The Drifting (3 page)

I watch as Julia finally sits quietly listening to what Tolan has to say. 
I can sense her withdrawal even from where I stand.  Whatever our first impression of Julia may have been, she’s not that person now.  She seems small, lost and
fragile
. 

Lily.  The loop starts up again.  I close my eyes as flashes of her image run through my mind once more.  I should have told her
how I felt
when we were
at
the last shelter. 
How could I have ever believed Kalis was the one for me?  I know now that e
ven if we weren’t bound by the Binding, she will always be the one.  I would never let her go.  And, yet, that is exactly what I did.  I let her hand go and I can’t remember why
. 
Why did I release her hand? 

Then it hits me. 

I reach inside of my coat and pull out the Manui statue.  I watch in amazement as it disintegrates immediately when the rain hits it.  As the statue melts away, the small box the soldier was holding also dissolves, but not entirely. 
The
rust and aged algae continue to
wash
away
like black
ashes. 
Now clean, the
perfect cube
pops open.  Inside is a
black onyx stone
, something like the Malainisi; round cut and weighty.  I can see the Sidhe runes…
gold markings embedded into the stone.  I squint trying to read the
scripture
, but although
it’s
Sidhe
,
it’s
unfamiliar to me.  I stare at it
as
it
mockingly
gleams back at me until the pieces
finally
fall into place.

The old couple…the shape-
shifters.  Back at
Crowfoot
Mountain
they came to me in their wolf form
s
and insisted I give the statue to Lily.  Was it their intent that I give it to her at the
doorway – the
moment before Ziri snatched her from me?  The thoughts start
coming fast, swirling inside
my head
and more
questions appear.  Why didn’t they take our offer of shelter at our last stop?  Was it they who lead
Ziri
to us?  Ziri is fast, but he doesn’t have our speed, our ability to run miles within an hour. 

Suddenly, it’s as if
someone flipped a switch and turned off the sound to
the rain.  The air
stills
and despite the downpour, all is quiet. 
I’ve let my thoughts and frustrations distract me and left us open to danger.  W
ith Tolan’s own attention on Julia
, we forgot to protect ourselves. 

I didn’t sense the five
attackers
until the release of their daggers.  Instinctively, I spin to my right as four daggers from
all
directions shoot out at me.  I hear the pull of tightly strung bows
behind me
as I come out of my spin and into a diving roll.  Tazo, now in my hand
s
, comes to life and even the rain can’t put out her fire. 
A
rrows and more daggers are deflected off her
–
the distinct
ive
sound of contact
rings about me
.  As I come up in a ready stance, Tolan appears at my side, the twin silver chains of
Odessa
hanging loosely from his hands.  I place a shield around us, but I know
it will
do little
,
as among the hidden five is a kikta
–
an orc witch.  A witch of any breed of Velesi has
his or her
own special abilities. 
Unfortunately, you won’t know what those abilities are until they’re used. 
A powerful kikta can take down a Sidhe’s shield and I can feel the strong black magic from this one. 

Together Tolan and I stand back to back.  With hooded eyes, I glance over at the shelter and note that Tolan
h
as pulled the jungle around it
, keeping
Julia from enemy eyes. 

“
W
e need to take out the kikta
,
”
I say as I scan the area
to pinpoint the witch’s location.  The three humans and one orc surround us, leaving the kikta alone.  Not good.  A witch who needs no protection during a fight
is either experienced, powerful
or both.  Not good at all.

“I have her, Tharin,”
came Tolan’s quiet thought.

The men and the orc were easy to locate, but they use the distance as an advantage against Tazo’s blade.  Tolan’s chains can extend as far out as his will allows, but fatigue will temper the distance and the force of his strikes.  Fortunately
,
the
Odessa
chains
can be used in other ways
. 

Slipping one of his chains into his coat, Tolan takes the end of the remaining chain and swiftly
unhooks
the sharp links.  Within a blink of an eye
he shoots out a handful toward
the witch’s location, cutting t
hrough the foliage like diamond-
edged spikes. 
O
nce
the spikes
reach
the
target, they
bounce
off an invisible
shield, scattering
in all directions. 
It wasn’t Tolan’s
intent
ion
to hit his target, but to lure her out, which it did. 
The scattered links return to Tolan’s hand, linking back to the chain. 
Coming forward,
she floats above the wet ground with
her hands moving in
a
circular motion,
eyes locked on Tolan.  When she comes to a stop,
she casts her first spell
.  Maki vines spear toward
us
,
and Tolan’s chains
, now in both hands, whip
into cutting cyclones
, dicing
the vines into pieces.  Using the centrifugal force of the chains, he pulls in the pieces of vines and shoots them
back at
the witch
like wooden bullets
.  This time not all pieces bounced off her shield, weaken
ed
by the first attack.  The
missiles
that did get through cut deep
ly
as
they slice her face,
neck
and arms –
she ignores the pain and remains focused. 

The kikta hovers
before us wavering slightly.  Her sleeveless jersey and
dark
pants are made out of leather pelts
,
and around her waist she carries several pouches hanging from a braided belt made of some kind of black fur. 
Heavy
boots
laced
up to her ankles look heavier than her entire weight, which doesn’t look like much.  Her body
,
covered with pocked skin
,
looks dried up and emaciated as if the sun had sucked all the moisture from her.  Her black eyes are piercing, crazed and touch
ed
with fear.  It’s then that we notice a silver link
from Tolan’s chain
embedded in her throat.  Without her voice
she will
be unable to conjure or cast spells but it doesn’t mean that she’s defenseless.  The black magic I sensed from her earlier is still strong and can do
major
damage even without her voice. 

I use Tolan’s attack to cover my own movements as three of my Shadika blades shoot out to find their targets.  Two hit their marks as two of the men hit the ground hard.  The third dagger misse
s
the orc
as he
spins low and to the side.  The remaining man loosed an arrow aiming at Tolan’s back, but Tazo deflects it easily at the last moment.  Another Shadika
dagger goes flying from my hand with such force that
when it found the man’s throat, he was thrown back a few feet before landing in a heap
,
lost within the thick
jungle
.  I scan for the orc, his scent and visibility hidden by the surrounding jungle and rain. 

I lift Tazo in time to deflect another arrow from my left.  I
follow its trajectory and
pinpoint the area it came from
.  I
move to the left of its location knowing the orc is on the move.  No longer in hiding
,
he speeds through the underbr
u
sh with me running alongside him.  He’s running in an arc and at the end of his run is the kikta
and
Tolan. 

The witch’s
hand
is outstretched
toward
Tolan
who is
facing her
,
his own hand out in front of him.  They seem to be in a tug-of-war with an invisible rope
and
I can see the strain on my brother’s face
,
the tension building around him.  Black smoke appear
s
from
the kikta’s
splayed
hands, evil emitting from it. 
The demon’s face within the smoke begins to take shape, but it’s taking longer for it to manifest because the kikta is unable to say the words.  How
she’s
able to do this feat
without her voice
is unclear,
while
her hands
continue to
dance before her. 

I keep track of the orc
as I veer off toward
Tolan
and get Tazo up in time to deflect the orc’s arrow.  Now out in the open, another of my blades goes flying, taking the orc out and ending his run abruptly. 
I come t
o a stop several
feet from the witch.  The demon trying to come through from the UnderRealm turns its black head to me.  Kabba.  Mother help us, she’s calling Kabba.