Of Fire and Fury (Book 1: Light-Born Series)

Chapter 24 - Rabid

The Omari training continued on, every day, just as brutal as ever. Akecheta seemed to have an even more intense training regimin for them since they had encountered the Hauk’s in the forest several days before, and it nearly ran them all into the ground. 

After the constant strain of training, Rabid’s entire body felt as though it had been thrown against the ground hundreds of times—which was very nearly true. She sat on the bed, examining a large bruise on her abdomen from where she got kicked in the ribs. She winced slightly as she poked it, then dropped her shirt back down in defeat.

“Does it always feel this way?” Rabid asked. Stone turned from where he stoked the small fire in their teepee. He chuckled slightly, shaking his head.

“It always hurts, but you’ll get stronger and more used to it.” 

“I hope so.” Rabid murmured, pulling her knees up to her chest in an effort to find a more comfortable position.

“Are you hungry at all?” Stone asked, starting toward their sacks of dried foods. 

“No, no, I’m okay. I’m just tired.” she responded, sliding back toward the head of their bed. “I’ll just sleep it off.” 

Stone came and sat on the end of the bed, nodding slightly. Rabid marvelled then at how far they’d come. They joked now. They laughed. Well, she laughed, and Stone breathed a little different and turned the corner of his mouth up. But it was something. She watched him training when she was resting, and felt genuine admiration. They weren’t uncomfortable in the same bed. When it was cold, she got away with snuggling up next to him for warmth.

“Let me know if you need anything.” Stone said, bringing her back to the moment. Then he eyed her. “What are you thinking about?”

Rabid realized she was grinning to herself.

“Oh.” she said, feeling the heat building in her cheeks. “I was just… thinking about how much fun this has been.”

“Training?” he scoffed. “Training shouldn’t be fun.”

“Of course, the Omari are always so serious.” Rabid said, mimicking his intense face. He squinted his eyes, but the corners of his mouth twitched. Then he sighed and glanced around the teepee from his position on the bed, looking pensive.

“Why, what are you thinking about?” Rabid asked. Stone shook his head slowly, staying silent for a moment longer before meeting her dark eyes.

“After everything that has happened, with Alea and the Napua, I thought there was some grand plan in all of this for you and me. Now, I must admit, I feel like a fool.” 

“You don’t think that there is anymore?” Rabid asked, not sure if she should feel disappointed.

“I don’t know what to think. You and your name and all that has happened I just…” he paused, looking slightly flustered as he searched for his words. “When we went to the sacred site, I thought the Great One was going to show up in the cave. I thought there would be some meaning in all of this.”

Rabid shot upright despite the ache in her side. She shivered as her mind flashed back to the vision: the woman and the throne of branches, the strange electric heat and the endless thrumming underneath her skin. Rabid stretched the fingers of her right hand, feeling the tingling shooting to the edges of her fingers.

“What is it?” Stone asked, noticing her sudden movements. Rabid grinned sheepishly and looked at her hand, wondering if this was going to be what finally made him realize what a mistake he had made.

“Stone, I need to tell you something.” Rabid said slowly, her chest fluttered. He leaned slightly toward her, waiting. “I saw something in the cave. I thought I was crazy, but…” 

Stone’s eyes widened slightly, but he said nothing, waiting for her to continue. 

“I saw a woman in a throne room, and she called me ‘daughter of Khaya.’ And ever since, I’ve had this feeling inside of me. Like… I don’t know how to explain it. Like my blood is hot and I can feel it moving through me.”

Stone stood quickly, his eyes glinting with excitement.

“Do you know what this means?” he said, pulling her to her feet beside him.

“I’m going insane?” she asked.

“It means it was real.” he said, shaking his head. “And the feeling you have, I’ve felt it, too.” he said, grabbing her hand and tugging her out of the teepee. 

“Where are we going?” Rabid huffed as she was pulled by Stone’s strong arm.

“To see Red Moon. She knows more of this than I do.”

“Right now?” Rabid protested, but Stone didn’t seem to hear. The old woman’s teepee was only a few hundred paces from their own door. At Stone’s pace, they reached her within moments. Stone burst through the opening, nearly knocking Red Moon off her feet. He grabbed her shoulders to steady her.

“Ah! What is it child?” the old woman said, her eyes wide with shock.

“You need to hear this.” Stone said, stepping out of the way so Rabid could enter the tent. Red Moon squinted around him, her eyes lit up as she saw Rabid.

“You are different.” Red Moon said, reaching a wrinkled hand to touch Rabid’s cheek. Her eyes squinted, as if trying to see to Rabid’s soul.

“The Great Spirit. I can feel him on you.” she breathed in excitement.

“Him?” Rabid said, glancing at Stone nervously. “But it was a woman that I saw, a woman with a crown.”

