“Well, at least they are fine,” Alex muttered.
The engines hadn’t suffered critical damage. Whether the Figaro would fly again or not would depend on how extensive the damage was to the rest of the systems. Harland approached them, patted Alex on the back and made a bow at Gaby, as a congratulatory sign for a job well done. They stared at the smoking remains of the Bestial, which peppered the whole area. The place was littered with the mechanical parts of the eldritch flying fortress, the organic parts decaying at a fast rate due to their exposure to reality without an anchor.
“Where is Fionn?” Harland asked with concern showing in his voice.
“You don’t think he…” Gaby started to ask, her heart skipping beats. She felt her stomach sink with fear.
“Third time’s the charm,” Harland mumbled. He looked worried.
“I think I see him, there.” Sid pointed to where the biggest smoldering crater was located. “You hoomans have poor sight.”
Fionn was walking towards them with a slow gait. His body was covered with bruises and injuries, but they were healing. His face was smeared with soot and his clothes were tattered and partially burnt. But it was the grin he sported that made Gaby’s heart skip a beat. The sun was in the sky, a little to the left of Fionn. He had Black Fang in his right hand and was raising his left fist into the air. Gaby ran towards him and hugged him with force. Alex walked behind her.
“Careful. I just hit the ground at high speed and my ribs are shattered,” Fionn told her. “Are you ok?”
“Now we are.” Gaby smiled at him. Alex rolled his eyes and groaned.
Gaby was happier than any other moment she could remember. It wasn’t that surviving the whole ordeal wasn’t meritorious by itself, but there was another source of happiness that would take her weeks to understand. Right now, she was just glad to be able to have all her friends with her.
† † †
“Nice job.” Harland extended his hand to Sid. “I’m sorry about your ship.”
“It’s a shame.” Sid looked dejected. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy we saved the day, but this was my life’s work and I don’t have the funds to rebuild it.”
“What if I offer you a deal, where my foundation finances the rebuilding of the Figaro into a far superior ship?”
“I thought your foundation was strapped for cash,” Sid said. “Yes, I heard you say it back at my place.”
“After this, we will find ways to secure donations. We just saved the day. And if you notice, there are plenty of plates of precious alloy littering the place. I assume they can be sold for a decent price once we salvage most of them, along with the leftover tech.” Harland smiled, patting Sid on his back shell.
“And what do you get in exchange?”
“I get to be your copilot, because believe it or not, I enjoyed traveling in that thing. What do you say?”
Sid took a while to reply, meditating on the offer and examining Harland.
“Yeah! It’s fine. Welcome aboard,” Sid replied with a strong handshake that hurt Harland’s hand. “Besides, for the first time, I get to be the taller one in a partnership.”
An embarrassing silence fell between them.
“You had to ruin the moment, didn’t you?” Harland rolled his eyes at Sid.
“We had a moment, right?”
“Yes. And you ruined it”
“Let it go,” Gaby interjected. “Just be glad that we made it out alive.”
She and Fionn walked together, his arm around her shoulders. Alex walked next to her, still limping. The five of them relaxed, sitting next to the Figaro.
“Do you see that cloud of dust coming this way?” Sid asked them after a while.
“Enemies?” Harland asked.
“Nah, it seems that they are a group of vehicles. They have the Queen’s crest painted on them. And Sam is there.”
“Good. Because we could use a ride,” Alex said, lying on his back. “And a holiday.”
† † †
The night was well advanced by the time Fionn and Harland came out from the audience with the Queen. It had been a long talk and there were some decisions to make on the next course of action. The rest of the team, as Harland had described them, were staying at the castle for the night, recovering from the effort. The damaged Figaro, as well as the remains of the Bestial, were being hauled away to the Foundation’s base, not far from there.
Fionn went to the check on the rest. They were lodged in the private chambers of the Queen’s great-grandson, who had offered them when he arrived along with Sam and the Solarian Knights to pick them up. Prince Arthur had also sent his personal physicians to check their injuries.
Fionn found Alex snoring on a sofa, knocked out from exhaustion and pain medication. The swelling on his face was finally receding. Sid, sitting next to him, was watching the news on the Aethernet with a smile on his face. Gaby and Samantha chatted quietly on the balcony and waved at him. Sam looked different. There was an aura around her that she hadn’t had before. Fionn guessed what had happened with his daughter, but there would be time later to worry about that. It wasn’t as if he could do anything if she had awakened the Gift.
Fionn left the rooms and walked to the castle gardens. They were located on a plateau over a massive rock that oversaw the city, enclosed by a pink stone fence, carved with delicacy. Fionn closed his eyes for a second and breathed deeply, allowing his lungs to fill with the cold air. He opened his eyes and saw the clear night above him. The lack of energy in the great sectors of the city reduced the available power to only vital services. The lack of light pollution allowed him to see the stars without restrictions. The dim candlelight from some houses gave the whole place a quaint, familiar atmosphere. The Round Moon and the Long Moon could be seen perfectly. In fact, he could swear that the Long Moon had its own candles lit. He often wondered what mysteries were hidden on that strange celestial body that appeared at random times in the sky. He always did.
