Waiting Between Worlds

Momma Abi assured her Waifs of one infallible truth. "By the grace of Mum, nothing truly dies. Death is a change in life's existence that we mortals must live by, and our motion is constant."

The complexity of that thought overwhelmed Taraji. Her mind rattled; her chest caved with each breath.

"I am immortal. How? Why do I feel? The truth could have saved her and the Realm. Would the dragon have shredded me if it were not for the amools? What does the Femi want with me?"

No wandering Tar. No wandering.

When she wandered, Momma's remains collapsed repeatedly. Taraji called her visions sweat and blood. Her skin heated, and the taste of metal clogged her throat. She would choose to feel the serrated teeth of a thousand Wraith dragons than to lose her Momma repeatedly.

Other wanders were no better. Taraji questioned her existence. Why were there no subconscious recollections of the past one hundred, five hundred, or one thousand years? How many Faramoms had guided her through the centuries?

"What in the tomb fire are you doing?" Akpan whispered.

He found Taraji moaning and ripping her tattered dress thread by thread.

"Tar. Please stop it. Tar!"

He lifted Taraji's head from her chest.

"Ouch! Your skin is blazing, and I must cool you off before your condition becomes permanent."

Taraji chuckled uncontrollably.

"How will you cool me? Will you place me inside the mouth of one of these Elnors?"

Elnors were ten-foot-long beasts with wooly long gray fur and black tusks.

"Don't temp me."

Akpan pulled flax linen from his arm belt, wrapped it around Taraji's hand, and took her to the floor. Five Sobies stationed on the ship entered the dim, dusty trap.

They stunk of beer and mushrooms, but their odor was sweet compared to the aroma radiated from the rammors, pigas, white vultures, and lyonas caged inside.

The men spoke of vile things when a planked door in the floor lifted. Out popped a man dressed like a Sobi, but his coverings were antique, and the Sobi emblem stitched was barely noticeable. The soldiers gazed at him as he rose. His white facial marks caught the commander's attention, but he paid them no attention until one spoke directly to him.

"How long have you been trapped in this cargo tomb?" A Sobi with a deep gash above his right eye asked.

"Too long." The Sobi from below answered.

The men sobered and introduced themselves. The Sobi, who wore a white eye patch, identified himself as their captain and then questioned his brother-in-arms.

"Have you heard about what's happening in Faraji?"

"What doesn't happen there?"

"The king is dead, and his council is missing."

"Who's in charge then?"

"The Femi returned to claim the Realm."

"It's a good thing. Under their guardianship, we fought less."

"We won more."

"You can say that again."

"Any stowaways lately?"

"No flyaways. That's what happened when we tossed seafood."

"We are looking for two dangerous Waifs who may be responsible for the king's death."

"The captain of this vessel ceased in the slave trade. Only Waif enslaved people would be on board, but there are none. If I hear anything, you can count on me, brother."

The Sobis scanned beast enclosures of the 200-foot vessel.

"What would you men give to feast of that piga?" That wide rack of meat is at least 200 pounds. Enough to go around."

The tattooed Sobi glared at the others with disgust.

"Pigas are diseased flesh, but rammors are good eating."

"Ha. Ha. If you warrant a death sentence. Those white golden twirled horned beasts are scared in the Realm.

"Good thing we are not in the Realm."

The Sobi, with the deep gash above his eye, stepped in front of the cage of the lyonas. He taunted the brown-horned beast and looked away, and when he turned back, gigantic paws struck his face.

The Sobi began to sweat, and there was a tightness in his eyes. Before his captain could remove him, he flung an onyx ore which struck the animal's mouth, and the lyona exploded.

"What in the tomb fire? Have you lost your sense? The ship's captain can have our heads!" The captain screamed.

He glared at his brother-in-arms.

"My apologies. I will handle him. I hope we can keep this between us."

"Brothers stick together."

The captain turned and took two steps, then spun around.

"Say, what regiment did you serve?" He asked as he approached.

The Sobi sighed and then grasped his Manta Dagger. A rammor's horn sounded, so the captain turned and rushed into the darkness. He exhaled and unclenched his dagger. He lifted the latch in the floor when the pearl illuminated. Akpan stuffed it into Taraji's mated hair.

