“You tried to go through the Graveyard?” Nico interrupted.
“Will you let me finish?” As Rasia recounted her encounter with the scavengers and the ensuing chase, the others leaned ever forward, enthralled by her tale.
Rasia killed two facehunters? They were chased by a scavenger armada? Kai jumped a bone-link? It sounded like a legend straight out of the temple library.
“What do you mean Kai magicked you out of the ship?” Nico interrupted again.
“Exactly what I said.”
“You’re saying Kai transported you from the windship to a sand dune in the blink of an eye?”
“You turned into water not too long ago.”
“I thought he didn’t have magic?” Azan asked.
Rasia got that grin on her face. She leaned forward and spread her hands out in an explosion. “Kai cums magic.”
“What?” Azan asked, startled. He swiveled his head toward Nico. “Is that a thing? Do you cum magic?”
Nico’s face blushed when all eyes landed on her. Even Suri scooted a little closer to hear the answer. Nico knew it could happen, theoretically, but that was for magic-born barely in control of their magic. Ava-ta would be scandalized to hear of it.
“How would Nico know?” Rasia teased. “She’s an untouched precious little flower saving herself for Naming night.”
“Enough,” Nico sputtered, desperate to get off the topic of both her and jih’s sex lives. Nico established, “Kai has magic, but it’s unreliable and usually acts on its own. Rasia, what happened after the scavengers captured you?”
“Right.” Rasia shifted awkwardly around the bandages and pulled an iron collar out of her bag. Rasia waved it above her head, using it as a prop for the rest of her tale. Nico gazed at it in horror.
Rasia finished her story by declaring, “Every scavenger in the Desert is out hunting for Nico’s head. Kai would have never been captured if it weren’t for her. So. This is all Nico’s fault.”
“There’s a bounty on Nico’s head?! Why didn’t you start with that?” Zephyr demanded.
“But why would anyone want to put a bounty on Nico’s head?” Azan asked.
“Probably the same reason someone placed a hit on her in the Tents.” Kelin shrugged.
“You admit to it, then?” Suri said, shooting to her feet. She pointed across the circle to Kelin. “Now everyone knows you’re not to be trusted.”
“Yeah, but Kelin doesn’t want to kill her anymore,” Azan defended.
“You know?” Nico asked Azan, shocked Kelin had told him. Zephyr had guessed Kelin’s ulterior motives as she had, but Nico didn’t think Kelin would outright reveal his intentions to anyone. She wondered if this flame between Azan and Kelin was more serious than she’d thought.
“I know that,” Rasia scoffed. “Why else would a flock kid hang around you?”
“His name is Kelin,” Azan corrected.
“Yeah, whatever.”
Kelin muttered, “She is an asshole.”
“Can we focus? Now that we know what happened with Kai, we need to make a plan.”
“Let’s circle back to why they want to kill you,” Azan insisted, shoulders tensed, defensive on her behalf.
“I can only assume it’s because I’m the deciding vote in the next Council meeting to determine a purge. Or it’s because I’m the Ohan, and they want me dead. My opinions aren’t exactly popular.”
“Who wouldn’t want her dead?”
“Shut up, Rasia.”
“Back to the plan. Rasia, you said this Timar Han gave you three days? We don’t have much time to save him. I propose that we—”
“This is the plan,” Rasia declared, completely stampeding over Nico’s words. “Nico and I go in with the collar on her neck. I secure Kai, win the collar key from Timar, then Nico floods the entire Graveyard. The dragon bones will float and topple everything over, killing every last one of them. The end.”
“Would that actually work?” Azan asked slowly.
“Duh,” Rasia answered. “Dragon bones are like bird bones. They’re hollow. They float. That’s why the Elder’s bones are tied down. To keep them from shifting when it floods.”
Nico was fundamentally opposed to this plan. “No. Why should we punish all the scavengers for the actions of one group? And what about the kids captured at the oasis? What about the no-faces? We need to save them too.”
“Those kids at the oasis weren’t going to survive the Forging anyway.”
