Shield of the Gods (Aigis Trilogy, Book 1) Read online

  “...Eta?”

  “Haz,” the girl said with a grin, while the others giggled and began flitting around.

  “Oh, I get it! You’re trying to teach me ‘thank you’ and ‘you’re welcome.’”

  The four girls gave Roxie blank stares.

  “Never mind.” She picked up her pack and slung it over her shoulders, and scanned the scenery for any signs of Aerigo and Yayu, hoping they’d realized they’d left her behind, but it was just her and her four nameless acquaintances. Two girls tried to figure out how to carry the injured girl, but none of them were strong enough to carry her. Seeing this as an ideal opportunity to apologize, Roxie switched around her backpack so it hung in front of her, then kneeled down, offering her back to the injured girl.

  Looking over one shoulder, she watched as they spoke to each other, glancing her way every few seconds. She patted her back with both hands, “I’ll carry her,” she said, despite knowing they couldn’t understand her. It just made her feel better to speak. They spoke some more, seemed to reach an agreement, then helped their friend onto Roxie’s back.

  Roxie stood, bent slightly forward to keep her balance. It felt like she was holding up someone who weighed no more than a stuffed animal.

  The other three girls began leading her towards the waterfall.

  These strange people’s muscles had to be built solely for speed. Roxie had a hard time keeping up—not because of the featherweight she carried and the lack of use of her arms, but because they were so damn fast. It was like trying to keep up with a plane.

  “Hemet contwa!” One of the women shouted from afar, having stopped running and turned to face Roxie. She shouted the same words again, and the other two joined in like a bunch of chirping birds. Then they started running again.

  Roxie slowed to a jog. “What are they trying to tell me?” she said to her living luggage. The girl pointed towards the waterfall, just as the three others vanished behind it. “Okay then.” Roxie ran to the waterfall and was sucking wind by the time she got there. She slowed to a speed-walk. Don’t these people ever run out of energy? She wanted to plop the girl on the ground, along with her backpack, and jump in the water to cool off in the humid evening air. However, she plodded over to the rocky base of the waterfall, then stopped, seeing nothing but water, moss and rocks.

  “Tenaha,” the girl said, pointing to the gap between the rocks and the cascade. “Hemet contwa!”

  “Aha.” Roxie strode forward a few steps, then stopped again. “Uh, it looks rather dark. Is there some other way we can go?” She turned from the cave.

  “Nyet, nyet!” the girl yelled, nudging Roxie like a horse towards the dark cave. “Tenaha.” It sounded like the girl was urging her onward.

  Roxie turned towards the cave again. “Fine! But if we die in there, it’s all your fault.” She marched up to the mouth of the cave and halted, unable to push herself any farther. It felt like she was looking down the throat of some giant monster—she could almost feel it breathing on her. Roxie’s eyes began to glow as she forced herself to take her first nervous step into the mouth of the earthen beast.

  The girl on her back stared whispering a chant that reverberated off the uneven walls. “Arunas… ferulae… emanon.” After the third repetition, it sounded like a group of ladies were chanting in unison, filling the cave with a sense of peace. Roxie calmed down as she felt her way along a narrow passage lit by just enough glowworms to show the ceiling. Whenever the trail of glowworms split in two or more directions, the native girl would point in a direction and say something. They continued to move forward.

  It felt like an eternity in that cave. Roxie smacked her head on a low-hanging stalagmite, tripped over loose rocks that threatened to break an ankle, and got dripped on by cave sweat, and probably glowworm pee. Despite the calming chant in the air, Roxie started feeling grumpy.

  Roxie turn a tight corner and they found themselves under the evening sky once again. Final frickin’-lee. Judging by the twilight, they had spent no longer than five minutes in that wretched place. Not only was she caked in dried swamp mud, but smeared with dirt all over her arms, clothes, boots, the front of her backpack, and probably her face. And on top of that, Aerigo still needed finding. This wasn’t how she’d envisioned ending her day.

