He paused his pacing, placing his hands on his head and running them through his short, green hair. Nima noticed he had webbing between his fingers.

  He turned back towards them, pulling a chair closer and sitting upon it.

  “Now, I would like to know more of you both, if I may. I have never seen your like before. You look as I do, but your smooth skin and your strange hair. Your odd clothing. It is all most interesting.”

  Nima laughed at the thought that she would look just as unusual to Val as he did to her.

  “I’ve never seen anyone like you before either, Val.”

  “The Elders tell tales of your kind, of course. But I thought they were legends. Fables. Now, you say you are travelers. Where is it you have come from? How did you get here? Are you from beyond the mountain?”

  “We are,” Tanira said, speaking before Nima could. “We are from beyond the mountain.”

  “Tanira is a knight,” Nima said. “And I am assisting her. She is on a quest which for now has to be kept secret,” Nima added, immediately wondering if it had been right to do so.

  Nima supposed nothing she said was a lie. She had planned to tell Val of the portals and her time in the Under, but Tanira’s look gave her pause. It was not a hard or angry stare, but rather a pleading one, reminding Nima of the look her brother Pasang used to use, when he hoped she would not tell her mother of something he had done wrong. Perhaps it was part of Tanira’s need to protect her quest for the Line.

  “I do not know what a knight is,” Val said. “But if it is anything like a warrior, I think at times my people could use one. I think some of us would fight back, if only we knew how. Tomorrow if I returned to Caenola there would be so much I would need to deal with. Ah, to tell mother of father’s death. She will grieve, she may even choose to stay during the next Tempest.”

  Nima watched the way Val’s eyes looked off into the woods, like he was looking for answers there. He sighed deeply.

  “Yet I must return. I broke the laws of the Elders by entering the Wood, but I had to find my father. Now that he is gone, I must confront them. In his name, and his memory. Even if I share his fate.”

  Val stood, stripping his pack off his back and dropping it to the ground. It landed with a thud, the top nearly bursting open. There was a dark emblem embossed upon it, a shape that looked to be an island.

  “Do you hear the weight of that pack? I was leaving Caenola not to find my father but to be with him. If he was cast out than so would I be. My mother has my love, but she accepts this order or at least tolerates it. How could I stay?”

  He slumped back down next to the pack, the light in his crystal dimming again.

  “Now he is dead. I go to face those who sentenced him to this fate, who would see our people forever trapped in this same cycle, nothing ever changing. Should I survive the journey.”

  Nima thought of all the beasts that might lie hidden between here and Val’s village, however far off it might be. Even with his ability to sense these monsters, how could he fight or run from them all?

  “Val,” Nima said. “I don’t think that is something you need to do alone.”

  Nima gave a look over to Tanira, hoping she might have the same connection with the woman she had forged with Drew Adley. Often Drew seemed to know what she was thinking. Of course they needed to help Val.

  Tanira was staring with intensity at Val’s discarded pack. She seemed to focus on something, her eyes narrowing.

  “My friend Nima is right,” Tanira said.

  Nima blinked in surprise, even if that was the answer she had hoped for. She had been worried Tanira would refuse. Nima wondered if she had just misinterpreted the woman’s reactions.

  “It is fate that has brought us together with you Val,” Tanira continued. “Praise the Line! We shall come with you to your village and help you face this burden.”

  Nima felt a spark of excitement at the decision. Finally, there was a path forward, a goal. A clear summit to attempt. They would help Val reach his village, and there Tanira might be able to find a guide to her island.

  Val’s mouth hung open for a moment as he looked at them, the crystal in his head gaining intensity.

  “I do not know how to respond,” he said. “I do not even know why you are here, but to just agree to come with me . . . it is an imposition I could not ask.”

  “You didn’t ask,” Nima said with a laugh. “We offered.”

  “We would merely like to help, as Nima says,” Tanira said. “It would be unjust to walk away and leave you alone with this.”

  Val stood, and bowed with his hands wide. “I accept your offer. Perhaps your strange appearance will help my people see things with new eyes.”

  “Thank you for accepting our help,” Nima said.

  To see Valaen’s people would be so exciting, and Val himself was unlike anything she had ever seen. She had taken care not to stare at him too much, but his exotic appearance, the stories of his people and their customs, they were all so different and new.

  “Is there anything we should do with your father’s body?” Nima asked. “In my culture, the dead are kept in the family’s home for a week so that friends and family may pay their respects.” She recalled seeing visitors after her mother’s death, spending days in her room. It was not a good memory.

  “That is a noble practice,” Tanira said, her tone softening. “My people would do well to adopt it.”

  “We have no such customs,” Val said. “We are one with the world, in life and death. When possible, we leave the bodies where they are, as the wave from the next Tempest will reclaim them. I do have a few words I would like to speak to him though.”

  “Are you certain it is safe?” Tanira looked at the cave entrance with uncertainty.

  “It is fine,” Val nodded. “I have been detecting the eels and keeping a good sense of them. They have left the area and my father is not far from here.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want us to go with you?” Nima asked. She walked over, putting her hand on Val’s shoulder. She knew she had only met the man a few hours ago, and he could not appear stranger, yet there was something about him that connected with her.

