by Noëlie Frix
“I know. I can call on Immortals for help. Wind travels fast and I have a certain talent for persuasion. I will recruit Immortals for your army,” Venthae offered.
“Will the other Elemental Immortals help?”
“Water will. Her husband Earth tends to be neutral in all things. I am worried about Fire. My husband can be highly unpredictable. I fear he might join with Marcus. I will try to convince him, but if there is a slight chance he will remain neutral, it is very unlikely and nearly desperate to hope he will join us.”
“Very well.”
“One more thing: I can tell you are worried about your friends. Nature is doing fine. The first bodies arrived, so he is on the verge of finding a cure. Your sister, Electra, will do fine also. She will meet quite a few dangers, but I know she is capable of surmounting them.”
“She is very much like you, isn’t she?”
“Yes, she could almost pass as my daughter. Storms feed off of winds, that is why we seem alike. Most Immortals are derived from the first five—the Elementals and Death—Electra has some of Water and myself in her. You mostly have Fire and Death in you, Nature has Earth. Shadow, Death.”
“That’s really weird to think about,” Warrior replied, her curiosity getting the better of her. “I never associated with Death,” she said wryly. “Don’t think I want to.”
“Make it your strength. You can’t deny that death is a part of your life, but that doesn’t mean you are alike as individuals.”
“I guess. It makes sense,” Heka nodded. “Sorry, go on, I think I switched topics on you. You were talking about Electra.”
“Yes, she’ll be fine. Jason, though, might be in trouble.”
“What?”
“You should join him. There are dangers in the world. Things older than us that roam. Stranger than we are and more powerful. Be careful.”
“Wait, what things?”
“That will be for you to find out, child. You will do fine,” Wind reassured her.
“One more question,” she said hurriedly as Wind seemed to grow fainter.
“Yes?”
“Have you been spying on us? You seem to know a lot about us.”
“Wind carries many voices,” she said mysteriously and vanished, leaving a warm breeze to fly through the open window.
Heka felt the ship change directions. It seemed she was now heading toward the ice desert, the pole, after all. And she had no candles or red blanket. Jason would be disappointed. She ruminated what Venthae had said. Older, stranger, more powerful dangers that roamed the planet. Immortals were scary enough. Not to mention, she was still having a hard time believing Elemental Immortals were real.
That was new, Sembor declared.
“This is all so weird and confusing,” Heka complained.
I have a feeling it is not going to get better. But don’t worry, you’ll be alright. We’ll pull through and succeed, just like we always do.
“Yes, we will. Goodnight, Sembor.”
Goodnight, he said, resting his head next to hers.
They both fell asleep, missing the changing landscape scrolling by. The water slowly turning to ice, the rain to snow and sleet.
Heka jolted awake. Something was amiss—Jason was in danger.
Chapter 12: Myegi
Jason had been traveling over shadow for a whole day now and had finally reached the arctic circle. Trélig’s research had led him to find the exact location of the Moonlight and Sunlight Flowers. Shadow had left on the same day as Electra and was now only a few miles away from his destination. But he needed his rest for what awaited him. Jason saw a small wooden shack off in the distance and headed that way—he could use it to rest for a while, gather his strength before facing whatever else was in store for him.
He was surprised to find smoke rising from the chimney, so he knocked. A young woman opened the door. She was Shadow’s height and looked about twenty years old. Her shoulder-length hair was night black with streaks of bright white throughout. She wore a long black and white dress that matched her hair but seemed too light for the cold outside. Her eyes were silver. Not gray. Silver! Her lips were full and red, her face pale.
“Can I help you?” she asked in a sweet, melodious voice.
“I…um…” Jason stammered. Man, she was beautiful! More than anyone he had ever met. Most Immortals were good-looking, but she brought beauty to a whole new level. “Um…sorry. Yes, I need a place to rest for the night. I saw this cabin and thought I might use it for shelter.”
