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Chapter 2

2

K

enyatta opened his eyes, though he lay on his back for a while longer. Endless waves of demons rolled over the lands in his mind’s eye, as he recalled the dream from which he’d just escaped. Kita and Seung had been there beside him, as well as the ninja, her samurai brother, and the farstrider.

He wanted to close his eyes again but sat up instead, wary that the dream awaited him if he did.

Not a dream at all, but what, then? Premonition?

Kenyatta climbed out of bed and went to the closet. After donning his tunic and breeches, he resisted the urge to strap on his sword. He was supposed to be working the farmland, after all, not going off to battle. Still, that dream …

Kenyatta stepped outside onto the porch of Mr. and Mrs. Kyung’s home and scanned the grounds looking for, what? A demon lurking near the barn? A shadow detaching itself to come for him? He looked over his shoulder at the sound of creaking floorboards to see Mr. Kyung step into the doorway.

“You look like a man looking farther away than those fields,” he said. “Time for another visit?”

“Yes, sir,” Kenyatta replied. “Seung will come tomorrow.”

The older man gave him a playful slap on the arm. “Try not to daydream too hard about her and fall into a creek, eh?”

Kenyatta chuckled. “Yeah man.”

Mr. Kyung threw his head back and laughed, then hit him on the arm again. “Ya … MON! You learn my language pretty good. Maybe you teach me more of yours.”

“That would be something,” Kenyatta replied, reverting back to the common tongue of the land. He wondered what it would sound like, Mr. Kyung speaking the common western tongue in the manner of his people.

Thinking of his beloved and lost homeland of Jamaica darkened his thoughts, but he kept up his smile.

Mr. Kyung’s smile faded as he regarded him. “You warrior types carry so much with you that any random thing sparks memories best forgotten.” This time he poked Kenyatta in the arm with a bony finger. “You be careful not to let the darkness of the past swallow you.”

“I will try.” Kenyatta smiled and bowed his head, a few locks falling over his face.

Mr. Kyung turned away. “You make sure you do, young man. Too much life you have left to live, carrying so much weight on your back. He waved a hand at the fields. You’ve done plenty of work around here to pay for your room and board, but don’t let me stop you from doing more.”

Kenyatta laughed at that. “Yes sir.”

He went around the side of the house toward the barn and grabbed an axe. Mr. Kyung insisted on tending the few animals they had, and since Kenyatta had cut the high grass and any odd errands the kind couple had needed done, he found himself looking for something to do. Winter was still a few months away, so now was the best time to start collecting firewood.

Seung wouldn’t approve, of course, but Mr. and Mrs. Kyung had been generous in letting him stay in exchange for working around their property. Elves didn’t approve of cutting down trees, but if the Kyung’s wanted firewood, Kenyatta would cut firewood.

Elves.

He shook his head at the thought of it. In a world of Cerberus, other monsters out of legend, and even demons, elves had never crossed his mind. What other beings shared this world with humans? And did they share similar feelings toward his species?

Kenyatta thought of what he’d learned of the elves from Seung. More elf than human yet raised among the latter, Seung herself had just begun her education on the other part of her ancestry. One thing she’d made clear; elves didn’t particularly care for humans, and even though she was more elf than human, her welcome among them had been tepid at best.

Barely a hundred yards from the barn, Kenyatta felt a comforting presence so familiar and so close, it may as well be a part of himself. He stopped and didn’t even try to hold back the big grin across his face. “Watcha wan stalkin’ me from behind, sis?”

“Not so hard wit me brother daydreamin’ ’bout his girliefriend,” Taliah answered.

Kenyatta turned to see his older sister standing with a hand on her hip with a knowing smirk on her face. He laughed and dropped his axe, hurrying over to sweep her up in a crushing hug.

“Urgh, get off wit yer stinkin’ man-smell!”

Kenyatta made to rub his chin on her and she beat at him till he dropped her. Taliah glared at him through her laughter, and for a time, both just enjoyed the moment.

“You probably guess why I came to find you,” Taliah said.

Kenyatta sobered up at the seriousness in her voice. He looked into her eyes and heaved a great sigh. “Yeah man. Last night—”

“You had a dream, and Kita and the others who battled alongside you were there,” Taliah finished for him.

