Forever Misplaced, page 9
Tristan grinned. “Yeah, great for the basics, but unfortunately, it’s too basic. Every guy on any planet is raised from a young age to protect his—well you get it. Instead, I’m going to show you a few hand and wrist holds and how to break them. Your best line of defense is always to get away.”
Kody nodded. That made sense. She wasn’t fast, but she had long legs.
Over the next twenty minutes, Tristan showed her several ways to break someone’s grip, standing way too close for her to concentrate half the time and switching holds too frequently for her to remember what to do.
When they reached a lull, Briony brought Kody a mug of strong tea and showed her a spell that could create a bubble of air between her and an attacker, throwing them off. Kody drank her tea and then tried the magic, but she couldn’t quite figure it out. After a breakfast of oatmeal, they cleaned up, and Briony showed her how to magically put out the fire before they continued their journey.
By lunch, they reached a wide and lazy river. Trees grew dense all along the bank, casting the water in shadows, but their path opened perfectly to a small rocky beach. Briony knelt at the river’s edge and dipped her hand in the water for a moment before rising. “We should take a break,” she suggested.
Kody agreed, dropping her pack and pulling out lunch. As soon as she ate her food, Tristan reached down to pull her up, and it was back to breaking holds. She was just making progress when Briony cut in and had her try the bubble magic again.
Kody couldn’t figure it out. She didn’t get how to create air in a bubble where there wasn’t any air pressure to begin with. She explained this to Briony, who shook her head.
“You’re thinking too much. It’s not about rationalizing how it works, it’s about envisioning the outcome and making it happen.”
Tristan spoke up and Kody shook her head at his inability to let any chance to disagree with Briony pass. “I’ve spent a lot of time with mages. Usually, there are words and objects they use. It’s complex, not just thinking and doing.”
Briony let out a huff. “Hu magic is overly complicated. They don’t trust the ruakh so they need all the rules to make sure it does exactly what they want.” She looked at Kody. “You need to trust the ruakh, and yourself. Trust your magic to know it’s capable of what you’re doing.”
Kody frowned. “So, is it like you fill the bubble with air first? Or like you are blowing up a balloon?”
“Stop thinking!” Briony shoved Tristan toward Kody. “Here, try attacking her again, maybe grab her waist like you did this morning.”
Kody gaped at her sister, the evil witch. Did she think that shoving her man crush at her would make her stop thinking? Good thing Tristan wouldn’t go along with it . . .
Tristan just shrugged and stepped toward her.
Kody shrieked and tried to dart away, but Tristan caught her elbow with that blacksmith grip of his and pulled her into him. He held one arm in the air and used the other to force her against his chest.
Her mind jumped to a million places, not one about breaking his grip. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. He smelled like peppermint and wood smoke. She squeezed her eyes tighter, trying to block out the intrusive thoughts. How was she supposed to push Tristan away with a burst of air when she didn’t particularly want to shove him away? But he was only holding her for this demonstration, not because he wanted to. There. That was the thought that gave her the will to think of the magic. How could she want to stay in his arms when it meant something different to her than it did to him?
Kody thought of Briony’s instructions. She dismissed thoughts of a bubble and instead found the place between her and Tristan. That part was easy, as every fiber of her being was well aware of every place they touched. Kody focused on those points. She wanted to be separate, for space to be between them, and so she would make it so. She imagined space between them, and then willed it to be all at once.
The force flung them apart. Kody landed on a cushion of air, her sister’s eyes and swirls glowing as she carefully lowered her to the ground.
Tristan landed in the river.
Briony helped Kody to her feet. “That was excellent. Next time picture yourself like a tree, anchored to the eres, so you don’t go flying too.”
Kody rushed to the river where Tristan kicked against the current, fighting his way back to their small beach. Apparently, the river wasn’t so lazy under the surface.
“Can you help him?” Kody asked her sister.
“No need. He’s fine,” Briony said, gesturing upriver.
Something large dragged against the surface of the water, moving fast toward Tristan, and then sunk under until it was out of sight.
“Is it going to eat him?” Kody asked, gripping her sister’s arm.
“Please, do you really think I’d kill off your boyfriend?” Briony asked.
“He’s not my—” Kody started but trailed off as Tristan rose weirdly out of the water until he was fully above the surface. He seemed to panic for a moment, then held on tight as the thing moved toward the bank.
Kody took a big step back as an enormous frog crawled out of the water, with Tristan clinging to something along its back. The frog was covered in a rainbow of neon colors, like a middle school girl’s binder, which was weird. Tristan jumped off the frog as soon as it was on solid ground and, keeping his eyes on the creature, took several steps back until he was standing beside Kody.
“That was weird,” Tristan said.
Kody just nodded and watched her sister approach the frog. “Thank you for coming, pretty girl,” Briony said, stroking gently down the top of the frog’s head Two more large, brightly colored frogs crawled out of the river behind the first.
“To be clear, why did you call the frogs?” Kody asked.
Briony turned and smiled at her companions. “So they can take us the rest of the way to Hivagora.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that,” Kody groaned.
“Trust me. By foot, the journey would take a week. With the help of our friends, we will be home in time for dinner.”
