I walked along, careful with my footing, moving quietly, when I sensed something. A presence in the forest that was animal. It was a hunter. And it was big.
We’ve got to run, Tia said.
No, hide! Up in a tree, Ashleigh cried.
If we run, the plants attack, I said.
Better the plants than the beast, Tia argued.
I agreed with her and began running.
We were close. Only another minute or two until we’d be back at the campsite. We entered an area of ground covered with large, bulbous pods, and as we ran through, the animal hunting us fell back and left off pursuit. I was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when one of the large spheres suddenly rose up in front of us. It glowed yellow, its light pulsing. It gave off a rich scent. Like that of recently turned earth and flowers.
Slowly, I took a step back and another, but then the bulb opened, peeling back brilliant orange petals. It was the largest flower I’d ever seen in my life. The smell was heavenly. Like chocolate-covered strawberries. It dripped with thick nectar. As pretty as it was, I knew I needed to get out of there.
I backed up some more, but then a long orange stamen shot out and wrapped around my arm. It was strong. Stronger than me. I pulled, but it held fast. Reaching behind me, I yanked out my knife, raising it above my head. Then the tiny needles shot out from the flower’s leaves.
Most of them hit my cloak, but a good number struck my hand and my neck. I staggered and managed to use my knife to free my arm, but as quickly as I did, another two swollen appendages shot out to replace the one I’d cut. Whatever was in the needles worked fast. Soon, only the plant was holding my body upright.
Before my eyes closed, I tried to cry out to Ahmose or Nebu, but my lips were numb, and I could no longer even feel my face. Tia was already asleep, which I found interesting. I would have thought all of us would go unconscious at the same time. Ashleigh’s voice was the last thing I heard before I became senseless, too. In her mind, over and over again, Ashleigh cried out one word. Ahmose.
The sound of wood crackling and popping woke me. I groaned and tried to move, but my limbs were heavy.
“Just relax, Lily,” a voice said. “I’m right beside you, and you’re safe. I have healed your physical injuries, and your body is fighting off the toxins, but it’s slow going. You were hit by multiple needles, and my power seems to have no effect on your immobility.”
“Ahmose?” I tried to say, but my tongue was like an alien object in my mouth. I shifted slightly and felt the heavy weight of my cloak draped over me like a blanket of snow. It was warm and comforting until my senses sharpened. I came to the full realization that my body felt as numb beneath it as if I had indeed been buried in a snowbank. The soft fur tickled my nose. The memory of being lifted up and into the mouth of a giant flower made me shudder.
It was going to eat me. This planet that housed a plant with an elongated hacksaw-like protuberance that sparkled like a ruby was apparently my own personal Little Shop of Horrors. All those beautiful glow-in-the-dark flowers out there wanted meat, and I could provide plenty of it. If I could have moved, I would have kicked Zahra in her hindquarters for her vagueness. She had said the fauna had become agitated. Agitated? Really? Hungry was more like it.
Opening my eyes, I looked past the fire and toward the foliage. Now every green, growing thing seemed to wink at me with malice as the leaves shifted in the breeze. They waited to hedge up my way at best, devour me at worst. The nearby trees smelled deceptively normal—like cypress, moss, and pine. They didn’t give any indication they were predators. If I’d been a lioness, my fur would have bristled just thinking about it. Speaking of fur, the resident cat in my head was still out of commission.
Tia? I inquired.
She’s sleepin’ it off, Ashleigh replied.
I don’t understand why it wouldn’t affect all of us the same. I mean, you’re sharing my body, so you should be unconscious when my body is asleep, too.
Don’t think it works in that manner. I was awake the whole time the plant was tryin’ ta mince us inta stew. I heard Ahmose fightin’ off the plant. Could feel ’im carryin’ us, too, at least until yer skin lost sensation.
So you weren’t affected by the toxin?
