The Girl Born of Smoke (34 page)

She turned her head to look at the people
entering the bar, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man
stand and start to walk in her direction. Shifting closer to the
edge of her chair, she narrowed her eyes and stared back at the
man, trying to decide if she recognized him. Although he did look
vaguely familiar, she couldn’t pinpoint where she might know him
from. Hoping he wasn’t from either of the armies, she looked at him
warily as he stopped in front of her, smiling slightly. “Aurora,
right?”

Opening her mouth, then closing it again,
she decided not to correct him. “That’s right,” she said slowly.
“How do I know you?”

He grinned wider. “I’m Kalib! Remember me?
We lived in Kain together way back.”

“Ohhhh…” She nodded slowly as she took in
his startling red hair and cocky smile. “Yeah, I remember you. We
played in the woods with Djerr and those other girls.”

“That’s right!” he exclaimed and sat down
across from Tarana. “I never thought I’d run into you again, way
out here. Then again, I never thought I’d find myself way out here,
either! Hey, speaking of Djerr and the others, I don’t suppose you
know where any of them ended up, do you?”

She shrugged. “Well, I’m still traveling
around with Djerr, but I haven’t seen any of the others since that
day the Wizard’s Army attacked Kain. Djerr and I traveled with the
army for awhile, you know.”

Kalib’s mouth dropped open. “No way! You’re
still with Djerr? Lucky bastard, snagging the gorgeous girl.” He
gave Tarana a sly look and lifted a hand, signaling for one of the
waitresses to bring him a drink. When she did, he slurped a good
portion of it down immediately, then grinned at her, wiping his
mouth dry with the back of his hand. “Things have been pretty crazy
since you left, you know.”

“How so?”

“Well, for starters, we fixed up the town
pretty nicely after that whole army thing. They totally wrecked a
big part of it, but the survivors worked real hard to rebuild
everything. It was really confusing for awhile, with so many people
dead or off with the armies. It took a long time to figure out just
who was left and who was gone. Some people came back too, once they
realized the army life wasn’t for them. Anyway, once we got things
fixed up again, a lot of refugees from other nearby towns came in.
It was fine with us; the city seemed kind of empty. Things really
returned to normal for a long time and we didn’t hear much about
the war. But then, the griffins came.

Tarana blinked at him, dreading the news.
“Griffins?”

He nodded, looking slightly less exuberant.
“You know, those huge bird-beasts from the legends and stuff? Yeah,
they attacked Kain. We didn’t even know they were real and all of a
sudden, there they were, completely destroying our city. It was
way, way worse than when the army came. The birds didn’t stop for
anything, they just kept picking us off one by one and we had to
run for it. That’s what I’m doing way out here.

“I’ve met a lot of other people from other
towns that had the same thing happen to them. So I’m just staying
on the move now, trying not to run into any of those monsters
again.” He grimaced. “It was…messy, Aurora. Definitely something I
never want to see again.” He quickly drowned the rest of his glass
and signaled for another.

Her stomach rolled as she wondered just how
far the griffins had spread. She took several quick gulps of her
drink, finishing it right as the waitress came over again. With a
small grin, he bought her a drink as well and she thanked him with
a tentative smile, then looked down. Reaching over, Kalib laid a
hand on her arm. “I’m sorry Aurora, I didn’t mean to get all gloomy
on you. I wouldn’t want to take that pretty little smile off your
face.”

With a slight laugh, Tarana looked back up
and took another full swallow of her drink. “You’ve always been
such a flirt, Kalib.”

He opened his mouth in a mock gasp. “Me? A
flirt?” He grinned wider. “Well can anyone blame me? I’ve never
been able to resist those pretty blue eyes of yours.”

She shook her head, exasperated but smiling.
“Sorry Kalib, but you know I’m with Djerr.”

Sighing loudly and trying to force his lips
into a frown, he withdrew his hand from Tarana’s arm. “Darn that
boy. Well, I’ll just have to try and restrain myself then!” He
stood and offered her his hand. “Finish your drink and I’ll take
you somewhere fun. I think we both need some time to forget about
the world and just relax while we can.”

