Sky Lord by Rowan Erlking (that summer book .txt) 📕

Marla woke Tia for dinner. She had prepared fish fried in batter with a side of rice. As humble as her meals were, Tia loved them more than all the roasted pheasant the Patriarch could give her. Tia adored Marla. Marla was love in motion. She was a walking ray of light. Her arms were warmer than blankets, and her words filled Tia more than her food. In many ways, Tia wished that Marla had been her mother. Marla would never have allowed slavers to sell her away.

After dinner, Tia volunteered to do the washing and would not allow Marla a hand in the dishwater. They cleaned up, sweeping the floor together and wiping off the counters. When they had put away their last bits of food, both women heard a rap on the door.

“Who is it?” Marla asked.

“Temis,” a strong male voice answered.

Marla looked annoyed. She walked to the door, wiping her hands on her apron, but only opened the top half, leaving the bottom half closed. “Hello, sir. What can I do for you?”

Tia saw a soldier standing there. He tipped his hat to Marla and glanced once in the room at Tia. A chill ran down Tia’s back and arms.

“G’evening, ladies.” He smiled genially, affixing his gaze on Marla. “I see I missed dinner. ‘Tis a shame.” Temis sighed. “Ah, well, would you let me in. I’m on official business.”

Marla complied, opening the lower door, though she did not look happy about it. Tia recoiled, wondering exactly what his official business was. She had hoped more than anything that she was not his official business.

“I hope there is no trouble about,” Marla replied.

He sighed again. “I am afraid there is. Pirates are about. A ship was just spotted off the coast just south of here. But that is not what I have come to speak to you about.”

Tia clenched her hands. She inched towards the stairwell.

“What’s her problem?” the solider asked, waving towards Tia.

Marla glanced back once, seeing Tia’s tense expression. She stepped in the soldier’s way. “She is shy. I have also yet to housebreak her. She is not used to people, so give her time.”

He shrugged and continued speaking. “Well, anyway, news from the capitol is just in. I am about warning everyone in my district of a dangerous demon about. It is heading this way. If it touches you, it could suck you dry, so don’t take in strangers, you hear?”

Marla smiled, rolling her eyes and patting his hand. “Don’t worry. If I see a demon, I will be careful.”

“Beware, Marla,” he said, shaking his head gravely. “They say this creature can take on any shape. They say most especially not to pick up any stray birds.”

“Stray birds?” Marla murmured.

He nodded vigorously. “Yes. And if you see a Cordril hunter come this way, you are to direct him on. I’m sharing this with everyone so be ready and watchful. I want this part of town secure when the demon arrives.”

“Thank you, sir. I will keep my eyes open and my doors closed then,” Marla said. She escorted him to the door and watched him climb back on his motorized boat. When he had floated on to the next stop, Marla turned, shutting and latching both doors, muttering, “Demons about…. I bet it is just some poor soul the Patriarch has a vendetta against.”

Tia crept from the stairwell. “Is he gone?”

Marla sighed, crossing the room to the table, reaching around it to a basket with a lid. “Yes. The brave soldier is gone. Come on out and help me with my stitching. You look able to sew.”

Tia obeyed, having no other option. Marla did not suspect her, and that was an immediate comfort.

Handing over colored thread, Marla also gave Tia a blue cloth and a needle. “I sell these for a bit of extra cash.” She held up one embroidered square. On it was a beautiful scene of grass and flowers. “I stitch whatever I feel like. People here pay for anything to make their homes a little more beautiful.”

Glancing around, Tia saw that Marla had only two of such stitch work hung on her walls.

Marla followed her gaze. “I know. This place could use the brightening also, but I prefer to eat than to stare at my walls.”

That made Tia laugh.

The woman handed her a hoop then pulled the cloth on. She demonstrated to her the basic stitches, showing Tia how to make flowers and grass like the one she had done earlier. When finished, she had Tia make the rest as she willed. Tia had done some stitchery before, but mostly mending. Her mistress had her fix her embroidered borders to things once or twice, beating her when she made a wrong stitch. It was a painful lesson, but her stitches were now always perfect.

They embroidered in silence, turning on the electric light once the sun had set. Marla made a kettle of hot water for tea midway through their work and sipped every so often when her hands started to ache.

Clearing her throat, Tia bit her lip before asking, “Uh, did you really mean it when you said you’d help me go back to Demon Island?”

Marla blinked at her, sighed then replied, “If that is what you really want. Yes.”

Tia’s brow furrowed. She stitched a few more with the green thread and then tied it off on the other end. Choosing a bright red floss, she peeled apart the strands she wanted to use. “Can you tell me what you know about Demon Island? I’ve never heard it called that until I met you.”

That received a chuckle. “No, I suppose not. Only locals of Stilson remember its original name.”

Tia blinked at her.

“The island of the Sky Lord,” Marla said, making smooth long stitches in her fabric, “was originally called Demon Island because its sole inhabitants were demons. No sensible human being would set foot on the island because the main inhabitants would suck you dry of life upon contact.”