  The girl pointed straight ahead and spoke urgently. Like an obedient horse, Roxie panted along at a fast jog among the trees and soon found the edge of a forest. There she came to an abrupt halt to take in the sight of a large village with a river running alongside it. The loosely packed houses were round and made of a material that looked like a cross between hay and bamboo. The nearest ones were squat, single-story homes, and got taller and broader deeper into the village. The housing looked, from where they stood, like a flight of stairs made out of thatch and bamboo.

  The girl hopped rather nimbly off Roxie’s back and motioned for her to follow. Roxie humored her, since she had no idea where Aerigo was. She switched her pack from front to back and let her acquaintance lead the way into the bustling village.

  A lot of detail and hard work had been put into the making of each individual home. Intricate weaving patterns, wood carvings, jewelry decorations and hangings, and the precise placement of each stick characterized every home. The whole community rang with airy voices, the sounds of minor construction, and bare feet padding along the grass. Smells of food, flowers and fresh-cut grass wafted everywhere, and the natives never commuted any slower than a jog. Before long, Roxie’s guide stopped and pointed once again. Roxie’s eyes followed the out-stretched finger and saw…

  Yayu and Aerigo.

  They were the only two people sitting in the entire village, Aerigo on the right and Yayu on the left, and they were deep in conversation in the local language. Yayu wore a broad grin and Aerigo a faint smile, but both looked equally content. “Kosh—” Roxie started to say to the girl, but realized she’d started thanking only air. She turned full-circle, but the girl was gone. She shrugged, took hold of her pack and marched towards the two men, her anger growing. She stopped before them with her arms folded and feet planted apart, and put on a glare she hoped would wipe away their smiles. “How dare you leave me behind!”

  The two men looked up at her in bemusement. “Well, it’s about time!” Yayu said, still smiling.

  “What’re you talking about?” she said angrily . “First—” She unfolded one hand and pointed at Yayu. “—you show up and scare the crap out of me.” She wheeled on Aerigo. “And then you just run after him! Leaving me behind in some alien place with no clue as to where to go. So there I am, running around like an insane moron, when these four girls show up. I end up having to carry one of them all the way up here, and the others run so far ahead I can’t keep up. The next thing I know, I’m walking around in this creepy cave that I am never going near again. And then I find you two! Just sitting there and talking like you forgot all about me. And you know what? I need a shower.” That said, she folded her icky arms.

  Yayu started laughing uproariously. He threw his elongated feet in the air and clutched his sides. “Well done!” he said, wiping tears from his sky eyes.

  Roxie rolled her own and sighed. “I give up!” She shrugged off her pack and dropped it carelessly to the ground, then plopped onto the grass, leaning back on her hands.

  “I wouldn’t give up just yet,” Aerigo said. “That was only a test.”

  She sighed again and flopped down into a spread-eagle, staring at the sky. “Let me guess: I failed miserably.”

  “No, not at all.”

  “Well that’s a relief.”

  “Relax,” Aerigo said. “Let me explain.”

  Roxie folded her hands behind her head and crossed her ankles.

  “I wasn’t testing your speed, but rather your ability to sense people. However, I didn’t realize until just now that you might not know you can do that.”

  No kidding!

  “On the other hand, you proved yet again that you can keep your head on
straight in a stressful situation, which is very good. And another thing: you found me.”

  Roxie sat up, still frowning. “Can my reward be a shower?”

  Yayu doubled-up with laughter again. “She’s a funny one, isn’t she? I’ll find a good name for you, yet!” He took a revitalizing breath and spoke to Roxie. “If you want a shower that bad, I’ll take the two of you to my home. Both of you do look like you fell face-first in dragon dung.”

  “Dragon dung?” Roxie said. “You have dragons?”

  “Not around here, thankfully.”

  Yayu’s home was beautiful. Located near the village center, it was connected to a smooth dirt path that skirted the circumference of the inner community. His home stood twice as tall as the outer homes, and twice as wide. The doorway was filled with strands of wooden beads with intricate designs on them, and a dyed cloth draped behind and split down the middle. Inside, the house gave an impression of spacious grandeur. Its ceiling vaulted into a pointed dome, with strong wood beams supporting the thatched roof. At its far end stood a raised platform that served as a second floor. There were no walls above or below it; just a bunch of arching beams hung with draperies tied back loosely like curtains.

