by Brindi Quinn
“Wait, what?” I said, twisting my head to get a read on Ardette. “They are?”
“Certainly,” said the angel. “Daems are the only creatures with the power to infest a being’s dream. They are the only creatures that can steal a being’s consciousness. That makes them darkroad travelers. All of them.”
“YOU KNEW?!” I punched Ardette in the shoulder. Hard.
“What?” he said. “What are you saying? That I’d have died for dear Rend? Please.”
But I wasn’t convinced. Neither was Nyte.
“No, but you would die for Aura, would you not?”
Ardette said nothing. I didn’t know what to say, so I also said nothing.
“You do not wish me to avenge you, Rend?” asked the angel.
“Yes, Rend,” tempted Ardette. “Would you like him to avenge you?”
Rend thought about it a moment before begetting a grin that was terrifyingly evil. There was at least one part of her that would have very much liked to have seen Ardette blasted into a million glittering pieces. The evil smile remained longer than it should have, and it wasn’t until Nyte’s prodding throat clear that she said reluctantly,
“It is not necessary.”
“My, my, Rend, have your true feelings for me finally come to head?”
“Keep your mouth shut, worm, or I shall change my mind!”
The angel watched Rend intently. The silver of his irises pulsed when she turned to him next.
“Speak your name, angel.”
Even in the presence of someone like him, she was acting like that. So bluntly. I guess I should have expected it, but still . . . this was an angel we were dealing with, and she offered him no sort of reverence. Did their pact give her some right to authority?
“Mikkan is the name that you may call me, Rend.” The angel looked around. “What is this plane that we are suspended in? I should warn you that it will not be able to contain me for long. You there,” – he pointed at Nyte – “you are casting this? Even as one of the original races, you should know that you cannot hope to hold this for much longer.”
Indeed, Nyte’s arms were starting to shake.
“We’ll be quick then!” said Darch, wiggling. As was to be expected, he was brimming with excitement. “First off, have you two bound your pact?”
“We have,” said Mikkan.
Darch held onto the side of his glasses and looked very much like a doctor. “Show me.”
“What do you mean show you?!” said Rend. “What are you insinuating?”
The angel pointed to Rend’s sleeve. “He means that.”
Rend pulled up her sleeve, revealing a purple petal tattoo. I recognized it. It was identical to Illuma’s. Rend had been branded by the midnight flower.
“What have you done!?” she shrieked. “You have defiled my skin!”
“It was a necessary part of the pact.”
“Why, pray tell, was this necessary?! Ugh! How distasteful!”
“Cousin.” Nyte’s voice was shaking now too. “We have not time for your complaints. Please, Darch, continue.”
“Right! Thanks, Nytie! Well, Mr. Angel-”
“Wait!” Mikkan interrupted Darch mid-sentence. “You.” He was now looking at Ardette and extending a shining, silver hand of accusation. “YOU!” he said again. “You are not a darkroad traveler, after all! How are you able to enter this place!? How could I not smell you before!?”
“What? Daems aren’t allowed to enter the oh-so-sacred Célesteen now? How racist of you.”
“Do not play with me! You are no Daem! You are-” But the angel stopped. “No. You are not that either. What are you?”
That’s what I want to know!
Ardette grinned a hate-filled smile. “Something that you have never encountered before, apparently. Now, shut up, why don’t you, and let’s get on with it before our little bubble goes ‘kaboom’, shall we? I assume you’re up to speed on the status of the world? Even if you haven’t directly played a hand in any of it, you’re at least aware, aren’t you?”
Mikkan was still glaring at Ardette with blatant distrust and suspicion, but he nodded.
“Wonderful. Well, you aren’t aware of a way to help change the course of things, are you? Or rather, you aren’t allowed to share if you are?”
The angel nodded again. “Correct.”
“Then, what we need from you is a way to the western moon. We need to speak to it.”
“It will not speak to the likes of you.” Mikkan’s face reflected Ardette’s own hatred.
