The Vacant Throne: The Legend Of Kairu Vol 3 (24 page)

“
We’ve got some coin
now,” I started. “Did we need anything while we’re
here?”

“
In case you haven’t
noticed,” Cathy started, looking a little flustered, “you forgot
your pack back at the castle.”

I grabbed behind me and realised she
was right. How something as vital as that could be so easily
forgotten made me wonder if I was really cut out for this
adventuring lifestyle. I sighed. “Damn it.”

“
So let’s pick up a
new one and stock it with food and supplies for the trip,” Cathy
finished.

“
Sold,” I said,
heading towards the market.

*****

We spent the late afternoon picking up
our supplies and were heading out of town in the evening. We had
debated whether to stay in town for the night but the sky looked
clear and Cathy liked the idea of camping out under the stars for
the night so off we went. We had made good progress before finally
calling it a night. We would be back in Szwen before the end of the
next day.

The night was chilly,
but the skies remained clear. We had set up a fire and unrolled our
blankets close by. Before long, I had slipped into a dreamless
sleep.

I was shaken awake and sat up quickly.
“Duha?” I said, regretting the dumb, half asleep sound that escaped
me.

“
Relax, it is just
me,” Cathy said. “I, uh, have been having some bad nightmares the
past couple of nights.”

“
Memories still
coming back to you?” I asked.

“
Yeah,” she answered.
“I figured it was only a matter of time before they started up in
this body and I...miss having you there to help me through
them.”

“
What can I do to
help?” I asked.

“
Can I just...” she
started playing with her fingers, “lie beside you? It would only be
for tonight.”

“
Of course you can,”
I said, lying back down. “And if you keep having nightmares you can
keep doing it. We’ll figure out a way to stop them.”

“
Thank you,” Cathy
said, dragging her blanket to position herself behind me. “I think
I just need to let go of my past. I have a new life now and
I’m...different to what I used to be.” She lay back down and I felt
her body press up against mine. “This doesn’t change anything
either. I’m still tough.”

“
I know you are,” I
replied sleepily.

“
I could still beat
you up,” she continued.

“
I don’t doubt that,”
I said.

“
I’m still a scary
Demon,” she pressed.

“
Cathy,” I said, “go
to sleep.”

“
Okay,” she
said.

The rest of the night
passed uninterrupted and when I woke up, Cathy was wrapped around
me tightly and sleeping soundly. It was a shame to wake her but we
needed to get moving again. She smacked me when I shook her but she
sat up in a sitting position and we started getting
ready.

The day of travel
started out looking good, but clouds quickly filled the sky. We
picked up our pace in the hope of making it to the forest before
any rain began to fall. The sight of the trees rising up on the
horizon brought a renewed strength and we pressed on as the first
drops fell from the sky. By the time the rain was falling in force,
we had broken the treeline and were on our way deeper into the
forest.

Cathy laughed excitedly. “And here I
thought it didn’t rain around here.”

“
It was bound to
happen eventually,” I smiled. “Summer is over.”

Cathy took off her gauntlet to wipe
away the water from her eyes. “Alright, where to? Do you remember
how to get to Tanoba?”

“
Sort of,” I
answered. “Depends where we ended up.” I took a quick look around
at the claustrophobic forest then turned to Cathy. “Plan
B?”

“
Sure,” she said.
“Let’s go find Fawna. I can’t wait to see her expression now that I
am in a different body.”

“
That’s right,” I
said. “They can see right into the soul of people. Now I’m excited
to see their reactions.”

Under the cover of the trees, the rain
was lighter and easier to deal with. My plan was to simply wander
in the general direction of the Nao city of Tanoba and get picked
up by a hunting party. All Nao could feel my presence in the forest
thanks to a bonding ritual a couple of cycles ago. It was a shame
it didn’t work both ways though.

I reached out with my mind and focused
on finding their energy. It didn’t take long before I picked up a
few Nao minds hurrying towards us. I told Cathy to stop and we
waited for the hunting party.

The Nao moved gracefully, gliding over
the forest floor at unbelievable speed. When they needed to move,
they didn’t waste a single moment. I wasn’t expecting them to be in
such a hurry to greet me.

Huntress Fawna
stopped in front of me while the two others stayed further back to
watch over the area. Fawna was about to say something when she
stopped and stared at me. She looked towards Cathy then back at me,
mouth still open like she didn’t know what to do with it. Naos are
not very good with expressions, but at that moment she had become
an expert at showing shock.

“
This is an
interesting development,” she finally said.

“
Yeah, I’ll explain
later,” I said.

“
Good, I am glad you
have returned. Something important has come up and the Mistress
needs to speak with you immediately,” Fawna explained.

“
Of course, lead the
way,” I said concerned.

Fawna turned to Cathy and studied her.
“Stick close until we understand what to do about you, Other
Half.”

“
Fair enough, but you
better start calling me Cathy, Tree Hugger,” Cathy
replied.

“
She’ll be fine,” I
told Fawna.

Fawna nodded and in a flash, turned
around and started running in the direction she came from. Cathy
and I immediate took off after her and Cathy’s legs glowed blue as
her magic helped her match the speed of the Nao. I was left far
behind shaking my head at the two.

Already tired from the trip here, I
wasn’t ready for the open sprint through the forest and fell very
far behind. Cathy made the joke of carrying me the rest of the way
and I was tempted to see if she had the guts to follow through.
When the forest began to thin out, we came to a stop by a tree that
reminded me of an inverted ‘L’. This was my memory marker for
finding the Nao village.

I stopped beside Cathy and hunched over
to breathe heavily, the heavy pack of supplies jingling as it
slipped off my shoulders. My lungs burned from the run and I
coughed a few times while sucking in some air. “Next time,” I
started. “We walk.”

