by Brindi Quinn
“The keepers of the dragons, the Daems, built tombs for their distant relatives, permanent houses for their sleeping souls. You see, the dragons were erased in a time before the afterlife existed, so their souls were long attached to their bodies.”
“So that dragon corpse that we saw had a soul in it?!”
“No, no, no. Many years passed, and the Creator realized the terrible fate befallen His first creations, so He released their souls. Finally they were free. However, as the legend goes, some of them were still angry toward the angels. They infiltrated Célesteen and attacked its residents. Many lives were lost at that time. Since then, a decree has been placed that no dragon souls may enter Célesteen. Their resting place is somewhere else. Somewhere unknown.”
“Oh, so he’s not a dragon?” I muttered to myself. Why was I so surprised? Of course he wasn’t.
“Ardetto is bitter about all that happened,” said Darch. “Daems feel a sense of patronage to their ancestors, so he takes it all as a personal offense-”
“But Ardette’s not just a Daem. So what is he?”
“That, Aura, is a question for Sowpa.”
Chapter 12: The Brother I
Oh, fuck it all. There’re no innocents in this town either. I’d have to travel out of Farrowel if I hoped to find another one.
The buzz of the andap I’d gotten from that stumpy trader was already starting to wear off. Probably because he’d been so stingy with his portions. At least at Druelca I’d been given a proper dose every now and then. And the quality out here was awful! Where the hell were these two-bit, dumbass traders getting their supply from? It was stale. And just awful!
Druelca. I wanted to go back. I’d been lucky to wander off at that time. How the hell had I gotten so lucky?! Hmph. I guess it was all because of Ardette. Stupid Ardette. He’d probably been behind that attack. That explosion. Still, I ultimately had him to thank for saving me. Maybe he’d known I’d go wandering off if he gave me a good enough high. After all, we used to do that kind of outing together, didn’t we? His stupid attempts at brotherly bonding.
Stupid little brother.
But that didn’t change the fact that the next time I saw him, I’d kill him for sure. I should have done it the last time, but he’d thrown me for loop showing up with her. It was laughable, really. What had he thought? That bringing her to me would change me back? That it would revert me to that fake state I’d once known? How stupid. The moment I’d gotten one taste of her back then, all of those memories had been unlocked. All of that darkness had been unleashed. Really, it was all her fault for flaunting around and tempting me into it. She was the same as she’d been the first time around. Little siren.
Argh! Thinking about her made me want some more. Maybe in the next town I’d find something comparable. Ah, hell. Then again, maybe I should give up. I was almost down from it anyway. Maybe it would be a better idea to just figure out where I was going to go from here. One of the other bases? They’d probably be happy to have Commander Gershaw on their team. But I’d heard from that bloke at Cambarna that things were a mess since The Mystress’ disappearance. Was it even worth it? A better idea would be to head to the Elf land. Join the battle there. But then, at that tavern, they’d said the war was all but dead. Those forest crudes had somehow gained an upper hand.
ARGH! What was I supposed to do, then? Go . . . home? Ha. Yeah right. And listen to that old hag reminisce about how I used to be before that girl ruined me?
That girl . . . Why was I thinking of her with . . . desire? Fuck if I’d let that in. I’d kill her too, if I ever saw her again. I’d drain her. Make her pay for the things she’d done back then. Ardette was probably still with her now. Bet they were in ‘love’. Bet he kissed her before every drink. Repulsive. How was he so able to get over everything? How was he able to stand her after all of it? After everything she’d done? Why was I the only one overcome with betrayal?
Well . . . that was because I was the dark part, right? What a stupid deal. That witch had decided this for us with the full knowledge that we’d never become whole! Add one more to the list of people I’d like to wrench.
I was getting hungry. And not for spirit, either. It was a side effect of coming down from the andap. Why was it that I felt hunger, anyway? Ardette didn’t. Another stupid condition.