“No, but it will speak to her. It is, after all, her mother, isn’t it?”
“And if it does?” asked the angel.
“You just let us worry about that, why don’t you? Rend, ask him to show us the way to the moon.”
She scowled, so Ardette added, “Pretty please.”
“You ask him,” she hissed. “You have a mouth, do you not? An insufferably vociferous mouth, at that!”
“He won’t say anything if I’m the one to ask. And, quite frankly, if we’re discussing loud-mouths-”
Nyte cut him off. “Cousin, make haste!” The Elf’s knees were buckling, and the bubble’s red was lightening. “His power is too much of a strain on the spell!”
I ran to him, but there wasn’t really anything I could do. “Ah! Nyte! Just hold on, okay?”
Rend’s eyes widened at the sight of her struggling kin. “Show them a way to the moon!” she ordered Mikkan.
The angel sighed and pointed up. “There. At the top of that spiron.”
“Spiron?” I asked.
“He means the coils, I think!” said Darch.
Mikkan nodded. “Climb a spiron to reach the moon.”
The bubble shook. “Ah!” Nyte let out a cry. His knuckles were white, his face red. “It will break soon! I will hold it as long as I can, but the spell is fracturing!”
“Okay, what else?!” I said, worried for Nyte. “Ardette?!”
“Yes, yes.” Ardette frowned. “Here’s what you need to do, Rend. Once the angel transports you to our realm, find those morons. If they haven’t found Sowpa yet, find him too. Make sure he has the ‘star’. He’ll be quite disturbed by you, you being an Elf and all, but just be your charming cold self and you’ll be fine. Once you’ve got Sowpa and the star in hand, meet us at the marsh we crossed on the ferothew, all right? I’m sure you can handle all that, can’t you?”
“The marsh?” she asked. “Why, pray tell, would you have me go to that disgusting place?”
“We haven’t the time for that now, have we?” Ardette eyed the bubble, which was now shaking violently and allowing small bits of light to escape it. “It appears our time is up. Best say your goodbyes.”
“What? Goodbyes?!” But that streaming light was enough to let me know he was right. “Ah! Okay! Rend, thank you for everything, and good-”
She didn’t wait for the end of my parting. “Do not falter, Havoc!” It was more of a threat than anything else. “Cousin, protect the Pure Heart at all costs. I shall see you again.” She put a firm hand on Nyte’s chest.
Nyte bowed his head. “May the Creator be with you, Cousin. I will do my part as you do yours.”
She removed her hand, pulled it into herself, and bowed to him. Then the Elven sorceress did something that made absolutely no sense. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find even the slightest iota of a reason for why she did what she did, but she did it all the same.
Hunching low to reach his height, she hugged Darch. Tightly. She didn’t offer a hug to anyone else. Just him. And she didn’t look at all happy about it.
“Er- farewell,” she said.
“Well, thanks, Rend!” Gleeful Darch didn’t even look surprised. “See you later, Mikk-”
But before he could finish, the entirety of the bubble burst into bright, white light. Before my eyes could discern it, Rend and the angel were gone.
“Just like that?” I said. “Will Rend be all right?”
Nyte
hurried to recast the barrier. “She will be fine.”
“Ugh! I hate angels!” Ardette stomped like a tantrumous toddler. “Did you see how high and mighty he thought himself?”
I stared at the place where the angel had been. I was still trying to process it all.
“Oh, come on,” I said absentmindedly, not shifting my eyes from that spot. “He was nice, wasn’t he? And why do you hate them anywa-”
But I couldn’t finish because Ardette had pulled me into his chest for a close embrace. He brought his lips to my ear, and in a voice that was too soft and tender for me to handle, he said, “Thank you.” He kissed my earlobe. “My cherry, you saved my life. Thank you.”
I’m Aura. I’m Aura. I’m Aura.
~
“So then, why didn’t you think to have Nyte cast a barrier earlier?” I said. “I mean, if it was going to pull us out of that slowness, I think we should have done it the whole time!”
