With each step, though, it grew darker and darker, until at last he could see neither the entrance through which they had come nor the exit far ahead. Now he truly felt as if he had stepped back into the jungle.
His companion noticed his sudden anxiety. "You're shivering!"
"It's nothing, my lady."
"You're supposed to call me Atanna," she responded in mock anger. "Or did this mean so little to you?"
She leaned forward and kissed him. His anxieties concerning his surroundings vanished in an instant. Kentril wrapped his arms around her and returned her passion.
Then he felt something on his neck, a slow but steady movement like that of a worm or a caterpillar. Yet whatever crawled upon his skin did so with appendages as sharp as needles.
Unable to withstand it, Captain Dumon pushed Atanna back and quickly reached for the creature. However, as his hand neared, the thing suddenly pulled away, as if perhaps falling off.
"What is it?" Atanna cautiously asked.
"Something landed on me! It felt as if it walked across my neck with tiny swords at the end of each leg!"
Even in the darkness, he could make out her face well enough. Atanna frowned in consideration, but seemed to have no knowledge to offer. "Shall we leave?"
The pain had faded, and Kentril had no desire to look cowardly and foolish before her, especially over some insect. "No, let's go on as we have."
They moved on a few paces, stopping again to kiss. Atanna then buried her head in his chest, saying, "Father still hopes to complete the journey to Heaven."
He stiffened. "Is that still possible?"
"So he believes. I pray he's wrong."
"But why?"
She put her hand on his cheek. "Because I find the mortal world more to my liking."
"Can you talk him out of it?" The gentle caress of her hand against his skin helped Kentril relax again.
"It would help if I knew that we stood an easier and safer chance of making our tentative hold on the mortal plane a permanent one. If I could convince him that for the sake of all, we would be better off once more among men, then I feel that he'd acquiesce. After all, the threat we fled no longer exists."
She wanted to stay, and he wanted her to stay. Yet Juris Khan wished at last to achieve the holy goal offered to him during those dark years of terror. Not surprising, but certainly not wanted by either here.
"Maybe Tsin would know—" Kentril started before recalling the possession the Vizjerei seemed under. He did not want to try to speak with Tsin, at least not until the sorcerer had been persuaded to rest and eat properly.
"Maybe he could convince Father?" Her tone spoke openly of hope. "The old one seems very skilled, if lacking in common courtesy. Do you think he could do it?"
"I don't—" The captain paused. An idea began to formulate, one that would possibly play on old Tsin's personality.
Atanna appeared to sense his shifting mood. "You've thought of something, haven't you?"
"A possible idea. If Tsin remains constant, it could work to our— your benefit. I need to think about it a little longer, and it would be good if I didn't talk to him just now."
"I have no intention of parting with you just yet, anyway," the young woman responded. "Not at the moment." Atanna stepped up and kissed him again.
Feeling much better about matters, Captain Dumon responded in kind. If the Vizjerei could be persuaded to see his way, then Tsin, in turn, would likely persuade Khan. All Kentril had to do was play on the spellcaster's greed—
He let out a gasp of pain. Something dug at his back as if trying to reach all the way into his heart. He twisted around, felt what seemed one of the vines, and swiftly grabbed it.
What felt like a thousand pins sank into his fingers and palm.
"Kentril!"
Despite his agony, the mercenary kept his hold, then tugged with all his might.
A peculiar and not at all human squeal coursed through the garden. The entire vine tumbled to the path, a dark, sinewy form more than three times the length of a man.
Throwing the end down, Kentril clutched the hand that had held the plant with his other. It felt as if he had stuck the throbbing appendage into an open fire.
"Atanna! Wh—what was—"
"I've no idea! Your hand! Give me your hand!"
Her soft fingers lightly touched his own. The pain receded. Atanna whispered something, then leaned down and let her lips lightly touch his palm.
Fearful of her suffering from whatever plant poison had gotten him, the captain tried to pull away. With surprising strength, however, Juris Khan's daughter held on.
"Please, Kentril! Rest easy. I know what I'm about."
It seemed that she did, for the more she worked at his injury, the less and less it hurt him. Before long, he could even flex the fingers without feeling so much as a twinge.
"What did you do?" he finally asked.
"I am my father's daughter," was her reply. "I am the daughter of the Most Revered Juris Khan."
Meaning that she shared some of his wondrous skills. Caught up in her glory, he had forgotten that she had such talents.
Now that Atanna had dealt with his injury, he recalled what had attacked him in the first place. Squinting, Kentril searched the dark path for the end of the vine.
His companion found it first. "Were you looking for this?"
"Be careful!"
But she looked unaffected by the vile plant. "This could not be what stung you. This is only a Hakkara vine. In some parts of the world, they eat the fleshy bottom part. It has much juice and is claimed to be healthy."
"That spiny thing?" He took it from her, only to find it smooth and soft save for a few tiny bumps. Frustrated, Kentril ran his hands along the length of the vine, finding nothing out of the ordinary.
"You must've been bitten by an insect of some sort. Probably the same one that bothered you before," Atanna suggested. "Sometimes some of the jungle insects used to make their way to the city, despite how the mountain causes the air here to be cooler than they like."
"An insect? In Ureh?"
"And why not? You and your friends are here. Why not an insect that happened to be near? The jungle isn't that far from the edge of our kingdom."
Her words made sense, but did not completely mollify him. He looked around the darkened garden, finally saying, "Let's move on."
Only when the first glimmer of light at the other end materialized did Kentril feel any calmer. As they exited, he looked back with barely concealed distaste. Atanna and others in Ureh might find such a grove peaceful and beautiful, but to the soldier, it now seemed more in tune with the nightmarish curse Gregus Mazi had wrought. Had thetimeless exile in limbo somehow changed the plants in ways that Khan's daughter did not notice?
"Now that we've got better light," Atanna suddenly said, "let me see your hand again."
He turned it over for both of them to study—and saw little more than a few healing welts. Kentril could scarcely believe it, having felt as if his entire hand should be a bloody, perforated mess.
Running her finger over the remaining marks, the young woman commented, "In a short time, these, too, will vanish."
"It's amazing. Thank you." He had witnessed magic before, but never had any been performed on him. Kentril felt certain that if Atanna had not used her skills, he would have been much worse at this moment.
"It's only a small thing… and I feel bad that you suffered because of me. If I hadn't invited you to walk with me—"