Chapter 36
THE MARSH OF ISHA
After Darag learned to control the wind, the air around him changed. It reminded Lavinia of the charged atmosphere surrounding Laireag, but more controlled, more Darag.
Lavinia looked at where he rode next to her, her lips curving into a smile. With him beside her, the ache to return to Lus na Sithchaine was less acute. Darag said it was the same for him, and could not explain it. Other than that maybe since she was not of the Forest originally, and since they were together, the need was less. It was a satisfying thought, but paled next to simply being near him again.
As an Earth Elemental, he was not supposed to be able to control air. That fact did not escape her. But having been born a Spirit Elemental, it seemed to buffer him from the initial feeling of too much space he had said he felt the first time he called the wind.
“It was like finding yourself on a mountaintop with a view of all the world, but not enough air to breathe. I thought I would suffocate or expand suddenly to break apart into nothing. Then it flooded back in and I could feel every particle - what makes the force of wind. After that, I could control it.”
Darag’s description did not sit well with Lavinia. She had never thought of a risk to him. He was always so skilled. To think that there was a danger in just trying to touch an element made her mouth go dry.
As they rode north the day before, the rolling mounds had fallen away. Throughout the journey, the three Elementals tested themselves and each other. After fire, mastering water was next with Niri leading the way early that morning. Ria had fumbled, Darag told Lavinia, grabbing the essence of fluid too tightly so that it slipped from her fingers. It barely moved for her. Impatient, Ria only made small successes before wanting to move on.
“And you?” Lavinia asked.
Darag gave her a half smile and shrug. “Water is not a challenge for Earth Elementals.”
Ria had suggested they try to control the wind as it rippled the tall stalks of grass, creating waterless waves. Unlike water, air was not an element all three were guaranteed to share. Niri, having called it before, went first. Lavinia watched as Niri closed her eyes. Her small horse tossed its head as wind blossomed before it, racing out in a sweeping wave of blowing grass.
Ria had floundered for a moment. Then a natural strong gust of wind had struck the group. Ria frowned and, in a flick of concentration, the wind parted to flow around them. Ria laughed, tossing back her head with a carefree mirth Lavinia had never seen in her. Niri smiled, but her eyes had been sober as they landed on Darag. Niri had called the element forbidden to her. Lavinia had never seen Niri cowed, but she would not talk about calling fire.
Lavinia had seen no change on Darag’s face as he closed his eyes and bowed his head. Whatever struggle occurred in him had been hidden from her. One moment he was as before, the next he was surrounded by the spark of a storm as the air in front of him shimmered and danced. He only told her later of the time that hung frozen in his mind, when he could not breathe and threatened to break apart.
Now he held all five elements and the air around him was thick with power. She wondered what Laith Lus would say when they returned. Or for that matter, what the Ashanti would say now. They would be equals, Darag and Jeif’taku.
—
Ahead the last hillock stood before the setting sun. From here, the trail turned west. They would reach Ashi'Shinai tomorrow, once they crossed through the marsh. Ty reigned in his horse on the last rise. The path ahead disappeared into muck through the soggy grassland.
“This is our best chance for a dry night, short of keeping the Elementals busy holding back the water, of course.”
Niri lifted an eyebrow at him, looking like she may very well accept his challenge. Ty grinned.
“I’d be careful, Ty. Niri might swamp you just as well as keep you dry,” Lavinia told her brother.
He chuckled ruefully. He had been in a good mood for days. But there was something different about him today, a little more joyfulness.
The need to set up camp put the puzzle of her brother’s changed spirit out of her mind. Dragging out food while Darag summoned stones for the campfire, an odd sound caught Lavinia’s attention. Niri, Lavinia realized, was humming.
Lavinia swiftly stood upright, a pot dropping from her fingers. The glances between Ty and Niri that morning fell into place.
“Vin, you okay?”
Ria was looking at her like she had just about walked off of Mirocyne’s cliff. Lavinia snapped her jaw shut.
“Fine,” she answered unable to stop the laughter that welled up inside her. Ria gave Lavinia a look she would normally have reserved for the daft and turned her attention back to what she had been saying to Niri.
Ria is going to have to figure this one out on her own, Lavinia thought.
Over Ria’s head, Lavinia caught Niri’s gaze. Lavinia grinned. Niri’s eyes widened a fraction, then she blushed. A sweet smile painted itself across her face. Lavinia nearly danced as she pulled out the bedrolls.
“Since there is no wood, should we try what the Ashanti did and make fire without fuel?” Ria asked. Controlling the elements was her focus in the world now.
Darag’s gaze was steady, a faint smile on his lips. “There is fuel here. I think it is time you learn to control earth.”
Ria rocked forward in anticipation. Niri joined them as well, earth being an element that should be within her range of skills. Lavinia cast her husband a smile before turning to her brother and lacing her arm through his.
“I think things are about to get very boring around here for non-Elementals. Why don’t we check out the trail for tomorrow?”
As she and Ty walked down the hill, Lavinia saw Darag take a handful of dead grass. In his hand, the strands wove together into a tight, log-sized braid. Lavinia had a feeling that by the time she and Ty were back, there would be plenty of fuel on hand for the night’s fire.
Once they were out of earshot, Lavinia turned toward her brother. He was picking his way along the muddy track, kicking at the slick dirt as he frowned.
“You know, Darag and Niri can make the trail perfectly safe.”
Ty glanced up at her, his face clearing as he chuckled. “True. I guess there are some advantages to traveling with Elementals.”
“Just some? So when did you and Niri realize you were in love?”
Ty swung around to stare at her, his glance darting once to gauge the distance to their companions.
