by Jay Swanson
Each ring had a pair, though they were mismatched. He walked around the outside until he felt certain that there were matching pairs for each, then jumped back on the original circle with a long-tail star between his feet. The ground cracked as the circle began to move again, dust drifting up in its rotational wake.
He watched each new pair swing past until the star’s partner came into view. He jumped at just the right moment, watching as the stone locked into place with the two stars side by side. There was no flash of white. No reward for his cleverness. And then there was a rumbling growl that came from behind him.
“Once guessed, once missed.” Sitting atop the thickest root of the tree was the largest lion he had ever imagined possible. Its mane was thick, but he realized that its body was different. More square.
It’s like an ox… he thought with a shudder. Gods I hope it doesn’t attack me.
“No second guess can be correct.”
“Who are you?” Chakra asked.
“Guardian of the tree. None have ever claimed its treasure, and none have ever passed alive.”
“But if I guess this puzzle, then I can have it?” Chakra wondered if this was another helpful guardian. Larger than the smallcat, he thought. Scarier too.
“No,” the ox-lion said with a smile. “I will not let you take it.”
Chakra grit his teeth at the words. The topaz glowed brighter for a heartbeat. Try and stop me.
He turned back to the puzzle. If it wasn’t pairs then surely it must be something else. He wished he knew more astrology. But these stars and suns and moons were all familiar to him. All of them were symbols of some sort, each relating to something in a book Pegg’s father had in their home…
Nations. He looked from one to the other. The long-tailed star of Elandir, the silver moon of Rinoa. They’re all nations. Then he looked at the constellations. There was a link here between them, the nations and the constellations. But what?
“I will give you this one chance to leave peacefully.” The ox-lion descended the roots like an uneven stair. “Go. Leave the armor where you stand, and go.”
The ox, the wolf… there’s the blind warrior again. What nation did she come from?
“Are you listening, boy?” The ox-lion growled. It was getting harder to ignore it.
Chakra could sense the monster coming closer. Then it snorted. He looked back over his shoulder, rage rising in his chest. I need to save Melina! “Just give me a moment!”
“None shall be given to the likes of you,” the ox-lion said. It tossed its head, then stamped its clawed hoof so hard that it drove a rut into the stone. “Leave!”
Forget this, Chakra thought. The topaz flared on his arm. I’ve had enough.
He drew the sword off his back as he turned and sprinted for the ox-lion. It snorted again and charged in the same instant, ready and rearing for the fight. Chakra yelled and dodged the ox-lion’s charge. He drew his blade up to his shoulder, driving it into the ox-lion’s side and cutting deep.
The monster roared, kicking out as it passed. The impact sent Chakra skidding across the ground. He rolled to his feet as the ox-lion turned and charged again.
Not much ceremony to this, is there? Chakra raised his sword. “Come on then!”
The ox-lion growled, rearing up as Chakra swung out with his sword. The blade whistled past, and the ox-lion rammed its forelegs into his chest. Again he went spinning, but this time he stopped on the circle. It cracked, and began rotating him away from the ox-lion.
Chakra’s head spun, beneath him the constellation of the blind warrior. “What was your sigil?” he yelled at the symbol in the stone. And then he saw it. “The lion’s eye.” The lion’s eye was a star he knew well, and he was certain that her family wore the lion as their sigil. Or was it in their crest? He didn’t know, didn’t have time to think.
The lion’s eye came and he jumped back, the stone clacking into place. And then he looked one more space to his right. The seven springs… seven stars representing another famous symbol in the expression of water. His heart dropped to his knees.
I was wrong. It wasn’t nations. It was Expressions again.
The ground rumbled as there was another loud series of cracks. And then the ox-lion came bounding over the roots of the tree. It jumped so high it looked like it was flying. Then suddenly the ground beneath Chakra was gone.
He reached out instinctively, snagging the edge of the circle as the ground outside the circles collapsed and fell into darkness. Chakra’s grip on the stone was poor, and he slid into empty space as the ox-lion recovered from its jump and made straight for him. His grip caught on the edge of the stone.
Behind him was thirty feet of nothing that disappeared below. The ground around the tree had simply fallen away.
“I warned you!” The ox-lion was furious. “There are no second guesses which can ever prove correct!”
Then the ground shook again so violently that Chakra thought he would fall. Gods! He held on as tight as he could. Let me live! Let me save Melina!
I will, he heard the smallest whisper. Slay the beasts.
Beasts? Chakra looked up as the shaking subsided, expecting to find the ox-lion ready to kill him. But it was looking at the tree. Chakra looked over just as a cluster of roots pulled from the ground and rose into the air.
“No!” The ox-lion growled as it ran towards the tree.
Chakra didn’t know what to think, but he had no time left to spare. He pulled, scrambling and scraping until he gained enough purchase to heave himself back onto the stone circle. The ox-lion ran around the tree, shouting in some strange language as more roots pulled up from the ground. Chakra didn’t understand, and then one group of roots came hurtling down. Straight at him.
He dove to the side as the roots connected, crushing the stone with a deep crack.