The four of us were now happily skipping along the land spots, enjoying regular motion thanks to Nyte’s new, without-angel barrier. It was so much better, and I didn’t even have to focus anymore to see the angels beyond its border. I could freely watch them come and go, so that’s what I did. And I did it to the most gawking extent.
They all looked identical to Mikkan. They were all men. They were all shining. They were all beautiful.
We came to the bottom of the nearest coil. The one that Rend’s angel had pointed us to.
“So we’ve got to walk up this thing?” I asked no one in particular.
The curling piece of metal was as thick as Grotts; the entire diameter of the spring twice as long across as Nyte was tall. Lucky for us, however, the top part of it was flat, so walking up it wouldn’t be as difficult as we’d originally anticipated.
Turns out it wouldn’t have made for a very good slide after all.
Before starting the climb, we stopped for a meal – a quick, thrown-together meal of whatever odds and ends we had left in our packs. It wasn’t much, but then, I wasn’t that hungry. Nyte ate dried berries. Ardette ate nothing.
Ardette . . .
My thoughts were a mess. I couldn’t keep from letting them drift back to him. What was he? He was a Daem. But he was also an ancient one? What did that mean? And the way Amano and the angel had reacted to him . . . It was all too weird. I didn’t want to let it bother me, but I couldn’t help it.
Apparently, there was another who was struggling with that same problem.
“All right, Daem,” said Nyte, wiping his mouth. “I think it is time that you explain yourself.”
“Whatever are you referring to?”
“What is it that you are? You are not a Daem.”
“I am.”
“What more are you?”
“I’ve an idea.” Ardette grinned. “Why don’t you tell me what you think I am?” His eyes drifted to me. “Or better yet, how about the more that Aura does, the more I’ll reveal.”
“Does?” Nyte didn’t get it. He didn’t share Ardette’s perverted mindset.
“Gross,” I said. “No way.”
“Pleased to see your corruption is coming along so nicely. We’ll have to work on your boy next, my pit. Now then, to discuss the things you’ll be ‘doing’ for me. Let’s see here, have you ever tried-”
“ARDETTE!” Darch, who’d been happily enjoying a hard heel of bread, kicked his heel hard into the invisible ground. “If you don’t knock it off, I’m going to tell them everything.”
“Like you know anything anyway.”
“Oh, I know enough.” Darch’s expression was stern. He was serious. His threat was valid.
Ardette could see it too.
“Oh? Threatening me, are you?” But the Daem said nothing more. He snatched up his pack and started up the coil.
I opened my arms at Darch in surrender, silently begging him for more – some inkling of a something that could help me understand – but Darch only shook his head and started up after Ardette.
I know, I know. It’s not for you to tell me. But it didn’t seem like Ardette would ever give it up.
“Better not stray too far ahead,” called Nyte, “lest you be thrown out of the barrier. We would hate to lose you.” But to me, he lowered his voice. “He cannot be an actual dragon, can he?”
“So you were thinking that too?”
Nyte nodded. “But it is impossible. There are no dragons anymore, and he looks like a man.”
“I know, Nyte, but every time I start to wonder, it comes back to that.”
Nyte shook his head. “He will surely tell you. He does love you, after all.”
“Nyte . . .”
“It is fine, Aura. I have come to terms with it, remember? It will be easier for me if I know that there is someone for you once I am-”
“Stop. You aren’t allowed to say that.”
“It is a simple fact, Aura. Can you not come to terms with it? I will follow you wherever you must go, but at the end of everything, there is a duty that I must-”
“I said stop.”
Angry, I marched ahead of him. If I had to listen to one more second of him acting like this was all going to end in his death, I wouldn’t be able to make it. I’d lose any resolve to move forward. That’s all there was to it. I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t do it. I just wasn’t strong enough.
I was a fool.
