A small stream of smoke was curling up from the trees on the island. AJ caught sight of it and felt his heart leap. In one single instant he forgot everything but his delight. “Look, Brian!” he called out, one finger pointing toward the islands. “Look!”
“I see it!” Brian exclaimed, just as happy.
Riding a wave of sheer joy, AJ threw his head back and laughed. He had no idea the image he presented to his friends. Standing on a metal railing that should have had him swaying and fallings, his long hair streaming in the wind behind him, arms spread wide. They couldn’t help but smile up at him. Kevin and Nick stood hand in hand to one side of AJ while Brian stood on the other side, all of them watching as the islands came closer and closer.
As they got close to the island’s docks, people started emerging from the trees. The last time, Brian hadn’t had the opportunity to meet the island’s people. AJ opened the bond, letting himself feel Brian; his thoughts and impressions. Looking at these people through his heart song’s eyes.
They dressed like many islanders, in loose fitting pants and tops for the men, when shirts were worn at all; women in breezy tops or halter style shirts and brightly colored wraps for skirts. Their skin was tanned from years in the sun and their hair dark, giving them a look almost like Native Americans. The women were smaller, fine boned, while the men were slender yet strong. To a one they all wore their hair long, though the men only just below their shoulders and braided back in a tail. The women had hair hanging to their waists, often free flowing, held back from their faces by colorful bandanas. Half naked children ran around them all, dressed in short breeches for boys and wrap dresses belted at the waist for girls.
“Gade, li nan Alyck!” Rang everywhere as the boat was docked. Look, it’s Alyck.
AJ hopped from the boat, going to grab the line to anchor it, but people were already there doing it for him. Then his attention was caught up when a familiar face stepped from the crowd. With a sound of joy, AJ stepped forward and wrapped the man in a tight hug. “Micelo! Kouman ou ye?”
His friend stepped back, holding his shoulders as he smiled at him. “Nou se byen, zanmi m '. Li se bon vin wè ou!”
Abruptly Micelo noticed the others climbing from the boat. He shot off a greeting to them, moving to embrace them all in turn. AJ grinned at them. “Micelo, my friend.” AJ called in English. “They speak only English.”
The grin on Micelo’s face grew wider. He had hugged both Kevin and Nick and now moved on to Brian. “Welcome, friends of my friend! Welcome to my home!” He looked at the three of them while stepping back beside AJ. “Rare is it for Alyck to bring someone with him.” A perplexed look crossed Micelo’s face. “But where is Howi?”
AJ had to temper down his grief. “We lost him, defeating Roth.”
“Bondye.” Micelo took AJ’s hands in his. “He died with honor then, wi?”
“He died with much honor.”
A sharp nod from Micelo. “Then it is as he would wish. He was one with much honor, much onè. We will mourn his loss tonight.” The grief pulled back in his eyes, not gone but not at the front anymore. A smile curved his lips. “But now we greet you and welcome you back to us. Might you tell us who your friends are?”
“Of course.” AJ gestured to each one in turn. “This is Nick and his partner Kevin, who is cousin to Brian here, the song of my heart, my partner in life. He is like me.”
Before more could be made of their introductions, a small child grabbed on AJ’s hand and pulled. Seeing the boy child, dressed only in shorts of bright blue, AJ knelt down to him. “Yes, my child?” he asked in their native tongue. The children wouldn’t understand English yet. That was usually learned as they grew older.
“Are you the magic man that my Mama tells me of?” The child replied back in the same liquid language.
AJ smiled, still holding the kid’s hand. “I imagine so. Need you some magic, sweet child?”
“My Mama does. I came to get our elder, but I saw you. Mama, she is sick. She needs help and our healer says that he can’t help her. Will you?”
Fear warred in the child’s eyes with the need to be strong. Looking at him, hearing his words, AJ couldn’t resist. He kept hold of the kid’s hand and rose to his feet, looking to Micelo. “I must help.” Was all he said. This was one of the purposes he served for these people. Helping to heal things that their Healer couldn’t do.
