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

Chapter 19 - Khaya

Though the bodies had been taken away and the blood scrubbed from the floor, Khaya did not return to her bed chamber for several days. It wasn’t fear that kept her away. Instead, it was the not knowing that was pulling her down, like a weight was tied to her ankles. Though she had known that Moru would come after her power she hadn’t expected this. More than that, something gnawed at her: those blood-red, painted hands pricked at her memory. She had to figure out why.

This was why she had called on Leilani, despite their lack of kinsmanship. As Khaya led the way, the Amarin leader looked like a queen in a dark blue dress. Khaya had often seen the scantily clad women of Amarinhom, but they never ceased to amaze her. She tried not to stare at the little amount of fabric that wound over her chest and met behind her neck, revealing a line of skin from her sternum to her navel. Leilani’s pale waves were tied back into a tail that hit her bare back, just above where the blue of her dress reconnected and fell to the floor. The thick fabric trailed out behind her, whispering along the stone behind them as they silently walked the halls. A thick band of gold glittered against her neck, drawing Khaya’s eye despite her best efforts. Leilani was regal, tall and slender, and in her face was the calm self-confidence of one accustomed to being in charge. Khaya gritted her teeth against that look of smugness, that one that reminded Khaya how fragile her rule truly was, and reminded herself why they were here.

When they reached the outer doors to her chamber, two guards clad in metal bowed and stepped aside. The thick oak doors seemed to loom above them, Khaya stifled a shiver and shoved them open.

“Well, nothing seems to be amiss.” Leilani said, flowing past Khaya and into the empty room. A soft light fell from the open terrace, blowing in with a cool breeze. The shelves and tables around the room looked untouched. Even Khaya’s bed had been cleaned and remade. Khaya looked at the floor, remembering where each of the bodies had lain, and yet there was no sign of them.

“Do you feel anything?” Khaya asked. Leilani was wandering about the room, touching random objects and glancing around the walls.

“Yes, I think so.” she whispered, still not looking at Khaya. “You were right, it is best to do this here. The memories are always drawn up nearest where the soul left the body.”

“I feel as though something wants to come to surface.” Khaya said. She could feel the fuzzy edges of a memory trying to push its way through. The feeling grew as she stepped further into the room. She took a deep breath to steady herself.

“Do you have the blood?” Leilani asked, holding her hand out expectantly. Khaya pulled the small vial she had taken from one of the bodies from her pocket, and handed it to Leilani.

“We should join our blood as well.” Leilani said. Khaya bit down the urge to say, why else would I have brought you here!? She needed Leilani to help her: as leader of the Amarin, she would have more access to memory than any one else, including Khaya. They needed all the memories they could see.

Instead of making a snarky remark, Khaya held out her hand, palm facing up. Leilani pulled a thin silver dagger from a slit in her dress, and dipped the edge into the vial. Then, she sliced a small mark into Khaya’s palm. Khaya squeezed her hand shut, making sure the two bloods mingled, as Leilani cut her own palm. Then, the woman grabbed hands, bloody palm to blood palm. Each took a deep breath, closed their eyes, and began to invite the memories.

Khaya was no longer in her bedchambers. Instead, she was a thousand people at once, each memory clamoring up at her like she was the only way that they could live. She was a man, standing in a field. The thick end of a shovel had built callouses into his palm. He smelled of earth and manure, the scent of the garden and the coming of rain.

“Karmen! Come, take a break and eat with me.” a beautiful woman called. Wild Wind was her name. Karmen loved this woman. From behind her legs a small boy peeked, his black hair sprouting in different directions. Karmen’s heart swelled at the sight of his family.

Now, Khaya was named Ryoth. Ryoth and a beautiful woman named Mist standing in the dim light of a teepee. It was the first night after their wedding. Mist wore the skins of the Omari, her cheek had a red line down her nose and two horizontal lines on her cheek. Mist’s brown eyes smiled up at him, making his chest feel tight, yet floating at the same time. He put his mouth to hers, and she giggled. Desire burned through him.

Ryoth stood in the forest of a foreign land. The happiness was gone, now only darkness and grief covered his heart. Mist. His love. His life. She was gone, and all he felt was emptiness. A man stood before him, his face obscured by the shadow of a hood. “Are you ready to join us, Ryoth?” the man said. Ryoth had nothing else left, so he nodded.

Amaru was clad in black, cloth covering her entire face. She was surrounded by her brothers and sisters, the only family she had ever known. They were each clad in the black armor that hid their entire body, only their eyes showing to reveal their excitement. They had passed their final test successfully, they were accepted. Amaru dipped her hands into a vat of red liquid. When she pulled her hands out, they were stained red. She smiled, holding her right hand over her head, her siblings doing the same. Red dripped on her cheek, the smell of iron filled her nostrils.

Khaya was Yunuen, sitting on the forest floor with a knife through his gut, waiting for the release of death. She was a young Amarin girl, lost in the winding streets of the golden city and looking for her mother. She was Wise Owl, an old woman with tear stained cheeks, watching her son throw his life away. She was Ashki, whispering into the dancing flames “I will right this wrong, father. The Maôhk Dena will teach me how.”

And then she was a woman standing in a bed chamber, with blood covering the floor and the memory of bodies looming. She gasped slightly, her mind reeling to detach itself from the clouds of whirling memories. She blinked several times, trying to remember her own name. Khaya. Her name was Khaya. Reality came flooding back in like a tidal wave. 

