The Ballad of the Pipe Player
Page 8
Chapter Seven: Accusations
Emrys grimaced as he slowly, carefully, painstakingly levitated the injured boy to the ground. Moon held back a whimper as she took in the full extent of Coju’s injuries.
Coju’s entire torso was covered with triangular lacerations, all streaming a waterfall of red. His skin seemed red and wind burnt. Emrys tentatively flipped him over, and the grotesque red burns of dragon fire caused Moon to vomit. Emrys very carefully eased him onto his back again. Moon’s face was slick with tears. Her hands glowed a violent blue color as she frantically tried to heal Coju’s cuts. They closed up as her hands passed over it, but reopened a moment later. Emrys was attempting to revive the boy. After a few moments, Coju’s eyelids fluttered open. Moon smiled a watery grin.
“Hi Moon,” Coju croaked. Moon waved a glowing hand. Coju turned to Emrys, who was on the brink of tears himself. Everything was pretty hopeless to him. Well, let me ask you this, reader. If your best friend-enemy…frenemy was dying grotesquely, would you be crying? If you answered no…An-Song help you…
“I want you to bring me back to Orlyn, my hometown,” Coju whispered to Emrys, weakly attempting to lift his head. “I don’t want to be buried someplace that’s meaningful to somebody else. I want my home.” Emrys glared at him.
“You are not dying,” Emrys stated stubbornly. Coju’s eyes flitted to Moon, who was sobbing obliviously.
Coju turned back to Emrys and raised an eyebrow. “Telling me lies isn’t making me feel any better,” he commented.
Emrys shook his head violently. “NO! You’re not dying, and you’re going to live and prosper and be a wizard!” he shouted. Without leaving space for the dying boy to respond, Emrys kept shouting. “YOU WON’T DIE BECAUSE MOON AND I ARE GOING TO SAVE YOU! YOU WON’T NEED TO BE BURIED FOR A WHILE YET! PROBABLY NEVER! CAUSE YOU ARE A WIZARD, AND THEY HAVE SOME IMMORTALITY SPELL US WITCHES HAVE WANTED FOR EONS!!! BUT YOU WON’T NEED TO DIE! KNOW WHY? BECAUSE WE’RE GOING TO SAVE YOU! GOT THAT COJU?” Emrys peeked over at Coju’s face. “Coju?”
All signs of breathing had stopped. Emrys shook Coju by the shoulders. The boy didn’t stir. His eyes had shut at some point during Emrys’ rant. Moon lifted her head from the puddle she’d created. She looked at Coju, then Emrys. Then she stood and slapped him. Stars and stripes shot through Emrys’ vision. He stumbled back. “Moon! What the heck?” Emrys demanded, rubbing the offended cheek. Moon’s eyes flashed.
“You killed him!” she wailed. “You could have saved him, yet you did not! You always have not liked Coju! You don’t want him on quest! So you kill him! He lived a moment ago!”
Emrys felt two rather powerful emotions. One was anger. How could she accuse him of killing Coju? She knew quite well that the dragon had! The other was amusement, a funny thing to feel at the time. Moon was speaking clearer than she had the entire journey. But alas, anger tends to win out in these situations. And thus, anger won out right then and there. But this is Emrys, not Coju. So reactions are predictably not the same.
“Princess,” Emrys stated coldly, “I did not kill Coju. The dragon Chazor did. I enjoyed spending time with you on this journey, but I am thinking we should not meet again. You clearly cannot see common logic. I am not a healer, you are. So, if it is anybody’s fault Coju is dead-” Moon winced, fresh tears beginning to flow, “the fault is yours. Good day, Princess.”
With that, Emrys tossed the dead quester over his shoulder and began walking. Moon shrieked, “Where be you going!?!”
Emrys responded with one word. “Orlyn.”
Moon shouted, “And you be just leaving me here?”
Emrys answered her. “If you go north as far as you could go, you reach the shore where you can swim to the island. Enjoy the rest of your life.”
Moon screamed rather pointlessly, “GO AWAY!” Emrys, of course, answered.
“Gladly.”
Without further ado, Emrys started walking.
!@#!@#!@#!@#!@#
Princess Moon of the Island slowly trudged along the beach. The crescent moon shone brightly. Normally this would make her happy. A tiny island covered in green came into sight amongst the cerulean sea and the indigo sky. Normally this would make her jump for joy. It did not. The princess prolonged the time before she plunged into the warm spray of the ocean to swim home. The saltwater of the ocean banished all signs of the self-generated salt water streaking down her face. As she leisurely swam home, six words escaped her lips.
“Good night, Emrys. Good night, Coju…”