Courage

by Angela B. Macala-Guajardo

  As far as Kismet’s history went, he knew that it had been rough, yet full of medical advancement. Daio never would’ve jeopardized Kismet because it was too valuable a world to cause harm to. Other people would have no problem baiting him here like Nexus had done to Phailon on Phaedra. But this was it, wasn’t it? Nexus’ prophecy was in play. There would be no more traps or assassins; just the consequences of the war’s results. “You can release the information now.”

  The doctors broke out into relieved grins.

  Arryk got up. “Excellent! I’ll be right back with some friends.” He whisked out of the dorm room.

  Donai retrieved his cell phone and began thumbing a message to someone. “Thank you. It means a lot to us.” He finished his message and tucked his phone away. “Kismet is a mostly atheistic world. The world’s morale is more or less indifferent to whether gods exist or not, but there’s something instinctively comforting about having something bigger and wiser watching over us. Are there really gods out there?”

  Aerigo nodded.

  “What happened to ours?”

  “I don’t know. Whatever happened, it was well before my time.” He had a feeling he knew where this conversation was going.

  “Is there... anything... you could do for us? We all feel so abandoned. Maybe it’s a ridiculous thing to ask. I don’t know. It’s just... my gut says things aren’t supposed to be this way. Yes, we have other worlds keeping our spirits up, but it’s not the same. Did Kismet ever have a god?”

  He’d guessed Donai’s thoughts right. “Of course. Your existence isn’t an accident. As far as relieving your godless state, I’ll see what I can do. But Rox and I have something we must do first. I don’t know if we’ll survive, but if we do, we’ll come back to Kismet, and hopefully with a god who’ll claim you.” If they survived Nexus and his madness, he could do something about Kismet’s godless state. But for now, it had to wait.

  “Thanks,” Donai whispered.

  “I’m not making any promises. What we’re about to do is very dangerous. The dragon venom is nothing compared to it.”

  “What are you about to do?”

  Aerigo gave Donai a measuring look. He was used to keeping his affairs secret from uninvolved people like Donai and the others. He’d even kept his affairs vague to Yayu and everyone he’d befriended, all so they wouldn’t worry about him, much less their own vulnerability. Letting mortals know about the conflict plaguing the divine realm was usually unwise. However, Donai and his fellow Kismites had gone so long without a god, what would they fear? “We’re about to confront a dangerous god.”

  He let out a thoughtful “huh.” “Good luck with that. I’m sure that’s inadequate to say, but I honestly don’t know what else to say.”

  “It suffices. There isn’t anything you can say. Hope for the best and keep moving forward with your lives in the meantime.”

  Chapter 27

  Roxie followed Jenna to the reception desk, and was greeted by the sight of Aerigo turning into a celebrity among the hospital staff. People were crowded around him, speaking in rapid Kintish. Just about all of them had their phones out and were taking turns taking their picture with him. Several small robotic machines were floating around in the air over everyone’s heads, all of them angled towards him.

  Aerigo put his arms around the shoulders of two staffers who stood on either side of them as a fourth snapped a few shots. He then noticed Roxie walking towards him. Roxie guessed that he’d excused himself in Kintish as he broke from the crowd and hurried towards her, his face full of awe and joy. He was clean-shaven and wearing his white shirt for once. He looked exceptionally handsome with the white contrasting his olive skin.

  He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. Keeping her arms around his waist, she leaned back to smile approvingly at him. He smiled back with the smile that made her chest flutter, then he threaded his fingers through her ponytail.

  “You should wear your hair down.”

  Roxie held his hand to her cheek. “How ‘bout after all this craziness? I’m not fighting for my life with hair in my face.”

  Aerigo gave her a conceding nod. “Fair enough. How are you feeling?”

  “Clean. Refreshed. Ready as I’ll ever be.”

  He draped an arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her close, his arm muscles flexing against her shoulder blades. “Good.”

  Roxie took in the throng of medical staffers watching them converse. The hovering robots had angled towards her and Aerigo. Several staffers took pictures of both of them together. “How are we paying for their services? I don’t think they’ll take my grandmother’s credit card.”

