The Girl Born of Smoke (33 page)

Tarana, who had been staring wide-eyed at
Rupert, jumped up suddenly. “I’m not infected, am I?” she
exclaimed, alarmed.

“No, of course not.” He sighed, impatiently.
“The virus died out as the last citizens of Delobo died. Because,
as you know, a dead host results in a dead virus. It is only
through the process of infection that a virus strain can
proliferate.”

“Well that’s still horrible,” she said,
biting her lip. “Even if they were so mean to me, I didn’t want
them all to die. Especially like that, they didn’t deserve
that.”

Rupert sighed again. “Tarana, you are not
seeing the big picture. What happened to those people was a
necessary step. The town of Delobo was remote, but not totally
unconnected with the rest of the world. Others would have wandered
to other towns, or seen you when you returned.

“They would have spread the word of who you
were, what you could do, before you were ready for such news to be
widespread. You needed much time to yourself, to develop as a
wizard and a person. You couldn’t have done so if everyone was
already out looking for you, wanting to either kill you or raise
you as their leader. Your relative privacy was the key to your
success.”

She was staring at him, trying to understand
what he was telling her. Her stomach turned over as she finally
spoke. “But wait, are you saying that it was intentional? That the
entire town of Delobo died so I could have…a little privacy?”

“It was unfortunately necessary,” he said
slowly, watching her reaction carefully. “For your safety,
especially. You have to admit that is true.”

Her eyes widened as he confirmed her fear.
“No, it wasn’t necessary, not at all!” she shouted. “That’s stupid.
Nobody should have to die because they knew something by accident.
It could have been fine, I would have been fine, they shouldn’t
have died because of me! I don’t understand. Nobody can cause
people to get sick. It was probably just a coincidence.”

Rupert walked over to her,
setting his hands firmly on her shoulders, so that she sank down
and sat on the ground. “You are getting far too worked up,” he said
calmly. “It
was
necessary, trust me. You are the only hope this world has and
I can’t allow anything to jeopardize that. People die every day in
the war fought essentially over you. The town of Delobo was not a
large casualty.”

Her mind fighting between horror and rage,
she stared up at him, incredulous. “It was you, wasn’t it?” she
murmured. “You caused them to all get sick. But you just told me
it’s impossible to create life, so you couldn’t have done it.”

“A virus,” Rupert said carefully, “is not
alive. We have gone over this. It is a simple tool, only able to
replicate inside a host. The virus is simple, yet effective. It is
possible, with great amounts of experience and practice, to create
one.” She shoved his hands off her shoulders, so he kneeled down in
front of her. “I wanted only to protect you, Tarana. Your life is
more significant, more important than any other at the moment. You
have the power to stop the war, stop all the death occurring every
day. The death of Delobo was a small price to pay in order to give
you that opportunity. You need to seize that opportunity now and
head back to Ralinos where the Wizard’s Army waits for you. Do it
now, before any more unfortunate casualties occur.”

Throwing her body backward, trying to get
away from him, Tarana found herself suddenly released from the
rocky cavern and wide-awake on the floor of Isaac’s house,
breathing heavily. Curling into a ball, she tried to calm her
shaking, but realized there was no way she would get back to sleep
that night.

Quietly crawling out from beneath the
blankets, she crept to the door and with a long glance back at
Djerr, she slipped out into the night to sit cradled in one of the
trees by the stream. Away from everyone else, she thought about how
to stop the deaths. As the sun rose, brushing warmth into the cold
air, she still had no answer.

Chapter 14

The following day, Djerr and Tarana’s names
were posted on the housing list. They found they had just enough to
buy one of the smallest, newly-built houses. Skipping work that day
to go through the process of claiming and paying for the house,
they finally found themselves standing in the doorway, looking
awkwardly at the empty house.

They had nothing to move in, except a few
blankets and some food Isaac and Becky had given them as a gift.
Their voices echoed off the bare wooden walls and hammering could
be heard as other houses were erected all around them. Sunlight
spilled through the windows, lighting up the dust that slowly
sifted through the rooms, leftover from the building process.

