Moon 514- Blaze and the White Griffon

by Drew Briney

  As Blaze rolled the folded hologram pad back and forth in between his hands, his emotions churned inside. Part of him wanted to read the updated information on weaponry history and the various styles of martial arts from the Classic Age – this was his contribution to the database – this was his life’s investment. Another part of him wanted to listen to some smooth jazz music while reviewing inspiring artwork – the specialized portion of the database overseen by Evelia. Another part of him wanted to find entertaining holographic movies to watch so that he could escape reality, a devastating reality that was both discouraging and heartbreaking.

  The other disgruntled part of him wanted to throw the database into the nearby pond and hope that it would lose its waterproofing properties before it was discovered.

  It represented a lifetime of lies. It had all been a lie.

  His Order was not the only Order. His Order of five hundred people did not represent the only survivors from the Third Holocaust. The people in the other Orders were not the only other survivors on the planet either – there were natives in Malaysia – and scientists. Blaze didn’t know how many natives lived around here but Dr. Boyd’s transmission suggested that there were enough to launch an invasion against all of the Orders. And as far as Blaze knew, there were at least six other Orders in existence. He could only guess that they housed a similar number of people. In total, that would suggest more than three thousand people were working on this database – before the explosion that is – and if there were natives who were considering an invasion – and if those natives had a high likelihood of succeeding as Dr. Boyd’s transmission suggested, that meant that there were probably a couple or a few thousand natives as well. In short, the world’s population was at least ten times larger than what Blaze had been led to believe since he was a toddler. And none of that said anything about the possibility of survivors around the globe. Despite everyone else’s skepticism, Blaze was convinced that there would be more people … somewhere.

  In retrospect therefore, he wasn’t too surprised there were other survivors. The earth had always shown an amazing resilience in restoring life upon its surface. Many species had nearly gone extinct only to flourish a half dozen generations later – why should people be any different? It was only surprising that there were so many who were so close – and that Dr. Boyd knew about them all along but never told anyone from Blaze’s Order. Why?

  And now, before he could meet any of them, the people from the other Orders were all gone. While Blaze might find survivors somewhere else, it was a very real possibility that none of them would be of his same race. Maybe that didn’t matter. Intellectually, Blaze supposed that it didn’t really matter. Internally however, he somehow felt that it did matter to him – he just couldn’t explain why.

  “Blaze.”

  He hadn’t heard her coming but she was not too far away. Her gentle voice immediately brightened Blaze’s mood a little. She was soothing to him. As far as he knew, she was the only human he had ever met that was not dead now. She was his soul mate – at least, he believed she was. Everyone else was just a memory. His mother was dead. His father was dead – as were his cousins, his aunts and uncles, his friends, his mentors – and his enthusiastic protégé: Jazz. Blaze would have given almost anything to have the young boy’s cheerful and energetic companionship now.

  “Blaze, the magic woman has something she wants to tell you.”

  The words were both welcoming and annoying. Depressed and confused, Blaze was feeling more than a little antisocial. That is why he had withdrawn from Evelia and the magic woman for the last several hours – he wanted to be alone. At the same time, he recognized that his thoughts were not leading him down any productive route. And he was too exhausted from his earlier weaponry practice to feel like doing anything overly physical for another hour or more so outside conversation might be preferable to silently venting his angry thoughts.

  Beyond these thoughts, Blaze still hadn’t considered the possibility of saying no to any request Evelia might make of him so of course, he consented. He would follow her to the end of the world – or much further.

  He stood up. No words coming to his mouth, he merely pressed his lips together and nodded politely towards Evelia as he started walking towards her. Sensing that Blaze still wasn’t up to much conversation, she kept her words to a minimum. “She has good news,” she ventured. “Can I tell you?” She asked the question with a tentativeness Blaze had never before detected in her voice. She was one of those girls who remained unreasonably and interminably oblivious to her suitor’s interest in her. It didn’t matter that everyone she knew told her that Blaze was crushing on her. If she didn’t hear it from him with her own ears, she just wouldn’t believe it. To be fair, Blaze was her unwitting twin: he was equally oblivious, equally dense.

  “Sure,” he answered, trying to sound as hopeful as possible. He really couldn’t imagine what good news she could have for him. What could it be? he sarcastically considered. We are having Sambar deer for dinner? Unlike last night, it will not rain constantly so we should get a good night’s rest. We found an entire style of martial arts that was missing from the older version of the database ...

  Blaze had updated Evelia’s copy of the database from the newest copy he acquired from Unit 5 so it was reasonable to believe that she may have found something interesting to share – but it seemed unlikely that the magic woman would have found anything that she would have considered good news to share with Blaze. In short, he wasn’t very hopeful about any news she might want to share. On the other hand, Evelia seemed significantly more cheerful than she had been yesterday after the explosion so maybe ...

  “Jazz is alive,” she cheerfully beamed. She would have been happier to announce that someone in her or Blaze’s family had survived but she was happy to report that anyone survived those blasts. Neither Blaze nor Evelia nor the magic woman had considered it worth returning to the Order for a while – it seemed entirely irrational to believe that anyone would have survived the explosion and surely, the natives who were behind the attack would be scouring the place for survivors. No, it seemed best to wait a while before venturing that direction. But this news changed everything.