  “Precious metal. Gold. I gave them a handful of coins that’d probably pay for a hundred emergency visits, but I don’t care. I’d give them a whole backpack of gold for saving your life.” He threaded his fingers in hers. “We’re just going to give these people a few minutes of our time, and then we’re off.”

  Donai exclaimed, “Misha!” then squeezed past the throng of staffers. A moment later he reappeared leading two women who looked like they were native to India, yet had purple lips, ears, and hands. One of them looked slightly younger than him, and the other the same age as Roxie, both beautiful. The three of them spoke in Kintish as they drew closer. Donai gestured to them a few times as he spoke animatedly with his arms, and the two women gave her and Aerigo fascinated looks. Donai broke away and stood before them.

  “Aerigo, Rox, this is my wife Naomi.” He held a hand out to the older one. “And my daughter Misha.” He pivoted his arm to indicate his daughter. “I told them about you last night. You’re like living pieces of history. I thought it would be neat to have them meet the both of you. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “What do you mean?” Roxie said.

  “Your kind saved our world many thousand years ago. You’re living proof that Aigis exist.”

  “Oh.” Donai’s words made her feel honored, even though she hadn’t done much to be held in awe. Yes, she’d helped with Phailon, but Aerigo had taught her stuff on the fly to help her keep up and be useful. Well, that had taken a lot of guts to do. On top of that, she’d kept her cool while people died all around her, and while Elves and monsters tried to kill her. Maybe she was living up to the whole hero image after all.

  Misha said something in Kintish to her father, who turned to the two Aigis. “She just wants to give you both hugs and get her picture taken with you. I would love to have the three of us with you. Would that be alright?”

  Gosh, it was strange hearing people she didn’t know want their picture taken with her. Still, she’d take it over being surrounded by people that wanted to kill her. “Sure!”

  The teenage girl named Misha more bounced than walked over to Roxie. Aerigo let go and stepped back and Misha gave her a tight, friendly hug, then smiled with impeccably white teeth. She let go and got up on her tiptoes to hug Aerigo. He hugged her back. The sight made Roxie boil over with jealousy. After all the time it’d taken for them to get this close, some pretty stranger had the gall to run up and hug Aerigo. Hands off!

  The people closest to her and Aerigo gasped, and so did Naomi. Roxie blinked and felt the heat of her glowing eyes fade. She looked around at all the wide eyes staring at her. Misha stared too, her dark eyes wide with fright. She backed away towards her mother. Aerigo was smirking. “What?”

  Aerigo let out hearty laughter. It was the most beautiful thing she’d heard. It was cliché and mushy to think, but his laugh, coupled with a big smile, soothed her jealousy. “C’mere.” He pulled her into a one-armed hug and kissed her on the cheek.

  A kiss so close to her lips stunned her. She could do nothing but stare in open amazement with her mouth slightly ajar. Aerigo’s face was stuck in a smile.

  The double doors behind them swung open, breaking Roxie out of her reverie. Arryk marched up to them and took in the crowded scene, then them holding each other. “Oh, hey, that reminds me!” The Elf fished out a palm-siz
ed object that looked like a cell phone and swiped something over his eyes. They were pink-tinted lenses with no ear hooks. “I wanted to show you this before you left, and before I get fired for taking such a picture.” He looked like he was navigating a touch screen that only he could see, stopped at some choice item and spread his fingers, then flipped it over. Roxie and Aerigo leaned closer and squinted at the image. It was a picture of them lying together on a gurney, fast asleep. Aerigo had one arm protectively around her, and his massive frame cuddled right up against hers. She looked ill. He looked exhausted but content.

  Roxie wished Arryk could give her the picture. It was so sweet that she started willing Aerigo to lean in and kiss her on the lips right in front of everyone. She didn’t care how many people were watching anymore. Just one kiss quick enough to not make any bystanders feel too uncomfortable. She sorely wanted a taste of romance before they prepared themselves to confront Nexus. Hadn’t they earned it? Aerigo licked his lips.

  Was it just her, or was Aerigo’s face getting closer to hers?

  Arryk said, “By the way, have either of you seen Kabiroas?”

  Yes, his face had been gravitating towards hers; however, he straightened up and diverted his attention to the Elf, one eyebrow raised.

