The Quest for the Heart Orb (34 page)

Ren smiled.  “Silly man.”

“Silly woman.”  Marl bent down to kiss her, intending it to be soft and gentle.  But the moment his lips touched hers the knowledge that they were now married rushed through him, carrying a wave of heat that caused his flesh to pebble and his body to harden.  His arms went around her shoulders and pulled her close, reveling in the sensation of her soft, luscious body pressed against his hardness.  He thrust his tongue into her mouth, groaning when her tongue met his with equal passion.  He stroked her back with one hand, tracing the delicate bones of her spine with his fingertips before sliding around to her ribs.  His other hand drifted down to the small of her back and pressed her hips closer against his aching erection.  When Ren moaned and arched into him, he nearly lost all sense and reason. 

An image of her lying on the sand beneath him as he prepared to thrust into her burst into his mind and he froze, locking his muscles against the urge to make the fantasy real.  He broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers, focusing on the feel of her corona stones against his flesh while he fought to catch his breath.  It took more effort than he would have thought possible to return his hands to her shoulders, particularly the one that was so very close to her breast. 

“That was close,” he said when he’d calmed enough to form words.

Ren shivered against him, and he tightened his hold without quite daring to kiss her again.  “Yes, it was,” Ren said shakily.  “I only wish I knew exactly what it is we were so close to.”

Marl pulled away a bit and smiled down at her.  “I could not speak of this before because, to be honest, I feared I did not possess enough self-control to do so.”

Ren nodded.  After the kiss they’d just shared, she understood his meaning.  “And now?”

“Now, I do not have to tell you,” he said.  “I can show you.  After you claim the Heart Orb.”  Ren nodded and stepped back as he released her.  “What is this about not having to take our clothes off?”

“I haven’t done this since before Mother died, so I only remember a few things, and that’s one of them.  The magic of the transformation will include our clothing, and if we leave the water quickly enough afterward, our clothes will remain dry.”

“I can’t decide if I’m relieved or disappointed,” Marl said. 

Ren laughed, not misunderstanding him this time.  She held her hand out, and Marl took it.  Then, together, they walked into the river.  Marl held their wet, clasped hands up and stared at the blue-green scales in wonder.  He compared his hand to Ren’s, noting that his scales were larger than hers, and a little darker.  Before long they were up to their shoulders and Ren stopped, turning to face him.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t practice this before now,” she said, suddenly nervous.

“Don’t second guess yourself, beloved,” Marl said, raising their still joined hands to kiss the back of hers, just below the healing spines.  “Your feelings told you it would be a bad idea to enter the water until we were ready to go after the orb.  I trust you, Wife.  Trust yourself.”

“I’m trying, Husband,” Ren said, then took a deep, calming breath.  “Are you ready?”

“I’m not sure,” Marl said.  “Is there anything I should know first?  What does it feel like?  Will we be able to see clearly?  And why did I not ask Garundel about his experience?” 

“Because, like me, you didn’t want to bring up any painful memories for him,” Ren said.  “And it never occurred to me to ask Mother.  I know that our eyes will change, so we won’t have any trouble seeing each other or our surroundings.  I remember that.”

“Very good.  Anything else?” 

“Not that I can think of,” Ren said. 

“How do we communicate with each other once we’re under water?” he asked.  “There must be a way.”

“I don’t remember that,” Ren said, frowning worriedly.  “I’m sorry Marl.  I really should have thought about these things ahead of time.”

“Don’t worry,” Marl said.  “We’ll figure it out.  Me and you.  Together.”

Ren took a deep breath and blew it out.  “Together,” she agreed.  “Ready?”

“Not quite,” Marl said.  “I just want you to know that once we leave the river with the Heart Orb, I intend to make you my wife, fully, as soon as possible.  Do you understand?”

“Not really, no,” she replied.  “But I very much look forward to finding out.”

“So do I,” Marl said with feeling.  He closed his eyes and forced himself to change the subject.  “What do I do next?”

