by Brindi Quinn
When I returned to reality, Grotts was reprimanding Ardette under his breath.
“And ya know, ya’ve really gotta knock it off, ya blockhead! You know they aint got much time left, and yer being real selfish, even by yer standards!”
“An expert on all things, are we, Grotts? Quit acting like you know what your talking about, would you? You know absolutely nothing!”
With that, Ardette stomped away.
I watched him go, and I felt guilty. Guilty to him. Guilty to Nyte. Just guilty for letting myself love them both . . . guilty for letting myself love anyone, for that matter. With everything else going on, I shouldn’t have been obsessing over something so selfish . . . but still it was there.
“It’s not right fer him ta be toyin’ with ya like that, Aura. Just don’ lose yer head, alright?”
“Thanks,” I muttered.
Grotts gave Nyte a sympathetic look before turning after Ardette back to the buggy.
“Miss Havoc, I do not know what to do about him. You do not understand how difficult it is to see-”
But I’d wrapped my arms around his middle.
“Aura?”
“I love you. I’m sorry. I love you.”
I did. Every time we touched, this feeling was reaffirmed. Every time I made physical contact, those shackles of capture were tightened.
But was it all just part of the emulator curse? Was this emotion real? Once again, did it matter?
~
“PULL!”
The buggy had lifted into the air without a hitch. At Trib’s touch, the wings had glowed their pulsing, mystic blue, and after a few large flaps, taken flight. But ‘flight’ wasn’t exactly what I’d expected.
Instead of traveling far into the sky like a bird, the wind buggy only hovered just above the ground. Trib was able to make the wings soar a bit higher, to avoid random obstacles, by using a prodding nudge, but these bursts of energy were quickly exerted, and the buggy always fell back to a low hover. Even so, it was fast. Even a little faster than Elf’s pace. But it was also challenging. That thick cloudiness made for zero visibility. And though there weren’t many, we weren’t able to detect rocky impediments until we were nearly upon them. Still, Nyte’s ultra hearing came in handy. Somehow he was able to hear the oncoming obstructions by reading them as blocking points stifling out the distant cries that he was again starting to hear.
Yes, my fears of those drifting voices returning to him were becoming true. I’d asked him about it on our way back to the buggy, and it was as I’d perceived. The cries of the mistwalkers hadn’t bothered him since our brush with Lusafael. This led both of us to believe that the malevolent deceased had somehow been scouts of the angel, but we hadn’t had much time to discuss the matter since then. I’d bring it up to Darch the first chance I got.
“Pull!” That was Nyte’s last minute alert to let Trib know to juice the wings.
“Cutting it awfully close there, aren’t we, Nyte?” Ardette was gripping the mast and glaring.
The buggy had nicked the top of the mound and sent a few pieces of solid debris spraying behind us.
“Would you prefer to take over?” said Nyte. “Because if I am not mistaken, you do not possess the qualities to-”
“YES, yes, we all no how clever you are, Nyte. There’s no need to gloat.”
“Gloat on a boat, gloat on a boat!” sang Kantú. She jumped up and started to wiggle her behind, but a rock in the buggy made her lose grounding and fall backward onto Scardo.
“D-do be careful!” he stuttered, already white but turning whiter the longer we were aflight. “I don’t trust this . . . this thing!”
“For once you have uttered something wise,” said Rend. “I daresay it is surprising.”
“Hmph.”
I looked at the pair of them. Foul expressions aside, they were both just sitting there with legs kicked out and arms lazy.
“This whole thing’s so weird, isn’t it?” I said, thinking aloud.
Ardette eyed the wings. “Why, how astute you are.”
I ignored the sarcasm.
“No, I mean sitting.”
“Yes, that too is an entirely out of the ordinary behave-”
Nyte flicked a bit of red energy at Ardette’s head. Ardette ducked in time, but nonetheless, the air was singed with quiet fury.
“Nyte!” scolded Grotts. But the massive man looked amused. Ardette noticed and started moving toward his saber.