  “He arrived last night to visit you and see how you were doing, but he got a heavy dose of air poisoning. Now he’s missing and I can’t find him. He--is something wrong?”

  Aerigo rushed to his backpack sitting on the reception desk, retrieved his dagger, and tucked the sheathed blade into a side pocket at his waist. “Rox, be on high alert. Search for someone older than me.”

  Roxie fell into a loose fighting stance Aerigo had showed her on the cruise ship. The name Kabiroas sounded familiar, but she couldn’t recall where she’d heard it. It wasn’t Earth, Sconda or Druconica. It must’ve been the Elf she’d exchanged a few words with while she tried to protect Rooke. She sent her mind vision out along the hallways and rooms. Arryk’s age got her attention, but he was only half Aerigo’s. Her mind snagged on every person she encountered, until she got re-accustomed to spreading her mind vision for hundreds of yards, and floor after floor of building. Aerigo hovered near her with his hands balled into fists.

  “Aerigo, what’s wrong?” Arryk said.

  “No one should know we’re here. The Elf who followed us isn’t a friend. Get your back to the wall. Everyone needs to get their backs to the wall.” He turned to the throng and spoke to them commandingly in Kintish, and pointed to the waiting area. Most of them stared without moving. A few had the wit to do as told. He shook his head, irritated. “Rox, stick with me.” Aerigo cautiously approached the first set of wooden double doors that led deeper into the hospital.

  The throng of staffers began speaking in hushed voices to one another. Even though Roxie couldn’t understand a word, she found it distracting.

  Arryk hurried ahead of them and waved a hand in front of a scanner built into the wall. “The only way you’re opening these doors without proper ID is by breaking them. And we use bio-IDs.” The wooden doors swung open, revealing an empty corridor.

  Aerigo horizontally swiped the air with his arm. “Sedal!”

  Arryk yelped and flung himself against the wall.

  Roxie didn’t see anything, but she felt the air pressure change for a moment.

  Aerigo cast another spell that made the air ripple like wave of water rolling towards shore, but away from them. The ground shook.

  “By all that lives and breathes!” Arryk said. “What are you doing?”

  “Shh!”

  Roxie scrutinized the immediate hallway for any signs of movement and anything out of what looked ordinary. She saw nothing. She turned around, humoring the possibility that Kabiroas was hiding among the staff. The throng of people had shrunk to maybe a dozen people. Most of them had taken one of many black leather chairs lining the walls and vaulted windows. The streets outside looked like a typical city block, minus the fact that no one was walking by. No large ages came paired with the people in her mind vision. No Kabiroas.

  Aerigo said to Arryk, “Do you have access to any defensive spells?”

  “You bet.” The Elf began whispering in a flowing language spoken mostly on the tip of his tongue. He weaved his hands through the air, like he was rolling something up, then passed his hands over himself as if he was throwing something onto his head. He marched over to the throng and began casting the defensive spell over one person at a time.

  “Don’t get complacent. He’s an assassin. He’s probably been slipping unseen through doors as people used their IDs.”

  Roxie remembered the moment she and Aerigo had found themselves inside a ring of Elves with crossbows leveled at them. They’d appeared out of nowhere just by throwing back their hoods.

  Arryk passed his hands over each person’s head, then said something in Kintish that convinced them to either sit down or stand against a wall. Once he started disappearing on the other side of the throng, he said, “What the--” A spray of blood erupted from his neck. He clamped his neck and staggered backwards against the nearest wall. Donai and his family yelled his name and rushed to his side.

  People gasped. The remainder of the throng backed in the direction opposite Arryk had fallen. Aerigo lunged towards the throng but stopped before he reached it, searching for Kabiroas. Roxie brought herself closer to him as another spray of blood splattered the throng. A woman went down. Cries filled the air. Aerigo lunged again, at the sound of metal cutting air, but there was no sight or sense of the Elf.

  Roxie rushed to Arryk’s side and knelt by him. He was grimacing and taking in ragged, liquid breaths. Misha and Naomi huddled on the ground near him, and Donai held one hand clamped over Arryk’s hands. Blood seeped through their fingers.

  Donai said, “Rox, go behind the desk and bring me the big red bag. It should be near the floor. Hurry!”