“Well, I live here, but you are welcome to come in,” she led him inside where it was warm. A fire burned in the chimney and the smell of onion soup filled his nose. “I can take your coat. Please, sit down,” she gestured him to the table, hung his coat, and came to sit in front of him.
She smiled sweetly. Jason thought something seemed…off. The smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. She was more beautiful than Heka, but there was something cold about her, and he found himself missing Heka’s taste for wild colors. Yet that fleeting feeling dissipated almost immediately.
“Thank you for taking me in,” he said.
“I can use some company. It gets lonely here. I can’t help but wonder, though, why are you here? So far up north?”
“I’m traveling. It has always been my dream to see the aurora borealis lights. And the best place to see them is the arctic circle. You must have seen them many times.”
“Indeed. It’s quite a sight to behold. Shows us how insignificant we are. I can take you tomorrow, if you’d like.”
Jason was thrilled at the prospect of spending more time with the gorgeous stranger. Without hesitating, he replied with an enthusiastic “Yes!”
“Great. Are you hungry?”
“Starving,” he answered just as his stomach grumbled.
She laughed a crystalline laugh and brought him a large bowl of warm soup.
“Hope you’ll like it. As you probably figured already, I don’t entertain much. My cooking’s less than stellar.”
“No, no, this is delicious,” Jason contradicted. The warm food seemed to wash away his troubles and stress. “By the way, what’s your name?”
“Myegi. Yours?”
“Jason.”
“You’ve come a long way. You seem tired. I’m afraid there’s only one room, but if it’s okay with you, the couch is comfortable.”
“That would be perfect, thank you.”
They sat in comfortable silence for a while. Once Jason finished, Myegi brought the bowl over to the small sink and sat down on the couch, inviting him to do the same.
“I like to sit here, look at the fire burning,” she whispered in his ear. “There’s something about a burning fire that’s…hypnotic, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” he droned staring into the flames. He looked into the fire, not moving, not blinking, and suddenly fell asleep.
“Goodnight Jason,” she said, laying him down and pulling the covers atop him. “Goodnight, Moonlight thief,” Myegi smiled, and, in dim light of the fire, she looked evil.
*****
The next morning, when Jason woke up, the sun was barely peeking through the window, hanging low in the sky. Ashes were all that remained of yesterday’s fire. Myegi climbed down the stairs, wearing a light blue nightgown and smiling at him.
“Morning, sleepy-head.”
“Good morning.”
“You hungry?”
“I could eat, yes.”
“Come then,” she motioned him to the table. “It’s a trip to the tip of the world. You’ll need your strength. I doubt you’ve ever faced anything like this.”
Actually, Jason was pretty sure he had faced worse. But he didn’t say anything and joined Myegi at the table.
“You’ll need warm clothes.”
“I’ve got some,” he pointed to his bag. “Are you sure you want to come? I don’t want to make you take the trip.”
“I would love to come. It’s been so long since I’ve seen the lights with
someone else.” They usually die before we reach them, but I think you might live long enough, she thought. “I like you,” she said without tact—it wasn’t necessarily true, but she loved playing with people’s minds.
Jason was taken aback. He stammered, “I…sorry, I’m already…I have a girl…”
“Forget about her,” she grabbed his hand. “She’s just a friend.”
“Just a friend…I’m not so sure…I—I was pretty sure I had a girlfriend?” he cocked his head to the side, knitting his brows as if in deep concentration.
“Jason, I assure you, she is just a friend,” her voice was mesmerizing.
“You’re right. It really doesn’t matter!” he exclaimed as if he’d just had an epiphany. “I like it when you hold my hand,” he grinned.
“Me too. Now, get ready. The days are short, the nights are long, and we need to make the trip by daylight. The ice is treacherous.”
“Okay. I’ll wait for you outside.”
“Perfect,” she ruffled his hair as she passed him on her way up, making him smile dumbly.
