The Huntress of Iyhiri

Chapter 12

"How did you two get in here?" asked Yaalon.

"In some kind of pods," said Agnez. "The guards walked right out of the water and up the beach to us. Strange. They seemed too calm and open to be a threat. Rockdog was ready to pounce and I had a bow drawn on them but they just smiled and raised up their hands. Then they introduced themselves. Said that you were here and that Thalassa wanted to see us."

"And you trusted them?"

"We both believed them. As a huntress, you develop a good sense of intent from other people and animals. We could tell they were telling the truth."

"Well, you did better than me. I fought them and nearly drowned."

"Why in Iyhiri would you do that?" laughed Ra.

"I'm not as smart as you two, I guess," Yaalon answered as he, too, started laughing.

"Anyway," cut in Agnez, "they have these pods that hold a few people each that we came down here in. Once we agreed to go with them, the pods just sort of lifted out of the water. I don't know where they came from or how they control them so I don't think we can use them to get back out. Though since they brought us down, they may just take us back up."

"It was neat," said Rahjani. "They were like looking through glass from the inside but looked like a black pearl on the outside. We saw the domes on the way in. Did you see them?" she asked Yaalon.

"I did," he nodded.

"How do they do all of this stuff?" wondered Agnez aloud.

"I don't know," said Yaalon. "But I think that they can do a lot of things that we've never heard of before."

"Like what?" asked Agnez.

"Like gills."

"What?" Agnez asked, narrowing her eyes as she looked at him.

"Gills. They have gills. But the stories about the Zaryans don't say anything about them having gills. They lived on land. How did they get gills?"

"Well," said Agnez, "you also thought she was a different kind of person. Maybe the stories were wrong."

"I have an idea about how to find out," said Rahjani, hands on her hips, one eyebrow lifted up.

Yaalon and Agnez looked down at her smiling up at them. Agnez wondered how her sister could stay so positive after so much heartache.

"Well?" they asked in unison.

"Why don't we just ask her?"

🙚🙘

Thalassa sat on her throne in the room Yaalon had left her in. Tritus stood next to her, arms at his sides, waiting. Yaalon's attempt to walk back into her private chambers uninvited resulted in a second split lip--this time Yaalon's.

"Bring him in, Tritus," Thalassa quietly commanded.

"Yes, Priestess," Tritus responded as he left the room.

A few minutes later Yaalon walked through the door followed by the messenger. "Warm welcome you people give."

Tritus's voice carried loudly from behind Yaalon. "No one enters the Priestess's private chambers uninvited."

"A simple 'you can't go in there' would have sufficed," Yaalon responded, turning to face Tritus.

"Enough," said Thalassa, her dark eyes already digging into him as he turned back to the sound of her voice.

"Have you come to make a deal with me, Yaalon?"

"I've come to hear what you have to say. That's all I can promise."