  “This way, please,” Yayu said, leading Roxie to the only walled-off part of his lofty dwelling. Aerigo headed for the center of the home.

  Yayu pulled the beads and cloth aside for Roxie to reveal a big stone tub filled with water in the middle of the room. A rectangular pit beneath it glowed with a layer of live coals, lighting the bottom of the tub with soft shades of red, orange, and yellow. Along the room’s far edge a narrow tiled channel was built into the floor, providing a constant flow of water. There was a square toilet of solid wood, along with a washstand and a few towels. “Here’s your ‘bathroom,’” Yayu said. “Funny word, I’d say, but I didn’t make the language. Feel free to call this room ‘sawarma.’ The Scondish word brings me more comfort than bathroom.

  “Your drying cloth is over there.” He pointed to the side of the tub. “Along with a cleaning stone. You can wash your clothes in the channel.” Yayu drifted over to the bathtub, tested the water with one hand and cringed. He kneeled by the coals, drew half-circles with both hands, then cupped them together, palms up, and blew on them. He spread his hands apart and a fire started.

  Roxie gaped as her host stood and made to walk past her. She stopped him with one hand and spoke in a tone full of wonder, “You just did magic—extended reality—er, whatever you call it!”

  Yayu smiled at her. “Ambura magic. You’ll be seeing and doing a lot of it soon.”

  “Really?” she said, hopeful.

  “Yes, my Aigis. You’re here to learn. Now go bathe.” He whisked away so quickly, the beads and cloth barely swayed with his passage.

  Roxie sighed and began to undress. Getting all her dirty clothes off brought relief. She took up the rock that Yayu had called a cleaning stone and hopped in the tub. The stone fit in the palm of her hand and reminded her of sea glass, which her grandma liked to collect.

  Home. Just the thought of her house and her grandmother gave her heart an awful jolt. It had been barely a week since she’d left home, but it was long enough to miss her only family. She felt her eyes begin to glow.

  Fond memories of hanging out with her childhood friend and pretending to be aliens exploring an alien planet added to her sadness. Learning how to cook and clean and do gardening with Grandma. Rare trips to New Jersey beaches. Roxie did her best to push her melancholy aside though. She knew, deep down, that she was lucky to have such loving memories of home, even if she never saw it again. The vision of Baku’s memory of Roxie’s conception flashed through her mind.

  Roxie began to rub herself down with the stone. It worked just like a bar of soap, minus the suds, and she was soon free of the grime from her less graceful actions of the day. Once clean, she propped her head against the rim of the tub and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth and tranquility. The water was beginning to smell therapeutic.

  “Rox!” Aerigo yelled from somewhere in the house, startling Roxie upright. “Don’t take all morning!”

  “Morning?”

  “It’s going to get real hot. I suggest you don’t waste any more time.”

  “That’s Sconda for ya,” Yayu added with a friendly shout.

  “But we just—” Phailon and her world were experiencing evening. “And here it’s—” Time doesn’t match? “What about…sleep?”

  “You’ll be fine.”

  Heaving a sigh, Roxie got out of the tub and grabbed a towel, dripping water all over the wood and rug floor. She crept closer to the bead-and-cloth door when she heard Yayu say, “Aren’t you bein’ a little hard on her?”

  “Both of us need to adjust to this new time zone as soon as possible.”

  “Why such a hurry?”

  There was a pause before Aerigo said, “Do you know about the prophesied war?”

  “Din came and told all the Clan leaders he was goin’ to be away for a while, but not why.”

  When both men stayed quiet long enough for Roxie to realize they were done talking, she crept over to her backpack, finished toweling off, and put on her second set of Versaton clothes. Her motions were slow and mechanical, having been numbed by the war reminder, and the sheer number of people she had to defend on one world alone. Once her hair and teeth were brushed, she headed for the door but stopped with an arm reaching for the beads.