A very small voice inside Jason’s head told him to run away, but he ignored it. He put on thick woolen pants, boots, a long-sleeve shirt, and white sweater. On his way out, he also slipped on his coat. The sun stayed low in the sky this far north. In a few hours, it would already be setting. Shadow took in the scene for the first time in daylight. The ice did seem treacherous, though it was beautiful. It formed natural depressions and elevations. The sun reflected off it, making it shine in a bluish light and creating hundreds of shadows everywhere. A surge of power coursed through his body as he stepped into one of these small pools of darkness, and it dawned on him how wrong the situation was. That something was seriously off about Myegi.
She stepped out of the house, he stepped back into the light. As his eyes set upon her, his mind seemed to forget the danger that loomed in front of him. She wore a long silver dress that matched her eyes. On top, she wore a fluffy white coat. Her hair was tied back except for two strands that fell across her face—one white, the other black.
“Come on. I’ll take you to where you want to go.” She grabbed his arm and led him north.
Chapter 13: Protector of the Moon
Heka’s boat had stopped, cut off by the ice. She jumped out of bed, strapped her swords to her back, slung her bow and quiver over her shoulder, fastened a dagger to her belt and a couple of knives to her thighs.
“Sembor,” she said, as she climbed the stairs leading up to the deck, “disappear, but stay close. I have a feeling I might need you on this one.”
You always need me! he retorted.
“True. Go and be careful!” Sembor roared and disappeared, just as Heka had asked. She leapt off board onto the slippery surface. A light snow was falling, slowly covering her. With her bright hair and startling green eyes, Heka stood out from her surroundings. She wore her blue corset and had slipped on a white coat. Her internal compass was telling her to go north. I’m heading toward the tip of the world, Warrior realized. That was where she had expected the plant to be, or somewhere near that area. Heka walked as quickly as she could without falling. The ice was sharp, the landscape unforgiving.
After almost an hour of walking, she spotted two figures in the distance, walking arm in arm. As she got closer, she realized one of them was Jason and the other a woman she had never met before. Greater dangers. Older and more powerful than Immortals. She neared them, and they only noticed her presence when she stood not ten feet away from them.
“Heka?” Jason sounded surprised. He walked toward her while the woman looked on. Heka ignored Jason entirely, and, in just five seconds, the woman was stuck, one sword pressed against the back of her neck, the other pointed at her heart.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jason yelled, baffled. “She helped me! I like her!”
“Who are you?” she asked, ignoring Jason.
“My name is Myegi,” the woman answered calmly.
“Who are you really? I guess the right question is what are you?”
“There is no need for this. Go on, let me go,” Heka did not budge which seemed to surprise Myegi. “Guess not.”
“Answer me!”
Jason seemed to realize something was wrong. He stood watching the two of them, trying to figure out what was happening. “Please, Heka! I’m telling you, you’re starting off on the wrong foot. She is really nice. We are going to see the aurora borealis lights. It will be beautiful—a real moment of pure serenity. If you behave and move those swords, you can come with us.”
Jason was totally off, and the women didn’t even acknowledge his presence.
“Tell me, Heka,” Myegi’s voice was just as cold and sharp as the ice beneath their feet. It had lost all sweetness. “Have you ever killed by accident?”
Heka narrowed her eyes, her swords stayed firm, but uncertainty danced in her eyes.
“Have you ever killed an innocent? Mmh, yes.”
Myegi changed forms. A young boy appeared in her place. He seemed about eleven years old, with light blue eyes and blond hair. Heka faltered, stepped back, and let her swords slide down.
“Why did you kill me?” the boy asked in a sad voice. “Warrior? Why did I have to die?”
“I…you!” she shoved her sword through his heart.
“You can’t kill me again,” the sword went right through him, but there was no blood when she pulled out the blade. “Remember, you already did.”
“No,” she shook her head. “No,” she repeated.
“But you did. What happened? Why did you do it?”
“Stop it!” Heka screamed. “Stop it!” tears of fury welled in her eyes—Myegi’s power left her emotionally weakened.