I guess I wasn’. It was a bit like bein’ trapped in the fairy tree. I couldn’ open yer eyes or move. Yer body wasn’ respondin’ ta me at all.
Is that normal? I asked. Do fairies heal quickly or something?
Ashleigh took a moment to consider. Not sure it applies when the body I’m inhabitin’ isn’t my own. Still, I’ve ne’er been hurt by a plant before. The fire scorpions killed my fairy form, so obviously animals can harm me. One time I got a splinter. It was right sore, but soon as I pulled it out, the wound closed of its own. Maybe the tree gave me a gift o’ healin’.
Could we do that before? Before you, I mean?
I don’ know. Wasn’t with you before, and we never talked ’bout it. We’ll have to ask Tia when she wakes.
You don’t think she’s in…danger, do you?
I don’ believe so. No more so than ya were. When ya were asleep I still sensed ya there, there wasn’t any trauma to yer consciousness. Ya were just…unresponsive. Tia feels the same.
Good.
I shifted again, and this time my tongue cooperated. “Ahmose?” I said with a croak. A shuffling sound came from a place outside my vision. Then he was there, kneeling in front of me with a skein of water. Gently, he helped me sit up and bade me drink. He wasn’t satisfied until I’d drained all the sweet purple liquid from the bag.
When it was gone, he dragged a log over so I could prop myself up with my back against it. Feeling had come back to some parts of me while other parts tingled painfully as if they’d fallen asleep. One of my arms regained enough strength, and I was able to position my legs so they weren’t tucked awkwardly beneath me. Ahmose moved over beside me and sat back against the same log.
“The unicorns are on guard duty,” he said, “so we can sleep.”
“How long was I out?”
“A few hours.”
“You can go on and sleep if you need to,” I said, seeing his shoulders slumped with fatigue.
He shook his head. “Not until you do.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to for a while. At least not until I know what happened. We were chased by a large animal. Tia wasn’t able to figure out what it was, but she was scared, and if Tia was scared, I don’t really want to know what it was.”
“There’s nothing out there now. The unicorns would warn us if a large predator was circling. I don’t think it was willing to cross the tuber plants, and they seem to stretch a good distance around us. When we continue on tomorrow, we’ll have to pass through some more of them, but it should only take us a short while.”
“Well, at least that’s good news.”
“Nebu said that the plant that seized you is called a fisher bulb. They lure in prey with their pretty lights and then latch on. Apparently, there are three varieties here—the fisher, the pitfall, and the trigger. One entices you in, one waits for you step into its trap, and the third produces a sticky sap on the leaves when you step on its trailing vines and then it grabs on to you. It seems not even unicorns can escape the third one. Luckily, you were caught in the easiest one to escape.”
“The easiest one? Seriously? I didn’t escape it. You helped me.”
“Yes. But now we know why we must go slow through this area.”
“And watch our step. Seems to me flying would be safer.”
“The unicorns say that the pitfalls do not grow around the fishers. Too much competition. They also said that the predators hunting the sky are much more dangerous than the foliage and the beasts on the ground.”
I folded my arms. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It means you are teasing me. You can’t be serious.”
“I am always serious.”
&n
bsp; Glancing at his expression out of the corner of my eye told me that he was indeed telling the truth. The thought of trekking across the surface of this inhospitable place for another six days at best was a frightening prospect. To distract myself from worrying about it, I decided to change the subject.
“So you’re always serious, huh?” I remembered when he laughed at Ashleigh’s comment while she was unwrapping him, and the open joy behind it had been…well…amazing. Contagious, even. I felt curious about him and wondered what secrets he was hiding. “Why?” I asked.
“What do you mean, why?”
“Why are you always serious? I sense you don’t like to be.”
He shrugged uncomfortably. “My life is…complicated, and happiness is fleeting.”
“Why do you think so?”
“You might not remember, but once, I loved a girl. She was the exact opposite of everything my life was made of. She was spring and hope, life and laughter. When I was with her, I forgot myself. I was spellbound by her quick smile and the sparkle in her eye. Her happiness and joy in living filled up the empty places in my soul.