  “It’s been ages. It’s a blessin’ to have you here again,” Yayu was saying.

  “Not this time,” Aerigo said.

  “An omen then?”

  Roxie didn’t want to hear more war stuff. She left the bathroom and stood just outside the doorway, causing both men to turn.

  “It’s amazing how different you look when you’re clean,” Yayu said a little quicker than Roxie thought he should have. “You’re very beautiful, you know.”

  Roxie gazed at her feet. They’re treating me like a child, like I can’t handle grown-up matters. Thanks, guys.

  “Don’t be afraid to enjoy and share your goodness. Never let a good thing go to waste.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Roxie said, masking her disappointment with a smile. She crossed to one of the sprawling couches and sat next to Yayu.

  “I won’t be long,” Aerigo said, then grabbed his pack and headed into the bathroom.

  Roxie reclined against plush red pillows, her pride feeling not quite as injured after she saw Aerigo’s face right before he disappeared. It was almost his usual neutral expression, but that time there was something along the lines of sadness or worry in it. Yayu looked similarly distressed but he popped a smile as soon as he noticed Roxie looking at him.

  “Would you like some herbal tea?” Yayu asked, standing up. “It’ll help wake you up and it tastes quite good.”

  “Sure,” Roxie said, eager to give Aerigo, Yayu, and everyone else less reason to worry. The thought of war still frightened her but she wanted to be able to protect Sconda and Phaedra, in addition to her home world. There were so many wonderful and beautiful places in the universe.

  Yayu jogged to his kitchen, and returned with fresh mugs for both of them. He set hers on the table between the couches and retreated with his to the opposite couch.

  Roxie picked up her own plain mug and examined its steaming contents. It looked like normal tea without milk and she could smell a hint of lemon, along with a touch of sweetness. She took a tentative sip and swallowed. The tea caressed her all the way down and its lemony scent filled her nostrils, sending an all-alert signal to her lagging brain. The drink tasted delicious and its warmth filled Roxie with renewed energy with every gulp. “Thank you!”

  “Don’t mention it,” Yayu replied with a wave of his hand. “You just sit there and finish it, a’right?” He got up and whisked over to another section of his home.

  Roxie sat drinking her tea as she watched Yayu prepare some food in his kitchen. She listened to him chop away on a cutti
ng board, very fast, and her stomach reminded her that she hadn’t eaten in hours. She smiled at the prospect of food. Without meaning to, she drank her tea rather quickly.

  Roxie heard the beads clicking in the bathroom doorway and turned to see Aerigo re-emerge, wearing his black pants, but no shirt, socks or boots. She couldn’t help but stare with frank admiration at his chest and abs and biceps and shoulders and arms and—just the whole picture. What a difference without the shirt! His muscular physique seemed to have some sort of magnetic hold over her eyes. Her mouth fell slightly ajar. Then she realized that she was checking out someone who was probably twice her age. She averted her eyes, clamped her mouth shut and felt her face blushing.

  Aerigo didn’t seem to notice her staring. He strode over to the empty couch and sat down, facing her, his arms stretched along the couch-top.

  She clasped her mug for dear life and stared at its shadowed inside. She could see a dim reflection of her wide-eyed face in her remaining tea. Wait a minute! Aerigo’s pants were perfectly clean and dry, though he’d only been gone for fifteen minutes.

  “How’d your pants get dry so fast?” Roxie said, hoping her latest question would cover up her ogle-fest.

  “The stones under the tub and a quick Ambura incantation.” He shrugged, which emphasized his broad shoulders.

  Roxie looked away and blushed again. She tried to think of their age gap, but that didn’t work. “Yayu, could I have some more tea, please?” She held the mug out to him, trying with all her might not to look at Aerigo, though she paid most attention to her peripheral vision.

  “Certainly, miss,” Yayu paused in his food preparation and took her cup.

  “Thank you,” she said unsteadily, the blood pounding in her face.

  “We’ll eat first,” Aerigo said. “Then I’ll teach you how to find people with your mind.”

  “Goodie,” she said to the table between her and Aerigo.