We traveled up the spiron, making much better time now that we had Nyte’s barrier to protect us. Below, the day brought many more angels, but none of them looked up. None of them came up after us. They all just zipped back and forth, tending to the bottoms of the coils and disappearing into the door-less sides of their rectangular resting places. I’d have liked to have seen the inside, but even if I could have, there was no time. We had a moon to free.
Knowing that, we kept on.
The climb was a little tricky in the sense that we all had to remain close together so as not to let anyone slip out of the barrier. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but the spiron was steep, and it was easy to lose footing, especially with us bumping into each other more than we should have. I say ‘us’, but it was really just the least skilled of our number that did the bumping.
I was one of those ‘least skilled’. So was Darch.
Much to Ardette’s aggravation, every couple of levels one of us would stumble or slip and accidentally push against someone for support, nearly causing a catastrophe. Fortunately for us, though. Nyte and Ardette were agile and strong and able to keep us from toppling over. Thus, Darch and I were saved from many a fall.
Another thing to add to the climb’s trickiness was there was actually a lot of ground to cover. That wasn’t something I’d expected, but it made sense all the same. The coil was tightly wound, and we couldn’t really skip any levels of it. Well, Nyte probably could have, but he had the rest of us to protect. Therefore, it made for a tiring trek. As we made our way up, my thighs grew tired. I’d walked more on this journey than I had in my entire life, but very little of it had been inclining like this. It was difficult for me. It was difficult for Darch, too.
“Can we stop for a while guys?” Darch asked after the first hours had passed.
Nyte looked at me and saw my own fatigue. “Yes, we may,” he said.
I was relieved. I hadn’t wanted to be the one to make us stop, but my legs were killing me. I needed a break.
“I am sorry, Aura. We should have let you rest before attempting this climb. You have not slept since entering the realm. I did not even think of it. I have not yet been affected.”
“It’s okay. It’s just my legs are tired. That’s all. I’ll be fine after a rest.”
“But I do not think that Darch will.”
Nyte nodded in the worn-out Magir’s direction. He was slumped against Ardette.
“Darch?” I said. “How are you faring?”
“I’ll manage!” But his voice was lacking some of its normal excited vibrancy.
“Are your legs sore?” I
asked. It was dumb question. They had to be.
Darch squinched his face and nodded. “But I promise I won’t hold you guys back.”
“Ardette, what about you?” I asked.
“Me? Worried, are you? I’m fine. I haven’t the unholy stamina of your boy, but I’ve got plenty of steam left.”
“Do your legs hurt, though?”
“I told you, I’m fine.”
“Ardette, tell me.”
“Why? What will it matter?”
“Just tell me.” I needed him to say it if I hoped to make what I was planning work.
He rolled his eyes and sighed in annoyed capitulation. “Fine, yes. They do. Are you pleased with yourself? What are you up to, anyway? Simply trying to prove your fiancé’s superiori-”
But that’s all I’d needed to hear from him. Both he and Darch were ailing, and there was something I could do about it.
I closed my eyes and focused.
Darch and Ardette are suffering. No matter how minor, they’re suffering.
I wanted them to be healed. They’d both sacrificed too much. They’d both given themselves completely to this cause, and they didn’t deserve to feel any pain or discomfort. I loved them. I wanted to help them. .
I would help them.
I’ll take it away for them.
With their admittances of grievance ringing in my ears, I let all of the affection I had for the two guardians flow freely into my lungs.
I’ll take it all away!
And just like that, I was able to spark the Song of Healing.
All on their own, those ancient words formed themselves inside of my throat. They traveled over my tongue, passed with my breath through my lips, and escaped into our bubble. The space lit with blue. My blue that was like the moment before dusk. An enchanting blue. A blue of ancient, spiritual power. It filled the space and called an ariando’s wind to whip tempestuously around us.
“ . . . AEL . . .” The last syllable was spoken. The song was formed.
Knowing that we were within a delicate spell, I pulled the song back into my lips before it could penetrate Nyte’s barrier. I’d never spliced the Song of Healing before, but there were two people that needed its power right now. I’d give Darch my top lip, but I’d save my bottom for Ardette.