Dreams of Fire and Gods 2: Fire (22 page)

Will I see him even then?
The world that stretched before him looked endless. In Dasak, the mountains had always been visible to the north, but here he could see no boundaries. How long would he and Sael wander around in that wilderness without finding each other?

The boy looked up at him and smiled, taking his hand in a surprisingly tender gesture for one of the Taaweh. They had always been kind to Koreh, but never affectionate.

“You did not fail. You and
iinyeh
Sael rescued the Iinu Shavi, and that has set many things in motion. Your death was foreseen and it was necessary.”

Koreh’s composure was failing him. He’d sacrificed so much for the Taaweh—not just his life, but his future with Sael. He didn’t mind dying. He never had. But he hadn’t expected to keep thinking and
feeling
after death. How could they do this to him? Condemn him to an afterlife full of misery and longing?

“Why?” he asked when he’d reined in his emotions enough to speak. “Why was it necessary?”

“Because it brought you here.” The boy raised his free hand and pointed out across the valley. “You could not have come here as a living man.”

The boy laughed and let go of his hand. He stepped to the edge of the precipice and turned to face Koreh, stretching his arms out at his sides like wings. “To begin with, that this body is no longer breakable.”

Koreh couldn’t help but rush to the edge, his breath catching in his throat. The base of the cliff was lost in the forest hundreds of feet below, but a voice called up to him, faint yet clear, “Come! The road ahead is long!”

Koreh calmed himself, wondering briefly if the heart he felt pounding in his chest was real or some kind of an illusion.
Do dead men have heartbeats?

But there was little point wondering about it now. He stood and backed away from the cliff several feet. He knew there was no way he’d be able to do it if he gave it too much thought. So with one quick breath, Koreh hurtled toward the edge, and then he let his breath go in something that was half shout and half scream.

Pushing off hard with one foot, arms flailing, Koreh leapt out into the night.

J
AMES
E
RICH
has had a passion for young adult fiction since he himself was a teenager. His first published story was in his middle school literary magazine and it still occupies a place of honor on his bookshelves. In his high school and college years, he was saddened to see how few positive stories with gay protagonists there were, but is delighted to see that changing. James recently joined the ranks of YA novelists, and his first YA novel received two honorable mentions from the Rainbow Awards— for Best LGBT young adult/coming of age and Best gay debut novel/book. He is openly gay and lives with his husband in the small town of Raymond, New Hampshire.

Visit his blog at http://jameserich.com/ and his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/JamesErichAuthor.

Title page
Copyright
Glossary
Notes
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
About the Author
Also from James Erich
Also from Harmony Ink Press