“It was during a time of our awakening. The two weeks passed quickly, and never had I been so content. Then, two days before the ceremony, I found Asten locked in a passionate embrace with the one I loved.”
“Oh man, that…that’s not right.”
“No, it wasn’t. I vowed that I would kill him for seducing her. Never in my entire existence had I struck another person with anger. I never lose control of myself. It’s not in my nature. It’s not that I’m unwilling to fight. It’s just that I know…I know I won’t lose.”
“How can you know that you won’t lose?”
“It’s because I know the path each of my opponents will take. But after a few moments of pounding Asten until his face resembled a bruised tomato, I came to myself enough to finally hear the laughter. The girl I loved was mocking the two of us. She thought it was delightful that she’d been able to twist two gods around her finger. It took me more than two hundred years for me to forgive Asten.
“Asten ruined everything, but he was right in his reasoning. I would have sacrificed all for her. I was too blind, too sick with love for Tiombe to see what she truly was. Eventually, my sacrifices and affections for her would have been mocked and rejected.”
“I’m sorry, Ahmose. She was a fool to discard a man like you. But don’t stop seeking happiness. You deserve it.”
“Seeing your familiar face makes me very happy. You are my…Well, you might not remember, but you are my friend.”
“I’d like to have a friend. I don’t have many guy friends. Or any, now that I think about it. It’s kind of weird to have a friend who’s a mummy in his off-season, but I could do worse.” I bumped my shoulder against his and was rewarded with one of his stellar smiles. “Friends, then?” I asked.
He took my hand and threaded his fingers through mine. It was a little more intimate than I’d be with a guy I considered a friend. I figured there was probably a cultural difference or an immortal difference, and it might not mean what it did where I came from.
“So since you’re a pathfinder, have you looked at my immediate path? I mean, not the Wasret one, but mine? Am I going to get eaten by a plant or anything like that? I’d like to think you’d give me some warning next time.”
Ahmose froze, his fingers stiffening in mine. “Paths shift. I see possible futures. Ways you can go. Choices you can make. Some are stronger than others, and those are the ones you are most likely to follow. I did not know you would run away because I was not studying your current path—I tend to focus on the big picture for the most part—but to answer your question, yes, I have looked at the path that lies ahead of you.”
“And?” I asked with fascination. “Are we successful? Will we raise your brothers and defeat Seth?”
“The path that leads to my brothers glows the brightest at the moment. I can say with a good amount of certainty that we will raise them. After that, the path shoots in different directions.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you will have choices to make. Sacrifices. What you will do is unclear.”
“Sacrifices?” I swallowed. “Are you referring to the Wasret thing and losing myself? You said at the end of my path you saw only Wasret. If that’s what you’re talking about, I have to say I really don’t want to know.”
I was hoping he would tell me that my choices ahead had nothing to do with Wasret. That he could be wrong. That Tia, Ashleigh, and I would come out okay on the other side. Of course, I didn’t know how okay I’d be back in the real world with a mental pet lioness and personal feisty fairy, but I’d rather have the two of them in my head for the rest of my life than disappear forever so Wasret could be born.
Ahmose turned to me, still clutching my hand. Concerned gray eyes gazed into mine. The light of the moon touched his face, and he almost glowed. “I see many things in your future, Lilliana Young, many of them dangerous, many of them heartbreaking.” He briefly touched his fingertip to my jaw. “More than anything, I wish I could take away the hurt and hide you from the danger. Though my life path is entwined with yours, I know I cannot influence where you walk. It would be wrong of me to be a stumbling block to what you will become.”
Tears came to my eyes. “I don’t want to lose myself, Ahmose. I don’t want to become Wasret.”
