Iduna (18 page)

It was another beautiful day in Okeenos, and Iduna lay on a straw mat stretched out on the sand. She’d just come from the ocean and was still wet. She loved the taste of the sea and the feeling of the water drying on her skin. Waves spilled toward the shore in a reassuring rhythm.

She savored the moment since it could be one of her last.

The sun beat down on her, burning red behind her closed eyelids.

Someone sank down next to her.

Ani.

“Have you decided yet?” Ani asked.

Iduna hadn't talked about it with anyone. The woman was uncanny.

“No,” Iduna said.

“It's really silly, you know.”

“Oh?”

“You can trust yourself. You're not Senbo. Everyone knew he was a rotten mango.”

“And you didn't stop him. You couldn’t stop him, could you?” Iduna asked pointedly.

“And so you think we couldn’t stop you? You’ve learned so much, Mistress Iduna.”

Ani’s use of her Lawanian title took Iduna back to the day she’d first come to Okeenos, desperate and looking for answers.

“We’ve already stopped you,” Ani said.

At this, Iduna laughed despite herself. She wasn’t sure if Ani was referring to Pua punching her or making Iduna face dragons. She did know that the dragon’s technique for breathing fire had brought her a new calm that managed to have passion and focus at the same time. She could enjoy her emotions without fear that they detracted from her powers or made her weak.

“You do know that my power could be even worse.”

“Yes, you’re Ull by birth with Lawanian and Okeeno training. Spellcrafting gave you the ability to combine these three powers together. You could do all the types of magic now. It is true.” Ani laid back on her elbows, eyes focused on the horizon. “It doesn't mean you should kill yourself.”

Ani let Iduna consider these words before dealing out the final argument.

“Besides, if you do kill yourself and another Ull Spellcrafter gets hold of our power, then who in the world would stop them? Now, at least, we have someone to offset that. And you have experience!” Ani tossed some sand into the wind. “Sorry, you can't kill yourself.”

As the wind blew away the flecks of sand, to Iduna it felt like her easy out had also passed. These abilities were frightening. She had lost people she cared about and others she could never see again. But Ani was right. If Iduna had acquired the trio of abilities—Spellcrafter, plus the focused emotional power of the Okeeno, and the broad power of the Ull—then someone else could too, and might abuse the powers again as had Vilir and Senbo.

It wouldn’t stop with her.

The day was beautiful, and she did want to enjoy this new life. She realized how constraining Lawan teachings had been. She watched Kai walking up the beach. She had closed off whole parts of herself, but she now knew how to truly care about people and how much she’d already cared about people in her former life. Surat. Angko. Tinh. Maybe some had survived. She owed it to herself to live. She sighed. “All right. Fine. You get your way. Does anyone ever disagree with you?”

“Why would they?” Ani threw the sand directly at her this time, starting a sand fight.

Iduna grabbed the sand before it struck her.

She shaped the granules into birds and sent them flying away down the beach. One flew high over the trees, and real birds joined it, adding song to its virtuoso flight.

Maya Michaels is a debut author of fast-paced fantasy novels. Originally from California, she’s traveled the world, lived in Hawaii, and now lives in Massachusetts with a husband who feeds her chocolate to write and two cats that work hard to distract her from writing and her chocolate reward. It’s quite a battle.

Please visit her at
www.mayamichaels.com