  “How could that be?” Blaze began, half disbelieving and half ecstatic at the possibility. “And how could she possibly know that?” he added, considering the improbability that the little alien woman had made a trip that direction.

  “How did she know the explosion was coming seconds before it happened?” Evelia teasingly asked in reply. “She says the earth speaks to her. And the earth says that Jazz is alive – as are several others from Dr. Boyd’s team. For some reason, the natives did not attack his ship or his crew and for some reason, Jazz is with them. She also says … well, I should probably let her explain the rest to you,” Evelia finished. “I’m not sure I fully understand.”

  “BLAZE,” THE MAGIC WOMAN SOOTHINGLY PURRED. “Would you please sit down?” Nearing a foot taller than the alien, Blaze almost seemed monstrous in size next to her lithe little frame. Her voices were characteristically gentle, making her request nearly irresistible. Like a small child sporting a charismatic smile while asking a grandmother for a treat, she had a way of being very convincing without needing good reasoning to back up her thoughts.

  He lowered himself down to his knees and then settled upon the grassy undergrowth that permeated this lower portion of the canopy of trees. He expected that she might sit down across from him so that they could speak on the same level.

  But she didn’t.

  Sauntering towards him with slow but steady steps, she was a giraffe, stretching her neck in front of her body to look at the top of his head. Then, gently resting her hands upon his shoulders, she leaned her body weight squarely upon his shoulders. She is even lighter than she appears, he observed, wondering why this alien woman would behave so oddly.

  “Reviewing your memories,” she began, “I have seen your hair several times in your bathroom mirror but
,” she emphasized the last word with enthusiastic pomp, “your eyes do not see colors the same as mine do.”

  Awkward, Blaze thought, having not considered some types of memories he may have given the magic woman access to. He blushed involuntarily. As a teenager, he had been involved in several strange conversations but this one might be taking the cake. Thousands of people were dead. A race of humans was nearly extinct. Nearly everything important to him had been destroyed – but this alien wanted to talk about his hair. Weird, he concluded.

  Without asking, the woman leaned harder on one hand while using the other to flip through his hair, moving it around as it if was some sort of floral bouquet in need of rearranging. While Blaze felt deeply indebted to the woman for saving Evelia’s life, his instinct was to push her away, stand up, and then lecture her about common standards of human etiquette. With strong deliberation, Blaze mastered his thoughts and governed his tongue. Meanwhile, he glanced over at Evelia to see what her reaction might be.

  She quietly giggled and covered her mouth.

  Not helpful, Blaze considered, now more embarrassed than he had been a moment earlier. What is the best way out of this situation? he wondered, growing more anxious by the second.

  “As I suspected,” the magic woman announced in that airy tone she created when one of her vocal cords was breathy and the other spoke normally. Then, seamlessly switching back and forth between her two voices, she continued. “Evelia, grab your cube. Find the holographic lens for ultraviolet light and come look at this.”

  All of a sudden, Blaze felt like he was on a nature show. Some birds have different coloring under ultraviolet lights – colorings that are supposedly more attractive to prospective mates. Some flower species have spectacular coloring under ultraviolet lighting to attract certain species of butterflies or bees as well. Now, Blaze suspected, his birth-marked hair, where the magic woman had spent the majority of her time primping, was to be the center of attention – and what is it supposed to attract? he silently queried with no small degree of annoyance and stress – aliens with glowing skin, feathery eyelashes, and tails?

  How this could possibly be very interesting, he didn’t know and how this could possibly be worth the time and energy to go through this embarrassing exercise, he couldn’t fathom. Nevertheless, out of respect for the alien and what she had done for Evelia, he sat motionless.

  Meanwhile, the magic woman was not entirely oblivious to his reaction. Although she hadn’t bothered to look at his face, she felt his energy change and inwardly mused at his cultural reaction. Such an odd species, she mused as Evelia found the lens she was looking for and brought the cube to the magic woman as requested.

  “Look right here,” she instructed Evelia, pointing to the center portion of Blaze’s white blaze of hair as she stepped away so that Evelia could see better. “You must look very closely.”

  As Evelia bent over, she leaned on Blaze’s shoulder and put her weight on him to tease and then smiled down at him as she was enjoying his mild embarrassment. But her teasing tone quickly dissipated as she held up the holographic ultraviolet lens to view Blaze’s hair.

  “Wow!” she exclaimed with great enthusiasm, intuitively reaching her hand to touch his hair before thinking better of it. “I cannot believe it. Blaze! Wow. I have to take an image.”

  Great, Blaze inwardly moaned. How much worse is this going to get? There was no way he was going to tell Evelia that she couldn’t take a close-up image of his hair. On the other hand, few things could seem more humiliating. With prodigious patience and with a great degree of self control, Blaze sat quietly and set his face to be as expressionless as possible. He looked only at the ground. He focused on the feeling of the grass beneath him. He waited for a bug to crawl by to distract his attention. He wished this silly exercise was already over.

