Page 61 of Mikoto and the Reaver Village
“Maybe.” Tenma asked, “Aren’t there supposed to be manykinds of trees?”
She hummed again.“Who is the human involved?”
“Me,” said Mikoto.
Isla immediately countered,“Well, that makesnosense. Your bloodline can easily be traced.”
“An original Reaver,” agreed Tenma. “Yet I see colors.”
“Wait.”The drumming quickened, then a sharp soundcarried through. A snap.“Do you still see swapped colors? Or a shared colorwhen two souls accept a bond?”
“Yes, of course. That hasn’t changed.” Tenma rather enjoyedpicking out colors in a crowd. In a way, he was matchmaking, only after thefact.
“Could you be catching an echo of Mikoto’s attachment to someone?”
“Closer,” crooned Zisa. “So very close!”
Mikoto shook his head. “Lupe is human.”
Zisa reached up to touch the young man’s cheek. “She is,” heassured.
A new idea rushed at him. “Isla, are imps and theAmaranthine … compatible?”
“Oh, yes. Many of the old stories are romantic, evenerotic.”
Tenma shook his head. “I meant … are there crossers?”
She took a moment to react.“What in interestingquestion! I’m not sure. I’m not even sure how to find out!”The sound ofscribbling accompanied her muttering.“If Impressions are compatible with Amaranthine,and Amaranthine are compatible with humans …! Well, reavers are compatible. AndMikoto is undeniably a reaver. Hmm.”
Tenma’s attention jumped from face to face, trying to readthe others’ expressions.
Mikoto looked more and more like a frightened boy. For hispart, Zisa hung on their every word, eager for them to understand.
Isla rambled on.“How would something so ethereal … ah,but the wolves! And in the tales of stars … of course! Tenma, this isbrilliant.”
“Which part?”
“All of it, really. This single shift in premise couldhave monumental repercussions. In a good way, I think.”
Tenma sighed. “You’ve always been a big picture kind ofgirl.”
“I’m sorry. Well, not sorry, exactly. This is all soexciting. But I understand that this isn’t why you called.”He could almostsee her straighten up and clasp her hands.“Did you have a more specificquestion?”
“Yes. And I’d like Zisa to share his answer with you.” Tenmaeased the phone closer to the tree. “What changed the day everything changed?”
The tree looked up and away. Night breezes toyed with leavesfestooning his head, and he smiled at the stars.“Mikoto would have died ifshe hadn’t shared her breath.”He placed his hand on the young man’s chest.“She blew wind into your lungs, and she saved you.”
“Wind?” Mikoto rubbed at the back of his neck and glancedaround.
Little gusts were puffing around them. Tenma’s skin prickledinto gooseflesh.
On the other end of the connection, Isla echoed,“Wind?Zisa, are you saying you know of a wind imp?”
The breeze grew more agitated, and Tenma tried to catch aglimpse of it. But he had no idea where to look. But this hint was better than theothers, and Zisa hadn’t told them they were close or closer.Thiswastheir answer. “Isla, do you know any helpful stories about wind?”
“Entire libraries are dedicated to wind lore, and I’dwager Lapis knows every ode and epic.”With a little laugh, Isla said,“Ifyou want to woo the wind to your side, all you really need is a dragon.”
TWENTY-FOUR