“Nice view, isn’t it?” Harland said, taking Fionn out of his reverie. He was carrying a bottle of ale and two cups. He offered one to Fionn. “The Queen didn’t take kindly to what happened. Especially with what happened to that stained-glass window”
“That’s expected.” Fionn kept his gaze on the Long Moon. “You wanted to ask me something back there. I know you.”
“We won, we survived, rescued the professor and saved the day. Probably stopped the end of the world for a while and yet, you don’t seem happy,” Harland told him, facing Fionn and leaving his cup to the side. “Why?”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Fionn said, turning to Harland. “I’m delighted that this whole case is over and ended fine, that our new friends survived this mess. But the whole ordeal made me realize something.”
“About?”
“The Gift and what it implies.”
“I’m not following you.”
“Look, I’m thankful for the Gift, for what I can do with it. I can help many people. But having it also means that I have this target on my back. It means that these cases will keep coming my way. That’s partly the reason why I tried to withdraw from the world. It was already hard to conceal who I am or my actual age.”
“It didn’t work because I dropped it at your feet. And if the news is right, you are now a celebrity.” Harland extended his hand, moving it in an arc in front of them as if envisioning a marquee. “World’s first superhero.”
“In part, although I think Ywain would have a better claim to that title.” Fionn tried to smile. “But that’s the thing. He is not here. Izia is not here.”
“You have new friends, a new team: Sam, Gaby, Alex, even that pest Sid, and I would like to think that I’m included there.”
“Of course you are, mate. You are my tether to sanity. And there lies the problem: This is a life not conducive to long living.”
&n
bsp; “Tell that to the Queen.”
“She might be the sole exception. Look, I wouldn’t like to outlive my friends again, and that’s the downside,” Fionn replied, his voice hiding a sense of sadness and sorrow.
“That’s a fair point,” Harland grabbed his cup again. “But, didn’t Mekiri tell you that the difference in the journey lies in the path we take, and with whom we choose to walk it?”
“Meaning?”
“You have been given what many haven’t: a second chance. Not to be secluded at that lonely house outside your hometown. Not to be taking cases here and there, and checking upon your daughter from time to time. But to actually do whatever you wanted to do after the war that you couldn’t. So what you should be asking yourself right now is, what now?”
Fionn and Harland remained in silence for almost an hour, just admiring the moons, the garden, the city. The beauty of the things they just had saved.
“Can I give you a piece of advice?” Harland said, breaking the silence and looking at Fionn.
“Sure.”
“I honestly think you have earned the right to rebuild your life. Izia would have approved. So I hope that whatever idea comes to your head about what to do, includes at some point the company of a certain Goldenhart, as the media is calling her.” Harland smiled, pointing at the balcony of the room where Gaby and Sam were sleeping by now.
“What?”
“That’s the name the media is giving to the blonde woman who fought on the deck of the Bestial alongside the legendary Greywolf,” Harland explained. “You know how they like that kind of thing, giving titanfight-esque nicknames to people.”
“Alex will want to get one.”
“Yeah… it will be annoying.”
“But I think you are right.” Fionn stared at the balcony. “I would need to talk to Sam first, though.”
“I know I’m right.” Harland smiled. “And I don’t think you should worry much about Sam. She is smarter and more mature than you give her credit for. She will understand. Now, I can’t seem to catch some sleep, so do you want to join me in speculating what in the Pits is actually the Long Moon?”
“Do you have enough to drink?” Fionn asked, pouring another glass for Harland.
Chapter 22
New Plans
Gaby was bored out of her mind, verging on going crazy. She had been spending the last weeks on her grandparents’ estate on the southwest coast of Ionis, waiting for things to calm down, resting. But so much rest was getting on her nerves.
Keeping a low profile for a few weeks was a sensible course of action, with the media frenzy and the political fallout that an event like that had caused. Not every day could you bring down a humongous floating fortress, save a major city of the Free Alliance, the head of the Alliance, and a whole species while taking down a conspiracy led by an undead prince throwing a tantrum. It was so complicated that it would be debated for months.
All of them had agreed to stay out of the public eye for a while. After all, most of them were lucky to remain private citizens, their participation just a rumor. Only a few people, like her direct family or Alex’s university friends, were privy to what had really transpired. Fionn and Harland were in the spotlight, something that the latter proved to be a savvy operator in. Harland even managed to keep some of the heat off Fionn.
Alex had returned to his university alongside Sid in order to repair the Figaro and his bow. From what she had heard, Birm, Andrea, and even Quentin weren’t too happy with what Alex had done to the bow. But with their help and that of Stealth, who had joined them, repairs to the Figaro moved fast. Mercia University had agreed to house as many students from Ravenstone as possible, in order to mend fences between humans and freefolk and as a courtesy to Professor Hunt and the Foundation.
Meanwhile, she and Sam had been tucked away together. Sam was still shaking off the side effects of the magick on her body, namely the tail and the ears, and coming to terms with the fact that for a few minutes she had been dead, and now had the Gift.
