Excerpt - Kumasagi Part 3: Wife
Please enjoy this excerpt from Kumasagi, Part 3: Wife, available at Amazon.
“Ta’lak!” the other divers called his name. They tried to join him but he waved them back up the slope, already dragging their Amala by the arm away from the lake.
“Let go! Let go!” She slid and struggled against him.
A rumbling came to their ears, even louder than the roar of the bore on the river. Ta’lak saw the sea coming over the dunes at the end of the canyon. The water swelled through the Tines, crumbling one and sweeping the debris of it over huts and fields in the valley.
Ceasing to struggle, the Amala climbed up the slope with the divers. They came to the temple, half of it already ruined by the primary wave of the quake. She sat trembling next to Ta’lak as they watched the ocean roll into the lower valley. It pushed everything with it—people, buildings, bricks, and boards, smashed canoes and broken trees, crushed boulders and churning mud.
As the debris sank into Ayunath Lake, the Amala stood up to her feet. The diluted water of the lake rose, submerging the pods completely from view before flooding over the shore. Ta’lak pulled on the Amala again. She finally joined the divers in scrambling over fallen bricks to even higher ground as the lake and ocean waters swirled together, bubbling up the slope to the very steps of the temple.
Finally the ocean wave exhausted itself, spreading and thinning as it reached for the back end of the valley. The Amala untied the shoulders of her muddy dress and wriggled out of it until she wore only her short underslip.
“Amala!” Ta’lak said. “It’s not swimmable!”
“Bring a boat,” she said to the divers. She stepped carefully back down to the edge of the floodwaters.
“The boats are all destroyed,” said one diver.
“Find something!” Ta’lak told them. He hurried to follow their Amala. “Don’t dive in,” he begged her under his breath.
She dove in, and came back up bloody.
He cursed her, then waded in to follow. She set out with strong strokes toward the lake, never noticing the blood or the pain. Ta’lak struggled to catch up to her, earning his own scrapes from floating and sunken debris.
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The Kumasagi Fantasy Saga
Kumasagi, Part 1: Destin
Kumasagi, Part 2: Kandargiri
Kumasagi, Part 3: Wife
“Ta’lak!” the other divers called his name. They tried to join him but he waved them back up the slope, already dragging their Amala by the arm away from the lake.
“Let go! Let go!” She slid and struggled against him.
A rumbling came to their ears, even louder than the roar of the bore on the river. Ta’lak saw the sea coming over the dunes at the end of the canyon. The water swelled through the Tines, crumbling one and sweeping the debris of it over huts and fields in the valley.
Ceasing to struggle, the Amala climbed up the slope with the divers. They came to the temple, half of it already ruined by the primary wave of the quake. She sat trembling next to Ta’lak as they watched the ocean roll into the lower valley. It pushed everything with it—people, buildings, bricks, and boards, smashed canoes and broken trees, crushed boulders and churning mud.
As the debris sank into Ayunath Lake, the Amala stood up to her feet. The diluted water of the lake rose, submerging the pods completely from view before flooding over the shore. Ta’lak pulled on the Amala again. She finally joined the divers in scrambling over fallen bricks to even higher ground as the lake and ocean waters swirled together, bubbling up the slope to the very steps of the temple.
Finally the ocean wave exhausted itself, spreading and thinning as it reached for the back end of the valley. The Amala untied the shoulders of her muddy dress and wriggled out of it until she wore only her short underslip.
“Amala!” Ta’lak said. “It’s not swimmable!”
“Bring a boat,” she said to the divers. She stepped carefully back down to the edge of the floodwaters.
“The boats are all destroyed,” said one diver.
“Find something!” Ta’lak told them. He hurried to follow their Amala. “Don’t dive in,” he begged her under his breath.
She dove in, and came back up bloody.
He cursed her, then waded in to follow. She set out with strong strokes toward the lake, never noticing the blood or the pain. Ta’lak struggled to catch up to her, earning his own scrapes from floating and sunken debris.
--------------------------
The Kumasagi Fantasy Saga
Kumasagi, Part 1: Destin
Kumasagi, Part 2: Kandargiri
Kumasagi, Part 3: Wife
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