“Oh gods,” Chakra said as he watched another group of roots attempt to crush the ox-lion. “It doesn’t even know whose side it’s on.”
The topaz flared on his arm. He knew in that moment the rerebraces were under the tree.
This was his chance. He sprinted forward, but the roots next to him lifted up a few feet and then swung into him. He was knocked to the ground as they swung up and overhead. Chakra kicked up and then dove into a roll to avoid being crushed again.
And then the ox-lion was directly in front of him. “You fool!”
It charged him. Chakra dove to his left, rolling towards the tree as the ox-lion slid to a halt and came around.
I can’t beat them both at once!
You don’t have to. The topaz flared again, urging him to the edge.
Oh no we don’t, Chakra thought. But there was no time for resisting. His legs were already moving. Gods be good!
He tossed his sword to the side. The ox-lion was quick. It was catching up to him. He could sense it close, sense as it left the ground to tackle him. Gods help me! And then he dropped to the ground and slid over the edge.
The roots came crashing down as he went over, crushing the ox-lion as they whipped down and around Chakra. He grabbed onto them in desperation as they pressed themselves into the stone, crushing the monster. Its roar of pain was reduced to a gurgle, and then there was nothing but the bending creak of ancient wood.
Silence.
Chakra scrambled up the roots as the topaz warned him time was short. The roots moved like thick snakes, slow and deliberate, intending to kill. Ensuring death with patient certainty. He pulled himself up quickly, jumping onto the stone and grabbing his sword as he dashed for the tree.
It thinks it has you. Don’t let it realize its mistake.
Chakra saw the hue of the rerebraces glowing in the gap formed under the tree. But that was not where the topaz urged him. He ran around the tree until he saw what the topaz was after. The other roots. There were four clusters in total. One was crushing the ox-lion, two others waved in the air as if to keep balance, and the fourth held onto the opposite edge as an anchor.
It
’s leaning towards the ox-lion, Chakra realized, as he looked back up at the tree.
Move!
He jumped forward. The roots here were stretched to their limit. There were only a few thin tendrils that actually gripped the stone.
Not so bad for chopping wood after all, he thought. He smiled at the irony as he swung his sword over his head to sever them. Let’s make Father proud.
The tree shuddered with the first blow. The balancing roots shot around immediately, reaching for Chakra as he brought the sword down again. And again. And then the tendrils before him snapped.
The reaction was sudden and violent. The tree began to tilt towards the ox-lion, groaning against its own weight as the free roots fought to support it. They scrambled, searching for a hold, for anything to keep it standing tall. But nothing could stop it from plummeting forward to crash over the gap that encircled it.
Chakra stood there for a minute, breathing heavily as the roots flailed one last time and fell still. If my father could see that, he thought with a grin, he’d get out of lumber immediately.
He walked over towards the base of the fallen tree, the topaz demanding haste. In the tangle of roots that filled the broken gap sat two rerebraces, black as night with glowing veins of teal.
The roots reacted to his presence, shifting and bending to get out of his way as he reached for the rerebraces. He could sense the enchantments on them, the puzzle that had been put in place to prevent just this. But the power of the topaz was strong enough to force it open now. The tree was dying, far too weak to stop him. He was nearly finished.
He climbed up on the broad trunk and crossed to the plain beyond. Only one more to go...
- - -
The darkness was all-consuming, and growing in intensity with botanical determination. There was no stopping it, Melina knew. She couldn't even remember what it had been like before the black of night had become pervasive and the dreams had come. There were only a few, but the worst was the tower.
She found herself trapped in a room, cold black stone surrounding her to form a column of empty space to which she was confined. Loneliness. That was the only real sensation she had in this place. The constricting hopelessness of the gently curving, windowless walls agitated her, made her anxious and upset.
Chalk, where are you?
She knew he was nearby, sometimes she could even hear his voice, but he never came for her. It had been a long time since she had even heard him speak, what now felt like eons.
Have you left me? She would press against the stone, but was never rewarded with more than a sticky black sludge that came off on her hands.
She sat and cried. The sludge never came off, never left her hands or clothes.
Chalk! Where are you?
And then the wall would open. Every time it was a surprise, and every time she hesitated to approach the sudden gap in the stone. On the other side she could see stairs, broad black steps winding upwards to the top of the tower.
She would move there eventually, making her way up the stairs until the night sky welcomed her from above. There was a star that fell in the distance, the only star that had been in the sky, and then the clouds came and hemmed her in. Even the sounds of the ocean were muted, and though the moon tried to break through and illuminate the world around her, it never managed more than a somber gray.
And here she would stand, searching at the base of the tower and off to the horizon and everywhere in between. She was forgotten, left to die alone... abandoned.
She needed him now. She had never known how deeply she could. Sometime before, in a past she could barely remember, she had built walls to protect herself. She had constructed her own tower to keep her heart from touching his. She had to let him go, she knew, but now she was afraid he would never return.
She needed him more than she ever thought possible. Without him, she would die.
Chalk... please come back for me.