Considering his offer for a moment, she
finally shrugged and quickly gulped down the rest of her drink and
took his hand. As she stood, the room spun for a couple seconds,
but she quickly steadied herself, and smiled up at Kalib. “Well,
where did you have in mind?”

He took her to another bar, one that wasn’t
nearly as dim and had live music playing on a small stage. Everyone
had a drink in their hand and the crowd was whirled into a circle,
whipping around the room as they danced. Tarana paused for a moment
at the doorway, taken aback by the commotion, but a drink was
almost immediately forced into her hand and Kalib grabbed her other
hand and they spun into the shouting crowd, the other voices
shouting the words of the songs the band played. When the song
finally ended, the cheers of the crowd were deafening and she had
to lean up and talk directly into Kalib’s ear to get him to hear
her. “What is this place?” she asked loudly.

He laughed and put an arm around her waist
to gently move her out of the way as one of the bar staff barged
through, carrying a plate full of empty glasses. “I found this
place by accident a couple nights ago. They play live music every
night and it seems like the busiest bar around here. Definitely my
type of place. You’re lucky I even dropped by that other bar
earlier to get a couple cheap drinks and spotted you! Everyone
needs a night like this to just unwind and have some fun,
especially during these times.”

The music suddenly started up again and the
crowd went wild, recognizing the song. She managed to take a few
sips of her drink before everyone started moving again, jumping and
spinning and moving, and she and Kalib were swept into the crowd.
As the night went on, she found her limbs getting more and more
unstable, but the press of the crowd kept her moving and
upright.

Her mind was full of the music and the feel
of the people and Kalib’s body always near hers, making sure they
didn’t get separated. Suddenly noticing the crowd getting thinner,
she glanced toward the door and noticed people leaving. She touched
Kalib’s arm to get his attention and pointed toward the door. “What
time is it?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Probably a bit before sunrise.
Why? Are you getting tired?”

Her head spinning, she tried to comprehend
how so much time could have passed. “I don’t know. Kind of? I
should probably get home.”

Nodding and with a hint of sadness in his
smile, Kalib led her toward the door, keeping a hand on her
shoulder to steady her. Outside, they each took a deep breath of
the cool air and Tarana looked up at the slightly cloudy sky,
nearly falling backwards until Kalib tightened his grip.

The clouds had taken on a light gray tint
and she bit her lip worriedly. “Hey now!” Kalib said, seeing her
expression. “Don’t look so worried! Remember? This night is all
about you and me, forgetting about everything except tonight. No
worrying allowed.” He wrapped his arm around her. “Come on, let’s
go sit down for a little bit and clear our heads.”

They walked away from the bars, their
footsteps falling in synch. He led her off the main street and down
a little path, which ended in front of a large lake, its banks
covered in long grass. Frogs croaked from all around them as they
carefully sat down, settling down into the soft grass. “This is
nice…” Kalib said softly, looking over at Tarana. “I haven’t been
able to sit down and relax like this since I left Kain. So much
traveling around, never getting too used to any one place, it gets
so tiring.”

Tarana nodded. “I know what you mean. All I
want to do is forget about this whole mess. Stop worrying about
what’s going to happen and what I’m supposed to do and who I’m
supposed to trust.” The words seemed to slip out of her mouth
before she could think about what she was saying. She glanced over
quickly to try and focus on Kalib’s face, but he didn’t seem to be
looking at her strangely.

Instead, he reached over a hand and rested
it on top of her own. “I could tell the moment I saw you today that
something was wrong. You seemed way too stressed out. You shouldn’t
worry so much. Your face is so much prettier when you’re relaxed
and happy.”

She laughed lightly and moved closer to him,
resting her head against his shoulder. “Thanks, Kalib. I really did
have a good time.”

They were both silent for a moment, then
Kalib took a deep breath and moved away from Tarana slightly. “I’m
sorry Aurora, but I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t do this.” He
brushed his hand lightly through her hair and then leaned in
quickly and kissed her softly. Hesitating for a split second, she
wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back, shifting her body
against his. He gently pushed her down onto the grass, and
continued to kiss her until she broke away, her face twisted into
guilt.