“You can’t stop death, no more than you can change the past,” the boy said.
“Who are you?” Jason asked horrified.
“I am the innocent boy she killed.”
“No. You are…I don’t know what you are. But you’re not human,” Heka said, regaining her composure. “Your name is Myegi, you said it yourself. So why don’t you tell us what you really are?”
“I guess,” the boy switched forms again becoming Myegi. “It won’t change anything. I serve the Moon.”
“What do you mean by that?” Jason asked cautious, his hands clenched into fists.
“You Immortals think you’re so special! You think you are the only beings with power?!” Myegi spat disdainfully.
“No. Older things. More powerful,” Heka muttered. “She meant you!”
“Yeah, Wind meant me.”
“How…What are you?” she asked again.
“A Spirit. Of the Moon. In charge of protecting her. As well as the Moonlight Flower which you seek.”
“How do you know that?”
“I read your pasts, your intentions and desires. I know you, better than you know yourself,” she said mysteriously and changed forms again. Heka stared at…herself. “You are tougher than most people I’ve met,” she said in Heka’s voice, with the same intonations and pitch. “But you have to die.” She pulled out a knife and threw it at Warrior, who simply twisted her waist. The weapon flew past her eyes, not even grazing her.
“You can’t kill us.”
“I am a Spirit, of course I can.”
“No. We’re Immortals. You can’t.”
“Wanna bet?” she said as she morphed into Jason. “Oh, kiss me, my sweet!”
“Ugh! No way!”
“Yeah, I’ve never called her ‘my sweet’,” Jason added. “Look, Myegi, we can settle this the easy way, or the hard way.”
“Right, you let me kill you easily, no pain. Or you try to resist and then it’s the hard way.”
“I was thinking more along the lines of, you leave us alone, or you might find yourself relieved of your duties as Spirit of the Moon,” Jason retorted.
“You’re funny,” she said back as Myegi. “Too bad I can’t keep you.”
“Oh no. He’s mine,” Heka said
coolly. “Even if he likes you! Now, leave us alone, or prepare to meet a painful end.”
“I thought I made it clear, you can’t get me, but I can get you.”
“So be it.”
Time seemed to speed up. Sembor jumped out of nothingness behind Myegi. He landed on her, and she fell to the ice, a half ton tiger on her back, paws shredding her dress to pieces, jaws open just above her neck.
“What?” she didn’t seem hurt, but rather surprised, and she couldn’t move.
“Let me introduce you to Sembor.”
“And Lünaí. Funny how her name is a derivative of ‘luna’ or ‘moon’,” Jason smiled as an owl as white as the surrounding snow landed in front of Myegi’s face.
“You can’t kill me. Immortals can die one way or another. Spirits can’t.”
“We don’t have to kill you. But I can ask Sembor to break you neck. I don’t know how cute you’ll look without a head.”
“You can try, but nothing can hurt me.”
“So what? If that is truly the case, we ask both of our Companions to stay with you until we have the flower. And only once we have it, do we let you go,” Jason threatened.
“Oh, it’s not as simple as that,” she strained to talk as she was completely crushed. “You need me to get the flower.”
“And why should we believe you? Besides the fact that you are so trustworthy and honest?” Heka inquired cynically.
“Look, you have proven you are admirable adversaries. Maybe we can talk. I’ll explain why you need me and you tell me why you want it.”
“Fine, but try anything and Sembor will have your head,” she nodded and the tiger sat next to her, claws out and fangs sharp. Heka, for emphasis, nocked an arrow and pointed it at Myegi’s forehead.
“That won’t do any more good than the sword. Your weapons pass right through me. So will claws and fangs. I know you think you can’t be killed, as Immortals it makes sense. But the Moon is more powerful than you. She can kill you, and if you refuse my help, she will as soon as you touch the flower.”
“How?”
“It’s ancient magic. Even older than Immortals. If you tell me why you want the Moonlight Flower, and if I think it’s a worthy cause, then you can have it.”