“What do you mean?”
“When we arrived here, you told me you had never composed a song before. You just were good at playing others. And yet, when we needed encouragement you sang that song on the Figaro. It helped us to regain focus. It was a great song.”
“It was barely a song. Just a few lines.”
“That’s my point: You created them because you had the motivation to do it. Inspiration.” Sam paused for a moment. “I think that maybe, just maybe, if you allow yourself to work on your music while having exciting adventures, you will have something to sing about. And what’s more important, you will have someone to share it with.”
“You are really insightful.” Gaby looked at her, smiling. The sparkle in her eyes had returned and for once her mind was calm. She felt upbeat.
“Thanks. I had a good example. So… what it will be?”
Gaby looked through the bedroom window. The first few stars of the night were appearing on the horizon. She took her guitar back and started to work on a new tune, an original one full of joy and excitement, one proper for adventure.
“Would you help me with a call?”
“It will be my pleasure,” Sam replied, taking out her cell phone with one hand and extending her pinky finger to Gaby. “As long as you promise that when I get bored at uni, I will be able to join you. I need my friend.”
Gaby grabbed Sam’s pinky finger with her own, sealing the promise.
“Deal.”
† † †
It was a clear sunny day when Gaby arrived at Carffadon. The repairs to the city were finished and the main square didn’t show any sign of what had happened there. She had traveled with Sam during the first leg of the journey. Gaby had helped her get installed at Mercia U and had introduced her to Alex’s friends. After that, a car from the Foundation, courtesy of Harland, had taken her to the city where she had first met him and Fionn. That Fionn had suggested it as the place for their meeting, had been an unexpected but welcome surprise, even if Harland and Alex sniggered at that.
Gaby was wearing the same blue and black leather jacket, a silky black blouse, a choker, gray jeans, and knee-high black velvet boots. After leaving her luggage at the hotel, she took her twin swords and her guitar. Her hair was loose this time, however, reaching the part of her back between the shoulder blades. She put her sunglasses on and started to walk around the town on that sunny day, sporting a big smile. For the first time in many years, she felt light and free. She opened her Gift to the world and breathed everything that surrounded her, smelling the grass and sensing the animals in the surrounding bushes. She could feel the world around her, be one with it, and feel an amount of peace and happiness she hadn’t felt since she was a baby in her mother’s arms. The sunlight washed away any concern or worry from her mind.
When she reached The Harris, she was nervous. Her heart thumped like a drum. She took a booth and ordered something. Sam had advised her that her dad wasn’t the most punctual man in the world. He had the tendency to stop and help people or pick up stray dogs and take them to a shelter. He had even arrived late to her high school graduation. But Gaby wasn’t concerned about that. Those kinds of gestures were what made Fionn himself. There would be plenty of time.
The place soon got crowded as the open mic contest began. The afternoon was falling upon the city. Mustering courage, Gaby grabbed her guitar and asked for a chance to sing. Some patrons remembered her from her previous turn at the mic so many months ago and cheered. She breathed, trying to calm her heart. It wasn’t a cover song but was the one she had started writing at her house, after talking with Sam. It was her second song if she counted the one she sang in the Figaro. With a final, deep breath, she started.
It was a song about hope, about friendship, about love, about embracing the past and looking to the future. She didn’t recall the lyrics; they just came up from her mouth as if they had been waiting for this moment. The whole place fell silent when she finished. Then slow claps escalated into a rapturous applause. She raised her eyes and saw him. Fionn stood there in the middle of the audience and was clapping. For her, time slowed down. She walked off the stage to greet him and both walked outside, to the small park near the river where they had stopped during the night they had met.
He was wearing cleaner versions of the same clothes he had been wearing that day. He had added a hoodie under the leather jacket. And of course, he had Black Fang with him, whose scabbard was so polished that it reflected the afternoon light illuminating the place. She stared at him with her crooked smile.
“I thought you had stood me up.” Gaby punched him lightly in the arm.
“I would never do that,” Fionn said, his left hand rubbing the back of his neck. He looked nervous. “I just had a slight detour… I had to put some things in order first.”
“Sam warned me of that.”
“I know.” Fionn smiled at her. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
“That was a beautiful song, by the way. Did you compose it?”
“Thank you. And yes.”
Fionn stared at her for so long that Gaby felt herself blushing.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Are you ok?”
“Yes,” Fionn replied, removing a strand of hair from her face.
“So what’s next? Why did you ask me to pack and come here?”
Fionn smiled at her. The light gave her an angelic halo. The image made his heart glad. It was the most beautiful thing he had seen in his life.
“There are places in this world I want to visit. You know? Things I missed. But I want to share that with you. Are you up for some adventure with me?” Fionn asked her, taking her hands in his.
Gaby looked into his green eyes. She remembered the dreams that had led her to this moment. And her crooked smile appeared on her face.
“Always.”
Life is full of parallels. And second chances if you learn to see them.
About the Author
Born in the frozen landscape of Toluca, Mexico, Ricardo dreamed of being a writer. But needing a job that could pay the rent while writing, he studied Industrial Design and later obtained a PhD in Sustainable Design, while living in the United Kingdom. There, he did a few things besides burning the midnight oil to get his degree:
Trained in archery near Nottingham
Found Excalibur
Discovered whether Nessie was real or not (but won’t disclose his findings)
Worked in a comic book store to pay for his board game & toy addiction
He is back now in Toluca, living with his wife and his two dogs where he works as an academic at the local university. He has short stories featured in anthologies by Inklings Press and Rivenstone Press, and he was nominated to a Sidewise Award 2017 for the short story “Twilight of the Mesozoic Moon”, co-written with his arch-nemesis, Brent A. Harris. He also won a local contest for a fantasy short story during college. But hey! That one doesn’t count, does it?
You can find his rants and other work—both fiction and opinion pieces—on his own website, www.ricardovictoriau.com, and from time to time on the Altered Instinct blog, www.alteredinstinct.com.
Tempest Blades: The Withered King, his first novel, has been in the works for quite some time. He really hopes you get awed by its kickassery.
Follow him on:
Twitter: @Winged_Leo
Facebook: ricardovictoriau
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Table of contents
Acknowledgments
Map of Theia
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
About the Author
The Withered King Page 31