“Yes, I’ve heard that,” Tia said, nodding. “That is the curse of Sky Children.”

Marla blinked at her. “Not any more, as you should well know. That ability is lost for your people now. They are practically all human these days.”

Tia stared. “All human?”

Sticking her needle in the cloth, Marla nodded. She stopped to take a sip of tea. “Yes. You should know your people’s slavery is punishment for the war your half-demon ancestors set upon the world.”

She had heard that once. Tia placed her sewing down and took a hold of her cup for a drink.

“It is a good thing the full-fledged demon cannot leave the island,” Marla murmured. “They would have been ten times worse than the Sky Children.”

Tia nearly dropped her cup. She clasped it tightly when she felt it slip in her fingers. “What do you mean? They can’t leave the island?”

“They’re terrified of water,” Marla said with a snort. She took another sip. “All demons have weaknesses, as do humans. The more powerful they are, the more powerful their weaknesses affect them.”

“Why are they so scared of water then?” Tia asked, staring at Marla’s face.

Marla placed down her cup. She looked at Tia frankly. “The demons of Demon Island have the ability to absorb everything they touch. Their mouths are small, barely the size of a coin. They cannot eat like most other creatures do. Instead they take in their nutrients through their skin. If one of them gets their hands on a human or an animal, they suck them dry until nothing is left but a husk. Your ancestors could do the same, only they became whom or what they absorbed. So in a way, that person never exactly died. But those whole demons take in air and water through their skin. If they were to fall into the ocean, they would immediately drown.”

Tia’s mouth dropped open. It certainly explained why her skin was so sensitive to contact with others, but the rest did not make sense. Why did the Sky Children take on the form of others they drained? Why did she have to have their memories and thoughts?

“What if they made a boat and tried to cross the ocean?” Tia asked, leaning in closer.

“They’re too terrified the boat would capsize. Besides, they are dead weights in water. No fat.” Marla took another sip of her tea. “When you see them, they look like skin and bones. I have been told those demons are hideous to look at. And luckily, nature has kept them confined to that island.”

“But the Sky Children could go off,” Tia murmured.

Marla nodded. “Yes, and more the pity too. They had ambition and lust for power. Luckily the ability to absorb life degenerated until they were merely human. I think the only demon thing about your people now is your eye color, and that is also now rare.”

Tia blinked. Her eyes. It was true, besides the Cordril hunter, she had never really seen a blue-eyed person on the entire continent. Green, gray, and even a hazel were the closest approximation to what she had. Most people were shades of brown eye.

Sipping from her cup, Marla swallowed and said, “Even those demons of the island are brown-eyed. You are something special.”

Tia’s hands had started to shake under the table. Tia wondered again if Marla knew or suspected that she was the demon the Patriarch was looking for.

Marla sighed. “I have seen only eight of your kind with blue eyes, and one nasty Cordril hunter.”

“Cordril hunter?” Tia gasped.

Nodding, Marla emptied her cup. “Ah, oh, yes. Very blue eyes also.”

She saw Tia’s stare, knowing she wanted to know more.

“I know very little about Cordrils. What I have heard is that they are very dangerous, known to possess bodies of other people, steal their lives. They are very rare. In fact, I hear they are dying out.” Marla reached back and placed her cup on the counter near the sink. “You can never tell if a man is a Cordril or not, unless of course you look at his eyes. Cordril women are even more rare.”

“I hear they hunt Sky Children,” Tia said, lowering her chin.

Marla reached out to her, placing her hand on Tia’s. Tia felt a surge of kindness and compassion run through her. She knew Marla’s feelings for her were not fake. “They did hunt them, yes. Some say it is a personal vendetta, whereas others claim Cordrils love to feast on Sky Child flesh.”

“But you don’t know what’s true?” Tia asked.

Shaking her head sadly, Marla replied, “I’m afraid not. Cordrils are rare, as I said. The one I met was ugly and scabby. He looked more like a Hann, if it weren’t for his eyes.”

That was nothing like the hunter Tia knew, but that did not mean they weren’t one and the same. Marla did say they possessed bodies, and Jonis did say they were very similar. It was possible that he too could take on the shape of a person he touched. He had said they came from the same place. And though he did not look like an islander, it did not mean that his demon blood had not come from there.

They ended the conversation after that. Tia had a lot to think about. Since the arrival of the soldier and the warning that they were searching for her, Tia knew she could not stay long. It was a wrenching dilemma, but no matter how hard she wrestled with the idea, she always came back to that conclusion. One night of rest and a good breakfast, and she would have to be off again.

Marla made up a bed for Tia. Her own bed was just too small for them both, though Marla offered to snuggle together to compromise. But Tia feared she might accidentally drain the woman in her sleep, so she said that she preferred the floor. Marla dragged off her comforter for Tia and slept under her wool blanket that night. Tia curled in the warmth and softness at the