by Janna Ruth
“And yet you did it!” Lukas grins. He leans forward to clasp Wulf’s hand. “Greatest of all time, right there.”
Obviously, Wulf is so great, he’s even got modesty down to a T. “Not even close.”
Lukas won’t have it. “Sure you are. So, tell us, how did you get him on your own?”
Wulf sighs. He came here so fast I doubt he truly had time to process his mission. “All right, all right. But I’m warning you, there was a whole lot of luck involved. The hardest bit was finding Vesuvius. This deep in the volcano, it was a maze, and I got myself well and truly lost, which is why it took me so long to get out of there.”
Everyone in this room seems to hold their breath, hanging onto every word Wulf speaks, and then there’s me, thinking about how I can skilfully remove myself from the situation. Just then, the gate buzzer comes to my rescue.
“I’ll go get the pizza,” I announce, jumping up before anyone else can even think of it.
Outside, I breathe in the fresh air. Is it just me, or was that room stuffy?
I only think about the fact that pizza usually costs money when I’m already half-way through the gatehouse. Well, I can’t let the poor delivery guy wait while I go back and forth. I also don’t want Wulf to see how I’m begging for money after Lukas blurted my past to him. Opening the door, it is.
As it turns out, Miriam has already prepaid the pizza, and all I have to do is take the huge pile off the delivery guy. The smells of at least three different toppings and melted cheese assault my nose. I wish Aeola was there to share in, but she’s wisely keeping her distance from the citadel.
I deliberately take ages to get back to the common room, so I don’t have to hear more about Wulf’s volcano adventures.
“Finally,” Lukas exclaims. “Did you get lost or what?”
Before I can even think of a retort, Wulf gives him a stern, “Luke, watch your tone.”
I almost snap at him that I can take care of myself, but I’m too baffled by Lukas’ instant apology. “Sorry. Didn’t mean it that way.” His eyes tell a different story, but apparently, he’s on his best behaviour around Wulf.
Camille gets up to help me with the pizzas and distributes them around the table, while Miriam gets a couple of beers and sodas out. I watch as Wulf guides Leon to the slices and makes he gets a drink in his hand. They’ve got this quiet ease about them, contrary to Lukas’ loud mouth. Even now, with pizza in his mouth, he can’t keep quiet.
“Nymph water on staffs, that’s genius. I bet those salamanders didn’t know what hit them.” He chucks down his bite with a gulp of beer.
I have no idea what nymph water is, but it seems like I’m the only one failing to understand, so I keep my mouth shut.
“It wasn’t my idea,” Wulf admits. “Tove came up with it. She’ll be one of the greats one day.”
“Well, she better step up her game because she didn’t catch Vesuvius,” Lukas boasts, as if it was him that caught the volcano spirit. “Tell us, how did you know where to find his nest?”
The pizza in my mouth tastes like cardboard and is about as chewy. Don’t they have anything else to talk about? I don’t want to know how a group of spirit seekers went all the way into a volcano to smoke out the spirit living there.
“Let him eat, Lukas,” Camille chides the younger spirit seeker. “I’m sure, Wulf is running us through it in all detail, but not tonight.” She and the commander exchange a quick smile that reminds how important he is to her.
“Yeah, yeah, but come on!” Lukas whines. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime battle. They’re going to teach that at the academy, and we’ve got the legend sitting right amongst us.”
All right, I had enough. This is ridiculous. No man should ever be put on a pedestal as high as that. So, he defeated a big bad spirit. He’s still just human.
I finish my second slice, listening through Wulf’s modest denial of his status. When he starts on yet another retelling of his deeds, just as Lukas wanted it, I get up and leave the room. Nobody even noticed. Lacking the courage to go outside and search for Aeola, I return to my room and get ready for bed, only to glower at the ceiling.
Downstairs, I can hear the faint sound of laughter. I always knew how much they missed him, and that I’d never be able to replace him, but this is an exquisite form of torture. Because no matter how wonderful he seems to be, he’s as anti-spirit as they come. After our battle with the Erlking, I had hoped to introduce the others to Aeola, but that’s out of the question now. In terms of spirit-human relationships, we’re back at square one. Or maybe even negative one.
