Page 176 of Seer Prophet

Balidor had said “her” when he talked about the leader of these people. I knew now, without a doubt, he had to mean Kali herself.

I frowned, my eyes clicking into focus.

I realized only then that I’d been staring at Dalejem in the silence, watching him look at our strange foursome sitting apart from everyone else. A frown sat on his lips, along with an expression I couldn’t read at all.

He wasn’t looking at Revik that time.

He was looking at me.

Tearing my eyes off his emerald green and violet ones, I looked at Kali, and immediately wished I hadn’t. Her eyes held even more grief than I’d seen in Uye’s. That joy I’d seen in them while she’d been talking to Revik had dimmed, along with the teasing glint I’d seen and heard as they spoke in that other language.

All of that was gone as she looked at me.

Seeing the sadness in her eyes intensify the longer she looked at me, I shook my head, clearing my throat. I didn’t speak, though. I just stared at the sand.

A part of me really did want to run away.

I didn’t even know where I wanted to go, but something about all of this felt like too much, too fast, and yet entirely not enough.

Not nearly enough.

“Will you walk with me?” Kali asked, still gripping my arm.

I felt reluctance from Uye, a flush of protectiveness from Revik, but I only nodded, still not quite meeting her eyes.

“Okay.” My voice sounded numb.

She rose fluidly to her feet, moving like liquid air.

I found myself looking at the long, green-tinted dress she wore. Conscious suddenly of the black combat pants and shirt I wore myself, and of the sweat sticking to the back of my neck under my long hair, which I had in a relatively non-feminine combat-type braid, I stood up a lot less gracefully, releasing Revik’s hand as I joined her.

She motioned me forward, smiling as she invited me to walk ahead of her, and I glanced at Revik in spite of myself, watching him look at Kali with narrowed eyes.

Remembering how Uye looked at Revik while Revik talked to Uye’s wife––my mother,my mind stuttered, softer––I felt my light close even more.

Tensing, Revik looked at my face, almost like he felt it.

I couldn’t hold his gaze.

I was still just standing there when Kali seemed to realize I didn’t know where to go.

She reached out to take my hand.

I let her, without thinking about that much, either.

I looked down at our entwined fingers after she grasped mine carefully. When she tugged on me, I followed her wordlessly from the clearing where everyone sat, down past the half-broken line of damaged palm trees. Together, we walked towards the beach and the jagged coastline below a high ridge of sand.

I knew that ridge probably marked the high-water level after the last tsunami.

Even so, it baffled me, how some trees remained standing, perfectly intact, while others lay haphazardly over the sand like so many toothpicks.

Looking out over that debris-strewn beach, its white sand showing in streaks where it wasn’t covered in plant matter, downed palms, pieces of plywood and trash, I felt even stranger, like I wasn’t really there at all. I took my hand back from Kali after we’d walked about a dozen paces, shoving it in the front pocket of my pants along with the other one.

Walking next to her, I felt really young, and not in a good way.

She didn’t talk until we’d been walking for a while.

When I finally glanced at her, I saw tears in her eyes again.

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