“I-I’m so sorry…” She unsteadily climbed to
her feet, brushing the grass out of her hair with one hand. “I have
to go, Kalib.” Before he could say anything, she rushed back up the
path to the main road without glancing behind her to see if he was
following.

Seeing a glass still half-f and discarded
on an empty table in front of one of the bars, she grabbed it as
she walked, quickly gulping all of the contents down as quickly as
she could. She threw that glass to the side, hearing it shatter
across the empty street as she picked up another discarded drink
and drowned it without even tasting it. By the time she reached
their house, she was tripping over her own shadow, which had begun
to appear as the sun slowly rose.

She stumbled in the door, opening it with
such force that it hit the wall with a bang. Strands of hair hung
in her face and she walked into the room without bothering to close
the door. “It's really hot in here!” she exclaimed, speaking slowly
and smiling.

Djerr sat straight up from where he had
apparently been dozing against the wall by the front door. He
stared at her. “Tarana, what have you...?”

Her smile dropped suddenly. “Djerr, I'm so-”
She wobbled where she stood and stumbled backwards, against the
wall. Horrified, he grabbed her arm to steady her, but she pushed
him away. “Don't,” she said angrily. “Don't touch me. I don't feel
well.” She sank to the ground, head buried in her hands. “I don't
feel well,” she repeated, her voice muffled.

“Come on,” he said tiredly. “Let's get you
to sleep, alright?” He touched her shoulder, but she swatted his
hand away again and mumbled something. “Tarana, come on.” There was
no response and he bent over to look at her face. Her eyes were
closed and she was breathing slowly. “Are you asleep?” He shook her
shoulder until her eyes opened slightly. “Tara!”

She glared at him and then her eyes widened.
Her back heaving violently, she vomited on the floor and began
crying. “Djerr,” she sobbed.

Sitting down, he looked at her. “Yeah?” Her
eyes closed again and he sighed, shaking her awake again. “Tara,
come on. You can't stay here on the floor.”

She mumbled something inaudible without
opening her eyes. Finally, he pushed her over on her side, so she
wasn't crouched over her own vomit. Wincing as her head thunked
against the floor, he stood up to close the door and find a
blanket. He laid a blanket over her comatose body, which was cold
to the touch and shaking slightly. After cleaning up the vomit, he
lay down next to her and watched her sleep. The morning rays of the
sun had begun to spill through the window into the room. As the
warm light fell across his body, he finally felt his eyes closing
uncontrollably and he slipped into a light sleep, awaking every
time Tarana moaned or rustled slightly.

Late into the day, he awoke with a start to
find Tarana looking at him from where she lay, her eyes opened just
a slit. She looked miserable. “Djerr, what-” she winced and lowered
her voice. “Djerr, what happened? I can hardly remember a
thing.”

His body sore from sleeping on the floor all
night, Djerr took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. “Tarana, of
all the thing you could do...this is probably the worst thing you
could have done to me.”

“I'm so sorry,” she whispered, her voice
trembling. “Djerr, please believe me. I didn't mean to do this to
you.”

“Why?” he asked brokenly. “Just tell me
why.”

She shook her head without speaking, her
breathing ragged.

“It's like,” He paused, “it's like you think
you know a person completely. What they've done, what they're
capable of doing, and you love every piece of them. And then they
go and do something completely unexpected and it changes
everything. You can never really trust them again, because if
they've done it once without any warning what's to stop them from
doing it again at any moment?” He looked at her, his eyes glassy.
“I just don't understand.”

“I didn’t expect to see him there…” she
mumbled.

He looked sharply at her. “What?”

“Kalib.” She took a shaky breath and exhaled
it slowly. “I never expected to see him there.”

“You-you saw Kalib? The Kalib we knew from
Kain?” He narrowed his eyes slightly.

She closed her eyes in confusion. “Wait,
isn’t that what you’re upset about?” She opened her eyes again, her
heart jumping when she saw that Djerr was sitting up, shaking
slightly. “I-I kissed him, Djerr.”

She watched as Djerr’s eyes closed and he
buried his face in his arms, his shoulders shaking. “I was wrong,”
he said, his voice muffled and sounding strange. “This is the worst
thing you could do to me.”