Next morning, I skip breakfast in the hall and eat leftover pizza under the oak tree in the courtyard. My heart yearns to look for Aeola and talk about this with her, but I’m too scared Wulf will bust us again. It proves to be an excellent decision when I hear his steps coming up behind me before I even finished eating.
He squats next to me, elbows propped up on his thighs and a crooked half-smile on his face. “Is that your usual breakfast style?”
Maybe he meant it as an inviting quip, but all I hear is him making fun of my past. “Don’t worry, I know how to eat at a table.”
Wulf frowns slightly before understanding dawns on him. “I didn’t mean it that way.” The tip of his tongue wets his lips in a quick and unconscious motion. What the hell am I noticing that for? “Care if I take a seat next to you?”
I actually do care a lot, but my shoulders think a non-committal shrug suffices to bring the point across. Naturally, Wulf reads it as an invitation and stretches out next to me, leaning his back against the tree. Above us, the branches are still barren. Once summer comes around, there’ll be lots of shade to be found under here.
It takes Wulf a couple of moments to open his mouth again, a time in which I pointedly chew my pizza, though I couldn’t tell you what it tasted like if I tried. “I’m sorry for how we hit it off yesterday. It wasn’t my intention to make you feel unwelcome or anything like that.”
“That’s okay,” I answer automatically. Last night, I had a lot of time to reason with myself. “You’ve just come back from an exhausting and nerve-racking mission that almost cost your life. You thought you’d return home, find everything as you left it, but you found me instead.”
I stop my very clean chain of arguments when he chuckles. The moment I glare at him, he sobers instantly. “Sorry,” he mutters, gulping down the rest of his amusement.
“What?” Yeah, I’m a little annoyed here. “I’m trying to be understanding, and you think that’s funny?”
Wulf straightens his back. “Not at all. It’s very kind of you to put yourself in my shoes.” There’s not even a hint of mocking in his voice, which, by the way, has an intense timbre that somehow resonates in my stomach. “It was the choice of words that amused me. I didn’t find you, did I? You’re not a thing to find.”
I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not. Why can’t he be a bit more like Lukas and make his aversion clear instead of being so nice all the time? “But you didn’t expect me here,” I blurt out to hold on to my grudge.
“Of course not. The SSA told me they didn’t send any replacements, and none of the mission reports mentioned you.”
I bite my lip, registering the fact that Camille has kept my presence a secret from the SSA.
Wulf cocks his head. “Camille explained it to me last night, but no, I didn’t expect to find a brilliant, new spirit seeker to wait for me on my doorstep.”
Have I ever blushed this hard in my life? What the hell is wrong with me? His unexpected compliment throws me so much, I fumble over my following words. “Well, yes, uh… here I am. I mean, I’m not… Camille told you everything?” That’s right. Focus on the important information.
“She told me a lot. I don’t think there was enough time to tell me everything, but she explained how you jumped in to help my team at the Central Station, how you tried to make it work…” His voice grows a little quieter. “A little about your struggles.�
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The mention of my background gets the blush out of my cheeks. I can’t help but feel judged about my time on the streets. People generally don’t react that well to it, and I feel like he’s already judging me enough as it is. On the other hand, I’m kind of glad I don’t need to tell him myself.
“And then, of course, what you did on Devil’s Mountain.” He nods appreciatively. “That was quite a feat. You seem to be a natural.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m not just hearing but listening to spirits.” I don’t know why I can’t just take his compliments, but apparently, I’m hell-bent on ruining any kind of reconciliation he might try for.
Immediately, Wulf’s stance stiffens. He takes a deep breath, visibly swallowing whatever he was going to answer right away. Instead, he places his next words carefully. “If I understood it correctly, you have grown up around spirits.” When I nod, he continues, “I agree that most spirits aren’t particularly dangerous unless, of course, they band together.” Which is what happened with the Erlking. “However…”
Oh, no, I’m not going to like this.
