Hormiz was unhappy.

Lilith wanted Zeke to return to the Ivory Blade, but until she had the weapon in hand, Hormiz had to pretend to serve Zeke and make him feel safe and welcome.

Zeke was, at least, not awful company. He picked up the basics of music theory and played the harp with adequate skill. He was pleasant to look at. His voice was soft and pretty when he sang.

Hormiz had been ordered to take Zeke on a tour of the city’s main facilities. The Ironberry Processing Center squeezed the juice out of the fruit. That was all the cainkin drank.

The Branch and Vine Processing Center made almost everything in the city that wasn’t stone.

Finally, the Worm Slaughterhouse. Zeke became strangely distressed to learn all the meat he’d been eating was worm parts, but Zeke was strange, so Hormiz didn’t know if his response was normal.

There were other stations, the Silk Farm, the Mineral Distribution Center, and more, but the second bell chime had already rung, and it would be a long walk back to the Upper Suite. Hormiz would typically shapeshift into a cainkin and fly home, but Zeke could not fly. Just another reason to resent him.

So they walked back, and along the way, Zeke asked questions.

Where did the cainkin sleep? In alcoves along the city walls.

What time did they sleep? At their assigned bell chime.

Did the cainkin ever fail in their duties? All the time. Sometimes Lilith or Hormiz would control a cainkin to perform some menial task that conflicted with their assigned schedule. That cainkin would then get lost and wander until its control was reset. But there were so many cainkin in the city, a few defects didn’t slow down production.

“What do you mean, control a cainkin?” Zeke asked.

“I mean control. Watch,” Hormiz raised his hand and chose a cainkin flying overhead. Hormiz reached his mind into the cainkin’s mind and took control. He made the cainkin fly in acrobatic circles and dance before releasing it to return to its duties.

Zeke was so impressed he said nothing for the remainder of the walk home.

Upon walking up the steps, Zeke asked, “Lilith can do that too, right? She controls all the cainkin with her mind?”

“My gifts come from Lilith. She taught me to master them.”

“So the cainkin in my kitchen and standing guard at my door…”

“Are Lilith’s eyes and ears while she is away,” Hormiz finished.

Zeke’s eyes widened with fear as he realized Lilith had overheard his treacherous confessions earlier.

“Relax,” said Hormiz. “Lilith knew your loyalty wouldn’t come easily. She wants you to choose her. That’s why she’s given you this chance to beat her in a round of War Tactics.”

“She thinks I’ll never beat her,” Zeke said darkly.

“Or she thinks it will take you a long time. And in time, maybe you’ll come to love her as I do,” Hormiz said.

Zeke looked at him suspiciously. “You love her?”

“Of course! She is my queen, my grandmother, and the woman who raised me. She is wise and powerful. She makes me strong and keeps me safe. I am nothing without her. I have nothing but what she gives me.”

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“You are so much more than that! You are the last son of a sacred, magical people! You are the hope of your father and mother. You have a family of people who want you back. You are my friend!” Zeke took Hormiz’s hand in his own.

Hormiz tore his hand away. A frightening, unfamiliar emotion took him, but he said nothing. That emotion was hope. He didn’t recognize it, and wouldn’t realize what it was until much later.

Hormiz walked away and returned with the War Tactics pieces. They played several rounds, with Hormiz offering suggestions; but he took Zeke’s Adam every time. Zeke was a fine student, but War Tactics was a complex game and Hormiz had played it for years against a master tactician.

Zeke took faster to music.

Hormiz even commissioned a new instrument made, so they could play duets.

Their suppers with Lilith were cordial events. Every supper, Lilith ordered Zeke summon something for her. She never asked for anything specific. Anything would satisfy her. So Zeke summoned fruits from Eden. Hormiz was never permitted a taste, but Lilith screamed joyously whenever a strange new fruit appeared in Zeke’s hands.

Their rounds were usually over quickly. Lilith showed no mercy in War Tactics.

To his credit, Zeke faced the challenge with unwavering determination. They practiced constantly, and soon, they were playing rounds of War Tactics in Hormiz’s dreams.

Hormiz always felt safer in dreams. As a kitsune and the grandson of Lilith, dreams were Hormiz’s domain. Before he could talk, Hormiz knew how to travel dreamland.

Hormiz’s dream home was a quiet, organized space. He had shut the doors to visitors, but his orders were to befriend Zeke, so they were playing another round of War Tactics in his viewing room.

Lilith’s City looked spectacular in his dreams. All the cainkin were organized and in place. He could reach out and control any of them from here.

Again, Hormiz captured Zeke’s Adam.

Zeke groaned in dismay. “Ugh, how am I ever going to save Samaal if I can’t even beat you in this stupid game!?”

“Try to remember ‘Adam’s Retreat.’ You might have found a way out of that loss if you had retreated.”

Zeke was acting dramatic. “We’ve been at this all night. Let’s take a break.”

“Alright. What do you have in mind? Back to the caves?”

“I have another idea,” Zeke closed his eyes and focused.

Hormiz let go of the setting and allowed Zeke to direct the dream.

Suddenly they were on a sandy beach. The sun was shining between pink and purple leaves. Blue oceans touched the horizon. Palm trees lined the beach, and a great hammock swayed in the breeze invitingly. Birdsong filled the air.

It was the most beautiful place Hormiz had ever seen. He looked at Zeke as if witnessing a miracle.

“This is real? You have seen this place?” he demanded.

Zeke laughed and said, “Of course! This is where I was trying to take you before. Adam was looking into this place, but I think we outmaneuvered him. He’ll look again and find nothing of interest, and then he’ll look away, and we’ll be safe to move in. We still have to be careful, of course. You’ll want to choose an alias and a human form. It’s too dangerous to look like a kitsune all the time.”

Hormiz felt a complex swirl of emotions and he wasn’t equipped to understand any of them. “What you’re suggesting is treason and a coward’s life. You want me to hide myself! You want to run and hide to this pretty little spot of nowhere until Adam inevitably finds you? That’s your plan?”

Zeke looked rebuked. “No, that’s not my plan. This is just a silly dream. So ride it out with me. Who would you be?”

Reluctantly, Hormiz played along. He’d crafted a human shape for dream deceptions. Hormiz took that form.

Zeke whistled. “He’s handsome.”

Hormiz blushed and started walking along the beach, “I’d be stranded here with you. What would we do?”

Zeke ran to be alongside him. “Well, we could build a house. There are so many different fruits here, and my friend Raf taught me what leaves are edible. So we’ll never go hungry.”

Hormiz was brooding. “I would starve.”

“How do you mean?”

“I’m kitsune. I’m ageless but I need infusions of life essence or I will go inert. Fruits won’t keep me alive,” Hormiz explained.

“Then take mine,” Zeke sounded so earnest.

“What?”

“I mean it. If I’m such a powerful ikon, I should have essence to spare, right? So live on me. Live with me.” Zeke stepped forward and took Hormiz’s hands.

Hormiz was overwhelmed and dreaming. He barely had the thought before his arms were around Zeke, holding him close.

They moved to the hammock and watched the sunset with Hormiz’s head on Zeke’s chest and his arms around Zeke’s waist.

And Hormiz was happy.