He pulled me into his arms and hugged me tightly. Then he took hold of my shoulders and moved back. “Do not think of Wasret now. You must first focus on the task at hand. Climb the hill today and the mountain tomorrow. As you move forward, there will be loss, but there are also many things you will gain. Such is the burden of mortality. Always remember that the power of choice remains yours.”
Sniffling, I wiped my eyes. “Thanks. Thanks for being my friend. I didn’t realize how much I needed one.”
“I, too, am in need of someone such as you.” Under his breath, he added, “You have no idea how much.” If I didn’t have the super hearing of a sphinx, I might not have caught those last words. I decided not to comment on it, though, at least not until I’d had more time to think about what it meant.
After repositioning myself against the log, I started spilling out all the worries and fears of my heart. I shared how strange this whole experience was and caught him up on everything that had happened since I’d been at my grandmother’s farm and met Hassan.
He asked about my feelings regarding raising Amon, and I said I wasn’t ready to talk about Amon yet. Sensitive to my tension regarding my supposed boyfriend, he graciously changed the subject and instead shared stories about Asten and Amon and him from when they were younger, keeping it light. Finally, he said, “You need to rest now, Lily. We have a long day of travel tomorrow. Please sleep.”
“Will you rest, too?”
“Yes. Soon. Make yourself comfortable.”
As I lay down, I watched him as he sat back against a log, his head angled up as if he studied the stars, and realized that for the first time since I had woken up with voices in my head, I felt safe. It was like finally here was a person who understood what it was like to know too much, to be responsible for too much. Ahmose could identify with me in a way that Nana and Hassan couldn’t.
Ahmose was someone I could trust. I knew instinctively that he wouldn’t make me do or become anything I didn’t want to. “Good night, Ahmose,” I said.
Looking down at me, he gave me a soft smile. “Good night, Lily. Sleep well.” My heart skipped a little beat as we looked at each other. Then he tilted back his head again to stare at the moons overhead. I wondered what paths he saw in the sky and looked up at the constellations myself. My eyes fluttered closed, and then I drifted in a state of partial consciousness—half-awake and half-asleep.
I soon heard the murmur of voices. They tumbled over each other like the sound of the river moving across the rocks, soothing and steady. It was almost as if I watched the scene play out in my dream.
&nbs
p; “You need to let Lily’s body rest, Ashleigh,” Ahmose’s said.
“How’d ya know it was me?”
“A man who pays attention to a woman can tell.”
“It’s nice ta hear ya been payin’ attention.”
“Go back to sleep, Ash,” Ahmose said with a chuckle.
“It’s just for a little while, darlin’,” Ashleigh responded. “I wanted to ask a question.”
“What is it?”
“Ya said ya healed us. Were ya able ta see what’s wrong in Lily’s mind? Ya said ya might have a better chance when we were no longer in the mortal realm.”
“I tried. It’s strange, but there’s a space there. It’s hidden, and I cannot access it. I think it has to do with her power. Ma’at says she is an adder stone. Somehow, this is separate from you and Tia. But it is this ability that keeps you hidden from Seth, so I dare not tamper with it. I’m not sure I could heal it even if I were to make the attempt.”
“Perhaps Amon will be able ta fix it once we waken ’im.”
“Perhaps.”
“Do ya want ta tell me what yer hidin’, then?”
“Hiding?”
“I can read ya, handsome. I know when a man evades the truth. The fact that ya lied ta Lily put the heart crossway in me. Why would ya do such a thing?”
He smiled then and, with a teasing glint of moonlight in his eyes, said, “And what do fairies know of men?”
“I know enough. Once, I was a mortal lass, and though I’ve been beaten, bent, and born inta somethin’ new, I still remember what a boy looks like when he’s holdin’ somethin’ back.”
Ahmose cocked his head. “You remind me of the moon,” he said. “Most of the time you are hidden in the shadows of others, but when you shine down in your full splendor, there’s no escaping your light. Did you know that I can see you, even when you wear Lily’s face? It’s just a vague outline of your features, but there’s no mistaking who you are.”