“Who are you to judge who lives and dies, Rasia?” Nico asked. “These kids are facing extraordinary circumstances because someone placed a hit on my head. Not everyone can power through like you. You have always had everything—either an abundance of resources, food, or the skill and talent to succeed in times of little. It is not these kids who have failed, but the Grankull that has failed them. I refuse to fail them too.”
“This is ridiculous. Okay, maybe the Forging kids but the no-faces too? They were sold or captured by the scavengers for a reason. And what happens if we save them all? Where are they going to go? What are we going to do with them? They can’t go back to the Grankull. There is no food. Why do you think the Council has turned a blind eye to the scavengers all this time? Because each person they take is one fewer mouth to feed. What is your solution, Nico?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have those answers, but I refuse to leave anyone behind. I know that I can’t save everyone, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try. You came to me for my help, to my kull. Therefore, we do this on my terms.”
Rasia audibly slapped herself and dragged her hands down till the red of her eyes showed. “This is going to get us killed. This is going to get Kai killed. You know what? Fuck it. Walk in wearing the collar and get your head chopped off. At least then Kai goes free.”
“That’s not happening,” Suri said. “Absolutely not,” Zephyr snapped simultaneously.
“No one fucking asked the both of you.”
“Enough!” Nico stood, resolute. “This is not your kull, Rasia. You can’t bark orders at people and expect them to be followed. Everyone here is trying to help, and you should treat them with more respect.”
“Whatever. We wouldn’t be in this situation if it weren’t for you. It’s your head that they want.”
“They took Kai because of you,” Nico ground out. “If you hadn’t swept him up on this dumb adventure of yours, we’d have killed a gonda and been home by now.”
“Or this dumb adventure is the very reason the scavengers haven’t been able to find you. You should be thanking me.”
Nico opened her mouth and stopped herself. Arguing with Rasia wasn’t going to move them forward. Nico forced herself to calm and took a step back. Tensions were running too hot. They needed a break.
“Everyone, drink some water. We’ll regroup after high noon.”
Everyone scattered. Rasia threw up her hands; she couldn’t chase after them because of her leg, unable to get up as quickly.
“Rasia,” Nico said, head hurting and tired. “I am trying, but you’ve got to meet me halfway.”
“Ha! When the Elder breathes fire.”
Nico reminded herself that Kai cared for this self-righteous monster of a brat. She barely stopped herself from summoning a deluge to sweep Rasia out over the rock shelf. Barely.
“Stupid skink,” Rasia grumbled from where she lay curled around her injuries. Thoughts rampaged through her head. Nico was going to get herself killed trying to save every grubworm and dung beetle, and Kai was going to be all sad about it.
Rasia tensed at the sound of laughter. She glared over her shoulder at Nico’s group. They sat eating lunch and laughing at some dumb joke. The flock kid leaned an elbow against the blacksmith’s kid. Zephyr smiled . . . with dimples. Who knew Zephyr had dimples? The long-bow girl mixed a pot of tea, listening. And of course, Nico sat in the middle, an oasis at the center of bowing palm fronds, laughing and glistening and reflecting those around her.
Rasia didn’t understand why people followed her. Nico barely knew anything, nor had she done anything of note or worthy of a name. Nico depended too much on her magic and was nothing without it. But as always, people buzzed around Nico and stuck to her like honey.
Rasia remembered her first day of school. Bright and optimistic and naive, Rasia had gone to every student and asked if they would be her friend. As the school season continued and the teachers grew more frustrated with Rasia’s inability to sit still, all those kids she thought were her friends began treating her the same way the teachers did, as if something were wrong with her. Nico, on the other hand, got all the friends. Everyone always scrambled after the ohani’s attention.
Rasia didn’t go back to school after that first season. Who needed false friends? Why should she have to change for their acceptance and approval? She had tah and Ysai, and they accepted her for who she was.
Until they were gone.
Now her only friend was captured by scavengers.
Rasia tensed at the encroachment of footsteps. She sat up and glared as Zephyr crouched next to her with a bowl of food. “What do you want? You’re on the enemy’s side.”
“I’m on Kai’s side,” Zephyr said.
Rasia scoffed. “I see the way you look at her. So what, you’ve a kink for siblings?”
