Kami Tamer

A kami jar with untouched bait… not counting the ants.

Beneath the moving blanket of their tiny bodies, the honey seemed fine. Assuming any kami would still want it, she thought.

It takes a lot to spoil honey. Blue chuckled. Not that I’ve ever cared.

“So, you’d eat this?” She kept her voice low.

Of course. Emerald too. Just not until we figure out what happened here. I can’t sense any other kami, but be careful.

“Right.” Lily waved Gabriel closer when he rounded the church.

His eyes narrowed at the jar. [That has to be a bad sign.]

“I know,” she replied. “Ready with your rifle? I think we need to search the whole village right away.”

He spread his hands with a grin.

[Sorry.] She repeated herself, using her hands this time. It had been easy to slip into the familiar habit of signing-only while they travelled alone. But speaking to Blue momentarily broke that habit. It shouldn’t have been enough to make her forget, but Gabriel didn’t mind giving her a nudge now and then.

Luckily, she thought. He’s always been patient with my little mistakes.

There was another reason to communicate quietly.

Unfriendly eyes could be watching.

And listening.

One set of eyes should have belonged to a nearby kami tamer. Based on the jar, he or she would be waiting inside. Ready to pounce. When the target-kami caught scent of honey and slipped into the jar, the tamer would seal the lid with mint, then speak the Binding.

The kami’s aid in exchange for protection.

And honey or nectar, of course.

A common process, one handed down over the centuries from Queen Sienna, who had hammered out terms for the first Tamer Pact. Whatever had interrupted that process in front of the church was obviously something serious. No kami would leave honey untouched and no Tamer would abandon a jar.

Had something scared off the kami?

Two Tamers could even have quarrelled… though that seemed unlikely.

Pointless to keep guessing when answers most likely lay inside. She looked to her brother. [Ready?]

He nodded, both hands on the rifle.

Lily lifted Blue’s jar and met his gaze. “Honey after we figure this out.”

I know, I know. I’m not stupid.

“Just greedy,” she said as she unscrewed the lid. Blue slipped free but didn’t burst into flame or sparks. He did glow from where he hovered nearby, and Lily used that to illuminate her path into the church.

Blue’s glow revealed an interior she’d not seen in over a year.

Something reflected from various points across the walls and ceiling, as if pushing back against the shadows. Gazing up, the little bits of light could have been mistaken for stars. If nothing else, they were lovely, though of no practical use.

Gabriel touched her shoulder. Using the rifle’s barrel, he pointed to the centre of the room.

Small, dusty stools, each carved from stone, still surrounded the church well – same as last visit. The rows allowed access to the well from four directions, but were no longer neatly arranged.

About half had been knocked out of line now, as if someone or something had stumbled through in a desperate path to the well…

… where a tattered pack rested.

Lily strode forward to kneel beside it, Gabriel at her side with Blue providing plenty of light. The pack was worn fabric, empty save for a scarf dotted with black bloodstains. Other belongings were scattered nearby, and again, of little use to other scavengers.

Only two things stood out: thin animal bones crossed to make a ward against evil and a single wire, the jack missing – cut free by someone.

[What about the well?] Gabriel asked.

Lily rose to peer within. Just out of reach where it clung to uneven rock sides, something gleamed. Metal and glass? She squinted. Is that a globe? she thought. Proof of a torch! Something truly valuable. If she leant over the side, she’d be able to reach it… exactly what the owner of the bone-ward probably believed before they fell in.

Poor guy, she thought.

If so, it could explain why the jar had been left behind. But not why the honey was untouched.

“Blue, can you see what’s down there?” she asked, signing as she spoke.

I’d rather you send Emerald. I don’t like wells.

Emerald grunted. Chicken.

Lily sighed. “It’s fine.” She let Emerald free. Light in the church changed briefly, only for his green glow to dim quickly as he descended. [If the tamer fell down there, it still doesn’t explain the honey,] she said to her brother.

Gabriel’s expression was sombre as he slung the rifle over his shoulder. [It might be connected to whatever caused the well to dry up.]