“Don’t worry, I don’t think Ria has figured it out yet. If it doesn’t involve earth, air, wind, fire, or spirit, it isn’t on Ria’s mind at the moment.”
Ty sighed, the tension in his shoulders releasing. When he looked at his sister, there was a deep warmth to his look that made her smile. She knew the feeling, but had never seen it cross her brother’s face before.
“Yesterday, we ... talked while we were getting the last of the twigs and such.”
“Oh, that’s why it took so long,” Lavinia teased, happy to make her brother blush.
Ty sobered quickly. “Ria will realize it eventually though. How do you think she will take it? Even she said she realized what happened before ... on the boat between us, had been a mistake.”
A dry lump formed deep in Lavinia’s stomach. The argument between her and her brother, as well as Ty and Niri, must have blinded her. For all her hopes and imagination, Lavinia hadn’t realized things had taken a serious turn between Ty and Ria. Ty’s gaze lingered on her face. He frowned and looked down the trail.
“That well, huh?”
“I don’t know Ty. I hadn’t realized that ... you and Ria,” Lavinia bit her lip. “It might be best to just tell her, rather than wait.”
Ty nodded, kicking at the mud again. It squelched against his boot. There was a flash of violet and mauve as something small and scaled flashed through the grass and into the water. Ty kept his eyes on where it disappeared.
“You know, I trust your sword and all, but maybe we should go bac
k.”
“Wait.”
Ty turned and looked at her, concern on his face.
“There is something Niri didn’t tell you about the Kith. She said she'd left it to me.”
Ty’s look settled on her, waiting. Lavinia’s heart pounded, her brain unable to find the words she wanted while her lips refused to form any that came to mind. She hadn’t thought this was going to be hard, even though she had put it off almost two weeks. Lavinia took a deep breath.
“She told you they are bound to their trees?”
Ty nodded slowly.
“They live and die by their trees. They live as long as their trees.” Lavinia paused there.
It took a moment, but Ty’s eyes widened as they refocused on her instead of memory. “But then Darag ... you?”
Tears streamed down Lavinia’s cheeks. She shook her head, struggling to speak around the constriction in her throat. “No, it isn’t that way. Just the opposite. I am bound to Darag and to his tree through him. I’m ...” Lavinia couldn’t finish her sentence.
Ty closed his eyes. Several emotions crossed her brother’s face: relief followed by a pallor which brought out his dark lashes and hair. Ty reached out and pulled her into his arms.
“You will have a long and very happy life with him, little sis,” he said huskily.
Lavinia hiccupped a sob against his chest. “I know.”
The incongruity made both of them laugh in breathy quiet. Ty wiped Lavinia’s tears away and kissed her on her forehead like he had when they were kids.
They began the return walk in silence, Ty’s brow furrowed. He peered toward the camp as their three companions became visible. Ria was biting her lower lip, staring intently on a haphazard braid of grass she held in her hand.
“Have you noticed Ria’s skill doesn’t seem that strong?” Ty said softly to Lavinia.
“She moved our parents’ boat back to Mirocyne. That doesn’t seem so little.” As Lavinia watched, Ria sighed and lowered her hand holding the grass while she rubbed her forehead with the other. “Maybe there is something the Ashanti didn’t tell us about Spirit Elementals using the other elements?”
“Maybe there is a lot the Ashanti didn’t tell us.”
—
They left at daybreak, heading into the flat sea of grass. The dirt path was wet, but not impassable. Lavinia never asked if Darag or Niri kept the way clear. Strange birds with haunting calls flew over the marsh and more of the colored lizards crossed their paths. When the wind was still, hordes of insects flocked about them. After the first assault, the Elementals made sure the air was never stagnant.
At times the grass fell away to bogs of peat or mud. The horses would roll their eyes and shy away from deep pools near the flat, mossy expanse. Lavinia could feel the alertness in Darag and Niri, as if they sensed something else in the marsh. It unnerved her, which didn’t help her horse.
Finally as the sun neared the western horizon, the trail became an elevated pathway on supports of thick bamboo driven deep into the muck. The walkway of woven rushes with scant planking strained under the weight of the horses, swaying and sagging as the ponies passed one on each section at a time. Darag looked at the ropes and boards with unintentional dismay.
“They need an Earth Elemental.”
Niri laughed quietly. “I’ll ask if they are hiring for you.”
Darag sent a gust of wind into her face, blowing her hair across her eyes.
The bamboo platforms of Ashi’Shinai were outlined by the setting sun, the beginnings of the Bay of Tiak glowing behind. The tide was nearly out and the thin layer of liquid was broken by tall grasses and mud flats. The house platforms were over twenty feet in the air above the marsh’s surface. Narrow boats strained on reed ropes, wanting to join the rushing water as it raced to the bay.
The fibrous swinging bridges stretched between platforms, linking the square houses into a community. The evening provided barely enough light to see the woven half walls of the houses and wide glassless windows set beneath the deep roof overhang. Lavinia ducked under the trailing leaves of a plant dangling from the roof. It hit her harder than she expected. Glancing up, she realized there was a baby squash hanging amidst the vine.
In silent awe, Lavinia looked with new eyes around the marsh village where gardens that grew on the edges of roofs and pathways were either bridges or forged by canoe. Beyond the village, tiny fires flared and flickered through the marsh, brighter than foxfire and moving like the lights in Lus na Sithchaine. She could not imagine what caused the strange flames in this world of water. To the east toward the center of the marsh, a roiling glow lit the sky.
“Darag, do you know what that is?”
Lavinia wasn’t sure why the marsh unnerved her other than it wasn’t water nor farmland, forest nor desert. It was a land in-between filled with sucking mud, dangerous tides, and scaled creatures that watched her with intelligent eyes.
Ty answered her question, “It is the dragon, Isha.”