Zephyr rolled his eyes. In the Grankull, it wasn’t odd for siblings to have had relations with the same person, rarer to be at the same time though. Still, Kai was Rasia’s, and Zephyr was just being greedy.
“I like them both. I can’t help the way I feel,” Zephyr said. “Kai had broken things off with you, so I made my move. But he’s committed to you. I respect that. And Nico and I . . . are complicated.”
“Of course it’s complicated,” Rasia further scoffed. “Nico makes everything complicated.”
Zephyr smiled at that and nodded in agreement. “That’s who she is. She can’t help it, but that’s because she has a lot of considerations to make. Have you ever tried to comprehend her side of things? To try and understand the massive amount of responsibility she carries? She carries this kull, her family, the Grankull, the Tents, and as far as she is concerned, the entirety of the Graveyard as well. Would it be such a hardship to go a little easier on her?”
“That’s not my fault. Nico chooses that shit. She doesn’t have to.”
“But she does. Every day she chooses it. One day she’ll figure out the difference between those who need her, and those who don’t. She’ll figure out how to delegate, and how to prioritize, and then she’ll do it. She’ll carry the whole world. That’s strength too, Rasia.”
“Ugh. You’ve got it bad.” Rasia shook her head.
“I hardly think you can criticize,” Zephyr said, flatly. “The whole reason you are here is to go back for him. Do you really think Kai is going to be okay with leaving those kids behind? Kai stood up to you and exacted a blood price on my behalf. He broke up with you because he didn’t want to dishonor his jih. It’s ironic how you get along with him so well, considering he and Nico have a lot in common.”
Rasia crossed her arms. She didn’t see the similarities at all. They didn’t even look that much alike.
“Get your head out of your ass, Rasia. Kai is more important than your pride.” Zephyr sat down the bowl of soup. “That’s from Nico.”
Zephyr got up and left. Rasia grumpily pulled the bowl toward her.
As she ate, Rasia mentally ran through all her options and ended on the same brutal realization: She couldn’t save Kai by herself.
“You only come back home when you’re injured,” Ysai’s voice berated her, back when she wandered into the Grankull half-dead and starved atop the merchant kull she flagged down in the deadlands. She remembered tracking the windship trails and hoping someone would come along. She remembered the heat and talking to jih’s blurred shadow till he swept away in a mirage of her own making and left her dying alone.
I was supposed to be invincible.
She remembered how Kai held her. She remembered how when she thought it was the end, he had refused to let her go. It was she who brought him out of the Lake of Yestermorrrow and woke him back up. Kai whisked her off the deck of her windship before the collision, sensed enemies in the trees, and found the strength to tackle Timar while barely conscious. Together, they were invincible.
The lake tried to give me everything I could possibly want, but all I wanted was you. That’s not fate, or bones thrown. I chose you. You and I, and our kull, that’s forever.
Rasia was not alone anymore.
She was not a kull of one anymore.
She was a kull of two.
Kull of two.
Rasia pressed her hand to her chest in sudden realization. A laugh broke from her body, tinged with heat sickness and blood faintness. It hit like her thunder, tingling though her toes and traveling with excitement up her spine.
Rasia sprang to her feet with renewed strength and purpose. Nico could have all the followers and worshipers in the world. Nico could have all the friends and the jovial kull of found-family misfits. But Rasia only needed one.
Grow what makes you happy.
Rasia had asked Kai to trust her, and she didn’t break her promises. Rasia would do anything to get him back. Even destroy the world. Even compromise. Even maybe, just maybe, get along with Nico.
Rasia strode toward Nico’s group, and they looked at her like a jackal prowling too close to camp. Nico stood as Rasia planted her feet.
“Fine. We’ll do things your way. Let’s save everyone, but they are your responsibility and your consequences to deal with. I’m only concerned for Kai, but if those are your terms, I accept.”