I’d find something to eat before leaving this dump of a town. Then I’d head south. To a real city. Thellnold wasn’t that far away. I could probably make it there by morning even on foot. But I was getting tired of walking. Weren’t there any osterflits around here? Nope. I hadn’t seen any in a long time.
“Yo!” I called to an old lady that was sitting in the middle of the road. Her back was to me, but I could tell from her grayed hair that she was ancient. She didn’t give me a response. Great. I’d probably picked one of the crazies. “Hey! You! You old bat!”
“She can’t hear you, so it’s no use yelling.”
Who the hell is interfere- One glance over my shoulder told me all that I needed to know. Seriously? It was amusing. Oh. Oh, this is good.
“Well, well,” I said, “look what dust swept in. I hadn’t expected to see a familiar face around this Creator-awful place.”
“What are you doing here?” said Kae. She didn’t sound very happy to see me.
“Just wandering. Know where I can find some food in this dump?”
“Just wandering?” Kae narrowed her eyes, and I chewed on my lip. Even by Daem standards, she was hot. Maybe I could get her to . . .
“I suppose I should be glad that you weren’t caught up in that blast,” she continued, “but what’s your excuse? I was out on a mission, transporting a bunch of prisoners to the base at Denlaq. You were stationed, though, weren’t you, Gershaw? So what are you doing here?”
“That’s Commander Gershaw to you.”
“Oh, whatever. You lost the need to be called that when you slept with me, which, let me remind you, won’t be happening again.”
“Fine. Then unless you can tell me where I can get some food, you’re worthless.”
“You’re such a prick.”
I shrugged and turned to leave.
“W-wait!” she said after a moment.
Ha. I knew it. Knew she couldn’t be done with me that easily.
“Tell me what happened to the fortress, and I’ll tell you a decent place. How does that sound?”
“Sure,” I said. “I’ll bite. And I do bite . . . I’m sure you remember-”
“Enough!” She shook her head. “Ugh. I can’t believe I ever . . . Never mind. Let’s go. Past those shops, there’s a restaurant. It’s got good meat pies. Will that do?”
“Hmph. If you were smart, you would’ve waited until I’d told you something useful before pointing it out. Now I’m not going to tell you anything.”
“Fine. Go eat alone. That’ll make you a great target for the lowlifes that hang out around here.”
Lowlifes? Was she serious? Like that would bother me. Still . . . she was hot.
“All right. Fine. Come on, I guess.”
~
“So the whole thing just exploded?! In a flash of white light?!”
“That’s what I said.” I took another bite of the zebron pie. Kae had been right. They were good.
“But what could’ve caused that?” she asked.
“Got me. It probably had something to do with that ‘General P’ guy. You know, the Elf.”
“You really think so?”
“Sure. An Elf that hates Elves? Doesn’t that seem just a little off to you?”
“Well, I guess it does . . . and so, you’re thinking it was some of his magic or something? But Elves aren’t that powerful.”
“He was an old Elf. Practically crawling into his grave. That’s got to count for something.”
“Hm.” She was thinking.
I grinned to myself. The former fling was quickly warming back up to me.
“What?” she said suddenly. “Why are you staring at
me?”
Had I been staring?
“I wasn’t staring,” I lied.
She giggled. “Yeah, you were.”
“No. I was just looking.”
“Oh, really? Looking, huh?” She tucked a piece of black hair behind her ear.
Yup, she was definitely warm.
“What can I say? You look good.” I let my eyes roam to the collar of her shirt. “Do you remember that time in my office when-”
“Oh, Creator.” Rapidly shifting mood, she took her head in her hands and groaned. “Why am I here? With you? Ugh. No way, Gershaw. No way.” She rose from her chair.
“What? Where are you-” But I was forced to stop when the shrillest, high-pitched sound erupted in the air. “AAAARGH!”
“Whoa! What happened?!” Kae extended a thin-wristed hand to me. “Are you all right?!”