  Val shook his head. “No, thank you. I would prefer to be alone. It should not take long, and I will be safe.” He paused for a moment, closing his eyes. Nima watched as the crystal in his forehead pulsed for a moment.

  He then picked his pack back up, Nima watching Tanira’s eyes follow the object as he did so.

  “My friends,” Val said, bowing again. “It is a dark day for me, yet you have added calm to my waters. I am grateful to have met you.”

  “Be careful,” Nima said, watching him as he left. The man took a few glances around the forest, the light from the sun cutting through the trees to the west. Within a moment or two, Val was into the deep brush and out of sight.

  Better now than later, Nima told herself. It would do no good to keep her questions inside. She would have to word them to Tanira the right way. She wished Drew were there. He was better at these things.

  Taking a deep breath, she turned around only to find Tanira standing right behind her, less than half a meter away.

  “You have questions for me, yes?”

  Nima gasped a bit, taking a step back. Tanira was larger than her, leaving Nima in shadow. The woman still wore a smile on her dark face though, the light still present in her eyes.

  “Uh,” Nima started, taking a breath. She spread her feet a bit, the action making the ground feel more solid. She had every right to ask questions, she reminded herself.

  “I do, Tanira. I wasn’t sure you were going to agree with my idea to go with Valaen to his village.”

  “But then I saw his pack,” Tanira said with a laugh. She clapped Nima on the shoulder. “You do not miss much, do you, Nima? Wherever you come from, I am sure you are valued for that skill!”

  A little of the tension released from Nima’s shoulders, rolling off her in waves with Tanira’s laughter.

  “I know it is difficult when the Line forces me to keep answers from you,” Tanira said. “It is difficult for me as well. You have already been more patient than I could have expected, or may have been in your place. Therefore, I will explain what I am allowed to.”

  “Thank you.” Nima felt relieved Tanira was willing to share, but did not want to push too far. She wished Drew were here, he often helped her know when to stop talking.

  “I know being a knight, there are vows you must keep.” She thought of her grandfather’s story books, the ones he brought back from his travels. Pages and pages of knights in their castles and the large round tables they all gathered at. Wizards and kings and dragons on green hillsides.

  “You were correct earlier.” Tanira took a few steps back, then sat down. “I was not sure accompanying this man to his village was appropriate. I have much I need to accomplish here, Nima. My quest is very important, my people are depending on me. I did not wish us to part ways, as I like your company and value your observational skill. Not to mention, you saved my life.”

  “But you saw something, on his pack. The island.”

  Tanira nodded. “Yes. If Valaen or his people can tell me more of this island, or even guide me there, then a journey with him is within the Line.”

  “I am glad to hear that,” Nima said, going back to Tanira and sitting next to her.

  “As am I, great climber Nima.” Tanira laughed again.

  Nima took a deep breath. This had gone better than she had expected, but there was more she needed to say. She was not Drew, she saw no value in keeping things inside, waiting for “the right time,” as he would say.

  “I do respect your commitment to your quest, to this Line,” Nima said. “I know there are things you feel you need to keep from me. That does make it hard though, Tanira. There may come a time when I need you to--”

  “Let us make an agreement. When you need to know something, ask. I will answer if I can.”

  “That seems fair,” Nima said. “And telling Val about the portals and why you are here?”

  “In time,” Tanira said, running her fingers through the dark braids of her hair as she sighed. “Once told, it cannot be untold. I must be cautious. The weight of my people is-“

  “If we are to leave, it would be better to do so soon,” Val’s voice echoed into the cave, his form silhouetted in the entrance.

  Nima stepped away from Tanira and decided to drop the subject. Tanira had been clear on what she could and could not do, it would be better to respect her, Nima decided. If she needed to know more, she would ask.

  “Why is that, Val?” Tanira asked. She gave Nima a smile as she walked by, and Nima felt reassured that all was well.

  Val looked to be in better spirits after saying goodbye to his father. “There is a herd of grun on the move nearby, and where they travel the darkeels will often follow. It is nearly midsun, we could be to the outskirts of Caenola by nightfall if we leave now.”

  ”Then we make haste,” Tanira said as she threw her own pack over her shoulder and grabbed her long, silver blades. “I am anxious to see more of this forest of yours.”

  Nima scrambled to the mats she had been sleeping on, thinking of rolling one up and bringing it with them in case they had to sleep in the forest. Deciding that there wasn’t enough room, she cast it back down on the cave floor. She had slept on the ground many times with Drew and Pasang in the Khumbu Valley, it would be fine to do so again.

  Tanira and Val waited for her at the cave entrance, the sunlight gleaming into the cavern and framing them both like a golden painting. For the first time since arriving, she wished Drew and Merin could have come with her, to see all the amazing things she was seeing.

  Nima followed the others out of the cave and back into the mixture of oaks, pines, and mihya trees, wondering about Drew and what he might be doing in his own far off world.

  4

  Drew Adley was happy, but he knew it was only in the moment. Outside the flap of this tiny tent, the problems of his old world and this new one still waited for him.

