heard from a bird that you
you're nothing but trouble
just trouble
❧ mereba, "bet"
Xosa came to in a fog. Mushroom rot and roasted meat tainted the air. His vision fuzzed at the edges. The cut on his cheek burned awfully.
Xosa's first day as a mortal and he already mucked it up fantastically.
"You're up," someone said. "I thought your heart gave out."
The woman! She survived! Her sooty voice was unmistakable.
But Xosa couldn't see her. They landed in some sort of ceremonial tomb at the foot of the mountain and the mausoleum was walled in on all sides except the top. The chances of a good samaritan stumbling across the hole and throwing a rope down were slim.
They were utterly alone.
Xosa cleared his throat and tilted his ear down. "Still alive, I'm afraid. Where are you?"
"Oh, you can speak Misaelese now? How convenient."
Judging by her volume, Dayblaze was somewhere on the other side of the vault directly behind his back. The tomb was too high to scale by hand and foot. They'd have to improvise.
Xosa groaned and held his side. Sticky blood stained his thigh. "How long have you been awake?"
"Long enough to know we're in trouble."
She grunted and tugged her arm forward. Pressure squeezed Xosa's wrist and his arm shot into the air by a chord. He yelped with discomfort and hit the wall hard.
"Drop it! Drop it!"
Sunkanmi relented and released the chord connecting their arms. Xosa gripped his abused hand and swore. The chain twisted over the top edge and disappeared to where she sat.
"We're stuck together," she said. "The handcuffs probably snapped on during the fall. My best guess is a maliib stashed them in the temple for safe-keeping and forgot them during the revolut-... during the conflict. The chains probably laid dormant for years, just waiting to latch onto the perfect victims. Us."
Xosa fiddled with the shackle on his wrist, twisting it to and fro. It was thick, about three fingers wide from where the chain began. Curiously, the gold-plated metal was imbued with natural magic. Vines slithered through the chainlinks and fastened to his forearm, lending the shackles an organic aesthetic.
And it hurt.
The blue veins in his wrist throbbed headily.
"It's... it's drinking my blood," she said. "I'm not lightheaded yet, but I know it's sucking away as we speak."
Xosa nodded even though she couldn't see.
"Mine too. This looks like blood magic. It sustains itself by leeching off our lifeforce."
"So it's a parasite? Oh no. This needs to go right now. If I find a big enough rock I could break it off-"
"That's a no go, ghost rider. Tampering with cuffs like these only latches them tighter. We need a professional. We need the blacksmith who forged them." Cool moonlight washed over Xosa's face. "But first, we need to get out of here."
"We'll have to work together."
Xosa winced. He knew how this would end. With one of them dead, if not both. "Listen-"
"Not now," she said. The chain jerked, automatically lengthening, as she stood. "We can sort that mess out when we get out of here."
"Deal."
Sunkanmi surveyed the vault between them, breaking down distances and physics in her head. Mental math was her jam.
"I can climb over if I use the cavities as footholds. But you'll have to break my fall."
Xosa faced the tomb and raised his arms. "I got you."
"Don't drop me."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Xosa smirked. "Dragging your broken corpse around until I get these off isn't exactly my first choice."
"Oh my god. You're so funny. You're hilarious, you know that?"
"Keep that up and I may forget to catch you after all."
Sunkanmi mounted the tomb and scaled the wide stone slab. He heard her softly murmur 'sorry' to the grave as she shimmied over, respectful to a fault.
"I'm coming down," she warned, legs over the edge.
"I'm ready."
She screwed her eyes tight and made the endless leap!
Right into Xosa's waiting arms.
He caught her like a beach ball in a basket. Xosa barely shifted under her weight, not minding her heavy armor and sword.
[Strong. Too strong.]
Sunkanmi took a moment to read his face, not sure when she'd get another chance.
This close, the short cactus stubble on his chin grazed her ear and scratched her cheek. His ears tampered off into strange points, pierced with gold adornments. Two small nodes on either side of his forehead gave Sunkanmi the impression of sawed-off ram horns.
A wide nose offset an even wider mouth that cut across his face like a mask. His lips hid rows of sharp, even teeth - gates to a vividly pink [Forked?!] tongue.
His body was carefully-shaped clay, and Xosa's dimensions were downright artistic besides his left eye, which looked like it was smeared back by a lazy creator.