He set off with the child, knowing that the others were following him. All of his attention was focused on going with this kid to his mother. “What is your name, little one?”
“I am Najac, after my father. He died when the bad man came to our home. I am eight summers old.”
Grief stuttered through AJ’s heart. He knew the man. Had known this boy when he was but a bump in his mother’s stomach.
How many had been lost when Roth had chased him here? No, he couldn’t think on that right then. Couldn’t allow it to cloud his thinking. “What is wrong with your Mama, Najac?”
“Her baby, it is coming too soon, too fast. Our healer says that the baby is turned wrong and he cannot straighten it.”
AJ hastened his steps. The closer they got to the village he started to be able to hear a faint cry. It grew louder as they grew closer. Najac led him right into the village, past all the people who would have called to them, and over to the other side where his home was. The houses here were stone and wood, simple in design but sturdy for the elements they endured here.
Without preamble, he stepped inside and headed straight to the back room where he could hear a woman trying hard not to scream. She looked up as he came in and her tired, sweaty face lit with joy. “Alyck!” she cried weakly. Even in her condition, AJ recognized her. Molita.
AJ could see that things were indeed dangerous. Lying back on her bed, legs lifted and spread at the edge, he could see the blood that had come down, pooling around her. A gentle magical probing told him that it was from internal tearing as her body tried to push the child out. Sure enough, he could sense the life force inside of her. But, ah…there was the problem. Twins. One pushing the other out of position. “Molita, I need you to listen to me.” He said seriously as he stepped up beside her.
The healer stayed back, keeping Najac out of the way so that AJ could do his work. The main room in the house was full of noise as the others filed in. Silently Brian came in behind him. AJ paid them all no mind. He was looking into the dark eyes of the woman on the bed. “Molita, you’re bleeding inside. I need to get the birth done before I can stop it, or you might just tear again. But this will make you feel weak. I need you to be strong for me. Can you do that?”
“I can.” She gasped out. Another contraction was building. “Save my baby, Alyck.”
“I intend on it.”
He put his hands on top of her stomach, using both touch and senses to feel the position of the babies. “This will hurt. I need to push to encourage movement. Scream if you need to.” He warned her. She gave him a look of fierce determination and nodded. A soft sound signaled Brian’s movement as he stepped up to the side of the bed and sat, taking the woman’s hand in his. He didn’t try to speak, not sure if she would understand English. She and AJ were speaking her native tongue.
A moment later AJ found what he needed and started to push against her stomach, forcing the first child to move. Molita gritted her teeth and flung her head back, but she made not a sound. Her grip on Brian’s hand went tight. In response, Brian started to whisper soothingly. AJ knew that she would understand some of the words, but the words themselves wouldn’t matter. The tone to Brian’s voice was what mattered, as well as the soft inflowing of strength he gave her.
AJ used a gentle strand of magic to ease her pain a little while he used another to help the child shift. Finally, oh finally, it was in the right position. He saw the next contraction strike her. “Push!” he commanded, dropping back down. Molita grunted, her body going tight as she pushed with all her might. Now that he had the baby in the right position, labor became surprisingly easy. The first child slipped out, a girl, which he passed to the healer after cutting the cord. “One more, Molita. Twins, my friend. Twins!” The next came out just as easily, a little boy. The afterbirth process was simple, one that he helped with quickly.
For the moment, AJ spared not another thought for the babies. His attention was focused on the mother. Molita lay back on the bed, sweaty and exhausted, her eyes sliding closed. A gentle questing showed AJ that she had lost a lot of blood.