“… they are our enemies. Even a harmless sylph can be a spy. Especially when it’s a daughter of the Erlking.”
I knew it. My jaw tightens, but since he tried so formidably to be civil, I return the favour. After all, Camille said Wulf was someone you could talk to. “She stood against him. When the Erlking wanted to strike me down, she stood against him. She protected me with her own body, not once, but twice. Spirits aren’t the enemy. They just exist.”
Wulf winces. I notice it costs him a lot to remain calm now. “You’re new to this.”
“No, I’m not.” He just acknowledged that I’ve grown up amongst them.
“I meant the spirit seekers.” His voice has an edge now. “You haven’t seen the potential for destruction spirits bear. One, granted, but the Erlking’s not the exception, Rika. He’s the rule.”
I have to think of the sylphs caught up in the Erlking’s anger. “That’s not true. The majority of spirits just want to live in peace.”
“But they don’t,” Wulf snaps. “Spirit activity has grown more hazardous, more violent, and much more frequent in recent years.” A little calmer, he adds, “They’re out to kill us.”
His words remind me of the ones Aeola once flung at me. “What if it’s our fault? What if the spirits only attack us because we’re infringing on their habitats?”
Wulf snorts. “Everywhere is their habitat. Just like it is for us.” Drawing up his shoulders, he concedes, “Fine, maybe that’s why they do it. It doesn’t change the fact that they are out for our blood. And it’s not like we can kill half of the human population to make sure they have enough space.” It’s clear he’s given up all pretence of trying to understand where I’m coming from. “The spirits and we are natural enemies.” He gets to his feet. “Your sylph friend might be harmless today, but it’ll turn on you tomorrow.”
As he walks away from me, I growl after him, “She. Aeola is a ‘she’.”
With a deep frown, Wulf turns his body halfway around to me. He seems to want to say something else, but all that comes out is “Okay” before he walks off.
CHAPTER THREE
LATER THAT DAY, I accompany Leon to his doctor’s appointment. After my talk with Wulf, I’m glad for any excuse to leave the citadel for a few minutes. You’d think a medieval fortress would be just large enough to keep out of somebody’s way, but Wulf has such an enormous presence he seems to be everywhere. In fact, he even offered to drive Leon, but I had already offered to accompany him, and Leon picked me.
It’s the big day. Today we’ll find out whether Leon will keep his eyesight or not. Since I still feel partially responsible for what happened to him, I’m crossing all my fingers that we’ll leave here with good news.
“So, I heard,” Leon says while we sit in the waiting room. “Wulf’s not the biggest fan of your spirit theories.” I hope he didn’t pick me just to take Wulf’s side.
Annoyed, I turn the other way, crossing my arms. “They’re not theories. I know what I know.”
“I bet he’d say the same thing.”
I like Leon well enough but playing devil’s advocate for that infuriatingly stubborn commander will not win him any Brownie points with me. “But he’s wrong.”
Leon chuckles. “If you say so.”
Yes, I know I’m acting childish, thank you very much. “Leon, I’ve seen the spirits, heard them. I’ve felt their pain.”
His fingers feel for my hand, and I relent and give it to him. I kind of owe it to him. Besides, he’s not the one that deserves my ire.
“Tell me about... what was her name, Aloe?” he asks.
“Aeola.”
“Aeola.” Leon smiles. “I’ve never heard of a friendship between humans and spirits.”
Sighing, I relax into the back of my chair. “Daisy had spirit friends.”
He frowns slightly. “Who’s Daisy?”
That’s right. Leon wasn’t there when I met the peculiar homeless woman who had made it her brand of weirdness to talk to spirits. “The homeless woman that worked for the Erlking and died when she didn’t… deliver.” I still feel bad for her, despite the fact that she tried to kill me.
“Ah.” Leon nods.
Watching the tip of my feet, I muse, “Maybe, if spirit friendships wouldn’t be so actively discouraged, there’d be nothing unique about it. Maybe, if we opened our hearts to them, we could tackle our problems together.”
