Songbird

Chapter Eighteen - Alliance

She exploded into consciousness and found herself in an unfamiliar bed. It was made of woven fibres, and the covers were leaves. She seemed to be in a cave. The rush of water echoed around the chamber, shimmering reflections scattered on the walls and ceiling by the waterfall that plunged into a round pool on the other side of the cave.

"You're awake. That's good."

A woman sat nearby, cross-legged on the floor. She wore a long robe and worn sandals, her head shaved bare but covered in swirling tattoos. She had the dark skin of someone native to the Isles, and Wren couldn't tell how old she was—the woman could have passed for twenty or fifty with equal ease.

"Was there a boy with me?" Wren asked. She coughed. Her throat was sore.

"Yes." The woman spoke with a thick accent, pointing to where Aziz lay in another cot. "He lives. But his leg was broken."

Wren's heart sank. "Will he recover?"

Her savior—she hoped—nodded. "I have healed him, but it will take time for him to fully recover."

"And what of me?" Wren asked. She wiggled her toes, making sure that she could feel them. "Why am I unhurt?"

The mysterious woman pointed at Wren's necklace. "That charm protected you," she said. "From the fall, at least. You were both half-drowned when I pulled you out of the river."

"The pirates...!" Wren's head finally began to clear. "They have my friends, we have to—"

"Your friends will be fine, for now," the woman said. "Barbatos has other priorities, especially now that you are presumed dead."

Wren thought her heart would break at the idea of Kal thinking her dead. "You don't know that, I have to—" She tried to rise, but was unable. Whatever was restraining her was invisible. "...You're a mage. Aren't you?"

"Just as you are," the woman said. "I am Akachi. What is your name?"

The pressure subsided and Wren was able to sit up. "Wren. The boy is Aziz," she said. "You can tell?"

Akachi nodded. "The feeling is difficult to describe," she said. "But you will learn, in time."

Wren drew her knees to her chest. "I don't want to learn," she said. "I just want it to go away."

The mage scoffed. "You ought to have realised by now that it will not," she said. "Even if it did, do you suppose it would stop them from searching for you?"

"How do you know about that?" Wren asked.

"There is always someone, child. Even I can't escape it," Akachi said. "I thought to hide myself here for a time, but already I am discovered."

"The pirates?" Wren asked. "What do they want with you?"

"They did not come here for me," Akachi said. "They heard from some fool or another that there is treasure here."

It was the kind of thing that Wren would love to read about. Living it, however, was another matter. "Is there?"

"Not the manner of which they seek."

"Will you help my friends, then?" Wren asked. "Please, they're being held captive."

"I would like to," Akachi said. "But the pirates are many. Even for me, it will not be easy."

Wren closed her eyes, gripping the makeshift sheets with white knuckles as an idea struck her. "I think...there might be someone who can help."

A short time later, she was walking through the jungle once more, the leaves of the undergrowth like blades against her bare feet. Akachi had given her directions, but she wasn't sure if she was still going the right way. It was a relief when the sun glinted on the ocean between the trees ahead, but the feeling vanished as a small camp emerged at the treeline.