by Davis Ashura
William cut off whatever she might have said and did what he knew she both hated and loved. He picked her up and slowly squeezed her until she yelped.
“Ouch! That hurt, you jerk,” she exclaimed in feigned outrage.
William set her down, kissed her on the forehead, and grinned unrepentantly at her outrage.
“You’re doing it all wrong,” Jake said, coming over to them. “This is how you hug Selene.”
“No!” she cried, pretending fear.
Jake picked her up and squeezed her as well until Selene yelped again.
Selene frowned fiercely, but a smile lit the corners of her lips. “You two are the worst,” she said. “It’s a wonder I put up with either of you.”
“We love you, too,” William said, ruffling Selene’s hair.
Selene’s irritation simmered down. “Come back home, and maybe I’ll forgive you.”
“Annoying those wishing you well, are you?” Ms. Sioned asked. Her eyes twinkled as she made her way to William and Jake.
“Only those who deserve it,” William replied with a grin.
Ms. Sioned smiled. “I’m fairly certain I don’t deserve it.”
Jake viewed Ms. Sioned through narrowed eyes. “I don’t know,” he mused.
“You do if you know what’s good for you,” Afa said, arriving then and rapping William on the leg with his cane.
“Ouch! I wasn’t going to squeeze Ms. Sioned. That was Jake.”
“Then it serves you right for squishing that poor girl.” Afa winked at Selene who grinned back at him.
Ms. Sioned took William’s head in her hands. “Return home,” she said. “Promise an old woman that you will.”
“I’ll come back.”
“And you,” she said to Jake.
“I’ll do my best.”
She gave a satisfied nod. “Then Godspeed to both of you. I offer my blessings and my prayers.”
“I won’t ask you to make such a promise,” Afa said. “Instead, I will make you a promise. I will haunt your shades until the last sunrise if you don’t return.”
“Shouldn’t that be the other way around?” William asked. “If we die, shouldn’t we be the ones who haunt you?”
Afa smiled. “I’m a magus and a raha’asra. Who says I can’t haunt a shade?” He slapped William on the shoulder before shuffling off to talk to Mr. Zeus.
Ward lurked nearby, apparently waiting for a moment of privacy, and he moved to take Afa’s place. “I don’t have fine words of encouragement for you,” he said. “I will only remind you of what you’ve learned. Both of you have become adept at fighting with the Elements. Remain calm and trust your training.” He squeezed Jake’s shoulder. “Don’t panic, and you’ll be fine.”
“Yes, sir,” William and Jake said on top of one another.
Ward nodded to them, and moved on to speak to some of the others.
“You would be shrewd to remember his advice,” Jessira said. She had also been standing nearby. “A wise warrior fights with control and precision, not with passion and unfocused power.”
“How many battles have you been in?” Serena asked, apparently overhearing Jessira’s advice. An instant later, Serena held her hands up in surrender. “Don’t answer. I’m sure you’ll say something only you and Rukh would understand.”
Jessira chuckled. “You’re learning,” she said. She stepped over to Rukh's side, and they stood as an island of tranquility amidst the raucousness all around them. The two of them spoke softly to one another, but their gazes flitted about as if assessing for lurking peril.
“You go into danger for reasons we respect and understand,” Mayor Care said to Mr. Zeus. “Know that you have our full support and our prayers. May the Lord of Light see you succeed.”
“Thank you, Lilian,” Mr. Zeus said with a brief bow.
“We’ll leave you to settle the last of your plans then,” Mayor Care said. She gestured, and those not traveling to the Far Beyond stepped back and quieted.
Mr. Zeus clapped his hands and called for attention. “I want to go over the plan one more time,” he said. “We all have synchronized watches, and each team has two satellite phones.” He held up one of them. “They’ll allow us to coordinate our actions.”
“A wise decision to have purchased those devices,” Mr. Karllson said.
“Right,” Mr. Zeus said with a sharp nod. “William, Serena, Julius, Rukh, Jessira, and I will go to Sinskrill. We—” he indicated himself and Julius, “—will pretend to capture Fiona, but we’ll let her go before the necklace can choke her. The Servitor will hopefully then remove it.”