Tar quivered, and her teeth chattered. Akpan quickly smothered her mouth with his hands. Inflamed, he placed his face into her hair, hoping to mute the sound of agony. The Sobi stood up and gazed at the room. With a vacant look in his eyes, he disappeared below.

Akpan lifted his head and took a deep breath. He and Tar rose from the cedar planks and embraced for a moment before he pushed her away. Regret flowed from his lips, and the disrespect was unreal. He wished Tar had not saved his life. With those words, she snapped into reality.

"You ungrateful ass. Had it not been for me, you would have been the black Wraith's dinner." She remarked with a deepening tone.

Taraji's vision narrowed when she leaped from the temple that dreadful sun. Fires roared, winds whipped, and Wraiths, black undead dragons from the lower world, devoured everything around her. When her eyes met Akpan's, she stomped in his direction, and the idiot appeared to be reasoning with the Wraith and praying for mercy. Without a thought, her fist met his face, and his face met the sand.

Taraji dived on top of him and covered them both with dead bodies. Wraiths only sensed smell without a direct spell from their enchantress. The dead bodies confused the beast, and it departed.

"Maybe death would have been better than hiding in squalor on this ship."

"Then go! That is right; you can't. You have nowhere to go, and you are a Waif hunted."

Akpan didn't utter another word; he turned towards the door on the floor. Either Akheon was below, or something that would lead to him was. Akpan crouched and slowly lifted the hatched. The screeching sound alarmed the seethed wounded lyona, which began to throw itself into the bars.

"Violent delights." Akpan thought to himself, then jumped into the abyss.

Tar whispered to Akpan, but there was no response. The pearl dimmed, but it was bright enough for her to see rope for a soft landing, so she jumped. She landed on her feet and called out to Akpan. She heard the creaks of wood, crashing waves, the songs of the rowers, the howling of the wind, and the cries of the animals.

She circled using the pearl as her guide around the room. With Akpan out of sight, she twirled again. The pearl brightened once she made her way around the room a second time.

"Boo!" The Sobi whispered.

Taraji jumped backward. Once balanced, she saw Akpan bonded and bleeding from his mouth.

"You want him. Come get him."

Taraji took two steps forward and lowered the pearl. The pearl illuminated, so she took two steps more.

"Stay your ground, or I will gut him."

She focused on his sheath and lifted the pearl towards him again. This time the light illuminated the entire room, and the only object attached to him was his belt and sword.

The sword.

The pummel appeared loose. The Sobi was careful not to look at the gem, and it was as if it was not there; then Taraji remembered something Momma Abi had taught her about detector gems. Only Northern Waifs could see them.

Her eyes swelled; she begged for her friend's life. Akpan was not grateful, and he questioned Tar's mental state and begged her to give him the detector.

"He will kill us both!"

"Please, sir."

The Sobi snatched Tar by her right arm.

"I shall have my weight in gold for the two of you. Let's go."

He walked them both to a hidden stairway. The door opened to black clouds and lightning strikes. Once topside, thunder roared, and a bolt just missed the ship. Taraji and Akpan shielded their eyes. They had not seen the light in some time, and a cloudy sky semi-blinded them.

"My commander. A gift for you." The Sobi cried.

The vessel's captain took his eyes off the sky.

"A gift! Do you see these whiffs of clouds? We are at least five miles from the port. The only gift I need is_."

The commander glared into the faces of Taraji and Akpan. Their ginger hair gave them away.

"Stowaways on my ship! Five Sobis command my security! Which of you is responsible? Deckhands? Sewers? Rowers? Sobis?"

"Commander, I assure you my men swept this ship from top to bottom." The Sobi captain responded.

"So, who is this?" the commander asked.

"We assumed you hired him."

The Sobi commander was right to assume out loud though he knew better. The Sobi stowaway had to think on his feet, and lying was his specialty. He explained he had been released from his post by a Femi to aid in pursuing the two Waifs. He believed that the Waifs would leave the Realm via ship, and this was the only ship portside when the battle raged.

The Sobi commander smirked.

"Just think of the reward you will receive when you hand over these two criminals."

