“You, Kurun, are very worthy. Seeing you wield a sword was breathtaking. I get why they call you the kickboxing prince.”
“What?”
He snickers. “Nothing. Just know…I think you’ll be amazing, emperor or not. In the short time I’ve known you, I can already tell that you are astounding.”
My cheeks warm, and I can’t help a grin. “I…can say the same about you.”
“Clearly not. I’m so inept I collapsed,” he says with a soft laugh.
He snickers, but I reply, “You are not inept. Your mission seems difficult, and the bears in the woods are very formidable. You carry with you courage, poise, and otherworldly knowledge.” A yawn escapes my lips. “I do not judge you poorly, Carmine Listo. We may be strangers, but I value you.”
He says nothing, so I continue, “I know we’ve just met, but I consider myself a perceptive judge of character. You’ve traveled to a foreign time just to save my world. I can’t think of anything more noble.”
After another quiet moment, he rolls over. “Thank you, Kurun. And it’s just Carmine.”
“Pleased to be on this journey with you, Carmine.” I yawn as I continue, “You bring adventure to my life when I need it the most.”
He yawns, and I want so badly to reach over and hold him in the dark. “You saved me with your incredible skills.” His voice is barely there as I quickly fall into slumber. “Maybe in another life we could spend our days together. Because you’re amazing, and I want to show you the stars.”
PART 4- CARMINE
“FOOLISH…THAT WASsuch a mistake,” I mutter to myself. I’m hiking up the smoky mountain alone as the dark blue sky gives way to the morning sun. I’m aware I have some days left to accomplish the mission, but I don’t care, I’m determined to do this now.
And I’m doing it alone. Because I’m a coward. Growing closer to Kurun is a mistake, a huge breach of protocol, and sleeping in his tent was so foolish. So what if I slept so well because his scent made me feel at home? He is not my artifact, he is not an agent, and he has seen too much. All because I’m inept.
It would have been all too easy to take him on this journey, but I’m the agent, not him. So, I got out of there as quietly as I could while he slept. Fortunately, his horse didn’t wake up, and I made my way into the woods at the mountain summit.
I need to forget about a certain warrior prince with pretty, dark brown eyes. Just because I feel a gravitational pull to his body and soul, does not mean I can get involved with him. Sure, I’ve heard rumblings of other guys in the Agency hooking up across time, but that can’t happen here. I already care about Kurun too much to be a one-time hook up. Even if I asked him to come with me back to the future, history books say that the Kurun the Kickboxing Emperor is an integral ruler of the Xing Dynasty.
He’s not mine to keep.
My scanner dings when I reach the smoky summit. I wipe my brow of sweat and scrutinize the images on my wrist. Apparently, I’m directly above the artifact. I make quick work setting up a grappling line, anchoring it to the ground. Then, with my anti-gravity shoes equipped, I scale down into the smoky pit. The blazing heat permeates through my clothes, and I know lava awaits me. “Into a freaking volcano, I go,” I mutter to myself.
Fortunately, I spot my target two minutes later. I only have to grapple down a few yards where the sphere is on a natural ledge.Perfect. I reach out and to grab it, but the pit below rumbles and lets out more smoke, obscuring my vision. I can’t reach it, so I place my feet on the ledge to stabilize. After coughing, I reach again—success!
The Astral Jade Sphere seems less lustrous than it appeared in my intel report, but that could be all the smoke I inhaled. I secure it in my pack, wipe more sweat from my face, then look up. I can’t see much, so I click my heels together, activating my anti-grav. My boots aren’t reacting.Huh.
The pit below me rumbles, and fiery shards of rock shoot up. Panic rises in my throat, and I pull down on my rope. It’s secure, so I start to climb the old-fashioned way. More burning coals fly upward, hitting the rocky wall before me. I struggle to climb up the rope as the heat crawls under my skin. Fear rises in me just like the lava that I’m sure is rising after me. An errant coal hits my arm and I wince. It burns with searing pain up and down my arm, and now I’m using one hand to hold onto my rope. Without anti-grav, climbing out seems like an impossible task. Am I going to meet my end here?
With one hand grasping the rope and the other burning, I suddenly feel myself rise. Something is pulling me up just as more burning coals fly skyward. I refuse to surrender to gravityand nature, so I use my legs to try to climb up. The rope continues to pull me, faster and faster I go.
A smoky eternity later, my vision is blurred when I make it out of the volcanic pit. A body holds me up by my good arm, and together, we run forward. The ground rumbles as we dash past dark boulders through the smoke. I cough and gasp, but I know I’m leaving the danger behind.
“You are a fool, Carmine Listo,” Kurun says, breathing in rapidly.
We scramble down the mountain. “I know, I know.”
***
When we get to the forest summit of the mountain, we slow our pace. We reach Kurun’s horse and he lets me go. I miss the contact, but the searing pain on my right arm overwhelms me more. Kurun looks at my side in concern. Not only is my right sleeve nearly burnt through, but there’s a severe burn on my deltoid.
“Did you secure the artifact?” he asks.
I nod and pull it out of my knapsack with my good arm. Kurun gingerly moves his hand forward and lightly taps it. I must still have adrenaline through my veins, because the sphere glows in my hand. With the green lights cascading over it, the artifact resembles exactly what I was supposed to find.
Kurun gasps and steps back, holding his hip. Before I can ask, my right arm begins to tingle. In a moment, the searing pain dissipates. I watch in shock as the fabric sutures itself, and I know my deltoid is free of the burn.
Somehow the Astral Jade Sphere…healed me?