In an effort to diffuse the situation, I pushed Nyte’s hand down and began an awkward ramble. “More specifically, or rather, maybe what I should have said is, it’s weird that we aren’t walking or running or trudging or riding. We’re just sitting. When was the last time we all sat around like this? For this long? My legs feel sort of funny this way.”
“It’s nice!” chimed Kantú. “My legs needed a break!”
“Weren’t you the one that was just dancing about?” asked Ardette. His hand was now relaxed across his head.
Good.
Kantú batted him in the face with her tail. He grabbed its bushy end and blew into it, and she let out a crazed chitter.
“Knock it off, Ardetto! That’s a private part of me!”
“Hm. You wouldn’t know it, would you? The way you go swinging it around for all the world to see.”
“I’ll swing my full, beautiful tail wherever I want to!”
But while they were flirting, Nyte was thinking.
“She is right,” he said absentmindedly. “Kantú is right. This is nice.”
I tore my eyes from the others and gave them to Nyte. “Yeah,” I said, “I’d just gotten so used to constantly moving. Constantly rushing and running and hiding . . .” A memory of the meadow’s lazy spell washed over me. “Wouldn’t it be nice to just, you know, relax when this is all ov-”
My mouth wouldn’t move. It wouldn’t let me finish it because deep down I knew it wasn’t true.
Nyte’s arm was around my shoulder. He and Rend were to conserve their strength until the mist’s sadness became unbearable – until we came to the place where the Feirgh roamed – so I had him to myself for this short window. Such a short window of time, and yet gloom was already setting in. I tried to keep it out. The worst would be to let that gloom waste our time.
That arm around my shoulder pulled me closer.
“Do you not feel that this is a little beautiful?” he murmured. The others might have heard, but it was meant for only me.
“What do you mean?”
“The whiteness. Do you find it eerie or beautiful? Stare into it and tell me which it reads.”
“Stare into . . . ?” Well, it was eerie, of course, but I’d humor him.
At first, staring into that milky white made my skin prick, but then something happened. Nyte’s warm arm was touching my neck, and those pricks were replaced by welcome goose-bumps. And then those too melted, and I was just comfortable.
“You’re right,” I said. “It’s like the fog rolling over the ocean shore.”
“Is that what it is to you? For me it is the forest at morning.”
“The forest? That reminds me. What kind of things did you-”
But he unexpectedly stiffened and cried, “PULL!”
An abrupt jerk and a cry from Trib alerted us that that one had been even closer.
“Concentrate, Cousin! Do not become distracted by that-”
“By my fiancée?”
“Do not make me vomit!”
Ardette cringed. “Yes, do keep any vile statements to yourself. It’s hard enough with the buggy’s rocking.”
“Sorry, Aura,” whispered Nyte, grinning. “I could not help myself. What is it that you were saying?”
“Right.” My cheeks were red at his careless usage of the word ‘fiancée’. “Well, it’s not really important or anything. I was just wondering what kinds of things you did before all of this. Like, what was your life like?”
We’d talked about things like that during our study t
ime in Yh’tak, but at that time, we’d still been strangers, and now that we were . . . and with our time precious, I wanted nothing more than to talk about him.
Nyte pretended to contemplate the question seriously. “Hm. Mostly chased after the young maidens of the village.”
“Ha! I know that’s a lie.”
“Why do you say that?” He winked. “I am charming, am I not?”
“Yes. And so humble.”
He laughed. “Edaw was a very peaceful place in which to grow up. In actuality, most of the Kingdom was. Life in your village was simple, was it not?”
I nodded, and he continued,
“So, too, was life in mine. I was not a magic wielder – as far as I knew – so I had much more free time on my hands than someone like Rend. Still, I was protective class, so I did have some duties the laymen did not.”
“Protective class?”
“Yes. Mainly, we were there to ensure the safety of the magic users. I was akin to a guardian or monitor. For Rend and a few others. That is why I was sent along with her to retrieve you.”
“To protect Rend?”