The clouds continued to flow as fog enveloped the ship. On the starboard side, a black unmanned boat appeared. The vessel must have been new technology conjured by Femis.

From the sky, countless flashes of lightning, then a mighty roar.

"It's a Wraith!" A rower screamed.

Chaos ensued as three more black ships appeared.

"Turn the ship!" The commander shouted.

Their enemy lowered his weapon, so Taraji and Akpan skirted from his view. As he moved away from the ship's commander, the commander of the Sobi drew his sword.

"Where are those Waifs? We need them alive?" He yelled.

"We. There is no we here. The Waifs are mine."

"No deserter and that will be for the commander of this vessel to decide. Once he knows what you are, he will have your head. So we do this together or not."

The commander spoke the truth, so he lowered his weapon and approached.

The Sobi commander reached out his hand to bond a path with the stowaway Sobi when he removed his brother-in-arm dagger and slit his throat. A move the Sobi commander should have seen coming.

Akpan and Taraji crouched behind cedar planks. He mouthed and mouthed until she could no longer take any more.

"Shut up! It's the sword. The pearl reacted to something in the pummel, and we must retrieve it."

"Leave that to me."

"Akpan!"

He rushed towards a metal object and picked it up. Unbalanced, he slipped when the rowers attempted to steer the ship.

The Wraith hovered. No doubt it was awaiting a powerful spell. Wraiths are mindless without their Femis. Where were they? Why would they send cursed ships and a Wraith but be nowhere in sight?

Before long, blades collided. Four Sobis against one Waif. The Sobis pounded Akpan, but he was leaner and quicker. As his arm weakened, from below deck, a lyona broke through weathered planks with Taraji atop it. It growled and foamed from its mouth when its eyes met the eyes of the Sobi who struck it eariler. Taraji whispered into its ear, and it charged. The deserter murderer stood not far from that Sobi, so he lost footing and slid away from the beast's path. The cat raised then pounced on the Sobi and released razor-sharp claws to his face.

"Watch out!" Tar warned Akpan.

"Cling!"

Akpan turned just enough to clash with his foe. Taraji turned the beast towards them and charged. The Sobi and Akpan slipped as the ship rocked. Akpan nearly grabbed the pummel of the sword, but they began to skid and crashed into one side of the vessel. The Sobi punched Akpan in the head and slammed it repeatedly into the deck. Akpan struck him in his eyes, which thoroughly enraged him, so he grabbed Akpan's throat and squeezed. The boy tried to pry the large hand from his neck as he struggled to breathe. His pupils were gone when Taraji pointed a blade into the Sobi's back.

"Release him or die."

His hands remained, so she stuck him a bit.

"Now!"

He released just enough for Akpan to catch a breath. He grabbed the man's dagger and stuck him in his chest. His hands relaxed, and he looked upon Akpan with bulged eyes as he bled out.

Before Taraji disappeared below deck, the ship's commander tried to contain her. Crew members surrounded and forced her back and forth between them. In the chaos, the pearl fell from Taraji's hair.

Akpan spotted the gem and retrieved it without a word. Suddenly flames flood the ship. The hair on Akpan's arms singed, and the Sobi's dead body burned. He stumbled backward when, threw a clearing in the smoke, he witnessed Taraji pick up the sword, untwist the pummel, and pull a cloth from inside.

"Tomb flame!" He cursed.

As the ship burned, the commander spotted Taraji and charged. The lyona jumped, snatched him by the neck, and shook the life out of him. Taraji raced to Akpan, and they embraced.

"I've got it! We must go."

"Go where? In case you haven't noticed, we are at least three miles from shore."

Akpan pointed toward the flaming Wraith.

"The Femis are controlling this beast from elsewhere. If they were here, we would know it, and something else is at play, or their enchanted dreams lack substance."

The lyona rushed below the deck. Before long, all the beasts below surfaced. The lyona came back to Taraji, who stroked its giant face.

"Good girl."

"How do you know she's a girl?"

"I found out when I yanked the loose tooth from her gums. No more questions before we incinerate."

Let's go. Tar leaped onto the lyonas back.

"It can't swim."

"Did you ever listen during your temple lessons?"

Taraji smirked as she beheld the other cargo animals swimming towards the shore, including the two elnors.