“If the Servitor doesn't remove the necklace, she won't be able to leave the island,” Rukh said. “Can we not clip it?”
“Trying something like that might trigger the necklace to kill her,” Serena said.
“Regardless, we need to ask her what she wishes,” Rukh replied. “If the Servitor doesn’t remove the necklace, Fiona either stays on Sinskrill or accepts the risk of us trying to remove it by force.”
Mr. Zeus cleared his throat. “At any rate, if the Servitor removes the necklace, Fiona will stay with Travail. Then we’ll—”
“Telling us our roles isn’t good enough,” Rukh said, interrupting Mr. Zeus. He strode to the front of the group and stared about with an intense gaze.
Beneath that penetrating stare, William felt the need to stand up straighter.
“I want to make sure each of you knows your role and those of your brother warriors.” Rukh focused his attention on Serena. “Which beach do we go to on Sinskrill?”
“Barrier Bay,” she answered.
“And failing that? William?” Rukh asked.
William mentally gaped. Rukh had taken control of the meeting from Mr. Zeus without raising his voice. How? Mr. Zeus had a personality like a force of nature.
“William,” Rukh repeated, his tone sharp.
William’s attention snapped to the here and now. “Holy Shield, sir. We disembark either at Barrier Bay or Holy Shield.” His words spilled out in a rapid-fire cadence as if he faced a drill sergeant.
“All of us?” Rukh pressed.
“No, sir,” William said. “Julius and Mr. Zeus will stay aboard and take the boat to Village White Sun on the southern coast of Sinskrill. Fiona should be there.”
“How will she know to wait for them?”
“Because I’ll dream her the instructions,” Serena answered.
“After Mr. Zeus and I let Fiona free, we’ll reboard the boat and wait offshore, past the horizon,” Julius said. “We’ll stay there in case something goes wrong with the onshore crew and they need an emergency pick up.”
Rukh nodded. “Good.” He focused on Daniel’s family. “What about your role?” he asked.
Daniel answered. “We’ll enter the saha’asra after you give us the go ahead. The mahavans will come our way through the open anchor line.”
Rukh’s brows lifted. “And?”
“And I’ll drain the lorasra so we can easily defeat them.”
“And if they have nomasras?” Rukh asked.
“We fight and defend until you arrive,” Mr. Karllson said.
Rukh continued with his questions, going everything in detail and forcing them to think and respond. Minutes later, he finally appeared satisfied with the answers he’d received and gave a sharp nod. “Now we’re ready. Let’s roll.”
The last of those heading to Sinskrill left, and Jake’s group readied themselves. Jake checked his pistol one last time, making sure the safety was on. While pistols wouldn't work on Sinskrill, maybe they would in the saha'asra in Australia.
“Here we go,” Lien murmured.
“I’ve got the anchor line,” Mr. Karllson said, and a rainbow bridge split the air in front of him. “I’ll keep it open while everyone else crosses.”
“I’ll go first,” Jake said. “I’m already tethered to it.” He braced himself, preparing for that first horrible step. He hated this part. He took a deep breath,
as if about to plunge into an ice-cold lake.
“Hurry up,” Lien said.
Jake shot her a glare. One last, deep breath, and he stepped onto the anchor line.
His body stretched like playdough. He frayed. Colors and sounds screamed past him. A white light opened. The destination neared, and he readied himself.
His essence collapsed together, and he exited the anchor line, entering the saha’asra in Australia. He immediately stepped aside to leave room for the others.
While he waited, he examined the saha’asra. It was every bit as bleak and empty as previously reported. Cold, too. Stark cliffs rose like red towers from the canyon’s floor, and boulders littered the ground. A few scattered trees broke up the harsh orange and red landscape, and Jake found himself already longing for the cool blues and greens of Arylyn. A lonely wind scraped a tumbleweed along the bare dirt, a perfect counterpoint to the harsh cry of a Tasmanian raven.
Jake lifted his head and inhaled sharply when he noticed the scent of precipitation on the cold air. Weird. He would have expected the desert to be hot, not cold enough to need a fire and feeling like rain was on the way.