Finally inside, Djerr was exuberant,
exploring every inch and growing more excited with every new detail
he noticed. Tired from the lack of sleep from the previous night,
Tarana quietly sat down against one of the walls, leaning her head
back and resting her eyes. She felt unsettled and unable to relax
after the busy day.

She kept thinking back to what Rupert had
said and was uneasily reminded of the Wizard’s Army’s techniques to
force her to use her magic. She thought about the fearsome
griffins, wondering if he was behind that as well and fearing what
would happen if he was. For the first time since she met him, she
feared what he was capable of. Seemingly powerless and stuck in the
cavern, she had always assumed his only power was to watch over her
and guide her during her sleep. Now she felt stupid for never
questioning her assumptions and trusting him blindly.

She felt herself being scooped up suddenly
in Djerr’s arms, her thoughts interrupted. He was hugging her
tightly and she tiredly returned the hug, feeling irritated.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, sensing her reluctance.

She shrugged. “I guess I’m just tired.”

He studied her for a
moment before deciding to accept her excuse. He continued watching
her, slightly worried as she remained unusually quiet all evening.
That night, as they lay sprawled out on a thick blanket spread over
the wood floor, she found herself unable to sleep again. Her
eyelids heavy but her mind racing, she finally rolled over closer
to him and nudged his shoulder with her head.
“Djerr?”

“Mm?”

“What do you think happens when we die?”

He rolled over and she could barely see his
eyes glimmer out of the darkness. “I think it's kind of like
falling asleep,” he said finally.

Tarana yawned. “You mean, like we keep
dreaming and stuff?”

“Not exactly.” Djerr shook his head. “I mean
it's kind of like the act of falling asleep. Like, imagine that
there is a person who just appears one day without ever having
lived a day before. There are all these people around him who have
always been people and they show him how to play, eat, drink, and
just enjoy life. He has a great day learning to be a person, but at
the end of the day, he notices all his new friends
disappearing.

“They're going to their own rooms to sleep,
but they forget to tell him about sleeping. He notices himself
growing lethargic and confused, but he keeps fighting the feeling,
until he is the only one left awake. He's terrified, alone, and can
barely keep his eyes open. Eventually, he lies down on the floor
and he feels himself slipping away, to a place out of his
control.

“He can do nothing to stop it in the end and
falls asleep with no idea what will happen to him or if he will
ever see his friends again. Of course, in the morning, he wakes up
and finds his friends waiting for him. He feels refreshed and ready
for a whole new day of excitement, entirely relieved of his fear of
falling asleep. That's what I think death is like. Someone just
forgot to tell us that it'll all be okay.” He smiled at her
sleepily. “It'll all be okay afterwards.”

She smiled back at him slightly, closing her
eyes and pressing her forehead back against his shoulder. “You
always make things seem better,” she murmured. “I like that about
you.”

That night, Rupert made no appearance, nor
the next night or the next. For several weeks, he was simply gone
and she woke up feeling relieved. Her feeling of apprehension
before drifting off to sleep gradually faded, although every free
moment of her day was still spent lingering on the deaths and acts
of violence that continued to occur on the other side of the
mountains. Every fresh influx of refugees was proof of that.

She almost wished Rupert would return, if
just to explain to her how to control the griffins. The amount of
homeless refugees grew daily and the housing project was unable to
keep up with the growing population. She and Djerr continued to
work on it, but the road was now paved with beggars either too
injured or old to work.

The days grew warmer and then instantly
became too hot. From that point on, they woke up sweating every
morning and the bare ground slowly grew thin cracks beneath their
feet as they worked. The heat only seemed to intensify Tarana’s
unease about the situation and she began wondering if she should
return to Ralinos after all, if only to announce that although she
was the wizard they were waiting for, she would not be leading the
army.

