Chapter 67: Search for a Home

The next morning, Harry and Roland collect Akamu, Hinano, Taito and Teuila in the jolly boat and bring them aboard the Esmeralda. Nuncio explains his recommended search plan for a suitable site for a new settlement. He favours a large inlet located on the southwest coastline of Madiana. The inlet is midway between the Potiora and the former settlement on the south coast. If we can find a suitable place in or near the inlet, then the location would appear to satisfy the conditions the four Tomyris impose.

The Esme’ has travelled past the mouth of the inlet on our journey here, and our trip to and from Bardos. However, we haven’t ventured into the inlet itself. As soon as Yesha reports that the engine room is ready, Jaro orders the anchor to be lifted and we set off. I join the Tomyris and several of the off-duty crew in watching the west coast shoreline as we steam south. Before long, Akamu sidles towards me, obviously hoping for an opportunity for sex.

“Sorry, Akamu,” I say. “I’m no longer in heat, so I’m off the menu.”

My wild romp with Arona last night was the final burst of my fortnight in heat. By the time I awoke this morning I soon realised that my sexual urges were gone. In another few days it will be Arona’s period in heat ... that’s assuming she’s not pregnant following her numerous sexual games with TM on our journey here.

I don’t point Akamu in the direction of Nyra, who is currently going through the short intermediate phase between adolescent and adulthood. In another month or two Nyra will become a full Elf Maiden. She’s already emitting weak sexual pheromones that TM detected yesterday. Nyra’s own urges are starting to manifest, although, for now, all she can manage is to create a tingly effect that encourages flirting but nothing more intimate.

“So Elf Maidens are like Tomyris females,” observes Akamu. “Incapable of sex when not in heat.”

I don’t reveal that Elf Maidens ... and I presume adult female Tomyris as well ... are able to enjoy some limited sexual pleasure when not in heat. Like all males of the Potiora races, Akamu needs the scent of a female in heat to enable an erection. Fortunately, nature has ensured that the aggressive and territorial tendencies of males are also neutered when not aroused by a female in heat. It’s one of the main differences between the Atenex and Tomyris variants of ‘elves’. Male Atenex retain an aggressive and territorial nature at all times.

“Elf Maidens are simply the Thurnian branch of the Tomyris,” I say. “We have the same genetic make up as Tomyris women.”

My comparison isn’t strictly correct as there have been some variances as successive generations of Elf Maidens are born. I’m sure the Tomyris living on Bardos will also be slightly different from those hibernating in the Aegle Potiora. With so few Tomyris surviving the catastrophes of the last two hundred years, those of us of born in Thurn will now be in the majority. Hopefully that fact isn’t going to cause problems for any branch of elven race.

Jaro reduces the Esme’s speed as we enter each bay on our southward route. It enables those on watch to take a close look at the shore. The Tomyris reject the first couple of small bays because of their proximity to the volcano at the north end of the island. I’ve no idea what distance Hinano and the others regard as ‘safe’, but the four Tomyris clearly think we need to go further south. There are three more small bays before we reach the large inlet. The inlet measures about two kilometres across the entrance, and reaches up to five kilometres east at its farthest point. This area is far more promising as a site for a settlement. The hills that hug the western coast north of here now recede much further inland, leaving a large flattish area extending about ten kilometres to the east, with hills bordering it to the north and south.