It certainly made sense. The village had been abandoned a long time ago and no-one knew exactly why the well failed. If a passing Tamer had tried to investigate, expecting to find water, checking with a torch in desperation…

A green glow returned. Emerald settled on the stone ledge, his eyes downcast. The tamer… he didn’t survive the fall. It wasn’t recent. I don’t know if that makes it better or worse.

Lily didn’t know either.

“Any other clues down there? Like death-marks?”

Emerald hesitated. Not sure about clues. And no death-marks, but it seemed like an Elder was here at one point. Blue?

Could be. I can’t tell, either.

[What about Crimson? Can he sense…] Lily stopped moving her hands.

Gabriel wore no kami jar.

Since when? Why have I only just noticed? she thought.

He smiled, though it was a gentle one. [You’d need Amir for that.]

… which probably explained the glimpse of red she’d seen as they left the Eastwood. [But… when? Why?]

[Crimson and I decided that it was best for Haven. Don’t worry, we’ll be fine. Blue and Emerald will look after us.]

She nodded slowly. Even if she disagreed – which she didn’t – it wasn’t her choice. [Right.]

[Maybe we should find a different building to sleep in. Didn’t one of the homes here have a basement?] Gabriel asked.

[Perfect].

At the door, Lily paused. She had no idea what the old religion would have expected, but she had to say something, since someone had died. Even if she didn’t currently stand in a church, she would have tried. Maybe her words would be adequate... “I’m sorry, whoever you were. I hope you’ve found some peace.”

Outside, darkness had fallen.

Blue and Emerald led them out, passed the few trees that grew inside the village, and finally to a particular home she remembered from their last visit. Similar to the other buildings, it did have one key difference inside – a hatch rested upon the uneven floor.

Someone had gone to a lot of effort.

The hatch had strong steel rungs leading down into what Amir had called an ‘escape shuttle’. Something that all the Grand Ships would have possessed. Only those shuttles were supposedly much, much, much larger.

Like ships all on their own.

Yet, as with most hopeful ideas, governments had ruined them with their squabbles.

The shuttle was a bare room with benches, open cupboards and empty sleeping alcoves. Just like the rest of the village, the shuttle had been stripped of anything useful.

But it was secure and dry, in case of rain or storms.

A perfect place for a meal by the light of her kami. Blue and Emerald had left and returned to sit together and share the honey so quickly that Lily barely noticed the moments of darkness between.

Blue especially, was ecstatic as he ate, his face buried in one half of the honey, tiny sounds of satisfaction escaping.

Emerald ate in a more dignified manner, but even his eyes were awfully bright.

She couldn’t help but smile at them.

Once Blue finished the honey, he cooked meat taken from their supplies and then both kami sought their jars to rest. Gabriel prepared the bedding while Lily tidied up as best she could without running water.

Then, in darkness, they settled into the sleeping alcoves.

Lily tried to drift off, but her mind was racing between all that had happened and all that was yet to be done.

Which was a lot.

Based on a certain amount of tossing and turning from the other side of the shuttle, it seemed Gabriel was having trouble falling asleep, too.

She rose and tapped on Blue’s jar, just two taps, not very hard.

A soft glow rose.

Not enough to disturb the kami, but enough for Lily to communicate with Gabriel.

Her brother turned at the light. [Something wrong?]

[Can’t sleep,] she replied.

He nodded, then rubbed at his face. When he moved his hands again, his fingers were a little slower than usual. [Me either. Which is stupid after all that walking.] Did the change in signing suggest exhaustion, or something else? Gabriel wasn’t really one for doubts.

That’s me, I suppose, she thought.

[Thinking about the future?] he asked.

[I usually am.] But she didn’t elaborate. Why worry him with her own doubts and fears? Such as the new fear that she was just a simple accident away from death, like the Tamer in the church… She put her back against the wall, pulling her knees up to her chest while making sure to keep both hands visible. [What about you? What’s keeping you awake, Gabe?]

[Headache, I guess.]

[Nothing else?]

[Maybe one thing. Blue mentioned an Elder Kami, right? So what’s the plan if we upset another one of them?]

It was a good – if troubling – question. [Same as last time. We flee while Blue distracts it. Emerald too, if needed.]

[What if that’s not enough?]

[It will be,] she replied, moving her hands with more confidence than she felt.