“You were daydreaming,” Raphael said. “And, as cute as that may be, we’ve got work to do.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Try speaking to me first next time?”
“Why? This is much more fun,” he shot back.
I couldn’t really be angry with him. Deep down, he was a little boy, much younger than what his physique suggested. I’d let a lot pass, though I knew the day would come when I’d just smack him back and revel in the shocked look on his face. I saved it for later, provided we lived past the ritual attempt.
“This is so beautiful,” Riza said, her voice low and wavering. Tears glazed her eyes as she marveled at the endless green sprinkled with petal splashes of vibrant red, fiery orange, and bright yellow. There was just enough light to reveal it all, albeit slightly more muted than under a full sun. It was a natural paradise, but I couldn’t figure out why it was making her cry, or why it hurt me so deeply to see tears in her eyes.
“Earth is home to many such places,” Amelia replied, checking the coordinates on her tablet. “The cave’s about ten miles down there,” she added, pointing to the west along the river.
“It’s just a shame that it might all go away if the Hermessi get their way with the ritual.” Riza sighed. “All this… every plant and every tree… every bird and all the animals… not to mention the people. It’s unconscionable.”
Varga smiled, ever so slightly, and came closer. “Hey, Riza, do you want to see something really cool?” She looked at him and nodded, wiping back the tears. “Follow me.”
We all did, and he guided us deeper into the jungle, northwest of the river. We walked for about twenty minutes, moving carefully so as not to disturb the local ecosystem in any way.
“Where are we going?” I asked. The pink water hole was slightly farther to the west, by the river, according to Amelia.
“I just want to show you all something. I learned about it a couple of weeks ago, and I’d planned to come visit, until the whole Hermessi thing blew up,” Varga replied. He stopped for a moment, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air. He climbed up the tallest tree in our vicinity and motioned for us to join him.
We spread out and went up different trunks, until we were all on the same level. Riza and I shared a tree, and we were both speechless at the sight before us. Less than two hundred yards away, a clearing had formed. In it, a tribe dwelled, with tents made of animal hides and campfires crackling. We could see them clearly, going about their lives—only, they weren’t alone.
Wolves came from the woods, each of them carrying animals they’d just hunted. There was an interesting relationship at play here, as the wolves let the humans deal with the food. It took me another minute to realize that these weren’t ordinary wolves. They were significantly taller, downright massive, in fact, and their eyes brimmed with a sense of consciousness I’d only seen in Hunter when he… turned. “Oh, snap,” I whispered. “Werewolves.”
The tribespeople and the werewolves seemed to live together here. They smiled and hugged one another. The humans thanked the pack for the food, which they proceeded to prepare for the fire. This was a rare sight, indeed, from what I’d learned about Earth. There was harmony already established between the humans and the supernaturals, but the more isolated tribes had yet to come into contact with the latter—according to the last books I’d read on the matter, anyway.
“Unbelievable,” Riza murmured, a smile blooming on her beautiful face.
I saw Varga grinning. “Told ya.”
“Do we know when they were introduced to each other?” Riza asked.
Varga shook his head. “Not exactly. But they were first observed about two months ago, via drone cameras. The human scientists have been developing observation programs for the protected areas of Earth, and this part of the Amazon jungle is included.”
“This is the first instance of an isolated tribe interacting with supernaturals, isn’t it?” I asked, looking at Riza. She beamed at me, as if pleased that I understood what this was all about.
“It’s clearly a lot better than we’d anticipated. The common assumption was that the tribes might fear werewolves or vampires or anything that wasn’t human, to begin with. We believed they were too superstitious, inclined to fear what they cannot understand. Their normal tendency would be to attack or deify a supernatural creature, not live peacefully with it. I guess we were wrong,” Riza explained.
“Still, it’s nice to be wrong about something like this,” Amelia replied. “It just makes me want to kick the Hermessi’s asses even harder, if I’m honest.”
I didn’t take my eyes off Riza. “Then let’s do that,” I said. “Let’s move and get this over with, so that, when it’s all done, we can come back here and observe this tribe some more.”
“You’ve read my mind,” Riza shot back.
As soon as she climbed down, I found Varga eyeing me intently. He moved from the trunk onto a branch that extended toward me. He seemed like a shadow, as he reached me in the blink of an eye, skillfully gripping my tree with his vampire claws.
