Page 36 of The Garnet Daughter (The Viridian Priestess #3)
Chapter
Twenty-Six
A ugust keeps glancing back as we cross the rest of the desert, putting distance between us and our previous camp as dawn brings in the first dull beam of light.
Our destination is within view, but every time I think we are getting close, the bird beak and dense tree line surrounding the cliff is just as Maestra said but never seems to manifest in front of us, as if we are walking in place.
Sadly, the waterskins were drained yesterday, a regret that has taken root as thorns in my throat with every swallow.
We share the last of our stolen bread in exhausted silence, but the stale food sits in my stomach like rot.
I’m unable to stop replaying what happened to Sav in my mind, so I let August take the majority of my ration.
We remained awake the entire night, expecting the monster to return and finish the attack.
August had his gun drawn and his body plastered against mine, but it never came back.
Omnesis saw me, looked into my eyes like it had in the Estate temple.
It could have killed us just as easily, but it didn’t.
A fact I’ve not been able to comprehend since it flew from our camp.
Soon, the dead, dry trees fade into a scattered line of lush forest, an elevated oasis within the harsh desert of the birthlands. The cliff faces are grey and sharp, plateaued like the sacred mountain. Greenery grows among the cracks and vines spill over the sides.
“Do you hear that?” I ask.
August tilts his head and listens. “No?”
I smile. “Water, and a lot of it.”
“That’s the best thing you have said all day.” He walks more briskly, pebbles displacing under the crunch of his boots. “Come on!”
We climb up the slight incline of the rock oasis, up a natural path that zigzags around the larger boulders in the area. The stones are different here, nothing like the dry crumble of the area around it. The way seems human traveled, worn down by use, but there is no one as far as we can see.
I’m breathless by the time we reach the first plateau nestled in between sheer cliff faces on all sides. The sound of water is all-consuming now, which means it is alive and moving, likely flowing from the top of the cliffs.
We weave through the last of the trees at the ridge and see a beautiful, sparkly pond and waterfall so tall, the top is shrouded in fog. It falls in a sharp stream, some of it bouncing off the rocks and splattering before reaching the bottom, creating a spraying mist.
August grins with such delight his dimple concaves, threatening to leave a permanent wrinkle. “Can you believe it!”
“I could cry!” I tease over the intense sound of plummeting water against the rocks below.
We stand on the edge of the pond, where the plateau is flat and grassy. Some trees line the outside with dense bushes, more plant life than I have seen on this planet. I bend to touch the ground, and the grass touches me back in greeting, moving with my hand and dancing slightly when I let go.
“It’s beautiful,” August says right next to me.
I point to a few birds bathing at the edge of the water, where it laps against the little shore. Another small animal with arching horns and a grey pelt drinks and then retreats up the cliff face, its hind legs hoofed and agile on the rocks.
“It should be ok for us too.”
“I would probably still drink it even if it wasn’t,” he jokes and begins removing his boots. “It doesn’t look that deep. I don’t imagine any man-eating creature is in there, but let me check it out first.”
I survey him, a little confused.
“Oh, I’m not wasting this, and neither are you.” He pulls on the mechanisms in his Viathan armor, tearing it away from his body and then removing his tunic. His torso is shiny with sweat. The muscles bend and flex as he places his armor on the ground and starts on his waistband.
“August!” I turn away, not so much embarrassed as I am shocked he is stripping down without warning.
“Relax.” He chuckles. “We should bathe and rest a bit.”
“We will take turns.”
“It’s a big enough area. We can stay back-to-back if you are uncomfortable,” he offers softer.
I can hear his pants drop to the ground, followed by the sound of water sloshing as he wades in. I close my eyes even though my back is turned, but that makes me picture him more clearly so I stare hard at the dense trees surrounding us.
“Calliape,” he groans, “you’re missing out!”
For some reason, I spin around without thinking. He’s waist deep, completely covered but very naked and grinning like an idiot.
“You have no idea what could be in there.” I cross my arms.
He wades out a little farther, until the water reaches his chest, and then disappears under the surface. The movement across the top is so fast from the waterfall, I can’t see which direction he swims.
August’s clothes sit in a heap on the shoreline, and I shift back and forth, considering stripping mine off and doing the same.