“ARRRGH!” I jammed my fingers into my ears. “What is THAT?!”
“What? What are you doing?!” Kae was wide-eyed and looking down at me like I was crazy. “Gershaw?! Stop that! People are staring!”
“DAMN! What the fuck is that?!”
“What’s what?”
“That sound?! Can’t you hear it?”
“No, I don’t hear anything!” Kae took a step back from me, her face a mix of concern and extreme embarrassment. “I don’t! There’s nothing there, so stop!”
“All right, sir. I think you’ve got to leave,” said a man. It was one of the hosts, and he was storming toward the table like he was important.
“What do you mean, leave?! Tell whoever’s doing that to shut it off!” That sound! That sound was drilling into my skull. It was inside of my head, pushing against temples from within. I bent forward under its strain.
“Sir, there’s nothing-”
But I threw a punch at him to shut him up. He fell to the ground with a heavy clunk.
Serves him right.
“GERSHAW!” screamed Kae. She looked at the other host, who was also fast approaching. “I am so sorry!” Then she picked up her bag and ran from the table.
There went that.
“Sir!” said the second host. “I insist you leave NOW!”
“Yeah, yeah,” I stumbled for the door, breathing through my teeth.
That noise was so shrill! It almost reminded me of . . . oh hell no. Ardette? Ardette had the whistle? How had he gotten it out of that hag?! She’d sworn only to give it to . . . That meant . . . So that Magir was with them too. I should’ve guessed.
My stupid little brother and his stupid little friend. I’d kill them both for sure. First I’d drain her in front of them. And then I’d run them both through at the end of a sword. That reminded me. I’d have to find a new weapon before our next encounter since all of mine had been lost in the wreckage. At least I’d taken some coinage with on my drugged expedition.
I reached the outside and stumbled onto the street, but the sound persisted. Of course it did. I knew that it was all in my head and that trying to stifle it wouldn’t do anything, but I continued to grip my ears like it might help in some unpredictable way.
“ARGH!”
A passing couple jumped back from my outburst and quickly changed their course to avoid me.
How crazy I’ve got to look to everyone else! What a fucking embarrassment!
I had to stop drawing so much attention to myself. I had to find someplace where I could let this thing run its course. Ardette had to run out of breath sooner or later.
I found a shabby corner to back into. There, I slid to the ground and tried to contain my cries until the shrill whistling abruptly ended.
Ten minutes. He’d been blowing into it for ten fucking minutes! What was the point of that?! I didn’t realize until after it happened a second time at Thellnold and then a third outside of Bedda that I was being tracked.
Chapter 13: The Interest
“Ardette? What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing? Eyesight’s gone daft, has it?”
“No, I mean, what’s the point of what you’re doing?”
“See, now you’re getting closer to what you’re meaning to ask, but you still aren’t quite there yet.” He gave me a taunting half-smile.
“Why. There, you happy? WHY are you doing that?”
“Ah, yes. ‘Why’. That’s one you always seem to struggle with.”
Ardette was as frustrating as ever. I’d been spying on him, and he’d been blowing into that whistle for at least five minutes.
We were all still traversing the path of raised land spots, as we had been for the past few hours, and it was becoming ever more obvious that none of us really knew what we were doing. We had yet to meet an angel. Actually, we hadn’t even detected the slightest hint of an angel since entering the realm. What was more, the sky was already starting to darken, and it would soon fall to black. We’d discussed making camp once that happened, but no decision had been reached, so for now, we trekked on in a line – a line of heap-jumping star-travelers – with no real plan. The path had yet to branch. And the whistle had yet to make a sound.
“I hate to tell you this,” I said, “but I think it’s broken.”
“It isn’t broken, my pit. You just can’t hear it.”
“Can you?”
“Nope.” Ardette tucked the whistle away. Maybe he was worried I’d try to make a grab for it, but he was wrong. I didn’t want anything to do with the mysterious treasure for the time being. I was curious about it, sure, but I was too worried about that disturbing ‘other’ part of me slipping out again to let the curiosity take hold. For now, I was past all that. I had to be.