  Holding the holograph pad in front of Blaze and pushing some markings on the side of the screen that controlled the size of the three dimensional image, Evelia asked him a simple question. “Do you know what that is?”

  Despite knowing very well what she was talking about, Blaze was speechless. Any child could tell you, he thought – but nothing escaped his mouth.

  Seeing his puzzled look, the magic woman felt perplexed for a moment. She had carefully reviewed many of his life’s memories the day before. She recalled seeing similar images in Blaze’s memories – why wasn’t he recognizing it now?

  “Blaze! … Really? You do not know what this is?” Evelia asked in disbelief.

  “Of course I do,” he finally managed to blurt out.

  “Well …?” she encouragingly invited him to answer.

  “It is a griffon,” he confessed, embarrassed and more than a little frustrated that Evelia might believe that he really didn’t know anything about this mythical creature. “An oddly shaped griffon with teeth,” he revised.

  “A white griffon,” the magic woman corrected.

  That is when things almost started to make sense to Blaze. The griffon was a sacred symbol to the magic woman. Dr. Boyd mentioned that in his memo. It made some sense that she might be interested in this sacred symbol spontaneously appearing in nature – especially when the image was indisputably clear. But what did that have to do with Jazz? why was this good news? and what did any of this have to do with anything?

  BLAZE BURNED WITH INQUISITIVE SKEPTICISM and it proved too much to hold it back. “Pardon my overly suspicious question but … why would you care whether or not this child survives?” Even ignoring Dr. Boyd’s painful betrayal, he had too many fresh wounds to manage and too many challenges to his reality to be his normal, trusting self.

  In silent response, large, mesmerizing blue eyes gazed intently into his own. As she tilted her head slightly and squinted ever so subtly, the sunlight caught them just right, resulting in a flash of effervescent green colors that disappeared as quickly as it came. Her long feathery eyelashes seemed calming, almost hypnotic as they slowly pumped up and down.

  She understood his skepticism. She understood his feelings. Having read his mind and having reviewed his memories, she uniquely knew how he would react and she intuitively understood which arguments would win the day with him. But she had no intent to influence his decision here. She was just a messenger.

  “The earth wills it so,” she answered softly and so matter-of-factly that the young warrior nearly accepted this seemingly random response without further questioning. Blaze met her gaze and wondered why this alien woman looked at him so longingly, so tenderly. But despite her apparent sincerity, her answer was essentially nonsensical and he didn’t understand it. Before he could respond, she began speaking again.

  “I constantly strive to be one with nature. In return, she feeds me information that is beneficial for me and for herself as well. I do not understand all things she asks of me and I do not understand why she wants me to be involved in your journey. I only know that what she asks is good and right – and she wants you to save this child who can change the future of your species. She is the key. For the sake of your species, you must preserve her life.”

  “And the earth told you that her tribe intends to sacrifice her tomorrow evening under the moon rise?” Blaze responded respectfully, but with overt skepticism.

  “Yes – just like she told me your home would be destroyed and that your pupil is still alive.”

  “I see. So the earth wants me to steal a child from its mother and father?” Blaze’s question was not sarcastic but neither was it entirely laden with faith in the magic woman’s words.

  “Young one,” she began, using both of her vocal chords to patiently emphasize her words, “the father is dead. The mother is dying. Tribe chieftains believe these deaths are a sign from deity that the child will prove to be a curse upon their people – not just their tribe. There is no other family who will care for the child. One way or another, the mother will not survive. Their fate has already been cast.” She paused, considering her words and whether or not she had left anything ou
t. Silence reigned for a few moments but neither Blaze nor Evelia dared make a comment until the alien woman had finished speaking. Her breathing, in quiet settings like this, unmistakably resembled the purring sounds of a house cat. “Nevertheless, you uniquely have the choice to determine the fate of the child. Her fate is not yet sealed.”

  “But why will you not save her yourself?” Blaze questioned – but more thoughtfully this time. The lithe little alien looked upon Blaze with prodigious patience and offered an empathetic smile that finally began to reach his unsettled heart – and she could see that reflected in his eyes. She could feel it in the energy surrounding him.

  “It is for someone of your species to save your species young one. And the earth chose you, not me, to fight this battle. I trust her judgment – and she alone can judge these things. The only question is, which path will you choose to follow?” Between her soothing, purring voice, her graceful movements, her thoughtful eyes, and her genuine smile, Blaze was powerless to question her sincerity or motivation.

  Evelia, in contrast, had been won over by the magic woman the day before – if not before then. She was convinced the moment she heard the magic woman’s story about the infant child named Elayuh. And it never occurred to her to fear for Blaze’s life if he left to find the child among a hardened and bloodthirsty tribe of natives: if the magic woman spoke it, it must be truth that the earth willed it; and if the earth willed the survival of the child, it could only will the success of her savior; and if Blaze was to succeed as her savior, he must be able to survive the challenge.

  It never occurred to her that he might die while preserving the child’s life.