Red Moon chuckled and waved a hand. 

“The Great One is both, and neither. You would see what you needed to see, and I doubt you, my dear, would trust hearing anything from a man.”

Stone looked at her with a furrowed brow, but didn’t ask.

“What did you see?” a voice came from the back of the teepee. Stone and Rabid glanced into the dim light to see Kizi crouched beside the fire, her eyes bright and a grin plastered to her face. Red Moon waved them inside, and the three of them sat down around the fire. As Rabid retold the story, Stone watched Kizi and Red Moon’s eyes meet, sharing their secret knowing.

“What does it mean?” he asked.

“This is a piece of history that you saw, Rabid.” Kizi started. “Khaya was the wife of the great king Ademanu. When he was killed in battle, she locked herself into her room and neither slept nor ate, praying to the Great One to grant her the wisdom to keep the clans united, and the power to stop their enemies.”

“The Hauks.” Stone said, darkly. Red Moon nodded.

“Others, too. The Great Spirit answered that prayer, and she was given the strength to wield the power of every clan.” Kizi continued. Red Moon held up her hand, cutting in to explain more detail,

“The Raveners, Bonders, Restorers, Memors, and Diviners.” she said softly, leaning toward Rabid as she counted on her fingers. Rabid’s eyes remained wide. Kizi nodded, then continued,

“But Khaya, Khaya was all of them. She was the first and only light born.”

“Light born?” Rabid cut in.

“As you know, each of our tribes have their colors. Those colors come from the show of our power. Each power was colored differently. But Khaya, Khaya’s was pure light: white, brighter than the sun.”

“Right, I know this part.” Rabid nodded.

“Let me tell you anyway, you can’t interrupt a story.” Kizi said, raising an eyebrow. Rabid smiled and shook her head, the Omari and their stories.

“After the war had ended, and years of peace were won, she was betrayed.” Kizi said, her eyes darkening. “She was murdered by the Reanni leader who wielded blood magic that bound him to darkness, and gave him powers that we had never seen before.”

“Something happened when he killed her, something that severed our connection to the spirits and their power. The man who killed her stole our power from us. He walks the earth to this day, bound to his immortal form.”

“Wait,” Stone lifted a hand. “you’re speaking of the skin-walker. I thought that part was a myth. My father used to tell me that story to keep me in my bed at night.”

“Myth and legend, just like the Great One.” Kizi said, her dark eyebrow raised. A mischievous grin spread across her face. 

“Why did she call me ‘daughter of Khaya’?” Rabid broke in.

“You must have her blood. It wasn’t recorded but… Khaya must have had a child.” Red Moon said, nodding as if it was the obvious answer. Rabid’s eyes grew ever wider, as she slowly shook her head.

“How is that possible? Isn’t that something the historians would keep track of?” Stone said, shocked at the implication.

“If I was a mother, I would do anything to protect my child, even remove her from history.” Red Moon said. “How do true stories become myth, villains become heroes, battles get forgotten? History is written to benefit those who hold power.”

Kizi jumped in again, as though she couldn’t contain herself,

“When she was killed, the clans split apart. They lost their one unifying piece and they lost their power, all at the same time.” She leaned closer to Rabid, her emerald eyes glowing with a mixture of awe and wonder. “The Great Spirit came to you in the form of Khaya. I think you are meant to take her place, and reunite this land again.”

Rabid recoiled from Kizi, looking around at the three pairs of eyes that stared at her in excitement. Her heart felt as though it would pound out of her chest.

“Flecha saw you in Salma Veth. He communed with spirits that told him of a light rising from the darkness of Omarihom.” Kizi said, excitedly. “In the final recorded vision of the Diviners, they too, saw a great darkness in the heart of Minaloa, that cut the clans apart and nearly destroyed the land. But one would come who would fight the darkness, restore the light, and set the captives free.”

“I’m not light born.” Rabid shook her head furiously. “We don’t have the power anymore… and… and… I’m not even Omari!”

“You don’t have the powers, yet, but you have her strength, her blood.” Red Moon whispered, encouragingly. She reached over the dancing flames to grasp her hand. “You have her destiny.”

Rabid looked at Stone, who was watching the exchange with excitement. She felt no such excitement. The ceaseless trembling under her skin had grown and was beginning to rock her whole body. Though she wanted to, she couldn’t deny what they said: the spirit in her wouldn’t allow it. Though her mind couldn’t understand how it could be true, something deep within whispered that they were right: she was born of Khaya’s blood. 

Just as Rabid was about to speak again, her thoughts were drawn to the trembling in the earth beneath her. A great c***k split the evening quiet, sending tremors through Red Moon’s tent that shook the clumps of herbs above their heads.