Page 117 of Of Serpents and Ruins
I shook my head. No. There was only darkness when I looked at it.
"But they say you shouldn’t look to your own." My gaze drifted to Elias.
He gave me a helpless shrug. "This isn’t the one in a million."
Kine gave an enthusiastic nod, his manner firm and not in any way apologetic. "Agreed. We’ll get back to Brandt in time, Bug."
I hugged myself as I stared down at the ground. "And if there isn’t a one in a million, it’ll mean…" I looked up to them, already guessing the response.
"People are injured or die," Lorna said, her voice calm. "Is your love worth sacrificing these men and women? The creatures on your vessel?"
The heaviness bloomed within me, crushing down on my shoulders. I shook my head. If it was only my life, perhaps, but with everyone else’s?
I swallowed hard. "We’ll stay."
Kine breathed with relief.
Arjax leaned closer, drawing in a deep breath.
I pulled back slightly, startled. "Did you just… Did you just sniff me?"
"Yes. There's something off about your scent." He leaned back, his brow furrowed as he looked me up and down. "I’ve been smelling something since you’ve arrived, but it has been hard to pinpoint. I’m now certain it’s coming from you. It may even be the reason the basilisk focused on you. The smell is odd."
"She still smells of that Vegas place and Earth, the world she was reborn into," Elias said. "The scent has lingered."
My brow raised. "I wasn't aware I smelled that different, especially not after all this time. Wouldn’t the smell of Vegas and everything else have faded by now?"
Elias twitched his shoulders. "Not as far as I can tell. Then again, I have a sensitive nose, and I thought that city smelled vile," he offered. "Some of it's the Gola Resh too. Stella got trapped in her magic for days and days."
Arjax continued to stare at me, his brow heavy. Wrinkles creased around his eyes. "I know the Gola Resh smell. That's not what this is." He sniffed again then shook his head. "Were you in magic on this other world?"
"Not that I know of." This was starting to get a little uncomfortable. I stepped back half a pace. Elias gave me a sympathetic look.
Arjax tapped his finger to his scalp as he contemplated me, then shrugged. He straightened. "Odd. We’ll sort that out later. You’re staying, yes?"
I gave a slow nod of assent. It was the right thing to do, but I squirmed inwardly.
"Good!" Arjax clapped his great hands together. "We'll tell the rest of your crew to join us at the camp. You can bring your vessel to Scale Rock to put you closer to the Keening Pass and us. Then we will celebrate with meats and wines and all the best the Wild Lands has to offer."
Lorna went to extend the invitation while Arjax led us back to camp. It did not take us hardly any time at all to make it there.The camp was far larger than I had expected, especially with it being for just the two of them, and yet it was familiar too.
More than one firepit sat in the center of camp. Large carcasses—some boar as well as other creatures— hung from trees over a ravine on the east side. On the west, the ground angled up into rockier terrain. Drying racks stood at intervals with strips of meat hanging on them. Hides had been tacked up in the back portion for curing. Pots of salt and a few other minerals clustered near the hides. A few large tents suggested either that there were more of them here, or they were prepared for guests.
Guests most likely. Yes. That sounded right.
"You can clean up in the waters up there," Arjax said with a broad gesture to the ridge on the opposite side of camp. "There’s six or seven hot pools up there, plenty of shrubs and greenery. No magic to help with the healing, but the waters feel good."
I took him up on his offer. By the time I returned, Lorna was back as well with promises of the coming crew. They would all be here before nightfall, and those who needed to remain with the ship to keep it safe would take leave in turns with plenty of food and wine sent aboard so no one felt left out.
Arjax prepared the pot of venom and then set it on the ground with care, wedging it between two large stones so that it would remain safe.
It was hard for me to remain still, though. I clutched at my arms and paced.
"Unato tradition," Arjax said, sitting on the boulder. His long legs folded up, scuffed and bruised and slicked with drying mud. He leaned forward and painted a white symbol on the side. "My mam was Unato. If there's a medicine that comes from nature, you take what you need and then you give away the extra. It’s a way to give thanks to Elonumato Creator of All for forming such bounty."
Unato…that was a group of people. Healers and poisoners.
"Only if it's from nature like this?" I asked.
