Bloodlines of Archaea I. Afira

“Could you have taken any longer to swim here?” He teased.

I glared at him, spreading my fingers and slowly boiling off the water, watching it steam. “It was a long swim. And you couldn’t figure out how to come back,” I said, punching him playfully in the arm.

“You’re the only person in the world who can do that, and you’re still mad about getting wet?” He asked, grinning. I giggled at his casual jokes. “What did he say, anyways?” He asked, pulling out a melon. He sliced it, handing half to me. I repeated beck everything the lizard had said, finishing the drying of my clothes and biting into my melon half.

I pulled out my mother’s journal, hoping to find more information on the enslavement of the lizard tribe. I flipped through the pages, stopping at one with a painting of a lizard. He was dressed in feathers and wore a crown.

“Look,” I said, “it’s the chief they were talking about,” I pointed to the painting of Chief Ola. I read my mother’s writing out loud, “I have come across a man who needs my help more than anyone else. He said he made a deal with the leader of Underdark. I hope he does not mean… her. It does seem very much like Aunt Sombra to make a deal with a scared chief for the lives of his people. I am sailing to ask her of this, hoping that the darkness has not yet consumed her heart. If I do not return, may the gods guide my boat to the island. I hope for my mother to raise my beautiful baby girl and the boy Akuma, who are meant to save us all.”

Akuma looked at me, his eyes wide with curiosity. “How did she know? Seriously. The songs are definitely about us now. We were just children when she wrote this,” he said, looking up at the sky.

I pondered this for a moment, as I grabbed my oar and began rowing, passing Akuma his.

We rowed quickly, once in a while stopping and letting our hands rest and riding the wind. Just before the sun began to set, I said, “the shadow creatures know where we are, therefore, they most likely will attack us, we don’t know when. Now also, neither one of us has slept for a few days. So we should continue to switch on and off through the night, as we did,” I said, casually throwing balls of fire at the torches to light them.

“What if they make it so that I can’t wake up, again? What if I can’t help you? What if they put you to sleep, and I’m left alone?” He asked, looking at me carefully.

“Okay, for one, this is just a maybe, we don’t know if they will be back, or not. And for two, I can melt through iron with my hands, I can probably keep a few shadows away,” I said, trying to sound braver than I felt.

“Well they know what you can do, so they’ll come back with more, this time,” he said, quietly looking at the torch flames.

“I’ve gotten better at using my magic,” I said, seeing the fear in his dark eyes. “It’s going to be okay,” I assured him, “I’ll wake you at the first sight of trouble,” he looked away, facing the sea.

“I just don’t want something to happen to you,” he whispered, still facing away.

I touched his hand, he looked back at me. “I’m going to be fine,” I said looking into his eyes with determination. “Now get some sleep,” I said, handing him a blanket. He nodded, looking back at me one last time, before laying down, still facing me.