“And how are we supposed to hang on to slimy frogs?” Kody asked.
“Please, they aren’t slimy, and they have harnesses.”
Tristan nodded. “Can confirm. They do have harnesses.”
Kody shot Tristan a glance. “You’re seriously okay with the frog travel?”
Tristan shrugged. “Sounds faster than a horse.”
Kody turned and paced a few feet away, wiping her face with both hands.
Briony approached her and put a hand on her shoulder. “If you’re really not comfortable, we can walk.”
“No, I’m fine. I just needed a moment to get used to the idea.” Kody let out a sharp breath. “Can I ride the purple and blue one?”
Briony laughed. They grabbed their packs, which Briony made magically waterproof, and took some time familiarizing themselves with the buckles and straps of the harnesses “in case they needed to get loosened quickly.” Briony’s words didn’t exactly reassure Kody, but Tristan still strapped himself to a frog, so she couldn’t exactly complain. He didn’t even need to be making this trip except for her guilt-tripping him into coming.
Kody made her way up high on the frog’s wet and slick, but not slimy, back. Her head was level with the frog’s eyes—where, Briony explained, their heads would stay above water so they could breathe.
It took a few tries for Kody to find the right height, not so high as having most of her weight pushing down the frog’s head, but also not so low as she would drown. The slope of the frog’s back made an oddly perfect bed for Kody to lie on, her arms comfortably hanging onto the harness at chest level. If Kody lay her head to the left or right, she could almost imagine she was on a unique pool floaty getting ready for a nap in the sun. The water was cool and refreshing after the hot walk through the forest and, as she quickly adapted to the temperature change, Kody thought the swim upstream might not be so bad. If only she wasn’t fully clothed, boots and all. Briony said their packs would be fine, but Kody wasn’t looking forward to showing up to her ancestral home sopping wet.
The frog stretched out its limbs as if waking up from a nap, and then Kody launched forward. It took her a moment to realize the frog was still under her as they rocketed through the water in quick, jilting thrusts.
A howl exploded from Kody’s right and she turned her head to see Briony sitting up, a fist in the air.
“What do you think of your first anura ride, sister?” Briony yelled loud enough to be heard over the crashing wake.
Kody laughed, at a loss for words, and glanced behind her to where Tristan’s frog brought up the rear. He was wincing against the mist of water Kody’s frog was kicking up, but she also saw that slight grin on his face as they reached incredible speeds.
The scenery around them shifted often from dense jungle-like forest to clearings and small beaches. Kody saw a family of giant frogs sunning on a fallen tree, and later she saw something that might have been an odd-colored bear.
The trees grew bigger and closer together the further up the river they went; their branches arching over the water, creating a dense canopy that stretched higher and higher yet always blocking out the direct sunlight. The canopy acted like a filter, casting a cool glow to the river below. Kody thought she could almost see better in this natural shade, spotting animals and interesting plants where before she’d only seen shadows.
“We’re almost there!” Briony waved and pointed up toward a thick patch of foliage. Kody looked closer and noticed two people, a woman and a man in uniform, waving back.
The trees grew thicker along the river, growing over and intertwining with their partners on the opposite bank until the frogs entered a sort of tunnel. They passed several sets of open gates until the tunnel ended and they emerged on a shallow bank, while the river curved off to their right.
Two men and a woman, all in uniforms of green and brown, waited on the bank. As soon as Briony’s frog bottomed out, not even out of the water, she slipped off her buckles and launched herself into the arms of one of the waiting men who caught her, lifting her off her feet. Kody’s frog hit the bank and climbed from the water. The waiting woman assisted Kody with her buckles and helped her stand.
“Thank you,” Kody said, her legs stiff under her.
“It’s my pleasure, Your Highness,” the woman said, bowing.
Kody didn’t know how to respond but was saved from the embarrassment as Briony grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the man she’d been embracing.
“Kody, I would like to introduce you to Havu, my love,” Briony said.
“Your Highness,” Havu said, bowing, the front of his uniform sopping wet from Briony’s hug.
He took Kody slightly off guard with his long, flowing platinum blond hair and pale alabaster skin that showed in stark contrast to the green swirls covering his arms, neck, and face. Kody was at once thankful for her darker tone. She never would have been able to hide her green swirls on Earth if she were as light as him.
“It’s good to meet you,” Kody said, and turned as Tristan reached her side.
Havu frowned at Tristan. “And who is this?”
“This is my friend, Tristan, who kindly agreed to travel with us,” Kody said, stepping in before anyone tried to make Tristan feel unwelcomed.
“He’s another of the Misplaced,” Briony said.
“Ah, I see. It is a pleasure,” Havu said, nodding. Tristan nodded back.
“Right. Shall we head home?” Briony said, gesturing toward a short set of stairs leading from the beach.
The man who’d helped Tristan from his frog approached them. "If I may?”
“Oh, of course,” Briony said, and Kody glanced at her, confused. The man’s swirls glowed across his arms and face, and a strong wind took up around Kody and the others, as if she stood over a grate. It lasted only a moment, and as her clothes fell back into place, she found herself perfectly dry.