  Roxie glanced at Aerigo, who stood near the doctors that hadn’t made it to a wall. A blade sung through the air and a man went down clutching his throat. Aerigo lunged past the fallen man and grabbed at empty air. He snarled, then swung circular punches and kicks in the air around him, but connected with nothing. He pushed the remaining doctors towards the sliding glass doors, then dragged the downed man towards a wall. He rose into a fighting stance with his back to the glass doors.

  Roxie ran behind the desk with superhuman speed, located a big red leather bag sitting on the floor, out in plain sight. She grabbed it, then rushed back to Donai and shoved it against his leg. He thanked her and began rummaging around for whatever he was looking for. Roxie felt the air pressure around her drop as she got back into a fighting stance. The tip of a scimitar materialized right in front of her face. She leaned out of its path and felt air rush by her cheek and ear, then reflexively brought up a forearm to parry the thrust. She connected with the Elf’s arm, sending it high, but a second blade came horizontally. She rushed inside the blade’s arc and tackled Kabiroas to the ground, landing on her knees with her hands pinning his shoulders down.

  He vanished with a crack.

  Roxie’s hands dropped to the floor and found herself staring at white tiles. What just happened?

  “Doppelgänger!” Aerigo exclaimed. “Rox, get up! He’s not going to show himself until he moves in to make a killing blow.”

  Roxie surged to her feet, fists below her chin, and did a full three-sixty scan of the reception room. Kabiroas was nowhere in sight.

  A blade sung through the air. Aerigo danced out of the reach of two dancing blades as either the real Kabiroas or a double of him pressed the attack. The Elf was just as tall as Aerigo, yet so lean and moved with surreal grace. Aerigo took a strike to his shoulder as he caught the double’s other wrist and seized his throat. The double disappeared with a crack. “Rox, behind you!”

  Roxie turned just in time to duck out of a sword thrust. She rolled towards the desk and two blades came at her head. She tripped over a person sitting huddled against the desk
as she dodged, then fell against the desk. Kabiroas stabbed at her stomach with both blades. Roxie log-rolled out of the way and side-kicked him in the ribs. That double vanished with a crack as yet another blade came down at her head from the other side of the desk. Roxie cross-blocked the scimitar. The blade drew blood, but not much. She grabbed Kabiroas’ arm with both hands and hauled him over the desk, throwing him head-first into the floor. That one vanished with a crack, too.

  People scrambled away from her as they kept low to the ground. Three doubles were attacking Aerigo. He was holding them off with his fists and dagger, but he was taking a lot of nicks on his hands and arms.

  Before Roxie could run in to help, she sensed someone over seven thousand years old on the floor above her. No, it was closer. She looked up into the face of an Elf dropping towards her, a shiny dagger and a pale hand leading the way.

  In what felt like slow motion, she flung her arms out and leaned her head out of its path, but the motion present her chest. She twisted her torso and lifted her feet off the ground as she reached for Kabiroas’ dagger-wielding arm. She missed his wrist, but at least the dagger sunk into the floor as the Elf landed on top of her as she wrapped an arm around his forearm and punched him in the face. She heard a series of bone cracks, but he didn’t vanish like she’d expected. Kabiroas fell on his back and lay limp with blood dribbling out his mouth and nose, his grey eyes staring lifelessly at the ceiling. Three more cracks came from Aerigo’s direction. He suddenly found himself fighting only air. He relaxed his stance and took in the inert Elf on the floor, eyes blazing red.

  Roxie got to her feet, feeling a little lightheaded, and looked at her forearms. They’d stopped bleeding already. Kabiroas lay at her feet with his neck at an odd angle and his chest eerily inert.

  Aerigo came over and pulled the shiny dagger out of the floor. It was made of some silvery metal with a multi-faceted crystal for a tip. “Diamond,” he more spat than said the word. Holding the blade out horizontally, he snapped it with a swift chop and caught the broken piece midair, then set both halves on the desk. His arms were lined with cuts that were already fading. He took Roxie’s hands in his and held her arms this way and that, checking her for injuries. His touch did anything but send shivers up and down her spine, even when he took her gently by the chin to inspect her neck.