8. Kiar

Chapter 8

Kiar

C lem’s strange glow faded the moment Hadi agreed to Sun’s strange deal.

For Sun, this meant near-blindness, but we nocs thrived in the darkness.

Hadi stood back but did not help us to free our comrades. I didn’t expect him to. His entire existence had been on the throne. He wasn’t one to clean up his own messes. That had always been my task. Until Sun, I had always been level headed.

Until this moment, I had never cared about my role, but as I carefully tore Sun free from the tight, sticky ropes of his web, I did care. I didn’t like what he had done. And I did not know what to do with the conflicting feelings warring within me–that I should do as Hadi wished–and that Sun came first.

But no matter what had transpired between me and Sun, Hadi was my king. I was his advisor. I would simply have to continue to follow the roles we had been born into. What other choice did I have?

Clem made an anguished sound, and I looked over just as Bracken carefully extracted him. To my chagrin, I saw that one of his wings was torn.

Hearing his pain, Sun fought to be free, managing to stick his arms back into the ropes that I had just freed him from.

I grabbed him by the shoulders, holding him tightly until he turned to face me.

“Bracken has him. He will be fine.”

I felt the tension ease from Sun’s body, and he nodded but remained silent.

Without needing him to explain, I knew he was quiet due to Hadi’s presence.

Pursing my lips, I wrapped my arms around Sun’s waist and pulled him until he was free.

Unfortunately, I was still stuck in the mess myself, so holding Sun in my arms, I lifted up until I was high on my tail, close to the branches of the nearest tree.

I helped Sun grab onto it and waited until he was seated in the limbs to release him, then I lowered and carefully removed myself from the web still attached to me.

Hadi didn’t always have to make his web so treacherous. He only did it when he did not intend to release someone.

I had no doubt that Sun had saved himself–in fact, had saved all of us with that outlandish deal he had made.

It was one thing to pray to the moon goddess Tsuki or the sun God Taiyo, but to claim he could speak to them directly... I was surprised that Hadi had agreed.

The entire idea seemed ridiculous.

Unless he only planned to play along until Sun showed him where Tsuki’s stone was.

I swallowed.

It had been our goal–the goal of the entire noc kingdom to get Tsuki’s stone for so long. After all, we had possessed Taiyo’s sunstone since taking the human kingdom. But the two were almost useless without each other…

The idea of getting the moonstone now, when we were no longer in a position of power over the kingdom felt strange. Yet with it, I knew it would be the key to Hadi regaining the throne.

Bracken suddenly lifted into the air with a gust of force from his massive wings.

I looked up to see that he had Clem cradled in his arms and a stricken look on his face.

“Meet us at camp,” Bracken said brusquely and left without waiting for the rest of us.

I slithered up the base of the large tree where I had left Sun, ready to retrieve him.

I knew he could see better in the open air than he had been able to in Hadi’s pit because he searched my face when I reached him and then without a word, put his arms around my neck and allowed me to lower him to the ground with an arm securely around his waist.

We walked back to the camp in silence. I did not know where Hadi was. Perhaps above us in the shadows, perhaps back at our camp already.

I found that I wanted to reach out, to feel the solidity and warmth of Sun’s skin. Whenever I looked at him, he appeared as troubled as I felt.

Then we reached the camp and the darkness in his eyes grew to fury.

Bracken had lit a fire and laid Clem next to it.

He was curled around him protectively and Sun went straight to them, crouching down to peer at Clem between Bracken’s wings.

Without saying anything, Bracken lifted his wing to allow Sun to see the damage.

He reached out, carefully touching Clem’s bruised face. His hand was gentle, but his eyes were ice cold.

If we weren’t bound together, I didn’t doubt that Sun would try to kill Hadi right then.

And what would I do? Help him? I may be bothered by Hadi right now, but he was still my leader and the idea of turning on him now, after dying for him, was crazy.

But then Sun shifted, and the firelight lit his skin in a different way.