“Just submerge yourself in the water,” Ren said.  “You’ll feel a tingling sensation, and you’ll have to make a conscious choice to allow it to grow stronger, or stop it.”  Marl frowned, and Ren shrugged.  “I can’t explain it any better than that.”

Marl squeezed her hand gently one last time, then released her as they both submerged themselves into the icy water, side by side.  Ren felt the tingling sensation she’d tried to describe to Marl, the one thing she never had forgotten about this.  She opened herself to it and felt the change come over her.  It took only a few moments to complete, and the icy cold of the water faded to a refreshing coolness.  Her eyes saw as clearly beneath the water as they did in the afternoon sunlight, and she was breathing through gills without any more thought or effort than when she breathed through her nose.  She flexed her legs, which were now merged into a strong and powerful tail, then turned around, looking for Marl.

When she spotted him, she was surprised to discover that she found him just as attractive in Mareon form as in human form.  She’d spent so many years hating her scales that she hadn’t been sure how she’d react to seeing them on Marl.  She smiled as she studied him.  His eyes were almost completely black, matching his hair.  His scales were a darker blue-green than hers, and his tail was much thicker and more muscular.  The biggest difference that she could see was that he lacked the spines she had on the back of her wrists. 

Instead of black riding leathers, he now wore a black breastplate that covered his stomach and chest, as well as wide bracers on both forearms.  When she glanced down at herself, she saw that she too had a breastplate and bracers, also black.  She rubbed her fingers over the breastplate, surprised to find that it was made of metal of some sort. 

Marl opened his mouth, clearly intending to say something, but instead of his familiar warm voice she heard a high pitched screech that was uncomfortable to her ears.  He closed his mouth, the expression on his face one of surprise and confusion.  He pointed at her, so she opened her mouth, intending to say something, not completely surprised to hear a similar sound come from her own lips.

Marl pointed at his head and frowned in concentration.

“Ren!!”
she heard his voice in her mind so loudly that she jerked backward.

“I don’t think you have to shout,”
she thought, imagining herself saying each word.  It was a little more difficult than she’d expected but she thought with a bit of practice, it would be as easy as talking. 

“Sorry about that,”
Marl said, lowering his mental voice.

“How do you feel?”
she asked.

“Good,”
he said, looking down at his body, noting the changes. 
“I don’t have your spines on my hands, but otherwise I seem to look like you.”

“Bigger and more powerful, but yes, the same,”
Ren said. 

“You’re so beautiful, Ren,”
Marl said, surprising her. 
“Now I see why you wear those silver beads in your hair.”

She glanced down to see that her long braids, weighed down by her mother’s silver beads, hung close to her body.  Unlike Marl’s hair which spread out in a cloud around his head. 
“I wear my hair this way because Mother did.  I never realized there was a purpose for it, but now that I know, I see that we’ll have to put some weights in your hair as well.”

“Or cut it short. “

“
No, it’s supposed to be braided, like mine, only with black beads, not silver,”
she said with a frown. 

“Supposed to be?”
Marl asked in mild surprise.

Ren’s eyes widened, but her cheeks didn’t heat.  Evidently Mareons didn’t blush, which was a definite plus. 
“I’ve no idea where that came from.
 
Shall we go?”

“Yes,”
Marl said, hiding a smile. 
“Lead the way.”

“All right, but stay close, please
,” she said.

“
I’ve no intention of doing otherwise,”
Marl replied.

Ren turned upstream and began swimming, instinctively staying half way between the surface and the riverbed so that she could see both equally as well.  Marl swam slightly above her to guard her back, keeping his head even with her shoulder.  It hadn’t occurred to him that he’d be able to use weapons underwater, so he hadn’t brought any.  Well, it was too late now.

Before long the water became murky, and Ren sensed they’d entered the portion of the river directly in front of Ausar.  She cautiously went deeper as they neared the city, rising only when the water cleared again and they were past it. 

Ren kept to the middle of the river as they swam toward the island of Ka-Teru two miles upstream from Ausar. 

