Page 106 of Unleashed

“You three are mated to her?” Orishok asked as though reading Aduun’s thoughts.

“We are. We performed the ritual according to the old ways.”

“Our people never mated three males to a single female.”

“She would have nothing less,” Aduun replied, smiling to himself. “And she deserves nothing less.” He glanced at Orishok again to find those eerie, glowing eyes on him. They were unsettling, but that would change in time, just as Aduun had come to accept what he’d been changed into.”

“I remember you well, Aduun,” Orishok said, turning his eyes away. “You were a hunter to be looked up to, a leader worth following. I took great pride in being part of the same tribe, and greater pride that we were blood kin. I remember when your clan did not come to the spring gathering. None of us knew what to make of it, and the elders, concerned, sent out scouts. They returned many weeks later, having found only your abandoned camp.”

“Kelsharn took us,” Aduun replied. His gaze moved from face to face amidst the crowd. They all wore the scars of the Creator’s attention in their altered, emaciated forms.

“We knew of him, then, but even ourrokahndid not think to question whether he was involved. He had given our people wondrous gifts. We did not conceive it possible for him to betray us. And then, years later, he came. And he did not take a single clan, he took our whole tribe. Though I was grown, though I was strong and skilled and true of heart, I could not stop what happened.” Orishok’s eyes settled on Aduun again, falling with great weight. “No one could have stopped it. Aduun…”

“I know, Orishok. I understand. It—”

“You do not understand,” Orishok said, voice low. “I watched our people waste away around me, watched them die one by one, all the while wondering when my own will would falter. I had to keep their vigil. I had to watch because no one else was left. I wandered this city alone for more than one hundred and fifty winters before Quinn came, but I felt alone long before that.

“I built a tribe of my own. With Quinn, and Nina.” Orishok swept his arm out, indicating the crowd. “But now you have come, and I know that our people are not gone. My tribe has grown again. You have given me more than I can thank you for. You have restored our people, and you brought my child back.”

Turning, Orishok drew Aduun into an unexpected embrace. Aduun swallowed his instinctual panic; Orishok was in control of his powers, and he was kin.

Aduun threw his arms around his cousin. “I am sorry for all you have lost, Orishok.”

“And I am thankful for all I have gained.” Orishok withdrew. “Quinn brought life to Bahmet. You and Nina have brought hope.” He turned toward the crowd and raised his voice to carry across the square. “Bahmet is open to all of you who wish to remain here. Let this city be our home, our place, no matter what its maker intended.”

The crowd’s cheer was energetic, enthusiastic, and hopeful. Their people had been battered, abused, and downtrodden, but they remained unbroken.

Balir joined Aduun, and they ate together. Orishok didn’t eat a single bite. It was as Nina had said; he didn’t eat, drink, or sleep. He was neither alive nor dead. But he washere, and he waslivingdespite Kelsharn.

The gentle hum of conversation filled the night air. Balir and Aduun told Orishok everything that had happened, and Orishok, in turn, shared his own experiences, telling them about the other Creators, about the other valos — beings wrought of air, fire, shadow, and stone, of water and lightning, of ice, light, and plants. He told them of wars, of betrayals, and of the crash that brought the humans to Sonhadra. Aduun mentioned the remains of the stone valos left below.

“I will inform Quinn,” Orishok said, “so she may pass the word to Zoya. She is mated to a pair of stone valos, and they may have some means of restoring those below. At the very least, they can move them to rest alongside their kin, now that their vigil has ended.”

As the night wore on, Orishok directed the others to the many buildings around them, pointing out which would be suitable for shelter. The valos slowly dispersed, some in a daze. Aduun didn’t know if their bewilderment was due to all they’d been through or the suddenness of having a home, of having fire and food and company, but he suspected that it was a little of everything. Though a few entered the buildings, many more found places outside — often amidst the lush greenery that grew all over the city — and lay down to sleep beneath the open sky. Aduun could not blame them for fulfilling that desire; they’d been caged for so, so long.

The fires slowly died. When the sky lightened with the first signs of dawn, only Balir, Aduun, and Orishok remained, still talking quietly. The stories they shared had turned more and more toward Nina as time passed. There was no doubt that she was well-loved by the people in her life.

“She has spent so long avoiding people,” Orishok told them. “Quinn and I have learned to shield our minds from her over the years, to allow her some peace, but around even small groups she has always been uncomfortable. She suffered terrible nightmares through her childhood, and I suspect many were pulled from other people’s minds. To see her with three mates, and so connected…”

“Kelsharn’s ordeals have forced her to change,” Balir said, “but those changes have allowed her to grow.”

Orishok shook his head as though in disbelief. “She stood against Kelsharn.”

“Of all of us, she alone could stand,” Aduun said. “She alone was strong enough. And she was willing to sacrifice herself to save all of us, to save our people.”

The sound of hooves on the street stones called their attention to Vortok, who approached from the direction of Quinn and Orishok’s home.

“She is awake,” he said, wearing a wide, relieved grin, “and she’s asking for you three to join us.”

Aduun smiled. The worry that had constricted his chest for what felt like an eternity finally eased. The four of them returned to the building together, their pace hurried by their excitement. Nina was alive, awake, awaiting.

It took a great deal of restraint not to push in front of his companions and bound up the steps; everyone here cared for Nina deeply. His feelings for her didn’t give him any right over the others.

Nina’s room was bathed in the golden glow of sunrise when they entered. She looked up at them immediately and smiled. The light brightened her face, brought out the copper highlights in her hair, and made her blue eyes sparkle. She leapt from the bed and ran toward Aduun — wholly unclothed.

“Nina!” Quinn cried out, eyes wide.

There was no more blood marring Nina’s smooth skin, and not so much as a mark on her abdomen despite the deep puncture wounds Kelsharn had inflicted. She threw herself into Aduun’s arms, and he lifted her into a tight embrace.

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