A second later, Daniel exited the anchor line. Next came Jason, Lien, and Mrs. Karllson. Mr. Karllson was the last to arrive.
“The Jackaroo’s over here,” Daniel said after the anchor line closed. He led them to a cave a half-mile away where the sport utility vehicle had been stashed.
Jake had the keys, and he unlocked the vehicle. When he climbed into the driver’s seat, his breath frosted. The interior was as cold as the desert outside.
“Wait,” Mr. Karllson ordered.
Jake sensed him source his lorethasra when the smell of woodsmoke briefly filled the Jackaroo’s cabin. A whistling sound echoed through the cave.
“I had to undo the braid preserving the Jackaroo,” Mr. Karllson explained before he settled into the passenger seat. He or Mrs. Karllson would probably take the wheel later on, but not the others. For some reason, magi didn’t like to drive.
Jake started the engine, slowly backed out of the cave, and eased forward, taking it slow on the rugged canyon floor. He didn’t want to break something or flatten a tire on the rough terrain. The vehicle's springs and frame squeaked and barked as he drove, and once the engine warmed he cranked up the heat.
“Thank you,” Mrs. Karllson said, reaching her hands for the air vents in the rear. “My Ethiopian blood wasn’t made for this cold weather.”
An hour slowly crawled by before they reached the highway. With a sigh of relief, Jake slipped the Jackaroo onto the road. The vehicle lurched when its wheels hit the pavement, and he shifted through the gears. Bit by bit, the underpowered vehicle picked up speed, and the outback sped past the windows, a blur of red, brown, and occasional green.
By now the interior had grown warm, and Jake dialed down the heat.
“Is there any music?” Lien asked. “If I’m going to be stuck in a car for ten hours, I don’t want to sit around staring at the scenery. I want to sing.”
Jake smirked. “I heard staring at the scenery might be better than—”
Daniel nudged him in the back of his head, a clear signal to shut up.
Jake stifled what he’d been about to say: your singing.
“Better than what?” Lien asked.
“Better than the pop music you like,” Jake said. “I only brought Rush.”
“Boy music,” Lien declared, sounding disgusted. “No Madonna?”
“Absolutely no Madonna,” Jake said.
“We’ll have to purchase another vehicle when we come across a town,” Mr. Karllson said.
“Preferably a bus,” Jake said. “After all, Travail’s at least ten feet tall. He won’t fit in anything smaller.”
“I’ll drive the second vehicle,” Mr. Karllson said.
“We’ll only need the other vehicle if the plan works,” Lien said.
“Don’t say that,” Jake told her. “You’ll jinx it.”
Lien scoffed. “Don’t tell me you believe in jinxes. You know it’s not real, right?”
"Don’t tell me you don’t believe in magic,” Jake scoffed back. “You know it’s not real, right?”
Lien didn’t have an answer for him, and Jake glanced at her, Jason, and Daniel through the rearview mirror. “I don’t care if anyone in here doesn’t believe in jinxes,” he said. “I do. For all we know, they might be every bit as real as the magic we use. That’s why I don’t want to hear any doubts about the plan. It will work. That’s what all of us should be saying and thinking.”
Rukh rotated in a slow circle and examined the building in which he and the others found themselves. It looked no different from the last time he’d been here, during the Trial to rescue William and Jake from Sinskrill. Windowpanes remained broken into jagged shards like canines, and cobwebs congregated upon the ceiling. They likely did more to hold up the building than the rotting wood of the rafters, he thought.
A pungent wind blustered through the shattered windows and carried the stink of brine and rotting fish from the nearby Gulf of Danzig. The breeze did nothing to relieve the underlying stench of ruin, rust, and scat permeating the building.
Rats scampered along the edges of the room in which Rukh and the others waited, hiding in the shadows as they darted about in the fashion of the terrified. For good reason. A colony of feral cats now shared the building with them.
Rukh grimaced in disgust. As places of magic went, this saha’asra in Gdansk, Poland—their last stop before the Faroe Islands—was singularly unimpressive. No lovely meadows, golden beaches, or mystical waterfalls to rouse a sense of majesty and magic. This saha’asra contained no more than a single abandoned warehouse overlooking the Gulf of Danzig whose waters shimmered gold—the only visible beauty here—while gulls lined the piers and called out incessantly in a madness of noisy stupidity.
