Page 33 of Winds of Destiny

Turo

Sound filters in first, a dull roar that slowly grows in strength until it’s almost all I can hear. Next is touch, the sensations on my skin—cold dampness around my lower legs, something slimy on half my face, and a bright light overhead that makes me want to wince even though my eyes are closed.

I shift, then groan—ah, there’s something else I can hear…

My own sounds of pain.

Huzzah for variety.

I open my eyes and stare straight up at the sky. There’s a rainbow above me, as misty and insubstantial as spider silk but as constant as the sound of the falling water that created it. Rainbow…water… fall . Fuck.

If we fell and I’m here, where’s Kai?

I sit up with another groan, patting myself down to make sure there are no broken bones waiting to announce their presence until I try to put weight on them. My sword remains at my hip, but my bow and quiver are gone. I’m lying on the edge of a beach…or maybe it’s a dock? Or used to be? The slimy feeling on my face came from lying on stones, not sand. How did I even get here?

I check around where I’m lying and find my answer a few seconds later, in the form of paw prints left in the algae by my head. I look around, but I can’t see my god anywhere. She brought me here, I’m sure of it. So why did she leave me?

“I hope you’re with Kai.” She has to be. She helped him as she did me. We slid over the top of the waterfall together, and for a few seconds, the solidity beneath our feet was still there, letting us coast instead of drop like stones. Once the water thinned, though, so did our surface, until we were dropping.

Kai had looked terrified—I’m not sure if he can swim. When would he have learned, living in the mountains his whole life? The force of the water when we hit it was thunderous, the impact enough to make me black out.

Did he survive it?

I clutch desperately for the chain around my neck, fumbling until my fingers finally close around the pearl pendant. I search for Cam and feel him, familiar but not clear enough to make out any words. He’s not panicking, though. He doesn’t feel sad, more…curious. I know that Cam would be a mess if Kai was dead, so he must be alive then.

But why isn’t he here?

I push up to my feet, wincing at the crackle that goes all the way down my spine as I stand. Oof , my body isn’t happy with me. Can’t blame it. I check my surroundings—water in one direction, the sun high overhead, and at the far end of the stone dock…

An ancient wooden city gate and a tall blue-and-green wall connected to it.

Inarime.

We made it.

I close my eyes and twist my fingers together in the sign of my god. “Please take care of Kai until I can find him,” I pray. “Please make sure he’s all right, and let him know he’s not alone.”

It feels physically painful to be separated from him after weeks of togetherness. While our physical relationship has only changed recently, our companionship is so well established that losing his presence feels like losing an arm. I miss him, I want him with me, I need to find him…

And the only way to do that is to enter the city in front of me.

The gate is completely rotten, with holes large enough for me to slip through without having to disturb the remains of the doors themselves. I have to be careful how I step—everything is covered in a thick layer of algae, rendering the ground a very slippery proposition. It’s fine; speed isn’t going to help me here. I’m spending too much time looking around to bother going quickly anyhow.

Inarime is different from any city I’ve ever seen before, so much grander than even Zephyth, which has always seemed a very grand place to me. The buildings might be dirty, their details obscured, but here and there I can see the edges of magnificent tile mosaics on columns that stretch as much as thirty or forty feet in the air, twisted together in groups of three like immense stone braids. Every door, lintel, and arch is decorated with the symbol of the nameless chimera god—three heads, all roaring, contained within a triangle.

I’m so caught up in looking that I almost miss the shushing sound of something sliding across cobblestones. I dart into the nearest building, close enough to an empty window that I can look out at the street. The second I see the huge body of Kamor’s snake god slither into sight, I duck down farther.

Hisssssss … The sound of movement ceases. I’m as still and silent as I can be, barely allowing myself to breathe, much less reach for a weapon that probably wouldn’t even work on a deity. The shush comes closer, and as I watch, a forked tongue appears at the edge of the doorway. It’s tasting the air.

If it catches my scent— Shit, I’m going to have to—

There’s a sudden scuttling sound, and the tongue vanishes as quickly as it appeared. A second later I hear a crunch , and then…nothing. I crouch in perfect stillness for another few minutes, but the snake god doesn’t reappear. When I finally uncurl and glance out the window again, there’s nothing in the street but the crushed body of a green-backed crab.

Saved by shellfish.

I should get going again, but apparently my legs have decided that I need a few extra minutes to get over nearly being snake food. I lean against the nearest surface and breathe for a moment. I stare blankly at the wall across from me until I notice the shapes and colors on it form a story. The mosaic isn’t nearly as neat as those I saw outside. This one looks like it was plastered in place by someone more desperate than artistic. But desperate for what?

I move closer to get a better look.

It’s a story, all right…a tale of tremendous arrogance.

The priests of Inarime capture their god on some sort of altar in a grand, spire-studded temple. Whoever built this mosaic spared themselves no pain—they show the murder of the chimera god, how his blood flowed down the altar and through the streets, granting incredible power to the people here, too much power. They couldn’t handle it, and the entire city collapsed into the sea under the weight of their foolishness. I wonder if the lines radiating out from the hole shown in the picture are the everwinds, another expression of the curse these people brought upon themselves.

The last picture shows what might be a self-portrait, a shriveled person surrounded by bones, kneeling before a wall with a single tile in their hand. How must they have felt, piecing this mosaic together with nothing but the dead for company? How terrible must the loneliness have been, the knowledge that their people had destroyed everything that made Inarime great, destroyed their own god, for nothing? I knew what it felt like to lose everything, but at least I had been found again. I had been given another life in Zephyth with Cam.

And I’m not going to lose him.

If this is based on what actually happened, then I need to get to a temple in the center of the city. Embros is no fool—he’ll want to work from a place of power. Once I find the temple, I’ll find my men.

I tentatively exit the building, looking around one last time for the snake god before I start following the trail it’s left in the algae that coats the ground. The street slopes up slightly, heading toward the high center of the city where the temple is located. Or so I hope. I pick up the pace a little, as fast as I can go without slipping on the muck. I keep my ears keen, though—I can’t let myself be surprised again.

Which is how I detect the faint but distinct sound of someone cursing and the subsequent scuffling crash as their feet go out from under them on the slippery path.

My body reacts instantly, rolling to the side and giving me cover behind one of the braided pillars just in time for the person to come into view. He’s dressed raggedly, long black hair piled into a haphazard bun on top of his head, and his pale skin has an almost greenish glow from the reflected sheen of the algae. He braces himself against a wall with one hand and wraps the other tightly around a pendant.

“Where are you, Turo?” he mutters into the silence.

I will never be able to top this moment of timing for the rest of my life.

“I’m here,” I say, coming out from behind the pillar and showing myself.

Cam swivels toward me, his eyes wide, face full of wonder. He lets go of the wall and steps closer—

Then he promptly slips and falls down with another loud curse as the algae gets the better of him again.

All right, maybe that wasn’t the best timing ever.

I make my way over to him as fast as I can.

It’s Cam. He’s here. Nothing could keep me away from him at this point.

I’m down on my knees at his side before he can straighten up, pulling him into my arms and burying my face against his neck. I’m probably holding too hard, maybe even hurting him a bit. I should loosen up, but I can’t.

I will never be able to let go of him again.

If the way he embraces is any indicator, he doesn’t want me to, either.