Despite his outward calm, Xosa oozed manic energy.
His hooded, poison-brown eyes, more animal than man, blazed at her through the darkness.
[Yeah, there's no way in hell he's mortal.]
But whoever this man was, he definitely wasn't Loveschild. There wasn't a single heart-shaped freckle to be found besides the mole just over his left eyebrow (which split in the middle).
Sunkanmi grimaced. Not-Loveschild's neck stank of rust and sweat. And sex, both profane and divine. And the hottest hour of the day. And, oddly enough, fresh terracotta.
"When was the last time you bathed? You reek."
"I was actually in the middle of doing just that when you crashed into my life. Thank you for that."
"It's foul. Just foul."
"You don't exactly smell like strawberries and mangos either, sister."
Sunkanmi got the sneaking suspicion they had this exact same conversation before. A long time ago. But that wasn't possible.
"That was the easy part. Put me down."
Xosa released her none too gently and Sunkanmi clattered to her feet. Restricted by their chain, she traced the mossy walls and confirmed what she already knew. The only way out was up.
"Of all the times I wished I could fly," she murmured.
"Why wish?"
"What, those wings on your back aren't just for show?"
Xosa raised his glowing fists. "I have just enough juice left to blast us out of here before I need to rest. But I have to get it in one."
"Oh, so no room for mistakes then."
"I've been in stickier situations," Xosa eyed her warily. "And you'll have to hang onto me. Tight. If you fall off, you'll drag us both down."
Sunkanmi eyed the ledge as the last variables floated into place. The equation locked in and solved itself.
"We'll need a braking force to push us off to the side before we drop. Otherwise, we'll just end up right where we started with a few more broken bones."
"How about you handle the numbers and I take care of the gasoline, pal."
"Sure thing, pal." Sunkanmi gathered up the chord and squeezed his middle in a vice. His stomach tensed under her touch. "Blast off."
Xosa snorted and concentrated his power in his legs. The earth quaked slightly, and smoke erupted from his nose as they shot into the sky.
[Wait for it...]
[Now!]
Mid-air, Sunkanmi roughly twisted them clockwise so they wouldn't plummet back into the tomb. The ground rushed forward.
"Oof!"
They split and tumbled away from the hole, not stopping until they hit the temple's rubble.
All they could do was breathe. Xosa and Sunkanmi didn't speak for a few minutes. They sprawled out on their backs and tried to comprehend how they worked so well together.
How nicely they, well, clicked.
[This changes nothing.]
"You know what?" Sunkanmi's lungs sang with fresh air. "It's really a shame I have to kill you. We could've been good mates in a previous reincarnation."
"I don't see why we can't be good mates now."
"Because I have to kill you. I literally just said that."
Xosa rubbed his face with a bloody palm. "If I have any say in the matter, I really wish you wouldn't."
"At this rate, I don't think we have a choice."
"Hey, we might've started on the wrong foot, but I'm all for second impressions," Xosa flipped onto his stomach and reached out his cuffed hand. "What's your name?"
"Nope. Not falling into that trap," Sunkanmi sat up with a wince. "From now until we get these shackles off, we're strangers to each other. We owe each other nothing."
"Don't be ridiculous. It's just a-"
"If you must address me, heaven forbid, then just call me Commander."
Xosa rested his chin on his hand and crossed his legs like a schoolgirl. "I didn't realize you were so militant. The locals named you Hellblaze, you know."
Sunkanmi didn't look remotely surprised. "Oh word?"
"Yeah. They hate your guts. And I'm starting to get why."
"I don't need to be admired," she gestured to her scars as if it explained everything. And it made Xosa kinda sad. "The sooner you understand that, the better."
"Well, if you won't throw me a bone I'll just call you Day," He held out his hand and, seeing she wouldn't return the favor, gamely shook his own instead. "Hello, Day! Minus the bruises, existential terror, and unfathomable guilt, I'm doing fantastic. Thanks so much for asking. Nice to meet you. You can call me Xosa, though I go by dumbass on occasion. If I like you enough."
"And you're sure your nickname isn't Loveschild, dumbass?"
(oh, so she does have a sense of humor. not all hope is lost.)
Xosa stood and dusted himself off with a grim smile. "Last time I checked, no. We look nothing alike. I'm much cuter."
"Right, because you just happen to share identical death marks with the demon who killed Urfan. I'm just supposed to believe that."