‘Give her a thin thread of earth, mixed with the strength of spirit.’ AJ sent to Brian, knowing that his love would understand. Trusting Brian to do his part, AJ took a deep breath and delved into the waves of magic, preparing to do his best to heal this woman. First he had to get past the pain, past the exhaustion. There were no mental barriers like some humans could have. Her utter faith in him made it easy for him to go in to the glowing center that every person has inside. The very core of her life force. There he gently mixed his magic in, bolstering her life force with his, giving it the necessary strength to start healing. Wound by wound he worked, knitting the tears together, helping her body replenish the lost blood.
Twined with her the way that he was, the pain she felt as her body tried to heal and the pain that was still left from the tears themselves, he felt it too. His stomach cramped and burned in empathy with her.
A blessed warmth spread as his magic helped her body heal. When he had done as much as he could he slowly started to pull back, to separate himself from her center. Finally he pulled back in to himself, the last part of him finally separated from her.
Brian took over then, feeding AJ a little strength even as he was wiping a wet cloth against Molita’s forehead to clear the sweat away. Molita looked up at AJ, a weak smile on her face. “Thank you, Alyck.” She whispered.
Tired, AJ smiled back. “Anytime, Molita.” He turned his attention to the Healer, who still held the two babies. “Let her nurse. The babies need it and it will help her replenish some of what was done. I used some of her energy to help heal her.” Holding his hands out, AJ took the little girl child from the Healer. Both babies were clean and swaddled in blankets now. Holding her in the crook of his arm, AJ couldn’t help but smile down at her.
“Hello, little one.” He whispered to her. With one arm cradling her, he raised his other hand, placing a finger on the baby’s temple, questing inside. He pulled his finger back with a smile. Everything was ok. “Are you hungry, little one? Your Mama is right over here.” Ever so gently he carried her over to Molita, who Brian had helped prop up with pillows. Adjusting one pillow, AJ laid the baby down so that she was in an easy position to nurse. Looking over, he saw that Brian had the boy child and had done the same thing.
Within moments the two were nursing happily. Molita smiled up at him. “I am in your debt, Alyck. You saved me and you saved my babies.”
“I’m just glad I was here, Molita.” For just a moment AJ sat on the edge of the bed and indulged himself in stroking the baby girl’s soft hair as she nursed. “Do you have any names?”
Molita stroked her son’s head. “Seydou. My husband had wanted his next son to be Seydou.” Though tired, her eyes sparkled as she looked up at him. “You have saved us. I would be honored if you would name my girl.”
Bowing his head, AJ looked at the dark haired angel still suckling away. “Lalika. It means lovely woman.”
“It’s beautiful.” Molita said softly.
Very quietly, AJ extracted himself from the bed. He felt Brian step up beside him as they moved out the main room and outside the house. The whole village was there, waiting. AJ raised a hand, calling their attention. “Molita is fine.” He called out to them. “She is now the proud Mama of Seydou and Lalika, siblings to little Najac, children to big Najac, may his spirit rest in peace.”
Ululating cries echoed all around the village. Micelo stepped up to AJ, clapping a hand on his back. AJ grinned at his friend. “She is weak from healing and from the trials of birthing twins.” AJ said. “She needs plenty of food to replenish her strength and to help her make enough milk for the babies. Rice and vegetables. Meat.”
A sad look crossed Micelo’s face. In shame, he looked to the ground. “Our food, it is low.” He said in English. “Our crops were devastated almost completely when Roth came here.”
AJ’s eyes slid closed. “Ah, Micelo, I am sorry. I wish I could have helped. We couldn’t risk coming back with him here. It broke my heart to leave you all.”
“My friend, we wanted you to stay away. We sent Howi running when he told us who was coming. Our women and children we hid in the sea caves with as much supplies as we could. We prayed to the Spirit above that you would get far away from here. We lost few lives. Mostly, we lost food. But we fish and that sustains us. We will not starve.”