Feeling a sudden burst of relief and
confidence as she considered returning and trying to calm the
fighting, she brought it up with Djerr during dinner one night.
They sat cross-legged on the floor across from each other, eating a
spicy soup that Tarana learned to make from Isaac. It was a popular
dish in the region, especially during the hottest nights. It would
soak up the heat from their bodies and make it bearable after their
tongues had cooled.

“So,” she said between blowing on the soup,
“I’ve been thinking. I mean, maybe I should head back to Ralinos
for a bit, just to clear things up and maybe stop the fighting.”
She saw Djerr shoot her a glance that showed he absolutely did not
agree. “Just listen for a bit. All this fighting is because the
Wizard’s Army thinks I’m going to command them and the Citizens’
Army thinks I’m going to control them. If I tell them that I have
no intention of doing either, then what do they have left to fight
for? Besides, I think if I head back, Rupert might tell me how to
control the griffins and stop all that fighting too.”

Djerr’s expression turned to confusion.
“Rupert? Who’s that?”

She sighed. “You remember. That old dead
wizard who’s teaching me stuff about magic. The one that comes to
me when I sleep.”

Recognition snapped over his face and he
impatiently pushed back his black hair. “Right, right, him. Well if
he knows how to stop the griffins, why doesn’t he just tell you
now? I don’t see why you would want to go back to Ralinos. If
they’re stupid enough to keep fighting each other, let them. You
aren’t forcing them to war against each other. It’s their own
stupid choice.”

“But innocent people are caught up in it who
want nothing to do with either side!” she objected. “It’s not fair
to them and Rupert won’t tell me how to control the griffins
because I think he’s ignoring me until I go back to Ralinos. He
wants me to lead the Wizard’s Army.” She noticed Djerr’s expression
harden and she gestured wildly with her hand. “I’m not going to!
But if I head back to Ralinos, I think that might be enough for him
to at least talk to me again.”

“You’re making a mistake,” he said firmly,
his expression unchanging. “You should stay here, with me. It’s not
your problem to fix and we’re happy here.”

She sighed, knowing she was about to say
something irreversible but seeing no way around it. “No, Djerr,”
she said sadly. “You’re happy here. I’m not. I need to go back. I
don’t want you to come along this time. I’ve dragged you through
enough.”

“It’s not all about you!” A sudden burst of
anger shot through his voice. “You never dragged me anywhere and
I’m getting tired of hearing you say that. I have my own will, you
know. I chose to come with you because I love you and even when I’m
not sure that you love me or even like me some of the time, I stick
with you because if I can make you happy even occasionally, that’s
enough for me.

“You act like you’re in control of
everything. You’re the one who decides if I come or not, you’re the
one who decides if people die or not, and you’re the one who’s
responsible for saving the world. Well, let me clue you in, you
might have magic, but that doesn’t make you superhuman.”

An inner rage, which she hadn’t felt since
leaving the army, overwhelmed her and she quickly walked out of the
house, slamming the door behind her. Feeling both his pain and her
own, she walked quickly, letting the hot, dry breeze dry out her
eyes before any tears could fall. The sun had just set, leaving the
sky a lingering warm blue color and the land draped in shadows.

She wandered deeper into the city, drawn to
the sounds of people talking and enjoying themselves. Again for the
first time since leaving the Wizard’s Army, she impulsively slipped
into a bar, immersing herself in the humid air, soaked with the
smell of spilt alcohol. The inside was swarming with people,
laughing and talking to each other. She slipped into one of the few
unoccupied tables and a waitress immediately clunked down a drink
in front of her. Mumbling a thank-you, Tarana passed her a few
coins as payment.

She sat sullenly, tracing designs on the
table from the condensation coming from her glass. The moisture
collected in beads as she spread it around the table. Across the
bar, someone dropped a glass on the floor and Tarana glanced up at
the noise. Everyone else had glanced in the same direction, except
one red-haired young man who was staring in her direction. Looking
quickly back down, she slowly sipped her drink, raising her eyes
after several seconds to see if he was still staring in her
direction. He was.