  Yet inside the tent, he smiled. It was an honest thing, not the wry grins or gallows humor that had become constant companions these past few years. In his heart was a feeling of contentment that was warmer and cozier than any blanket he could imagine.

  If only he could stay under it.

  Drew lay on his side, the snow’s cold seeping through the layers of cloth underneath him, despite the morning sun. Above his head, a similar sheet of fabric formed the roof for their makeshift tent, built inside the outer wreckage of the library. He was surrounded by a new place, a new world, but none of that had his attention.

  He ran his finger lightly over the curve of Upala’s exposed shoulder, his light skin contrasting sharply with her olive tones. She had been sleeping for hours, but Drew’s rest had been short. She shifted lightly against him, the sensation of her movement was like tiny sparks lighting off inside him.

  Only a few hours after arriving through the portal from the Under, he and Upala had first fallen into each other’s arms, and then into the nearest tent.

  None of that had been the plan. Drew had planned to assume nothing regarding Upala’s feelings, or even what might be in his own heart.

  He had only wanted to talk to Upala, get to know her as a person and allow her a window into who he was, and who he felt he was capable of becoming. The plan had been to simply talk and see where that led them.

  Things had not gone according to plan, but Drew supposed sometimes what life gave you was better than what you tried to design.

  He was lying next to a woman he had only seen once before, in a smoke-filled restaurant in Kathmandu. A woman who represented opportunities for peace, forgiveness and love for Drew, things he had been unable to find anywhere else.

  For one night, she had given him these things and more, only to vanish like smoke in the morning, as lost to him as he often felt his own happiness was.

  Now after all his searching, he had found her again.

  Just as before, there had been no need for words between them. Once their escape from the Under had been secure, they had fallen into each other’s arms at the first opportunity.

  There was a new life waiting outside this tent, a life that would bear little resemblance to his previous one. All his failures now lay on the other side of an inert portal, an obsidian oval of stone that would act as a grave marker for the previous life of Drew Adley. A life that had been spent mostly disappointing others, leading people astray and causing far too much unhappiness and death.

  His brother Artie was not here, any more than the other doomed sailors of the USS Machias. His mother was buried in an Oregon cemetery that was another world away, visited daily by his angry father. In all the slammed doors and missed opportunities that were now closed to him, only the thought of never again seeing his adopted little sister Nima brought melancholy to his heart.

  Upala’s deep-brown eyes opened, looking back into his as his cheeks grew warm with embarrassment. He was staring, and now that he was caught he still could not pull his gaze away.

  “It is good to see you in the morning light, Drew Adley,” she said, her voice like a musical instrument, the highs and lows dancing in his ear. She smiled, reminding Drew that the face he had been dreaming of for months was now only inches away from his own. Her hand curled around the back of his neck, pulling him in for a kiss.

  He pulled back, her fingers sliding away, bringing goose bumps to his skin. He wanted that kiss, could feel his body resisting his own actions. She raised a dark eyebrow in response, propping herself up on one elbow, the grin still on her face.

  A small wave of relief washed over him. “You’re not mad.” The urge to get up, to pace conflicted with the urge to fall back into her, to throw all other thoughts off the mountain and give in to his desires. He ignored both impulses. “I just need to talk a bit, Upala.”

  She laid back, crossing her hands behind her head to form a pillow. He looked at her dark hair, tightly and intricately woven against her skull, keeping his eyes on her face and forbidding them to wander to other places.

  “Of course, Drew.” She pulled the makeshift blanket that had laid at their waists up to her neck, the coverage reducing Drew’s distraction. More embarrassment ran through him.

  I’m in my late twenties, why am I acting like a teenager?

  “This is a new world for you, an incredible sacrifice you have made on my behalf, as well as Merin’s. I owe you all the talk and answers you could ever ask for. If not for you and your friends, I would still be trapped in that crystal in the depths of the Under, if not suffering a worse fate at the hands of my brother.”

  Drew rolled onto his back, it was easier to think without looking at her. Now that he had the opportunity though, there was only one question he wanted to ask, only one question that mattered.

  “What happens now?”

  He heard her intake of breath, could sense the air moving into her lungs as if it was his own body. He had not been with many women, but the connection had never been like this. It was so all-consuming that even her answer was hard to focus on, the music in her voice threatening to transport him away.

  “That will be your choice, of course. You and I are in a similar position, Drew. I find myself returning here as if I am a stranger, a new person with a new look at the world. It will be a challenge to reintroduce myself to these people.”

  Her hand found his, fingers intertwining underneath the thin blanket.

  “It would be easier with your support, your advice.”

  There was a frantic crunching of snow from approaching boots, Drew sitting up just as Merin pushed her head into the tent.

  “My lady, I am sorry to disturb.” Drew noticed Merin kept her eyes on the ground. The morning sun streamed past her tall body, Merin’s short, raven-black hair blowing in the high wind.

  “It is fine,” Upala said, sitting up and holding the blanket to her chest. “You do not need to address me so anymore. Is something the matter?”

  Drew could see the slight clench of Merin’s jaw, visible only for a moment. He wondered if Upala saw it as well before it vanished.

 

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