Rukh spun about when he noticed motion at the edge of his vision. A calico cat darted after a rat. The feline reminded him of Aia, and he wondered how she was doing. He hadn’t heard from her in more than a year.
“She’s fine,” Jessira said, knowing what he was thinking through the connection they shared.
It had birthed to life shortly after their first meeting, when he’d almost murdered her on the Hunters Flats.
“Good thing you didn’t kill me,” Jessira added. “I wouldn’t have enjoyed that.”
“Aia’s in Sand,” Rukh said, “but I can’t hear her thoughts. According to what I’ve learned, no magi has visited that village of witches for time immemorial. I’m not sure it’s entirely of this world.”
Jessira quirked a smile. “Earth is such an odd world. Ours was simpler, kinder, and more understandable.”
“Would that our home had remained as we wished,” Rukh mused. “Before the disciples of Shet ravaged the peace.”
“Change comes to all life and to all places.”
“The change wasn’t of our desire, or the desire of our people.”
“No, but the consequences are ours to bear.”
“Yes, they are,” Rukh agreed with a sigh. “And waiting here accomplishes nothing. We have a Trial to complete.” He faced the others. “Are you ready?”
They stood up in a medley of groans. Traveling this many anchor lines in a row hadn’t been easy on them. Serena still had a green tinge to her face.
“Give me a sec,” William said, tightening the straps to his backpack and securing his sword. He checked how easily he could draw it.
Rukh hid a smile. The young man reminded him of Jaresh, his brother. Both had a foolhardy bravery that could put any member of Caste Kumma, the warrior Caste, to shame.
“One more anchor line and we’re there,” Mr. Zeus said with a grimace, as if the thought itself made him ill. “Tórshavn. The Faroe Islands.” The old man took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. “I’m ready.”
Serena’s green tinge had faded, and she flashed a thumbs-up signal.
Rukh nodded. “You have th
e anchor line?” he asked Jessira.
“I do now,” she replied.
“You could at least act like traveling an anchor line is uncomfortable,” Mr. Zeus complained.
“I could,” Rukh said, “but I doubt it would make any of you feel better.”
Mr. Zeus tilted his head in thought before shrugging. “I guess it wouldn’t.”
Rukh sensed Jessira reach out with her Jivatma, her lorethasra, as they labelled things here. A sword-cut in the air spun about and formed a rainbow-hued doorway to the infinite. It brought a taste of light and glory to the dismal saha’asra.
Rukh unpacked his sword and belted it at his waist. He checked to make sure it slid easily in the scabbard.
“You really think you’ll need that on Tórshavn?” Serena asked.
“Preparation is always prudent,” Rukh said. He strung his bow and slung a sheaf of arrows on his back. “I’ll be back.”
“I should go first,” Mr. Zeus said. “What if there are Faroese about? You don’t yet know how to make a braid to prevent someone from speaking about magic.”
“I don’t have to,” Rukh said. “They’ll never see me.” He reached for his lorethasra and Blended. From the gasps of everyone but Jessira, he knew they couldn’t see him. He let go of the Blend. “I’ll step through and make sure no mahavans are about, then I’ll come back and let you know. After that, Mr. Zeus and Julius will follow. William and Serena will come next and Jessira at the last.”
“When did he become the boss of us?” Julius muttered.
Rukh stopped listening. He focused on the rainbow bridge and conducted more Jivatma. Sounds grew clearer, his sight sharper, smells more easily decipherable. He was ready to move in the eye-blurring motion that was the hallmark of his long-dead Caste.
Rukh Blended again, and stepped onto the rainbow bridge. The sense of falling, of being torn asunder, meant little to him. Rukh had faced far worse pain. The stretching stopped, and with a sudden halt he stepped into an alley on Tórshavn.
He reached out with all his senses for a count of twenty, but no sounds of discovery came to him. He breathed easier and returned to the dank building in Gdansk, Poland, to let the others know the way forward was clear.