The Two Sides of a Sword

Chapter Nineteen

"How long is he going to be?" Rocki stood up and stretched. Her backside ached from sitting on the hard ground and her wound had stiffened, twinging with pain when she moved it.

"A while longer," said Kofi. "I guess those freaking kids ripped out something important." He sighed irritably, glancing back at the interior of the ship. "I suppose we could find something to do while he's working. Do you have anything come to mind?"

She flicked an eyebrow up, one wing raising slightly. "Do I look like I know what there is to do around here?"

His dark-eyed gaze shifted towards town. "We could get a drink."

While alcohol sounded like a nice way to numb the pain, she wasn't supposed to be drinking while pregnant, so Rocki shook her head. "I'll pass." She also looked over at the town, the dusty brown buildings basking in the golden morning light. "Hey, valicara can shoot plasma or whatever, right?"

"Yes," said Kofi, drawing out the word slowly, as if he wasn't sure where she was going with that thought. Or he thought she was stupid.

"Do you think I can do it?" She raised her hands to stare at her palms, observing her lucent nails at the same time. Some were long and healthy-looking since she didn't bite them and rarely had the motivation to have them painted, which would break down the layers. Others were chipped from her latest adventures: the kidnapping, battles, and injuries. They all had dirt under them, which reminded her that she hadn't showered since she was on Kliktal.

That was yesterday. Well, if the planets are moving at the same speeds and have similar patterns. It was yesterday morning according to my time.

She glanced up at Kofi, who had narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "I don't know," he said after a moment. "One side of your genetics will win, or they will cancel each other out, or you will have both. Most likely you will have one power over the other. We can certainly try, but if you end up having more sariun I won't be able to help you. I don't know how their blades work. We would have to ask someone back home."

Home. Beaches. Palm trees. Mom and Dad. My house. My laptop. My clothes. The smell of fish and sand outside, pure air conditioning inside. Her heart squeezed longingly, but she tried not to dwell on it. "Can we try?"

He shrugged. "Sure. We have nothing else to do." He told Durck where they would be, then led her away from the ship and farther into the grasslands. "Don't ask me why it works the way it does, okay? I'm not a scientist, I don't know why."

Rocki suppressed a smile despite her leg throbbing a little from the walk. "Okay. Do I need to worry about the grass catching fire?" The grass that brushed her legs like ... like whispers of a human touch.

He regarded the tall, yellow-green grass around them. "No. It'll be fine."

"Famous last words," she muttered.

"Hmm?" He raised his eyebrows at her as he tied his hair up.

She shook her head, brown hair brushing her ears. "Nothing. What exactly do I need to do to make this work?"

He shrugged. "Concentrate. It happens you when want it to happen." He held out his hand, blasting a plasma ball over the field of grass. "It's easy. Unless you don't have the ability, of course."

Sure it is. Rocki internally rolled her eyes. It's never that easy. She held out her hand exactly like he had and stared at it, willing the same explosion to happen.

It did.

A white flash scorched across the field the same way Kofi's had, although hers was lower, so it left a wake of burnt grass in its trail. Her hand felt warm, but there was no pain and no burns. She flinched from the surprise, wings flaring a little, but kept herself from jumping completely backwards.