“If you can’t hear it either, then why-?”
“I’m giving your pet something to look for.”
“My pet?”
“The squirrel.”
“. . . The squirrel?”
“Ugh. Fine. Kantú. There, now are you happy?”
I smiled. “That’s one you always seem to struggle with.”
“Cute.”
“I know I am.” I let my smile turn cheesy.
He drew his eyes to my lips. “Yes,” he said softly, “you are.”
There was tenseness again. The air was thick with restless, on-the-verge trepidation. There was no sign of that ‘feeling’ returning, but I realized that it might under the current conditions, so I thought it best to make a quick exit.
“Well, you’d better get back to blowing on your whistle.” I gestured to his shirt. “If my ‘squirrel’ were here, she’d be happy to do it for you.”
“It wouldn’t work if she did it, and-” – he jumped forward onto my mound and grabbed my arm to stop me from advancing – “another thing: Are you really that uncomfortable right now that you’d drop it all like that? You aren’t even going to ask me what I meant by saying I was giving her something to look for? You aren’t going to ask me how it works? Why, my pit, what’s gotten into you?” He flashed me one of his Cheshire smiles. “Or rather, what’s gotten out?”
Annoyed, I shook my arm free. It was true. I’d been so eager to escape the moment that I’d completely forgotten about the very important thing we’d just been discussing.
“Uh-” I’d just skip right over that ‘uncomfortable’ part. “So you mean you’re finally ready to tell me the secret of your treasured whistle?”
“Nope.”
Stupid Ardette.
He patted my head, pushed me behind him, and hopped onto the next mound. He said one more thing before moving to the next: “All I know is that with time different here, I’ve got to use it a lot longer than that if I hope to make any impact.”
Trying not to let my annoyance show, I watched him hop away. It was weird to see him doing something like that – something so characteristically ‘Darch’ – because it took so much more effort than his usual slinking saunter. I couldn’t figure out why he even kept to the path with the rest of us in the first place. It was easy for the Elves, fun for Darch, and helped relieve my feeling of
falling through the clouds, but for Ardette . . . ? If he’d only stray onto the invisible floor, he’d be able to keep up his usual stroll . . . but he didn’t. Was there a reason? Probably, and knowing that made my annoyance grow.
Oh well. I couldn’t let it bother me.
We kept along the path, seeing no one and no thing, until it was almost dark. The sky passed by, but the mounds stayed consistent. With Ardette ahead of me, I now walked in front of Nyte, and every so often, he’d pounce onto my mound, pretend to push me off, but then catch me before I fell. It was during one of these playtimes that Rend, who was at the front of our line, noticed something.
“Halt!” she ordered in an excited hush.
“What is it!?” said Darch. Keeping to his spot of earth, he started jumping up and down, but he was still too short to see over her tall figure. Giving up, he instead leaned to the side and let out cry of surprise. “Something! Good job, Rend! You spotted a something!”
“Shhh! Cease your senseless speech! We do not know what it is! Do you wish to lure out every creature in the realm?!”
“Nope!” But he was still just as loud. “Wow! That is something!”
Following Darch’s excited lead, I peered around the towering Elf and got almost as excited because it wasn’t just ‘something’. From what I could gather, it was a very distant city, and it was bright enough to show through the darkened horizon.
“A town!” I said. “There are probably angels there!” Wow, Aura. Way to state the obvious. Feeling stupid, I attempted to recover, “I mean, ‘Finally an angel town!’ . . . or something.”
“Yes, ‘finally’ or something,” said Nyte, chuckling. My thoughtless emission had amused him. “So, what are we to do?”
“Well, we’ve come this far, haven’t we? If they’re going to try to kill us, then I say that’s the chance we take. It’s not like we can’t defend ourselves from them.”