s say that Belief and Wants are what give Kodi his abilities. Normally, he would draw that power from the realm he occupies, you know, from people who specifically Believe in him.”

“Like prayers?”

“Close enough for now. Anyway, not all Belief is directed. Some people put their faith in more general things, like positive thinking toward their goals or just hoping there is something indefinable out there. That stuff permeates the world; it’s a blank slate. It can be anything the user wants it to be.”

“What was it today?” April asked.

“
A gentle nudge. You can give them to reality if you know how. I used it to suggest that those rogues really wanted to be running instead of mugging
.”

“Pretty useful,” Falcon said.

“No kidding,” Clint agreed. “He says it’s what people with divine blood use to get their special abilities. Since I’m human and connected to the world, I can interact with it. It’s kind of like he uses me to draw the Belief in, then he can mold it as needed.”

“So it’s a team effort,” April summed up. “That might have come in handy a few times on our little trip, by the way.”

“
I wasn’t aware the human could make use of such ambient energy until he began experiencing a premonition.
”

“You what?” Falcon kept her voice from growing to a yelp, but not without some effort.