“Sounds good in theory,” he admits. I groan and want to pull my hand away, but he holds it firm. “So, what is the deal with Aeola? Why is she friends with a human, a spirit seeker nonetheless?”
Pulling a face, I slump a little more into the chair. I’m not a spirit seeker yet. “She hates that I’m with you guys. If it were her choice, we’d be travelling the world right now, visiting all the great places, the last untouched pockets of wilderness.” The thought makes me smile. Travelling is in my blood, and I want it just as much as the sylph. “You know what she told me?”
Of course Leon doesn’t. He waits patiently for me to continue.
“That all the spirits are trying to do is survive. We’ve done so much damage to the world. And we’re aware of that. Climate change is not a hoax. But contrary to us, they feel it. We can still go our way and pretend it’s a future problem, but they can’t. Their forests are dying, their water and air are polluted. I guess gnomes will be okay in the long scheme of things. And salamanders are all for global warming, but the majority of spirits are suffering.”
Thoughtfully, Leon bends forward and rests his chin on his hand. “That actually makes a lot of sense.”
“I told you!”
“Herr Harting?” the doctor calls.
My heart plummets to my stomach. Leon might be the one getting his eyes checked, but I’m the one that needs the emotional support. He squeezes my hand and pulls me out of my chair. “Come on. Let’s see… what I can see.”
Yep, still feeling responsible.
Neither of us talk while the doctor explains all the potential outcomes. We’re not supposed to expect too much. Be patient. Then he darkens the room and begins taking off the bandage. All the time, I keep holding Leon’s hand. He blinks at first, his eyes clearly tearing up even under those low light conditions.
Then the doctor checks the reactions of his pupils for what feels like half an eternity. Finally, I can’t take it anymore. “Can he… Do you see something?”
“It’s too early to say if your sight will return to full capacity,” the doctor tells Leon. “But the tissue has healed well, and the pupils are reacting to light. I’m positive you will regain most of your vision. However, your eyes will be very sensitive to light for a while. Did you bring some sunglasses?”
I produce the required sunglasses from Leon’s backpack and hand them over. While the doctor tells Leon what to expect the next couple of days and weeks, I slowly breathe lighter. He’ll see again. Leon w
ill see again.
I soak in the warm rays of the sun, unable to stop smiling. Time and time again, I tug at Leon’s arm and squeal, “Your eyes are gonna be fine” or “You can see!”
Leon laughs about it, though it’s obvious he still needs my guidance. “Told you there was nothing to worry about.” His entire posture looks a lot more relaxed, though.
We’re almost at the edge of the park that lies in front of the citadel when I see a movement in the sky. In the sunlight, Aeola’s kind of hard to make out, but I know straight away that it’s her.
Leon takes his arm from me but holds onto my hand for a second longer. “I think I need a break. I’m just gonna stand here for a bit.”
I flush, knowing that he has somehow guessed where my sudden hesitation stems from. “Let me help you to that bench, at least.”
After I’ve settled him on a bench, I hurry to catch up with Aeola. She sweeps down from the sky and ruffles my hair. I blow a strand of electric blue out of my face and let out a breath of relief. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t get out sooner. Things are crazy at the citadel.” I proceed to tell her all about Wulf, including the infuriating chat we had this morning. “He won’t back down. I don’t think he even knows what that means. I mean, he’s not like Lukas, being condescending and all, but he wholeheartedly believes that all spirits are evil and need to be hunted down.”
Concern wavers through Aeola. “We should run away then. They don’t need you anymore, right?”
Hearing it said out loud makes my stomach turn. My chest tightens, and I swallow hard. “I… I don’t want to run away.” I’ve always run. It wasn’t until I met the spirit seekers that I learnt what it meant to fight. “This is my home. I…”
“No, it’s not.” Aeola’s wind pulls at me, pushing me closer to her. “The world is your home. You’re like me. You wanted to show me the mountains and the sea.”