Sorry for taking so long to get this out.

Chapter 15

Maya walked among the bodies on the battlefield, trying hard not to gag at the stench of death that hung thick about the place. And if the stench was bad, the actual scenery was much worse. A murder of crows blanketed the field, black beaks pecking at flesh that had been warm not too long ago, tearing out unseeing eyes. Soldiers were at work a short distance off, burning the corpses of the gihox. The dead humans would be identified and sent home to their families for burial.

Ky walked beside her with a notable spring in his step, barely seeming to notice the dead bodies about them, the crows or the stench of death. He had been answering her relentless stream of questions for the better part of an hour now, and Maya found that her memory was becoming more and more fleshed out. There still remained several holes, but they would be filled in time, and now she had someone to help her.

Maya now knew that she was a kairu warrior and a student of master Boddai, who had raised her as a daughter. She was part of Team Stax, a group of kairu warriors who raced around the world seeking out kairu, the life energy of the universe, and the energy she had channeled earlier. She had spent a large part of her life battling her grandfather, whose name was Lokar, but he had now been stripped of his powers and apprehended by the Redakai, the order to which she belonged.

Malice, the evil twin she had fought earlier, was the person responsible for this war, and it was she who stripped Lokar of his powers. It was she who stabbed her and threw her off the mountain, where she had later been found by Roger. Malice was the greatest threat to the world for thousands of years, and her remaining general was a former student of master Boddai, and Ky's arch enemy. Maya knew that she and Ky were in a relationship, and she knew, though Ky had not brought it up, that they were quite intimate. She had regained several memories that made her face turn bright red. Those same memories also made certain parts of her body tingle.

Maya spotted a pair of familiar figures among a group of riflemen that were moving between the bodies still lying on the ground, promptly finishing off any gihox who displayed even the smallest sign of life. She smiled and waved to Cat and Roger, and the two paused in what they were doing and rushed over to the blue-haired woman. Cat wrapped her in a hug, and Roger clasped her shoulder with a smile. Maya introduced them to Ky, and the young kairu champion thanked them, for she had told him earlier that she owed them her life.

''Kieran asked me to find you,'' Boomer said, jogging over. ''A meeting is about to start, and he wants all kairu fighters there.''

''We'll be right there,'' Maya said, and she turned to Cat and Roger to excuse herself. She did not miss the slightly interested look Cat gave Boomer, and the stocky kairu warrior gave her an equally interested look in return. Then the three members of Team Stax rushed off towards what remained of Castle McCann, sweeping up Francesco and Yu Lin on the way, the two of them looking particularly haggard. The death of Dusibol had hit them hard, and their expressions were a mixture of anger and grief.

They entered the throne room, which had escaped the dragon attack relatively intact, though the windows were broken and the walls were cracked. The room was centered by a huge, round table, with maps and wooden figures splayed across it. Kieran stood with his hands planted on the tabletop, studying a map. The king had put on some clothes, a spare set of his normal clothes, but he did not wear his crown, for the gihox had destroyed it as soon as he had been taken prisoner.

The commanders of his army were gathered around the table, still wearing their armor, as were the masters of the Redakai and their commanders. Maya and her friends walked over to the table, and master Boddai wrapped her in a tight hug. Ky had told her earlier that the old man had recovered his dragon Palladion from Lokar, and was back to his super powerful self. That much was obvious, for the hug lifted her from the ground and pressed all the air from her lungs. The other Redakai also bade her welcome back to the world of the living.

''The tide has turned,'' Kieran said a short while later. ''The army of the enemy has been defeated, and Malice has been driven back to her fortress. We must capitalize on this advantage, and march our armies right to her doorstep. If we can trap her in her castle, then it is just a matter of time before we will be victorious.''

''I quite concur,'' said master Atoch. ''But while the tide of this war has turned in our favor, we must be careful not to get overconfident. We of the Redakai have sensed a great disturbance in the kairu of this land, and much of it has simply disappeared. We fear that our enemy has some other card up her sleeve, and is using it to drain the kairu from the world, hoarding it for whatever diabolical purpose she has deviced.''

''Our soldiers are weary and battered,'' master Baphamel said. ''We should give them a few days to rest and recover, before we start our march.''

''We shall go forth in three days then,'' said Kieran. ''Together we shall crush what remains of the gihox army and destroy Malice, restoring piece and order.''

