Ghost Monkey, стр. 53

Taro Taro simply laughed, then said, "To the courtyard, Sugriva. You will be shifty in no time!"

SUGRIVA FINALLY SHIFTED into his janaav form: a monkey with the height of a man, more or less. He had a tail, the ability of human and monkey speech, opposable thumbs, and hair covering his entire body, except immediately around his eyes. When he finally did shift, he looked up to Taro Taro, and asked, "What's next? I want more." Adrenaline coursed through him, and he could do anything in that moment.

"You have a broken leg," she said, chuckling. "You can't train on a broken leg. Let it heal." The earth absorbed Taro Taro up until only her torso and head were above it. "And tell me about this kid of yours. About your fear of the spirits. I know you fear me." She bore her teeth, jagged crystals like the earth spirits at the temple. "You whisper it in your sleep, then scream like a little girl coming face to face with a monster. What degrades you, monkey? What—"

"Enough," Ishva roared. Flames whooshed and whirled up her body, replacing her humanoid form with a pillar of fire. "Back away from him and do not pry. His story is his. If he is ever ready, he will share it. Until then, you will stop demanding his story or that he mates with you. Now go back to the temple and tend to your duties."

Taro Taro sighed heftily, and said, "Fine, mom." She rolled her eyes, then sulked off to the temple.

"Congratulations, Sugriva. I am proud of how far you have come, and that you are keeping the corruption at bay."

He thought of the treatment every morning. Ishva walked into his room, conjured fire, and burned him so the corruption escaped as smoke. It came out of his mouth, eyes, nose. After a few seconds she stopped, but he felt sore and disoriented.

"You burn me every morning to keep me in check. I do nothing.” He smirked. “I do look forward to not having singed hair."

Ishva chuckled like a mother watching her child make a big deal out of a small issue. "Your positive attitude is why healing is happening. My flame only helps nudge you in the right direction."

Stairs led below the temple and Ishva flared her hair so they could see down the path. Several murals made of gems and different rocks lined the path. There were creatures of shadow. Numerous rubies symbolized blood spilled.

"The war was long ago," Ishva said. "I wasn't an Ashtadash yet. I wasn't even born yet."

"Born?" he asked.

"Most people assume that refers to when I was created, thrust into this reality by a fire that got out of control. But you believe it means something else. Most janaav do think something else." She put her hands on the mural, on a fire spirit who was tall and handsome with white skin and red hair. His eyes blazed blue. "But yes, born. I was human, and this man was my father. My mother was human. Vayner was a kind spirit, though passionate. He was always loud." She giggled like a girl. "He would come into the room and roar as he told us about his day. Mother would chastise him, telling him to keep his voice down. It only made him louder.

"Then mother got sick. Vayner was one of the few fire spirits to heal through burning, and he tried healing mom. I begged him to wait until we could get a water healer. It was less traumatic, and it was less likely to kill." Her hand dragged down the mural, taking a layer of thick dust with it. "Mother did not make it. I was the eldest and showed the best potential with fire, so father took me with him. I trained, and, one day, I made the choice to become a spirit."

"I've heard rumors but didn't know it was true. Is it difficult? Does it hurt? Do you miss being mortal?" The questions tumbled out of his mouth one after the other as if all one word.

Ishva smiled, a matron indulging her child. "Do you miss being just a monkey? I was a passionate girl in life, but not nearly as passionate as I am now. I understood why Vayner could only shout when he spoke. Everything I do is either fully committed or not at all, just as the fire either burns with all its might, or not at all. Water is compassionate. Earth is defensive and often reserved."

Sugriva said, "Taro Taro did not get that message."

"This is very true. Taro still loves and defends, but she does it in a unique way. She was also human, but brought a little more of that humanity with her than most of us. It is what makes her the warrior and caretaker she is." They continued down the hall. A swarm of demons splashed across the mural, ugly and disfigured beyond even what Sugriva had seen in his short time fighting them. They overran the walls of a castle. Vayner was depicted as surrounded in a castle.

Ishva continued, "I was at this war. I was there when the demons pushed against the first kingdom. I don't remember its name; I was only there briefly. But I remember its fall—the bloodshed and screaming. Vayner told me to protect the citizens fleeing, and I did, until finally we came to Jaya. By then, Vayner taught me nearly everything." She paused, her hand caressing the cheek of his image. "He sacrificed himself in the city with several other spirits and men, so that we could escape." She looked to the floor, kicking at the dirt, the brilliance of her hair dimming. "So I could escape."

Sugriva fidgeted. He hated grief. Should he stand and wait until she recovers from a centuries-old wound? Or should he embrace this woman he barely knows—a woman who could burn him to a crisp?