“Yes. Although she hardly needs protecting. We have since come to understand that that was just an excuse on Elder Pietri’s part anyway, have we not? There were any number of protectors they could have sent. Of course, he had to send me . . . for you.”
“For me?” I smiled. “I’m glad he did.” Then I thought about it more, and that feeling of addiction returned. “Gosh, even that first time we touched in the Cave of Discovery, something was different. My veins felt like they were crawling, and my skin felt alive, and it was just such a powerful feeling.”
“Yes, it was hard not to steal you for myself at that time. I wanted to carry you away and lock you up.” His eyes were vibrant. “Ah! That did not sound right. Do you think me a bounder?”
“A ‘bounder’? What does that even mean?”
“You do not know? There,” – he pointed to Ardette – “is a good example of a bounder.”
“Hey, now, be nice.”
“What? I am simply attempting to educate you. How can you survive in this world if you do not know how to accurately identify a bounder?”
We both broke into laughter, but it was quickly stifled.
“Nyte, would you come here a moment?” said Scardo. “There is a strange marking here, and I would like your opinion on the matter.”
“A strange mark?” called Ardette. “My, my, that sounds like a personal problem, doesn’t it, Scardo?”
“Pardon me?! I meant on the map!”
Nyte frowned and looked to me.
“It’s all right.” I fanned him away. “Go. Plan things.”
“Very well.”
He gave me a parting kiss on the cheek that left a warm rippling sensation.
I rubbed the ripple and watched him go and realized then that somehow things had flip-flopped after the removal of the emulator pendant. Being around Nyte had always made me nervous and jittery and unable to control myself. It was Ardette who’d repeatedly calmed my swimming veins with cool, calm shadow. But now, I was finding it comfortable to be around Nyte, at least when we weren’t alone. It was being around Ardette that was becoming awkward. He wasn’t just someone I could rely on to save me from sinking. He was . . . dangerous.
Dangerous? Why was I thinking of him as dangerous? I wouldn’t ever actually go there, would I? So he couldn’t be ‘dangerous’. It couldn’t be thought of as dangerous if it wasn’t a real threat, right?
I stood and walked to Darch, who was sitting alone at the side of the buggy. He was tired and far less chipper than usual.
“And how are you doing, Aura?” he said when I approached.
I plopped down next to him.
“How much do you know about this emulator stuff?” I blurted. “Is there anything you haven’t told me?”
“Ah-ha-ha. Hm. Nothing in particular comes to mind.”
That was a suspicious response. It called for some prying. “Really?” I said.
“Maybe you should try asking something specific.” He held up a finger. “That might help me remember something.”
“Okay, fine. Do you think there’s another way?”
“To . . . ?”
“You know, to end this. Is there another way that you know about?”
“Me knowing about another way, and there being another way are two very different things. I’m really sorry, Aura, but I’m afraid I don’t know.”
“Do you think it’s possible?”
“I think . . .” He winced and I knew I wasn’t going to like his answer. “That this’ll only end in heartache.” He placed a hand on my shoulder and added, “I’m sorry. I wish I could tell you something more.”
Gulping, I nodded and tried to move beyond it. My eyes grew moist, but I managed to hold back the flood.
“Any news on the unseen moon’s movement?” I said.
“It’s still holding fast. Lusafael’s got a pretty tight hold on it from what I can gather.”
“Speaking of him.” This was a good time to bring it up. “Darch, can you . . . er . . . hear the cries of the mist? The tormented calls of those crossing the Mistlands?”
Darch adjusted his glasses, scanned the others, and then leaned in and asked in a hush, “How did you know about that?!”
So it was true.
“Nyte suspected,” I explained. “You see, he can hear them too. But it went away after Lusafael nearly found us . . . so does that mean those spirits were his spies or something?”
Darch furrowed his brows, confused. “Nyte can hear them? Well, that’s no good. But no, they aren’t spies. But they were drawn to Lusafael’s presence. And it’s a good thing too. At least we’ll be able to tell when he’s close.” Darch closed his eyes. “Right now they sound pretty distant still.”
