Skyfall

K'mess Menace

I felt like he'd punched me in the gut. "No. Not Akiki. He was much too sure of himself to be insane."

Kalo looked at me pityingly. "Isra. Only the mad are truly confident."

I shook my head. "I... How?"

"I don't really know how it happened. His father, a Nix, says that he has always made stories like that. Since birth. He's the joke of the K'mess, a blot on his father's reputation. Isra, don't let him make you believe, okay? He is not right, and what he tells others is not the truth."

I ducked my head. "I... I have to talk to him again. Just to be sure."

He took my chin. "Isra, he is insane. Every Avatar knows it. Even the Lik'mas warn us away. Akiki is a lost cause; leave him be."

I looked into my Promised's eyes. He was so serious, so concerned for me. Yet Akiki was just as serious as he recounted his dream. He told me that the Nixes and Lik'mas couldn't be trusted.

Could they have spread a rumor, a story about the Grun that tried to warn us of danger? What kind of insanity would that represent, not in Akiki but in our leaders?

No, that was an evil thought. The Lik'mas were good, and honest. The Nixes served only Kiemo. Akiki must be the rotten part in this system.

Still... a dream from Kiemo. One doesn't lie about that.

"Alright, Kalo. I promise to not speak to Akiki the insane again."

He smiled at me, relieved. "Good. Now, we are to meet for a meal soon. Sikka nearly bit my head off when I said we were out of chestnuts."

I grinned. "Kiemo forbid Sikka can't eat his beloved chestnuts."

The camaraderie was right, and normal, and still it wasn't the same.

.:***:.

The Boa entertained us that night, flattening the grass with their bellies as they sang. The K'mess and Issili enjoyed the rythmic rustle of the grass; the Masli saw a beautiful, flowing pattern emerge.

I toured the air with Kalo, catching an updraft from the K'mess' nightly bonfire and gliding around in circles to view the valley from above. After the celebration Kalo and I landed in the Boa section to socialize and congratulate them.

I found Ik and Nen, the Boa I spent the afternoon with, and they made me touch their bellies. They were soft, and moist with dew.

There was a growl behind me, and the Boa yelped and scurried. I flinched.

Of course, it was him.

"Isra."

"Akiki."

"I believe I have a solution."

"I'm sure you do." I turned away.

He was silent for a moment, confused. Then he circled around to my front. "It involves a sacrifice, on my part. But most of the work falls to you."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why do I not like this plan, Grun Sans Akiki, son of a Nix?"

He crossed his arms and swished his tail, clearly trying to understand my predicament. Then his eyes flared. "Brakk!"

I backed off, scared of his suddenly furious visage. "Why didn't you mention that particular piece of information, K'mess Menace?"

He growled, teeth glinting in the light of the far-off bonfire. "Who told you that lie? My father? The Lik'ma?"

"It was my Promised, Kalo. He told me not to speak with you, because you would fill my head with lies."

He snarled, pacing away. Then he turned back to me. "Do you believe it? That my mind is twisted, my tale untrue?"