She was amazed by how much life was hidden beneath the surface of the river.  They saw fish of all shapes and sizes, frogs, crocodiles, turtles, and two families of water cows which eyed them warily until they were too far away to pose an immediate threat.  They also passed a herd of enormous beasts that were completely unfamiliar to her.  Since they showed no interest in them, she returned the favor. 

Eventually the river began to widen, and the water began to grow murky again, making it increasingly difficult to see.  The further they went, the worse visibility became, so Ren slowed down and swam more cautiously.  After a while they were able to make out a large black mass in the distance.

“Ka-Teru,”
Marl said.  Ren slowed even more, approaching warily.

“What is it that you sense?”
Marl asked.

“I’m not sure,”
she replied, slowing to a stop.  They studied the water around them, but saw nothing other than the murky water and an occasional fish.  Ren was just about to continue toward the island when she saw movement from the corner of her eye. 
“Look!”
she said, pointing toward a gigantic ball made up of wriggling, silver…somethings.

“Rock eels,”
Marl said, moving so that he was slightly in front of her. 
“They’re mildly poisonous, so long as you don’t get bitten more than once or twice.”

“There’re hundreds of them,”
Ren said, watching as the mass of snake-like creatures slowly drifted closer. 
“Thousands.”

“I’ve never seen so many together at once,”
Marl said
. “Maybe we should retreat.  We can come back later, after they disperse.”

“No, Marl
,” Ren said. 
“To go back is to lose the Heart Orb forever.”

“You should listen to her, Mareon King,”
a new, decidedly feminine voice, suggested.

Ren and Marl both tensed as they looked around, searching for the owner of the voice.  All they saw was the ball of eels which, oddly, appeared to have stopped advancing. 

“I am not a king,”
Marl said.

“Are you not?”
the voice asked curiously. 
“Why then do you bear the medallion, and swim with the Mareon Queen?”

Ren stared wide-eyed at Marl and shook her head. 
“Who speaks to us?”
she asked.

There was a long silence, and the eels began to wiggle more energetically though they did not come any closer. 
“Have I erred?”
the voice asked, not answering Ren’s question. 
“It would not be the first time, though it’s been several thousand years, and that wasn’t my fault.  Not completely.  But then, you are of a species that does not live long.  Perhaps the lore has been lost.”

Ren met Marl’s gaze in silent agreement.  They would wait until they had more information before speaking again.

“I’m willing to give you the benefit of doubt since you bear the corona stones of the Mareon Queen.  Their power is certain, even if you are not.  And you both wear the medallions.  Obviously you are who I know you are, you just don’t know who you are yourselves, and you meet the requirements set down by Vatra Gariel, so I shall…no, wait.  You are a mated pair, are you not?”

Finally, something they understood.
  “Yes, we are,”
Ren and Marl replied together, then smiled at each other.

“Oh good, that would have been bad,”
the voice said without a hint of humor. 
“Well, what are you waiting for?  Face each other and hold hands.”

“Hold hands?”
Ren asked.

“Yes, of course.  This won’t work unless you are connected physically as well as spiritually.”

“What won’t work?”
Ren asked warily.

“The magic.”

“What magic?”

“Well, my magic of course,”
the voice said with faint exasperation. 
“Why do you think Vatra brought me here to begin with?”

Ren decided not to answer that.  It seemed prudent to stay on…whoever’s...good side, at least for the moment.  “
What will the magic do?”

“I am not allowed to speak of that,”
the voice said with an audible sigh. 
“I can tell you what will happen if you don’t, though.”

Ren and Marl glanced at each other and waited, but the voice remained silent. 
“Well?”
Marl asked impatiently
.

“
Well what?”

“I thought you were going to tell us what will happen if we don’t hold hands.”

“I would have, but you didn’t ask.”

Ren’s head was beginning to hurt.

“Will you please tell us what will happen if we don’t allow you to use your magic on us?”
Marl asked.