Between that and Ravenstone still being closed for repairs, Sam had nowhere to go. Thus, Gaby had offered her a place to stay and rest. If anyone could help Sam understand what had happened to her, it was Gaby.
At first, Sam had acted with reluctance, as it was rare that human girls wanted to interact with her. But in Gaby, Samantha had found a kindred spirit, one that listened without judging. And Gaby’s family had welcomed Sam as one of their own, with no one minding her current appearance. They had invited her to the local festivals and Gaby’s little cousins had taken a liking to Sam, asking her to play with them in the vast gardens. Sam had agreed and now she was spending her time playing with the tiny kids. That made Gaby smile.
But deep inside of her, Gaby still felt like something was missing. She worried that after this ordeal, she had become an adrenaline junkie. In her case this could be a problem, even if she was finding a way to replace the Ice State with something else.
Gaby was sitting on her bed, absent-mindedly listening to Alex’s latest rant through the video chat. The list ranged from Sid and Harland’s endless arguing about the cost of the new additions to the Figaro’s systems to his latest fight with Samantha. And boy, did he dwell on the latter topic for hours.
She had found it odd that Alex had insisted on keeping in touch with Sam. At first, Gaby thought, it was for mere academic purposes. But Alex rarely touched those topics. Instead he took the time to talk with Sam about varied topics, from TV shows to music to historical debates, to get to know her better. While they didn’t have much in common and their opinions differed, they seemed to have a good time chatting together. All their discussions were friendly banter, always ending in laughter. So when Alex offered to help Sam to go house hunting when she arrived at Mercia U, and she had accepted with faked reluctance, Gaby understood what was going on.
They like each other. Romantically.
“Just be careful, a relationship that starts from a bickering friendship doesn’t always turn out well, and you know that,” Gaby said, cutting to the chase and interrupting Alex. “It’s obvious you like her and I think she likes you back. Just be patient, give her space. Try to be less… overwhelming. I know you mean well.”
Alex remained silent for a couple of minutes, for which Gaby was thankful. He sighed and told her.
“You know I love you, right?” Alex asked, taking Gaby aback with surprise. They had similar chats when they were younger but those had been left in the past.
“Yes, Alex, I know,” Gaby said, still surprised.
“Then, do me a favor and call him,” Alex told her with a conviction she rarely had seen in him. “Being in that massive house of yours with all those servants must be boring for someone as kickass as you. And I think both of you need to get away for a while.”
Gaby could only flash her crooked smile in reply. She ended the call and closed her laptop. She found Sam standing on the threshold of the door, resting against the frame. Sam’s ears had returned to normal and the tail was gone. Only her hair remained a bright shade of purple.
“He is right, you know?”
“How much did you hear?” Gaby grimaced.
“Enough.” Sam smiled. She sat next to Gaby. “Don’t worry. Everything is ok between Alex and me, even if he is a bit of…”
“… an acquired taste?” Gaby finished.
“Something like that.” Sam allowed herself a smile. “At least it will be good to know someone at the new place. I haven’t been in a human school since middle school and I don’t have fond memories of it.”
“Trust me, that place is different, it’s quite chill and accepting. Besides, you will have Alex and his friends to watch your back. They will welcome you with open arms. And ask you to join them in their crazy schemes. So I suggest that when in doubt, ask Andrea what to do. She is the only one with common sense there.”
Both shared a laugh.
“Thanks for the advice. And going back to that…”
“What about the advice?”
“Alex is right. You should call Fionn.”
“Since when is he Fionn and not Dad?” Gaby teased Sam.
“It’s odd to talk with my best friend,” Sam replied, eliciting a smile from Gaby. It had been years since Gaby had had a female friend. “About her fancying my adoptive father. It’s a tad uncomfortable and weird.”
“About that…”
“Don’t worry. I will get used to it.” Sam patted Gaby on the leg. “Besides, he deserves someone that makes him smile again. Just don’t make me call you Mom.”
Gaby looked at Sam and both laughed.
“Don’t worry. It won’t happen.” Then Gaby sighed. “It’s not just that.”
“Then?”
Gaby took a deep breath and cleared her mind. She grabbed her guitar from the side of the bed and fiddled with the tuning knobs. After a long pause, she started speaking.
“When I was younger, I dreamt of being a famous rock star. To share the music in my head with many people.”
“I can relate.” Sam nodded. “But there is no reason it should be a dream anymore. I have heard you sing. You would rock, no pun intended.”
“Well that’s the thing.” Gaby smiled. “I still want to play music, but I feel like it won’t be enough.” Gaby’s mind raced through the possibilities, with tension building on her stomach. She delayed her response for a while, still tuning the guitar. Sam looked at her.
“I think both issues are related. The question is, do you miss the adrenaline, or the company? My guess is that you are afraid of the first, and too confused about the second.”
“Maybe,” Gaby replied, unsure of herself, paying attention to the sounds coming from the strings. They were nearly in tune.
“You are only fooling yourself,” Sam replied, taking the guitar from Gaby’s hands. “And stop working those strings any more or they will break. They are in tune now!”
The Withered King Page 30