“What do you mean species and elements?”
He smiles, lips drawing back from his tusks. “There are four clans, water, air, fire and earth. You crashed in the water so are mine to claim first. Some people are more suited to other elements, so I send them away. But the Paohl created a problem, so as the hundred days approached, I met with Omea. We agreed the Paohl would remain with this river and go no further than the lake. They would be their own clan, ruled by Omea but overseen by me. They were accepted and changed, but I held back the final part. The ability to shed the body entirely.”
At his nod, the other orbs in the shadows flash and take form. They are each a different species. I blink and this time they are flesh, not frost. And while they were all from different alien races, they all look similar. Their skin is blue and white, as though even their flesh was altered when they became water. They pick up their cloaks and drape themselves in the fur.
I don’t know if they are to guard us or to protect the king or just for show.
“So why are you here now? I have been left for dead and I cannot claim my mate.” Eskar says, his words as sharp as his black blade.
The king nods. “You have been cast out by your people, so I am offering you a place.”
“Why? I broke your rules.”
The tusked king smiles again. “They are not my rules. They have been handed down by those who are older than me, and I have been here since the Ravages.” The Ravages happened close to a millennium ago. It’s history that is glossed over, because it’s so old—before humans learned to travel between worlds—but it was a bleak time filled with warfare and famine. “One hundred days and then the change happens. When I arrived survivors were helped, but many still died. Only a few can confer the final change, and some don’t want it. If you want to live Paohl Eskar, I can grant that, but you can never return to your people.” His voice crackles with sharp edged power.
If Eskar accepts he’ll live, but he’ll be something else again.
“I won’t leave my mate.”
“The Human isn’t your mate yet.” He looks at me. “Do you want to be his mate?”
I nod. “Yes. But what about my friends?”
He holds up a short blunt finger. “One thing at a time, and Eskar is bleeding internally and will not last the day.”
“How can you tell?” I check the bandage, but it isn’t soaked.
“Bodies are mostly water.” The king shrugs. “If you want to live, Eskar, I can grant that. It will take time for you to heal, but you can join the water clan…and your mate can follow at the end of her time.”
“I will die without my mate, there is a toxin in my blood slowing my heart.” And he seems untroubled by it. But then every Paohl male who risks a mate faces that possibility.
“I know. You will spend the rest of her time as a wisp, watching over her, and the other humans.”
“A wisp? The ball of light?” I frown, not sure what is being offered. “And then what happens?”
“Then you can join us too. We have no humans. Plus you bring news from the galaxy we’d all like to hear, even if it is bittersweet.”
“I still have to survive the one hundred days. I don’t know if Wraight will.”
“The injured male Human?”
I nod.
“That I can’t help with.” And he seems genuinely sorry. “We have all lost friends and loved ones. But you have a choice. I will tell the two males and then return for your answer.” He turns and crosses the clearing toward the ship.
Eskar’s lips thin to a line. “Omea knew there were others, and he kept that a secret.”
“You could’ve all found mates among the water clan.”
“Maybe…but if the balance is important, I can understand why we were kept separate.”
I shake my head. This is all too much. The rules, the balance and that people can be turned into elements. I want to wake up.
“It’ll be okay.” Eskar says. “I remember the panic when I started to change. The fear. We didn’t understand what was happening.”
It’s not just that. It’s everything. And I’m being asked to decide the rest of my life—which will be a very long time. A very long time doing what?
They didn’t need medics. But I’d get to meet aliens and learn about other worlds, and I’d be with Eskar.
