Page 55 of All That Has Flown Beyond
After a cup was poured for Emil and juice served for Isla and Thea, they all sat around the table, looking at Kaiyo.
“You’re okay, right?” Thea asked as they settled. Kaiyo hesitated for a moment.
“Yes. But I do have some news.” Kaiyo steeled himself as they all waited for him to continue. “The ritual for Edu took a lot of energy to accomplish. Not only did I essentially kill what had been tormenting the town, but I had to repair the damage that had already been dealt,” Kaiyo started.
Thea made a soft, wounded noise, looking down at Edu, who was still squirming slightly in her arms. She traced his round cheek and he babbled up at her before settling.
“The ritual went well, in terms of results, but the cost of it was more than I could pay myself. My Ousía wasn’t enough to repair the damage.”
“What do you mean? How could you save him if you didn’t have the Ousía for it?” Emil asked.
“I used the land’s Ousía. Edu is already tied to it and, well…despite everything that has happened, the territory still knows me. My family. It allowed me to take from it but, as everything, that has a cost. Essentially…I’ve been tied to the land.” Kaiyo glanced around him, a circle of watchful, concerned faces.
“What does that mean?” Ahmik asked.
“Well…in a way, it’s as if I’m the land’s temporary shaman. There was a cost to me as well, and I will be repaid by the balance this link provides, and access to the land’s Ousía. In turn, I am indebted to it and will not be able to leave for four seasons without suffering the consequences.”
“So…you have to stay here. For a year,” Ahmik summarized slowly. Kaiyo forced himself to hold his gaze steady as he looked at him.
“Yes. I know this is not what you…what any of us wanted. Rest assured, although we are tied tangentially through the land, I haven’t…infiltrated your pack. You’re not my Kephale. You don’t need to worry about that,” Kaiyo said.
Ahmik’s face hardened, but he nodded. “What about payment to you from the pack, then? Surely, this can’t settle the debt.”
“No, but I think we can agree on a price that suits all of us.”
“Do you have something in mind?”
“Territory. Temporarily, of course, but I’d like a small piece of land at the edges of your territory. Somewhere I could build a place to live, under my control.”
“Under your control how?”
“Where I would be able to invite people from other packs without going through you essentially. You’d be allowing me complete autonomy of it—to do as I please without being able to protest.”
“For your work,” Ahmik said, voice inscrutable. Kaiyo raised his eyebrows. Ahmik shrugged. “Everybody knows about your services. We’ve all heard about the people you help.”
Kaiyo took a moment to process that fact. He’d never thought about the Garrows hearing about him, although in retrospect it was obvious they would. Kaiyo was not an unknown figure in their world. Still. It was strange to know he hadn’t disappeared as completely from their lives as they had wanted.
“Yes. For my work. I’ll try to keep the visiting people to a minimum, but there’ll be instances it’ll be unavoidable.”
“It’s fine, Kaiyo,” Thea said. “I mean, after what you’ve done for us…and it’s not like we would want to deprive anybody else of your help.” She shot Ahmik a look.
He glared back, jaw clentched, but eventually nodded.
“You can have whatever piece of land you want. It’ll be yours until you leave.”
“Okay.” Kaiyo nodded, knowing that asking for land directly on a pack’s land was enough of an ask, considering the power and stability he was already gaining from the land itself.
“What happens if you leave?”
Kaiyo turned to look at Isla, a little surprised she had been the one to ask the question.
“Well, I’d be able to survive for a while, I would think, but my Ousía would slowly corrode.”
“So, you would die?”
“Eventually. But there’s no reason for that to happen,” he assured. Isla nodded, shrugging, and he guessed it had been more curiosity than concern prompting the question. “Well,” Kaiyo said, “that’s enough for today, I think. I’ll get in touch when I find somewhere appropriate.” He directed the last bit to Ahmik, who nodded.
“We can drive you back if you want,” Thea offered.