Me and Bracken both saw his bruised flesh at the same time and all the confusion I felt cleared.

Sun was not up for grabs. Not even by Hadi. And if Hadi stepped out of line again, he would have me and Bracken to deal with.

Our gazes met and I knew he was thinking the same thing. Sun was ours to protect. Just like Clem. They were not to be abused.

We would keep them safe.

“Come,” Bracken said gruffly.

He reached out and pulled Sun by the arm, lifting his wing to make room for him to get into his embrace.

Sun went without resistance.

Eagerly, he curled around Clem and Bracken curled protectively around them both and I watched, seething because I could do nothing to undo what had happened.

Something creaked above me and I looked up to see Hadi’s form, braced above us, his long brown and black limbs blending with the tree’s branches.

I could not see his face, but I didn’t trust him anymore.

I would not sleep tonight.

Instead, I spent the hours slinking around our camp, following each creak or whisper until I knew it was nothing more than a mouse or an owl.

When the sun began to rise, a different whispering began from within Bracken’s wings.

“Are you alright?”

Clem’s quiet voice was barely louder than a breath, but I still heard it.

“Yes,” Sun returned. “Are you in much pain?”

“I will heal,” Clem said. “I swear I didn’t know that Hadi would do that to you. I mean, I knew he wasn’t very happy, but had hoped he would warm up to you, the way that Kiar and Bracken have.”

My heart warmed at Clem’s silly optimism.

Sun chuckled softly.

“They are nothing like that creature. You shouldn’t compare them.”

I slithered closer, listening with a soft smile on my face.

It had been silly of me to be so jealous of these two. They were both a part of me now and as such were just as much a part of each other.

That was something I would remember from now on.

What a strange situation Clem had put us all in.

“How did you know you should come find me?” Sun whispered. “Especially after our fight?”

“I am not sure,” Clem admitted. “I had a terrible feeling. Then I lit up like a firefly and I knew. It was a warning.”

So that was it. Clem’s powers seemed to be growing, his strength coming in a different way than it did for the rest of us.

A being who had been in such a low position before now controlled our fates with his powers. It was a humbling thought.

Bracken opened his eyes slowly and peeked at his two pets.

“Hadi can hear you,” he informed them. “He’s up there.”

He indicated the trees above us.

I glanced up, seeing that the giant spider hadn’t moved in hours. I wondered what he thought about all the soft words and tender lovemaking. He would have seen and heard it all while still in his shadow form.

“It doesn’t matter,” Sun said and there was a hardness to his voice now that he would never use toward Clem. “Let him listen if he wants. We have nothing to hide.”

“Except the location of the stone,” I said, sliding closer.

Bracken reluctantly freed Sun from his embrace when he sat up.

In the morning light, his neck was blotched with purple and blue. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from it, even though Sun was searching my face.

My hands started to shake with fury, and I had to shut my eyes to ground myself for a moment.

“Do you want me to tell you where the stone is, Kiar?”

My eyes flew open and this time, I met his dark eyes. He watched me carefully, his expression unreadable and shook my head.

“No Sun,” I said. “You keep that information close to your chest, as you have been doing from the start.”

My gaze flickered up again to Hadi’s form.

When I looked down again, Sun’s gaze was filled with warmth and understanding.

The fact that he was the only one who knew where the stone was, may be the only reason he wasn’t dead already.

“My lips are sealed,” he reassured me. I let out a breath and nodded.

“Good.”

“But I meant what I said last night,” he went on, taking a moment to look at each of us. “We will go together and ask Tsuki to break this bond. We need to be free of each other.”

I laughed.

“There is only one thing I do not understand. How does one speak to a god ?”

“Do you know how the god stones work?” he asked.

As he did, a shadow lowered over us.

Sun swallowed and looked up.

I followed his gaze to see Hadi finally moving, lowering himself–still upside down, a web held between his limbs as he dropped close enough to hear, his face turned toward us, his tawny-brown hair hanging down.