All Kenyatta could do was nod.

Taliah returned the gesture. “We don’t have a lot of time, Ken. I’ve already been to see Kita. We’re going back to meet him in his home in Cebu, but first we need to collect ya girliefriend.” She beaconed him to come stand next to her.

“Wouldn’t it have been quicker to just bring him here?” Kenyatta moved to stand behind her, and Taliah closed her eyes.

“Two humans will cause enough uproar. Best not push our luck.”

Kenyatta watched from the corner of his eye as his sister’s form took on a golden glow that engulfed the world in a flash of light.

S

eung opened her eyes and realized, to her confusion, that she had actually slept. Since the day she had fully taken the reverie for the first time, Seung had come to think of actual human sleep as something of a comatose experience. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d fallen into human sleep, yet somehow she’d fallen out of the reverie into it.

She stared at the far wall of her room seeing as though a mural of her recent past had been painted on it. Years of covering her “deformed” ears only to later discover her heritage. Her adventures outside her childhood home of Kyu. The tidal wave, the lava leech, the dragon named Khairon.

Kenyatta.

No doubt the islander had finished his morning rituals and was now helping tend the fields. Perhaps she could visit him a day early and surprise him.

Thinking about Kenyatta drew Seung’s wandering mind back to the dream that wasn’t a dream. She’d need to talk to DaunyaSai about that—

“Kiluriel!”

Seung blinked at the urgency of Immendiel Mai’lienar’s voice. Even though she’d grown accustomed to the

whisper,

it still startled her on occasion to hear words enter her ears and into her mind in such a way.

“What is it?”

Seung

whispered

back.

“Come now. I’m above your home. Let no one see you. Hurry!”

Without another word, Seung poked her head out the door. Seeing no one about, she made her way around to the back of her home and jumped, hopping from branch to branch. Never had she imagined she could be capable of such a thing, but it seemed as though her time here in Yathienel had awoken a new language that her body spoke naturally. It was as though it had always been this way. Yathienel was intoxicating!

In short order she found the elven tracker perched on a branch high above. “This must be serious for you to be this high up. What’s wrong?”

“Come,” was the only response. Seung had no time to speak, for it took all her concentration to keep up with the swift elf as she darted silently from branch to branch with a skill not many in The Wood could equal. In short order they were squatting high in the trees, looking down at two figures staring in the direction of The Wood. Seung’s heart skipped a beat when recognized one of them. Kenyatta? And the woman with him could be no one but his sister! Why were they here?

How

were they here? Seung stifled her alarm and tried to remain passive. “All this hurry for two humans?”

Immendiel shook her head impatiently. “There’s no time for this, girl. Do not pretend that man is not the one who holds your heart.”

He may have held her heart, but right now it was pounding in her chest. “This is a problem, no doubt.”

“That is the easy of it,” Immendiel replied. “The bigger issue is why he and that woman are right there, looking directly at our home as though they know it’s here.”

Seung felt her legs weaken under the other elf’s suspicious gaze. Not this. Not now. “You have my word that I have not told him where our home lies. I have not spoken to him of the location of Yathienel!”

“And yet, there they stand.”

“I know not how or why they’re here, but he has told me about his sister. From his words, my guess is that she is a Daunya Master.”

“And that would explain their presence?” Immendiel replied.

“It’s the only explanation I can think of.” Seung fought to slow her rapidly beating heart. “I would never betray Yathienel or The Lady Seiyun. You are my family. Why would I betray you?”

“Why indeed,” came the cryptic response.

Seung started to speak several times and stopped. “There is only one way to find out. We can’t let them stand down there indefinitely.”

Immendiel arched an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Seung frowned at the tracker. “They obviously know what is beyond these bordering woods. The enchantment to befuddle and deter humans seems to have no effect on them. To my eyes, the woman somehow knows, and Kenyatta has told her that they should not enter.”

At the mention of the islander’s name, Immendiel looked back to the two figures below with narrowed eyes.

“Bresha nosimde mala isala, quyo.”

The elf shook her head and dropped from the branch.

Seung’s cheeks colored. Despite having never heard the phrase before, she understood it. ‘Stupidity is born in the love of the young.’ She took a deep breath and followed.

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