A presence tugged at AJ’s mind. ‘She needs the food, as do others. We could run Nick and Kevin to the mainland, get them on a plane, and come back with supplies for the people here. Then we could meet up with Kevin and Nick tomorrow.’ Brian’s thought was a good one. Reaching back, AJ took his hand, sending love over the bond. ‘Good plan, song of my heart. You go organize our friends, I’ll speak with Micelo. I want to be gone within the half hour. She needs a good meal as quickly as possible.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In no time at all they had set off from the island, heading toward the mainland. With a goal in mind, AJ and Brian briskly and efficiently got them to the mainland and had Nick and Kevin on an airplane to Georgia with promises that they would meet them there the next day. Using a glamour, AJ kept himself and Brian disguised so that no one would recognize their faces.
Once they had the two on the airplane, they set off to do some shopping. The first store AJ hit was a nursery. He gathered up flats of potato plants, cucumber, pumpkin, herbs, tomatoes, watermelon. He also bought the three banana trees they had in stock, as well as the papaya, and was surprised to even find a coco plum shrub. He gathered more and more as he walked through the store, making the sales clerk ecstatic.
Thanks to Howi’s earlier planning, AJ had a wallet full of his credit and debit cards. When the clerk rang everything up, he simply handed her his debit without a single thought to the money. He wasn’t worried about how much he had. There were other accounts in other names that he could draw on if ever necessary.
After arranging for those to be brought to his ship by the nursery, AJ left them scrambling behind him, trying to get it done and delivered within the hour time he’d set.
Next they hit a fabric store. Brian couldn’t help but grin as the female clerk assisting AJ tried to keep up with him. She seemed shocked that AJ knew all the fabrics, as well as the types of threads and needles and such, and that he was very particular about what he wanted. Silk he bought only a few yards of. “It’s not very practical for what I need.” He told the woman. “Cotton, linen, those are what I need most of. What different colors do you have?” She brought several items to him, most of which he quickly discarded. “No, no. Bright colors in the cotton. Simple for the linen. No patterns. Colors. Yes, yes! Like this.”
Amused, Brian cruised through the threads, consulting AJ over their bond on what he wanted in both needles and threads. Once he had those gathered, and AJ had yards upon yards of cloth, they paid for their purchases and AJ yet again hired someone at the store to get his things to his boat within less than an hour.
Last but not least they went to a grocery store. AJ and Brian each grabbed a cart, grinning at one another as they set off down the aisles. They had to be practical, knowing that there wasn’t freezers or such where these people were. They didn’t have microwaves to cook things in. They didn’t want that stuff. What they cooked, they made over an open fire. So the two men loaded their carts with fresh fruits and vegetables, but also bags of rice and beans and lentils. The cashier looked like she thought they were crazy, but they didn’t mind.
By the time they, and their groceries, reached the boat, everything else had been delivered. Spur of the moment, AJ steered their boat to Georgia, stopping at a few farms he’d been to before. There he bought some chickens and pigs, loading them into the boat with a laugh.
When they reached the village again, everyone rushed to see them. This was a familiar routine to them and soon a chain was set up from the boat to the village center, unloading all the things that AJ brought them. The animals were quickly shepherded to the livestock pens to join the others that they had managed to save.
AJ and Brian stood in the center of the village hand in hand as the people started to sift through everything he’d brought.
‘Look at them, song of my heart. They’re such a joyous people. I see why you’ve always liked coming here.’ Brian’s mind voice was soft, happy and kind.
‘They are just another set of my people. They can, and have, survived here on their own. But with me around to help it makes things easier. I’ve always kept them in mind. If anything ever happens to me, Sofia and Marzio both have sworn they’ll care for these people. That they’ll check in on them and help supply them.’
Though the villagers protested, AJ and Brian soon set out for Georgia with promises that they would be back as soon as they could. The whole sail there, neither man spoke. It was enough to be together as day turned to night. Before they reached land, AJ did a subtle glamour on their faces yet again, changing them just enough that no one would recognize them. He let Brian braid his hair back so that it was out of the way. Then they changed into simple slacks, more comfortable for them than jeans, and cotton t-shirts as well as boots.