“Riza is nuts about other cultures, in general,” he whispered. “The Earthly ones are a favorite topic of hers, but she’s equally fascinated by other species she isn’t familiar with.”
“Like?” I asked.
“Like the Stravian Faulties,” he replied with a faint smirk. “She would’ve majored in anthropology, had it not been for GASP and the constant threats against our lives. If you want to get her attention, that’s your ticket in.”
My throat burned. Had he been watching us this whole time? Had he noticed my childish struggles with Riza? Suddenly, I felt so vulnerable and foolish that I didn’t know what to do with myself. That was unlike me. I was the dashing and daring type. The adventurer. The “cut down first, ask questions later” kind of guy. When had I mellowed to this degree of emotional… mush?
“Why are you helping me?” I mumbled, my brows drawn into a sullen frown.
“Because you deserve a better shot,” Varga replied. “And you’re a friend.”
He didn’t wait for me to respond, just slid down the tree and rejoined the group below. A moment later, I descended as well, reveling in the permanent smile that had settled on Riza’s lips. I loved seeing her like this, I realized. And if Varga’s advice panned out, I figured I’d get to make her just as happy, if not happier, someday.
I’d need to survive this quest and vanquish the Hermessi first, but hey, with that expression of hers embedded profoundly in my memory, there was nothing that could stand in my way. I had a feeling I might fall prey to some form of delusional optimism, but I put that thought aside as we made our way back to the river and headed toward the pink water cave.
Without giving it a second thought, I took Riza’s hand in mine, and she gave me a brief look. I couldn’t understand what it meant, but she didn’t let go—so it had to be good. Through no fault of her own, Riza made me feel strange and inadequate, sometimes. As if I wasn’t enough. In my defense, my whole persona faded in front of her. Riza was a tough and fierce jinni. I’d never felt anything like this before. Maybe that was why my demeanor had shifted over the past few days. Why my confidence had plummeted, yet I couldn’t stop looking for an angle into her heart. But feeling her skin on mine… that canceled everything out, even the prospect of dying on this mission.
Maybe we’d win, and maybe we’d lose. But the one thing I was ready to bet my life on was that, no matter what, I’d be close to Riza, in victory and in defeat. And she didn’t seem to mind. You might get that second chance, after all.
Amelia
The pink water cave was hidden beneath a pile of massive boulders, each covered in a thick layer of moss and climbing flowers. Had we not known about it, we never would’ve guessed it was there. We moved carefully as we snuck through the narrow crevices, until we reached the main tunnel leading downward.
It got colder, the darkness ever present. With careful steps, we made our way deeper into the bowels of the earth, each of us likely thinking about the werewolves and the tribespeople. What a beautiful thing that was to witness! For those of us accustomed to the supernatural, seeing a werewolf never came as a shock. But for people who’d spent their lives in this virgin wilderness, looking to the sky and the winds for clues about their existence and their future, werewolves were… extraordinary and different. In many cultures on this planet, they’d always been the stuff of fiction. Men had used their stories to hide their vicious crimes against innocent children and grown people alike. In other cultures, the werewolves were legendary, gods in their own right. Tribes had never interacted with such creatures, so it was truly marvelous to see them not only getting along, but peacefully coexisting.
It was just another reason for me to do everything in my power to stop the Hermessi’s plans. This whole world was too beautiful to destroy. Every living, breathing organism deserved to see tomorrow, and the day after, and the years that would follow. Who were these elementals to decide our end for us, when they themselves were mere agents of the universe? It just wasn’t fair, nor was it natural. Thankfully, Death was on the same page, if slightly incapacitated.
The pink water glistened below, lit from the bottom. It was our only source of light, and it was barely a glow, but it was better than nothing. We made it to the stony edge, noticing tall sprigs of Devil’s Weed growing around, their submerged roots stretching down the pond’s walls. Acantha and Nethissis were quick to cut off several pieces, enough to last us for another week or two. We wrapped them up in soft linen and put them in our backpacks, then dove right in.
It had become the norm to observe crystal eggs forming deep down, though we kept away from them. On Calliope, they’d birthed Daughters, but they’d also made Shills, like on Cerix. We’d already learned not to poke anything belonging to the primordial fluid. It wasn’t as though Tebir or any of Earth’s Hermessi would create something hostile to us, but we didn’t want to take any chances.