Khaya blinked wildly and looked around, taking in the familiar sights of her bedchamber. Finally she met eyes with Leilani. Both women stared at each other, confusion covering their eyes for a long moment. Leilani exhaled a long slow breath and closed her eyes. She squeezed Khaya’s hand firmly.

“Khaya?” she whispered softly, remembering who she was.

“Yes. Hello Leilani.” Khaya said, the last of the lingering memories clearing from her mind. The women opened their eyes with fresh clarity and looked at each other, releasing hands.

“What did you see?” Khaya asked, thinking back to who she had felt in the memories.

“A lot of pieces. Horrible, dark things.” Leilani started, scrunching her brow as she thought. “This man had a daughter.”

“His name was Ryoth.” Khaya said, a tightness squeezing her heart slightly, as she was forced to recognize this man as a living, breathing person, rather than just an enemy that she had killed.

“Have you heard of the Maôhk Dena?” Khaya said, changing the subject. Leilani’s eyes darkened slightly. 

“Is that a name you saw?” she asked.

“Yes, a man said he was avenging his father… that the Maôhk Dena would teach him how.” Khaya said.

Leilani took a sharp inhale.

“The man broke the code, it seems. And it was to our benefit.” Leilani said, her eyes still intense and wide. “The Maôhk Dena usually stay out of the memories, because they rarely get killed and they are forbidden to speak the name. I myself have only heard stories of them from my father. He spent years diving in to memories to find out more about them. It would explain some of the things that I saw as well…”

“I have never heard the name before. Who are they?” Khaya asked, uneasiness creeping over her skin.

“No, you wouldn’t have, though they are an order as old as time itself. Some say they serve a powerful, undying god. It has been thought that they hold a grand vision for the earth, and they will kill or destroy whatever person, kingdom, or country that serves that purpose. I saw more today than I think anyone I know ever has and it…” Leilani shuddered suddenly, her facade of perfect poise cracking slightly. She looked rattled. “It was horrible, Khaya. The things that they’ve done. The wars they’ve started, the people they’ve killed.”

“If they are coming for me, they must have a grand purpose in uprooting Minaloa.” Khaya said. Then, as if it would reassure Leilani, she said, “I have already seen the possibility of my death, Leilani. It is not news to me.”

“I saw some of your ancestral memory as well, Khaya. You come from a line of survivors.” Leilani said, her voice low and intense. Khaya was taken back by her words. She had never been a favorite of the Amarin. The Amarin had always believed that they had the right to rulership and that she had stolen the throne when she had won the heart of one of their own: King Ademanu. But Leilani, despite her Amarin blood and piercing eyes, looked at her now with genuine care.

“The red hands…” Leilani said thoughtfully, looking away as if she could still see the pools of blood on the floor.

“What?” Khaya had forgotten what they were doing for a moment.

“The name, think about it.” she pressed.

“Blood hands… You think it’s actual blood?” Khaya said, suddenly queasy at the memory of the large vats of red liquid. She could feel it dripping down the arms of the woman in her memories. The feeling sent a shiver down her spine. Khaya rubbed her arms with her hands to keep herself in her 0wn reality.

“I don’t know, but it’s their calling card. Once they join the order, they bear the mark. Now, at least, we know something about them.” Leilani said.

“What do they want with me?” Khaya wondered out loud.

“I don’t know. But whatever it is, I know we must stop them.” Leilani said, her eyes flitting back and forth in the air as if she could still see remnants of the memories.

“I saw something else.” Leilani said slowly, as if it would sting to speak the words.

“What did you see.” Khaya asked, more of an order than a question. Leilani glanced around still, but eventually met Khaya’s gaze.

“This leader of theirs, he’s not the only man consumed by a spirit of darkness.” Leilani said. “He is but one of many.”

“But the stories… they are supposed to be gone!” Khaya swallowed, hard, a sudden fear beginning to creep into her body. “How is this possible?”

“Do you remember the tales of the mighty men? Those who were heads taller than their brothers, children of shadows they were called.” Leilani asked.

“Yes, of course.” Khaya said. “But they’ve been dead a long time, wiped out by the floods.”

“From what I saw, that wasn’t the last of them. They were the Angeni, wrapped in the flesh of man.”

“How long ago?” Khaya gasped.

“Not so long that you or I weren’t alive.” Leilani said, sighing heavily. “Khaya, this is a greater threat than anything I’ve ever seen before. This…this would be the end of all we know. We cannot let this stand. We must stop it.”

Leilani fell silent, her eyes wide with fear. Khaya’s own dread began to grow inside of her. She took a slow, steadying breath.

“Where have they been hiding, all these years?” Khaya asked. Leilani swallowed and shook her head. She closed her eyes, searching the memories for more information.

“I do not know.” she said, finally. “They have worked very hard to keep their existence hidden from the world.”

“The members are flesh and bone from what I saw.” Khaya said, finding little solace in knowing that they were killable.

“But their leader is not.” Leilani shuddered.

“Do you think he really is Angeni? Still roaming the earth after all these years?”

“He must be. They worship him like a god, I find it unlikely they would follow a mere man so absolutely.”

“How do we kill a creature that time itself could not kill?” Khaya questioned. “And what if he truly does have the power of shapeshifting? We could be in the room with him right now and not know.”

The woman stared at each other for a long moment.

“If I really am to die, I cannot leave the world with a threat like this.” Khaya said. “But, I must admit, I don’t know where to start.”

“Come back to Amarinhom. We will go to the library and find out whatever there is to know about them.” Leilani said. Khaya nodded in agreement. If there are answers to be found, they would be hidden in the expanse of written knowledge underneath the halls of Amarinhom.