“What lies on the other side?” I whispered.
Darch’s eyes were still closed.
“Darch? What’s over there?”
“Knowledge,” he said quietly.
“Knowledge?”
Darch opened his eyes and clapped. “Afraid I don’t know much else than that! Now, please, please, please, don’t let all of this trouble you. Just go and enjoy the ride, okay?”
That was weird and vague and probably a half-truth, but before I could let it alone there was one more thing I had to ask.
“Darch, about Nyte-”
“Do you love him?” he asked, and he looked the saddest I’d ever seen him look. “Do you really? More than . . .”
Taken aback, I nodded shakily. “More than anything. Darch, you know I love him so much. Everything about him I see as adorable, and every time I’m with him I feel good, and I want him by my side always, but . . . is any of it real? Or is it all a trick of the emulator role?”
Darch shook his head and then proceeded to deliver the sweetest news I’d heard in a long time. “Can’t you feel it, Aura? That all ended when the pendant was removed – that forced affection. All that’s left now is you and him and realness. I’m not certain about very many things, but I am positive about that much. If you feel love for him now that the pendant’s been removed, then it’s all you.”
“Really?” I whispered, but it wasn’t necessary.
He was right. I could feel that. Love. Real love was different than addiction. I knew that, but I’d been kind of grasping at the chance that . . . Hm. Maybe knowing the truth made it even harder. Maybe it made this business with Ardette even worse.
“Ahoy, everybody!” Trib suddenly shouted from the back of the boat. Her deafening voice pulled me back to reality and made me realize that I’d been crying. Darch’s hand had been on my knee, but he now rose with the others and lifted it with him. I was sitting alone.
“What is it, Trib?” called Grotts.
“We’ve got a slight problem!”
“Whaddaya mean a problem?!”
“THAT!”
Before I could stand, the buggy dropped to the ground in a
loud bang, and the rest of them toppled to their knees.
Chapter 4: The Baby
“I KNEW there was a strange marking on the map!” Scardo was furious. “You suggested it was just a stain!” He poked Nyte accusingly in the chest.
“How was I to know? Do you think that I have ever been to the Mistlands before?! There is nothing marked throughout all of Nor, yet you expect me to know that that one arbitrary dot is actually something deliberate?!”
“We’re in Nor?” I asked, brushing over their petty argument.
Scardo, caught in the act, guiltily stiffened up and pushed his hair from his face. “Miss Heart! Ah yes. I do believe so.” With the tip of his head, he added quietly, “Pardon my behavior.”
“It’s fine.” I helped Kantú to her feet. “But what exactly’s just happened?”
“THAT!” shouted Trib. “That right there! I’ve never seen it before, and I’ve never heard of it before, and what in carnation is it?!”
“Carnation?” I looked to Nyte. “Isn’t it supposed to be tarnation?”
“I have never come across either of these expressions.”
“Pff-” I started to grin, but when I finally saw what the pink-haired girl was pointing at, I dropped all playfulness. “What is-What is THAT?!” I gasped, backing away from the buggy’s edge.
“That’s exactly what I want to know!” said Trib, frustrated.
“Cool it, would you?” Ardette pulled out his saber. “Whatever happened to ‘level two’, hmmm?”
The mist was thick around us, but somehow we’d entered a small clearing – a circle of mistless space big enough for our buggy –
And something else.
At the clearing’s center was something strange. Something black and unnatural.
Grotts rubbed his eyes. “Is that a . . . a baby?” He, along with the rest of us, stumbled forward to get a better look. “Holy smokes!” he cried. “It’s a gosh dern baby!”
Yes, it was a baby. A baby suspended in a vertical ray of black smoke.
“What?!” shrieked Rend, pushing him aside. “What is an infant doing in a place like this?! Such a thing can only be read as an ill omen! It is a sign of evil, is it not, Cousin?! You must feel it! Tell me that you feel it!”