- - -
The forest road opened beneath them the instant the moons rose above opposing horizons. The horses nearly threw Aims and Thruss as trees shifted and grasses vanished. Thruss laughed as he fought to regain control of his spooked mount, but Aims flushed with anger at the embarrassment. The others’ horses stood among motionless trees. Soon there was a road running off into the mountains, cracked and broken yet level and true.
“C'mon boys.” Yoren motioned with his hand as he dug his heels into his horse. “We haven't much time.”
The mountains soared over them with a slow steady advance that made Aims think they were moving of their own accord, swallowing up the stars and growing greatly for their gluttony. He felt a chill come over him that he couldn't entirely attribute to that of the autumn air. The feeling grew that the mountains were not the real power with which they would contend. He tugged on the bow over his shoulder to reassure himself that it hadn't left him. Fear was growing in the pit of his stomach.
Melina can't die. Not yet. Not before I tell her how I’ve always felt. He shook his head. Chalk… the only person who ever cared enough to die for me. Aims tried to focus on the road before him, struggling to banish the confusion that was growing inside him with every passing moment.
They came around a long bend before the silhouette of a ruined castle sprung out ahead of them in the distance. Yoren saw it first, and dug his heels in to make his stolen horse move faster. Apparently he felt the growing danger as well, increasingly overwhelmed with concern for his son. Pegg moved to follow before Aims saw movement in the trees.
“Wait!” He shouted. “Stop!”
Monsters of a kind he had never seen before were springing from the forest to either side, bounding down between and through the trees like tree cats, but with a speed and ferocity that belonged to no animal.
Pegg turned to look back before the first of the monsters rammed the side of his horse and took them both down.
“Pegg!” Thruss hollered as he rushed forward to help his friend.
He yelled as the monster began crawling over Pegg's horse, lithe and lethal in its movements as it hunted its prey. Pegg was still dazed, shaking his head as he tried to clear his vision and rise to his feet. The monster lunged, its forelegs startlingly long for the length of its body, and tackled Pegg with a thud.
But Thruss' staff swung clear, and with a hollow crack he sent the monster spinning off and away from his friend.
“Get up!” Thruss reached down from his horse. “Get up Pe–”
He yelped, startled as another of the monsters came flying and landed on his leg so hard that his horse was knocked sideways three steps. Thruss brought his staff around to knock it away, but before he could connect, it slid to the ground already dead.
Aims nocked another arrow and shouted for them to move back, then sent an arrow whistling into the trees to create another flying corpse for the road. Yoren was coming back now, his ax already bloodied and his leggings torn and stained. He reached down without slowing, grabbing Pegg under the arm and lifting him enough to carry. When they got to Aims he dropped Pegg and turned his horse about.
“We are unwelcome,” he said as he reined in next to Aims. “There is a greater evil here than I feared.”
“What are these things?” Pegg asked as he drew his sword and brushed his hair out of his face.
“Shadow cats,” Yoren said as the monsters moved towards them along the broken road. “The ancients called them Woads.”
- - -
With the rerebraces firmly attached around his arms and to the cuirass, Chakra turned from the tree to continue up the mountain path. Half-way up he could see ruins, the pale columns and overgrown statues of some ancient temple. It was there the path led, and there the gemstones in his armor were taking him. They spoke so clearly to him he could almost hear the words forming in his mind. There was only one piece of armor remaining, the helmet, and with it his power would be complete.
Again it was all he could do to keep from sprinting up the mountain slope, forcing himself to remai
n aware of his surroundings and not forget the danger. But the strength of the armor had multiplied, leaving him with a sense of invulnerability. Of being indomitable.
Nothing will stop me, Lina. I’m almost done.
He came upon the foot of the path quickly enough, the mountain losing some of its dramatic height from this angle as he began his trek up the side. Thick dark foliage sprung up from the instant the ground began to rise above the plain. The path itself wound slowly before switchbacking across the face of the mountain more dramatically the steeper the slope became.
Chakra continued on, realizing only now as he began to feel the exertion of the climb that the armor had alleviated the strain of his wounds. The pain was greatly diminished, the armor as light as a simple shirt, the path undaunting despite its length and inherent difficulty. Sporadic trees rose to breach the blackened sky. Soon he was entering the ruins.
They rested on a broad outcropping that stood out from the side of the mountain like a grand balcony. Pale patches of marble shone dimly from among the twisting vines and branches of low-running plants. Broken pillars and statues stood tall to watch the moon in its passage overhead. The flat stone floor stood bare in patches, the space before him feeling much like an unkempt garden. Stairs rose to a separate level of the old temple directly ahead.
The topaz glowed brilliantly, sensing the proximity of the final piece, unwilling to slow now lest the opportunity be lost forever. Chakra could sense the urgency in its need and shared in the desire, for he was only minutes away from accomplishing his goal. He clicked the sword off of his back and brought it around as he made his way up the stairs.
Ahead of him stood nine platforms on which rested the feet or legs of lost statues. Crumbled pieces of marble lay scattered about each base. At the very center of the circle of statues lay the dry remnants of a pool, the fractured stones at its center covering the space once bored out for the flow of a fountain. The helmet lay trapped under those stones, but the topaz warned of something else entirely.