The meeting came to an end half an hour later, after they had talked of medical supplies and foodstuffs. The members of Team Stax moved out of the castle and through to the other side of the battlefield which was being turned into a camp. The x caper had been landed there, and the three friends went into the craft. Mookee nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Maya, and after coming to the realization that she was not Malice, the little tangerine-colored alien wrapped his spindly arms about her waist and squeezed hard, tears of joy leaking down his cheeks.

Maya went into her room, and spent an hour just walking around the floor, studying every inch of it. She moved to her wardrobe, and found that her clothes were still there, a spare x-com and everything. She changed back into her old clothing, and made a mental note to herself that she would have to return the borrowed clothes to Cat. Next she moved to her bookshelf and started flipping through some old books. She finished by studying the pink flower in the center of the floor, and when she was done with that, she had regained memories by the score.

When she exited her room she walked straight into Cat, who had apparently come to check out the ship. Maya started to give the fire-haired woman a tour of the ship, but she could not finish it because of the holes in her memory. She called Boomer over, and asked him to conduct the tour, and that was when she noticed the devious smirk Cat wore. It struck her that the fire-haired woman had known that it would be difficult for Maya to show her around when she did not remember the ship very well herself, and that she would call someone over to conduct it in her place. Boomer was more than eager to show the taller girl around, and Maya excused herself and left the X-caper.

xxxxx

Maya sat crosslegged in the grass beside one of the streams that fed the enormous lake upon which the castle was built. She watched the water flow, and contemplated how drastically her life had changed in this one day. A thin veil of fog floated in the air about her, and it felt good on her exposed face and arms, and it was refreshing to breathe it in. Indeed her life had become a million times better, and she looked forward to the days to come, when Malice and her gihox minions were defeated.

Maya heard footsteps on the grass behind her, but she did not have to turn to know that it was Ky walking her way. From the corner of her eye she saw him sit down beside her, hugging a knee to his chest, and watching the stream flow to the lake. Serenity hung in the air among the fog, such a stark contrast to the chaos that had dominated it earlier. Neither of them spoke, neither wanting to break the silence. But then a bird cried out in the nearby woods, and other sounds followed, the silence coming undone.

''I should have come looking for you after you went over,'' Ky said quietly.

''There was no way for you to know I was still alive.''

''But I still should have come looking,'' Ky said, and silence ensued. ''By the way, how did you survive the ride down the mountain?''

''I used my inner kairu,'' Maya said. ''I remember tumbling through the snow, only half conscious, but I managed to channel my inner kairu and save my life. Well, prolong it at least, for I would have died if Roger had not found me and brought me back to the cave. And even then I would have perished if Cat had not healed my wounds.''

''I'm in their debt,'' Ky said.

''True,'' Maya said. ''They helped get word of your capture to the Redakai.'' Ky put and arm around her shoulders and hugged her tight, and Maya rested her head on his chest. They remained like that for a few minutes, watching the stream flow down and disappear into the wide waters of the lake. At length she reached down and caressed the front of his jeans, smiling as she felt the fabric tighten a bit at her touch. She could hear his heart beat faster, and his breath quickened. She felt his hand slowly slide down her side, and around to her buttocks, where he gave a caress and a squeeze. They kissed then, for the first time in months, and all the while they stroked and pinched, growing more aroused by the minute.

Ky ran his fingers over her groin, and her mouth opened slightly, her tongue sliding over his lips and across his cheek. He shrugged out of his jacket and laid it on the grass, then picked her up and placed her on it so her butt rested on the fabric. That way she would not get itchy from the grass. He pulled her boots off next, one at a time and with excruciating slowness, and he laid them off to the side. Next he removed her west and unclasped her belt. He pulled her tank top up, kissing her as the garment came over her head, his hands meanwhile going to the waistband of her trousers. Off came the trousers, immediately followed by her bra and panties.

Maya rolled onto her knees and pulled his shirt over his head, and then she went to work on his belt, fumbling with it in her haste. She tugged his trousers off and laid them on the ground with her own trousers and tank top, forming a blanket for them to rest on. She removed his underwear, flinging it to the side. Catching his lips in another kiss, she nudged him to the ground, even as she slung one leg over to straddle him at the waist. She felt him caress her with one hand, even as he guided himself in with the other. He began grinding his hips into her, and all the world was a warmer and happier place after that.

To be continued...