"Believe whatever you want, that's the truth. And Loveschild isn't a demon, he's just... troubled. Hey, put the sword down! What the hell's wrong with you?"
Sunkanmi's glare rivaled the storm clouds overhead. This was already a terrible conversation, and their situation was so bleak it was almost fucking comical, and it's not like getting lost in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere made matters any better.
But maybe she was taking the wrong approach. Maybe she wasn't thinking clearly.
Maybe this beastly man was innocent and her accusations would only drive a wedge further between them.
"Alright. Fine." Sunkanmi steadied herself and practiced her deep breathing. She held her hands aloft like a sage at peace. Total zen. "If Loveschild, who may or may not be you, didn't kill Urfan in Tejumi, then who did?"
If Xosa was any lighter, he would've blushed.
"Oh no, you were spot on about that. That was me. But it was an honest accident. I fell on him after my brother banished me from- hey, stop that!"
"RAAAGH!" Sunkanmi whaled on Xosa with a roar, fists harmlessly flying through his body. She sent a roundhouse kick through his chest and almost tumbled over. The god patiently waited for her to tucker herself out with his hands on his hips.
"Are you quite finished?"
"No!"
"You're just wasting energy at this rate. We need to stay focused unless you want to be stuck together until we're old and grey."
Deaf to his logic, she fought him until a light sheen of sweat broke out on her skin. Her stomach-low screams frightened away flocks of bird for several miles. But that pitch of grief was honestly healthier out than in.
(clearly, she needs this.)
Xosa took pity on her and let her finish when she was good and ready. He could only imagine what she was going through. He'd never lost a loved one before. Or, at least, no one he remembered.
"The worst part-..." Sunkanmi bent over, gasping for air. Rain dripped from her chin in rivers. "The worst part is you aren't even sorry. You don't even feel bad about it. Urfan didn't deserve that. He deserved-"
Beyond words, Sunkanmi broke off and hugged herself tight. Slowly, so slowly, she slid to the ground with her back against a fruitful tree and sheltered under the palm fronds. She looked very young. A quarter of her age.
"And now I can't even-... we promised we would-"
Sympathy (or was it empathy?) swirled in Xosa's chest like whipped cream, the same flavor she stirred up in him back at the temple. He couldn't actually pinpoint when he started investing in her troubles, but he could shelve his impulses better than she could, he had enough practice dealing with Poallu, and this was dumb, so damn dumb.
But, well, you know.
Wet hair blocking his vision, the god knelt beside her in the mud and gently cleared his throat.
"I'm not apologizing. I wish it didn't happen, but I'm not saying sorry. For what it's worth, I offered to perform funeral rites for his body. But the Tejumi handle their dead differently."
She cupped her eyes, blocking the flood. "...Did they eat him?"
"No! The Tejumi aren't cannibals." She relaxed marginally. Thinking it over, Xosa rubbed his chin and harrumphed. "But I'm pretty sure the sunflowers did."
"Oh my god," Sunkanmi turned green. "Somehow that's even worse."
"You'd think when you get to be my age nothing astounds you anymore, but I've never seen anything like that in my life. That has to be new."
Sunkanmi spared him a glance, no doubt trying to guess his years. "And you've been around for...?"
"Er..." Xosa counted the millennia on his fingers before losing track. "Since before Time itself, I think? It's all a blur. And there are gaps in the middle. I'm not as young as I used to be."
A headache drilled into Sunkanmi's skull as she reconsidered her situation.
[Chained to an immortal. I'm tethered to a god. I might as well be shackled to a star.]
Sunkanmi wiped her nose on her sleeve and pushed Urfan to the back of her head. Enough was enough. She refused to sacrifice any more credibility or composure for his sake. She would avenge him in time, but not now.
"Where do we go from here? Because I'm not cutting off my hand, let's get that out the way right now."
"That's not even necessary. What is with you mortals and dismemberment? We'll just head north into iron country and find the Goldsmith. I thought that was obvious."
"Nothing, and I mean nothing, about this is obvious. More to the point, I've never heard of the Goldsmith and I'm basically an expert in Bayuri lore."
"Who do you think crafted that sword? You think masterpieces like that just manifest out of nowhere? The same evil genius who designed these," he rattled the handcuffs to make a point. "Also forged that blade on your back. Where did you find that, by the way?"