In no time at all they were on land, in the forests. There, AJ shielded them so that they’d be free from prying eyes, and the two took to the air on yet another blanket. Both of them remembered doing the same with Kevin, Nick, and Howie. But they pushed the grief aside as they tore through the night sky.
“It’ll be nice to sit and visit with family for a while.” Brian admitted softly into the night. “To just kind of relax. Be in a place where no one expects anything from us but that we be us.”
“I know what you mean. I accept the responsibilities of my post and such but I think it’ll do us good to have a small vacation.”
They weren’t that far from Kevin’s property by then. AJ had them flying. Stretched out on the blanket, Brian stared up at the stars. “So much of our life has been focused on this war. Now that it’s done, I almost feel at a loss on what to do with myself. It almost doesn’t seem possible that things are peaceful now.”
AJ looked briefly down at Brian’s face. “You too?” He said softly. Looking back up, he kept an eye on where they were going as he spoke. “I guess it’s just after battle tension. I mean, we were working our asses off on this for quite a while. I’ve been fighting against Roth for a little over three thousand years, off and on. I can’t seem to turn off that warrior part of my brain.”
The house came into view in the distance. AJ opened his mouth to say something else, but suddenly every one of his senses triggered on high alert. Brian shot up from his lying down position, quickly putting himself on his knees beside AJ. Their eyes scanned around them, searching for the source of whatever had set off their internal alarms.
The closer they got to Kevin’s house, the stronger it became. AJ wasted no time in reaching into the long duffel bag with him and pulling out his swords. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. The air around them seemed to vibrate with the traces of magic done here. Strong magic.
He had to force his fear for his friends down so that he could deal practically with this. Silently he guided the blanket right to the backyard, letting it drop from under them when they were a few feet from the ground. Both men hit the ground on their feet, staring around them. AJ realized that Brian had grabbed his sword as well; it was in his hand at the ready.
They didn’t waste time with speech. On silent feet they moved toward the house, keeping their senses wide. As they reached the back porch and the magic grew stronger, AJ felt something in it change. It wasn’t active magic anymore. No, it was the residue left behind when strong magic was done. Whatever had been happening was finished now.
‘Whatever it was, it left.’ Brian kept even his thought quiet. Underneath it was the fear of what this could have been. In those words, AJ read so much more.
‘Keep calm, song of my heart. We know not what this is. Maybe we’re just overreacting. Many magical beings know of us and our connection with them.’ Even as AJ tried to reassure him, they both knew that it wasn’t likely. AJ kept a tight grip on his sword as he reached the back door. One hand coming out to quietly push the door open.
When he opened himself up enough to feel the house around him, he realized that the house was empty. Maybe Kevin and Nick hadn’t come home yet.
Stepping foot inside the house brought them right to the center of the magical sensations. One thing caught AJ’s mind more than anything else. In the middle of the kitchen table stood a sword, point driven in to the wood, straight through a sheet of paper.
The bad feeling inside of AJ grew. He stepped up to the table, looking at the note before carefully tearing it to take it off the sword. The words were written in elvish, stirring that fear even more.
“What does it say?” Brian asked quietly. Like AJ, he knew that no one else was here to hear them anymore.
AJ felt like he would throw up. Numb, he read the words aloud.
Trulion, Baka
Stories of you have crossed the barrier of your world to ours. Prophecies of old have been brought to light. We know who you are and what you seek to do. We know your destiny. But know this; destiny can be thwarted.
We have your friends. Bring yourselves to us on the night of the Na’aha and surrender yourselves to us and your friends will be set free. But if the night passes and you are not here, we will kill them both. Resistance is impossible. Surrender, or be the death of those you love and the responsible for the destruction of all worlds and all races.
We await your arrival.
There was no signature. AJ lifted his eyes to Brian, sensations flowing back and forth between them. Rage, fear, pain. Sweet Heavens above, what the hell was going on?