Kody reached up to feel her hair, worried it would be all over the place, but the neat triple row of French braids felt perfect. She turned to her sister. “Is this why you offered to braid my hair this morning?” She’d thought the offer a little random, but she’d never had a sister to braid her hair before, so she’d accepted.
Briony grinned. “Of course.”
Kody smiled and shook her head as Briony and Havu led the way off the beach. She checked for Tristan, but he was at her side.
“Are you getting strong Legolas vibes?” he asked, gesturing toward Havu.
Kody covered a snort and punched Tristan in the shoulder.
He grinned, and they ascended the stairs to a hard-packed dirt path that led into what could only be described as a magical Elv forest city.
Chapter Twelve
The city teamed with life, more life than Kody had ever seen in one place. Plants grew over, around, and under everything, and birds and pollinating insects of every color flew from branch to bud to leaf and back. Duck mothers led their ducklings along the road and bunnies munched clover in front of and on top of shops and houses.
And then there were the people. Hundreds of people, of every shape and size, wearing dresses and robes and pants and tunics, all made of flowing gauzy fabric in lovely natural and earth tones. The people came in every shade common among humans back on Earth but in a variety she had rarely seen in real life. And every single one of them had bright green swirls all over their exposed flesh and pointed ears sticking out of every texture and color of hair imaginable. Now and then she saw a person with no swirls and couldn’t help but examine them closely, to see what about them led them to a life among the Elv.
As they passed a steady flow of people, many of them paid no attention to Kody or her party, but every now and again, someone would notice Briony and nod respectfully or share a handshake or hug with her before allowing her to move on. The few that greeted her the most familiarly would shoot a look over Briony’s shoulder at Kody with knowing interest.
The people flowed along the road, in and out of shops and houses and structures of every kind. There were buildings built into the ground and covered with moss, others sat like tree houses on thick branches overhead, some seemed to grow intertwined with nearby trees, and others, still, built of stone with architecture similar to the castle in Rohap.
Kody silently wished she wouldn’t end up in a treehouse for the night. She’d never been known for sleepwalking, but there was a first time for everything.
Rope and wood bridges stretched between trees high above and Kody caught Tristan’s eye as they watched a small toddler running across a rope bridge to a waiting parent.
Tristan grinned at her unease. “Afraid of heights?”
“No, you?” Kody asked.
“Not yet.”
Briony led Kody deeper into the forest, where the trees grew thicker and thicker around until she was certain someone could carve a full house into their trunk. In fact, she thought she spied a few doors hinting at such dwellings.
Their path wound through a lovely garden, blooming with more flower varieties than Kody knew existed, and led to a wide set of stairs grown from the roots of a giant tree, larger than any other in the forest. The trunk stretched high into the sky, disappearing in the surrounding canopy. Vines of flowering wisteria climbed and twisted up the bark, framing windows and small terraces along the way. Root stairs led up to two ornately carved doors.
Before Kody could get a good look at what the carvings depicted, the doors were flung wide by two Elv in uniforms similar to Havu’s. Elvs in flowing earth-toned clothing poured out of the tree in a mass that revolved around a man in loose-fitting moss-green pants, a flowing brown shirt, and a spring-green robe billowing around him.
A woman with a clipboard keeping pace with the group pushed her way through to the center. “But Your Majesty, the northern city is demanding an answer today,” the woman said.
“Later, later,” the man in the middle of the chaos said while making shooing gestures. “Is she here yet?” he asked, as his eyes roamed the surrounding steps.
Kody watched as his eyes landed first on Briony, and his face lit into a smile. And then their eyes connected. Her father took several quick steps down the stairs until he stood just a step above Kody and slowed. His face was wider and rounder than hers, similar to Briony, but he had those familiar eyes and the same nose Kody saw every day in the mirror. His skin was mahogany swirled with emerald, and his eyes were wrapped in laugh lines.
He reached out a hand and Kody took it. He held her hand in his for one long moment and pulled her into a hug. She sunk into the embrace, her heart and spirit melting. The next thing she knew, a warm presence smashed against her back and Kody smelled the familiar scent of her sister sandwiching her into the hug.
When at last they broke the embrace, Kody’s chest was full and her sister grinned before patting Kody’s head.
“Dad, this is Kody,” Briony introduced.
Kody found his red-rimmed eyes tracking along her features as if he couldn’t get enough of the sight of her. He held her hand again between his own and brought it to his face, kissing the back of her hand.
“Kody,” Callum said, as if feeling out the pronunciation. “I have waited far, far too long to see you returned to me, my daughter. You were lost, but never forgotten.” He kissed her hand again as tears ran down his face.
Kody swallowed hard at the words, trying not to lose it.
Briony stepped forward again and wiped his face with her palm. “No need to cry any longer, Dad. We have her back and she’s wonderful.”
Kody chuckled, trying to break the swarm of emotions that attempted to consume her. “Besides, you don’t even know me yet. I might chew with my mouth open and then you’ll wanna give me back.”
“True,” Briony agreed with a deadpan expression. “Too bad we’re stuck with you, since the spell’s broken permanently.”