Sun hadn’t seen him in the brightness of daylight yet, and for a moment, he stared. Hadi returned the look. For a long time, they stared into each other’s eyes, a strange, silent exchange passing between them.

Finally, Hadi’s lips lifted into a twisted smile.

“I thought you don’t mind me listening,” he reminded Sun. “I thought you had nothing to hide… other than the location of the stone, of course.”

Sun swallowed and nodded, forcing his attention down to me again.

“The Sunstone was blessed by the Sun God Taiyo. Whereas the Moonstone was blessed by the Moon Goddess Tsuki.”

I nodded.

“Everyone knows that.”

“Separate they are almost powerless. Together, they are catastrophic.”

“We already know that,” Bracken said. “Together they can wipe out all the humans. That is why we nocs were looking for the moonstone for so long.”

“Yes,” Sun agreed. “Or they can obliterate all the nocs. That is why we humans were trying to get our old capital Yewan back again after you took it and the sunstone with it. You have kept the sunstone well guarded in your stolen capital, but we chose to hide ours where no one would find it, should you defeat our armies.”

Still in Bracken’s arms, Clem reached out, grasping Sun’s hand and simply holding it.

He looked saddened by the fact that we had spent so much time trying to destroy each other’s people, but Sun appeared to be unbothered. This was part of life to him, just as it was to us. Still, he gave Clem’s hand a squeeze before continuing.

“Before the noc invasion, the stones were used for different purposes. For prayers, to end droughts, to cure diseases and to talk to the gods. It was the job of the priests of each temple to consult with the gods each year to keep peace with them.”

A chill traveled through me, all the way to the tip of my tail.

Clem sat up slowly.

This time, Sun gave him his full attention, helping him upright and then keeping him steady with an arm around his shoulders.

“I would like to talk to Tsuki,” Clem said, enthralled. “She gave me all my magic.”

“She gave all the nocs their powers,” Sun reminded him. “You are her people, created to punish the human race.”

We fell silent and I couldn’t help but wonder what it all meant. Why would the goddess turn against them in that way? Why had she chosen us ? Was there a purpose we were supposed to carry out? Did she truly want us to eradicate the humans who had always served her?

“Enough stalling,” Hadi hissed from above us. He tilted his head, looking down at us with his bug-like eyes. “What do we need to do?”

“To speak to Tsuki, we must first retrieve her stone. Then, we must take it to her highest temple.”

“Where is that?” Bracken asked.

“Her highest temple is nestled in the Naran mountain range. All of her temples have been long abandoned, we should have no trouble reaching it.”

He bit his lip, showing the first sign of worry over this plan and his gaze flickered up to Hadi again.

“What is it?” I asked.

“The only problem is that Tsuki can only be reached on the blood moon. That is when she is the closest.”

Clem frowned.

“But… the next blood moon is only one week from today.”

He nodded.

“Yes. And the stone…”

Everyone held their breath as we hung on the edge of finally knowing the information we had spent years seeking.

I saw the moment he decided to tell us, the way his eyes shut, and his shoulders sagged.

“It is in the Yin Valley.”

There was a long moment of silence.

“I knew it!” Hadi hissed. “It was there during the battle!”

“Right under your noses,” Sun agreed. “But I will not share the exact location. I will retrieve it myself.”

“But now the entire valley has been won by the nocs,” Bracken reminded us. “I may be a good warrior, but I don’t think I can take on an entire army.”

The thought made the hairs rise all over my body.

“We have no choice,” Sun said.

“No,” I argued. “We are not going there. We’ll end up dead again, this time permanently. This time we will take you with us.”

The thought of Sun dying because of us made my chest ache. I would not allow it.

Sun met my gaze. My heart was already racing at the idea of trying to keep him safe while we were attacked on all sides by other nocs but the look in his dark, almond eyes told me that I was not going to win.

“We have no choice,” he repeated.