“I am glad to hear it,” Nico said. “Maybe we disagree on the how but trust I will not rest until jih is rescued. We need each other. Kai is depending on us to figure out how to work together. I apologize, Rasia, for underestimating you, for lacking faith in you, and failing to see your vision. Perhaps I’ll never understand, but I do see you better now. I can only hope you’ll give me the chance to prove my aspirations are more than naivete and brittle bones. I fully accept the responsibility and consequences of my actions.”
“I apologize for nothing,” Rasia declared in turn. She had nothing to apologize for. “I suggest we approach this mission as the Hans of two kulls involved in a joint operation. I don’t involve myself in the particulars of your kull business but matters and decisions regarding my windeka ultimately yield to me.”
Nico gritted her teeth. Nico might plan to become her family’s triarch, the head of Kai’s household, but out in the field, the Han always took precedence. Either Nico would adhere to kull rules, or she’d assert her authority over Kai as both triarch and Ohan. Let’s see if Nico is truly willing to meet in the middle. Actions were always far more important than words.
Nico visibly struggled with Rasia’s terms. Rasia thought a strand of hair sprung out of the ponytail. Finally, Nico sucked in a breath and extended two fingers.
Rasia stared at the offer of truce with the realization they’d never in their entire lives touched each other in any way other than a physical blow. Rasia extended her hand and locked two fingers around Nico’s own.
They shook on it.
“Let’s get to work.”
“This is what we know,” Nico said once everyone regrouped. Rasia bit down on her tongue, annoyed Nico had automatically taken the lead. “The scavengers want me to wear the collar and trade myself for jih. The goal is to not only rescue Kai, but also rescue the kids caught at the oasis and the no-faces. Does anyone have any ideas?”
“The collar is crudely made,” Azan said as he studied the collar’s latch. “I can resize it, so you’ll be able to use magic while wearing it.”
“Perfect. That’s great, Azan.” Nico nodded. Azan grinned, and Rasia rolled her eyes at the pandering of it all.
Rasia watched the proceedings, but as promised, kept her thoughts regarding the management of Nico’s kull to herself. Nico gave everyone a chance to voice their opinions and offer suggestions. The whole process was sooo slow.
“Rasia and I will go in with the broken collar, and I’ll attack them with my magic. We’ll rescue Kai and the others while the rest of you wait with both windships. Suri will be on standby for anyone wounded. Kelin will provide cover for our escape. Azan will steer our ship, and Zephyr will steer Rasia’s ship . . .” Nico turned to Rasia. “If that’s okay with you?”
Rasia huffed. “Your plan is stupid and it sucks.”
“Then please tell me what’s wrong with it.” Nico invited the criticism, admittedly a far cry from the unmoving and know-it-all Nico from the beginning of the Forging.
“Gladly. First off, your plan lacks specificity and a back-up plan when everything inevitably goes to shit. For example, you’re going to attack them with your magic? What move, exactly? At your best, your fighting style defends against what? An average of five people at a time? We will be surrounded by hundreds of scavengers. Even if you can turn into water, you’ll have to take a breath sometime. Someone is going to get lucky and put an arrow through you.”
Nico blinked, then conceded, “You’re right. Perhaps a fog would be best to obscure their field of vision?”
“Can you contain it? If not, I can’t think of a quicker way to signal to every scavenger in the Graveyard your location.”
“I could practice containing it to a specific area. How large is the base? Perhaps you can draw a map, so we have a layout of where everything is?”
“Sure. I can do that. Second, you’re leaving the majority of your kull behind because you are too concerned for their well-being. We are going up against hundreds of scavengers. Bring your two best fighters. I suggest Zephyr and the flock kid.”
“Kelin.”
“Right,” Rasia said. “And have you considered what you’re going to do if the no-faces don’t want to come with you?”
“Why wouldn’t they? We need to save them, Rasia.”
Rasia rolled her eyes. Some people learned the hard way. She continued, “If we’re going to save all those people, we’ll need something big. Some sort of distraction . . .”
Possibilities and plans and schemes formed before Rasia’s eyes. Her intake of air voiced a thousand clashing ideas and inspirations. Her lips coiled into a smile, and everyone around her leaned forward in anticipation. “I’ve got an idea, but only if you’ve got the bones for it.”
“Let’s hear your crazy, Rasia.”