“
Time is important,”
Fawna responded. “We do not have much before things get worse. I
thought you would be able to handle the journey.”

“
It’s been a long
couple of days,” I replied. “It’s starting to wear on
me.”

“
We have some Telu
Vine Water,” Fawna offered. “It will help restore your
energy.”

“
And it can give you
some nasty heartburn,” I said, picking up the pack from the ground.
“No, thank you.”

“
Oh yeah, I remember
the stuff,” Cathy said, twisting her face in disgust. “Boy was that
a rough night.”

“
Very well.” Fawna
nodded then turned to look past the inverted L tree. “Watusa Donari
Kabu.”

The ancient magical
words cut through the Spirit Plane and the air distorted as the
trees disappeared, giving way to the beautiful clearing that housed
the Nao village.

“
Welcome back,
Kairu,” Fawna said.

“
Good to be back,” I
smiled.

Chapter
21

The Nao village of Tanoba was the only
village I knew about in the entire Szwen Forest. If they were
hiding other towns somewhere, they never told me about it. During
my time here, I had found ancient ruins and temples but nothing in
their history that explained them. Even as a good friend to their
race, I was still not allowed to have their full history. I always
got the edited version.

Looking at the
village, it was understandable why they would only need one
village. The entire Nao population was just twenty-five. They had
no need for any more. They were peaceful guardians of an ancestral
forest. It only took a couple of their Huntresses and their
reputation to keep people out of the forest so they didn’t need a
standing army. It was one of the reasons I always loved coming
here. The closeness of the community made it feel like
home.

Fawna led us through the tree grown
houses to the large temple in the centre of the village. The
villagers looked happy to see me until they looked through my soul
and towards Cathy. Wary of the unknown, they stared at us in
apprehension. Cathy was just keeping her eyes forward as we walked.
She probably felt the fear in them and was trying to maintain a
little peace until everything was sorted out.

When we entered the temple, the Nao
Spirit Well greeted us. The Well had been the central point of
fascination for me during my trips to the village. It served as the
Nao race’s anchor to the Physical Plane and was where the Nao would
cast off their earthly bodies and return home or form a new body to
begin a new life.

The life span of a Nao is one hundred
cycles and then they return to the Well so another can take its
place. Each soul serves its time and retains the memories of past
lives in preparation for future events. If there is a drought,
their best farmer can be brought back to life. If there is need for
battle, their best warriors can be brought back to fight. The Naos
are as close to immortal as a species can get.

Describing the Well itself was tough.
It was more of a giant spring in the middle of the temple. It
glowed with the pale blue souls of the Naos and when Cathy and I
approached, the souls gathered along the edge, drawn to our magic.
Fawna nodded to us and left to find Mistress Carlia.

“
Can’t you feel it?”
Cathy asked softly.

“
Feel what?” I
asked.

“
The Spirit Plane,”
she answered. “It’s calming.”

“
Is it like the
distortion in Archanion?” I asked.

She shook her head.
“That felt more like a wound. Like the Spirit Plane was bleeding
out of it. This is more natural. More...right.”

I nodded and continued to stare down at
the Well. The water was indeed calming but not to the level that
left Cathy looking like she would give up a life of fighting to
become a monk. I would have to tease her about it after we
left.

Fawna returned with a taller Nao
wearing a horned headdress and wolf pelt. Her vine work wrapped
around her waist, climbed up her stomach past her breasts and split
to go over each shoulder. I didn’t need to see her back to know the
vines continued down her back and legs to her ankles.

“
Mistress Carlia,” I
smiled and bowed slightly.

“
Kairu,” she said
sweetly. She turned to look at Cathy then back to me. “It truly is
something you have to see to understand.” She turned back to Cathy.
“Welcome, Cathy. I trust the others have been treating you
fairly.”

“
I haven’t been
attacked yet so I’ll call it a victory,” Cathy answered
calmly.

“
We are familiar with
your energy as we are with Kairu’s,” Mistress Carlia responded. “It
is just...different to see a soul split up between two people. The
longing you two must feel to be whole again.”

“
To see a soul split
up’?” I asked. “Is that why Fawna called Cathy, ‘Other
Half’?”

“
Yes,” Mistress
Carlia started. “We know you two as one soul. Looking at you now is
like looking at one half of a soul. Have you experienced any sort
of pain in absence of one another?”

“
I think there has
only been one incident, but it wasn’t for long,” I said. “I did
miss having her remarks in my head for it though.”

“
Oh, man,” Cathy
said, putting her palm on her face. “What did you do?”

“
I already told you
everything,” I said to her.

Mistress Carlia
smiled. “At least your relationship has stayed the same. But we
should get down to business. Huntress Fawna, I am sure, has
informed you that I am in need of your assistance.”

“
And she has told you
that I have something to say as well,” I guessed.

Mistress Fawna nodded and stepped
closer to me. “Yes, she has. Show me what you have seen.”

“
Be gentle,” I
replied.

Mistress Carlia’s eyes glowed white and
I felt my body jerk as visions of memories passed by my eyes.
Everything passed me too quickly to understand and before I could
get my bearings, it was over and someone caught me before I could
fall to the ground. I looked up at a smiling Cathy.

“
You alright?” she
asked.

“
Not something you
can get used to,” I replied, getting back up to my own two
feet.

Mistress Carlia’s
eyes returned to black and she looked thoughtful for a second
before stepping back to join Fawna. “Interesting,” she said. “I
believe our goals are one and the same.”

“
I’m all ears,” I
said.

“
A little while ago,
we had felt a magical disturbance through the Spirit Plane from the
direction of Ghanlar,” Mistress Carlia started. “I sent out the
Huntresses to investigate and they reported a strange camp on the
outskirts of the forest. They could not investigate further, but
the magical disturbance was coming from the camp.”