My clothes stick to me, and my skin is covered in a layer of sand and dirt mixed with the sweat that did not evaporate as we climbed to this oasis, where the heat isn’t as dry.
August breaks the surface with a gasp and wipes the water from his face. “All clear from what I can see, small fish, crustaceans that hid as soon as I got close. Barely deeper than my chest.”
I watch him skeptically. My skin is begging to be clean. It’s a big area, but I can still see every detail in his shoulder muscles, his strong arms waving across the top of the water on full display.
“We are safe.” He gestures for me to join.
“We will stay back-to-back?”
He spins quickly. “You have my word. Now join me!”
I hesitate, unsure if this is a good idea, but seeing him dip under the water and scrub at his short black hair seals my decision.
I kick off my boots and choose a smooth rock at the water’s edge to carefully place my outer layer, hitting each item against the side and shaking out some of the grit.
We won’t be here long enough to wash and dry our clothes, and putting them back on will already be painful, so I do my best to clear off the sand.
I reluctantly peel my top over my head, all while keeping my eyes fixed on August, making sure he doesn’t turn toward me.
“Alright, stay right there,” I call to him. I’m nervous to take my under layers off but quickly do, hiding them beneath my other items and racing into the water.
I bite my lip to hide the matching groan I might let slip when I dip my head back and fully saturate my hair.
“Can I turn around now? Are you deep enough?” August asks.
“No!” I instinctively cross my arms across my breasts.
“I had no idea you were so shy.” His voice is sly.
I force myself to relax and scrub at my scalp, dipping my nape into the water again. “I’m not shy. I just don’t want you getting any ideas.”
“I have more ideas than you could imagine,” he mutters and dunks his head below. When he resurfaces, he is closer to the waterfall but still respectfully facing away from me.
I choose to ignore the teasing comment and wade farther out so I don’t have to kneel to be fully submerged.
Even though we agreed to stay with our backs to each other, I check to see where he is swimming often. He keeps his word as he stands under the spray of the waterfall.
I gently wash my skin where my freshly healed burn scar is still delicate to the touch.
The Viathan medicines heal beyond anything I could imagine in such a short time, and it pains me to think of all the patients Ruth could have brought more relief to if my people would just open their minds to other ways.
“Can you fold the rest of the way to the temple? It looks steep to the top.” He moves backward and stops a couple of feet from me, his back muscles moving in a strong but graceful motion, like he can’t stop feeling the water move across his arms for even a moment.
“There is a ward around it. I could feel it push back even as we approached this plateau.” The top is cast in a fine mist, a cloudy ward protecting it from uninvited guests like us. “We will have to climb. It won’t let me fold into it. Even thinking about it makes me nauseous.”
“It’s going to be hard leaving this,” he says flatly. “I hate climbing.”
“You climbed the cliffs of Frith, did you not? For the peace bulb.”
“I may have exaggerated where I found it.” He laughs a little.
“I believed you!” I’m only half offended.
We had just met when he told me how he collected the bulb.
If I remember right, even then I thought the story was silly.
But I secretly liked how close he leaned in to tell his tale when we sat around the fire his first night in my village.
I was so fascinated with all three of them.
Now that I know he was so nervous to speak with me that he downed his flask, it makes the memory that much sweeter.
“There were cliffs and plenty of bulbs growing on them, but there were also some at the base I didn’t have to break my neck for.”
I splash the back of his head with water.
“I’m sorry! I had to impress you somehow.” He turns to the side just enough for me to see his boyish smile.
“You had to?” I laugh
“Of course.”
I notice how much closer he is now. If I reach out, it would take very little effort to touch his back. I can see the shape of his body under the water but no detail, only tan skin through the rippling surface.
I turn and put my back to him. It’s only fair, a rule I made and am not enforcing in myself. “It seems like so long ago, when you came to Frith. Things were so different.”
“You sound farther away,” he notes, confused. “Are you getting out?”
“No, I-I just turned . . . around again.”
“Ah.” He huffs.
I clear my throat and instantly regret it because it makes me sound awkward. I’ve never considered myself shy either, but something about having August naked and floating back toward me has caught me off guard. “Sorry.”
“It’s alright, Callia.” He laughs. “And you are right. So much has changed.”