"This Goldsmith character won't mind us busting into their cave demanding magic bolt cutters?"
"Me and the Goldsmith go way back. We're like this," Xosa crossed his fingers like he was making a wish. "I could stroll into the forge any day of the year and be greeted with a king's welcome."
"Hm."
[It's not much, but it's a start.]
"Alright, then where's the fabled forge? Iron country is twice the size of Misael. I need more to go off of than just generally north."
"Actually..." Xosa's eyebrows screwed up. "I can't remember."
"Well try."
"No, I legitimately can't remember. I gave my sister all my memories of the last ten centuries for safekeeping. A few hundred years ago, I think."
"Why on earth would you do that?"
"You don't know me very well, so I'll forgive you for asking that." Xosa's snake scales glinted dangerously, and for a brief moment, Sunkanmi worried venom would drip from his teeth.
"I don't know the exact reason, but clearly I needed to repress some terrible thoughts. And I, for one, am glad those memories are gone, because it must've been awful. Unfortunately, the Goldsmith's exact location was also stored in that batch. We could've retrieved my memories right here and now if Laqueheia's temple hadn't been so rudely destroyed."
"Laquheia? Laquheia the White Hood is your sister?"
Xosa made a gruff low sound. Somehow this 'expert on Bayuri mythology' knew his dear sister by name but she couldn't even recognize the god standing before her? Either Sunkanmi was lying or he was really losing his touch.
"Don't sound so awed. Heia's a huge dork when you get to know her. And probably the smarmiest out of our sibling trio."
"Dream on!" Sunkanmi slapped her knee with laughter. "There's no way you're related to the Goddess of the Mind. She's one of the biggest deities there is."
Xosa bristled, handcuffs tightening with displeasure. He wasn't jealous. Xosa was too aloof to get peanut butter and jealous.
"Her name is Reminiscence in god's tongue, but sure. All we have to do is find another one of her temples and I can coax her into helping me. You. Us. Which leads us to my next question - where's the closest temple?"
Sunkanmi memorized a tactical map of flora country before their army deployed and her mind's eye easily conjured a scale model of the land.
"About fifty miles north of here."
"Oh, great. At least we're headed in the right direction."
[Fifty miles... fifty miles tied to this fool.]
[And if this doesn't work, which it will, but if it doesn't we could be stuck together for-]
Sunkanmi pinched her nose, fighting exhaustion.
"Remind me why should I trust you. Please. Before I rethink this."
"Because you're all out of options and I'm the best ally you have right now. Your soldiers probably assumed you either deserted them or you're dead. No one is looking for you. You're a ghost. And I'm the reanimated corpse you can't kill."
"Right. Thanks. Thank you for that."
Xosa shot her with his finger-guns.
"Anytime, Day! Now that that's settled, would you mind turning around?" The god's leg wiggled and he moved for the treeline. "I forgot how much your mortal bodies leak. Does your bladder do this all the time? How can you stand it?"
"Ugh, seriously? You don't have to announce it, just pull the chain and go."
"No peeking. I'm saving myself for marriage."
"I liked you better when you didn't speak Misaelese."
Sunkanmi faced away and waited for him to finish. This was another touchy detail they'd have to work out in the future. How they'd sleep, bathe, pee, eat, and change their clothes. All with their hands tied.
[Not a single moment alone from now until...?]
Sunkanmi's armor could unhook at the sides and her clothes were relatively disposable, but they'd have to be cut off eventually with the handcuffs in the way. It wasn't ideal, but they'd need to find sleeveless shirts they could slide on over their legs. Xosa could just go shirtless underneath a cloak to minimize attention.
[Tube tops and bandeaus it is.]
"Whew!" Xosa jogged over beaming. "I feel like a new man! I just wish I had soap. And, you know. A bathroom. But that's neither here nor there. Let's go north! To iron country!"
His optimism was unnerving, and Sunkanmi couldn't tell if he was faking it or not. After just an hour studying Xosa's body language, she knew his tongue snaked his lips when he was being genuine, and he tilted his chin up when he was deep in thought, but those were more nervous tics than actual tells.
[Whatever. I'll have him figured out sooner or later.]
Sunkanmi might've pulled back if she had any idea just how intensely she would come to know Xosa, the god.
But, lucky for us, she had no idea what she was in for.
Or that her last reincarnation strolled a similar avenue of thought only a few centuries previous.
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